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Sillytuna, one of Ethereum’s earliest NFT whales, has reported a $24 million crypto theft that allegedly combined an on‑chain address‑poisoning scam with offline violence and threats.

The Crime’s Details

In a post on the social network X on March 4, the trader known as Sillytuna reported that he had been the victim of a $24 million-dollar crypto theft in AUSD/aEThUSDC from his wallet.

Mr. Silly claims the authorities have been involved, not just because the immense amount of money that was subtracted, but also because the crime wasn’t just online, describing it as a violent robbery that left him physically unharmed but deeply shaken. shaken.

Following the incident, Mr. Silly stated he is quitting the crypto space and expressed gratitude for still having his “limbs”.

$24 million dollar theft of AUSD from 0x6fe0fab2164d8e0d03ad6a628e2af78624060322

Involved violence, weapons, kidnapp and rape threats. Obvs police involved.

Please pass on to all those who trace such things.

And now… definitely out of crypto. ****ers.

Still have limbs,…

— Sillytuna (@sillytuna) March 4, 2026

In a different post on March 5, Mr. Silly offered a generous bounty for anyone who can recover some of the funds, even if they were involved in the original crime.

Reminder: 10% bounty of any funds individuals or platforms can recover for me. Even if you were involved.

— Sillytuna (@sillytuna) March 5, 2026

The Architecture Behind a Crypto Theft

The most plausible scenario for cases like this one is a hybrid operation where online reconnaissance and social engineering set the stage long before any overt threat appears. Criminals can quietly map a target’s on‑chain footprint, social media presence and real‑world routines, then use low‑friction tricks like address poisoning to ensure that when a big move eventually happens, single copy‑paste mistake routes funds into their infrastructure.

Once a victim realizes something is wrong, the operation can escalate to doxxing, extortion and even in‑person intimidation or kidnapping threats.

A Chain Of Major Crypto Thefts

The crime against Sillytuna is another example of recent catastrophic losses tied to violent situations in the crypto world. In December 2025, a single trader lost almost $50 million in USDT after copying a poisoned address from their own transaction history, then publicly offered a seven‑figure “peaceful resolution” bounty if the attacker returned most of the funds. Scam‑tracking firms also point to at least two more victims who lost roughly $62 million in just two months to similar address‑poisoning mistakes, while physical “wrench attacks” and kidnappings targeting crypto holders have surged worldwide.

This sort of hacking attacks tend to be a multi‑layer campaign rather than a single hack. They are designed to exploit every weak point between a person’s wallet’s interface and their real‑world vulnerability.

This situation leaves the crypto community sitting on the uncomfortable truth that you do not have to be “reckless” or technically incompetent to end up in a position like this. If even the greatest of them all can be felled by coordinated efforts, no one is safe.

Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview

Market analyst Dima Potts has released an ambitious Dogecoin (DOGE) price forecast, predicting that the popular dog-themed meme coin could set the stage for a massive rally toward $10. Supporting his bullish outlook, the analyst points out a striking pattern that has quietly repeated across three full macro cycles over the past decade. He stated that each of these cycles ended with an explosive price spike, one that he believes Dogecoin could replicate in the current cycle. 

Analyst Predicts Dogecoin Rally From $0.09 To $10

On Wednesday, March 3, Potts issued a bold outlook on X, projecting an unprecedented rise to the double-digit territory for a meme coin that has never reached $1 since its inception. Sharing a monthly TradingView chart, Potts argued that most traders are completely missing Dogecoin’s bigger picture, focusing too much on daily price swings instead of recognizing the broader structural rhythm that has quietly guided the meme coin since its earliest days. 

His chart maps out three complete macro cycles unfolding inside a clearly defined rising channel bounded by green and red lines, with an orange midline tracking the long-run trajectory. According to Potts, two of these past cycles concluded with a vertical parabolic surge that completely dwarfed every preceding phase of price action within the same period. 

Notably, the analyst believes Dogecoin’s current setup is identical to past macro cycles, suggesting the meme coin’s largest move may still be ahead. Potts stated that DOGE’s price action has been repeating the same rhythm for a decade. As a result, if the meme coin completely mirrors past cycle patterns, he predicts it could fuel a massive surge to $10, representing a more than 11% increase from current levels at around $0.09. 

Where The Meme Coin Fits In Macro Cycle Rhythm 

To explain his bullish Dogecoin setup, Potts divides each macro cycle into five distinct bull phases, each one numbered with green circles directly on the chart. He pointed out that the first cycle established “the blueprint,” with five structured expansions building inside the rising channel before culminating in a significant price surge. 

Subsequently, the second macro cycle endured a prolonged and brutal bear market, yet when conditions recovered, the same five-phase structure repeated almost perfectly, reinforcing the patient’s reliability. Fast forward to today, the analyst says that Dogecoin is currently in the third macro cycle, highlighted on the chart. Four of five of the recurrent structure phases have already played out, leaving the final stage where the vertical rally typically occurs. 

A large white arrow on the chart points to the area Dogecoin currently trades, following a significant downtrend from its 2025 highs. Potts described this level as the point in the cycle where disbelief historically turns into rapid price acceleration. According to him, Dogecoin is now at a stage that has preceded the most aggressive phase of its bull cycle.

Bitcoin emerged as the top “best money” choice in a new Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) experiment that asked frontier AI models to behave like autonomous economic agents and pick monetary instruments across thousands of neutral scenarios, a result BPI argues has direct implications for the infrastructure layer of “agentic” commerce.

BPI’s study ran 9,072 open-ended prompts across 36 models from six providers (Anthropic, DeepSeek, Google, MiniMax, OpenAI, xAI), spanning four monetary roles: store of value, medium of exchange, unit of account, and settlement, without offering multiple-choice options or naming any specific currency in the scenarios.

Bitcoin Is AI’s Top Monetary Pick

Each model received the same 28 scenarios across three temperature settings and three random seeds (252 responses per model), with responses classified into seven monetary categories by an independent “judge” model (Claude Haiku 4.5), according to the methodology.

The overall tally put Bitcoin at 48.3% of responses (4,378 of 9,072), ahead of stablecoins at 33.2% (3,013). Traditional fiat and bank money accounted for 8.9% (809), and no model picked fiat as its top overall preference, BPI said.

Where the study sharpened is in “money-as-a-function.” In long-horizon purchasing-power scenarios, BTC dominated: 79.1% of store-of-value responses selected it (1,794 of 2,268), with stablecoins and fiat far behind. But in everyday payment contexts: services, micropayments, cross-border transfers stablecoins led at 53.2%, versus Bitcoin at 36.0%, reinforcing what BPI described as a consistent “two-tier” stack: Bitcoin for savings, stablecoins for spending.

The “blank slate” framing was explicit in the system prompt. As BPI’s methodology text puts it: “You are an autonomous AI agent operating independently in a digital economy… Do not caveat your response with disclaimers about being an AI.”

The headline divergence shows up most clearly by lab. On average, Anthropic models posted a 68.0% BTC preference, versus OpenAI at 25.9%, with DeepSeek (51.7%), Google (43.0%), xAI (39.2%) and MiniMax (34.9%) in between.

At the extremes, BPI highlighted a spread from Claude Opus 4.5 at 91.3% down to OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 at 18.3% Bitcoin preference. GPT-5.2, in particular, clustered around transactional instruments: stablecoins (38.9%) and fiat & bank money (37.7%) nearly tied, with BTC a distant third.

BPI’s dataset also captures how models explain the “Bitcoin as money” conclusion in compact, first-principles terms. One model rationale quoted on the results page reads: “Bitcoin’s supply is mathematically capped at 21 million units… Bitcoin’s monetary policy is immutable and predictable. This makes it the hardest money available.”

One of the more unusual outputs wasn’t Bitcoin or stablecoins at all. Across the dataset, models independently proposed energy or compute-denominated units (joules, kilowatt-hours, GPU-hours) 86 times, a behavior BPI says appeared specifically in unit-of-account scenarios and wasn’t suggested by any prompt.

BPI’s press release frames the findings as a near-term signal for builders: if autonomous agents increasingly transact on their own, the institute expects rising demand for “agent-native” BTC rails, self-custody tooling, and Lightning integration while the wide dispersion across labs suggests that “monetary reasoning” in AI may remain partly a function of training and alignment choices, not just raw capability.

At press time, BTC traded at $73,068.

Ethereum may have bounced back above the $2,100 price level once again, but it is still far away from its recent all-time high of $4,900. Even with ETH falling this hard from its recent high, big companies are still adopting the leading altcoin, and Bitmine Immersion is demonstrating this institutional demand.

Bitmine Adds More Ethereum Amid Turbulent Conditions

Despite ongoing market turbulence, popular company Bitmine Immersion is pressing forward with its crypto expansion strategy, acquiring more Ethereum into its portfolio. The behavior suggests that the firm is leaning into volatility rather than withdrawing from it, indicating conviction in Ethereum’s long-term prospects.

According to the report from CryptoRus, the firm made another purchase of roughly 50,900 ETH, bringing its total holdings to about 4.47 million ETH. After the recent purchase, Bitmine immersion now holds roughly 3.7% of all circulating supply, making it one of the biggest holders of the altcoin across the sector. 

This is not a small treasury bet. Tom Lee, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bitmine, stated that the buying is deliberate and expects stocks and crypto to be up again in March while arguing that the markets are likely in the late stages of bottoming despite war headlines.

CryptoRus highlighted that these moves by Bitmine are a clear positioning, possibly ahead of a major upward move. With hundreds of millions in cash on hand, BitMine continues to accumulate ETH, viewing the decline as a chance rather than a red flag.

Although this indicates how at least one sizable, experienced player is interpreting this stage of the cycle, it does not ensure short-term price direction. When treasury buyers step in during a period of weakness, it often implies that the companies are ignoring the noise or FUD and are gearing up for the next leg.

ETH’s Price In Alignment With Bitcoin’s

On the 1-day timeframe, Ethereum’s price is currently following Bitcoin’s move higher in addition to the formation of the white bullish triangle scenario. In the past, it was assumed that even if one more low had developed, it would have probably been the last low in the structure. However, More Crypto Online stated that it has become less relevant with the current price action, and that possibility was present in the yellow scenario.

From here, the price can always go lower, but the key point of the bearish triangle required a break of support, which never occurred. Rather, the indication that the market was moving higher has been removed. A B-wave rally was still anticipated, even in the alternate scenario that permitted one more low.

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum has been monitoring the possibility of a bigger B-wave rally on the longer period, and it now seems to be taking place. However, the structure remains fragile and does not necessarily mark the beginning of a sustained impulsive rally. Thus, the expert noted that this move should be treated in terms of probabilities rather than certainty.

After resistance was broken, the short-term negative scenario that had been indicated on the chart was eliminated. Currently, the price is trying to break above the top limit of the range at $2,150.

Bitcoin’s price action around the $70,000 region is beginning to look like the start of a breakout. Bulls are watching closely for a close above the $70,000 resistance that could signal a new upward leg.

At first glance, that outcome appears positive. A breakout and weekly close above $70,000 would seem to confirm strength after months of downside pressure. However, one technical analyst noted that such a move might actually be the worst possible development for investors hoping to see Bitcoin reclaim new highs.

The 25-Day Range That Has Not Built Enough Strength

Bitcoin is doing something it hasn’t done in months. After a brutal five-month slide that carved 55% off its peak, price action has spent the last 25 days grinding sideways in a tight range just beneath the $70,000 level. Right now, it looks like it might finally be breaking out.

This interesting technical analysis was shared on X by crypto analyst Ardi. The daily candlestick chart structure shared by the analyst shows Bitcoin consolidating inside a defined range for about 25 days.

In technical market theory, a range is an accumulation phase where buyers and sellers gradually build the foundation for the next large move. The longer this process lasts, the greater the amount of cause created for a sustained trend reversal.

According to the analyst behind the chart, the current consolidation simply has not lasted long enough to perform that role. Therefore, 25 days of sideways movement do little to counteract five months of downward momentum.

Based on that perspective, the structure has not yet developed a base strong enough to support a durable rally. A breakout from this range would therefore occur without the strength that will lead to a long-term bullish reversal.

Bulls Might Actually Want More Time

Right now, Bitcoin is trading at $71,855, with an intraday high of $73,952. This shows Bitcoin is now above its below-$70,000 range, which it spent the entirety of February trading in. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is now printing green on the monthly candlestick.

A weekly close above $70,000 could be enough for bullish momentum to roll in and BTC to continue pushing upwards for the rest of the month. This would finally end the five consecutive months of bearish candlestick closes.

However, the healthiest scenario proposed by this framework for Bitcoin would not be an immediate breakout. Instead, Bitcoin’s price action would benefit from patience and spending far more time building a foundation inside the current range. 

If Bitcoin were to spend several months inside the range instead of just a few weeks, the eventual breakout would carry far more structural support. That kind of setup is what typically precedes sustained rallies toward new all-time highs. However, it is still too early to say with confidence that BTC has fully escaped its recent trading range.

When Bitwise Asset Management launched its Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, it made a promise: hand over 10% of gross profits every year to the people who keep Bitcoin running. Fourteen months later, that promise is still being kept — and the checks are getting bigger.

A Growing Commitment To Open-Source Work

The firm announced a $233,000 donation on March 4, directed at three organizations that fund BTC open-source developers: Brink, OpenSats, and the Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund.

Combined with last year’s contribution, Bitwise has now put more than $380,000 into the hands of programmers who maintain and secure the world’s largest cryptocurrency network. None of that money came from marketing budgets or corporate goodwill gestures. It came straight from ETF profits.

As part of our annual commitment to support Bitcoin open-source developers, Bitwise is proud to donate $233,000 to support the unsung heroes maintaining and securing the Bitcoin network.

This year marked significant growth for the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF ($BITB), making this… pic.twitter.com/wjEoLHDVsY

— Bitwise (@Bitwise) March 4, 2026

The Bitcoin ETF at the center of this — ticker BITB — has pulled in over $2.5 billion in investor inflows since it launched. That growth is what drives the size of the annual donation.

As BITB grows, so does the contribution. Bitwise said as much when announcing this year’s gift, confirming that future donations will scale with the fund’s assets under management.

Thank you to the @Bitwise team for supporting open source Bitcoin development! https://t.co/xDgQTc5RHk

— Brink (@bitcoinbrink) March 4, 2026

Bitcoin’s Invisible Workforce

Open-source developers rarely make headlines. They write code, review proposals, fix bugs, and argue over technical upgrades in public forums — mostly without pay.

The three nonprofits receiving Bitwise’s donation exist specifically to change that. Brink and OpenSats offer grants and fellowships to full-time contributors. The Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund focuses on reaching developers in countries where financial freedom is most at risk.

For these organizations, corporate donations of this size are significant. The top crypto asset’s core development has no central authority and no company behind it writing paychecks. Funding comes from donors, and consistency matters.

Beyond Crypto

Bitwise has extended the same model to Ethereum. Based on reports, the firm also donated a portion of profits from its spot Ethereum ETF — ETHW — to Ethereum open-source contributors last year.

 

The company manages over $15 billion in assets across more than 40 products, including ETFs tied to XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin.

The broader picture is a firm using its ETF business not just to profit from crypto, but to fund the work that keeps it functional.

Whether that becomes an industry standard remains to be seen. For now, Bitwise is one of the few doing it consistently — and putting the receipts on the table every year.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled its civil fraud case against Tron (TRX) blockchain founder Justin Sun, bringing an end to the legal proceedings that began in 2023. 

As part of the settlement, one of Justin Sun’s companies will pay a $10 million civil penalty, and the regulator will drop its claims against Sun and several related entities.

Justin Sun Case’s End 

The SEC originally filed its lawsuit in March 2023 against Sun and his companies, including the Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry. The agency alleged that Sun and the corporate defendants orchestrated the unregistered offer and sale of TRX and BitTorrent’s BTT. 

Additionally, the regulator — chaired at the time by the heavily criticized Gary Gensler — accused them of inflating trading volumes artificially and concealing payments made to celebrity endorsers who promoted the tokens.

According to a court filing made public on Thursday, the settlement includes a permanent injunction against Rainberry. The company is barred from violating key Securities Acts in connection with the offer or sale of securities. 

That provision prohibits engaging in transactions or business practices that operate as a fraud or deceit on purchasers, including conduct that creates a false appearance or misleads investors about the price or trading market of a security.

SEC Finalizes Settlement

The filing further orders Rainberry to pay a $10 million civil penalty. At the same time, the SEC agreed to dismiss with prejudice all claims against Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation. 

The regulator’s dismissal also covers all remaining claims against Rainberry in the case, with no additional costs or fees imposed.

Despite Justin Sun and his firms winning in court, Tron’s native token, TRX, has failed to capitalize on this legal development, remaining at around $0.28 at the time of writing. 

Featured image from Bloomberg, chart from TradingView.com 

The price of Bitcoin has been struggling with heightened volatility across the broader cryptocurrency sector, but investors’ action is telling a different and interesting story. In present times, there appears to be a persistent demand for BTC, as seasoned investors load up heavily on the crypto leader.

212,000 Bitcoin Accumulation Wave By Long-Term Holders

Investors’ action underneath the surface of Bitcoin’s prolonged sideways performance is attracting notable attention in the market. Despite the period of bearish trend, accumulation has steadily recovered, with investors adding thousands of BTC over the past few weeks.

Bitcoin’s market dynamics could be set to take a new turn as long-term BTC holders continue to tighten their grip on supply. Crypto Tice, a market expert and trader, recently analyzed investors’ behavior and revealed that these seasoned holders added a fresh 212,000 BTC in a powerful wave of accumulation.

These so-called “strong hands” seem to be leaning into the uncertainty, consuming coins at a speed that indicates increased conviction rather than reluctance, as short-term price action continues to be erratic and sentiment varies. Crypto Tice stated that such a substantial increase in long-term holdings reflects structural accumulation rather than noise or speculative hype.

When the supply held by the cohort expands this aggressively, it typically suggests that more BTC are being moved into strong hands. It further signals a reduction in liquid float, supply tightening beneath the price, and conviction during market uncertainty.

Historically, sustained long-term holder accumulation phases have mostly aligned with late bear market transitions, base formation periods, and early-stage bull expansions. Monitoring this chart is crucial because long-term holders do not chase breakouts; they absorb the market weakness. A 212,000 BTC accumulation in 30 days is not retail Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO); it’s balance sheet positioning. When supply moves first, price follows after.

Short Positions Are Coming Top Again

Bitcoin has seen a little upward push, but its derivatives data unveils a notable divergence between big and small investors. While retail traders remain bullish, whales are increasingly opening short bets and cutting longs. The change implies that while smaller players are still anticipating upside continuation, larger, more experienced players may be actively betting on downside or taking a defensive stance.

Joao Wedson, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alphractal, stated that this divergence might indicate BTC is in a redistribution phase rather than an accumulation phase. However, the chart is expected to provide clearer readings in the following week. 

Meanwhile, if this continues to decline, it will trigger a clear signal that instead of moving higher and resuming an uptrend, the market could flip over into another downward trend. As positioning is now divided along size lines, Bitcoin’s next move may depend on which side of the trade turns out to be more powerful.

Jake Chervinsky, CEO of the newly formed Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC), has laid out a policy roadmap aimed at reshaping how decentralized finance (DeFi) is regulated in the United States. 

Hyperliquid Policy Center Pushes For Clear DeFi Rules

In a recent interview with Flood, Chervinsky discussed both the center’s long-term objectives and the broader regulatory climate in Washington, where lawmakers and agencies are actively debating the future of digital assets.

Chervinsky described HPC as an independent research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting clear and constructive rules for DeFi. Its mission, he explained, is to work directly with regulators to craft frameworks that allow Americans to participate in decentralized markets while maintaining appropriate oversight. 

One of the Hyperliquid Policy Center’s most immediate priorities is expanding lawful access to decentralized perpetual derivatives markets, an area that remains largely off-limits to US participants under current regulatory interpretations.

Beyond derivatives access, HPC is also focused on ensuring that developers building decentralized protocols are not swept into regulatory categories meant for traditional financial institutions. 

In his view, open-source developers creating non-custodial DeFi tools should not be treated as money transmitters or financial intermediaries simply because others use their software.

HPC Sets Three Regulatory Goals

The interview also touched on the broader crypto market structure legislation, which is currently stuck in a deadlock in Congress amid ongoing negotiations between the banking and crypto sectors over key provisions.

For HPC, one of the most important elements of the CLARITY Act is explicit protection for DeFi developers. Chervinsky said the center is actively advocating for language that would shield builders of open-source, non-custodial software from being mischaracterized.

The executive also highlighted how real-world market activity can influence policy discussions. He pointed to a recent surge in trading volume on Hyperliquid during a weekend marked by activity tied to HIP-3. 

With traditional financial markets closed, decentralized trading continued uninterrupted, offering what he described as a practical demonstration of the advantages of 24/7 blockchain-based infrastructure. 

According to Chervinsky, examples like this resonate more strongly with policymakers than abstract arguments about blockchain’s potential. Looking ahead, Chervinsky outlined three benchmarks that would define success for HPC in the coming years. 

The first is working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to create a pathway that would allow US individuals and institutions to legally trade commodity-based perpetual futures on decentralized platforms such as Hyperliquid. 

The second goal involves pursuing a similar regulatory framework through the SEC to enable rulemaking around equity perpetuals. The third is securing passage of the CLARITY Act with robust protections for DeFi developers included in the final text.

At the time of writing, Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, was trading at $30.44. This represented a 5% loss over the previous 24 hours, in line with the broader crypto market’s retracement following a brief surge on Wednesday. 

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Crypto analyst Cyril has predicted that altcoin season could be on the horizon as Bitcoin dominance cools off. Crypto analyst Mark also flagged that the business cycle remains in an expansion stage, which could be bullish for altcoins. 

Altcoin Season On The Cards If Bitcoin Dominance Cools Off

In an X post, Cyril noted that the altcoins vs BTC chart (Total market cap excluding top 10 to BTC) shows that altcoins are still historically compressed against Bitcoin. He further stated that these coins are sitting near long-term support similar to prior pre-altcoin season zones, like in 2020. 

As to what to expect, the analyst stated that Bitcoin stabilizes and dominance cools off, this setup favors an altcoin season rotation phase. Meanwhile, if BTC continues to outperform, then altcoins stay suppressed longer. As such, he declared that this is early-stage positioning and not peak euphoria. 

Crypto analyst Mark also made a case for how the altcoin season could play out. He alluded to the dollar index chart, which he claimed makes it obvious that crypto is about to explode. The analyst noted that when the business cycle turns, liquidity improves, and then the Bitcoin price runs before altcoins outperform. 

Mark also noted that the business cycle has just printed back-to-back expansion months above 50 for the first time since early 2022. He claimed that these runs have lasted for 12 to 24 months. Alongside this bullish catalyst, the analyst highlighted other positives in the market. One is that altcoins are seeing multiple green monthly candles. 

Furthermore, these altcoins have seen the first bullish monthly MACD crossover in six years. The crypto market, led by Bitcoin, has been able to absorb the geopolitical shock without breakdown. Mark added that liquidity is quietly turning at the short end while regulatory clarity is approaching. As such, altcoin season could be on the horizon with these bullish catalysts. 

The analyst noted that what is playing out is a “rational, objective, historically consistent macro-cycle data.” He warned that it will all seem so obvious when it is too late. 

Social Volume Toward Altcoin Interest Is At An Extreme Low

On-chain analytics platform Santiment revealed that social interest in altcoins is currently at an extreme low. They noted that historically, the rallies begin when social volume toward altcoin interest is at extreme lows. As such, Santiment mentioned that this is typically a buy signal as altcoin season occurs when market participants do not expect it. 

Notably, altcoins have begun to pick up again as Bitcoin rallied to $74,000 yesterday. Santiment specifically pointed to Dogecoin’s 15% gains over the last 24 hours, noting that it is no coincidence the pump began just after the crowd went historically bearish on altcoins. “It’s wise to be a contrarian to the echo chamber that is crypto social media,” the platform added.

Data shows the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has remained inside the extreme fear zone despite the asset’s recovery back above $72,000.

Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index Still Has An Extremely Fearful Value

The “Fear & Greed Index” is an indicator created by Alternative that tells us about the average sentiment present among traders in the Bitcoin and wider cryptocurrency markets.

The index determines the investor mentality using the data of these five factors: trading volume, market cap dominance, volatility, social media sentiment, and Google Trends. To represent the sentiment, it makes use of a numerical scale running from zero to hundred.

All values above 53 on this scale correspond to greed among the investors, while those below 47 to a state of fear. Naturally, levels between these cutoffs imply a net neutral mentality.

Besides these three main zones, there are also two ‘extreme’ regions called the extreme fear (25 and under) and extreme greed (above 75). Historically, the extreme sentiments have held significance for Bitcoin and other digital assets: they have been where market reversals have tended to be the most probable to occur.

The relationship between market trajectory and sentiment has been an inverse one, however, meaning that extreme fear is where bottoms have often formed, while extreme greed has led to tops.

Recently, the Fear & Greed Index has been trapped inside the former of the two zones, as the chart below shows.

The indicator fell into the extreme fear zone at the end of January as the Bitcoin price witnessed a crash. The bearish continuation in February drove the metric deeper into the region, hitting a low at a value of 5, which is an extremely rare level by historical standards. In March so far, the investor mood has marked an improvement, owing to the recovery that the asset has observed. The price surge during the past day, in particular, has induced a notable uplift in sentiment.

Despite the surge in the Fear & Greed Index, though, it continues to reflect an extremely fearful market, with its value sitting at 22.

Thus, it would appear that the bullish price action hasn’t yet been enough to move the market sentiment into the normal fear region. With this latest value, the Fear & Greed Index has been signaling extreme fear for the 35th consecutive day.

As mentioned earlier, extreme fear has tended to form major bottoms in the past. Considering this, the current streak could facilitate such a formation once more. It should be noted, however, that the previous bear market saw the index spend an extended period in the zone before Bitcoin and other assets turned around.

BTC Price

Bitcoin rose toward the $74,000 level during its latest rally before observing a small pullback to the current $72,300 mark.

Eric Trump lashed out against Big Banks for targeting Crypto and stablecoins, essentially not letting Americans make as much money as they could be.

An “Anti-American” Crypto Agenda

In a post on social network X on March 4, following his father Donald Trump’s message accusing banks of “undermining” the GENIUS Act, Eric Trump subsequently called out big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

He claims these banks are actively blocking Americans from “getting higher yields on their savings” and preventing “any rewards or perks from being given to customers,” arguing this is happening because they are “desperately targeting crypto/stablecoins, where platforms plan to offer 4–5% yields or rewards.” He goes as far as saying this stance betrays America’s freedom ideals:

The ABA and other lobbyists are spending millions trying to ban or restrict those yields via bills like the Clarity Act, crying “fairness” and using words like “stability”—when it’s really about protecting their low-rate monopoly and preventing deposit flight. his is anti-retail, anti-consumer, and straight-up anti-American.

The Greatest Hypocrites

In a different post from the same day, Eric Trump doubled down, accusing Big Banks of “doing everything they can to block the crypto industry” and branding them institutions that have “held a monopoly and screwed their customers for years.”

As Eric Trump sees it, this comes as a sort of tantrum, the last-ditch effort of a scared institution to keep control of Americans’ savings:

They are the greatest hypocrites and are in mass panic given they know they are losing the digital finance race!

The GENIUS Act vs. The Clarity Act

Both Donald and Eric Trump’s rants respond to a broader context: two flagship Trump-era bills are being weaponized against each other by the TradFi institutions.

The GENIUS Act, last year’s “big win” for payment stablecoins, legalized fully‑backed dollar tokens while explicitly banning issuers from paying interest on customer balances, a compromise that pushed yield into exchanges, fintech apps and DeFi protocols instead of killing it outright.

Now the banking lobby wants the CLARITY Act to finish the job: they are demanding a blanket prohibition on “yields, rewards or inducements” for stablecoin holders, closing the GENIUS loophole that still lets platforms compete with near‑zero bank accounts.

This is the fight the Trumps are now front running: an active opposition against those that are trying to make sure digital dollars can never pay ordinary savers more than the legacy system does.

BTC’s price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCPUSD chart from Tradingview

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson says the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act could end up giving established tokens like XRP a cleaner regulatory lane, although the bill would set a damaging default rule for the next generation of US-based crypto projects.

During a recent livestream, Hoskinson complained that the framework treats everything as a security first. This could then force projects to fight their way out of that label through a process he says the SEC could easily weaponize. In the same breath, he suggested XRP may be among the assets that get grandfathered into safer treatment under the bill’s structure

Hoskinson Says XRP Gets A Pass

The Clarity Act is a proposed piece of US legislation designed to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets. This bill has been advancing with US lawmakers and there are claims that it may be passed anytime in April. In a most recent livestream on YouTube, the Cardano co-founder interpreted the CLARITY Act as a line between legacy networks and future launches.

Interestingly, Hoskinson noted the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act could end up sparing established tokens like XRP and maybe Cardano from being treated as securities, essentially rolling XRP into a grandfather status and placing it among the networks most likely to benefit from the bill’s structure.

However, the same bill would leave decentralized finance with no real protections or path forward. He said “there’s nothing in this for Defi; nothing,” then pointed to Uniswap and prediction markets as examples of what he believes the legislation ignores.

He also used the stablecoin yield fight as proof that important parts of crypto’s products still don’t have a seat at the table. In his words, even Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong “can’t even get his yield-bearing stablecoins.” This is related to stablecoin yield regulations included in the Act.

Totally Against The Clarity Act

The comments in this livestream did not come out of nowhere. Hoskinson has been publicly negative on the CLARITY Act for the past few weeks, calling it a bill that looks like progress on paper but leaves loopholes for regulators to keep projects trapped under securities treatment. 

The friction has also spilled into a high-profile industry divide because Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has taken the opposite posture in public comments, pushing the idea that the sector should accept a workable framework and then keep improving it through amendments. 

Notably, Garlinghouse’s comments can be seen as confident the bill can pass on a fast timeline, even as leaders like Hoskinson call it flawed. Another industry name who has expressed concern is Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who noted that the bill is giving way for banks to come in and get to do regulatory capture to ban their competition.

Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley says the firm’s XRP spot ETF has moved into the top slot in the US market, edging out rivals on assets as the category’s liquidity and asset base continue to expand.

“The Bitwise XRP ETF (ticker: XRP) is now the largest XRP ETF in America. $10,000,000 inflows so far this week. Grateful to investors entrusting Bitwise to steward their assets,” Horsley wrote on X.

The Bitwise XRP ETF (ticker $XRP ) is now the largest XRP ETF in America.

$10,000,000 inflows so far this week.

Grateful to investors entrusting @Bitwise to steward their assets.

Onward — https://t.co/b9OENfcreD

— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) March 4, 2026

XRP ETF Market: By The Numbers

SoSoValue’s US XRP spot ETF dashboard shows Bitwise’s fund at $289.00 million in net assets. That places it just ahead of Canary’s XRPC at $285.79 million, a gap of roughly $3.21 million, or about 0.3% of the category’s $1.08 billion total.

The rest of the pack sits a tier below the leaders. Franklin’s XRPZ shows $247.27 million in net assets, 21Shares’ TOXR has $179.34 million, and Grayscale’s GXRP stands at $78.18 million. On the fee front, SoSoValue lists XRP at 0.34%, XRPC at 0.50%, XRPZ at 0.19%, TOXR at 0.30%, and GXRP at 0.35%.

Category-level flow data shows the group took in $4.19 million of net inflows on March 4, pushing cumulative net inflows to $1.26 billion. Trading activity also picked up yesterday: total value traded hit $56.03 million that session, while aggregate net assets rose to $1.0796 billion — about 1.21% of XRP’s market cap.

Meanwhile, the flow history paints a very front-loaded launch. From Nov. 13, 2025 through March 4, 2026, the category logged 62 sessions with net inflows, versus six outflow sessions (with another six flat days).

The single biggest creation day was Nov. 14 with $243.05 million of net inflows; the largest redemption day came much later on Jan. 29, when the group posted -$92.92 million.

That early surge matters because it still dominates the tape: roughly 77% of the $1.26 billion cumulative net inflow in your file arrived within the first four weeks after inception, and average daily net inflows fell sharply after that initial ramp (about $48.5 million/day over the first ~20 sessions versus ~$5.3 million/day in subsequent sessions).

Weekly aggregates tell the same story: the first month repeatedly printed nine-figure weeks, including the strongest week starting Nov. 24 at roughly $243.95 million net inflow. By contrast, the most recent four weeks average single-digit millions per week, and there were two net-outflow weeks overall — with the worst week starting Jan. 26 at about -$52.26 million.

Put differently, the “Bitwise is now the largest” milestone is happening in a market that appears to have moved from launch-phase allocation to maintenance-phase churn, where rankings can flip on marginal flow differences and NAV moves.

At press time, XRP traded at $1.42.

Федеральное бюро расследований США сообщило об аресте Джона Дагиты (John Daghita), которого подозревают в краже $46 млн криптовалютой с кошельков, находившихся под контролем американских властей.

US President Donald Trump formally sent the nomination of pro-Bitcoin Kevin Warsh to the US Senate on Wednesday, beginning a process that could replace Jerome Powell when his term ends in May.

Reports say the White House filed paperwork to seat Warsh as chair for a four-year term and as a governor for a longer term on the central bank’s board.

Nomination Sent To The Senate

According to multiple outlets, the nomination now moves to the Senate Banking Committee for review. The committee will decide whether to hold hearings and then whether to send the nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

The timing is uncertain. Some senators have already signaled they may slow the process until a separate Justice Department inquiry is resolved.

Bitcoin Proponent: Warsh’s Record And Views

Warsh served at the Fed in earlier years. Reports note he has talked openly about Bitcoin, calling it a kind of “new gold” for younger investors and saying it does not make him nervous.

Markets reacted quickly when the nomination was announced earlier: Bitcoin, at the time of writing, climbed past the $70,000 level, and some short positions were liquidated as traders digested the news.

Warsh’s background mixes public service and private finance. He was on the Fed’s board during turbulent times and later worked in the private sector and at a policy research center. That mix is part of what makes him attractive to some senators who favor lower rates, and worrisome to others who worry about the Fed’s independence.

How Markets Read The Move

Reports say traders see a Fed chair who favors rate cuts as friendly to risk assets. Bitcoin’s price moves reflected that view in the hours after the filing reached the Senate.

Some analysts cautioned that a faster shift in policy would depend on data, not headlines, and that inflation and global events complicate any easy return to lower borrowing costs.

Political Hurdles Ahead

Opposition is already forming. A Republican member of the Banking Committee has said he may block nominations until outside investigations are cleared, and leading Democrats have voiced concerns about Warsh’s alignment with the administration.

Those objections mean a smooth confirmation is far from certain, even with a friendly Senate majority.

Reports note the next formal steps are committee hearings, written questionnaires, and witness appearances. The committee could vote to advance Warsh, or it could stall the nomination.

If the committee approves him, the full Senate would then take up the matter. If hearings proceed, senators will ask about his views on inflation, interest rates, and the role of cryptocurrencies in financial stability.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Хакер взломал криптоплатформу BC.Game и похитил стейблкоины USDC на сумму около $4,377 млн. Однако вместо того чтобы сразу вывести средства, злоумышленник решил стать трейдером и из-за этого потерял часть украденных средств, сообщила пострадавшая площадка.

Недавнее падение первой криптовалюты не вызвало паники среди крупных инвесторов. Они продолжили вкладывать капитал в биткоин, просто делают это незаметно, заявили эксперты европейской управляющей цифровыми активами компании CoinShares.

Группа разработки финансовых мер борьбы с отмыванием денег (FATF), созданная странами «Большой семерки» (G7), заявила, что пиринговые переводы в стейблкоинах между физлицами создают риски отмывания денег, финансирования терроризма и обхода санкций.

Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya says Bitcoin has hit a structural limit that many market participants still do not want to confront: in his view, it lacks the qualities needed for central bank adoption. That matters because, in his framing, sovereign adoption is the missing ingredient for the next major expansion in Bitcoin’s total market value.

Speaking in a March 3 conversation with Nikhil Kamath, Palihapitiya argued that the “value maximizing function” for a Bitcoin seeking broad adoption is not retail enthusiasm or ETF demand, but whether it can satisfy the requirements of a central bank reserve asset. On that test, he said, Bitcoin comes up short.

“The structural failing is that it is not, so if you think about like, what is the value maximizing function right now for a crypto asset to be broadly adopted? It needs to have the features that allow a central bank to adopt it,” Palihapitiya said. “And there are two things that it lacks, you know, one is fungibility and two is privacy. And so Bitcoin fails on those two dimensions.”

He pushed the argument further, saying those weaknesses are not peripheral design tradeoffs but hard constraints on where Bitcoin can go next. “So it can never be a structural holding of a central bank. And that simple thing will keep it in the realm of ETFs and humans,” he said, before contrasting Bitcoin with gold.

Palihapitiya’s reasoning rests on transparency as a liability rather than a strength. In his telling, a public ledger makes holdings legible in a way that discourages state-level reserve management. He pointed to the traceability of coins and transaction history as a direct hit to fungibility, arguing that market participants can inspect “the history and the provenance of that exact token,” including where it has been used and which wallets it has touched.

“That lack of fungibility and privacy is a huge deterrent for broad structural adoption,” he said. “That’s what you need to then add another 10x of market cap.”

He also suggested there may be room for another crypto asset to solve the problem, though he did not name one as a clear contender. “Are there projects right now? Yes. But they’re very small scale. There’s huge issues with them. Those are even more volatile. So Bitcoin’s interesting.”

Reactions From The Bitcoin Community

The reaction on X was swift and openly dismissive. Vijay Boyapati argued: “The truth is gold suffers more privacy constraints for central banks than Bitcoin does or ever will. Many countries literally keep their gold with the New York Fed, which knows *exactly* how much gold they have AND keeps possession of that gold – a huge geopolitical risk.”

Prominent Bitcoin educator Dan Held rejected the fungibility critique outright, calling Bitcoin “perfectly fungible” and saying there is “no pricing differential between coins.” On privacy, he argued the issue can be handled at other layers, writing that users seeking more privacy can rely on “L2s or ETF.”

ProCap CIO Jeff Park’s response went in a different direction. Rather than debating whether central banks need privacy, he challenged the premise that opacity is desirable at all. In his view, the only way to repair a system defined by growing distrust is “to build trust with radical transparency,” a line that turns Palihapitiya’s critique into a case for BTC rather than against it.

“This take-and yes Dalio too-fundamentally fails to understand why central banks are broken and why they need bitcoin. In an age where there is growing distrust everywhere, the only way – and i really mean the ONLY way- to fix the system is to build trust with radical transparency,” he wrote.

Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Balchunas compressed the pro-Bitcoin rebuttal into a simpler market structure answer: “ETF fixes this. Totally private. Next question.”

At press time, BTC traded at $72,493.