Crypto World
AXP Shares Plunge 8% as Block’s AI-Driven Workforce Cuts Trigger Financial Sector Alarm
TLDR
- Block revealed plans to eliminate more than 4,000 positions (approximately 40% of staff), attributing the decision to AI capabilities
- The announcement triggered concerns about potential AI-driven disruption facing legacy financial institutions like American Express
- AXP shares plummeted nearly 8% during Friday’s trading session
- Significant put option volume indicated traders positioning for additional downside, with put-to-call ratio reaching 2.6
- Year-to-date, AXP has declined 11.39% while implied volatility surged
Shares of American Express $AXP plummeted nearly 8% during Friday trading after Block’s dramatic workforce reduction announcement sent shockwaves through financial services stocks.
Block revealed plans to eliminate over 4,000 positions, representing approximately 40% of its employee base. The disclosure came as part of the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results.
In explaining the dramatic restructuring, Block’s founder and CEO Jack Dorsey pointed to artificial intelligence as the driving force. His shareholder letter stated: “A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better.”
Dorsey emphasized that “intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week,” making clear this represents an ongoing transformation rather than an isolated cost-cutting measure.
The announcement resonated powerfully with market participants. The logic was straightforward: if a digitally-native payments platform like Block can eliminate nearly half its workforce through AI implementation, what implications does this hold for established financial institutions?
This reasoning placed American Express squarely in investors’ sights. Even with its robust infrastructure and substantial technology investments spanning decades, the market viewed AXP as potentially exposed to similar pressures.
The selloff was swift and substantial. AXP shed nearly 8% throughout the session, settling at $307.95. Intraday trading ranged between $307.67 and $321.01.
Options Activity Reflects Heightened Anxiety
The equity decline was accompanied by notable derivatives market movement that reinforced bearish sentiment.
Approximately 22,400 put contracts traded on Friday, representing roughly five times typical daily volume. Considerable interest centered on March and June 2026 $280 strike puts, which saw approximately 4,700 contracts traded.
The put-to-call ratio surged to around 2.6, a definitive indication that traders were securing downside hedges rather than positioning for upside moves.
At-the-money implied volatility increased by over six points, signaling heightened expectations for significant price movements in AXP shares going forward.
Wider Market Picture
Friday’s decline extends a challenging period for the stock. AXP has now surrendered 11.39% year-to-date, marking a difficult opening to 2026 for shares that recently touched a 52-week peak of $387.49.
Typical daily trading volume averages approximately 3.1 million shares. Friday’s volume registered just 379,000, indicating the decline was sentiment-driven rather than the result of widespread selling pressure.
American Express maintains a market capitalization around $212 billion, operates with a gross margin of 60.65%, and offers shareholders a dividend yield of 1.06%.
Current technical indicators for the company show a “Buy” signal, though that guidance hasn’t prevented the recent downward trajectory.
AXP has incorporated AI technologies into its business operations for years and has navigated numerous technological transitions throughout its history. Nevertheless, Block’s workforce announcement proved sufficient to prompt Friday’s investor exodus.
The concentration of put option interest in March and June 2026 expirations indicates market participants are anticipating sustained volatility for AXP shares through the middle of the year.
Bitcoin (BTC) traded below $69,000 on Sunday as the market faced a critical weekly candle close.
Key points:
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Bitcoin approaches its 200-week trend line after sinking throughout the weekend.
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BTC price action leaves traders firmly bearish on the immediate and long-term outlook.
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A golden cross on the daily chart may provide some relief, analysis says.
Bitcoin returns to “unreliable” support
Data from TradingView showed BTC price action circling a key trend line after a weekend dip to near $68,000.
Bearish momentum entered into Saturday’s daily close and crypto longs suffered. Over $300 million in longs and nearly $100 million in shorts were liquidated in the 24 hours to the time of writing, per data from CoinGlass.
In so doing, BTC/USD set up a fresh showdown around its 200-week exponential moving average (EMA) near $68,300.
As Cointelegraph reported, the 200-week EMA was of major importance in prior BTC price cycles, but has become “unreliable” in 2026 due to failing to offer support.
Last week, trader and analyst Rekt Capital said that price should retest the 200-week trend line as support from above in order for it to provide the foundation for upside continuation.
“More, there’s also a chance that Bitcoin could simply meander in and around the 200-week EMA for a while, never really turning it into convincing resistance, never really turning it into convincing support, before ultimately breaking down into additional Macro Downside over time anyway,” he noted on X.
Others also retained bearish predictions, including trader Roman, who reiterated his $50,000 target.
“There are still 0 signs of bear market exhaustion on HTF. No divs, no bear PA exhaustion, no momentum loss, etc,” he told X followers on Sunday, referring to higher time frames.
“I still have high confidence in seeing 50k and likely a bit lower.”
BTC price “range game continues”
A potential silver lining on the day came from a “golden cross” involving two other moving averages.
Related: Bitcoin RSI signals potential bottom as analysts flag key setup
Here, the 21-day simple moving average (SMA) crossed over its 50-day equivalent, signalling stronger recent price momentum.
Commenting, Keith Alan, cofounder of trading resource Material Indicators, was cautiously optimistic.
“The Golden Cross will likely deliver some short term bullish momentum. Must watch to see if it develops into something durable,” he acknowledged in an X post.
“For now…the range game continues.”
Earlier in March, the BTC/USD chart produced two “death crosses,” a structure that typically implies more downside pressure to come. These in turn sparked warnings of a collapse below $40,000.
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.
TLDR:
- Crypto market cap has grown from billions to $2.34T, showing strong long-term upward trends.
- Adoption may reach 4 billion users by 2030, surpassing early internet growth rates.
- Tokenization and stablecoins integrate crypto into global financial systems daily.
- $100T market cap projection depends on continued adoption and partial on-chain asset migration.
Crypto Market Cap continues to expand despite volatility, with projections suggesting adoption could reach billions, pushing valuation toward $100 trillion over the next decade.
Adoption Trends Driving Crypto Market Cap
Crypto Market Cap has steadily grown from billions to trillions over the last decade, reaching about $2.34 trillion today. Despite sharp corrections, the long-term trend remains upward.
Each market cycle introduces new users, infrastructure improvements, and institutional involvement. Corrections reset valuations while strengthening underlying networks, showing that volatility is a natural part of this emerging asset class.
Adoption is a key driver of long-term growth. Raoul Pal, former hedge fund manager and Real Vision CEO, forecasts that crypto could reach 4 billion users by 2030.
Wallet numbers have grown at an average of 137% per year since 2014, outpacing early internet adoption, which expanded at 76% annually after reaching 5 million users.
While growth is expected to slow to 43% next year, projections indicate the industry could surpass one billion users before 2030.
Some analysts caution that wallet metrics may overstate real adoption due to multiple addresses per user and project-driven wallets. Pal countered that early internet metrics faced similar challenges yet still accurately tracked network expansion.
Conservative estimates, such as those from Triple-A and Andreessen Horowitz, suggest 560 million users by 2024, with monthly active users ranging between 30 and 60 million.
Even with lower estimates, the adoption curve remains strong, supporting the potential for continued crypto market cap growth.
Path Toward $100 Trillion Market Cap
Projections for Crypto Market Cap suggest a potential rise to $100 trillion by 2032, driven by adoption, tokenization, and macroeconomic trends.
Currency debasement is cited as a primary factor influencing asset appreciation, while widespread adoption strengthens long-term growth.
Pal notes that adoption explains performance relative to debasement, which accounts for most of the price action historically.
Tokenization of real-world assets could significantly increase valuation if even 10–20% of global assets move on-chain. Combined with stablecoins facilitating billions in daily transactions, crypto is increasingly integrating into financial infrastructure.
Networks such as Bitcoin serve as digital reserve assets, Ethereum enables decentralized finance and applications, and stablecoins support cross-border settlements.
Global financial markets collectively hold hundreds of trillions in equities, bonds, real estate, and gold. Crypto does not need to replace these assets; capturing a fraction could propel the market toward tens of trillions.
Each cycle, marked by drawdowns, strengthens the ecosystem as weaker participants exit and infrastructure improves. The market’s exponential nature indicates most growth occurs after broader attention, suggesting that today’s $2.34 trillion could resemble early internet phases in hindsight.
TLDR:
- Bittensor’s top 10 subnets reached a combined $550M valuation, reflecting strong ecosystem growth.
- Templar SN3 finished Covenant-72B using 72B parameters and 1.1T tokens without any central cluster.
- TAO token demand rises directly with subnet activity, as purchasing subnet tokens requires TAO first.
- Grayscale’s ETF filing and Jensen Huang’s comments signal rising institutional interest in TAO’s future.
Bittensor subnets have collectively reached a valuation of $550 million, drawing fresh attention to the TAO ecosystem.
Templar SN3 completed Covenant-72B, the largest decentralized large language model pre-training in history. The run used 72 billion parameters and 1.1 trillion tokens, with no centralized cluster involved.
This milestone has strengthened investor interest in both TAO and the growing subnet economy beneath it.
Covenant-72B Sets a New Standard for Decentralized AI Training
The Templar SN3 subnet trained Covenant-72B on 72 billion parameters and 1.1 trillion tokens. No centralized computing cluster was used throughout the entire training process.
The model’s performance is competitive with Meta’s LLaMA-2-70B in published benchmarks. This places decentralized pre-training on par with established open-source AI infrastructure.
Crypto analyst @ElCryptoDoc called the achievement “Bittensor’s DeepSeek moment” in a widely circulated post. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang also commented on the development, adding further visibility.
The comparison to DeepSeek reflects growing confidence in cost-efficient, distributed training methods. Industry observers have described the run as concrete proof point for decentralized AI.
Beyond Templar, Targon SN4 stands out as the highest-revenue subnet in the ecosystem. The subnet, operated by Manifold Labs, recently raised a $10.5 million Series A.
It serves real companies seeking confidential GPU compute through decentralized infrastructure. Chutes SN64, meanwhile, is expanding as a serverless inference and GPU compute option for developers.
These subnets operate across different layers of the Bittensor network but serve complementary purposes. Together, they show the ecosystem’s capacity for commercial use beyond speculative activity.
Developers are increasingly turning to decentralized alternatives for production AI workloads. This trend supports the credibility behind the $550 million combined valuation figure.
TAO Token Demand Strengthens as Subnet Activity Expands
A key mechanic in the TAO ecosystem ties subnet token purchases directly to TAO demand. Acquiring any subnet token requires TAO, making it the base currency across all subnets.
As subnet usage grows, so does the structural demand for TAO itself. This creates a compounding relationship between subnet performance and token value.
@ElCryptoDoc noted that one viral post about Templar drove TAO’s price up nearly 20% in a single day. That reaction shows how sensitive the market is to subnet-level progress.
Investors are treating individual subnet milestones as direct catalysts for the TAO token. The connection between the two layers is concrete and increasingly well-understood.
Grayscale has filed an ETF application tied to TAO, pointing to growing institutional interest. Jensen Huang’s public mention of Bittensor has also drawn attention from a wider investor base.
These external developments are positioning TAO within a broader AI-native asset conversation. TAO’s staking utility for subnets remains central to discussions around its long-term value.
As subnet competition intensifies, analysts are watching which networks will scale most effectively. Covenant-72B has established a measurable precedent for distributed model training at scale.
The $550 million valuation reflects current momentum alongside anticipated growth. The ecosystem now has tangible benchmarks to guide its next phase of development.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission published interpretive guidance explaining how they might define what is or isn’t a security in crypto; the CFTC also issued a no-action letter for a non-custodial wallet provider to facilitate derivatives and prediction markets transactions; Arizona is filing criminal charges against a prediction market provider; and by the way we kind-of-sort-of have hints of movement on market structure legislation.
What a week, huh?
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The narrative
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published interpretive guidance this week — joined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — laying out how it approached the question of what in crypto it will deem a security.
Why it matters
What is, and isn’t, a security has long bedeviled the industry. We had efforts at somewhat defining this from the SEC in the past — Bill Hinman’s “When Howey met Gary (plastics)” speech, for example — but this week’s interpretative guidance is one of the most specific efforts to define this for the industry.
Breaking it down
The SEC laid out several categories it saw in the crypto space, with one of these categories being digital securities. These are cryptocurrencies that meet the definition of a security under any other context, but happen to be tokenized, the guidance said. For example, if a crypto asset meets the prongs of the Howey Test, it’s a security.
This is the category of tokens the SEC will oversee.
Other categories include payment stablecoins, digital tools, digital collectibles and digital commodities, which are generally not securities unless the issuers or operators take actions that might meet securities regulations, such as fractionalizing the tokens in question.
“We establish a straightforward taxonomy of crypto assets — most of which are not securities — and clarify how the Supreme Court’s Howey test applies when a crypto asset is part of an investment contract,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda wrote in an oped for CoinDesk.
The CFTC said it would sign on to the guidance and administer it under the Commodities Exchange Act.
“Market participants — from innovators and issuers to individual investors — should review this interpretation to better understand the regulatory jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC,” the CFTC said in a press release. “The interpretation will be published on CFTC.gov and in the Federal Register.”
Congressman Troy Downing (R-Mont.) called the guidance “very positive,” but said Congress still needed to pass market structure legislation as a future administration could undo the interpretative guidance.
“Just having another two or three years of this and then having ambiguity out there doesn’t make most people comfortable on doing any kind of big investment,” he told CoinDesk. “But it’s a great start because this is exactly what the industry wants, and it allows some people to move forward.”
Chris LaVigne, a partner at the law firm Withers, said the guidance “predictably concludes that most crypto assets and many common crypto activities are not securities,” though the agency kept some discretion to being an enforcement action in this area.
“The guidance moves the securities inquiry away from the asset or activity itself (which are mostly deemed digital commodities not within the purview of the SEC) and re-centers the analysis on the transactions and representations in which these assets or activities arise or are marketed,” he said. “By doing so, the SEC did not completely eliminate uncertainty or its enforcement role, because it concludes that a crypto asset that is not a security can nonetheless be sold as part of an investment contract if it is marketed with promises of profit derived from the issuer’s essential managerial efforts.”
A crypto that was marketed as a security may eventually be deemed something else “once those promises are fulfilled or no longer operative,” he said. This might affect securities more broadly than just crypto assets.
It’s less clear what may constitute a commodity under the guidance.
Jason Gottlieb, a partner at Morrison Cohen, said the Commodity Exchange Act defines commodities as a list of products (excluding onions and motion picture box office receipts), services and other issues “in which contracts for future delivery are presently or in the future dealt in.”
This legal definition diverges from the definition seemingly being used in the guidance. The CFTC’s approach to crypto over the past decade has evolved since some early lawsuits, where it claimed jurisdiction over bitcoin , leading it to seemingly have jurisdiction over non-security cryptocurrencies. But this definition needs to be codified by market structure legislation, he told CoinDesk.
“People need to understand that jurisdiction is still uncertain. The SEC is clearly saying ‘we don’t have jurisdiction if the token does not meet these criteria,’” he said. “Just because the SEC does not have jurisdiction does not mean the CFTC does.”
Gottlieb said he was part of a case before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to gain clarity on this question, but market structure legislation would be needed to cleanly grant the CFTC jurisdiction over all non-security cryptocurrencies.
The status of that legislation also remains up in the air. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), speaking at the DC Blockchain summit earlier this week, said she anticipated a markup may happen in the final weeks of April. The issue of stablecoin yield may be resolved with an agreement that stablecoin issuers and their partner firms would not describe their products using bank terminology, though she cautioned that she hadn’t seen any specific language yet.
The flip side, several individuals told me, is that the Clarity Act might require the SEC to go back to the drawing board on how it’s defining securities in crypto. But this falls under the category of bridges that can be crossed when they’re reached.
Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said lawmakers are also close to agreements on issues like ethics and quorums on the regulatory agencies — some of the outstanding areas of disagreement on the bill.
Downing said he saw an April time frame as doable for advancing market structure legislation. The closer lawmakers get to the end of the year, however, the less likely it would be that anything could be passed, he said, pointing to the midterm election. “But I don’t think it’s impossible.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said on stage at the DC summit that she was “optimistic” there would be a markup soon, which would then lead to the Banking and Agriculture Committee’s bills combining.
The combined bill would need to incorporate areas of bipartisan agreement, she said.
“One of the issues that I think is very important that people should be aware of is the Senate wants an ethics provision,” she said. “I think the House would have had even more support on the Democratic side if they had retained their ethics provisions in their bill. It’s very important that members of Congress do not get rich off of this industry, because they have access to non-public information, because they have positions of power and authority.”
Downing said the market structure bill needed to address consumer protections and money laundering, without being so restrictive that companies would be scared to do anything.
“Nobody wants bad actors in their space and nobody wants that reputation of bad actors using this as a tool to do bad things,” he said. “… If you bring those [provisions] in too narrow, nobody’s going to do anything innovative.”
He said he understood why banks might be concerned about the yield issues.
“Community lenders, community banks are worried about depositors all exiting the market, in which case you’re not doing mortgages on small farms in Montana, right?” he said.
Late Friday, Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis told Politico they had reached an agreement on the yield issue, though the details had not been shared with the banking or crypto industries as of press time.
Kalshi was just ordered to cease offering most of its prediction markets in the state of Nevada for at least two weeks, pending a hearing on April 3.
The order came after an appeals court refused to grant an administrative motion that could have blocked the state court’s action. Earlier in the week, the state of Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi, alleging some of its election and other contracts violate state law.
In Nevada, a judge ruled that Kalshi can’t offer sports, election or entertainment-related event contracts at least temporarily.
According to the order by Judge Jason Woodbury, the record in Nevada’s case against Kalshi so far suggests that it offers products defined by state law, making its conduct subject to Nevada’s gaming regulators.
“The question of federal preemption in this regard is nuanced and rapidly evolving,” the judge wrote. “At the moment, the balance of convincing legal authority weighs against federal preemption in this context.”
The Arizona action goes further, alleging misdemeanor violations on small bets placed on professional football and college basketball games, upcoming elections and on whether bills become law and whether public figures will show up to sporting events.
“Arizona law prohibits operating an unlicensed wagering business, and separately bans betting on elections outright,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office said in a press release.
Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour called the charges a “total overstep” that “have nothing to do with gambling or the merits.”
There’s a broader growing backlash to prediction markets. Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, who represents Nevada, wrote an opinion piece saying prediction markets “blatantly violate state and tribal laws and regulations.”
“To ensure responsible gaming, casinos, sportsbooks and online gaming sites have to follow minimum age requirements, participate in integrity monitoring and support critical consumer protections, like programs that help people with gambling addictions,” she said. “Yet, this past year, emboldened by limp and overly permissive federal regulators like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), so-called ‘prediction markets’ have transformed themselves into illegal sportsbooks, offering their users illicit sports wagers.”
This week
- There are no hearings or public meetings scheduled (at least pertaining to crypto).
If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.
See ya’ll next week!
Crypto World
Blackstone’s BCRED Posts First Monthly Loss in Over Three Years as Investor Withdrawals Hit $3.7B
TLDR:
- BCRED reported a 0.4% loss in February 2025, its first monthly decline since September 2022’s 1.3% drop.
- Investors withdrew $3.7 billion from BCRED in Q1 2025, surpassing the fund’s typical quarterly redemption volume.
- Blackstone wrote down loans for select borrowers, including software firm Medallia, per a letter to financial advisers.
- Blackstone shares have dropped over 28% this year as banks tighten lending and rivals cap investor withdrawals.
Blackstone’s private credit fund, BCRED, recorded its first monthly loss in over three years in February 2025. The $82 billion fund reported a total loss of 0.4%, drawing attention to growing pressures across the private credit sector.
Investor concerns around liquidity, credit quality, and withdrawal surges have grown steadily this year. This development marks a turning point for one of the largest private credit vehicles in the world.
BCRED Reports February Loss as Withdrawals Surge
BCRED’s last recorded monthly loss before February was in September 2022, when it posted a decline of 1.3%. The February 2025 loss of 0.4% comes as investor sentiment around private credit has noticeably shifted.
For context, the Morningstar LSTA index of publicly traded leveraged loans fell 0.8% in February, per Morningstar’s website.
During the first quarter of this year, Blackstone’s fund faced a larger-than-usual wave of redemption requests. Investors pulled $3.7 billion from BCRED, a figure that exceeded typical quarterly withdrawal volumes.
The fund allows investors to withdraw a portion of their holdings every quarter, which adds a layer of liquidity pressure.
Financial news reporter Kristen Shaughnessy shared the development on social media, drawing wider public attention. The post referenced a Financial Times report citing a letter sent to financial advisers by Blackstone. According to that report, customer service software firm Medallia was among the companies whose loans were written down.
BCRED wrote down the value of a “select” number of loans during February, per the Financial Times report. Despite this, Blackstone maintained that the fund has delivered a 9.5% annualized total return since inception for Class I shares. The firm also noted that BCRED has outperformed the leveraged loan market by 100 basis points so far this year.
Private Credit Sector Faces Growing Scrutiny From Banks and Investors
Private credit funds have come under growing scrutiny due to weakening credit quality across the sector. Their high exposure to vulnerable sectors such as software has raised concerns among analysts and investors. Additionally, a lack of transparency has made it harder for market participants to assess underlying risks.
These concerns have spilled over onto Wall Street, where some major U.S. banks have tightened lending to the private credit industry.
JPMorgan Chase marked down the value of certain loans to private credit players earlier this month. That move is expected to reduce available lending to funds operating in the space.
Morgan Stanley and BlackRock were among the firms that moved to limit withdrawals from their own funds. Both firms acted following a surge in redemption requests from investors. This pattern across multiple funds points to a broader trend of tightening liquidity across private credit markets.
Shares of Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, have lost more than 28% of their value so far this year.
That decline mirrors the broader unease investors have expressed toward the alternative asset space. As the sector navigates these pressures, fund managers are being watched more closely than at any point in recent years.
TLDR:
- XRP open interest is falling across major exchanges, with Binance still holding the largest derivatives market share.
- Liquidation spikes and soft taker volume confirm that leveraged XRP positions are actively being unwound market-wide.
- XRP has gained dual commodity classification from the SEC and CFTC, marking a turning point in regulatory clarity.
- ETF inflows of $1.44B and Ripple’s $2.7B in acquisitions reflect rising institutional confidence heading into 2026.
XRP open interest continues to contract across major derivatives exchanges, reflecting an ongoing deleveraging trend in the market.
Despite this broad decline, Binance maintains the largest share of XRP open interest among top platforms. At the same time, a growing set of regulatory and institutional developments is taking shape in 2026.
Analysts are watching closely to see whether these catalysts can reverse the current market structure.
Binance Dominates as Leveraged Positioning Unwinds
Binance remains the primary venue for XRP leveraged trading, holding the most open interest across major exchanges.
However, the exchange’s own 24-hour data shows continued weakness in positioning, with no strong recovery in sight.
Net taker volume on Binance also remains soft, which points to limited aggressive demand from new buyers. This combination suggests the market is still in a reset phase rather than entering a fresh expansion.
Liquidation data adds further weight to this view. Recent liquidation spikes show that forced leverage cleanup has played a role in driving open interest lower.
Rather than reflecting fresh long conviction, the current structure points to position unwinding. Speculative appetite across XRP derivatives continues to fade as a result.
The overall trend across exchanges mirrors what Binance is showing internally. Open interest is falling in a broad and sustained manner, not in isolated bursts.
This pattern typically follows periods of elevated speculation and leverage buildup. For open interest to recover, the market would need stronger directional participation from both retail and institutional traders.
Until that recovery arrives, the market structure for XRP derivatives remains under pressure. Binance will likely continue to lead the space by volume and open interest.
However, the gap between Binance and other exchanges may shift if conditions improve on other platforms. Traders are watching these metrics carefully as a leading signal for XRP’s next move.
Regulatory and Institutional Catalysts Are Aligning in 2026
On the fundamental side, a series of developments are converging that some analysts say could drive a major move.
XRP has been officially classified as a digital commodity by both the SEC and the CFTC, bringing long-awaited regulatory clarity.
The CLARITY Act markup is targeting April, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has placed the odds of passage at 80 to 90 percent. Additionally, a stablecoin yield compromise is reportedly near completion.
Institutional interest is also building at a fast pace. XRP-related ETFs have pulled in $1.44 billion in inflows, while Evernorth has filed its S-4 for a Nasdaq listing.
Ripple has also made over $2.7 billion in acquisitions and is expanding its global footprint. A Ripple National Trust Bank application is currently under review as well.
Crypto analyst X Finance Bull noted on X that in 2024, XRP ran from $0.49 to $3.60 on news alone. The analyst argued that the 2026 setup carries heavier weight, with regulation, infrastructure, and institutional capital aligning together. That framing has drawn attention from traders reassessing their positions.
Whether the derivatives market responds to these catalysts remains to be seen. Open interest recovery alongside stronger volume would signal a shift in market sentiment. For now, XRP sits at a crossroads between fading speculative leverage and growing structural support.
Fidelity Investments told the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday that it should continue to develop the regulatory framework for broker-dealers to offer, custody and trade crypto assets on alternative trading systems (ATS).
The letter from the US’ third-largest asset manager was in reply to a call for comments earlier this month by the regulator’s Crypto Task Force.
Fidelity said it is “critical” for the SEC to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework and clear rules of the road for tokenized securities trading, including rules for trading tokenized securities issued by third parties.
Tokenized instruments have different issuance structures, legalities, and valuation models, the letter said. For example, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) span entirely different asset classes like equities, real estate, bonds, or private credit.
“Tokenization models vary significantly in structure and in the rights afforded to holders,” the letter said. The company explained:
“In some models, the crypto asset represents a holder’s indirect interest in the underlying security through a securities entitlement, while in others, the crypto asset may constitute a securities‑based swap, which may be offered only to eligible contract participants.”
Fidelity also urged the SEC to bridge the regulatory gap between centralized and decentralized trading systems to “consider how intermediated and disintermediated trading venues can evolve and coexist,” the company’s general counsel, Roberto Braceras, wrote.
This includes overhauling existing reporting rules to reflect that decentralized finance (DeFi) trading platforms and other “disintermediated” systems cannot produce the detailed financial reporting required by the SEC because there is no central authority.
Additionally, Fidelity recommended that the SEC issue guidance permitting broker‑dealers to use distributed ledger technology for ATS and other recordkeeping purposes.
Overhauling reporting requirements to reflect this technological reality removes “undue burden” from decentralized systems, the letter said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, under the leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins, has repeatedly signaled support for 24/7 capital markets and has given the regulatory approval for financial companies to experiment with tokenized trading.
Related: SEC interpretation on crypto laws ‘a beginning, not an end,’ says Atkins
US regulators say tokenized securities are subject to the same capital rules as underlying assets
Tokenized securities, which include equities, debt instruments, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other securitized assets, are subject to the same banking capital requirements as the underlying assets they hold.
This view was shared in a joint policy statement published in March from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
“The technologies used to issue and transact in a security do not generally impact its capital treatment,” according to the agencies.
Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice
TLDR:
- Ethereum’s MVRV ratio dropped below 0.8, historically flagging a rare and powerful generational buy zone for ETH.
- ETH price tested the ascending triangle’s rising trendline near $1,800, defending a critical multi-year structural support level.
- The daily Supertrend flipped green for the first time since May, signaling a potential end to ETH’s prolonged sideways trend.
- Reclaiming $2,356 is the first confirmation needed before Ethereum can advance toward the long-term $10,000 price target.
Has Ethereum bottomed? That question is gaining traction across the crypto market as key signals begin to align. Ethereum recently tested the $1,800 price level, a zone that has drawn attention from both technical analysts and on-chain researchers.
A combination of chart structure and blockchain data now points to a potential trend reversal. The roadmap to $10,000 is becoming clearer with each passing week.
Price Action and On-Chain Data Point to a Potential Floor
Ethereum continues to trade within a well-defined ascending triangle on the weekly chart. The recent move toward $1,800 aligned precisely with the triangle’s rising trendline support.
This type of reaction at a major structural level carries significant weight for analysts. It suggests the market is defending a critical price floor rather than breaking below it.
On-chain data adds further backing to the bottoming thesis. The MVRV ratio recently dropped below 0.8, a historically rare reading for Ethereum.
Past instances of this level preceded some of the largest bull rallies in the asset’s history. Analysts widely refer to this threshold as a “Generational Buy” zone.
The timing of this on-chain reset is particularly notable. It occurred exactly as price tested the triangle’s trendline support on the chart.
The convergence of both signals at the same price point strengthens the case considerably. Such alignment across different analytical frameworks rarely happens by coincidence.
Ali Charts noted in a recent post that this combination is the strongest seen in a while. The analyst pointed to the $1,800–$2,000 range as a prime area for accumulation.
Dips into this zone should be treated as buying opportunities by market participants. This view holds as long as the $1,800 floor remains structurally intact.
The Roadmap to $10,000 Runs Through These Key Levels
The roadmap to $10,000 begins with reclaiming the $2,356 resistance level. This is the first confirmation that Ethereum is exiting the accumulation phase.
A sustained move above it would mark the transition into a true bull market expansion. Without clearing this level, the recovery remains in an early and unconfirmed stage.
The next targets on the roadmap sit at $2,647 and $3,639. These mid-term levels correspond to MVRV pricing bands that previously acted as notable resistance.
Breaking through them would validate the broader uptrend in a meaningful way. Each successful level cleared adds further confidence to the $10,000 target.
Beyond the mid-term range, long-term expansion zones are mapped at $4,632 and $5,624. These areas are expected to attract increased selling activity from market participants.
A clean breakout above them, however, would keep the bullish structure fully intact. Momentum through these zones would accelerate the broader move higher.
The all-time high region near $4,900 remains the most critical threshold on the roadmap. A decisive weekly close above it would complete the ascending triangle structure.
That breakout would open the path directly toward $10,000 for Ethereum. The entire bull market case rests on this level eventually being cleared.
The first couple of months of 2026 have forced the Ethereum community into a kind of introspection—one that goes beyond price, beyond technical upgrades, and into the question of what the network is actually trying to be.
Even before this year, there has been a sense among builders and executives that Ethereum was on the verge of another growth phase—this time driven not by crypto-native users but by institutions and technology. Neobanks, as some argued, would quietly onboard millions by abstracting away the complexity of wallets and gas fees. Ethereum, in this framing, wouldn’t need to win users directly. It would sit beneath the interface, powering a new financial stack that, on the surface, looked nothing like crypto.
It was a continuation of a long-running thesis: that Ethereum’s success would come from invisibility.
That vision has been shaped in part by years of previous upgrades aimed at improving user experience and reducing costs. Changes like “proto-danksharding”, introduced in the Dencun upgrade, significantly lowered fees for layer 2 networks by increasing data downloads for transactions, while ongoing improvements to the base layer have made transactions more efficient.
While the price of the network’s ether (ETH) token has been determined by market forces, these upgrades have, together, helped move Ethereum closer to a model where users interact with applications without needing to understand the underlying infrastructure.
But that narrative began to change a few weeks into the year, refocusing on the core roadmap.
The L2 debate
Earlier this year, the co-founder of the network, Vitalik Buterin, delivered a sharp reality check to the broader ecosystem: “You are not scaling Ethereum.”
The comment cut through what had, until then, been a largely celebratory conversation around rollups. These types of networks, also known as layer-2 (L2) networks, process transactions off Ethereum and then bundle them back onto the main chain to make it faster and cheaper. Layer-2 networks have exploded over the last few years, transaction fees have come down, and activity has spread—but the deeper question was whether any of this amounted to coherent scaling.
Buterin’s argument went further than a general critique of progress. In his view, many of today’s layer 2 designs are drifting away from Ethereum’s core model: relying on centralized components and siloed environments that don’t fully inherit the guarantees of the base chain. The concern wasn’t that L2s exist, but that in their current form, they may not be delivering the kind of scaling Ethereum was meant to achieve.
His critique highlighted a growing unease.
Fragmentation across L2s, inconsistent security assumptions, and reliance on centralized components were beginning to look less like temporary trade-offs and more like structural risks. Ethereum, in trying to scale outward, risked losing the very properties that made it valuable in the first place—its strong security, decentralization, and role as a shared, neutral settlement layer where applications and liquidity can seamlessly interoperate.
L2 teams, for their part, didn’t push back so much as recalibrate. Some acknowledged the critique and leaned into a future where rollups differentiate through specialization: privacy, consumer apps, or unique execution environments, rather than simply acting as cheaper Ethereum. Others defended their role more forcefully, arguing that high-throughput environments are still essential.
Ethereum’s base layer, meanwhile, has made incremental progress on its own. Recent upgrades, such as December’s Fusaka hard fork, increased data capacity and efficiency on the main network, allowing more transactions to be processed while lowering costs. Although that spike in transactions came under scrutiny recently, with some calling them ‘address poisoning’ scams.
What this tense episode established for Ethereum is that the path forward needs a delicate balance between the base layer’s structural upgrades and a new breed of specialized rollups that can grow the ecosystem without breaking its foundational security.
This could also lead to consolidation among the layer 2 networks, according to 21shares. “The year ahead is likely to mark Ethereum’s L2 consolidation: a leaner, more resilient layer anchored by ETH-aligned, exchange-backed, and high-performance networks,” the firm said in a research report.
The quantum threat
At the same time, another issue—long discussed but rarely urgent—suddenly moved up the priority list: Quantum Computing.
The Ethereum Foundation signaled a shift in posture, elevating efforts like ‘LeanVM’ and post-quantum signature schemes. What had once been treated as a distant, almost academic concern was now being folded into near-term planning.
The implication was hard to ignore: the network is no longer just building for the next cycle, but for threats that could fundamentally break its cryptographic assumptions. The foundation has signaled it is taking that risk seriously, establishing dedicated research efforts focused specifically on post-quantum security.
Vitalik Buterin also outlined a roadmap to protect the blockchain from the long-term risks posed by quantum computers
The internal shuffle
If scaling exposed cracks in Ethereum’s present, quantum risk cast a shadow over its future, and it seemed that the network was taking the threat seriously.
Then came changes from within.
The departure of Tomasz Stańczak as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation marked more than a leadership reshuffle. At a moment when the network is facing technical, strategic, and philosophical reevaluations all at once, even subtle shifts at the top can signal a broader recalibration.
The move also came as something of a surprise.
The foundation is not known for abrupt shifts, and Stańczak had only stepped into the role about a year earlier, following the long-standing tenure of Aya Miyaguchi. In an ecosystem that tends to favor continuity, the rapid turnover hinted at a deeper internal recalibration underway, as the foundation reassesses its priorities amid growing demands for scaling, security, and Ethereum’s potential role in new frontiers such as artificial intelligence (AI).
‘Trust layer’
And AI, a topic that has become impossible to ignore, not just for crypto but for every industry, began to shape a separate line of thinking for the network.
Buterin outlined how Ethereum could play a foundational role in the future of artificial intelligence. The vision extends beyond payments or DeFi—into a world where Ethereum acts as a coordination layer for decentralized AI systems, enabling verifiable outputs, trust-minimized data sharing, and machine-to-machine economic activity.
That push didn’t emerge overnight.
Early last year, the foundation spun up a dedicated decentralized AI research unit (dAI) exploring how the network could support autonomous agents and machine-to-machine economies. What felt experimental at the time has since accelerated into something more deliberate in 2026, with the foundation increasingly framing Ethereum as a potential “trust layer” for AI: a system for verifying outputs, coordinating agents, and anchoring a rapidly evolving ecosystem that, until now, has been largely controlled by centralized players.
All of this is an ambitious expansion of scope, placing Ethereum at the intersection of two of the most consequential technologies today.
But overall, the first three months of the year suggest that Ethereum no longer has the luxury of tackling these questions in isolation; rather, they are converging.
What emerges is a network being pulled in multiple directions, each one with its own sense of urgency, and a balancing act is becoming harder to ignore. And unlike previous cycles, where narratives could shift as quickly as prices, the issues now feel deeper, less about momentum, and more about structure.
These tensions are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon and will continue to shape Ethereum’s trajectory in the months ahead.
In the immediate term, however, the focus remains on scaling the base layer, with the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade, slated for this year, expected to accelerate that effort. The upgrade will likely become a litmus test for the network’s ability to solve issues that can successfully shift Ethereum into a robust, quantum-secure “trust layer” capable of anchoring the global AI economy.
Read more: Ethereum’s ‘Glamsterdam’ upgrade aims to fix MEV fairness
Crypto World
Polkadot (DOT) Drops to $1.43 After 97.80% Macro Correction: Can It Repeat a 4,529% Rally?
TLDR:
- Polkadot has declined approximately 97.80% from its all-time high of over $55 reached in 2021.
- Analysts identify a high-risk HTF accumulation zone for DOT between the $1.10 and $1.30 price range.
- A weekly close below $1.20 serves as the formal invalidation level for any current accumulation thesis.
- DOT must reclaim and hold above $4.50 to confirm a descending channel breakout and bullish structure shift.
Polkadot (DOT) is currently trading at $1.43, recording a 4.68% price decline in the last 24 hours. The asset posted a 0.81% gain over the past seven days. Trading volume over the same 24-hour period stood at $123,467,162.
The token sits near a critical demand zone, drawing attention from technical analysts. Market observers are now assessing whether a major recovery is forming.
Polkadot Enters Deep Corrective Phase After 2021 Cycle Top
Polkadot reached an all-time high of over $55 during the 2020–2021 bull run. Since that peak, the asset has declined approximately 97.80% to its current price.
This places DOT firmly within what analysts describe as a macro corrective accumulation phase. The correction has extended from 2022 through the present period in 2026.
Crypto analyst CryptoPatel shared a detailed breakdown of the asset on X. The post noted that Polkadot may be forming the same structure that preceded a 4,529% rally.
According to the analysis, DOT is trading below a confirmed bearish breakdown level. This positions the token at a key accumulation versus invalidation zone.
The chart reflects a multi-year descending channel marked by consistent lower highs and lower lows. Dynamic trendline resistance has rejected price on every retest since the 2021 cycle top.
Additionally, a breakdown below the $3.20 horizontal support level confirmed a bearish structural shift. Weak consolidation near current lows further adds to the cautious near-term picture.
The higher time frame demand zone sits between $1.10 and $1.30, which analysts flag as a high-risk accumulation range. However, it also represents a historically notable area for long-term positioning.
A weekly close below $1.20 would serve as the formal invalidation level. Until that occurs, the structure remains technically watchable for patient market participants.
Key Price Levels Outline the Road Ahead for Polkadot Recovery
For a bullish scenario to materialize, Polkadot must reclaim and hold above the $4.50 level. This marks the descending channel breakout confirmation on the higher time frame.
Without that reclaim, any upside move carries the risk of being a short-term relief bounce. Traders are treating this threshold as the primary structural trigger.
CryptoPatel’s analysis also outlined specific bull cycle targets for Polkadot. These targets are set at $4.47, $9.33, $22.27, and $51.75, moving progressively higher.
Each level represents a distinct recovery zone tied to prior market structure. The final target closely mirrors DOT’s previous all-time high territory.
The risk invalidation level remains a weekly close below $1.20. Such a close would negate the accumulation thesis and point to further downside.
At the time of writing, Polkadot trades at $1.43, sitting just marginally above that threshold. The gap between current price and invalidation is notably slim.
The seven-day gain of 0.81% points to some buying activity near the lows. Yet the 24-hour decline of 4.68% reflects ongoing selling pressure in the short term.
As a result, investors tracking DOT will need to see a sustained move above $4.50. Only then can a confirmed directional shift be considered valid.
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