Crypto World
AppLovin (APP) Stock Plunges 9% as Short Interest Spikes Amid Economic Uncertainty
Key Takeaways
- AppLovin shares tumbled approximately 9% Thursday, marking a 35% retreat from its $745 peak earlier this year.
- Bearish traders amplified concerns regarding competitive threats, intensifying downward momentum amid weakening investor sentiment.
- Between March 11-12, CEO Adam Foroughi executed 44 stock sales; days later, a board member offloaded more than 130,000 units.
- Fourth-quarter 2025 performance exceeded expectations: $1.66B revenue (surpassing forecasts), net profit surged 84% annually, yearly free cash flow reached $3.95B.
- Broader economic concerns, including recession possibilities and inflation estimates approaching 4.2%, contributed to the stock’s weakness.
AppLovin shares retreated approximately 9% during Thursday’s session, trading around the $396 level. No adverse company announcements triggered the decline. Instead, the selloff reflected mounting short-seller activity combined with widespread market jitters.
Bearish investors amplified claims questioning the sustainability of AppLovin’s competitive positioning and whether its artificial intelligence-driven advertising technology can maintain market dominance. These arguments gained momentum following a notable spike in executive stock disposals.
CEO Adam Foroughi executed 44 separate stock sales on March 11-12, with transaction prices ranging from $449 to $481 per share. Board member Eduardo Vivas subsequently sold over 130,000 units on March 16, at prices between $446 and $465. During the 90-day period ending March 26, insiders completed 155 transactions with virtually zero purchase activity to counterbalance the disposals.
This selling activity provided ammunition for bearish traders, despite strong fundamental business metrics.
Financial Performance Remains Robust
AppLovin’s fourth-quarter 2025 financial results demonstrated exceptional strength. The company posted $1.66 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst projections by 3.35%. Net profit reached $1.1 billion, representing an 84% year-over-year increase. The adjusted EBITDA margin stood at an impressive 84%.
Fourth-quarter free cash flow totaled $1.31 billion. Annual free cash flow climbed to $3.95 billion—an 89% year-over-year surge. The company deployed $2.58 billion toward repurchasing 6.4 million stock units throughout 2025.
Operating expenses declined to merely 23% of revenue in Q4, compared to 37% in the prior-year period. Such dramatic margin improvement is uncommon in the technology sector.
CEO Foroughi addressed skeptics during the Q4 earnings conference: “When I look at our internal dashboards, we are delivering the strongest operating performance in our history.”
Wall Street analysts remain predominantly optimistic. Morgan Stanley maintains an Overweight recommendation with an $800 price objective. Goldman Sachs holds a Neutral stance at $710. Among all covering analysts, 24 recommend buying, 3 suggest holding, and only 1 advises selling. The average price target stands at $648.
Economic Headwinds Compound Selling Pressure
Broader economic conditions are exacerbating investor concerns. Market participants remain anxious about escalating tensions involving Iran, climbing oil prices, and materially elevated recession probabilities according to economists.
A Thursday OECD report forecast U.S. inflation could reach 4.2% this year—substantially above the Federal Reserve’s recent 2.7% projection from the previous week.
APP has declined 35% year-to-date and fallen 38% over the trailing six-month period. The stock reached approximately $745 at its 52-week high.
For the first quarter of 2026, AppLovin provided revenue guidance of $1.745–$1.775 billion with anticipated adjusted EBITDA margins of 84%. Elevated call option trading activity indicates continued near-term price volatility is probable.
Mezo, a Bitcoin-native lending protocol, will collaborate with Aerodrome Finance to support trading activity for its token and Bitcoin-backed stablecoin on the Base network, as projects look for ways to bring more financial use cases to Bitcoin.
In a Thursday announcement, Mezo said it will allocate 2.25% of its MEZO token supply to Aerodrome’s vote-escrow (veAERO) participants — users who lock tokens in exchange for governance rights and rewards. The program is designed to encourage those users to direct funds into MEZO trading pairs, increasing activity around the token and its US dollar-backed stablecoin, MUSD.
Aerodrome is a liquidity provider on Base built by the team behind Optimism, a configurable enterprise blockchain infrastructure.
The partnership links Base-based traders with a newer group of Bitcoin-focused applications, as developers experiment with adapting existing DeFi models to Bitcoin.
Mezo, which allows users to borrow against their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, said it has issued more than 2,000 loans and helped move roughly $23 million in Bitcoin-denominated assets from Ethereum.
The move gives Mezo access to a large and active DeFi user base on the Base network. Bitcoin-native applications often struggle to attract enough trading activity. On Base, infrastructure such as Aerodrome can help support more consistent trading in new tokens and stablecoins.
Related: Coinbase’s Base transitions to its own architecture with eye on streamlining
Bitcoin DeFi activity grows as new platforms emerge
Bitcoin is increasingly being positioned as a base layer for decentralized finance, driven in part by increasing institutional participation and long-term holders seeking ways to generate returns on idle assets.
Bitcoin-based DeFi activity has picked up since 2024, with a growing number of platforms aiming to bring lending, borrowing and yield strategies to the network.
Recent examples include Lombard, which is building Bitcoin-based lending infrastructure and has teamed with Bitwise to allow institutional investors to earn yield and borrow against their Bitcoin holdings.
Another project, Hashi, has recently launched on the Sui network with early participation from BitGo, Bullish and FalconX, among others. The platform enables users to earn yield on Bitcoin through onchain lending and borrowing.
Related: Babylon-Ledger tie-up expands access to Bitcoin Vaults for collateral use
Brazil’s public security agencies have a new weapon for fighting organized crime after national legislators approved a measure allowing them to use confiscated cryptocurrency in their efforts.
On Wednesday, Brazil’s legislative branch published Law No. 15.358, establishing a legal framework for combating organized crime. The law allows authorities to prohibit transactions on crypto exchanges by treating digital assets as instruments in a crime, and confiscate crypto to be used to fund public security.
“For the purposes of forfeiture of assets, any asset that has been used to commit a crime shall be considered an instrument of the crime, even if it was not intended exclusively for that purpose,” said a translation of the law, which included:
“The forfeited assets and valuables may be used provisionally by public security agencies for police re-equipment, training, and special operations, subject to authorization from the judge overseeing the execution of the sentence.”
Notably, the law would authorize Brazil to coordinate and cooperate with international authorities for investigation and asset recovery, including in cases potentially involving digital assets. With a population of more than 213 million, many of whom use crypto, the legislation could have significant implications for the Brazilian government’s war chest.
Related: Brazil’s Pix instant payment system expands to Argentina
The signing of the law followed reports that Brazil’s Finance Minister, Dario Durigan, planned to delay talks on changing the country’s tax policy on crypto. According to reports, Durigan aimed to avoid divisive changes to tax policy, and would push discussions until after Brazil’s presidential election in October.
In 2025, the Brazilian Federal Police’s Operation Lusocoin targeted a laundering and foreign exchange evasion architecture of massive scale, according to TRM Labs. Authorities estimate that the network moved tens of billions of Brazilian reais through a web of shell companies, OTC crypto brokers, and non-custodial wallets.
Brazil is still reviewing a national crypto reserve
In contrast to countries like the US, where crypto seized as part of criminal cases could be used to bolster a national digital asset stockpile, Brazil’s law would divert the funds to public security measures like police training. However, Brazil’s government discussed a proposal to create a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve in August 2025.
The BTC reserve bill, initially introduced in 2024, could allow Brazil to allocate up to 5% of the country’s treasury to purchase Bitcoin. In February, lawmakers reintroduced the legislation, expanding its scope to allow for the purchase of up to one million BTC. It was unclear as of March if the bill would have enough support to pass in the future.
Magazine: Nobody knows if quantum secure cryptography will even work
Nvidia is being sued for hiding how much of its gaming GPU revenue came from crypto miners.
The class action covers fiscal 2018, a period when quarterly revenue surged 52% and 25% year-over-year. Shareholders allege the company deliberately obscured the fact that Ethereum mining demand was driving those numbers, not gaming.
The stakes extend beyond Nvidia. As the primary infrastructure-layer supplier to the GPU mining ecosystem, any regulatory cloud over its disclosure practices ripples into how investors price exposure across the entire supply chain.
Now the Supreme Court has entered the picture. It is reviewing the 9th Circuit’s decision allowing the suit to proceed, turning a corporate disclosure dispute into a potential landmark ruling on securities pleading standards.
This just got a lot bigger than one company’s accounting.
Key Takeaways:
- Case detail: Nvidia settled a parallel SEC enforcement action in May 2022 for $5.5 million after regulators found it failed to disclose crypto mining’s material impact on gaming GPU revenue in fiscal Q2 and Q3 2018.
- Legal mechanism: The class action turns on PSLRA pleading standards — plaintiffs lack internal documents proving CEO Jensen Huang knew exact mining revenue shares, but argue employee-level crypto trend tracking constitutes constructive knowledge sufficient to survive dismissal.
- Market implication: A Supreme Court ruling that loosens PSLRA pleading thresholds would expand litigation exposure for any public company with material crypto-derived revenue — a direct risk vector for mining hardware suppliers and adjacent equities.
The Allegation: Crypto Revenue Classified as Gaming Demand
Nvidia told investors its gaming GPU revenue growth reflected gamer demand. It did not. Cryptocurrency miners were bulk-buying GeForce cards to mine Ethereum during the 2017 boom cycle.
When Bitcoin crashed in 2018 and mining economics collapsed, GPU demand evaporated and gaming revenue fell sharply. The revenue base was never what Nvidia said it was.
The internal awareness is what makes this difficult to defend. During the 2 quarters with 52% and 25% year-over-year spikes, Nvidia’s own employees were actively tracking crypto market trends and their correlation with GPU sales.
Plaintiffs argue that makes executive statements attributing growth to gaming not just incomplete but knowingly misleading.
Nvidia’s own Q4 FY2019 results did the damage retroactively. The company explicitly linked the gaming and OEM revenue decline to cryptocurrency mining downturns. That admission directly contradicts the earlier framing.
The SEC already agreed something went wrong. Enforcement Division Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit Chief Kristina Littman stated that Nvidia’s disclosure failures deprived investors of critical information to evaluate the company’s business in a key market. Nvidia paid $5.5 million and signed a cease-and-desist without admitting wrongdoing.
That settlement structure is the core of the civil case now. Nvidia preserved its technical defense by not admitting fault. But the SEC finding functionally validates the factual allegation. The class action is not relitigating whether the disclosure failure happened. It is litigating who bears the financial consequences.
The Strategic Signal: Infrastructure-Layer Risk for Mining Markets
Nvidia supplies the dominant share of discrete GPUs used in proof-of-work mining operations. Mining companies — whether publicly listed operators or sovereign-scale entities like Bhutan’s state mining program liquidating Bitcoin holdings into Binance — depend on Nvidia hardware pricing and availability as a primary cost input.
Any sustained legal or regulatory uncertainty over Nvidia’s disclosure practices introduces a new variable into GPU procurement planning and equity valuation models for mining-adjacent companies.
The channel through which the lawsuit affects sentiment is investor trust, not GPU pricing directly. If the Supreme Court tightens PSLRA standards and dismisses the case, it effectively insulates tech companies from class actions built on circumstantial inference, reducing securities litigation risk across the sector.
If the Court upholds the 9th Circuit and the class action proceeds to discovery, plaintiffs gain access to internal communications, which historically is where these cases settle expensively.
Mining equities like Bitmine, currently accumulating ETH as a strategic reserve asset, carry indirect exposure through Nvidia’s role as GPU supplier — a guilty verdict or major settlement reframes how the market prices crypto-hardware dependency risk across the board.
Ethereum’s Merge in September 2022 already eliminated GPU-based ETH mining as a demand driver, and Nvidia’s 2021 launch of dedicated Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP) products with hash rate limiters on GeForce cards was a deliberate structural separation of markets. The litigation relitigates a period that no longer operationally exists — but the precedent it sets for revenue source disclosure requirements is entirely forward-looking.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
The post Nvidia Faces Class Action Over Crypto Mining Revenue Disclosure Gaps appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto World
XRP spot ETFs defy crypto slump with $1.4B in inflows as Bitcoin, gold and silver funds see outflows, JPMorgan says
XRP exchange-traded funds are pulling in fresh capital at a pace that puts them at odds with the rest of the market, as investors rotate out of gold and silver ETFs while keeping steady allocations to Bitcoin products amid geopolitical tensions and higher rates.
Summary
- XRP spot ETFs have amassed about $1.4 billion in net inflows since launch in November 2025, even as XRP’s price slid more than 30% from recent highs.
- By contrast, gold ETFs have seen nearly $11 billion in outflows in three weeks, while silver products also bled capital as rising rates and a stronger dollar pressured precious metals.
- JPMorgan says Bitcoin ETFs are holding net inflows and showing “greater resilience” than gold and silver, underscoring a shift in how investors hedge geopolitical and macro risk.
Since their launch in November 2025, XRP (XRP)-linked ETFs have attracted more than $1.4 billion in cumulative net inflows, according to data highlighted by Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart, even as XRP has dropped roughly 33% over the past 90 days and 24% year-to-date to around $1.38. JPMorgan, meanwhile, reports that gold ETFs have suffered close to $11 billion in outflows over a three‑week stretch leading into March, with silver products seeing similarly heavy withdrawals as rising interest rates and a stronger dollar undercut the traditional safe havens.
In a recent note on ETF flows, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, managing director at JPMorgan, said Bitcoin spot funds “have attracted approximately 1.5% in new assets” since the latest Middle East flare‑up began, while the largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), “has experienced outflows totaling about 2.7% of its assets under management.” He argued this divergence “represents a significant departure from historical patterns where investors typically flock to gold during geopolitical uncertainty,” suggesting that BTC is increasingly viewed as “a viable alternative to traditional safe‑haven assets.” According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin briefly fell into the $60,000 range alongside other risk assets at the onset of the conflict but quickly stabilized and is now trading between $68,000 and $70,000, a range JPMorgan reads as evidence that “long‑term capital is re‑entering the market to support prices after the panic.”
For XRP, the contrast between price action and ETF demand has become increasingly stark. Data compiled by SoSoValue and cited by Seyffart show cumulative XRP ETF inflows climbing from roughly $150 million in mid‑November to about $1.44 billion by early March, even as the token slid from recent peaks toward the low‑$1.30s. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the performance “really impressive given these launched into a brutal 45% drawdown,” adding that such consistent buying is rare for newly listed products trading through a “reverse shiny object moment.” “My guess is this is largely XRP super fans vs casual retail,” Balchunas wrote, pointing to concentrated conviction rather than broad speculative froth.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has framed the flows as a structural shift in how investors access the token, saying the ETFs are “a sign of XRP’s long‑term payments potential” after the company’s courtroom win against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission unlocked the path for regulated products. According to a previous crypto.news story, spot XRP ETFs neared $1 billion in assets after just 13 days of consecutive inflows, following patterns seen after the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. That momentum has since pushed cumulative net inflows to around $1.4 billion, with February alone contributing between $58 million and $106.8 million depending on the dataset, even as the broader crypto complex cooled.
JPMorgan’s latest work on cross‑asset positioning suggests that institutional traders have been steadily cutting exposure to gold and silver while leaving Bitcoin allocations broadly intact. The bank notes that positions in precious‑metal futures have “significantly declined since the beginning of the year,” with trend‑following funds flipping from “overbought” to “below neutral,” which has “exacerbated their downward pressure” as ETF outflows accelerated. Bitcoin, by comparison, has moved out of an “oversold” momentum regime, and selling pressure has eased as ETF demand stabilized, helping support the $68,000–$70,000 trading band.
Liquidity indicators in JPMorgan’s framework now show market breadth in gold slipping below that of Bitcoin, while silver liquidity has weakened even further, a reversal of the typical hierarchy in traditional macro stress episodes. The bank argues that this shift “highlights Bitcoin’s gradually emerging performance characteristics that differ from traditional safe‑haven assets in the current macro and geopolitical environment,” with deeper ETF markets and institutional participation helping compress volatility relative to earlier cycles.
XRP’s ETF complex, though far smaller in absolute terms, appears to be tracking a similar institutionalization arc. By mid‑March, total net assets across XRP ETFs sat just under $1 billion, representing roughly 1.16% of the token’s market capitalization, while some estimates suggest custodians are removing close to 1% of circulating supply from exchanges each month to back new creations. An earlier crypto.news story on XRP ETFs noted that 13 straight days of inflows pulled nearly $900 million into the products within weeks of launch, underscoring how quickly regulated wrappers can tighten free‑float supply once they catch on with allocators.
For JPMorgan, the ETF flow divergence sits atop a macro mix that still looks hostile to precious metals. The bank points to rising real yields and a firmer dollar as key reasons why gold and silver have struggled to hold recent highs, even as geopolitical risk flared. CoinMarketCap data cited in the note show gold correcting from a record peak while SPDR Gold Shares shed about 2.7% of its assets over the crisis window, against positive net inflows for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust of roughly 1.5% of AUM. In aggregate, gold ETFs have lost nearly $11 billion over three weeks, JPMorgan estimates, with silver funds recording “significant” redemptions as well.
Bitcoin’s ability to stabilize after an initial risk‑off impulse, and to keep pulling capital into ETFs, has led JPMorgan to reiterate its long‑term price target of $266,000, derived from a volatility‑adjusted comparison to gold’s market structure. While XRP lacks that kind of formal target, the resilience of its ETF flows relative to price has drawn similar interpretations from market participants who see regulated products as a bridge for institutional money. In previous crypto.news coverage, analysts noted that XRP’s ETF trajectory and the post‑SEC‑case regulatory clarity could help the token close its underperformance gap versus peers if macro headwinds ease and capital rotates back into higher‑beta assets.
Amid ETF outflows from gold and silver, deteriorating liquidity in those markets, and continued institutional deleveraging, JPMorgan’s takeaway is blunt: Bitcoin is holding up better than traditional safe havens, and regulated crypto wrappers are no longer a sideshow. For XRP, the early data suggest that even in a choppy tape, a committed ETF bid can quietly rewire the supply‑demand balance — and position the token as one of the key beneficiaries if risk appetite returns.
XRP (XRP) traded at $1.37 after a 3.5% decline in the last 24 hours, shrugging off Goldman Sachs’ disclosure of exposure to spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
While this highlights long-term institutional confidence, it comes amid fragile risk sentiment and a typical breakdown from a bearish setup.
Key takeaways:
-
Goldman Sachs disclosed $152.17 million in spot XRP ETF holdings across four funds, making it the largest institutional holder in this segment.
-
XRP maintains its bear pennant breakdown setup targeting $0.72.
Goldman Sachs discloses $152 million exposure to XRP ETFs
Goldman Sachs has emerged as the largest disclosed institutional holder of US spot XRP ETFs, revealing a $152 million position in its Q4 2025 13F filing with the SEC.
Related: XRP treasury Evernorth files with SEC to list shares on Nasdaq
The $3.5 trillion asset manager has spread its exposure across four funds: $39.8 million in Bitwise XRP ETF, $38.5 million in Franklin XRP Trust, $38 million in Grayscale XRP ETF, and $35.9 million in 21Shares XRP ETF.
Goldman isn’t alone. Its allocation accounts for roughly 73% of the about $211 million held by the top 30 institutional investors in XRP ETFs, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst James Seyffart.
While this institutional move highlights long-term confidence, XRP price remains 25% below its yearly open around $1.84, driven by slowing ETF inflows and macro headwinds.
Cumulative net inflows into US-based XRP ETFs crossed the $1 billion mark within the first few months of trading, peaking at $1.28 billion on Jan. 16. The pace has since cooled to $1.21 billion today.
Total assets under management peaked around $1.65 billion in early January but have dropped to roughly $995 billion, dragged down by XRP’s price decline and a stretch of net outflows, according to data from SoSoValue.
XRP ETFs recorded a total of $56.5 million in net outflows between March 3 and March 16. Since then, the daily inflows have been muted below $5 million.
XRP bear pennant breakdown underway
XRP price broke down from its prevailing bear pennant when it dropped below the lower trend line of the pattern at $1.40 on Thursday. The price could retest the lower trend line as new resistance, a move that could confirm the breakdown.
Bull pennants form when price consolidates inside a triangle following a steep decline. Once the price breaks below that triangle, it triggers another massive downward move.
For XRP, the measured target of the bear pennant is $0.72, roughly 48% below the current price.
As Cointelegraph reported, a break below $1.27 would suggest that the bears are still in control, fueling XRP/USD drop toward $1.
Declining XRP volatility hints at “sharp” price move next
XRP’s volatility metrics are warning of an imminent massive price move.
The 30-day Realized Volatility (RV 30D) has dropped to around 0.5266, marking the lowest level for 2026.
Meanwhile, the Volatility Z-Score is at -0.9048, “reflecting a clear decline in volatility compared to the historical average,” CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain said in a recent Quicktake note, adding:
“This type of volatility contraction is commonly referred to as volatility compression, a phase that often precedes a sharp price movement in either direction.”
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Euro-denominated stablecoins make up more than 80% of the non-US dollar stablecoin market, which Dune says has grown to about $1.2 billion in total supply, according to a report commissioned by Visa.
Dune said euro stablecoins accounted for 85% of transfer volume in the non-US dollar stablecoin market, with Circle’s EURC (EURC) emerging as the dominant euro token in the segment.
The report pointed to growing euro stablecoin use across payment infrastructure, while Visa and Mastercard have separately expanded settlement support for EURC in parts of their networks.
Dune said the non-US dollar stablecoin market now handles about $10 billion in monthly transfer volume, reflecting a sharp increase in usage over the past three years.
Even so, euro stablecoins remain a tiny part of the broader stablecoin sector, which now totals about $300 billion to $316 billion, while the euro still accounts for about 20% of global foreign exchange reserves, according to DefiLlama data.
MiCA helps push euro stablecoins forward
The research signals that European businesses operating in euros are “turning to stablecoins,” driven by the regulatory clarity in the Eurozone, Nic Puckrin, CEO and co-founder of educational platform Coin Bureau, told Cointelegraph.
“EURC is a natural choice because it’s issued by Circle, an established entity that has already won trust with its USDC product,” he added.
EURC’s total supply surpassed $506 million on Feb. 27, according to the report. Excluding EURC, 80% of euro-stablecoin activity was related to payments, remittances, payroll and treasury flows.
Puckrin said that the main driver of the growing stablecoin usage across the EU is the regulatory clarity provided by the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which went into effect for crypto asset service providers on Dec. 30, 2024.
He added that delays around the digital euro could leave private stablecoin issuers with more room to fill parts of Europe’s digital payments gap.
Related: Circle’s policy chief tells UK to merge MiCA clarity with US stablecoin rules
Circle has also been pitching EURC and USDC (USDC) as tools for around-the-clock euro-dollar foreign exchange flows through its StableFX infrastructure, offering institutions a way to move between currencies outside traditional banking hours.
Still, broader adoption will depend on whether payment providers, treasury teams and licensed financial companies get enough compliant infrastructure to use euro stablecoins at scale, Mouloukou Sanoh, co-founder and CEO of cross-border liquidity platform Mansa, told Cointelegraph.
“The companies winning are the ones solving for licensed payment operators, not building generic L1s or other platforms, but infrastructure that lets a head of treasury at a payment service provider or electronic money institution move money in real time without prefunding, compliance friction or operational chaos,” he said.
Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight
Bernstein has called a Bitcoin bottom and set a $450 price target on Strategy stock, 226% above Monday’s closing price of $138.20. The call comes from analyst Gautam Chhugani at a firm managing nearly $880 billion in assets, which means this is not a retail sentiment spike. It is institutional research drawing a line in the sand on the BTC-equity trade.
- Bitcoin Bottom Call: Bernstein’s Gautam Chhugani identifies the current drawdown — 44% from Bitcoin’s $126,210 all-time high — as a cycle bottom supported by ETF inflows and corporate treasury buying.
- Strategy Upside Target: Bernstein sets a $450 price target on Strategy stock, implying 226% upside from $138.20, backed by $56 billion in Bitcoin and cash against $18 billion in total debt.
- Institutional Signal: Bitcoin ETFs absorbed $2.2 billion in net inflows over four weeks, flipping year-to-date flows positive; FMR, BlackRock, Capital Group, and VanEck now hold 23% of Strategy’s STRC preferred shares.
Discover: The best crypto presales gaining institutional momentum right now
Bernstein Bitcoin Bottom Case: What the Data Shows
Bitcoin peaked at $126,210 on October 6, 2025. A flash crash on October 10, triggered by leveraged liquidations, initiated the correction, compounded by late February 2026 U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Bitcoin still held a floor near $71,000.
Chhugani frames the 44% drawdown as evidence of maturation, not breakdown: institutional demand absorbed the selling pressure that, in prior cycles, would have driven 70–80% wipeouts.
— BSCN (@BSCNews) March 26, 2026
BERNSTEIN: MARKET MISREADING CLARITY ACT
Circle shares plunged nearly 21% over the last five days, dragging down broader crypto stocks.
The drop followed investor fears around a proposed ban on stablecoin yield. The concern stems from new language in the Clarity Act bill.… pic.twitter.com/qXkglh9Gi5
The ETF data reinforces the case. Bitcoin ETFs recorded $2.2 billion in net inflows over the four weeks preceding Bernstein’s note, reversing year-to-date outflows and pushing the net 2026 figure to positive $364 million against a $90 billion asset base.
ETFs now hold 6.1% of the total Bitcoin supply. That is a structural bid, not a momentum trade, and it is exactly the kind of price floor institutional demand analysis has pointed toward throughout this correction cycle.
Bernstein’s year-end Bitcoin target is $150,000, contingent on sustained institutional buying through mid-2026 amid geopolitical headwinds. The bottom call is not a chart pattern. It is a capital flows argument.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
Strategy’s Bitcoin Treasury: The Math Behind 226% Upside
Strategy holds 762,099 BTC, acquired most recently with a 1,031 BTC purchase last week, valued at approximately $51.43 billion.
Total balance sheet Bitcoin and cash stands at $56 billion against $18 billion in total debt, per Bernstein. Cash reserves alone cover annual dividend and interest obligations for 25 months. The Bitcoin position covers annual financing costs for approximately 50 years.
The leverage mechanism is straightforward: Strategy stock amplifies Bitcoin moves because each share represents a claim on a BTC treasury that grows as the company raises capital and buys more coin.
At $138.20, Bernstein’s $450 target prices in a Bitcoin recovery toward the $150,000 level while assigning value to the capital-raising machine itself — the $42 billion raise split between Class A common stock and perpetual preferred shares, with $6.24 billion in ATM program capacity still available across a 19-agent sales syndicate.
The STRC preferred share launched in July 2025, paying an 11.5% annual dividend monthly. Thirty-day average daily STRC volume hit $220 million, up 65% over three months, making it the most liquid preferred product in its category. Strategy is down 57% over six months and 59% over twelve months, reflecting dilution concerns from ongoing equity raises.
The stock has recovered 10.9% over the past month. Bernstein is betting the dilution discount is already priced in.
Discover: The best crypto presales gaining institutional momentum right now
The post Bernstein Calls Bitcoin Bottom and Sets 226% Upside Target for Strategy appeared first on Cryptonews.
Tether crypto has engaged an unnamed Big Four accounting firm for a comprehensive financial statement audit of USDT, announced March 24, 2026.
The stablecoin now carries a $184 billion market cap and supports more than 550 million users worldwide, making this the largest-scope inaugural audit in digital asset history.
This is not an incremental compliance step. It is a structural reclassification of how Tether’s reserves are verified.
- Audit Scope: The Big Four engagement covers a full financial statement opinion across digital assets, traditional reserves, and tokenized liabilities — replacing point-in-time attestations from BDO Italia used since 2021.
- Scale: USDT’s $184 billion market cap and 550 million global users make this the largest inaugural Big Four audit ever conducted on a stablecoin.
- Selection Process: CFO Simon McWilliams confirms the firm was chosen through a competitive process, with Tether asserting it already meets Big Four operational standards ahead of engagement.
Discover: The best crypto presales gaining institutional momentum right now
The Mechanics: Attestation vs. Full Financial Audit
Tether’s prior arrangement with BDO Italia produced quarterly attestations, agreed-upon procedures that confirmed asset existence at a specific point in time.
They did not constitute an audit opinion on whether financial statements fairly present Tether’s overall position. That distinction matters enormously to institutional counterparties and regulators.
A full Big Four audit requires the firm to independently examine Tether’s complete reserve structure: U.S. Treasuries, cash equivalents, commercial paper holdings, digital asset positions, and tokenized liabilities.
The auditor issues a formal opinion on whether those financials are presented fairly in accordance with recognized accounting standards. The scope here is wider than any prior stablecoin audit on record.
CEO Paolo Ardoino states: “This audit represents years of work to strengthen our systems so that Tether can meet the highest standards applied in global finance.” CFO Simon McWilliams adds that the firm “was selected through a competitive process because the organisation is already operating at Big Four audit standard.” The firm’s identity has not been disclosed. One of Deloitte, EY, KPMG, or PwC is now inside Tether’s books.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
The Strategic Signal: Why This Changes Tether Crypto Institutional Profile
Tether has operated under institutional skepticism for five years. A $41 million CFTC fine in October 2021 followed misleading claims about full USD backing.
An $18.5 million settlement with the New York Attorney General in February 2021 centered on reserve transparency failures. Both actions left a credibility gap that quarterly attestations never fully closed.
The Big Four engagement closes that gap structurally, not rhetorically. Dr. Anya Petrova of the Global Digital Finance Institute calls it “the gold standard of financial credibility,” adding it “could significantly lower the perceived risk premium for institutions interacting with the USDT ecosystem.” That risk premium has been the primary barrier to sovereign, pension, and prime brokerage exposure to USDT-denominated instruments.
The timing aligns with a broader regulatory tightening across digital assets. The CFTC’s Innovation Task Force is actively restructuring oversight frameworks for crypto derivatives — and stablecoin reserve transparency is a core compliance variable in that architecture. Tether’s audit positions USDT ahead of any reserve disclosure mandate, rather than behind it.
That is a deliberate strategic posture, not a coincidence. As the Ripple RLUSD pilot with MAS demonstrates, institutional-grade stablecoins now compete on compliance infrastructure as much as liquidity depth.
Discover: The best crypto presales gaining institutional momentum right now
The post Tether Crypto Secures Big Four Auditor for Full USDT Transparency Review appeared first on Cryptonews.
Key Highlights
- Best Buy (BBY) shares climbed 5.3% amid rumors of a potential GameStop (GME) acquisition
- GameStop’s CEO Ryan Cohen announced in January his pursuit of a “very, very, very big” consumer company acquisition
- GameStop’s recent 10-K revealed approximately $0.7 billion pledged as collateral for derivative transactions
- Gordon Haskett’s Don Bilson identified “prime broker action” in BBY during Q4 while questioning the timeline alignment
- GameStop (GME) shares declined 2.3% during the same trading session; the company has remained silent on inquiries
Shares of Best Buy (BBY) experienced a notable 5.3% climb on Wednesday following widespread speculation that GameStop (GME) may be positioning itself to acquire the electronics retail giant.
The acquisition chatter traces back to remarks from GameStop Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen during late January, where he expressed his ambition to execute a “very, very, very big” acquisition of a substantial consumer-focused company — characterizing it as a potentially transformational move for GameStop.
The speculation intensified following GameStop’s most recent 10-K filing, which revealed the company “posted approximately $0.7 billion of cash into an account that is pledged as collateral for certain existing and potential cash or physically settled derivative transactions.”
According to Gordon Haskett analyst Don Bilson, evidence suggests GameStop has established a swap position and appears to be evaluating potential acquisition candidates. However, he refrained from identifying a specific target company.
Bilson had earlier mentioned Best Buy as a plausible candidate, citing prime broker movements in BBY throughout the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, he acknowledged a potential timing discrepancy — the observed activity doesn’t perfectly align with GameStop’s disclosure indicating capital deployment occurred after its fiscal year conclusion.
Despite these uncertainties, market participants reacted enthusiastically, driving BBY shares significantly higher.
GameStop has not issued any response to media inquiries regarding the speculation. The company’s stock declined 2.3% during the same trading period.
Best Buy’s Current Financial Standing
Best Buy maintains a market capitalization of approximately $13.58 billion. Trailing twelve-month revenue reaches $41.69 billion, although the retailer’s 3-year revenue growth rate registers at -1.4%.
Profit margins remain modest, with operating margins at 4.2% and net margins at 2.56% — both showing declining trends in recent periods. Insider activity has leaned toward selling, with six transactions totaling 77,247 shares executed over the previous three months.
From a valuation perspective, however, the metrics present a more compelling narrative. Best Buy’s price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 hovers near its 3-year minimum. Similarly, the P/S ratio of 0.34 and P/B ratio of 4.58 are approaching historical lows, suggesting potential undervaluation.
The relative strength index currently stands at 37.79, approaching oversold conditions.
Underlying Financial Resilience
Notwithstanding revenue challenges, Best Buy demonstrates robust financial health indicators. The company’s Altman Z-Score of 4.13 and Piotroski F-Score of 7 both signal strong balance sheet fundamentals.
Wall Street analysts have established an average price target of $73.32, accompanied by a recommendation score of 2.7 — reflecting measured optimism.
Best Buy maintains operations across approximately 1,068 retail locations through its Domestic and International divisions, spanning computing, mobile devices, appliances, consumer electronics, entertainment products, and related services.
The stock’s beta coefficient of 1.69 indicates heightened sensitivity to broader market movements — a relevant consideration given Wednesday’s rapid response to acquisition speculation.
GameStop has not publicly confirmed any specific acquisition target, and no formal proposal or regulatory filing has been disclosed to date.
Opinion by: Abdul Rafay Gadit, co-founder at Zignaly and ZIGChain
Digital asset treasury companies (DATCOs) are facing a classification problem that the market can no longer ignore.
DATCOs were built to hold crypto. Increasingly, they’re being forced to decide whether they want to own assets or operate the systems those assets run on.
Index providers are now openly debating whether these businesses still resemble operating companies or whether they function more like investment vehicles.
Recently, we saw MSCI’s note that it would keep “digital asset treasury companies” in its indexes for now, while launching a broader consultation on how they should be classified going forward.
That hesitation reflects a deeper uncertainty about what these companies have become. The model that once defined these companies’ passive balance sheet exposure to Bitcoin is already starting to fracture.
The cost of moving beyond simplicity
What’s emerging in its place is not a cleaner or safer evolution, but a materially riskier one.
The industry has rebranded this shift as “active treasury management,” a phrase that understates the risks being introduced and obscures what is actually changing. In practice, it means moving beyond passive exposure into operational strategies that introduce new layers of risk, leverage and governance complexity.
Once DATCOs cross that threshold, they are no longer just holders of digital assets. That means we need to have regulators, index providers and investors treat them accordingly, as ultimately, operators are judged by execution, not conviction.
The first phase of DATCOs was straightforward: Hold Bitcoin, communicate long-term conviction and allow balance sheet exposure to do the rest. That simplicity mattered to boards, auditors and index providers, and it kept outcomes tied to broader macro forces rather than execution risk.
The second phase is fundamentally different. As competition increases and simple exposure becomes less compelling, treasury companies are being pushed to manufacture yield. Various reports in 2026 have indicated that a growing number of crypto treasury companies are expanding beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) into more volatile tokens to boost returns. That strategy may improve short-term performance optics, but it steepens tail risk dramatically. In stressed conditions, these positions are more likely to unwind quickly and in a correlated fashion precisely when liquidity is most fragile.
Exposure becomes responsibility
There’s a quiet shift happening in how institutions engage with blockchain. Instead of treating networks purely as assets to hold, some are beginning to participate at the infrastructure layer by running validator nodes, adding to network security and taking part in governance.
Any yield that comes from this is incidental; the primary focus is on reliability, control and active involvement in systems that now support real economic activity.
Any yield that comes from this is incidental; the primary focus is on reliability, control and active involvement in systems that now support real economic activity. This represents a fundamental change in what these companies actually do.
Validator operations introduce protocol level obligations that boards cannot treat as ancillary. Slashing risk, uptime guarantees, key management, client concentration and governance participation are not abstract technical issues. These are core business risks, exposing companies to forms of liability and reputational damage that passive asset holding never created.
At that point, a DATCO is no longer merely exposed to market volatility. It is exposed to operational failure, governance decisions and protocol level outcomes. That leaves only two coherent identities: an operating company with formal controls, or a fund with explicit fiduciary obligations. The real danger lies in occupying the space between the two.
Related: Digital asset treasuries that only hodl may fall short
Active treasury strategies blur the line between corporate finance and delegated investment management. When companies pursue yield through staking, token rotation or infrastructure participation, they are making discretionary allocation decisions on behalf of shareholders. Those decisions carry risk profiles that look far closer to fund management than to treasury stewardship.
No governance, no right to be active
If DATCOs want to avoid being treated as unregulated investment vehicles, they need to adopt fund-grade guardrails. That means clear disclosures around strategy and risk. It means segregation of duties between custody, execution and risk oversight.
It means independent controls, audit-ready reporting and stress testing that models correlated drawdowns and protocol-level failures, not just price volatility.
Most importantly, it means boards formally recognizing protocol exposure and governance influence as core risks, not experimental upside.
Without those safeguards, “active treasury” becomes a euphemism for leverage without accountability.
This shift also exposes a second gap: infrastructure. Combining tokenized assets, staking income and compliance obligations inside a single mandate is not something legacy systems were designed to handle. Nor can it be safely managed through ad hoc wallets, spreadsheets or loosely governed smart contracts.
Institutional onchain rails will need to support delegated execution, policy driven controls and auditable workflows if DATCOs are going to operate at scale without amplifying systemic risk. That infrastructure must treat operational risk with the same seriousness as market risk because in active treasury models, the two are inseparable.
The consultation underway at MSCI should not be viewed as a threat to the sector. It is a signal that the easy phase is over. As DATCOs evolve into active operators from passive holders, the market will demand clarity about what these companies are and what risks they are taking.
Those that chase yield without guardrails may discover that classification was the least of their problems, because by the time the market reacts, the risks will already be embedded.
Opinion by: Abdul Rafay Gadit, co-Founder at Zignaly and ZIGChain.
This opinion article presents the author’s expert view, and it may not reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. This content has undergone editorial review to ensure clarity and relevance. Cointelegraph remains committed to transparent reporting and upholding the highest standards of journalism. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the company.
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