Executive brief
The digital asset market has demonstrated significant resilience as Bitcoin reclaimed the $74,000 level, staging a relief bounce despite persistent geopolitical instability in the Middle East. This recovery is underpinned by aggressive institutional accumulation, most notably from Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which added $1.57b worth of Bitcoin last week, and Japan’s Metaplanet, which secured $255m to further its treasury goals. While spot ETF demand remains steady with five consecutive days of positive inflows reaching $180.3m on Friday, analysts warn that the rally is heavily reliant on synthetic leverage, with derivatives volume currently trading at roughly nine times spot levels.
Regulatory developments are also moving into focus as the US Senate advanced a CBDC ban with a dominant 84 to 6 vote, signaling a bipartisan push to constrain government-backed digital currencies until at least 2030. Simultaneously, the CLARITY Act faces a critical legislative window as banks and crypto firms clash over stablecoin yield provisions. Amidst this, Circle’s USDC has achieved a milestone by unseating Tether in transfer volume, accounting for 64% of movement between the two majors, largely driven by high-velocity activity on the Solana network. The current market direction remains cautiously bullish as Bitcoin enters a heavy resistance band between $73,500 and $73,800. However, the bankruptcy of BlockFills following $75m in losses serves as a reminder of the latent credit risks still permeating the institutional lending sector.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- Michael Saylor’s Strategy adds $1.57 billion in Bitcoin; the company now holds 761,068 bitcoin acquired for $57.61b.
- Bitcoin briefly tops $74,000 in Monday surge; major assets climbed as crude oil eased and two tankers successfully navigated the Strait of Hormuz.
- Metaplanet secures $255 million for Bitcoin accumulation; the Japanese firm aims for a 210,000 BTC treasury target through a new warrant structure.
- USDC unseats USDT in transfer volume; Circle’s stablecoin accounted for 64% of the transfer volume between the two leaders last month.
- South Korea fines Bithumb $24 million; the regulator ordered a 6-month partial suspension following 6.65m violations of anti-money laundering rules.
- Institutional lender BlockFills files for bankruptcy; the firm suspended withdrawals after incurring approximately $75m in losses.
- Abra to go public in $750 million SPAC deal; the transaction with New Providence Acquisition Corp. III is expected to deliver $300m in cash.
- US, UK, and Canada launch ‘Operation Atlantic’; the joint international effort aims to disrupt approval-phishing scams tied to investment fraud.
- Hana Financial and Standard Chartered partner on digital assets; the deal focuses on stablecoins and tokenized instruments after Hana reached a record ₩4t net profit.
- Polymarket and Kalshi target $20 billion valuations; prediction markets are seeking top-tier fintech valuations despite a political crackdown on Iran war betting.
- Trump-backed WLFI offers $5 million ‘Super Nodes’; the project allows large stakers to buy direct access to the team while seeking a US trust bank charter.
- SEC drops lawsuit against BitClout founder; the regulator ended its civil enforcement case against Nader Al-Naji following an evidentiary reassessment.
- Senate advances bill to ban US CBDC; the 84 to 6 vote moves to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar until the end of 2030.
- Wall Street private credit funds limit withdrawals; over $172b in funds from BlackRock and Blackstone have capped exits as investors seek liquidity.
- Bitmine acquires 60,999 ether; the firm now holds nearly 4.6m ETH while maintaining a $1.2b cash position.
- Pricing error triggers $27 million Aave liquidation; a 2.85% error in wstETH collateral pricing highlighted risks in automated DeFi systems.
- Australian Senate committee backs crypto licensing bill; the proposed framework would bring exchanges under the Australian Financial Services Licence regime.
- Bitdeer rolls out Scrypt mining machines; the firm’s SEALMINER machines are purpose-built for Litecoin and Dogecoin mining.
- Ethereum Foundation sells 5,000 ETH for operations; the $10m OTC sale at $2,042.96 was conducted to fund protocol research and grants.
- Venus Protocol hit by $3.7 million attack; a threat actor used Thena tokens to bypass supply caps and borrow multiple digital assets.
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | $180,333,827.82 | $26,692,607.66 |
| Value traded | $4,933,391,363.62 | $1,300,615,254.00 |
| Net assets | $91,825,643,473.47 | $12,257,486,570.80 |
| Cumulative net inflow | $56,135,970,925.10 | $11,789,337,698.47 |
3) X trending news
- Bullish US Dollar bets skyrocket; risk reversals reach 92 basis points, the highest since November 2022, as inflation expectations rise.
- Crypto shorts liquidated; over $115,000,000 worth of short positions were wiped out in a single hour as Bitcoin reclaimed $74,000.
- Binance under investigation; the Justice Department is reportedly probing Iran’s use of the exchange to evade US sanctions.
- US budget deficit jumps; the deficit increased 225% in February to $308b, bringing the 5-month total for FY2026 to $1.00t.
- Strait of Hormuz ship traffic; new video shows vessel movement as the US permits Iranian oil to pass to stabilise global supplies.
- Helium prices double; prices for the gas have surged as the Iran war disrupts natural gas processing, cutting global supply by 5.2m cubic meters monthly.
- London Metal Exchange halts trading; all contracts were suspended due to an issue with the electronic trading platform.
- Tether AI breakthrough teased; CEO Paolo Ardoino claims his team will release a significant artificial intelligence development this coming week.