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Bitcoin Tops $69K as CPI Slows, Fed Rate-Cut Odds Stay Low

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Crypto Breaking News

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) kicked off Friday’s session with a modest smile, boosted by a softer-than-expected January CPI print that renewed appetite for risk assets. Traders priced in cooler inflation while keeping a wary eye on the path of policy, with the largest cryptocurrency carving a path toward notable resistance as the CPI data circulated. At one point, BTC rose by as much as 4% intraday, with the benchmark token trading near the $69,000 region on Bitstamp as traders assessed how the inflation backdrop could shape Federal Reserve expectations in the near term.

Key takeaways

  • Bitcoin surged on the back of a January CPI print that cooled beyond expectations, lifting BTC/USD toward the $69,000 level on Bitstamp and signaling renewed momentum in the short run.
  • Core CPI matched estimates at 2.5% while the overall CPI printed 2.4%, both softer than anticipated, fueling a broad risk-on swing across macro assets.
  • Market odds of aggressive Fed easing remained limited, with CME FedWatch showing slim chances of a rate cut at the March meeting, complicating the path for a sustained breakout.
  • Analysts highlighted a confluence of technical references around the 68,000–69,000 area, including the old 2021 all-time high and the 200-week EMA, as a potential higher-low anchor for BTC.
  • Gold climbed toward a symbolic milestone while the US dollar index attempted a recovery after the CPI release, underscoring a mixed but constructive macro backdrop for risk assets.

Tickers mentioned: $BTC

Sentiment: Bullish

Price impact: Positive. The CPI surprise propelled Bitcoin higher, with daily gains peaking near 4% and the price testing the $69,000 vicinity on major venues such as Bitstamp.

Market context: The inflation print fed into a broader narrative where macro assets showed a tempered response to cooling inflation, even as rate-cut expectations remained guarded and positioned around the mid-year horizon. Traders watched for durably slowing inflation signals to justify an acceleration in risk-taking, while acknowledging that policymakers may still stride cautiously given a resilient labor market and evolving growth dynamics.

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Why it matters

The January CPI outcome reinforces a delicate balance in which inflation is trending lower, but policymakers are unlikely to rush the rate-cut cycle. The data echo a pattern observed in recent weeks: inflation metrics are trending toward multi-year lows, yet the Federal Reserve’s reaction function remains data-dependent. For BTC and the broader crypto market, softer inflation can translate into improved liquidity and a more forgiving risk environment, which historically tends to favor speculative assets and risk-sensitive sectors.

From a technical standpoint, traders are watching key price zones that have previously served as turning points. The 68,000–69,000 zone is notable because it intersects with the 2021 all-time high and the 200-week exponential moving average (EMA), a level analysts have cited as an anchor for potential higher-lows in the near term. Several market participants described BTC as consolidating in a potential falling-wedge pattern, a setup that could precede another leg higher if momentum builds. A recent update from a prominent trader noted that an initial breakout attempt at around the 68,000 level faced resistance, reinforcing the idea that the next meaningful move would likely be defined by how the market handles that zone.

Beyond BTC, macro gold also flirted with significant levels, highlighting a broader risk-on mood among non-crypto assets as the CPI narrative evolved. The U.S. dollar index found some footing after the initial CPI dip, a dynamic that can influence risk appetite across asset classes, including digital assets. In this environment, BTC’s performance could act as a barometer for market demand for risk assets and for investors seeking hedges or diversifiers amid evolving macro signals.

One notable thread in the commentary around the CPI release was the consideration of future Fed policy moves. While some market observers argued that a rate cut could become more plausible if inflation continues to ease, others cautioned that a single data print does not alter the central bank’s reaction function overnight. A widely cited dashboard showed that probability of a March rate cut remained in the minority, underscoring the challenge for crypto bulls to sustain a sustained breakout without clearer signs of easing monetary policy. In a related thread, a market observer referenced a lower-bound view on policy shifts, suggesting that the inflation trajectory would need to demonstrate sustained deceleration before a meaningful shift in rate expectations could be priced in. Investors also weighed a perspective opposing the surprise: that a temporary CPI softness might simply reflect statistical quirks rather than a durable downward trend.

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For traders who have been watching the narrative unfold, the CPI surprise did not fully resolve the tug-of-war between risk-on optimism and the structural caution that has characterized crypto markets for much of the past year. While BTC’s intraday rally underscored renewed enthusiasm, many participants stressed that the long-term trajectory would hinge on the Fed’s path and on the sequencing of economic data in the coming weeks. A closing thought from a market commentator who tracks inflation data and policy expectations noted that, even with a favorable inflation print, the real test lies in whether inflation can stay on a downward trajectory long enough to alter policy expectations meaningfully.

The CPI data’s impact on the market narrative can be glimpsed through the lens of the related coverage around inflation dynamics and policy. For readers seeking concrete context, the CPI release is documented by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the associated commentary on how core and headline readings evolved. The market’s reaction to the data is also shaped by how traders interpret the probability of future rate actions, as reflected in tools that gauge Fed expectations. Additionally, analysts cited external inflation trackers and independent assessments to illustrate the nuanced view of inflation risk in the current environment. For a broader sense of sentiment, the community’s discussions surrounding the CPI data and Fed policy provide a snapshot of how this turning point is perceived by traders and researchers alike, including conversations that reference alternative inflation metrics as a lens to evaluate CPI outcomes.

The narrative also includes perspectives from traders active in social channels, where analysts often cross-reference inflation data with on-chain signals and technical indicators. A notable thread tied to the CPI release highlighted the idea that the CPI decline, while supportive, is not a decisive turn; rather, it is part of a broader sequence that could unfold across the next several weeks as the market calibrates its expectations for policy, liquidity, and macro risk appetite. The ongoing dialogue among market participants underscores the importance of keeping a close watch on how the inflation data evolves and how policy guidance evolves in response, as those dynamics will continue to influence BTC’s trajectory and the crypto market more broadly.

For readers who want to explore the underlying data themselves, the CPI release and the market’s interpretation of it are widely covered in real-time feeds and official releases. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the primary figures, while market data platforms and analysis from research shops offer additional context on how these numbers translate into rate expectations, liquidity, and risk sentiment. In the eyes of many traders, the CPI print is less a singular event than a datapoint in an ongoing process—one that will shape the tempo and nature of crypto market movements in the weeks to come.

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TradingView BTCUSD chart shows the intraday velocity, while the CPI context remains anchored by the U.S. CPI release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a contemporaneous note, a widely circulated tweet from market analyst Andre Dragosch referenced Truflation’s sub-1% CPI readings as supporting evidence for a less aggressive inflation profile than some conventional measures imply. The exchange between traditional data and alternative inflation metrics continues to shape expectations around rate moves and cross-asset correlations.

In sum, the CPI surprise injected a tactical lift for Bitcoin, but the broader path remains a function of policy expectations, liquidity conditions, and the ongoing assessment of inflation trends. As the market digests the data, traders will be watching for a softening CPI to translate into a more explicit willingness to price in rate cuts—and with that, a more durable upside for BTC and the broader crypto complex.

Earlier coverage noted the delicate balance between momentum and resistance around the $68,000–$69,000 zone, a region that has historically defined the near-term tempo of BTC price action. The narrative continues to evolve as macro conditions, policy signals, and on-chain fundamentals interact in real time.

For additional context and data points discussed during the CPI reaction, see the related notes and coverage linked throughout this timeline, including references to the FedWatch tool and broader market commentary that has tracked the shifting probability of rate cuts in the March horizon.

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AI agents choosing denationalized money

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Kamino Hits $90M in OnRe Liquidity While $KMNO Drops 16% chart

Welcome to our institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week:

  • Sylvia To on AI agents choosing denationalized money
  • Top headlines institutions should pay attention to by Francisco Rodrigues
  • Kamino hits $90M in OnRe liquidity while $KMNO drops 16% in Chart of the Week

Thanks for joining us!

-Alexandra Levis


Expert Insights

Hayek predicted it, Satoshi built it, agents will use it: the stealth denationalization of money

– By Sylvia To, vice president, Bullish Capital Management

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While F.A Hayek, Satoshi and AI may seem like three unrelated topics, the next few minutes will reveal exactly how critical this triad is to our financial sovereignty and it will fundamentally change your view on money as we know it.

Crypto’s cypherpunk ethos

Amid flashy distractions of memecoins, speculation and NFTs, Satoshi would want us to remember the true ethos of crypto, that is: privacy, decentralization and censorship resistance. These ideologies did not come from central banks or policy makers. They came from the cypherpunk’s definition that freedom is best defended not by persuasion but by architecture.

As Vitalik Buterin recently articulated in his March 2026 thread on X, this means building “sanctuary technologies” that create “shared digital space with no owner,” enabling “interdependence that cannot be weaponized” and advancing “de-totalization” to prevent total control by any power.

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Money should be a product, not a decree

In 1976, Hayek argued that money should not be “legal tender” forced on people by the state. It should be discovered, adopted and discarded through market choice like any other product. His book Denationalisation of Money outlined these characteristics of “good money”:

• Non-state issuance: not decreed, not voted, not bail-out-able.

• Rule-based monetary policy: predictable supply schedule, not discretionary.

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• Global choice: adoption is voluntary; anyone can opt in or out.

• Resistance to capture: no central issuer to pressure, no board to replace.

• Settlement without permission: value transfer doesn’t require institutional approval.

Sound familiar? Yes, Bitcoin.

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Bitcoin sits in a special category inside that experiment. Not because it’s perfect today, but because it is plausibly the first monetary network to meet Hayek’s central requirement. That is money introduced by some pathway that cannot easily be stopped. As Bitcoin undergoes price discovery, its volatility is the cost of birth and the market deciding what an ungoverned, credibly scarce asset is worth in a world trained for fiat. But even in that turbulent phase, Bitcoin checks a surprising number of Hayek’s boxes.

The trojan horse: stablecoins and the trap inside it

If we’re honest, stablecoins are currently one of crypto’s most successful use cases. They are fast, programmable and easy to price. They move across borders with far less friction than bank wires.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: stablecoins don’t denationalize money. They digitize the existing national money and extend its reach. Most stablecoins do not compete with the dollar. They import the dollar.

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The dollar is a tool of state policy. Pegging to it ties you to its inflation, its surveillance, its sanction regime, its banking chokepoints and its regulatory priorities. Stablecoins may feel like freedom because they move on open networks, but their reference asset is still the same old sovereign instrument.

So while stablecoins can be useful, they also risk becoming the perfect bridge into tighter control. In that sense, stablecoins are not neutral. They are a competitor to decentralized currencies. If bitcoin is denationalization, stablecoins are nationalization with better UI.

The real end user

Here’s where the story gets more interesting and more Hayekian.

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Humans are emotional, irrational, politically driven and short-term oriented. Our monetary systems reflect that. We routinely trade long-term stability for short-term relief, then act surprised when crises compound.

But what happens when most of the participants in the economy aren’t humans?

With the meteoric rise of agentic software, and apps increasingly being designed for agents using frameworks like Model Context Protocol (MCP), there is a credible near-term future where autonomous agents purchase services, data, compute, API calls, storage, inference and specialized tools through continuous micropayments.

Agents will care less about branding and narratives and more about properties like:

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• machine-readable transaction metadata

• instant, programmable finality

• composability with other systems

• low transaction overhead

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• censorship resistance (because uptime is a feature)

• predictable monetary rules (because models optimize against them)

In other words: agents will gravitate toward money that behaves like good infrastructure. A stablecoin is stable because an issuer maintains a peg. An agent might ask: What is the failure mode of the issuer? What is the policy risk? What is the censorship risk? What is the settlement risk under stress? Bitcoin’s value may fluctuate, but its rule set is unusually legible. Its issuance is not negotiated. Its core properties do not depend on a board decision, a regulator’s discretion or the solvency of a nation.

Maybe humans won’t choose the best money because we’re too entangled in politics, habit and fear.

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Maybe Hayek’s “new money” was never meant for humans — at least not first.

Maybe the pathway that governments “can’t stop” isn’t a mass political movement.

Maybe it’s AI agents who operate at machine speed, indifferent to national identity, optimizing for reliability, who can be the deciders of the new monetary rails.

When that tipping point arrives, denationalization of money won’t feel like a philosophical triumph. It will be an inevitable engineering outcome, propelled not by ideology, but by raw machine necessity.

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When that tipping point arrives, denationalization of money won’t feel like a philosophical triumph. It will be an inevitable engineering outcome, propelled not by ideology, but by raw machine necessity.


Headlines of the Week

– By Francisco Rodrigues

Traditional finance giants, including the owner of the NYSE, ICE, and Morgan Stanley, have kept on making strategic moves in the crypto space, while regulatory milestones like Kraken securing Fed access signal the industry’s path toward mainstream integration.


Chart of the Week

Kamino hits $90M in OnRe liquidity while $KMNO drops 16%

Kamino’s OnRe market has increased 80% to nearly $90M in 30 days, cementing its position as the primary liquidity layer for OnRe’s on-chain reinsurance protocol. This growth allows users to bet on a $480B+ real-world vertical by using $ONyc- a tokenized insurance asset – as collateral.

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However, this fundamental RWA scaling sharply diverges from the native $KMNO token; the KMNO/SOL pair has dropped 16% over six months, pressured by a broader market downturn and 13M monthly token unlocks (0.13% of total supply).

Kamino Hits $90M in OnRe Liquidity While $KMNO Drops 16% chart

Listen. Read. Watch. Engage.

Looking for more? Receive the latest crypto news from coindesk.com and explore our robust Data & Indices offerings by visiting coindesk.com/institutions.


Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc., CoinDesk Indices or its owners and affiliates.

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Bitcoin Whipsaws Around $70K as Trump Says There’s ‘Nothing Left’ to Hit in Iran

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BTCUSD Mar 11. Source: TradingView


The other reason behind BTC’s latest volatile session could be linked to the recently released CPI numbers for February.

US President Donald Trump continues to comment on the quickly escalating tension in the Middle East, suggesting once again that the war could be over soon.

Bitcoin’s price experienced immediate volatility after his remarks became viral on social media.

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This is Trump’s second similar claim in the past few days, after he noted on Monday that the war “is very complete, pretty much.” However, his statements are not supported by some country officials as well as its partner in this case, Israel.

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Walter Bloomberg’s report indicated that the two countries plan “at least two more weeks of strikes.” Additionally, the situation lastly escalated after the US started reporting that Iran had put mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military has destroyed at least 16 mine-laying boats in the region, but officials have asserted that “it’s unclear how many mines Iran has deployed.”

Bitcoin traded at $69,200 before Trump’s statement went live, but skyrocketed by almost two grand instantly. Although it was stopped at $71,100, it still trades above $70,000 as of press time.

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There’s another possible reason behind BTC’s volatility. As reported a few hours ago, the US CPI data for February was released, and it matched expectations. However, bitcoin remained relatively calm in the first 90 minutes after the news went live, so Trump’s remarks on the war seem to have a more profound impact.

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BTCUSD Mar 11. Source: TradingView
BTCUSD Mar 11. Source: TradingView

 

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Wells Fargo files WFUSD trademark for crypto services

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Brian Armstrong's Bold Prediction: AI Agents Will Soon Dominate Global Financial

TLDR

  • Wells Fargo filed a U.S. trademark application for the wordmark WFUSD on March 9.
  • The USPTO lists the application as live and pending review.
  • The filing covers software for digital asset trading, payments, and wallet services.
  • It also includes cryptocurrency exchange services and financial data processing.
  • The application references tokenization and blockchain-based trading infrastructure.

Wells Fargo & Company has filed a U.S. trademark application for the wordmark “WFUSD.” The filing covers software, trading, payments, and tokenization services tied to digital assets. The United States Patent and Trademark Office lists the application as live and pending.

Wells Fargo Moves to Secure ‘WFUSD’ Trademark

Wells Fargo & Company submitted the trademark application on March 9, according to USPTO records. The filing appeared publicly on the USPTO site early Wednesday. The agency confirmed the application met minimum filing requirements. However, it has not yet assigned an examining attorney.

The application spans three international classes that cover digital asset services. Class 009 includes downloadable software for digital asset trading, payments, and wallet functions. Class 036 covers cryptocurrency trading and exchange services and financial information processing. Class 042 includes software-as-a-service for tokenizing assets and operating blockchain trading infrastructure.

The filing also references software used to process stablecoin transactions. The name “WFUSD” resembles ticker symbols for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. However, Wells Fargo has not issued any public statement about the application.

Filing Aligns with Wells Fargo’s Prior Crypto Activity

Wells Fargo has backed digital asset infrastructure firms in recent years. In February 2020, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital invested $5 million in Elliptic. The blockchain analytics firm counts SBI Holdings and Santander InnoVentures among its investors.

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In May 2022, the bank joined a $105 million Series B round for Talos. Citigroup, BNY, and DRW also participated in that funding round. The investment valued Talos at $1.25 billion.

The trademark filing follows commentary from the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. In March 2025, the institute stated that digital assets have “evolved into a viable investment asset.” The report classified digital assets as “part of real assets within an asset-allocation framework.”

The institute also described digital assets as “potential portfolio diversifiers.” The report cited low five- and ten-year correlations with traditional asset classes. It framed digital assets within a broader allocation strategy.

Wells Fargo reported net income of $5.36 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025. The bank posted $1.62 per diluted share during that period. In the same quarter a year earlier, it reported $5.08 billion, or $1.43 per share.

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Wells Fargo manages approximately $2.1 trillion in assets. The USPTO currently lists the “WFUSD” application as live and pending. The agency has not yet assigned the filing to an examining attorney.

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Hollywood Star-Turned-Skeptic Releases Trailer for Anti-Crypto Doc

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Hollywood Star-Turned-Skeptic Releases Trailer for Anti-Crypto Doc

Ben McKenzie’s film, “Everyone Is Lying to You for Money” touts interviews with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on his political donations.

Ben McKenzie, a Hollywood actor known for his roles on television shows including Gotham and The OC, has released the trailer for a documentary about cryptocurrency featuring interviews with actors and former executives at once-prominent trading platforms.

Released by international sales agency and distributor The Forge on Tuesday, the trailer for the documentary, titled “Everyone Is Lying to You for Money,” showed McKenzie saying cryptocurrency was “pretty stupid” and the actor’s journey to advocating against the industry. The film features footage from 2022 of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried and former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky before their respective companies collapsed, as well as interviews with celebrities including Morena Baccarin and Gerard Butler.

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The trailer shows McKenzie directly asking SBF how much he had donated to politicians; it lists among its cast El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who advocated for the country to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in 2021. Notably, Butler said in an interview with McKenzie that he had “made a ton of money” investing in crypto but didn’t “actually know anything about it.”

McKenzie shifted from working in Hollywood to speaking out against issues in the crypto industry after learning about the technology in 2020. After the collapse of FTX in 2022, he testified at a US Senate hearing investigating the downfall of the exchange, calling the industry “the largest Ponzi scheme in history.”

Related: Ex-SafeMoon chief sentenced to more than 8 years over $9M investor fraud

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Cointelegraph reached out to the filmmakers for comment on the content of the interviews with SBF and Bukele but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Bankman-Fried still exploring a potential presidential pardon or appeal

The former FTX CEO is serving a 25-year sentence in US federal prison following his 2023 conviction on seven felony counts related to the misuse of customer funds at the exchange. However, Bankman-Fried has two potential paths to early release.

Shortly after his 2024 sentencing, SBF’s lawyers filed an appeal to overturn the conviction and sentence. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals had not released any decision as of Wednesday.

In addition, Bankman-Fried has been lobbying US President Donald Trump through social media posts praising his actions, often on matters unrelated to crypto. However, Trump said in a January interview that he was not considering a pardon for the former CEO.

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