Bitcoin BTC$73,833.82 consolidated following Tuesday’s jump to $76,000 alongside a 33% drop in daily trading volume to $36.9 billion.

The largest cryptocurrency has added just 0.4% since midnight UTC after bouncing off $73,500 as it looks to establish a new level of support ahead of a potential bullish breakout.

While analysts predicted a fast move to $80,000 after $72,000 was taken out, price action has actually been much more measured. Traders with long positions took profits and those who were forced out of short positions are waiting on the sidelines to reenter.

Volatility has also retreated in commodities gold, silver and crude oil, with the war in Iran continuing to put complete risk-on mode on hold.

U.S. stocks are beginning to experience a period of prolonged upside; Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.66% since midnight UTC, followed by the S&P 500, which has gained 0.5%.

Investors will be keeping a close eye on Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting because although a rate pause is all but certain, increased inflation numbers due to the surge in oil prices and weaker job numbers in the U.S. could influence sentiment at the post-decision press conference.

Derivatives positioning

• Growth in bitcoin futures open interest (OI) on major exchanges has stalled alongside slightly negative fund rates. That’s a sign that traders are not adding new bullish positions and bears are getting a slight edge.
• OI in ETH, XRP and SOL fell from early Tuesday highs as spot prices lost bull momentum. This suggests traders are unwinding positions, pointing to a cooling of speculative activity.
• OI in privacy-focused ZEC, which has gained nearly 4% in 24 hours and 31% in a week, has risen to 1.75 million ZEC, the most since Jan. 25. The increase in OI validates the recent price rise.
• Funding rates for XRP, BNB and SOL have flipped negative, indicating a bias for bearish short positions. Traders may be hedging for potential downside volatility after the Fed meeting.
• Bitcoin’s one-day implied volatility, or the expected price swing over 24 hours, remains steady at around an annualised 50%. That equates to a 24-hour move of about 2.6%. In other words, the market doesn’t see the impending Fed meeting as a major price mover for the largest cryptocurrency.
• The same can be said for ether, solana and XRP.
• On Deribit, options market positioning looks defensive in both bitcoin and ether, with skews showing a bias for put, or bearish, options.
• Block flows featured demand for limited profit potential strategies such as bitcoin call diagonal spreads and volatility bets like straddles. In ETH’s case, traders preferred risk reversals and straddles.

Token talk

• The altcoin market continues to show strength with the “Altcoin Season” index hitting its highest in six months. The reading of 54/100 is a far cry from early February, when it languished at 22/100.
• Privacy coin zcash (ZEC) was one of the best-performing altcoins on Wednesday, adding 3.4% since midnight despite the rest of the market trading relatively unchanged. It has now increased by 32% in the past week.
• Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending token MORPHO also continued its rich vein of form after rising by 2.3% since midnight to add to a monthly gain of 33%.
• The best-performing benchmark over the past 24 hours has been the
  CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index (SCPXC), with the index heavily weighted towards layer-1 tokens posting a 0.8% gain, while the CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) lost ground, tumbling by 2.7%.

Ripple has expanded its financial infrastructure in Brazil, targeting deeper institutional adoption and regulatory approval. The company introduced payments, custody, and treasury tools for local institutions. Meanwhile, it plans to secure a Virtual Asset Service Provider license under Brazil’s evolving digital asset framework.

Ripple Expands Enterprise Services in Brazil

Ripple has launched a full enterprise platform tailored for Brazil’s financial institutions. The rollout includes cross-border payments, custody solutions, and treasury management tools. Moreover, the company added prime brokerage features to extend services beyond basic payment rails.

The expansion aligns with Brazil’s structured regulatory push for digital assets and financial innovation. Ripple continues to focus on compliance while scaling operations in regulated markets. Therefore, the planned VASP license application supports its long-term presence in the country.

Brazil offers a mature financial ecosystem, which attracts global fintech firms seeking growth opportunities. Ripple has maintained a regional focus due to increasing demand for efficient settlement systems. Consequently, the company positions its infrastructure as a solution for modern financial operations.

Institutional Adoption and RLUSD Growth

Ripple Payments now operates across more than 60 markets and has processed over $100 billion globally. The platform enables faster settlement using both fiat currencies and stablecoins. Additionally, several Brazilian institutions actively use the network for payments and liquidity management.

Banco Genial uses Ripple’s system for same-day U.S. dollar disbursements and plans to integrate RLUSD into payment flows. Braza Bank supports U.S. dollar transfers and issued its BBRL stablecoin on the XRP Ledger. Meanwhile, Nomad manages treasury flows between Brazil and the United States using Ripple infrastructure.

Other firms continue to adopt Ripple’s tools for various financial operations across the region. Azify supports currency exchange into major global currencies using the Ripple system. Similarly, Attrus and Frente Corretora use the platform for cross-border payments and foreign exchange settlements.

RLUSD adoption continues to rise across Latin America, supported by institutional demand for liquidity solutions. The stablecoin has surpassed a $1.5 billion market capitalization. Furthermore, regulators in the United States oversee RLUSD through established financial authorities.

Ripple Custody has also expanded into Brazil, offering secure digital asset storage for institutions. The platform integrates compliance tools and supports staking across multiple proof-of-stake networks. As a result, firms such as CRX and Justoken now use custody services for tokenized asset operations.

CRX has settled nearly $100 million on-chain using Ripple Custody and XRPL infrastructure. Meanwhile, Justoken has tokenized over $1.7 billion in assets and plans regional expansion. This growth reflects increasing institutional reliance on blockchain-based financial systems.

RLUSD now trades on platforms such as Mercado Bitcoin, Foxbit, and Ripio across Brazil. Additionally, several financial institutions support the stablecoin for treasury and settlement use cases. This integration strengthens Ripple’s broader payments ecosystem across Latin America.

A cross-party parliamentary committee in the United Kingdom has urged the government to impose an immediate moratorium on cryptocurrency donations to political parties until stronger safeguards are in place.

In a report published on Wednesday, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said the government should amend the Representation of the People Bill to impose an “immediate moratorium on crypto donations” until the Electoral Commission produces statutory guidance ahead of the next general election, due by August 2029.

The committee also called for the creation of a Political Finance Enforcement Unit to oversee these activities and reduce the minimum threshold for declaring gifts tied to political donations from 11,180 British pounds ($14,900) to 500 pounds ($668), and proposed increasing the maximum custodial sentences to three years for wrongdoing involving foreign financing.

The committee cited growing foreign state threats and efforts to influence the UK’s positions on critical issues, including its relations with the US, the European Union and Ukraine.

The recommendation comes amid rising scrutiny of crypto-linked money in British politics. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK became the first party to start accepting crypto donations in 2025. Reform UK recently disclosed a $4 million donation from crypto investor Christopher Harborne in the fourth quarter of 2025, after a record $12 million gift in the previous quarter.

Crypto donations pose “unnecessary” risk for UK politics

Crypto donations pose an “unnecessary and unacceptably high risk” to the integrity of the political finance system and public trust, barring robust regulator guardrails, the report states.

“We see no democratic imperative to permit the use of crypto in political finance until adequate safeguards are in place.”

The committee also cited jurisdictions, such as Ireland, that have banned party members from accepting political cryptocurrency donations due to foreign interference concerns.

The report comes shortly after Matt Western, chair of the committee, urged the government to put a temporary halt on crypto donations to political parties, citing foreign interference risks, Cointelegraph reported on Feb. 26.

Related: UK Lords launch stablecoin inquiry as Bank of England moves to finalize rules

Crypto donations raise concern in the UK

Political cryptocurrency donations are legal in the UK, subject to permissible rules under the Electoral Commission guidance. UK lawmakers reportedly started considering a ban on political cryptocurrency donations in December 2025.

Weeks later, seven senior UK Labour Party MPs have urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ban crypto for political donations, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 12. 

“Crypto can obscure the true source of funds, enable thousands of micro donations below disclosure thresholds, and expose UK politics to foreign interference,” wrote business and trade committee chair Liam Byrne, one of the seven signatories of the letter.