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Raoul Pal: U.S. Liquidity Crunch Is Crushing Bitcoin and Tech Stocks

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TLDR:

  • U.S. Treasury cash rebuilding reduced Bitcoin liquidity and pressured crypto alongside SaaS stocks in recent weeks.
  • Bitcoin and the UBS SaaS Index now show nearly identical price behavior under shared liquidity stress.
  • Gold absorbed marginal capital flows that otherwise could have supported crypto and tech assets.
  • Policy shifts in rates and bank leverage may restore Bitcoin liquidity later in the cycle.

Bitcoin and high-growth tech stocks have moved in near lockstep during the latest market decline. 

New analysis links both drawdowns to tightening U.S. liquidity rather than sector-specific failures. The shift challenges claims that crypto markets face a unique breakdown. 

Data now points to government cash management and funding mechanics as the primary driver.

Bitcoin liquidity tightens as U.S. funding drains hit risk assets

Raoul Pal shared the findings in a public post published through Real Vision and GMI research notes. He compared Bitcoin price action with the UBS SaaS Index and found near-identical chart structures.

The comparison suggested a single macro force at work across both markets. According to Pal, U.S. total liquidity replaced global liquidity as the dominant influence in this phase of the cycle.

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Liquidity pressure intensified after the Federal Reserve completed the drawdown of its reverse repo facility in 2024. Treasury then rebuilt its General Account without a monetary offset, creating a net drain.

That drain coincided with weak readings in U.S. manufacturing activity and reduced capital flows into long-duration assets. Bitcoin and SaaS stocks absorbed the sharpest impact due to higher risk profiles.

Pal also pointed to gold’s recent rally as a competing liquidity sink. Capital shifted toward perceived safety while speculative markets faced reduced inflows.

The U.S. government shutdown added another layer of stress. Treasury avoided drawing down reserves after the last shutdown and instead added to the account balance, further restricting available liquidity.

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Pal described the period as a temporary air pocket. He argued that the pressure reflects timing rather than a structural breakdown in crypto markets.

Policy expectations reshape Bitcoin liquidity outlook for 2026

Pal rejected claims that incoming Federal Reserve leadership would tighten policy aggressively. He said current expectations misread Kevin Warsh’s long-term stance on growth and rates.

According to Pal, the policy framework mirrors the late 1990s playbook of lower rates and tolerance for higher economic heat. The approach assumes productivity gains from artificial intelligence will limit core inflation.

He also noted that balance sheet reduction has reached system limits. Any sharp reversal would risk destabilizing lending markets.

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Future liquidity expansion could come from partial Treasury account drawdowns and changes to bank leverage rules. Pal cited the expected easing of the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio as one key mechanism.

Fiscal stimulus linked to U.S. political cycles may also support broader liquidity conditions. He tied the timing to midterm election incentives and government spending patterns.

Pal acknowledged misjudging the dominance of U.S. liquidity versus global liquidity earlier in the cycle. He said recent conditions clarified which factor now drives Bitcoin and tech assets.

Despite current weakness, he maintained that the broader macro structure remains intact. He framed the downturn as a delay caused by overlapping fiscal and monetary constraints.

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Crypto World

New AI Cybercrime Tool Targets Crypto, Bank KYC Systems via Deepfakes

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New AI Cybercrime Tool Targets Crypto, Bank KYC Systems via Deepfakes

A threat actor known as “Jinkusu” is allegedly selling cybercrime tools designed to bypass Know Your Customer (KYC) checks at banks and crypto platforms.

The tool uses deepfakes and voice manipulation to trick KYC verification systems on finance platforms, cybercrime tracker Dark Web Informer wrote in a Sunday X post.

Cybersecurity company Vecert Analyzer added that Jinkusu uses AI for real-time face swaps via InsightFace for “fluid gesture transfers,” along with voice modulation to evade biometrics.

Source: Dark Web Informer

The emergence of deepfake tools is a “wake-up call” for the industry, as it highlights the shortcomings of KYC verification systems, according to Deddy Lavid, CEO of blockchain security platform Cyvers.

“As AI lowers the barriers to synthetic identity fraud, the front door will always remain vulnerable,” Lavid told Cointelegraph, urging platforms to adopt a layered security approach combining identity verification with real-time AI monitoring.

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AI can crack KYC systems with a single picture

Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su highlighted the growing threat of deepfake technology back in May 2023.

He warned that improving AI algorithms will be able to crack KYC identity systems by using a single picture of the victim.

Related: Revolut confirms ex-employee threatened to leak KYC data for crypto ransom

The new fraud kit also enables scammers to run romance scams, such as “pig butchering,” with no technical knowledge.

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Crypto investors lost $5.5 billion to 200,000 flagged pig butchering cases in 2024.

Scam-as-a-service threatens crypto investors

The author of the new fraud package, Jinkusu, is suspected to be the same threat actor who released the phishing kit Starkiller in February 2026.

Unlike traditional, HTML-based phishing kits, Starkiller creates a real-time reverse proxy by creating a headless Chrome browser inside a Docker container, loading the genuine login page of the target brand and relaying all user input, including login and passwords, to the threat actor, explained cybersecurity platform Abnormal, in a Feb. 19 report.

Starkiller phishing-as-a-service malware. Source: Abnormal.ai

While losses to crypto phishing attacks fell 83% in 2025, malicious crypto wallet drainer scripts remained active and new malware continued to emerge, Scam Sniffer said in a January report.

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