Quiet bitcoin BTC$74,191.24 price action in the $74,000 area was shattered Wednesday morning on reports of military escalation in Iran and then February inflation data that came in far stronger than expected.

The declines started as U.S. President Donald Trump struck a more aggressive tone on Iran, suggesting further escalation in a series of Truth Social posts and calling the country the “NUMBER ONE STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR.”

Alongside, Iran’s state TV reported that part of that country’s South Pars gas field was attacked.

This followed reports that Israel killed Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, while the U.S. deployed 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs targeting missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil flows.

That news combined to send the price of WTI crude oil from as low as $92 per barrel overnight to nearly $96.

Minutes later, the U.S. Producer Price Index for February rose 0.7% versus just 0.3% expected and up from January’s 0.5%. The core PPI rose 0.5% versus 0.3% expected, though down from January’s 0.8%. Importantly, the disturbing inflation data is from prior to the attacks against Iran and the subsequent sharp rise in the price of oil.

The data complicates the outlook for rate cuts, especially with oil prices still elevated, and is weighing on risk assets ahead of the U.S. stock market open.

Bitcoin has now fallen to $72,300, down 2% over the past 24 hours. Declines for ether (ETH), solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) are closer to 3%. U.S. stock index futures have swung from solid gains to declines of about 0.4% across the board.

Fed comes later

Later in the day, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates steady, shifting the focus to Chair Jerome Powell’s messaging and how policymakers interpret the recent mix of growth risks and inflation pressures. Trump once again renewed calls for rate cuts in a Wednesday post, adding a political dimension to the meeting.

The effort involves eight cryptocurrencies and will take place at the start of April.

Binance revealed it will terminate all trading services for certain cryptocurrencies.

Somewhat expected, the tokens included in the effort nosedived by double digits immediately after the disclosure.

The Latest Announcement

Even though Binance supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, their presence on the platform isn’t guaranteed forever and depends on factors such as trading volume, liquidity, network security, public communication, team commitment, and more.

Following its most recent review, the exchange decided to delist the altcoins Arena-Z (A2Z), Ampleforth Governance Token (FORTH), Hooked Protocol (HOOK), Loopring (LRC), IDEX (IDEX), Neutron (NTRN), Solar (SXP), and Radiant Capital (RDNT). The effort will take place on April 1 and will lead to the removal of spot trading pairs involving the aforementioned tokens. Meanwhile, Binance Spot Copy Trading will delist those assets on March 25.

“After this time, any outstanding assets will be force-sold at market price or moved to the Spot Account if the amount is unsellable. Users are strongly advised to update or cancel their Spot Copy Trading portfolios prior to Binance Spot Copy Trading delisting time to avoid potential losses,” the company warned.

Deposits of these tokens will not be credited to users’ accounts after April 2, while withdrawals won’t be supported after June 1. Delisted cryptocurrencies may be converted into stablecoins on behalf of customers after June 2, Binance clarified.

Such announcements usually trigger negative price reactions for the affected assets. After all, losing Binance support damages a coin’s reputation, reduces its liquidity, and limits its accessibility. Such was the case here as all of the involved altcoins headed south by double digits. IDEX was the biggest loser, with its valuation collapsing by 33% on a daily scale.

A similar thing was observed last week when Binance removed 21 cryptocurrencies, including WorldShards (SHARD), Alliance Games (COA), BNB Card (BNB Card), MilkyWay (MILK), Hyperbot (BOT), and others. Some of the assets saw their prices crash by an astonishing 70-80% shortly after the news broke.

You may also like:

The Opposite Effect

On the contrary, backing from Binance typically has quite a positive price effect on the involved cryptocurrencies. Earlier this week, the exchange introduced the trading pairs CFG/USDT, CFG/USDC, and CFG/TRY, causing CFG’s valuation to surge 60% within minutes.

At the start of 2026, the lesser-known digital assets Moonbirbs (BIRB) and ETHGas (GWEI) also posted substantial gains after Binance launched the BIRB/USDT and GWEI/USDT perpetual contracts with up to 50x leverage.

Australians are increasingly using cryptocurrency for day-to-day payments, even as banking restrictions continue to hamper access to the ecosystem.

A recent survey by crypto exchange Independent Reserve, which polled 2,000 “everyday Australians” between Jan. 12 and Jan. 30, found that the share of users paying with crypto has doubled from 6% to 12% compared to the previous year.

According to the report, one in three Australians now own cryptocurrencies in 2026 and are viewing digital assets as more than just a speculative investment, with growing interest in real-world utility.

Nearly 21% of respondents reported using crypto for online shopping, making it the leading use case. It was followed by other applications such as freelancing payments and video game purchases, which accounted for 16%.

However, even as demand continues to build, banking-related issues remain a persistent challenge for users trying to access crypto services.

Among the respondents, nearly 30% said their bank had blocked or delayed a payment to a crypto exchange at least once. That figure marks a notable increase from 19.3% reported in 2025.

Such delays stem from tighter banking controls introduced in recent years, when several major institutions such as Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank rolled out measures including payment delays, transfer caps, and additional identity checks for crypto-related transactions.

“For many Australians, the lack of regulation hits home when a payment to a crypto exchange is delayed or blocked, an issue that has continued to rise for another year,” the report said, adding that “clear licensing and regulation can help fix this.”

Australian regulators are still undecided

Australia is still lagging behind other major economies in establishing formal legislation to effectively regulate the crypto sector. 

So far, the federal government has primarily focused on a token mapping exercise and public consultations, while the Treasury continues to refine its proposed framework for digital asset service providers.

Earlier this week, Australia’s Senate Economics Legislation Committee said it was considering a new bill that would require crypto exchanges and tokenization platforms to operate under the country’s existing financial services framework.

Ethereum client teams are testing an opt-in mechanism that could cut the time some layer-2 networks and exchanges wait to recognize mainnet deposits, allowing them to process transactions much faster.

Dubbed the Fast Confirmation Rule (FCR), the proposal is expected to bring confirmation times down to around 13 seconds, according to Ethereum researcher Julian Ma.

By using this approach, platforms can move away from systems that rely on canonical bridges, where transfers typically take up to 13 minutes to reach full confirmation. However, many already rely on “k-deep” confirmation rules, which offer no formal guarantees. A transaction in such models is only treated as confirmed once a predefined number of blocks have been added on top of it.

Developers say the rule can be introduced without hard-forking, though client and API integration is still required.

Client teams are already working on implementations, with deployment expected to allow nodes to adopt the rule without network-wide coordination.

When using FCR, rather than counting blocks, the system evaluates validator attestations to determine whether a block is safe to treat as confirmed. This can solve the issue of slow bridging between Ethereum L1 and downstream platforms.

It does this by relying on two assumptions: that validator messages propagate quickly across the network and that no single entity controls more than 25% of staked Ether. While these thresholds fall short of Ethereum’s stricter finality guarantees, they are considered sufficient for most real-world use cases.

In cases where more security is needed, the system waits longer before confirming a block, Ma explained, adding that “it’s a feature, not a bug.”

Mixed community reaction

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the mechanism can provide a “hard guarantee” that a transaction will not be reverted after a single slot under the right network conditions.

But other community members remained skeptical about the proposal. Some argued that the model leans heavily on trust assumptions and may face challenges under stressed network conditions.

A U.K. parliamentary committee urged the government to impose “an immediate moratorium on crypto donations” until Parliament approves Electoral Commission statutory guidance.

In a report, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said crypto poses an avoidable risk to political finance and public trust. The committee said rules should be ready before the next general election.

The reportnoted that the same traits that make crypto useful for fast payments also make it harder to monitor. It points to mixers, tumblers, privacy coins and chain hopping as tools that can blur the source of funds and warns that artificial intelligence tools could help split a large payment into many sub-500-pound ($668) donations, keeping each below the normal reporting threshold.

Crypto donations remain legal in the country, even though cryptoassets are treated as property rather than legal tender, the report adds. Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage that leads in national polls, is the first European political party to say it will accept crypto donations.

The total value of crypto donations Reform UK has received so far is unclear. Crypto investor Christopher Harbone has donated around $12 million in cash to the party.

Natasha Powell, crypto exchange Kraken’s chief compliance officer, told lawmakers that regulated exchanges can manage much of the danger. Still, the committee wasn’t convinced and said the current framework lacks the tools and staff needed to verify donors, trace funds and avoid abuse. As such, it wants the moratorium written into the Representation of the People Bill.

The report adds that a ban on direct crypto gifts would not close every gap. A donor could still cash out cryptocurrencies into sterling before sending money through the banking system.

The committee also wants the Electoral Commission to gain powers to compel information from banks, the tax authority and crypto platforms when it suspects impermissible activity, the report adds.

Senior Labour members of parliament earlier this year called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ban cryptocurrency donations to political parties, over concerns these could be used by hostile foreign entities to influence elections.

Today, the focus for FX traders is on the Federal Reserve: at 21:00 GMT+3, the FOMC will announce its interest rate decision (rates are expected to remain unchanged), followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell half an hour later.

In addition:
→ the Bank of Canada will announce its rate decision today;
→ similar events are scheduled tomorrow for the Bank of Japan, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of England.

As the DXY chart shows, the index is currently trading near the median of an upward channel that has remained in place since early February — a zone where supply and demand typically balance each other. However, incoming central bank announcements are likely to disrupt this equilibrium.

Technical Analysis of DXY

On the morning of 13 March, when analysing the DXY chart, we:
→ noted that the market appeared overbought, with price trading above the upper boundary of the channel;
→ suggested that a pullback could develop.

Indeed, subsequent price action showed signs of bearish pressure:
→ the formation of a “head and shoulders” (H&S) reversal pattern;
→ a bull trap above the psychological 100-point level.

It is reasonable to assume that the FX market is currently awaiting a crucial wave of fundamental information from central banks, which is particularly significant given ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. Traders should be prepared for increased volatility in the near term — the dollar index may move towards one of the channel boundaries depending on how the market reacts to upcoming news.

Trade global index CFDs with zero commission and tight spreads (additional fees may apply). Open your FXOpen account now or learn more about trading index CFDs with FXOpen.

This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.

Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance platform Tally is shutting down after five years of operations, citing a lack of sustainable business models for governance tooling in the crypto market. 

Tally co-founder and CEO Dennison Bertram said the company will begin winding down at the end of March. He added that the company is not moving forward with a planned initial coin offering (ICO), concluding that it could not confidently deliver on the expectations that would come with selling tokens to investors. 

Tally’s closure comes despite years of activity on its platform, which supported governance for hundreds of organizations and processed more than $1 billion in payments, according to Bertram. At its peak, the company said it helped secure up to $80 billion in value and served more than 1 million users.

Tally launched in 2021 as a software platform for on-chain organizations. According to startup intelligence platform Tracxn, the company raised a total of $15.5 million across three funding rounds. 

Related: Vitalik Buterin proposes using AI to strengthen DAO governance

The shutdown reflects the challenges facing DAO-focused platforms after years of development and adoption. It highlights the pace of change in the industry, where even substantial achievements may prove insufficient to support a venture-backed business in DAO governance tooling.

Industry reflects on DAO challenges amid Tally shutdown

Following the announcement, builders and operators across the ecosystem pointed to a broader reassessment of DAO governance, with some describing Tally’s closure as part of a wider shift in how coordination tools are being developed and monetized. 

Oku Trade CEO Getty Hill said DAO development has not met the expectations set during earlier growth phases.

Related: DAOs may need to ditch decentralization to court institutions

“While stablecoins have achieved the greatest product-market fit in crypto, I still believe DAOs will ultimately get there, though maybe not for another 3-10 years,” he wrote. 

Meanwhile, Oasis Onchain founder Stefen Deleveaux described the shutdown as “the end of an era,” reflecting on a wave of early DAO tooling projects that emerged during the 2020–2021 cycle but struggled to sustain themselves over time.

Realms DAO chief technology officer Adrian Brzeziński pointed to the stats highlighted by Bertram, saying that the “hardest truth” in crypto infrastructure is that usage does not equate to revenue. “The next wave of governance won’t look like voting portals. It’ll look like capital coordination,” Brzeziński wrote. 

DAOs are “difficult” to operate

On March 11, Aave founder Stani Kulechov said DAOs, in their current form, are “extraordinarily difficult” to operate. He pointed to internal conflicts and proposals that can take weeks of forum posts, temperature checks and multiple votes to pass.