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Over the weekend, the cryptocurrency market saw heightened bearishness, with Bitcoin’s price pulling back sharply and dropping below $70,000. With the BTC price shifting toward a downward trend, the percentage of supply held at a loss has surged, reaching a crucial level.

Growing Share Of Bitcoin Holders Face Losses

After the sudden weekend pullback, Bitcoin market dynamics are experiencing a shift that might shape its direction in the coming days or weeks. As its current decline intensifies, BTC is still under pressure to decline, driving an increasing percentage of its circulating supply into the loss area.

Darkfost, a market expert and verified author at CryptoQuant, recently reported on the X platform that roughly one of two investors is currently sitting at a loss. More specifically, this is the amount of Bitcoin that is kept in each Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO).

This suggests that more Bitcoin is now held at prices lower than their purchase price, indicating how short-term market participants are experiencing increased stress. Rising supply in losses has frequently emerged close to times of market stabilization and is thought to be a crucial sign of market sentiment.

On-chain data currently shows that about 43% of the supply kept in UTXO is in loss, demonstrating the extent to which unrealized losses have propagated throughout the network. In the past, the histogram illustrates that about 75% of the Bitcoin supply has been profitable. The expert highlighted that this level often serves as a rough boundary between a bull trend and a market correction. 

Typically, when bull trends are confirmed, they accelerate once the market moves above that level. However, corrections usually start to take shape when a larger portion of the supply starts to lose money. With 57% of supply in profit, the market is currently at levels more similar to those observed during deep bear market stages.

Bitcoin is starting to show signs of stabilization here, which aligns with the ongoing consolidation. Meanwhile, the market may still decline in order to further shake out long-term holders. At the same time, the share of supply in loss could be pushed toward around 45%, marking a level that has been reached in previous bear markets.

BTC Recovering On The ETF Front

Even in the volatile landscape, fresh data from CryptoRus shows that Bitcoin is still witnessing a post-ATH supply reset. During this period, BTC reserves on cryptocurrency exchanges have been declining since late 2024, which means fewer coins are left in these trading platforms. In addition, this trend signals reduced selling as investors choose self-custody wallets, underscoring long-term holdings. 

CryptoRus noted that Spot BTC ETF holdings plummeted after Bitcoin reached a new all-time high, a situation that probably contributed to the recent price correction as demand from institutional investors fades. However, these ETF outflows are beginning to stabilize, signaling a crucial shift in demand.

If the ETF starts to record positive flows again while crypto exchanges’ reserves continue to drop, the balance of supply and demand for BTC might quickly tighten.

The traditional banking sector in the United States is reportedly intensifying its opposition to crypto firms and considering a potential lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over federal licenses granted to these companies. 

According to a Monday report by The Guardian, the Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is evaluating its legal options after the OCC did not respond favorably to repeated warnings from influential banking groups and state regulators concerning its reinterpretation of federal licensing rules.

Banks Demand Action Against OCC’s Crypto Licenses

Since President Donald Trump took office, the OCC has streamlined the process for crypto firms and fintech startups to acquire and operate under a national bank trust charter, which allows them to serve customers in all 50 states. 

This resulted in conditional bank charters being approved for five major crypto firms, including Ripple, Circle (CRCL), BitGo, Paxos, and Fidelity, back in December of last year. 

However, traditional banks express concern that this approval effectively releases these firms into the broader financial system without the stringent oversight and controls that fully-fledged banks undergo. 

In October, the Bank Policy Institute publicly urged the regulator to reject license applications from notable crypto and blockchain companies, including Circle, Ripple, and the London-based payment firm Wise. 

The BPI, which counts banking leaders such as Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs among its board members, cautioned that granting lighter regulatory frameworks to firms offering bank-like services could blur the lines defining what constitutes a “bank.” 

This, they argued, could exacerbate systemic risk and undermine the integrity of the national banking charter. Currently, the BPI is contemplating whether to initiate legal action against the OCC.

Smaller Banks And State Regulators Also Push Back

The Guardian also reported that the OCC’s approach to crypto has also faced resistance from smaller banking groups and state regulators.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which represents regulators from all 50 states, sent a letter to the OCC last month arguing that granting regulatory approval to crypto and payment firms would compromise competition, consumer protection, and financial stability.

Similar concerns were echoed by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), an organization representing approximately 5,000 smaller banks. 

The ICBA warned that the current proposals to issue licenses to crypto companies would create a “loophole” in core banking regulations and raise serious public policy concerns about consumer safety and the overall stability of the financial services sector.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Crypto pundit CW has noted that transactions on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) are rising rapidly, which presents a bullish outlook for XRP. The analyst noted how this is a positive signal and could indicate that a bullish reversal may be on the horizon for the altcoin. 

Transactions On The XRP Ledger Are On The Rise

In an X post, CW shared CryptoQuant data showing that transactions on the XRP Ledger are increasing. He noted that in a bear market, investors generally leave the market, and transactions decrease. Meanwhile, an increase in transactions is a pattern that occurs before a rally.

CW stated that the increase in transactions on the XRP Ledger is a positive signal, especially given that it has rebounded strongly from the lows recorded in December 2024. The increase in this metric comes amid a market downtrend, partly due to increasing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. 

Oil prices have continued to rise amid the U.S.-Iran war, reaching as high as $115 today, its highest level since 2022, putting XRP and the broader crypto market at risk. On-chain analytics platform Glassnode recently revealed that 36.8 billion XRPs are currently in loss at current levels, which translates to an unrealized loss of $50.8 billion. 

Crypto analyst ChartNerd stated that a big move is brewing for XRP based on this development. The analyst had alluded to the liquidity heatmap, noting that there was a liquidity stack to the downside between $1 and $1.20. He also revealed that there is a liquidity stack to the upside at $1.80. As such, XRP could drop to between $1.20 and $1 to grab the downside liquidity before it then rebounds to grab the liquidity at around $1.80. 

Why XRP Could Still Drop To $0.7

In another X post, ChartNerd predicted that XRP could still drop to $0.7. He noted that this prediction is partly based on Bitcoin’s structure and the tendency to follow 4-year cyclical behavior, with prices topping out in the fourth quarter of last year. The analyst added that mid-term years, such as this year, are also historically bearish for crypto. 

ChartNerd said that XRP could rebound sooner, alongside Bitcoin and the broader market. However, he noted that Bitcoin’s structure repeats like clockwork during typical bearish mid-term years and bear markets. As such, the analyst remarked that it is important for BTC to hold the support on its $60,000 low to invalidate a decline towards $50,000 to $40,000, which could open the door for XRP to drop towards $0.70. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.35, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Treasury sent Congress its GENIUS‑Act‑mandated report on “innovative tools” to fight crypto‑enabled illicit finance.

A Crypto’s “Hold Law” And A Privacy Paradox

In a 32-page report submitted to the US Congress this March, the U.S. Treasury Department has endorsed lawful uses of crypto mixers (a service that takes in cryptocurrency from many different users, mixes all those coins together, and then sends each user back an equivalent amount from the pool, but from different addresses than the ones they used to deposit) in favor of privacy.

However, it has also urged lawmakers to create a new “digital‑asset‑specific hold law” so platforms can freeze suspicious funds.

Mixers, Privacy And DPRK

The report notes favorably that mixing and similar tools “can be used by lawful users seeking to enhance financial privacy on public blockchains,” including for “protecting sensitive information about personal wealth, business transactions, or charitable donations from public view. It adds that Treasury “recognizes that privacy‑enhancing technologies, including mixers and other obfuscation tools, may serve legitimate purposes when used by compliant actors in line with applicable AML/CFT requirements.”

On the other side, the same report also stresses that North Korea’s cyber units and major ransomware crews rely on mixers, cross‑chain bridges, and rapid swaps as core infrastructure to launder massive hauls from hacks and fraud. The report cites billions of dollars in stolen digital assets tied to DPRK actors and details how those funds are pushed through mixers and into stablecoins before being bridged and cashed out, using the same tools that ordinary users might pick for privacy.

What The “Hold Law” Would Do

Therefore, to tackle this paradox, the report proposes a “hold law” that would ensure that legitimate, clean, users keep their privacy while unlawful or suspicious activity can be addressed. Under the proposal, crypto exchanges and other regulated platforms would gain a clear and legal “pause button” for suspicious funds. The report recommends that “Congress establish a digital‑asset‑specific statutory ‘hold’ authority” that would allow platforms “to temporarily retain or delay the movement of digital assets associated with suspected illicit activity while appropriate legal process is pursued.” Firms could temporarily hold or delay those assets when strong red flags appear, with statutory cover for doing so.

The idea would be to give law enforcement time to act against ransomware crews, large fraud schemes, or state‑sponsored hackers, while limiting the tool to narrowly defined, high‑risk cases so routine customer flows are not frozen by default.

TradFi and Legacy media have often linked mixers to money laundering, with Tornado Cash as the obvious cautionary tale. Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin has repeatedly argued that mixers are neutral tools, even saying he used Tornado Cash to make a private donation to Ukraine, and is now backing ‘compliant’ designs like Privacy Pools that aim to protect on‑chain privacy without commingling with known dirty funds.

Another Piece On The GENIUS Act Puzzle

The report is part of the broader GENIUS Act framework, the law Trump signed to create a federal regime for payment stablecoins and push “innovative” tools against illicit finance. It fulfills a mandate for Treasury to spell out how AI, digital identity, and blockchain analytics should be used under a risk‑based AML approach.

The report also proposes a preferred tech stack (AI, digital ID, blockchain analytics, APIs) that regulated platforms should deploy under a risk‑based AML approach.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

Der Preis für US-Öl ist im vorbörslichen Handel auf über 120 $ pro Barrel gestiegen, nachdem die anhaltende Eskalation des Konflikts mit dem Iran wichtige Versorgungsleitungen im Nahen Osten unterbrochen und weltweite Besorgnis über den Energiemarkt ausgelöst hat.

Berichte über Angriffe auf die Energieinfrastruktur und die Verschärfung der Beschränkungen in der Straße von Hormus haben die Referenzpreise nach oben getrieben. Dies lässt alte Sorgen über Inflation und globales Wachstum wieder aufleben, die die traditionellen Märkte hart getroffen haben.

Bitcoin hat sich während der jüngsten Schwankungen überraschend stabil über 67.000 $ gehalten und die Aufmerksamkeit erfahrener Investoren auf sich gezogen, die mehr als nur ein passives Engagement in der führenden Kryptowährung suchen.

Dies ist einer der Hauptgründe, warum der Presale von Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) in diesem Zeitraum starke Kapitalzuflüsse verzeichnete, da die Teilnehmer nach praktischen Wegen suchen, um das Beste aus ihrem Bitcoin herauszuholen.

Da die Bitcoin Layer-2-Technologie in den kommenden Monaten an den Start gehen soll und der HYPER-Presale schnell seinem Ende entgegengeht, scheint Bitcoin Hyper bereit zu sein, für echten Aufwind zu sorgen, sobald sich die Lage beruhigt.

Ölpreise übersteigen 120 $: Iran-Konflikt erschüttert die Märkte

Die Situation im Iran hat sich innerhalb von nur neun Tagen von einem angespannten Stillstand zu einer umfassenden globalen Störung ausgeweitet. Dies zeigt, wie schnell sich wirtschaftliche Instabilität ausbreitet, sobald Panik einsetzt.

Die Angriffe auf wichtige Anlagen und die durch iranische Angriffsdrohungen unterbrochenen Schifffahrtswege haben echte Versorgungsprobleme verursacht und die Öl-Futures stark nach oben getrieben, wobei die USO-Futures (US-Öl) heute Morgen die Marke von 120 $ überschritten haben.

Experten beginnen offiziell, den Konflikt mit dem Iran als „Krise“ für die Teilnehmer aller Finanzmärkte einzustufen, insbesondere angesichts der Auswirkungen, die die Situation auf die Inflation und mögliche Dominoeffekte haben könnte.

Dennoch sind die Preise von Bitcoin und Ethereum trotz allem stabil geblieben. Letzte Woche überstieg BTC sogar die Marke von 70.000 $ (nach der expliziten Unterstützung von Donald Trump für die Web3-Industrie und dem US-Klarheitsgesetz), während sich die 2.000 $ als wichtiges Schlachtfeld für ETH-Trader erwiesen haben.

Der US-Aktienmarkt fiel während der heutigen vorbörslichen Sitzung, was die Widerstandsfähigkeit der Kryptowährungen umso beeindruckender macht.

Der Analyst Ted Pillows hob die Unterstützung durch Orderbücher in „Whale“-Größe für BTC und ETH hervor, was darauf hindeutet, dass die großen Marktteilnehmer „bereit sein könnten, jeden signifikanten Rückgang aufzukaufen“.

Das Vertrauen ist spürbar, wenn Whales solche Bewegungen diskret vollziehen, aber auch der Presale von Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) hat sich bei Smart-Money-Investoren als beliebt erwiesen.

Angesichts hunderter Käufer, die herbeieilen, und einer großen Anzahl, die sogar sechsstellige Beträge auf einmal in HYPER investiert, ist offensichtlich, dass viele Menschen nach Bitcoin-bezogenen Projekten suchen, die mehr ermöglichen, als nur auf die nächste Kursbewegung zu warten.

Bitcoin Hyper sammelt fast 32 Millionen US-Dollar ein: So funktioniert es

Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) eine der neuen Kryptowährungen ist, die die schnellste Layer-2-Lösung (L2) der Geschichte entwickelt, die speziell für Bitcoin konzipiert wurde.

Sie nutzt die ausfallsichere Proof-of-Work-Sicherheit von Bitcoin und kombiniert sie mit der ultraschnellen Geschwindigkeit der Solana Virtual Machine. Das bedeutet, dass man nahezu sofortige Transaktionen und minimale Gebühren erhält, während alles sicher auf der Hauptkette von Bitcoin abgewickelt wird.

Die dezentrale kanonische L2-Bridge ermöglicht es, BTC zwischen den Layern zu bewegen, ohne die Kontrolle abzugeben, sodass Staking, Trading und die Ausführung von dApps innerhalb des Bitcoin-Ökosystems verbleiben.

Da die Ölvolatilität wieder im Fokus steht, ist der auf Nutzen ausgerichtete Ansatz von Bitcoin Hyper besonders zeitgemäß. Bitcoin hat einmal mehr bewiesen, dass er in makroökonomischen Stürmen als Wertaufbewahrungsmittel fungieren kann, und Bitcoin Hyper führt diese Stärke weiter, indem es Inhabern ermöglicht, ihre BTC produktiv zu nutzen.

Die Roadmap des Projekts ist zudem perfekt auf die wachsende Akzeptanz abgestimmt. HYPER wird die einzige Möglichkeit sein, Governance-Stimmen zu erwerben, Staking-Belohnungen zu generieren und Transaktionsgebühren auf der neuen L2 zu bezahlen; ein Grund, warum das Momentum selbst in der letzten anderthalb Wochen ungebrochen war.

Wie man mit dem Bitcoin Hyper Presale beginnt

In Anbetracht dessen, was wir bisher gesehen haben, überrascht es nicht, dass der HYPER-Presale bereits fast 32 Millionen US-Dollar eingesammelt hat. Der aktuelle Preis von HYPER liegt bei 0,0136767 $ (allerdings nur für die nächsten Stunden), und frühe Teilnehmer können sofort Staking-Belohnungen von 37 % erhalten.

Die offizielle Website von Bitcoin Hyper macht den Einstieg einfach. Dort angekommen, nutzt man einfach das integrierte Widget, um sein Krypto-Wallet zu verbinden, und kann damit beginnen, HYPER-Token im Tausch gegen ETH, USDT, USDC, BNB oder SOL zu erwerben.

Die Seite akzeptiert auch Bankkartenzahlungen, falls man den Krypto-Tausch komplett umgehen möchte.

Für mobile Nutzer bietet Best Wallet eine einfache Möglichkeit, HYPER zu kaufen und zu staken – zum gleichen Preis und mit der gleichen Staking-APY – und anschließend die Bestände zu verfolgen.

Unser Leitfaden zum Thema Kauf von Bitcoin Hyper beschreibt den Prozess Schritt für Schritt.

Haftungsausschluss: Dieser Artikel dient nur zu Informationszwecken und stellt keine Finanzberatung dar. Kryptowährungen sind hochvolatile Vermögenswerte und bergen ein erhebliches Risiko.

Traders watching Bitcoin climb alongside US software stocks last week may have drawn the wrong conclusion. According to NYDIG, a financial services company focused on Bitcoin, the visual parallel is misleading.

Only about 25% of BTC price movement can be traced back to its relationship with equity markets. The remaining 75% is driven by forces that have nothing to do with the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq.

Greg Cipolaro, head of research at NYDIG, made the case in a Friday note. His argument: when Bitcoin and software stocks move in the same direction, it is not because they are structurally linked. Both are reacting to the same macro pressures — the kind that push investors toward or away from risk assets broadly.

“The conclusion that Bitcoin and software equities have structurally converged is overstated,” Cipolaro wrote.

A Shared Macro Trigger, Not A Common Identity

Bitcoin’s 90-day rolling correlation with software stocks has climbed since the cryptocurrency hit a record above $126,000 in early October. But Cipolaro pointed out that its correlations with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen at the same time.

Liquidity Sensitive Assets

That pattern suggests the shift is not specific to software stocks — it is a wider phenomenon tied to investor appetite for risk.

Data shows that both the alpha crypto and software equities are being treated as long-duration, liquidity-sensitive assets. When macro conditions favor risk-taking, both go up. When they don’t, both get hit.

That shared sensitivity to monetary conditions is what has been driving the parallel movement, not any deeper connection between the two.

The “Bitcoin is a tech stock” narrative has circulated before. It tends to resurface during periods when correlations tick higher and the assets appear to move in lockstep. Cipolaro’s note pushes back on that framing directly.

Crypto’s Distinct Drivers Keep It In A Category Of Its Own

Despite the elevated correlations, NYDIG argues that Bitcoin has a market structure that sets it apart. Network activity, adoption trends, and policy developments all shape its price in ways that do not apply to software companies.

Those factors, Cipolaro said, support Bitcoin’s role as a portfolio diversifier even when cross-asset correlations are climbing.

One tension the note acknowledges is Bitcoin’s failure to trade like gold. It has long been called “digital gold,” but reports indicate it is not being bought as a hedge against economic instability.

Traders appear to be allocating to it along a risk curve rather than out of any distinct monetary conviction.

Correlations with equities are elevated right now. But based on NYDIG’s analysis, they are far from the full story of what moves Bitcoin’s price — and far from enough to call it a software stock.

Featured image from ION, chart from TradingView

Charles Hoskinson says Cardano’s Pentad initiative is dealing with a roughly $40 million funding gap after ADA fell from around $0.83 at the time of the original proposal to roughly $0.25. In a March 6 video update, the Cardano founder said the plan was initially working with the equivalent of about $58 million in value from 70 million ADA, but that figure has since dropped to about $18 million.

That repricing, he argued, has fundamentally changed the economics of the program. “The reality is that there’s a $40 million shortfall between when we wanted to do it and where we’re at today,” Hoskinson said. “Every single member of the Pentad has to accept that shortfall, meaning out of pocket for commitments and obligations. They have to make it up.”

Hoskinson Defends The Cardano Pentad

Pentad was designed as a coordinated effort between five core Cardano ecosystem entities to secure commercially important integrations for the network more efficiently and at scale. Hoskinson said the original logic was that Cardano and Midnight could negotiate together and get better aggregate terms, but the collapse in ADA’s dollar value means even the Cardano-side integrations now cost more than the treasury-backed funding effectively covers. Midnight, he said, is also paying for its own integrations out of pocket, with liabilities exceeding $10 million.

A central point of the update was a reimbursement dispute tied to Fireblocks. Hoskinson said one party had negotiated separately with Fireblocks outside the Pentad process, reached its own fee arrangement, and then later sought reimbursement. That, he argued, is not comparable to the more expansive and expensive integration the Midnight Foundation had been negotiating and was never part of the original governance-approved structure.

“Everyone in the Pentad is at a loss. We did not make a profit,” he said. “The vast majority of the integrations will require out-of-pocket expenses from the Cardano Foundation, the Midnight Foundation, Input Output, Emergo, and Intersect and long-term liabilities because many of these things required multi-year contracts.” By contrast, he added, external actors who were not signers to those liabilities cannot reasonably expect to be made whole simply because earlier public comments were made under different assumptions.

Hoskinson nevertheless cast Pentad V1 as an operational success. He said Cardano went from signing a deal with Circle to having USDCX live on the network in 84 days, calling it the number one stablecoin on Cardano already. He also pointed to integrations with LayerZero, Pyth, Dune Analytics and custodians, arguing the effort has moved Cardano from being “an island” to being connected to the broader crypto market.

Related Reading: Cardano Founder Sounds Alarm Over New US Crypto Bill

That shift matters because, in Hoskinson’s view, Cardano’s next challenge is no longer core infrastructure. It is utility, user experience and DeFi traction. He said the ecosystem still needs strategic capital deployment to help applications survive and compete, and floated Pentad V2 as a possible treasury-backed “weighted index” of Cardano DApps and DeFi projects rather than a grant program.

“We don’t have an infrastructure problem,” he said later in the video. “We have DApps and DeFi and we have an experience problem. We were an island. We’re no longer an island. We built those bridges. That’s what you paid for with Pentad.”

The broader message was political as much as financial. Hoskinson framed the reimbursement fight as a test of whether Cardano’s on-chain governance can function under stress without collapsing into public infighting. If the ecosystem can align behind difficult capital-allocation decisions despite lower token prices, he argued, Pentad could become less a funding controversy than an early demonstration of whether Cardano’s governance model can actually execute.

At press time, ADA traded at $0.2548.

Bitcoin, being referred to as digital gold, is nothing new, as proponents have, for the longest time, expected the digital asset to replicate gold’s growth. Currently, the market cap of gold is more than 20 times that of BTC, but that has not changed the expectations that BTC will eventually be the bigger asset. This time around, it is Bitcoin proponent Samson Mow who is once again making the comparison and predicting what could happen between the two assets.

Betting On Bitcoin To Overtake Gold

In an X post, Samson Mow once again reiterated support for BTC, but this time around, the Bitcoin maximalist is pitching it against gold. According to Mow’s statements, BTC is expected to be ‘exponential gold’, a statement that speaks to how high the JAN3 CEO expects the BTC price to go.

Explaining the reason behind giving BTC this title, Mow explains that he expects that the digital asset will eventually surpass gold. As mentioned above, the gold market cap is already more than 20 times higher than the Bitcoin market cap; the cryptocurrency will have a lot of growing to do. However, Mow remains unfazed by this.

Bitcoin is exponential gold. So it will inevitably outperform gold.

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) March 8, 2026

Taking into account the current Bitcoin market cap, as well as the total supply of the digital asset, rising enough to surpass gold’s $35.5 million market cap would put the BTC price well above $1.6 million. Given that the Bitcoin price is currently trending around $67,000 at the time of this report, it would translate to a 2,500% increase to do this.

Always Bullish On BTC

Samson Mow’s advocacy for Bitcoin did not just start recently, as his company, JAN3, which was founded back in 2022, is focused on expanding access to BTC. Through his company, Mow has pushed to further BTC’s growth and adoption by making it easier for users to get into the digital asset.

Outside of adoption, the founder is also very bullish on the BTC price. Back in January 2026, Mow unveiled his BTC predictions for the year, sparking a lot of interest. As he explained, he expects the BTC price to reach as high as $1.33 million per coin.

Other predictions include at least one country finally launching Bitcoin Bonds, as well as billionaire Elon Musk making a big play for the cryptocurrency. Also, Strategy’s stock price (formerly MicroStrategy) is expected to reach $5,000, and last but not least, BTC is expected to eventually outperform metals such as gold.

The price of Bitcoin has struggled to muster a sustained upward climb over the last few weeks, with the latest one failing around the $74,000 mark in the past week. However, the premier cryptocurrency seems to have deeper problems than failed price recovery attempts. According to a crypto market expert, the Bitcoin price is at a stage reminiscent of the bearish period of 2022.

Is BTC About To Witness A Repeat Of 2022?

In a March 8 post on the X platform, Chartered Market Technician Tony Severino shared an interesting insight into the current situation of the Bitcoin market. The crypto pundit hypothesized that the world’s largest cryptocurrency might have to endure a bearish period associated with the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem crash in 2022.

The rationale behind this evaluation is the steady decline in the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator on BTC’s two-week price chart. MACD is a prominent momentum indicator used in technical analysis to identify trend direction, momentum changes, and potential entry and exit positions.

Typically, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator has two lines: the MACD line (green) and the signal line (red), and a histogram, which reflects the distance between the two aforementioned lines. The histogram, which is the primary momentum indicator, is currently signaling a strong bearish momentum.

This observation is because the histogram bars are expanding, signaling rising momentum in the current direction (which is bearish because the bars are below the neutral or zero line). According to Severino, the MACD indicator is even expanding to levels not seen since 2022, when the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem collapse sent bearish shockwaves through the entire crypto market.

2W Bitcoin LMACD momentum is around the same point before the Luna collapse in 2022

It’s possible something nasty is coming

How are you managing your risk? And do you even know how? pic.twitter.com/SFzsYJxiZc

— Tony Severino, CMT (@TonySeverinoCMT) March 8, 2026

The crypto market analyst said, “it is possible that something nasty is coming,” suggesting that another crypto winter might be imminent. After Terra’s collapse in May, the premier cryptocurrency would have fallen from above $50,000 to around $30,000 — about a 40% decline — by July 2022.

However, it is important to note that the market might have already priced in what is currently being seen in the MACD indicator, which is often considered a lagging indicator. Moreover, Bitcoin has already lost nearly 30% of its value so far in 2026.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

At the time of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $67,520, reflecting no significant movement in the past 24 hours.

A popular crypto analyst on the social media platform X has shared a buy-and-hold strategy for Bitcoin, which could potentially yield over 250% gain in the near future.

BTC Price To Bottom Out Around $49,000?

In a recent post on the X platform, market pundit Ali Martinez put forward an exciting trade plan for Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. This strategy revolves around the CVDD (Cumulative Value Days Destroyed) Channel.

CVDD is an on-chain technical indicator based on the volume of aged capital being sent into the market. This on-chain metric is typically used in highlighting zones of long-term support or resistance based on the movement of long-held coins.

The Cumulative Value Days Destroyed line, which is typically the lowest line in the channel, signals a phase of severe undervaluation. The channel extensions (the resistance bands, which are usually the targets during bull markets) are then created by applying Fibonacci multiples to the base CVDD line.

The CVDD Channel by @Alphractal lays out a simple game plan for Bitcoin $BTC:

• Buy near $49,330. • Take profits between $178,478 and $273,158. pic.twitter.com/4k9nKyli0S

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) March 7, 2026

From a historical perspective, the Bitcoin price has never dropped below the CVDD line (the base line of the channel), marking it as a relevant indicator for identifying cycle bottoms. Hence, the line is often considered a primary accumulation zone, where investors often bet on a price reversal.

As shown in the highlighted chart, this CVDD line (blue) is currently around $49,330, representing the potential Bitcoin bottom in this bearish phase. According to Martinez, this price point also represents the perfect spot to take a position in the flagship cryptocurrency.

Next, the market analyst says to take profit from this trade at the resistance levels around $178,478 or $273,158. These $178,478 and $273,158 resistance levels are the CVDD 3.618x and Alpha CVDD lines, respectively, of the channel, and they represent potential cycle tops for the Bitcoin price.

If the price of BTC indeed soars from $49,330 to at least the $178,478 top, that would represent an over 260% rally in one cycle. Meanwhile, it would take a further 53% upside movement from $178,478 toward the next resistance level.

Bitcoin Price Overview 

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $67,350, reflecting a more than 1% decline in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the premier cryptocurrency is barely up by 1% kn the weekly timeframe.

Bitcoin’s holder metric is quietly telling two very different stories right now, and both give different interpretations of what to expect for the leading cryptocurrency’s price outlook.

On one side, a wave of short-term holders is rushing to lock in profits at the first sign of a price bounce, flooding exchanges with Bitcoin. On the other hand, long-term holders, the market’s most battle-hardened participants, are sitting on their coins in near-total silence, unbothered by the noise.

Short-Term Holders Cashing Out Into Strength

Bitcoin barely twitched above $70,000 for only a few days before the exits started filling up. Data highlighted by crypto analyst Darkfrost on CryptoQuant shows that short-term holder selling pressure is beginning to stand out. 

Notably, more than 27,000 BTC in profit was reportedly sent to exchanges by short-term holders within a space of 24 hours, a figure that places current activity among the highest profit-realization readings seen in recent months. As shown in the chart below, the last time more BTC in profit was sent to crypto exchanges was in early January 2026.

That matters because short-term holders tend to be the market’s most reactive participants. They usually respond quickly to price swings. The chart tracking short-term holder profit and loss to exchanges shows a spike in profit-taking as Bitcoin attempted to regain footing above $70,000. 

Interestingly, the cohort currently in profit are addresses who bought Bitcoin between one week and one month ago, with a realized price around $68,000. That places them in a position where even the recovery is an opportunity to de-risk. Everyone else in the short-term cohort is either at breakeven or underwater.

Bitcoin Short-Term Holder P&L To Exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant

Long-Term Holders Sending A Different Message

Long-term holders (LTHs), the cohort defined by holding Bitcoin for more than 155 days, are exhibiting a level of inactivity that matches conditions associated with bear market lows. According to the Coin Value Days Destroyed (CVDD) metric, which measures not just when long-held coins are moved but how much economic weight those movements carry, the current reading sits around 0.34.

To put that in context, market tops have historically formed when CVDD exceeded 2.0, which shows that LTHs are selling heavily. At 0.34, the market is nowhere near that territory. Therefore, long-term holders are, by and large, choosing to sit still and not contribute to selling pressure. 

As shown in the metric chart below, the last time long-term holders had high selling activity was in early January 2026. This matters because LTHs aren’t just a passive footnote in the Bitcoin narrative.

They are always the crypto industry’s most strategically minded participants. Right now, they appear to be waiting either for higher prices to sell into or for the price action to deteriorate enough to accumulate more.

BTC: Value Days Destroyed. Source: @Darkfost_Coc On X

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

South Korean authorities are reportedly moving to exclude stablecoins from an incoming framework that will allow listed companies to invest in cryptocurrencies. The decision is reportedly tied to existing foreign exchange laws, but reflects a cautious approach in permitting institutional exposure to the digital asset market.

South Korea’s FSC Leaves Stablecoins Out of Corporate Options 

According to a report by local media, Herald Economy, South Korea’s financial regulators are leaning toward omitting US dollar–pegged stablecoins such as USDC and USDT from the list of digital assets that corporations will be allowed to hold once the guidelines take effect. 

The regulatory pathway being designed by the nation’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) is aimed at allowing publicly listed companies to invest in cryptocurrencies. However, regulators believe that including stablecoins in the approved investment list would conflict with the existing legal framework over cross-border payments. 

For context, stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to a fiat currency, most commonly the US dollar. Tokens such as USDT and USDC typically maintain a 1:1 value with the dollar and are widely used for trading, settlements, and cross-border payments due to non-existent volatility compared with traditional cryptocurrencies.

 

据韩媒《先驱经济》报道，韩国金融监管机构在拟定允许上市企业投资加密货币的指导方针时，倾向于将 USDT、USDC 等美元稳定币排除在许可名单之外。监管部门认为，由于当前韩国《外国换交易法》尚未将稳定币认定为法定的对外支付手段， 若在指导方针中允许法人投资稳定币，将与现行法律体系产生矛盾。…

— 吴说区块链 (@wublockchain12) March 7, 2026

 

However, South Korean regulators argue that these tokens are currently not recognized within the country’s Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, a law enacted in 1998 and implemented in 1999 to regulate currency flows and international payments. The legislation requires cross-border transactions to pass through designated foreign exchange banks and does not recognize stablecoins as legitimate external payment instruments. 

Therefore, allowing companies to invest in stablecoins could potentially enable firms to bypass the country’s foreign exchange control system by conducting overseas payments directly through blockchain networks. Notably, South Korean corporations involved in international trade have expressed hope for stablecoin inclusion to hedge exchange-rate volatility and facilitate near-instant settlements. Nevertheless, the SFC appears inclined to maintain a conservative stance.

Corporate Crypto Access Expands, But With Limits

The proposed guidelines by the FSC will initially permit investments only in the top 20 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, including assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Meanwhile, corporate exposure would potentially be capped within 5% of a company’s own capital, thus helping mitigate financial risks. 

The move is part of a broader shift in South Korea’s digital asset policy. In 2017, authorities imposed strict restrictions on corporate participation in crypto trading amid concerns about speculation and money laundering. Nearly nine years later, regulators are gradually reopening the market to institutional investors under stricter oversight.

Meanwhile, the Asian country continues to refine its broader crypto regulatory framework. Bitcoinist recently reported that the FSC and the ruling party agreed to cap major shareholder stakes in domestic crypto exchanges to 20% in a bid battle governance risk and founder control.

A federal judge in Manhattan has thrown out a civil lawsuit accusing Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, and its founder Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as CZ, of facilitating financing for multiple terrorist attacks globally. This development represents a significant win for the Seychelles-based exchanges, whose commitment to AML/CFT principles has recently come under serious scrutiny.

Binance Not Accomplice To Terror Attack Despite Illicit Transactions, Court Rules

According to a Reuters report on March 7, around 535 plaintiffs, consisting of victims and relatives of certain terrorist attacks between 2017 and 2024, had filed a lawsuit against Binance alleging the crypto exchange enabled foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) to utilize its trading platform in funding their operations.

The complainants sued for compensation and damages, claiming that CZ and Binance allowed these FTOs, including Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, to move hundreds of millions of dollars in digital assets, thereby funding 64 terrorist attacks in the world. Meanwhile, they also accused Binance of allowing Iranian citizens to send billions of dollars on the exchange despite an existing US sanction that prohibits services to all residents of the Middle Eastern country.  

However, Judge Jeannette Vargas found the plaintiff’s claims lacking. In the court ruling on March 6, Judge Vargas stated that Binance and Zhao’s relationship with the mentioned FTOs was simply at “arms length” in that these entities merely executed transactions on the exchange. Furthermore, while the crypto exchange might have plausibly been aware of these transactions, the judge emphasized that the allegations failed to show direct cause between the exchange’s conduct and the specific attacks listed. 

Nevertheless, the plaintiffs have been granted 60 days to file an amended complaint, which could be presented with more concrete data centered around transaction timing, wallet owners, and possible relationships with the listed attacks.

Binance Drowning In AML/CFT Compliance Checks

Notably, the recent case dismissal comes amid a period of high scrutiny for the Binance exchange. Most recently, Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Investigative panel of the Senate Homeland Security, has opened a preliminary inquiry into the exchange following reports of $1.7 billion Iran-linked transactions on the exchange. Binance has strongly denied the claims, calling the inquiry false, unsubstantiated, and defamatory.

Meanwhile, Senator Chris Van Hollen, alongside nine other lawmakers, has urged the US Department of Justice and Treasury to launch a broader probe into Binance’s sanctions and AML compliance practices. This flurry of attacks comes two years after the exchange secured an initial plea deal of $4.3 billion from both agencies after failing to implement a required anti-money laundering control system on its platform. 

The price of Bitcoin seemed to have broken into a fresh rally after making a run towards $75,000 during the week. However, the premier cryptocurrency has been on a steady decline since hitting a new one-month high around $74,000. According to a prominent blockchain firm, this decline may not be over yet for the price of BTC. 

Whales Offload 66% Of BTC Purchase After $74K High

In a Friday report, Santiment revealed that the price of Bitcoin could even fall lower from its current level due to rising whale activity. According to the crypto analytics firm, BTC whales — holding between 10 and 10,000 coins — acquired significant amounts of the flagship cryptocurrency between February 23 and March 3.

This heavy accumulation by this investor cohort occurred as the Bitcoin price oscillated between $62,900 and $69,600. However, after the market leader climbed above $70,000 and toward $74,000, these whales started offloading their purchases, selling off about 66% of their freshly-acquired coins.

At the same time, retail investors — entities holding below 0.01 Bitcoin — have been increasing their exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency since falling back below $70,000. Santiment noted that “when retail buys while whales sell, it typically signals that the correction is not yet over.”

According to the blockchain firm, the correlation between the 10-10k investor cohort and the Bitcoin price action is currently extremely high. “The reaction time between their moves and price action is almost instantaneous right now, making this the highest-value signal for short-term direction,” Santiment revealed.

In its report, Santiment also acknowledged the ongoing geopolitical conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran. Typically, conflict and tensions lead to volatility — as seen at the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the broader financial market often reacting with fear.

Santiment concluded:

Crypto moves based on the confidence of large capital holders, not just retail panic, so it will be interesting to watch the markets over the coming weeks. The markets are also affected by the expected duration and resolvability of the conflict.

With the current global uncertainty and recent whale activity, it is difficult to be optimistic about how the  Bitcoin price will move over the coming days.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $68,057, reflecting an almost 4% in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the value of the premier cryptocurrency has increased by nearly 7% in the past seven days.

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin holdings risk getting stolen as the quantum threat becomes more of a possibility. BTC developer Hunter Beast has notably proposed the Hourglass V2 proposal amid debates on the best way to handle Satoshi’s supply, to mitigate the impact of sell pressure that Bitcoin could face if these coins get stolen. 

BTC Dev Provides Solution On How To Handle Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Holdings

Beast has proposed version 2 of the Hourglass proposal, which aims to reduce the Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) output that can be included in transaction inputs to 1 BTC per block. It is worth noting that Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin stash of around 1.1 million BTC is a P2PK address, which exposes the public key and makes it more vulnerable to quantum attacks. 

A Chainalysis report revealed that approximately $718 billion in Bitcoin is held in addressesvulnerable to quantum attacks, including these P2PK addresses. As such, Bitcoin could face an unprecedented supply shock if these coins get stolen by quantum attackers. 

Beast’s Hourglass proposal aims to minimize selling pressure to the barest minimum while also offering a compromise on whether to freeze or burn Satoshi Nakamoto’s coins to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. The Hourglass v2 proposal also noted that burning or freezing these coins may be viewed as confiscatory, which could set a dangerous precedent for changing Bitcoin’s monetary policy going forward. 

If activated, the Hourglass V2 proposal will ensure that only one P2PK output may be included as a transaction input per block. Furthermore, no P2PK outputs to any address not currently being spent from can be created. Lastly, no P2PK outputs can be created from other output types. 

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that this proposal applies only to P2PK addresses, and other outputs that are vulnerable to quantum threats remain at risk. This is because putting similar restrictions on other output types may limit the transition to quantum-resistant Bitcoin addresses. These other output types are still commonly used, unlike Satoshi Nakamoto’s P2PK address, which makes the latter easy to sunset.

Rationale For The Proposal 

The Hourglass V2 proposal will limit P2PK output to approximately 144 BTC per day. Beast noted that this should effectively mitigate the market impacts of quantum attacks on P2PK coins since these quantum attackers won’t be able to dump all the Bitcoin at once. 

Without such restrictions, over 6,000 P2PK transactions could be executed in each block, releasing over 300,000 BTC per block to the market. At such a rate, all P2PK coins, including Satoshi Nakamoto’s, could be spent in just a few hours. 

However, under the rules of the Hourglass V2, it would take more than 32 years to move all P2PK coins, which drastically reduces quantum-related market risks. A positive is that original keyholders, such as Satoshi Nakamoto, should remain able to move their coins even after the proposal is activated, as long as no quantum actors are currently competing for P2PK transactions.

In a positive development for the crypto industry, the Florida State Senate has passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins at the state level. This move comes amid the struggles to enact a broader crypto market structure bill in the United States.

Florida Creates Stablecoin Framework With New Bill

In a Friday, March 7 post on X, Samuel Armes, founder of the Florida Blockchain Business Association web3 advocacy group, announced that a bill establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins has passed the state legislature. According to the vocal crypto advocate, this bill, named the “Senate Bill 314 (SB314),” will be signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis over the coming weeks.

Senate Bill 314, along with Florida House Bill 175, aims to establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuers in the state. According to Republican Florida State Senator Colleen Burton, this regulatory framework, which aligns with the federal-level GENIUS Act, will include consumer protections and financial stability guidelines.

BITCOIN HISTORY WAS JUST MADE IN FLORIDA

We are now the FIRST STATE to Pass a Stablecoin framework in the nation!

It has now passed the Senate and the House, and will be signed by DeSantis within the next 30 days!

How was this able to happen? Well, because we are literally… pic.twitter.com/KA3odWMPzA

— Samuel Armes (@samuelarmes) March 6, 2026

Specifically, the SB314 bill revises the Florida Control of Money Laundering in Money Services Business Act to include stablecoin, while requiring issuers to comply with existing rules and prohibiting unlicensed issuance in the state. The bill also clarified that specific payment stablecoins are not securities and, hence, are not subject to certain provisions.

The Senate Bill 314’s overview read:

[This bill] specifies that office remains solely responsible for supervising qualified payment stablecoin issuers or is jointly responsible with Office of Comptroller of Currency for such supervision; prohibits trust company from engaging in activity of qualified payment stablecoin issuer unless trust company obtains certificate of approval or is exempted from such certificate.

The GENIUS Act, which was signed into law in July 2025, provides a framework for stablecoin issuance in the US, while providing a foundation for states like Florida to set up their own crypto-based regulatory structure. Banks Need To Make A ‘Good Deal’ With The Crypto Industry: Trump Interestingly, the first state-level stablecoin bill has passed at a time when the conversations around the broader crypto market structure legislation, the CLARITY Act, are at an all-time high. Despite an approved US House draft, the legislation has yet to pass the Senate, partly due to the banking industry’s concerns over yield-bearing stablecoins. On Tuesday, March 3, United States President Donald Trump said that the banking industry is trying to undermine the GENIUS Act and hold the CLARITY Act hostage. In his admonition, Trump stated that the banks need to make a good deal with the crypto industry. According to the President, the Market Structure bill is another step in the direction of making the US the crypto capital of the world.

After months of bearish pressure and fading market enthusiasm, Solana (SOL) appears to be finding its footing again. A new report by Messari, a crypto market intelligence platform, shows the network’s payment volume has surged dramatically by 755%, indicating that users are finally flooding back into the blockchain. Amid this surge, Solana has also seen a significant spike in its exchange-traded fund (ETF) despite its low price, indicating that users and institutional investors are returning to the market. 

Solana 755% TPV Surge Point To User Comeback

In its new report, titled ‘State of Solana Payments,’ Messari reveals that the cryptocurrency is aggressively positioning itself as the backbone of global payment infrastructure. As of February 11, 2026, the report shows that Solana’s Total Payment Volume (TPV) recorded a 755.3% year-over-year growth rate, nearly tripling the median of 268.24% across traditional fintech giants and peer layer-1 blockchains.

The figures place Solana ahead of every competitor measured, including Ethereum at 625.2%, BNB Chain at 648.3%, and legacy processors like PayPal and Fiserv, which posted modest growth rates of 6% and 7.5%, respectively. Notably, the scale of Solana’s TPV growth points to a clear return of users to the ecosystem. Volume at this level does not occur without real on-chain activity, and the data shows that both developers and end users may be actively engaging with SOL’s payment infrastructure again.

In its report, Messari argues that most of SOL’s edge comes from the structural failures of traditional financial infrastructure. The current global system still relies heavily on legacy rails built for the internet. Because of this, payments are often expensive and slow. Transactions can take several days to complete as funds must pass through banks in different countries, placing a heavy burden on cross-border payments. 

Messari notes that Solana addresses these issues by unifying “messaging and settlement into a single atomic operation.” Due to its high throughput and parallel architecture, the blockchain network is said to settle transactions in milliseconds, avoiding intermediaries from correspondent banks and the typical delays seen in legacy systems. Historically, SOL has also reportedly maintained a median block time of 392 milliseconds and a median transaction fee of $0.0004. 

Institutional Investors Quietly Pile Into Solana ETFs

While SOL’s 755% TVL spike indicates that users are finally getting back into the network, institutional investors appear to be making similar moves, as new reports reveal a surge in Solana Spot ETFs. 

According to LookOnChain data, Solana ETFs recorded 447,694 SOL in seven-day inflows, equivalent to approximately $40 million. The ETF surge comes as institutional demand surges despite broader bearish pressures on the SOL price.  

Among the four Solana funds currently available for trading, Bitwise’s (BSOL) has attracted the largest net inflow by a wide margin. Daily flows into BSOL recently reached 205,287 SOL, bringing its seven-day total to 409,402 SOL. Fidelity (FSOL) ranked second in weekly inflows, recording 15,627 SOL over the past seven days, despite its daily inflow reaching just 4 SOL. By comparison, Grayscale’s (GSOL) daily inflow reached 361 SOL, and its seven-day total was 12,530 SOL.

Ethereum is facing renewed scrutiny after Culper Research released a sharply critical report outlining its bearish stance on the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The reporter argues that the key aspects of the ETH ecosystem and long-term narrative may be weaker than widely believed, prompting the firm to disclose that it has taken a short position against the asset.

Culper Research Outlines Key Risks Facing Ethereum’s Ecosystem

Investment research firm Culper Research has released a critical report, revealing it has taken a short position on Ethereum. The CEO of Coinbureau, Nic, has shared on X that the reporter outlined that structural changes following the ETH Fusaka Upgrade have significantly expanded blockspace, causing transaction fees to collapse by nearly 90%.

According to the firm, lower fees translate directly into lower validator income, leading to weaker staking economics. Culper further mentions BitMine and argues that the recent rise in transaction activity and active addresses cited as bullish is driven by spam transactions and address-poisoning attacks rather than real adoption.

The firm also reported that Vitalik Buterin sold around 19,000 ETH as if he knew what was going on. While it is a significant amount, representing roughly 8% of Buterin’s total holdings, it may not necessarily indicate an exit or loss of confidence.

At the same time, Nic highlighted that ETH’s design allows for future protocol changes of rules through coordinated upgrades or forks if any economic issues emerge. This won’t be easy politically or technically, but it’s possible. Nic emphasized that he is not taking sides. However, when a firm publishes a detailed thesis and then puts its money behind it, it is worth understanding the mechanics they’re pointing to.

How Gas-Limit Expansion Linked To Falling Transaction Fees

A crypto commentator and the host of the office space, MartyParty, has also offered insights into the matter. Culper Research has opened short positions in Ethereum, arguing that the network entered what is described as a potential “death spiral.” The firm’s thesis is based on on-chain data spanning from January 2025 to February 2026.

A major focus of the report is wallet growth following the Fusaka Upgrade, and Culper alleges that 95% of new wallet creation during the period is linked to dusting or address-poisoning attacks. The firm further claims that dusting-related activity now accounts for roughly 22.5% of all ETH transactions and more than half of the network’s recent transaction growth.

Furthermore, the firm analyzes the economic effects of gas limit increase on the network, contributing to an estimated 90% decline in transaction fees and 40-50% lower tips per gas. Meanwhile, these dynmics could put pressure on validator economics by reducing overall revenue from network activity.

Beyond internal network changes, competition from Solana has captured growing developer and user activity, and reports about Buterin’s ETH dump have drawn backlash from parts of the ETH community.

The crypto market has grown increasingly cautious as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have crashed to former lows amid growing concerns about institutional flows and network fundamentals. Bitcoin’s recent decline below $70,000 appears closely tied to shifts in the demand for its exchange-trading fund (ETF). Meanwhile, Ethereum’s price fell below $2,000 amid strong criticism over its token economics and long-term sustainability, with top market researchers shorting it as they forecast a potential collapse.  

Bitcoin Price Crashes As ETF Flows Reverse

The Bitcoin price is currently trading near $67,000, after falling more than 3% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. The latest drop comes after a sudden shift in institutional demand for Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have been a major driver for market momentum since their launch in 2024.

Data from SoSo Value shows that Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded staggering outflows of roughly $228 million on Thursday, March 5, ending a three-day inflow streak that had brought roughly $1.1 billion into the funds earlier in the week. The reversal comes as sentiment flipped bearish despite the brief bounce above $73,000, underscoring broader market fear and uncertainty. 

Notably, ETF outflows carried over to the next day, with Friday alone seeing withdrawals of more than $348.8 million. While March 2 to 4 initially recorded total net assets of more than $94.57 billion, this figure has since declined to $87.07 billion.

Alongside outflows from Spot Bitcoin ETFs, broader market sell-offs have emerged as a key driver behind Bitcoin’s latest slump. On Friday, major holders sold BTC in large volumes. Additionally, reports reveal that top crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase have been selling Bitcoin, further pressuring the leading cryptocurrency. 

As geopolitical tensions escalate and market volatility rises, Bitcoin’s next price direction remains uncertain. Consequently, analysts like Michael van de Poppe maintain a broadly bearish outlook, predicting steeper declines between $60,000 to $48,000 for BTC. 

Ethereum Price Weakens Amid Token Economics Backlash

The Ethereum price has also slipped below the key psychological $2,000 level and is now trading slightly above $1,900. This decline comes as negative sentiment surrounding the cryptocurrency and its network economic structure surges. 

A recent report from short-selling firm Culper Research warns that Ethereum may be entering “a death spiral” following its December 2025 Fusaka upgrade. According to the report, the upgrade expanded block capacity faster than actual demand, leading to blocks filled with low-value transactions and spam. The firm also criticized Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, for selling ETH and dismissed Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee as “clueless” in the face of Ethereum’s new reality. 

Culper Research emphasized that the Fusaka upgrade weakened Ethereum’s tokenomics by reducing transaction fees and lowering validator earnings and staking yields. The firm also highlighted a surge in address-poisoning attacks, in which attackers send tiny transactions to wallets to trick users into sending funds to fraudulent addresses. They estimate that victims lost at least $87 million just three months following Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade.

In light of these bearish developments, Culper Researchers have announced that they are “short Ether.” The firm has also labeled ETH a “broken token,” predicting that holders will be left with little economic value in the future. 

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

He told his colleagues only after the money was gone. Nevin Shetty, the former chief financial officer of a Seattle-based tech startup, was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison after secretly transferring $35 million in company funds into a cryptocurrency platform he ran on the side — then watching nearly all of it disappear in a matter of months.

A Scheme That Ran In Secret

Shetty made the transfers in 2022 without the knowledge of a single executive or board member at his employer, according to the US Justice Department.

He moved the funds into a platform called HighTower Treasury, which he controlled, and used the money to pour into high-yield DeFi lending protocols promising annual returns of 20% or more.

In the first month, he cleared $133,000. Then the Terra ecosystem collapsed, and the broader crypto market followed it down.

By May 13, 2022, the value of those investments had fallen to nearly zero. With $35 million essentially wiped out, Shetty approached two fellow executives and told them what he had done. He was fired the same day.

The case sat in federal court for years. Shetty was indicted on wire fraud charges in May 2023. A nine-day jury trial followed in November 2025, ending with a guilty verdict on four counts.

At sentencing Thursday, a Seattle judge handed down the two-year prison term. Shetty was also ordered to repay the stolen funds in full and serve three years of supervised release after completing his sentence.

How The Market Timing Made It Worse

The timing of the transfers put Shetty at the center of one of crypto’s most chaotic periods. The collapse of TerraUSD and its sister token Luna in May 2022 triggered a broad market selloff that wiped out billions of dollars in value across the industry.

Reports indicate Shetty’s DeFi positions were caught in that wave, with losses accelerating fast enough that the investment value reached near zero before any recovery was possible.

The Justice Department said the disclosure of the transfers came only because of the market downturn — implying that, had conditions held, the scheme might have gone undetected longer.

Where The SBF Appeal Stands

Shetty’s case unfolded in the shadow of a far larger crypto fraud. Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted separately and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024.

Bankman-Fried has appealed that ruling. As of Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had not issued a decision following arguments heard in November, according to reports.

The two cases are unrelated, but both reflect federal prosecutors’ continued push to bring criminal charges over crypto-related financial misconduct.

Shetty’s two-year sentence stands as one of the more recent outcomes in that effort, covering conduct that took place more than three years ago.

Featured image from Aggressive Austin, TX Criminal Defense Attorney, chart from TradingView