XRP price continues to trade under a prolonged downtrend that has limited sustained upside for months. The altcoin has repeatedly failed to reclaim key resistance levels. While short-term sentiment shows mild improvement, the broader macro structure remains tilted toward caution.

Recent on-chain developments introduce a complex dynamic. Whale accumulation suggests confidence in a rebound. At the same time, profit-taking activity and weakening network growth highlight structural risks that could cap recovery attempts.

XRP Whales Are Buying

Large XRP holders appear committed to accumulation despite challenging market conditions. Throughout February, addresses holding more than 100,000 XRP increased their collective ownership. These wallets now control 83.7% of the total XRP supply.

This concentration indicates strong conviction among high-capital participants. Whales often accumulate during consolidation phases to position for future upside. Their buying suggests expectations of price recovery rather than imminent distribution. Sustained accumulation can reduce circulating supply and stabilize volatility.

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Bearish Signals Appear

However, early signs of profit-taking are emerging on-chain. The network realized a profit and loss metric surged to $207 million over the past 24 hours. This marks the first significant wave of profit booking in nearly a month.

While moderate profit realization is healthy for market structure, accelerated selling could undermine bullish setups. If short-term gains motivate broader distribution, XRP’s recovery may stall. Monitoring realized profit trends will be critical for assessing sustained upside potential.

New address momentum paints a more cautious macro picture. This indicator compares monthly (red) new address growth against yearly (blue) trends. When monthly growth falls below yearly averages, it signals contraction in network activity.

Since early December 2025, XRP’s monthly new address growth has remained below yearly levels. This divergence reflects declining on-chain engagement and reduced network utilization. Weak onboarding often correlates with slower capital inflows.

Persistent contraction limits organic demand. Without consistent expansion in active addresses, price recovery becomes dependent on existing holders rather than new participants. Historical data show that prolonged divergence can suppress rallies until growth normalizes.

Reversal of this trend would signal improving fundamentals. A rise in monthly new addresses above yearly averages would indicate renewed adoption. Until that shift occurs, macro fundamentals remain fragile despite whale optimism.

XRP Price Downtrend Persists

XRP is trading at $1.34 at the time of writing, hovering directly above critical support at the same level. The altcoin remains capped below $1.47 resistance. A descending trendline active since early 2026 continues to restrict upward movement.

If bearish momentum strengthens, XRP could lose the $1.34 support. Combined with increasing profit-taking, such a breakdown may push the price toward $1.28. Further weakness could extend losses to $1.21, reinforcing the prevailing downtrend structure.

Conversely, stabilization in realized profits would support consolidation above $1.34. Holding this level may weaken the descending resistance line. A decisive breakout above $1.47 would invalidate the bearish thesis. Sustained momentum could then propel XRP toward $1.58, marking a structural shift in market sentiment.

A New York court has dismissed a class action lawsuit against Uniswap Labs, underscoring the decentralized nature of the protocol and the challenges of holding developers accountable for third-party misuse.

The ruling, delivered by Judge Katherine Polk Failla, emphasizes that Uniswap Labs cannot be held liable for fraudulent activities conducted by third parties on their platform, drawing parallels to Venmo or Zelle regarding user misuse.

The court’s decision involved dismissing federal claims with prejudice and state-law claims without prejudice, further reinforcing the legal standing of smart contract developers. This ruling follows the affirmation by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, highlighting that creators of smart contracts are not liable for third-party misconduct.

Founded by Hayden Adams in 2018, Uniswap decentralized exchange on Ethereum that pioneered the Automated Market Maker (AMM) model. The platform has been at the forefront of the DeFi movement, providing a marketplace for buyers and sellers without intermediaries.

This legal victory not only secures Uniswap’s operational model but also sets a precedent for other decentralized platforms facing similar legal challenges.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

Core Scientific (CORZ), a bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company, reported fourth-quarter revenue of $79.8 million for the period ended Dec. 31, compared with $94.93 million a year earlier. Consensus forecasts were for revenue of $122.08 million, according to LSEG data.

The company posted a loss of $0.42 per share, versus expectations for a loss of $0.08 per share.

The weaker results come as bitcoin miners continue to adjust to the April 2024 halving, which cut block rewards in half and squeezed margins across the industry. A higher network hash rate and rising energy and infrastructure costs have pressured profitability, particularly for operators still scaling new capacity.

Core has been repositioning itself beyond pure self-mining and toward hosting and colocation services for high-performance computing clients, including AI workloads. CEO Adam Sullivan said the company is leaning into that strategy.

“We’re now past the halfway point on our existing builds and scaling our colocation platform into a 1.5 gigawatt pipeline of leasable capacity,” Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan, said in a statement. “With a multi-geography footprint and proven execution, we’re accelerating RFS timelines across multiple sites to position the company for durable growth.”

As part of this plan, the company announced that it is expanding into Texas, adding about 430 mega watts of gross power capacity. It also increased capacity across other regions by about 300 mega watts.

CORZ shares were lower by 4.5% in after hours trading.

Meanwhile, Riot Platforms (RIOT), a bitcoin mining and data center development company, reported fourth-quarter revenue of $647.4 million, up from $376.7 million a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenue of $157.4 million, including $136 million from bitcoin mining and $21.3 million from engineering.

RIOT shares were flat after hours.

Buterin proposes binary state trees and eventual RISC-V VM shift to improve Ethereum’s proving efficiency and execution simplicity.

Vitalik Buterin has proposed execution-layer changes that could fundamentally reshape Ethereum’s core architecture. The project’s co-founder argued that deep modifications to the network’s state tree and virtual machine are necessary to remove what he described as the chain’s biggest proving bottlenecks.

In a detailed post on X, Buterin said that the state tree and VM together account for more than 80% of the constraints that affect proof efficiency and called them “basically mandatory” targets if Ethereum wants to enable scalable client-side and zero-knowledge proving use cases.

Ethereum Overhaul

He pointed to EIP-7864, a proposal developed by Guillaume Ballet and others, which would replace Ethereum’s current hexary Keccak-based Merkle Patricia Tree with a binary tree built on a more efficient hash function. According to Buterin, the change would shorten Merkle branches by roughly four times, by cutting bandwidth requirements and making client-side branch verification significantly cheaper.

This could reduce data costs for tools such as Helios and private information retrieval systems by 4x, Buterin added. Proving efficiency could also be improved by 3-4 times from shorter branches alone. He expects additional gains if Ethereum shifts to hash functions such as BLAKE3, which is estimated to be three times more efficient than Keccak. Meanwhile, a Poseidon variant could offer up to 100 times improvement, though he noted further security work would be required.

The proposed binary design would also group storage slots into 64-256-slot “pages” and allow more efficient loading and editing of adjacent storage, potentially saving more than 10,000 gas per transaction for applications that access early storage slots. Buterin explained that a prover-friendly state tree would also allow zero-knowledge applications to compose directly with Ethereum’s state instead of building independent trees, while at the same time simplifying the structure and enabling metadata additions for future state expiry mechanisms.

Beyond the state tree overhaul, Buterin made the case for eventually replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine with a RISC-V-based VM, as he described the idea as longer-term and non-consensus. But he expressed high conviction that it would become “the obvious thing to do” after state roadmap upgrades are complete.

Possible Deployment Roadmap

The Ethereum co-founder said that a RISC-V VM would be more execution-efficient, more prover-friendly, and simpler, while noting that many existing provers are already written in RISC-V and that an interpreter could be implemented in only a few hundred lines of code. He detailed a phased transition plan beginning with using the new VM for precompiles, then allowing developers to deploy contracts directly in the new VM, and ultimately retiring the EVM into a compatibility layer written as a smart contract in the new system.

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Under that roadmap, users would retain full backward compatibility apart from gas cost changes, which Buterin said would likely be overshadowed by scaling improvements in the coming years.

Buterin’s latest push comes just days after he introduced a quantum-resistance roadmap, which included proposals to replace consensus-layer BLS signatures with hash-based schemes such as Winternitz variants.

Venice AI, a decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) protocol created by Erik Voorhees, the founder and CEO of ShapeShift, continues to outperform the altcoin market, more than doubling its valuation over the past seven days.

The VVV token soared 35% today to a $640 million fully diluted valuation (FDV) after Voorhees revealed that Venice is a recommended model provider for OpenClaw, the open-source autonomous AI agent platform recently acquired by OpenAI for $1 billion.

VVV has had an impressive month, rallying nearly 300% while the broader market trended lower.

Following the DIEM token launch in September, Venice utilizes a dual-token system that provides DIEM stakers with free access to multiple AI models. DIEM reached an all-time high of $895 today, up more than 900% from its November low.

The Cardano price flashed a textbook bullish divergence on the daily chart, surged 24%, then collapsed. On-chain data reveals a coordinated whale exit worth over $540 million into the rally — even as the Money Flow Index confirmed retail was actively buying the dip.

Here’s what happened, and what it means next.

Daily RSI Divergence Fired & MFI Confirmed the Move

Between December 31, 2025, and February 24, 2026, ADA’s daily chart built a bullish divergence. The Cardano price printed a lower low, between the late-December range and the February 24 low. Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum oscillator, formed a higher low.

When price makes a lower low but RSI makes a higher low, it signals that bearish momentum is weakening even as price continues to fall.

The signal resolved on February 25 when ADA surged nearly 24%, briefly touching $0.31 before posting a long upper wick — a candlestick structure indicating aggressive selling into the highs.

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What makes this setup more interesting is that the Money Flow Index backed it up. The MFI is a volume-weighted momentum indicator that combines both price and volume to measure buying and selling pressure, scored from 0 to 100. Unlike the RSI, which only considers price, MFI factors in trading volume — making it a more direct proxy for whether real capital is flowing into or out of an asset.

Between February 24 and 28, both price and MFI trended higher together. There was no bearish MFI divergence. This means the dips were being genuinely bought with volume conviction, not just price drifting upward on thin liquidity. Someone was actively absorbing sell pressure.

So the RSI divergence fired. MFI confirmed genuine buying support. ADA jumped 24%. And yet, from that February 25 peak, the price fell 17% within days. If the technical setup was valid and dip-buying was real, what killed the rally?

Over 2 Billion ADA Distributed in 3 Days: The Whales Were the Sellers

The answer is on-chain. Santiment’s supply distribution data reveals that between February 24 and 27, every major whale cohort reduced its holdings simultaneously.

The 1 billion-plus ADA cohort executed the largest single exit. It shed roughly 1.02 billion tokens in a single day between February 24 and 25 — dropping from 2.90 billion to 1.88 billion ADA.

The 100 million to 1 billion cohort initially picked up tokens on February 24, likely absorbing some of that initial sell, but then reversed aggressively by February 27, dropping from 3.47 billion to 2.61 billion ADA — a reduction of approximately 860 million tokens.

The 10 million to 100 million cohort shed around 220 million ADA over the same window, declining from 13.90 billion to 13.68 billion. Even the smallest whale tier, the 1 million to 10 million holders, reduced from 5.69 billion to 5.64 billion, offloading roughly 50 million tokens.

In total, approximately 2.15 billion ADA was distributed across all four cohorts within three days. At the average price of roughly $0.27 during this window, that amounts to approximately $540 million in concentrated sell pressure — all hitting the market during a rally that retail was actively buying into.

This is why the MFI data is so revealing. The MFI confirmed genuine buying support. The whale data confirms where the selling came from. Retail and mid-tier addresses were absorbing whale supply on the way up, but $540 million in distribution over 72 hours simply overwhelmed that demand.

Derivatives Data Adds Weight To ADA Breakdown

The derivatives market reinforces this picture. Cardano’s futures open interest had already collapsed from $1.95 billion September peak to below $450 million by mid-February. One of the lowest levels this year. This meant that leveraged retail had largely exited before the divergence even fired.

The buying MFI captured was therefore likely spot-driven: retail accumulating on the dip, using RSI divergence as conviction. But spot buying alone could not absorb the scale of whale distribution.

Cardano Price Action: Lower Lows Persist, Whale Re-Entry Becomes the Key Signal

ADA’s daily price structure remains lower as of March 2 (relative to late December), trading at $0.27, while the RSI continues to print higher lows (again relative to late December). This means the divergence framework is still technically alive, even after the late-February failure. A new swing low could trigger it again.

On the upside, $0.31 is the line in the sand. This was the exact rejection level on February 25. A daily close above this level would mark the first structural break in the downtrend, opening a path toward $0.37.

On the downside, a loss of $0.26 would confirm the weakness. Below that, the $0.23 and $0.21 levels become critical.

If $0.21 fails, deeper Fibonacci extensions at $0.18 (0.618) and $0.15 (0.786) come into play.

But the most important variable for Cardano’s next move is not a price level. It is whether the whales start buying again. As of March 2, Santiment data shows that major holders have not resumed significant accumulation.

If ADA declines toward $0.21 or lower and whale cohorts begin to re-accumulate, as they did earlier, it would represent a considerably stronger setup than February delivered. The moment whales resume buying can be treated as a potential local bottom signal.

For the next divergence to succeed, it needs whale participation as confirmation, not contradiction. Until that happens, the Cardano price structure could continue to point lower.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Editor’s note: Bitcoin closed February with a 15% drop, marking five consecutive monthly losses. The report also highlights a shift as major banks move to integrate crypto into traditional finance, signaling a convergence of fintech and lending rails. With geopolitical tensions and upcoming US data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting, crypto markets remain sensitive to macro signals. This editor’s note sets the scene for the figures that follow and what they may mean for price momentum and policy-driven risk in early 2026.

“Bitcoin has started March on the backfoot amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have triggered a broader flight from risk assets. This week’s US economic data — including ISM manufacturing and services PMI, ADP employment figures, and non-farm payrolls — will be closely watched ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting. While markets are currently pricing in a hold on rates, softer data could increase expectations of a cut, potentially providing much-needed support to cryptoasset prices.”

Key points

• Bitcoin fell 15% in February, extending five consecutive monthly losses.
• If March finishes lower, it would mark six consecutive monthly declines.
• Institutional adoption accelerates: Citibank plans to integrate bitcoin into core banking and custody; Barclays explores stablecoin payments and tokenised deposits.
• Markets await US data (ISM, PMI, ADP, payrolls) and the Fed decision, which could influence crypto prices.

Why this matters

These numbers and moves matter because they illustrate a shift where crypto assets are increasingly considered alongside traditional finance. The data underscores how macro factors and policy expectations can drive crypto sentiment, while bank-led crypto integration signals a broader use case beyond speculation. If banks expand custody, settlement, and compliance workflows for digital assets, market dynamics and liquidity could evolve even as Bitcoin remains volatile.

What to watch next

• March performance and whether Bitcoin ends the month with a sixth straight decline.
• Upcoming US data releases and the Fed meeting shaping risk assets.
• Progress on Citi and Barclays crypto initiatives with potential launches later this year.

Disclosure: The content below is a press release provided by the company/PR representative. It is published for informational purposes.

Bitcoin Records Five Consecutive Monthly Losses as Major Banks Move to Integrate Crypto into Traditional Finance

Abu Dhabi, UAE – 2 March 2026: Bitcoin ended February down 15%, marking five consecutive months of losses and a 48% decline from its all-time high of $126,500 in October 2025.

For the first time in its history, both January and February have closed in negative territory in the same year. Should March also finish lower, it would mark six consecutive monthly declines — only the second such occurrence on record.

Simon Peters, Crypto Analyst at eToro, commented:

“Bitcoin has started March on the backfoot amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have triggered a broader flight from risk assets. This week’s US economic data — including ISM manufacturing and services PMI, ADP employment figures, and non-farm payrolls — will be closely watched ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting. While markets are currently pricing in a hold on rates, softer data could increase expectations of a cut, potentially providing much-needed support to cryptoasset prices.”

Biggest Movers

NEAR rose 17% last week, climbing from $1.009 to $1.184 following NEARCON 2026 in San Francisco. Key announcements included the Near.com Super-App, enabling account management across more than 35 blockchains without manual bridging, and “Confidential Intents,” a privacy execution layer designed to shield cross-chain transaction details.

Polkadot (DOT) also gained 17% in anticipation of a major supply reduction on 14 March, which will cut annual token issuance by more than 50% — from approximately 120 million tokens to 55 million.

Institutional Adoption Accelerates

Citibank announced plans to integrate bitcoin into its core banking systems, aiming to make the asset “bankable.” The proposed services include institutional-grade custody of bitcoin, key management and wallet services, and the extension of traditional tax, reporting and compliance workflows to digital assets. The service is expected to launch later this year.

In the UK, Barclays is reportedly exploring the development of a blockchain platform for stablecoin payments and tokenised deposits. Earlier this year, Barclays acquired a stake in Ubyx, a US-based clearing system for digital money, marking its first direct investment in stablecoin infrastructure.

These developments highlight the continued convergence between traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem.

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eToro believes in the power of shared knowledge and that investors can become more successful by investing together. The platform has built a collaborative investment community designed to provide users with the tools they need to grow their knowledge and wealth. On eToro, users can hold a range of traditional and innovative assets and choose how they invest: trade directly, invest in a portfolio, or copy other investors.

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A popular trading pair on Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, is experiencing problems with inadequate liquidity and market fluctuations after it was suspended amid ongoing US-led airstrikes in the country.

Nobitex’s Telegram account posted on February 28 that it was suspending the Tether/Toman market until the following morning due to the “current emergency situation and per the directive of the Central Bank.”

When it was reopened, Nobitex claimed there had been “a temporary disruption in the supply and demand balance.”

“This situation led to momentary fluctuations and prices outside the market’s normal trend,” it said, adding that user positions priced at less than 145,000 Tether/Toman were liquidated as a result. 

TD Securities, a major Canadian investment bank with operations across North America, says tokenization may be approaching an institutional turning point following the New York Stock Exchange’s push into tokenized equities.

In recent commentary, TD Securities Reid Noch, vice president for electronic trading, said tokenization is beginning to carry real implications for market structure, pointing to the NYSE’s proposed tokenized equities alternative trading system (ATS) as a key development.

The planned platform would enable 24-hour trading and near-instant settlement of tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), subject to regulatory approval.

Rather than creating a parallel crypto-native marketplace, the venue is designed to operate within existing US market rules while leveraging blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

Noch described the structure as closer to a “2.0” market shift, where custody and settlement would remain anchored to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), while trading would comply with National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) requirements. This means prices must reflect the best available bid and offer across U.S. exchanges to prevent fragmented liquidity.

Although Noch said early activity is expected to be retail-driven, the broader implications extend well beyond individual traders.

TD Securities’ institutional focus suggests the company sees potential impact on core market plumbing, including trading hours, collateral management, settlement cycles and liquidity, areas that shape how large financial institutions operate.

Related: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets

Tokenized equities gain institutional traction

Tokenization accelerated in 2024, led primarily by private credit and U.S. Treasury products, which have accounted for the bulk of onchain real-world asset (RWA) issuance, according to industry data. 

Despite broader crypto market volatility, capital inflows into tokenized assets have continued, suggesting sustained institutional interest in blockchain-based settlement and ownership models.

More recently, tokenized equities have begun gaining traction. Kraken’s xStocks platform has emerged as one of the more visible entrants, reporting more than $25 billion in cumulative trading volume since launching last year. 

Although tokenized equities remain a small fraction of global stock market activity, their growth reflects a broader shift toward bringing traditional financial instruments onchain within regulated frameworks.

Related: Kraken launches tokenized securities trading in Europe with xStocks