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Bitcoin’s brief rally above $75,000 this week led to bullish optimism in some corners of the crypto market, but technical analysis shows the trend might still be bearish. A close look at BTC’s daily and weekly charts tells a more sobering story, one that shows that the crypto king might continue on a lower correction move in the coming days.

Bitcoin Is Still Trapped Inside A Bear Flag

Bitcoin’s price recovery into the mid-$70,000s this week is not enough on its own to confirm that Bitcoin is out of danger. According to crypto analyst CrypFlow, the bigger trend is starting to look constructive on higher timeframes, but the daily chart still shows a bearish structure that has not been invalidated. Until that changes, the latest bounce may be nothing.

The daily candlestick timeframe chart shows that BTC has spent the past several weeks since early February consolidating within a rising channel structure. This is a pattern that, in the context of a prior downtrend, is technically classified as a bear flag.

The chart shows Bitcoin rallying into the upper boundary of the flag near the $76,000 area before getting rejected. That same region also lines up with a major resistance band marked on the chart, reinforcing the idea that bulls have not yet done enough to flip the structure. The BTC price has since fallen back toward the middle of the channel, leaving the leading cryptocurrency at a short-term decision point.

As seen in the chart below, a similar bear flag was formed from mid-November 2025 to late January 2026, and this eventually led to the breakdown to $60,000 in early February 2026.

The $70,000 To $76,000 Zone Now Matters More Than Ever

The current battle is taking place between the midline of the flag and the recent rejection zone is at $76,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $70,610, which places it close to support around $70,000. If BTC closes the week below $70,000, then the bear flag projects the price on the path to at least $65,000.

In a separate analysis, CrypFlow turned attention to the weekly timeframe and raised a more macro-level concern using Bitcoin’s Gaussian Channel indicator. This model looks at how Bitcoin has behaved across full market cycles.

According to the analyst, Bitcoin has never formed its cycle bottom before the Gaussian Channel flips from green to red. Each major bottom has come after that transition has already taken place. This pattern played out consistently in 2015, 2018, and again in 2022, where the final lows only arrived once the channel had fully turned bearish.

Interestingly, the Gaussian Channel transitioned from green to red after Bitcoin’s low in early February, not before. Although the Bitcoin price is still holding above $60,000 for now, the implication is that this level may not be the final bottom.

The altcoin market continues to struggle under sustained selling pressure, with weakness persisting for several months as broader conditions remain unfavorable for risk assets. Despite intermittent relief rallies, most altcoins have failed to establish meaningful recoveries, reflecting a market still dominated by caution rather than conviction.

Recent insights shared by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost reinforce this view. The analysis of trading volumes across Binance and other major exchanges highlights a clear and persistent decline in investor interest. Activity levels have dropped significantly compared to previous expansion phases, signaling reduced participation from both retail and institutional traders.

This trend comes as the broader bear market remains firmly in place. Altcoins are not only failing to recover but are also underperforming Bitcoin, which continues to absorb the majority of available liquidity. In risk-off environments, capital typically consolidates into stronger assets, leaving higher-beta altcoins more exposed to prolonged downside.

At the same time, macro conditions continue to weigh on sentiment. Ongoing geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainty are limiting risk appetite, discouraging aggressive positioning in speculative assets. In this context, the altcoin market reflects a structural contraction, where declining volumes and sustained selling pressure point to a prolonged phase of weakness rather than an imminent recovery.

Altcoin Volumes Collapse as Market Participation Contracts

Darkfost further contextualizes the current weakness by pointing to a sharp decline in altcoin trading volumes across major exchanges. On Binance, volumes have dropped to approximately $7.7 billion, while other leading platforms combined account for around $18.8 billion. These figures mark a significant contraction in activity, reinforcing the view that investor participation has materially declined.

The contrast with previous market phases is stark. During more active periods such as October and February 2025, Binance recorded between $40 billion and $50 billion in altcoin trading volume, while other exchanges reached levels between $63 billion and $91 billion. The current environment, therefore, reflects a substantial loss of liquidity and engagement.

In relative terms, Binance now represents roughly 40% of total altcoin trading volume, underscoring its dominance as the primary venue for activity. This concentration suggests that liquidity is not only shrinking but also becoming more centralized.

Importantly, prior volume spikes coincided with local market tops, often driven by FOMO, where late entrants provided exit liquidity for more strategic participants. In contrast, today’s depressed volumes indicate a lack of speculative demand. Historically, however, such conditions have often preceded opportunity, as the most attractive setups tend to emerge when interest is minimal and positioning remains light.

Altcoin Market Cap Breaks Down as Structural Weakness Persists

The OTHERS chart, which tracks the total crypto market cap excluding the top 10 assets, highlights a clear deterioration in altcoin structure over recent months. After peaking near the $300B–$350B range in 2025, the market has entered a sustained downtrend, with the latest reading hovering around $176B, reflecting a significant contraction in capital allocated to smaller assets.

From a technical perspective, the structure remains weak. Price is trading below the 50-week, 100-week, and 200-week moving averages, all of which are now flattening or sloping downward. This alignment confirms that the broader altcoin market is still in a corrective phase, with no clear signs of a trend reversal.

The recent bounce from local lows appears corrective rather than impulsive. Attempts to reclaim the $200B level have failed, indicating persistent supply overhead and limited follow-through demand. Volume spikes during declines further suggest that distribution phases have dominated, with sellers remaining active on rallies.

Historically, this type of structure tends to precede prolonged consolidation or further downside before a base is established. However, it also reflects conditions where relative undervaluation begins to emerge. For now, the key level to watch is the $170B region—losing it could accelerate downside, while reclaiming $200B would be the first signal of structural recovery.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

With the cryptocurrency market turning extremely bearish again, Bitcoin (BTC) saw a sharp pullback that brought its price below the $70,000 mark, a zone that had previously acted as a strong support. The pullback below the level was no coincidence as recent news about macro events rocked the market, causing BTC to lose its newfound bullish momentum.

Bitcoin Bears Back In Charge After $70,000 Loss

As the Bitcoin price falls below the crucial $70,000 threshold, the market structure surrounding the flagship cryptocurrency asset has undergone a significant shift. Bearish sentiment is rapidly spreading throughout the market as a result of the breakdown, which has significantly shifted momentum in favor of sellers.

In a post on X, Milk Road, a market expert and trader, revealed that the pullback below the $70,000 level was triggered by news regarding the Federal Reserve (Fed) decision to hold rates steady. After the meeting, no cuts were made, no surprises, reinforcing the higher for longer narrative. 

The market had anticipated rate reductions by the middle of 2026, but the Fed extended that timeline today. However, the cryptocurrency market did not respond well to the meeting’s outcome, resulting in a sudden decline across the sector. Once the news dropped, BTC fell from $72,400 to under $70,000, marking a 3% move that wiped out the week’s gains in just a few hours.

Milk Road has outlined the alignment between the Bitcoin price and the macro event. During high rates, money becomes expensive as investors gather capital in bonds and cash, and risky assets like crypto get hit. Meanwhile, when rates drop, money gets cheap as capital hunts for yield. In past scenarios, this trend has been the rocket fuel for BTC.

Bitcoin’s pullback on Thursday following the Fed results served as a painful reminder to short-term BTC holders that macro events like these still drive the crypto market. As for long-term BTC holders, they are not new to this kind of move. 

During the 2022 hiking cycle, Bitcoin dropped below $30,000, but as cut expectations grew in late 2023, it surpassed $70,000. With the next Fed meeting scheduled for May 6 and 7, 2026, a similar move might unfold later in the year, which could trigger an upswing to the previous highs.

In the meantime, Iranian tensions and CPI (Consumer Price Index) and PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) data will either bury or revive prospects for a rate cut. However, this depends on whether the rate cuts increase, which is bad, or decrease, which is a good sign.

More BTC Whales Are Appearing

Investors’ activity has improved, particularly among large holders, despite the recent sideways action of Bitcoin. Santiment data shows that the amount of whale wallet addresses holding 100 or more BTC has increased, suggesting renewed conviction among institutional investors. 

In the past 3 months, there has been an addition +753 whale wallet addresses, representing a +3.9% rise in total. Within the same time frame, Sentiment noted that BTC’s market value has fallen by over 20.2%. According to Santiment, the ongoing confidence displayed by important stakeholders should at the very least cause investors to reevaluate their theory if they genuinely believe that cryptocurrency will reach zero.

Chainlink Maxi Zach Rynes has ignited fierce debate across the crypto community after sharing a pointed critique of XRP and Ripple, drawing significant backlash from supporters and former executives. The ambassador has framed Chainlink’s native token LINK as the superior institutional play, labeling XRP a ghost chain. He also criticizes Ripple’s recent share buybacks, suggesting that the company prioritizes shareholders over XRP investors. 

Chainlink Maxi Takes Aim At XRP And Ripple

In a recent post on X, Rynes argued that XRP holders are effectively funding a company that has openly stated it will prioritize equity shareholders over token investors. He explained that when a company sells both tokens and equity to investors, it creates two competing stakeholder groups whose economic interests diverge. As a result, when excess revenue is present, equity investors hold superior, legally enforceable rights, leaving XRP holders at a disadvantage.

Rynes argued that Ripple sells XRP and uses proceeds to acquire companies and fund stock buybacks that benefit only shareholders. He also noted that, even under oath in court filings, the crypto company admitted that XRP’s bridge currency use case is demand-neutral and does not affect price. 

Furthermore, he dismissed the XRP Ledger (XRPL) as an “obsolete ghost chain” sitting outside the top 40 chains by usage, holding less than 1% market share in real-world assets and less than 0.01% in stablecoins. The Chainlink maxi further noted that Ripple itself issued 90% of the RLUSD stablecoin on Ethereum and has since expanded to additional chains outside the XRP Ledger, including BNY Mellon’s private EVM chain.

Supporting Chainlink, Rynes stated that LINK presented a structurally cleaner investment case compared to XRP because it has no equity investors competing for value. He explained that every layer of network growth focuses primarily on the native token and that even Chainlink Lab employees receive long-term incentive rewards in LINK rather than equity. 

He pointed to Chainlink’s more than 70% market share in DeFi with $60 billion in secured TVL, alongside institutional partnerships with SWIFT, the DTCC, Euroclear, JPMorgan, and others as proof of tangible adoption. The Chainlink maxi finally concluded that the LINK token represents the best index bet on institutional blockchain adoption. At the same time, XRP functions as a “bank-themed meme coin” that Ripple sells to retail to fund corporate acquisitions. 

Ripple’s Former CTO Fires Back

The debate escalated when Ripple’s former Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, entered the conversation. Schwartz argued that Ripple’s consistent and predictable XRP selling over five years created sustained downward price pressure, which he claimed actually benefited buyers who accumulated tokens at lower prices than they would have otherwise paid.

Rynes sharply rejected the rebuttal, calling it “elite-tier gaslighting,” and questioning whether Schwartz argued that suppressing XRP’s price through Ripple’s own selling activity was a benefit to holders. Schwartz doubled down, criticizing the comment and insisting that a constant factor already priced into the market affects buyers and sellers equally. He said that anyone who purchased XRP benefited from low entry prices just as much as they might be affected on the way out.

XRP and Ethereum have moved to the center of a major regulatory shift in the United States, after fresh signals from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) triggered claims that up to $4.7 trillion in capital may now be unlocked for the crypto market.

XRP, Ethereum Lead As Analyst Points To SEC Policy Reversal

On March 18, 2026, crypto analyst @Noalphalimits posted a detailed breakdown following remarks from Paul Atkins of the SEC, who said that most crypto assets are not securities—signaling a sharp shift from the agency’s previous enforcement stance.

Supporting this shift is an official SEC document outlining “digital commodities” as crypto assets whose value is tied to the functional operation of decentralized systems rather than the managerial efforts of a central party. Within that framework, a list of 16 assets—including XRP and Ethereum alongside Solana, Cardano, Dogecoin, Avalanche, Aptos, Bitcoin Cash, Hedera, Algorand, Litecoin, Polkadot, Shiba Inu, Stellar, Tezos, and Chainlink—was highlighted as falling under this category.

The same framework also introduced a five-category structure covering digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities, while clarifying that staking, airdrops, and mining are not treated as securities activities.

Analyst Raises $4.7 Trillion Claim, Outlines Market Chain Reaction

The analyst combined two key data points to support a claim that $4.7 trillion has been unlocked in the crypto market following the SEC’s latest stance. The first is the market capitalization of 16 identified assets, estimated at over $1.8 trillion. The second is $2.9 trillion in institutional capital that, according to the analyst, had remained sidelined due to regulatory uncertainty. He believes this barrier is now removed, effectively “unlocking” that capital.

Building on this, the analyst described a step-by-step market impact already beginning to form. The first stage involves the potential collapse of ongoing SEC lawsuits against exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken, as well as the long-running case involving Ripple and XRP. These cases were originally based on claims of unregistered securities offerings, a position now challenged by the updated classification.

The next phase centers on exchange-traded funds, where commodity status is seen as creating a clearer regulatory path. This could accelerate filings for spot ETFs tied to assets like XRP, Solana, Cardano, and Avalanche, with major firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale expected to play a role.

Further implications extend to trading infrastructure and institutional access. US exchanges may expand listings, increasing liquidity and tightening spreads, while financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley, gain clearer entry points into crypto markets through custody and trading services. At the same time, staking could return to US platforms.

Despite these developments, the analyst noted that the shift remains an SEC interpretation, not an established law. With legislative efforts, including a draft bill referenced by Senator Tim Scott, still pending, the durability of this regulatory direction remains uncertain, leaving the market to respond within what may be a limited window of clarity.

American Bitcoin, the Trump family-backed mining venture, is rapidly emerging as a significant player in the Bitcoin ecosystem, now holding approximately $450 million in BTC. With a treasury of 6,899 BTC, the company has climbed to become the 16th largest Bitcoin-holding corporate entity globally, surpassing several established industry participants and signaling an aggressive accumulation strategy.

This development comes at a critical moment for the mining sector. Bitcoin has been struggling to maintain momentum around the $70,000 level, creating a challenging environment for miners whose profitability is closely tied to both price stability and operational efficiency. In such conditions, mining companies face a strategic dilemma: liquidate holdings to cover costs or accumulate in anticipation of future upside.

American Bitcoin’s approach suggests a clear directional bet. By mining and holding rather than selling, the company is effectively positioning itself as a hybrid between a mining operation and a treasury vehicle. This strategy reflects confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term value, but it also introduces balance sheet risk if price volatility persists.

More broadly, this behavior highlights a shift within the mining industry, where capitalized players are increasingly using accumulation as a competitive edge, especially during periods of market uncertainty.

American Bitcoin Climbs Treasury Rankings as Market Reaches Inflection Point

American Bitcoin now holds 6,899 BTC, valued at approximately $486 million, placing it just ahead of Galaxy Digital, which holds 6,894 BTC. This marginal lead underscores how competitive the corporate treasury landscape has become, where even small differences in holdings can shift rankings significantly. The company’s next benchmark is GD Culture Group, which maintains a larger position of around $528 million in BTC, setting a clear near-term target.

This accumulation trend is unfolding at a pivotal moment for the Bitcoin market. After several weeks of consolidation around the $70,000 range, price action is approaching a critical inflection point. Market participants are increasingly focused on whether Bitcoin can sustain a breakout above resistance or face renewed selling pressure.

In this environment, corporate accumulation carries additional weight. Entities like American Bitcoin are not only absorbing supply, but also signaling long-term conviction at a time when short-term sentiment remains mixed.

Structurally, this creates a balanced but tense setup. While institutional accumulation supports the market from below, persistent uncertainty and profit-taking continue to cap upside, leaving BTC in a transitional phase where the next directional move could define the coming trend.

Bitcoin Consolidates Below Resistance After Sharp Correction

Bitcoin’s daily chart shows a market in consolidation following a decisive breakdown and partial recovery, with price currently stabilizing around the $70,000 level. After losing the $80,000–$85,000 support zone earlier in the year, BTC experienced a sharp selloff toward the $60,000–$65,000 range, where demand finally emerged.

The rebound from those lows has been constructive but limited. Price is now trading below all major moving averages, including the 200-day, which continues to slope downward and acts as a key resistance level. The shorter-term averages are also declining, reinforcing the idea that the market remains in a corrective or transitional phase rather than a confirmed uptrend.

The $70,000–$72,000 region is currently acting as a short-term resistance zone, with multiple rejections suggesting that sellers are still active at these levels. At the same time, the $65,000 area appears to be forming a local support base, creating a narrowing range.

Volume analysis adds context. The selloff into February was accompanied by a significant spike, indicating capitulation and forced liquidations, while the recovery has occurred on more moderate volume, suggesting cautious participation.

For Bitcoin to regain bullish momentum, a sustained break above $75,000 is required.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Morgan Stanley’s head of digital assets strategy, Amy Oldenburg, has said that Bitcoin ETF adoption is still in its early stages. This comes as the Wall Street giant also looks to offer a BTC ETF, two years after the first funds launched. 

Morgan Stanley Exec Says Bitcoin ETF Adoption Still In Early Stages

Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit, the Morgan Stanley executive noted that most of the demand for the Bitcoin ETFs comes from self-directed investors, with many advisor-managed accounts yet to allocate to crypto. In line with this, Oldenburg declared that institutional crypto adoption is still ‘very early.’

She also revealed that 80% of the demand for ETFs on their platform comes from the self-directed business. Morgan Stanley currently allows all its wealth clients to invest in Bitcoin ETFs after removing restrictions last year. The bank has also notably recommended allocating up to 4% to crypto. 

Oldenburg’s comments that Bitcoin ETF adoption is still early explain why Morgan Stanley is still looking to launch a BTC ETF, two years after the first funds launched. The bank has notably filed for BTC, ETH, and SOL ETFs and is also set to roll out crypto trading for its retail clients this year. 

The Bitcoin ETFs have seen massive demand since their launch in 2024 and currently boast total net assets of $90.83 billion, according to SoSoValue data. This represents just over 6% of Bitcoin’s market cap. BlackRock’s BTC ETF is currently the largest with net assets of $55.19 billion. 

Morgan Stanley is also expected to see demand for its BTC ETF despite the late launch, especially given the bank’s large distribution channel. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas commended Morgan Stanley’s move as smart. He noted that they have, like, $8 trillion in advisory assets and have already authorized their advisors to allocate to these funds, so it could well be an allocation to their branded funds. 

Top Institutional BTC ETF Holders

On-chain analyst Root recently highlighted the top 25 largest institutional Bitcoin ETF holders based on their Q4 filings, with Wall Street trading firm Jane Street ranking first, with total holdings worth around $5 billion. Susquehanna, Citadel Advisors, Millennium Management, and Goldman Sachs complete the top 5. 

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, currently ranks 15th among the top institutional Bitcoin ETF holders. The firm’s BTC holdings are currently worth around $670 million. A positive is that these institutions continue to increase their allocations. Root revealed that 17 of the top 25 institutional holders increased their BTC position in the fourth quarter of last year. 

Related Reading: Analyst Says Bitcoin Price Is Showing Dangerous Weakness, Here’s Why

At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $70,600, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Scammers have already hit more than 700 crypto wallets — some holding over a million dollars in stablecoins — with a phishing scheme disguised as a federal law enforcement action.

A Scam Built On Fear

The operation targets users of the Tron blockchain. Criminals mint a token with the FBI’s name attached, then airdrop it into wallets with a message warning recipients that their accounts are flagged for investigation.

From there, victims are told to complete an anti-money laundering check on an outside website or face a full freeze of their funds.

The FBI’s New York Field Office confirmed the scam Thursday and warned users not to click, visit, or share any personal data connected to the token. “Do not provide any identifying information to any website associated with such a token,” the office posted on X.

No email. No phone call. The threat arrives directly inside the wallet — a newer tactic that gives the fraud an air of legitimacy it doesn’t deserve.

FBI New York encourages users of the Tron blockchain network to exercise caution if they encounter a token purported to be from the FBI. If you receive a token from an account with the details below, do not provide any identifying information to any website associated with such… pic.twitter.com/VF03sjM4VW

— FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) March 19, 2026

Why Tron Is The Preferred Target

Sending tokens on Tron costs almost nothing. That makes it practical to flood thousands of wallets with almost zero upfront cost.

The network also handles a large volume of USDT transfers, drawing in holders of significant value. Last year, a joint effort by Tether, TRM Labs, and the Tron network froze over $100 million in assets tied to illicit activity.

A January 2026 report from TRM Labs identified Tron as a preferred tool for sanctions evasion linked to Iran. TRON DAO has since brought in Blockaid’s security tools to screen for malicious tokens before users interact with them.

The fake FBI token was created about eight days before authorities went public with the warning. By then, it had already landed in 728 wallets, according to Tronscan data.

The Numbers Behind A Worsening Problem

The FBI token is one piece of a much larger surge in crypto-based fraud. According to Chainalysis’s 2026 Crypto Crime Report, scams and fraud pulled in at least $14 billion in on-chain funds during 2025, with the actual figure likely topping $17 billion.

Impersonation attacks — the category this scheme falls into — climbed 1,400% compared to the previous year. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded $9.3 billion in cryptocurrency fraud losses for 2024, a 66% jump from 2023.

Reports also indicate that signature phishing losses spiked over 200% in January 2026 versus the prior month, even as the total number of victims dropped — a sign that attackers are shifting focus to fewer, wealthier targets.

Anyone who has already interacted with the token or provided information to a linked site is urged by the FBI to file a report at ic3.gov.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

CNBC reported on Friday that a tentative agreement between banking and cryptocurrency industry representatives could be announced later today, potentially clearing a path for the long-stalled crypto market-structure legislation known as the CLARITY Act. 

Lawmakers Near Agreement On Crypto Bill

The network’s coverage, citing industry insiders and Capitol Hill chatter, said lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee may have reached a compromise and are now positioned to schedule a markup and vote; the Agriculture Committee already completed a procedural vote in January.

According to the CNBC piece, discussions in recent days have intensified as stakeholders seek common ground on a range of contentious issues. 

One persistent sticking point is whether banks will accept proposed stablecoin reward structures. That question remains unresolved, the report said, even as other elements of the package appear to be coalescing.

However, a separate update surfaced Thursday evening from Eleanor Terrett, who quoted Senate staff saying negotiators were “99% of the way there on stablecoin yield,” and that talks over the digital-asset components of the bill “are in a good place.” 

The staff added that Senator Cynthia Lummis viewed the day’s meeting as productive and positive. Still, the language in both reports underscores that while momentum has built, the details are not finalized and could change as negotiators work through remaining points.

Bank Changes Into CLARITY Act

The negotiations have also taken on a broader legislative and political dimension. Politico reported Thursday that Senate Banking Committee Republicans are exploring whether to fold community bank deregulatory provisions—taken from a House-passed housing bill—into the CLARITY Act as part of a trade. 

The idea would be to include the banking-related rollbacks in the crypto bill in exchange for House Republicans accepting the Senate’s housing package as written. 

That proposal was discussed privately during a closed-door meeting on Thursday morning that reportedly included Trump administration officials and GOP committee members. 

According to Politico, the talks are fluid, and no final decisions have been made; proponents say such a swap could help secure House support for the Senate’s housing measures without further amendments.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

 

A Protos report says Ripple co-founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen stands to wield significant influence over Evernorth, an XRP treasury company headed for a Nasdaq listing through blank check firm Armada Acquisition. The report argues that a web of nonprofit, trust, and Ripple-linked contributions gives Larsen outsized sway while creating clear conflicts for prospective public shareholders.

At the center of the story is RippleWorks, the IRS-registered nonprofit Larsen co-founded. According to the report, RippleWorks invested $500,000 in cash plus 211,319,096 XRP into Arrington XRP Capital Fund, LP, the sponsor vehicle tied to the Evernorth deal. That investment gave RippleWorks a majority of the fund’s limited partner interests, while the fund is required to invest all of RippleWorks’ XRP tokens into Evernorth shares.

Ripple Founder Larsen’s Role

The formal control structure runs through Arrington XRP Capital Fund’s general partner, an LLC managed by Michael Arrington. But the filing described by Protos says that control is constrained by contract. Under an October 17, 2025 agreement, the fund must “consult with RippleWorks on any decisions directly related to the disposition or voting of Evernorth Holdings Inc. Stock” and “to vote such shares as directed by RippleWorks.”

That arrangement is what gives the report its edge. Protos highlights language from the SEC Form S-4 filed on March 18 that does not mince words about the misalignment. “The economic interests of the Sponsor diverge from the economic interests of holders of the Public Shares,” the filing states. It goes further: “This structure may create potential conflicts of interest between Mr. Larsen’s duties to Ripple, his influence over RippleWorks’ investment in Arrington XRP Capital Fund, and the interests of Evernorth Holdings Inc. and its stockholders.”

Those concerns are amplified by the other entities feeding XRP into the transaction. Protos reports that the Larsen Lam Children’s Remainder Trust will contribute 50 million XRP in exchange for 1,832,454 Evernorth shares, giving Larsen another line of influence in the soon-to-be-public company. Ripple itself is also contributing 126,791,458 XRP to the same deal, meaning a nonprofit Larsen co-founded, a company he co-founded, and a trust tied to his family are all participating in the same Nasdaq-bound structure.

The filing, as quoted in the report, acknowledges a limit to Larsen’s direct authority. It says he “does not have direct control over RippleWorks’ voting or investment decisions with respect to Arrington XRP Capital Fund.”

Yet Protos argues that this caveat does little to reduce the broader concern, because Larsen sits on RippleWorks’ board, helped create the nonprofit, and remains executive chairman of Ripple.

In another passage cited by the report, the SEC disclosure says Larsen’s “dual roles and affiliations could give rise to situations where his interests as an executive of Ripple differ from or conflict with the interests of Armada Acquisition and holders of Armada Acquisition Class A Common Stock.”

The financial backdrop makes the governance question more striking. IRS filings cited by Protos show RippleWorks held $1.4 billion in assets for fiscal year 2024. The report says Larsen contributed most of those assets, and that 89% of RippleWorks’ revenue in 2024 came from selling some of them. It also notes that CEO Doug Galen earned $845,945 that year, while Larsen was listed as secretary/treasurer with zero compensation.

Protos also points to deal terms that could further benefit RippleWorks and Ripple if XRP rises before closing. Under a closing adjustment, both can receive bonus shares in Evernorth if the token appreciates, while still retaining shares priced on fixed contractual terms even if XRP does not rally. That asymmetry is central to the report’s thesis: Larsen-linked entities may be positioned to capture upside in a public-market vehicle while ordinary shareholders absorb a governance structure already flagged in the filings themselves.

At press time, XRP traded at $1.45.

Международная напряженность не спадает, Дональд Трамп продолжает воевать с режимом аятолл, и, как следствие, Федеральная резервная система США отказывается удешевлять кредиты. На фоне происходящего криптоинвесторы решили не рисковать.

US financial regulators have issued a clarification on how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets, and Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are among the direct beneficiaries. The joint guidance, which was published by the SEC and CFTC, formally established five categories for digital assets and explicitly named both meme coins as digital commodities, placing them in the same regulatory class as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. 

Dogecoin And Shiba Inu Officially Classified As Digital Commodities

An interesting decision from US regulators is now setting the stage for a possible turnaround in the price of meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. For the first time ever, this clarification directly names the leading names of meme cryptocurrencies (Dogecoin and Shiba Inu) as digital commodities, removing them from the security debate that has weighed on the crypto industry for years.

The joint interpretive release by the SEC and the CFTC finally ended more than a decade of jurisdictional dispute between the two US regulators over how to classify digital assets. According to the release, crypto assets are now divided into five categories: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities. 

The first four carry no securities designation by default, while digital securities, which are essentially tokenized versions of traditional financial instruments such as stocks and bonds, are still subject to federal securities laws. 

On the other hand, digital commodities are assets whose value derives from a functioning blockchain ecosystem and supply-and-demand dynamics, with decentralization also an important criterion. Both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu were placed in this category alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Cardano, among others. 

SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that the guidance was designed to provide regulatory clarity “in clear terms” and confirmed that blockchain network activities such as mining, on-chain staking, and protocol airdrops do not automatically qualify as securities offerings.

What The Classification Means For DOGE And SHIB Specifically

The market’s reaction so far has been somewhat muted. Price data show that crypto prices did not surge immediately even after the guidance was released. However, the importance of being classified as a commodity cannot be overstated for Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, considering the fact that these two started as a meme. A February 2025 clarification from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance had indicated that meme coins were not securities, but that guidance stopped short of a formal classification. 

Both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have spent recent months moving sideways or struggling to break above resistance levels in terms of price action. However, this might change very soon. Commodity status equates Dogecoin and Shiba Inu with the same regulations backing Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot ETFs in the United States. Spot Dogecoin ETFs are already live and Shiba Inu might be next. Interestingly, Grayscale Investments has already indicated that SHIB qualifies for a spot ETF under the SEC’s Generic Listing Standards framework.

Кошелек крупного держателя биткоинов, который бездействовал 13 лет и семь месяцев, перевел 0,00079 BTC (около $56). Число биткоинов в кошельке сейчас оценивается примерно на $147 млн, сообщили блокчейн‑аналитики платформы LookonChain.

Американский банк Morgan Stanley внес уточнения в заявку, поданную Комиссии по ценным бумагам и биржам США (SEC) для запуска привязанного к биткоину спотового биржевого фонда (ETF).

Bitcoin’s quantum risk is real, but the network is not sleepwalking into it. That is the core conclusion of a March 19 research note from Galaxy Digital, which argues that while a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could one day threaten exposed Bitcoin wallets, developers are already doing substantial work on mitigation and migration.

Will Owens, a research analyst at Galaxy, frames the current debate as more polarized than the underlying facts justify. On one side are those who argue quantum computing is still decades away. On the other are those warning that the window may be far shorter and that Bitcoin needs to move now. Galaxy’s position sits between those camps: urgency is warranted, but so is perspective.

Bitcoin Is Getting Ready For The Quantum Threat

The report makes one point repeatedly. Not all bitcoin is equally exposed. Funds are only vulnerable when public keys are visible on-chain, which means the biggest long-term risk sits with legacy wallet formats, reused addresses, some exchange or custodian setups, and older outputs including coins believed to be tied to Satoshi Nakamoto. Citing analysis from Project Eleven, Galaxy says roughly 7 million BTC, worth about $470 billion at recent prices, may be vulnerable under a broad “long exposure” definition, though it notes other estimates come in lower depending on methodology.

That distinction matters because Bitcoin’s UTXO model still gives it structural protection that account-based chains do not. As Galaxy puts it, “In Bitcoin, public keys are typically revealed only when coins are spent, meaning a large share of the supply remains protected behind hashed addresses until transaction time.” The report adds: “This distinction does not eliminate risk for Bitcoin, but it does materially affect the scope and sequencing of exposure in a potential Q-day event.” In other words, Bitcoin has a narrower attack surface than many casual discussions imply.

Galaxy also pushes back hard on the idea that Bitcoin developers are ignoring the issue. Owens writes that recent social media criticism has overstated the gap between public perception and actual technical work. Ethan Heilman, one of the co-authors of BIP 360, said the proposal has received “more comments than any other BIP so far in history of BIPs,” according to the report.

It also cites two blunt remarks from active contributors: “Yes, developers are working on [quantum resistance]. I can point to many people working on this,” said Matt Corallo. Hunter Beast struck a similar tone: “We are working very hard on this very serious problem, and we think that it is the most serious concern that people have raised about Bitcoin.”

The technical path forward is beginning to take shape. Galaxy highlights BIP 360, or Pay-to-Merkle-Root, as the leading protective proposal. The design would remove Taproot’s always-visible key-path spend and create a more quantum-resilient output structure via soft fork, reducing long-exposure risk without forcing Bitcoin to immediately choose a final post-quantum signature standard.

From there, the conversation branches into harder territory. One layer is protection for future outputs. Another is mitigation for coins that are already exposed and may never migrate. That is where proposals like Hourglass enter the discussion. Rather than freezing vulnerable coins outright or allowing quantum-capable actors to sweep and dump them freely, Galaxy describes Hourglass as a “harm reduction” approach designed to limit the rate at which exposed coins could be extracted and sold during a quantum event.

The report also surveys fallback and emergency ideas, including hash-based signatures such as SLH-DSA, Tadge Dryja’s commit/reveal design for a worst-case early CRQC scenario, and seed phrase zero-knowledge proofs for recovery and authentication. None solves the entire problem alone. Together, though, they suggest Bitcoin’s response is becoming broader and more concrete.

Galaxy is careful not to understate the governance problem. Bitcoin upgrades remain slow by design, and the report points to the long timelines around SegWit and Taproot as reminders that even well-supported changes can take years. Still, Owens argues this threat is different. “There is no constituency,” he writes, “that benefits from Bitcoin being vulnerable to quantum attack.” That alignment of incentives may prove decisive if the risk becomes more immediate.

Overall, Galaxy’s message is straightforward: the threat is serious, the debate is no longer theoretical, and the work to prepare for it is already underway.

At press time, BTC traded at $70,360.

Republican senators huddled with a White House crypto adviser Thursday in a closed-door session that participants called “very productive” — a sign that Washington’s push to rewrite the rules of digital asset oversight may be gaining real momentum.

Stablecoin Sticking Point Nears Resolution

A spokesperson for Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis confirmed the meeting with White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt, saying lawmakers are now “99% of the way there on stablecoin yield” — the thorny issue that has held up a broader market structure bill in the Senate Banking Committee for months.

Concerns over how stablecoin yield should be treated across the crypto and banking industries had effectively frozen progress. Based on reports from Lummis’ office, negotiations on the digital assets portion of the bill are also in good shape.

The bill, known as the CLARITY Act, cleared the House of Representatives back in July 2025. As of Thursday, it had not been scheduled for a markup hearing in the Senate Banking Committee. The Senate Agriculture Committee had already advanced its own version of the legislation in January.

SEC Draws A New Line On What Counts As A Security

The closed-door meeting came the same day SEC Chair Paul Atkins delivered prepared remarks at the Practising Law Institute in which he outlined a sharp departure from how his agency has handled crypto in the past.

Gone, he said, is the “regulation by enforcement” approach that defined the previous administration’s posture toward digital assets.

Earlier in the week, the agency published an interpretive notice laying out which crypto assets it considers securities and which it does not. The answer, under the new framework, is that most cryptocurrencies are not securities.

Only one category remains under SEC oversight: traditional securities that have been converted into token form. Digital commodities, digital tools, non-fungible tokens, and stablecoins were all identified as falling outside the agency’s reach.

Atkins was direct about the limits of what the agency had done. The interpretation, he said, is a “beginning, not an end.”

A Bridge Until Congress Acts

The SEC’s move follows a memorandum of understanding signed last week between the agency and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Under the expected market structure legislation, the CFTC would take on a larger role in regulating and overseeing digital assets — a shift the SEC appears willing to accept.

Atkins framed the interpretive notice as a necessary bridge while Congress works toward a permanent statutory framework. Administrative interpretations can be revised or reversed.

A law cannot be undone as easily. That distinction is why the Thursday meeting between senators and the White House carries weight beyond the usual Washington optics.

For an industry that spent years under threat of enforcement action, the week’s developments represent a visible change in direction from the country’s top securities regulator.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Historically, there have been similarities between past Bitcoin cycles when it comes to both the bull and the bear markets. A lot of these have to do with the percentage by which the price rises, and then the percentage by which the price begins to crash. Naturally, the expectation has become that the bitcoin price will also follow the previous cycle, leading to calls for much lower prices. But could there be a deviation this time around?

Bitcoin Will See Another Major Crash, But How Low?

Analyst Crypto Patel highlighted the history of Bitcoin price performance over the last few cycles and how it could translate to the current cycle. Over the years, the Bitcoin bear market has often seen the digital asset crash by an average of 80%, suggesting that it is possible that this happens this time around.

Following this same trend, the analyst explains that a 77% crash this cycle would put the BTC price somewhere around $32,000. However, Crypto Patel does not believe that this is possible and that the Bitcoin price will not go this low.

Now, usually, after the Wave 3, the price sees a major crash, which often sends it toward a new bottom. This means that there is still another crash left for Bitcoin before a bottom is reached. The question is now how low the price could go.

Instead of crashing 77% to $32,000, the crypto analyst believes that the Bitcoin price will not fall below $40,000 this cycle. This will essentially mean that it does not get below 70%. Instead, the $40,000-$50,000 level is expected to be the max pain point for investors.

Still Following The 4-Year Cycle

Despite the deviation that occurred back in 2024, when the Bitcoin price hit a new all-time high before the halving, some parts of the 4-year cycle seem to be following the trend. As @ArdiNSC points out on X, the top has been consistently hit in a new 4-year cycle.

It has been the same in 2013, then 2017, before 2021, and then eventually 2017, almost 4 years apart each time. Given this, it is likely that at least some parts of the 4-year cycle are still in play. In such a case, then it could mean that the BTC price decline will continue, since historically, it has bottomed the year before the halving.

This means that BTC is just coming into the bear market, lending credence to Crypto Patel’s prediction that another major crash is coming. If this same 4-year cycle holds, then it is likely that the Bitcoin price will reach new all-time highs somewhere between 2028 and 2029.

Согласно опросу, проведенному компанией Ripple в начале года среди 1000 финансовых компаний из разных стран мира, 72% считают, что решения с использованием криптовалют важны для сохранения конкурентоспособности.

Доля USDC компании Circle в объеме транзакций со стейблкоинами выросла в феврале до 71% — тогда как доля USDT компании Tether упала до 28%, следует из данных аналитической панели Visa. В январе соотношение тоже было в пользу USDC: 54% против 45%. В марте соотношение пока держится на уровне января.