Из жизни альткоинов

Член комиссии Общественной палаты России по экспертизе законопроектов Евгений Машаров предложил полностью запретить добычу криптовалют физическим лицам, оставив легальным только контролируемый государством промышленный майнинг.

Ripple has released a crypto survey that sought the opinions of over 1,000 financial world leaders on their crypto market outlook. Notably, most of these leaders suggested that institutions must look to embrace crypto or risk losing their competitiveness in the market. 

Ripple Study Shows Finance Leaders View Crypto as Now Important

Ripple noted that in its survey report, that 72% of respondents believe that companies must offer a crypto solution to remain competitive. Furthermore, these finance leaders revealed similar industry consensus on stablecoins, tokenization, and partner considerations. The crypto firm stated that stablecoins are among the use cases financial leaders are most bullish on. 

74% of these financial leaders said that stablecoins can boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital. Additionally, these respondents view stablecoins as tools for treasury management. Meanwhile, the Ripple survey revealed that fintechs have demonstrated crypto leadership among the companies that were surveyed. 

More fintechs, 47% of them, than corporates, 14% of them, are also working towards building their own solutions. However, a positive is that 74% of corporates plan to work with partners that offer desired solutions. Meanwhile, banks are also showing interest in tokenizing financial assets as they seek partners to help execute their strategies. 

89% of these banks evaluating tokenization partners say crypto and custody are top priorities. Ripple said the key takeaway from the survey is that finance leaders want more from crypto firms offering the solutions they desire. Basically, they want a tech stack that can meet all crypto needs and a “trusted provider to partner with now and in the future as strategies evolve.”

This survey comes as Ripple looks to be the go-to infrastructure for these institutions. The firm currently offers a range of crypto services, including payments, custody, and trading, to institutional investors. The firm has also notably partnered with several TradFi giants to tokenize their real-world assets on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Another Major Development For Ripple

Ripple’s survey comes just as the SEC released a token taxonomy that confirmed XRP is a digital commodity, not a security. This vindicates Ripple in its legal fight against the SEC under Gary Gensler, when they claimed that XRP was a security. Meanwhile, crypto pundit SMQKE highlighted arguments from legal experts about why the SEC was wrong to have ever labeled XRP a security. 

The argument was that investors do not receive any contract when they buy XRP, especially from exchanges. A contract is considered a key factor under the Howey test in determining what constitutes a security. However, the SEC has noted that a non-security like XRP could become a security if it is used as the basis of an investment contract in which investors expect to make gains from the efforts of others.

Over the past couple of weeks, Bitcoin has been moving to reclaim its past key levels around $70,000 and $75,000. Interestingly, on-chain data suggests that this may be due to a steady influx of new demand.

Approximately $55M In BTC Exits Binance Daily — Analyst

In a recent QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, influential analyst Burak Kesmeci points out an interesting dynamic shift on Binance, the world’s leading exchange by trading volume. This is dependent on data from the Bitcoin: Exchange Netflow – Binance metric, which keeps tabs of how much BTC (in USD) is leaving or entering Binance. 

When the Binance BTC Netflow metric falls below zero and continues further downwards, it signals that outflows are increasing. This means that more BTC is being withdrawn from Binance, rather than being deposited.

On the other hand, positive readings (above 0) indicate that more Bitcoin is being deposited into the exchange than is being withdrawn. This behavior is often associated with increasing bearish pressure, as increasing inflows to exchanges could be due to increasing selling appetite.

 

According to the analyst, around $55 million in Bitcoin is leaving the exchange on a daily basis. When exchanges — especially Binance — record outflows of this magnitude, it is typically a sign that investors are about to start accumulating their holdings, rather than exchanging them for other coins. 

Interestingly, Kesmeci points out that this large series of outflows is reflected in Bitcoin’s most recent price action. According to the analyst, BTC climbed by approximately 13.8% during this period, thereby pushing prices from around $65,000 to its recent $74,000 peak. Notably, this occurred as the Binance BTC Netflow SMA30 entered negative territory.

Kesmeci also notes that, as of March 20, the US equity markets are deeply in the red, with bearish pressure increasing alongside volatility. However, the Bitcoin market retains its strength. According to the crypto pundit, the growing demand for Bitcoin stands as a fitting explanation regarding the flagship cryptocurrency’s apparent independence.

Bitcoin Market Overview 

As of press time, Bitcoin is valued at approximately $70,647, reflecting a 0.54% growth since the last 24 hours. On the weekly scale, however, the world’s leading cryptocurrency has deviated negatively by a slight 0.3% from its past value. 

Meanwhile, data from SoSoValue shows that US Bitcoin spot ETFs are currently running at a cumulative netflow of $56.28 Billion as of March 19. Surprisingly, an initially positive week turned red on March 18, with US Bitcoin spot ETFs recording about $162.52 million in outflows, followed by an additional $90 million on 19th March. 

Private crypto holders took the heaviest losses from hacking, phishing, and digital theft attempts in February 2026, according to blockchain intelligence firm Nominis — and a newly identified strain of iOS malware may explain part of why individual users have become the preferred target.

Designed To Strike Fast And Disappear

Google Threat Intelligence has identified a JavaScript-based malicious tool called Ghostblade, built specifically to hit Apple iOS devices, extract sensitive data, and go quiet before anyone notices.

The software is one of six tools bundled inside a broader package researchers are calling DarkSword. Together, the tools are engineered to steal cryptocurrency private keys, messaging data, and personal information from infected devices.

Ghostblade runs once, takes what it needs, and stops. No persistent background activity. No extra software required to make it work. That design makes it far harder to catch than malware that keeps running after an infection.

The tool also covers its tracks in a specific way. After it finishes, it wipes crash logs from the compromised device. Those logs are what Apple normally collects to identify software problems and flag suspicious activity. Without them, Apple receives no signal that anything went wrong.

What Ghostblade Can Actually Access

The scope of what Ghostblade can pull from a device is wide. Based on Google’s report, the malware is capable of reaching messages from iMessage, WhatsApp, and Telegram.

It can also collect SIM card details, location data, multimedia files, and system-level settings. For crypto users, the most direct threat is private key exposure — the kind of access that gives an attacker full control over a digital wallet with no way to reverse transactions once funds are moved.

The DarkSword suite represents a new chapter in browser-based attacks aimed at the crypto space, with Ghostblade serving as one of its most technically refined components.

Hackers Shift Focus From Code To People

Total losses from crypto-related hacks dropped sharply in February, falling to close to $50 million from $385 million the month before, Nominis data shows. But that decline does not signal a safer environment.

Reports indicate the drop reflects a change in method, not ambition. Attackers moved away from exploiting code vulnerabilities and toward phishing schemes, wallet poisoning, and other approaches that rely on tricking users rather than breaking systems.

Fake websites built to mirror legitimate platforms are a common vehicle. Users who land on them and interact with any element can have credentials and keys lifted without realizing it.

The Ghostblade alert from Google arrives against that backdrop — a reminder that high-value individual users, not just exchanges or protocols, are firmly in the crosshairs.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

The Bitcoin exchange reserve has recorded its lowest-ever value, which should represent a bullish development. However, recent stablecoin reserve activity highlights a point of concern.

Exchanges Now Hold Only 13% Of BTC Supply – Details 

In a QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, APTRekt reports that only 2.72 million BTC is now available on crypto exchanges. This recorded figure represents 13.60% of the circulating BTC supply and is the lowest ever value of Bitcoin exchange reserves. APTRekt states Bitcoin reached this new all-time low of exchange reserves despite a dominant selling pressure between Wednesday and Thursday, triggered by a failed price breakout at the $75,000 region.

Typically, an increase in exchange deposits indicates a rise in investors’ readiness to offload their assets on the market. Conversely, a fall in exchange reserves is regarded as a positive development, which indicates that investors are opting to move their holdings into private wallets, showing long-term confidence and anticipation of price appreciation.

Therefore, the new low in Bitcoin exchange reserve is to be regarded as a bullish event. However, coinciding developments in the stablecoin market paint a negative alternative scenario. Notably, Stablecoin exchange reserves were valued at $68.8 billion on March 18. However, present figures are reported to be around $68.2 billion, highlighting a withdrawal of approximately $600 million within 48 hours. 

A similar flash transaction last occurred between January 18 and January 21, preceding a massive liquidity withdrawal from the cryptocurrency market. According to APTRekt, Bitcoin usually undergoes a massive downturn during such pullouts, putting the premier cryptocurrency in danger of another price downswing if the historical pattern plays out.

Bitcoin Whale Wallets Rise By 753 Despite Price Struggles 

In other news, data from Santiment reveals that market whales, i.e., wallets holding 100 BTC or more, have increased by over 753 in the past three months. Notably, this bullish development comes amid a prolonged corrective phase during which the flagship cryptocurrency has traded as low as $60,000 with a net market loss of 20.2%.

Santiment explains that this accumulation trend is one of many bullish divergences amid the present short-term price volatility, which also reflects a sustained confidence among Bitcoin major investors.  At press time, Bitcoin is valued at $70,600 after losses of 0.05% and 0.5% on the daily and weekly charts, respectively. Meanwhile, the digital asset reports a net gain of 5.95% in the past 30 days, suggesting that market action has been largely positive in recent weeks.

Ethereum’s rebound above $2,000 has already sparked a fair bit of bullish sentiment and the recovery has also pushed other altcoins higher. Despite the price correction, it doesn’t look like the uptrend is completely over yet, especially as bulls have been able to maintain the support above $2,000. Speaking on this, crypto analyst Celal Kucuker has shared an interesting opinion on what would happen to the Ethereum price and what would happen before it crashed to $1,500.

Ethereum Price Surging To $2,900 Is More Likely

Going through the history of the Ethereum price, the crypto analyst highlights important levels that the cryptocurrency has already surpassed and the important levels lying in wait ahead. This analysis points out that the Ethereum price has already cleared $3,350 previously, a major level.

Another major level that the digital asset has previously touched lies at $1,850, which happened with the most recent crash back in February of 2026. With these two levels already touched, it moves onto the next important level to breach, and that is $2,950.

According to the crypto analyst, it is more likely for the Ethereum price to surge to $2,900 before $1,500. Thus, it is expected that $2,950 will be hit first, but then the following correction will send the price almost 50% below, back down to $1,500.

Despite this crash, though, it is not all bearish for the Ethereum price. The analyst predicts that once this bottom is hit, then the cryptocurrency’s price will rise again. This time with a 400% increase that will send it to new all-time highs, and then eventually reach $6,100.

Another interesting thing about this analysis is the timeframe for it. Instead of putting Ethereum’s all-time highs on a multi-year timeline, the analyst says that this will actually happen in 2026, with the peak being sometime in the last quarter of the year.

Is It Time To Buy ETH?

With the recent decline, analysts seem to be looking at this as a buy opportunity, rather than a bear market continuation. Crypto analyst Ali Charts shared on X that following the decline, Ethereum has now entered a ‘generational buy zone’.

What this means is that historically, this has been a zone where the price has bounced from. Ali explained that each time this level had been hit in the past, it had triggered an at least 100% rally for the cryptocurrency. If this trend holds, then the Ethereum price could hit over $4,000 as a result.

На части территории Восточной Сибири, в 31 муниципалитете Забайкальского края и Бурятии российское правительство установило с апреля полный запрет на добычу криптовалют.

Data shows the Ethereum network has recently set a new all-time high (ATH) in the Active Addresses indicator, suggesting elevated user activity.

30-Day MA Of Ethereum Active Addresses Has Reached A New ATH

As highlighted by CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn in an X post, the Ethereum Active Addresses has set a new record in its 30-day moving average (MA) value. This on-chain indicator keeps track of the unique total number of addresses that are participating in some kind of transaction activity on the blockchain every day.

When the value of this metric rises, it means the number of users interacting on the network is going up. Such a trend suggests the cryptocurrency is attracting attention. On the other hand, the indicator going down suggests addresses are turning inactive, potentially because investors have lost interest in the blockchain.

Now, here is the chart shared by Maartunn that shows the trend in the 30-day MA of the Ethereum Active Addresses over the past decade:

As displayed in the above graph, the 30-day MA of the Ethereum Active Addresses saw a rise alongside the bull rally in the second half of 2025, implying user activity ramped up. Price surges tend to be exciting to investors, so it’s not unusual to see transaction interest go up alongside them.

From the chart, it’s visible that once the bearish market shift occurred in the last quarter of 2025, the Active Addresses also started going down, a sign that investors began to shift their attention away from the network.

In 2026 so far, however, something extraordinary has happened. While Bitcoin saw another leg down during February, what actually accompanied it was a sharp spike in the indicator that took its value to a new ATH.

In the past, cyclical peaks in the Active Addresses has tended to coincide with major bull runs, with bear markets usually witnessing a cooldown in the metric. As such, the latest trend in the Ethereum network has broken the conventional pattern.

In some other news, the Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) started on a green streak earlier, but the last two days has seen the netflow trend flip back to negative, as data from SoSoValue shows.

As is visible in the above graph, the US Ethereum spot ETFs have seen $136.4 million flow out during the past day. The day before, they saw outflows of over $55 million. While these red netflow spikes haven’t retraced all the inflows that occurred during the early six-day streak, they still hint at a change of winds in the market.

ETH Price

At the time of writing, Ethereum is floating around $2,100, unchanged from one week ago.

Shareholders filed a class action lawsuit in New York against crypto exchange Gemini, co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and multiple executives, alleging that the exchange misled investors during its 2025 initial public offering (IPO).

Gemini Accused Of Misleading Investors

This week, crypto exchange Gemini and several executives were hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly misleading investors before and after the exchange’s September 2025 IPO due to its strategy pivot.

Filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the complaint claims that the IPO documents were “negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation.”

Gemini has primarily generated revenues through transactions, deposits, and fees charged to users of its crypto platform, the Plaintiff highlighted, noting that  the IPO documents reportedly described the company’s revenue growth strategy as “predominantly focused on expanding [its] exchange platform via increased MTUs [monthly transacting users] (…) increased average daily trading volume, and increasing the number of assets available on [its] platform.”

The documents stated that Gemini would increase monthly transacting users through acquiring new retail and institutional users and expanding internationally.

Additionally, the lawsuit argues that throughout the Class Period, from September 12, 2025, to February 17, 2026, Gemini and its executives made statements that were “materially false” and misleading regarding the company’s business operations and prospects.

The ‘Gemini 2.0’ Strategy Pivot

The complaint emphasized the exchange “gave no indication that the Company was poised for an abrupt corporate pivot to a prediction-market-centric business model” or that it would abandon its international growth strategy just months after the IPO.

According to the lawsuit, “the truth began to emerge” in February 2026, when the crypto exchange co-founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, announced a corporate pivot to “Gemini 2.0.”

In a blog post, they described three crucial changes to the exchange’s operations: prediction market would be “more front and center in our experience”; its workforce would be reduced by 25%; and it would exit the UK, European Union (EU), and Australian markets.

The Winklevoss twins acknowledged the challenges Gemini has faced in the international market, arguing that the crypto exchange needed to simplify its structure to stay competitive.

However, the lawsuit alleges that, on this news, Gemini’s Class A common stock price fell 8.72%, to close at $6.70 per share on February 5, 2026. Similarly, it noted that the stock price fell 12.9% on February 17, 2026, on the news of the departure of three senior leaders.

Last month, the firm disclosed in a regulatory filing that Chief Operating Officer (COO) Marshall Beard, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Dan Chen, and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Tyler Meade were departing the company effective immediately.

In addition, the firm reported operating expenses of $520 million to $530 million, a 40% increase from the previous fiscal year, the lawsuit added. It’s worth noting that Gemini’s stock price briefly dropped to an all-time low of $5.51 on March 20, before bouncing to the $5.75 area. This represents a more than 80% drop from its September all-time high of $40.

“As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” the lawsuit stated, seeking a jury trial and damages for investors who bought shares during the IPO and the Class Period.

Несмотря на стабилизацию биткоина у отметки $70 000, трейдеры сохраняют осторожность, не проявляя излишней активности, заявили аналитики компании VanEck.

Аналитики банковского холдинга JPMorgan заявили, что децентрализованная платформа деривативов Hyperliquid набирает популярность на фоне ограничений традиционных торговых площадок.

Virtuals Protocol and t54 have announced that they are bringing “agent commerce” to the XRP Ledger, a move that would let AI agents transact natively using escrowed jobs, evaluator-based verification and programmable settlement.

The announcement was delivered through coordinated posts from Virtuals, t54 and RippleX rather than a visible standalone press release. Virtuals wrote via X:

“Virtuals is powering agent commerce on XRPL. $95B+ in cumulative transaction volume. 75+ regulatory licenses across global markets. The ledger built from day one for payments is now extending into agent commerce. Together with t54, Virtuals is bringing the commerce infrastructure for agents to transact natively on the XRPL.”

While RippleX only commented: “Agent Commerce is Coming,” t54 added: “Agent commerce is coming to the XRPL. With Virtuals, agents can transact autonomously: escrowed jobs, verification through evaluators, and programmable settlement. Using t54’s x402 facilitator, agents can already natively pay in XRP and RLUSD.”

AI Agents Can Now Pay In XRP And RLUSD

Under the hood, the architecture appears to split cleanly across two layers. Virtuals brings the commerce logic through its Agent Commerce Protocol, or ACP. t54 brings the payment rail through its x402 facilitator, which its documentation describes as infrastructure that “verifies and settles presigned payment transactions” so an API can charge per request “without API keys, custodial wallets, or custom payment glue.” In the same documentation set, t54 shows support for XRP payments and IOU-style assets, including RLUSD.

That matters because x402 is not just a product name inside this announcement. Coinbase describes x402 as an open payment protocol built around the dormant HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code, designed to let APIs, websites and autonomous agents pay programmatically for access over standard web requests.

In practice, this means an agent can hit a paid endpoint, receive payment requirements, sign a transaction, and have the facilitator submit and settle it on-ledger without the old account-and-session model that most API monetization still relies on.

Virtuals’ role is to give those payments a commercial workflow instead of a raw transfer. In its whitepaper, the protocol describes ACP as a framework for “secure, transparent, and verifiable commerce between autonomous AI agents.”

The mechanics line up closely with RippleX’s summary on X: buyer and provider agents can create jobs, lock payment into smart-contract escrow, route approval through either the buyer or an optional evaluator, and release funds only after successful evaluation.

t54 has been making a broader institutional case for this market since its February seed round, which included strategic participation from Ripple and Virtuals Ventures. At the time, founder Chandler Fang said existing finance rails were built around human actors and now need “agent-native financial primitives” such as verifiable identity, real-time risk assessment and programmable accountability.

At press time, XRP traded at $1.44.

Сооснователь Fundstrat Global Advisors и председатель BitMine Immersion Technologies Том Ли (Tom Lee) заявил, что эфир может достичь дна к концу марта, после чего рынок перейдет к фазе восстановления.

Гендиректор компании Alphractal Жоао Ведсон (Joao Wedson) заявил, что криптоинвесторы регулярно совершают одни и те же ошибки. По его словам, убытки чаще всего связаны с эмоциональными решениями на пиках рынка.

A blockchain analytics firm found that nearly 90% of money processed by a UK-registered crypto exchange in 2024 was connected to Iran’s most powerful military organization.

A Billion Dollars And A Fake Boss

TRM Labs, which tracks cryptocurrency flows, reported that Zedxion Exchange and a related platform called Zedcex moved roughly $1 billion tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In 2024, IRGC-linked payments made up about 87% of all transactions the two exchanges handled. Even as that share fell to roughly 48% in 2025, the raw dollar amounts connected to the Iranian military group remained massive.

Now the UK is shutting the exchange down.

Britain’s Companies House — the government body that registers businesses — has started a compulsory strike-off against Zedxion Exchange Ltd. Authorities say the company filed false information, including listing a director who never existed.

Stock Photo, Fake Name, Real Money

The fictitious director was registered under the name Elizabeth Newman, listed as a citizen of the Dominican Republic.

An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found that the woman behind the name was likely manufactured entirely — her image in company marketing videos traced back to a stock photo.

Before Newman appeared in company records, a man named Babak Morteza held the director position. His details matched those of Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman who had previously been sentenced to death in Iran for stealing state oil funds.

That sentence was reduced in 2024, and Zanjani resumed business operations. Morteza was listed as director and the person with significant control of Zedxion from October 2021 to August 2022.

Zanjani is also said to head DotOne Holding Group, a conglomerate with operations across cryptocurrency, foreign exchange, logistics, and telecommunications — sectors that have been used in the past to sidestep international sanctions.

Washington Acted First

The UK crackdown follows US sanctions imposed in January by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Both Zedxion and Zedcex were named in that action. OFAC said Zanjani helped fund projects supporting the IRGC and the Iranian government more broadly.

Company filings for the two exchanges also showed dormant accounts, a detail that stood in sharp contrast to the enormous transaction volumes blockchain analysts traced through them.

The UK passed the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act in 2023, giving Companies House new authority to verify the identities of directors and check that registered businesses were set up for lawful purposes.

The Zedxion case marks one of the more visible uses of those powers.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

В России мошенники используют онлайн-сервисы и рассылают письма с опросами, чтобы выманивать у пользователей криптовалюту. В январе-феврале было заблокировано 35 000 таких писем, сообщили эксперты «Лаборатории Касперского».

Ethereum has flipped bearish following the market’s reaction to the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, but its price remains firm above the $2,100 level. Given the bearish conditions, the market dynamics of ETH are starting to shift as key metrics signal a possible liquidity trap ahead at current levels.

An Ethereum Liquidity Trap Signal Emerges

After recent price action, an on-chain indicator is triggering fresh concerns around Ethereum and its market dynamics. These kinds of signals are typically seen during volatile periods and could play a crucial role in shaping the altcoins’ next price trajectory in the short term.

Combining signals from multiple metrics, Boris, a crypto trader and on-chain analyst, has outlined the potential formations of a liquidity trap for ETH. Even though price activity may seem stable on the surface, underlying data indicate that liquidity is being concentrated in a way that could surprise traders.

As ETH’s price climbed toward the $2,400 level, the Whale Vs Retail Delta continued to move into negative territory. This trend underscores a key divergence in activity between large holders and smaller investors in the market. Simply put, large holders or whales are reducing their relative activity or exposure, while small traders are becoming more active in the market.

Currently, whale investors are closing their long positions in Ethereum and opening more short positions. Meanwhile, retail holders are doing the opposite as they aggressively open long positions. When institutional players retreat while retail engagement increases, this imbalance frequently indicates a shifting mood under the surface. A trend of this kind is considered a classic liquidity illusion.

Boris highlighted that buying pressure saw robust strength for a period, but those buys were absorbed by sell-side liquidity. As a result, the market has entered a cooling phase. Historically, the current market setup hints at further downside pressure.

Adding to the market trend is the ETH Liquidation Levels metric. Data shows a significant long buildup over the past month, with key liquidity targets at $1,850 and below. While the price is moving up, the market is clearly demonstrating weakening strength underneath.

ETH Closes Recent CME Gap

Ethereum’s recent price action was met with a CME Gap. However, CW, a market expert and investor, reported that the leading action has filled the gap, which was located at $2,117. As the market tries to correct inefficiencies, these gaps, which are frequently created during times of intense price movement, may serve as magnets for subsequent price action.

After closing the gap, a buy wall has been formed around $2,100, and this level aligns with the Fibonacci level of 0.382. If a rebound occurs after reaching the $2,100 level, the next target is around $2,686, a price that corresponds to the 0.382 fib level. Meanwhile, if ETH rises to this level, another CME gap ahead will be filled.

Жительница города Павлова перевела мошенникам более 6,3 млн рублей в попытке заработать на инвестициях в криптовалюту, сообщили в ГУ МВД по Нижегородской области.

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