Crypto World
China Metals Futures Jump 86%, Retail Frenzy Triggers 38 Rule Changes
Industrial metals have suddenly become one of the most crowded trades in China, with futures volumes in aluminum, copper, nickel, and tin surging as retail traders pile into the market.
The spike in activity has pushed exchanges and regulators to intervene repeatedly, raising concerns that a wave of speculation—rather than fundamentals—is driving prices and volatility.
Recent market data shows trading activity in key base metals accelerating at an exceptional pace. Combined futures volumes in aluminium, copper, nickel, and tin on the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged sharply month-over-month, reaching levels far above the recent average.
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Nickel contracts led the rally, with trading volumes jumping several-fold in a single month. Tin markets also saw extraordinary activity, with daily trading volumes at times exceeding levels that dwarf typical physical consumption benchmarks.
The turnout points to derivatives speculation, not industrial demand, dominating flows, with retail participation being a key catalyst.
Metals trading has become a trending topic across Chinese social media platforms and WeChat trading groups.
“…short-term momentum strategies and leverage are increasingly popular among individual investors,” the Kobeissi Letter indicated.
This pattern mirrors earlier speculative episodes seen in equities, crypto, and commodities, where retail enthusiasm quickly amplified price swings.
The rally’s speed has forced exchanges to step in. Both Shanghai and regional futures markets have repeatedly raised margin requirements and tightened trading rules in recent weeks.
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“As a result, the Shanghai and Guangzhou Futures Exchanges have raised margins and tightened trading rules 38 times over the last 2 months to try to contain the speculation. The metals rush is far from over,” Markets Today reported.
This unusual but frequent set of interventions may signal mounting concern about excessive leverage. Historically, such measures have been used to slow speculative inflows and stabilize markets when price movements become detached from underlying supply-and-demand fundamentals.
However, repeated tightening also shows:
- How quickly trading volumes have expanded
- How difficult it may be to contain momentum once retail participation reaches critical mass.
Periods of rapid speculative growth often precede sharp corrections, particularly in highly leveraged derivatives markets.
At the same time, the broader metals complex is sending mixed signals. Silver, in particular, has experienced one of the strongest rallies in its history, climbing sharply over the past year before entering a more volatile consolidation phase.
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Against this backdrop, some strategists argue that silver and other metals have become stretched relative to broader commodity indices. In previous cycles, such conditions sometimes preceded cooling price action.
Others counter that structural supply constraints and strong industrial demand, especially from energy transition technologies, could continue to support elevated prices over the longer term.
The divergence in views reflects a market struggling to distinguish between structural trends and speculative excess.
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Macro Forces Lurking Behind the Rally
Beyond retail speculation, the metals surge comes amid broader macroeconomic shifts. China has been steadily reducing its holdings of US Treasuries while increasing gold reserves.
This reinforces the perception that global capital is increasingly seeking diversification away from TradFi assets.
The People’s Bank of China has reported consecutive months of gold accumulation, a trend mirrored by several other central banks in recent years.
While these macro trends do not directly explain the retail-driven surge in industrial metals trading, they contribute to a wider narrative that investors at multiple levels—from individuals to sovereign institutions—are reassessing risk, liquidity, and the role of hard assets in portfolios.
The combination of retail speculation, tightening exchange controls, and mixed macro signals suggests volatility is likely to remain elevated in the months ahead.
Crypto payments firm MoonPay added Ledger hardware wallet signing to its command-line interface (CLI) wallet for MoonPay Agents, a move the company says addresses a security challenge introduced by autonomous crypto trading tools.
The new feature allows users to verify and sign every transaction generated by an AI agent using a Ledger hardware device, ensuring private keys never leave the hardware signer. MoonPay said the integration makes the CLI wallet the first agent-focused wallet to support Ledger’s secure signing through the company’s Device Management Kit.
Autonomous crypto agents are a growing category of tools designed to execute trading strategies, rebalance portfolios and move assets across chains without constant human input. But security concerns have slowed adoption, because many implementations require users to hand over direct access to wallet keys.
“Autonomous agents will manage trillions in digital assets,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and founder of MoonPay. “But autonomy without security is reckless. We built MoonPay Agents with Ledger so intelligence can scale without surrendering control. The agent executes. The human stays in the loop.”
Ledger’s chief experience officer, Ian Rogers, said the integration reflects the growing number of developer-focused wallets and AI-driven tools entering crypto.
“There is a new wave of CLI and agent-centric wallets emerging, and these will need Ledger security as a feature, too,” Rogers said.
Read more: Your AI is getting a bank account: MoonPay just gave bots the power to spend money
Belgian-born crypto millionaire, Olivier Janssens, reportedly offered to pay Nevis residents $100 per month if the government approves his development plans for a tech-friendly libertarian community on the Caribbean island.
Jannsens’ Destiny, a project aiming to buy and restructure about 2,400 acres of land on the Caribbean island, said it will begin paying residents $100 per month, “immediately once the final agreement with the government is approved,” according to an email seen by the Financial Times.
The monthly $100 figure is an increase from the initial 30 East Caribbean dollars (US$11) announced by the project in November 2025.
The offer drew sharp criticism from opponents of the project, who said it amounted to an attempt to influence public opinion and government approval.
Kelvin Daly, a member of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), condemned the move for allegedly pressuring authorities into accepting the development plans. “Janssens and De Primer have upped their bribe from US$30/month to US$100/month,” wrote Daly in a Facebook post on Monday.
“This is influence buying, a clear attempt by a private developer to interfere in the domestic socioeconomic and political affairs of our country.”
Daly urged authorities to investigate the initiative for breaches under the Anti-Corruption Act.
Destiny is seeking approval under St. Kitts and Nevis’ Special Sustainability Zones framework, a legal regime passed in 2025 that enables projects of this kind.
The initiative plans to invest $50 million into Nevis’ infrastructure to fund hospitals, health centers, villas, and create more jobs, while sharing 10% of the profit with citizens and 10% with Nevis’ sovereign wealth fund.
Cointelegraph has approached Destiny for comment on the approval timeline of the project.
Related: Trump Organization to tokenize Maldives resort development for early investors
Crypto founders building their own cities in “ultimate exit” plan
Janssens was an early Bitcoin investor and briefly served on the Bitcoin Foundation’s board in 2015, when he publicly said the organization was “effectively bankrupt.”
Former Coinbase exchange chief technical officer, Balaji Srinivasan, announced a similar initiative at the Network State Conference in Singapore in October 2025.
During his speech, he urged crypto and tech enthusiasts to collectively buy land and create more tech-friendly communities, positioning it as Silicon Valley’s “ultimate exit” from “failing” US institutions.
Srinivasan also shared a document that showed a total of 120 “start-up societies” in development worldwide.
Magazine: Move to Portugal to become a crypto digital nomad — Everybody else is
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reacts during a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on interest rate policy, in Washington, D.C., U.S., Jan. 28, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
As both energy prices and inflation fears pop, expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts are sliding.
Traders in recent days have abandoned hopes of an early summer easing from the central bank, a change in thinking that coincided with the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran and a burst in oil prices to around $100 a barrel.
Prior to the conflict, the market anticipation had been for a quarter percentage point rate reduction in June, likely another one in September, and an outside chance of even three depending on how the economics played out, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch calculations.
Much of the thinking behind that approach was that a softening labor market, moderating inflation and a new dovish chair coming on board in May would push the Fed into an easing posture. But at least as long as the Iran drama plays out, the expectations now are that fighting inflation will remain paramount.
“A higher inflation path will make it harder for the Fed to start cutting soon,” Goldman Sachs economists said in a Wednesday note.
The firm officially adjusted its rate forecast pushing back the next cut to September from June. However, Goldman’s economists still think the Fed could lower once more before the end of 2026.
“If the labor market weakens sooner and more substantially than we expect, we do not think that concern about the impact of higher oil prices on inflation and inflation expectations would be an obstacle to earlier rate cuts,” they wrote.
An elusive second cut
Other market players aren’t so sure.
Traders in the fed funds futures market have taken even a September cut off the table and now see only one coming, in December, according to the CME gauge.
There are no additional cuts priced in until well into 2027 or even into the early part of 2028, despite the presence of presumptive new Chair Kevin Warsh, picked by President Donald Trump ostensibly for a willingness to ease aggressively. Current Chair Jerome Powell leaves the position in May.
Whether that outlook holds up likely will depend on how things play out in the Middle East. Should the situation improve, it could reinstall a sense of normalcy to the markets and renew hopes for more easing.
Even with Brent crude settling above $100, Trump again called on Powell to cut.
“Where is the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome “Too Late” Powell, today? He should be dropping Interest Rates, IMMEDIATELY, not waiting for the next meeting!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The Fed will get another look at inflation data Friday morning when the Commerce Department releases the personal consumption expenditures price index data for January. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect core PCE, a key focus for Fed officials, to show an increase to 3.1% on the annual inflation rate.
A reading like that would represent a 0.1 percentage point gain from December as well as a step further away from the Fed’s 2% goal. It also would indicate that inflation pressures were percolating well ahead of the Iran strike and might well give officials even further pause about the prospects for lower rates.
Bank of America economist Stephen Juneau said in a note that while some important components — housing, in particular — are showing signs of stabilizing or receding, inflation otherwise “has been rangebound and remains above levels consistent with 2% core PCE.”
“The upshot is that the Fed should not be in a rush to ease rates further,” Juneau said.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee issues its next rate decision March 18. Traders are assigning a nearly 100% probability to the committee staying on hold.
In this video, we’ll explore the key economic events and market trends, shaping the financial landscape. Get ready for insights into financial markets to help you navigate the week ahead. Let’s dive in!
In this episode of Market Insights, Gary Thomson looks at the key themes traders may monitor in the coming days. Recent developments in energy markets and rising volatility across global equity indices may play an important role in shaping market sentiment in the week ahead.
👉 Key topics covered in this episode:
✔️ Energy Markets
Energy markets remain highly sensitive to the US–Iran conflict, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz push oil prices higher and raise concerns about global supply. Even after the IEA’s record oil release, traders remain skeptical that it will fully offset potential supply shortages. Natural gas markets in Europe and Asia have also surged due to fears over LNG flows from the Gulf region. If disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist, could energy prices rise further?
✔️ Global Stock Indices
Global equity markets have become highly volatile after the escalation of the US–Iran conflict, as investors moved away from risk assets. Major indices such as the KOSPI, Nikkei 225, and Euro Stoxx 50 posted sharp declines, reflecting rising geopolitical uncertainty and concerns about higher energy prices. Will geopolitical tensions and rising energy costs continue to pressure global stock markets in the coming days?
In summary, traders will focus on two main themes during the week ahead: developments in oil and natural gas markets and volatility across global equity indices.
Gain insights to strengthen your trading knowledge.
💬 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more market insights every week.
Watch it now and stay updated 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.
- Solana, Cardano, and BNB prices rose as Bitcoin surged past $73,000.
- Altcoins surge as SOL passes $92, ADA hits $0.28 and BNB nears $675.
- Price gain caught leveraged traders off guard, with over $370 million liquidated across crypto.
Cryptocurrency prices climbed on Friday as risk assets attempted a rebound amid easing oil prices, with Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Binance Coin (BNB) among the tokens posting notable gains.
As these altcoins approached key price levels, bearish traders were caught off guard by the sharp move higher.
The spike wiped out many short positions, pushing total 24-hour liquidations beyond $370 million.
Most of the liquidations involved BTC and ETH shorts, though Solana also experienced a significant wave of forced exits.
SOL, ADA, and BNB surge to key levels
As US stocks posted modest gains alongside a pullback in oil prices, sentiment across the crypto market turned sharply positive.
The broader rebound pushed Solana (SOL) above $92, marking a 24-hour gain of more than 6% as renewed investor confidence returned to the market.
Cardano (ADA) also moved higher, reaching $0.28 after rising about 5% over the past 24 hours. The rally helped ADA reclaim its place among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, ahead of Hyperliquid.
Among other leading altcoins, BNB advanced to around $675, gaining roughly 3% during the same period.
These moves came alongside Bitcoin’s sharp rally above $73,000, with BTC reaching intraday highs of $73,758 at the time of writing.
The surge also lifted Ethereum (ETH), which climbed above $2,200 during the session.
CRYPTO MARKET UPDATE:
• BTC: $73,452
• ETH: $2,191
• BNB: $675
• SOL: $92 pic.twitter.com/OPTgNVWhuj— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) March 13, 2026
Liquidations jump 120% as shorts feel the pressure
According to data from CoinGlass, more than 93,680 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total liquidations exceeding $370 million.
Bitcoin accounted for more than $154 million in liquidations, while leveraged Ethereum traders saw more than $115 million in positions wiped out as ETH moved above $2,150.
On the global exchanges, the single largest liquidation occurred on Hyperliquid in the BTC-USD pair, with a trade valued at $4.24 million.
Meanwhile, more than $20 million in liquidations were tied to Solana positions, with long positions accounting for only about $2.4 million of that total.
Short sellers took the biggest hit, with more than $18 million in SOL short positions wiped out as Solana’s price volatility exceeded 8%. CoinGlass data also showed that more than 3,500 traders were liquidated as SOL crossed the $91 mark.
Elsewhere, BNB recorded roughly $820,000 in liquidations, while ADA saw about $985,000 in positions wiped out.
Such liquidation cascades can accelerate price rallies, as forced buying from margin calls injects additional liquidity into rising assets. Analysts say this dynamic often appears at the early stages of stronger market uptrends.
However, with macroeconomic and geopolitical risks still present, prices could remain volatile as traders continue to reposition.
People line up outside of the shuttered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Three years ago, JPMorgan Chase executive Doug Petno was at a New York City party celebrating a colleague’s retirement when his boss, Jamie Dimon, called Petno over.
It was March 9, 2023, and the customers of a West Coast lender known for catering to startups had been withdrawing deposits in droves.
“Jamie looks at me and says, ‘Get on this call,’” Petno told CNBC this week in an exclusive interview.
On the line were regulators with an urgent question: Was JPMorgan interested in buying Silicon Valley Bank?
California’s finance regulators seized SVB the next day, completing the sudden collapse of an institution at the heart of the American startup community. Over that weekend, Dimon, Petno and other JPMorgan leaders repeatedly weighed whether they should purchase the bank, which had just lost $42 billion in deposits. They decided against it, in part because thousands of SVB clients were signing up for JPMorgan accounts, anyway, in a flight to safety.
“We had three years’ worth of incoming clients in a weekend,” said Petno, who is co-head of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank. “Onboarding teams were opening up accounts around the clock.”
Emboldened by what they were seeing, Petno had an idea: What if JPMorgan could build a true competitor to SVB — as well as startups Brex, Ramp and Mercury — all of whom had carved a profitable niche serving founders and venture capital investors?
“We went to our board and said, there’s a vacuum in the market,” Petno told CNBC. “At that very moment, everybody saw the opportunity.”
Keeping tabs
For JPMorgan, already a giant in Main Street and Wall Street finance, winning the more specific niche of startup banking from West Coast rivals is about more than gaining deposits. It’s both a key element of the growth strategy for a bank with more than $180 billion in revenue last year, and also a means to help the New York-based lender stay close to technology developments for itself.
JPMorgan, with a tech budget of nearly $20 billion this year, is aiming to not only serve startup clients and VC investors better, but to learn from them. The firm keeps a close eye on Silicon Valley startups for solutions to problems the bank itself faces, from cybersecurity to quantum computing.
In fact, when a JPMorgan client announces a round of AI-related cutbacks to jobs and expenses, the firm will often send a team of bankers to investigate how the client is doing it, said Petno.
Typically, the bankers find that implementing new AI agents is only a fraction of the reason for layoffs, while other factors like over-hiring and inefficient processes account for the rest, he said.
Co-CEOs of Commercial & Investment Bank at JPMorganChase, Troy Rohrbaugh and Douglas Petno.
Courtesy: JPMorganChase
JPMorgan began its startup banking business in 2016 as it became aware of its tech-focused rivals during its Westward expansion. In the beginning, it only served bigger, more mature startups.
That’s in part because the bank didn’t yet have a digital banking solution that younger founders in particular craved, Petno said. It also didn’t have enough investment bankers at the time to target smaller, riskier startups.
For years, the view on JPMorgan from some in the VC community was that it took too long to open an account, or that resolving issues around payments involved dealing with time-consuming visits to a branch, investors told CNBC.
“They want to go to the website to open an account, and if it’s more than 15 minutes, they’re done,” says Petno.
But in the weeks that followed the SVB collapse, Petno and his team moved quickly, hiring a few key players from SVB, including then-SVB Capital President John China, who today leads JPMorgan’s innovation economy business along with Andrew Kresse.
By late April of 2023, JPMorgan found itself looking at buying another wounded California-based bank. This time, it made the winning bid for First Republic, which also catered to the tech community.
With fresh learnings from SVB and the banking operations of First Republic, JPMorgan doubled its revenue from startup banking in 2023, according to the company.
Despite the digital banking focus, a startup founder will still sometimes walk into a Chase branch to deposit a huge funding check into a regular account. Now, when that happens, JPMorgan’s systems immediately gets that client moved to the startup team, Petno says.
Killer app?
JPMorgan has now quadrupled the number of total clients it has in the business to nearly 12,000, served by 550 bankers on both coasts, according to the lender, all of whom draw resources from different parts of the company.
Founders and VC investors are clients of the private bank, while the startups are covered by the commercial bank and VC funds are separate clients in a business largely acquired from First Republic.
While JPMorgan declined to give specific revenue figures, Petno said the startup business had a “dramatically higher” growth rate than the bank’s main business lines.
And yet, Petno still isn’t satisfied with the firm’s digital banking offerings for startups, describing a project underway that will help them leapfrog competitors.
Besides SVB, which is now owned by First Citizens Bank, and the startups Mercury and Ramp, competitors in the space include Stifel and Customers Bank. In January, Capital One acquired Brex for $5.15 billion.
Since most startups fail, JPMorgan identifies companies that they expect to be winning bets, seeking to develop relationships with them earlier in their life cycle, like SVB did.
That way, they can provide not only core bank accounts, but lucrative investment banking advice along the way.
JPMorgan’s ultimate vision is to become the one-stop shop for founders, serving all their needs, including international expansion, from the seed round to IPO and beyond.
“Once you’re onboarded, you can never outgrow JPMorgan, from unicorn all the way to a Magnificent 7,” Petno said.
Bitcoin (BTC) aimed for five-week highs at Thursday’s Wall Street open as US inflation trends stayed on track.
Key points:
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US inflation data keeps crypto and stocks higher as BTC price action tests $74,000 again.
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Bitcoin traders diverge over the future of the move, with a “bearish retest” risking a new price collapse.
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BTC/USD finally recrosses its 50-day moving average trend line.
PCE inflation emboldens Bitcoin bulls
Data from TradingView confirmed new local BTC price highs near $74,000 following the January print of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index.
Known as the Federal Reserve’s “preferred” inflation gauge, January PCE matched market expectations, coming in at 0.3% month-on-month and 3.1% year-on-year, per data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
While still at its highest levels since late 2023, the result appeared to soothe risk assets, with US stocks up around 0.5% at the time of writing.
In doing so, both risk assets and crypto began to diverge from a positive correlation to oil seen over the week. WTI crude was down 2% on the day at around $95 per barrel.
BTC price forecast: $79,000 or “bearish retest?”
Commenting on Bitcoin, crypto trader Michaël van de Poppe was cautiously upbeat on the outlook.
Related: Bitcoin’s ‘narrative vacuum,’ Ethereum now inevitable: Trade Secrets
“Resistance zone for me is between $76-79K for Bitcoin. I don’t expect a fast breakout in one-go, but I would assume that we’re going to see some extra momentum occur on the altcoin markets in that window,” he wrote in a post on X.
“In the meantime; if Bitcoin gets there, it provides a monthly engulfing candle and therefore, it erases the entire correction of February.”
Others stayed on edge, with trader Daan Crypto Trades warning of a “large drop” if the current trading zone collapsed.
$BTC If this level breaks, it’s time for a large drop. pic.twitter.com/9A6DaICCs3
— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) March 13, 2026
Trader Roman, already bearish, described the ongoing shift higher on BTC/USD as a “bearish retest.”
“RSI bear divs, bear price action (volume down + price up), & complete reset of MACD,” he summarized, referring to the relative strength index (RSI) and moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) price indicators on daily time frames.
In fresh updates on his Telegram channel on the day, meanwhile, independent analyst Filbfilb focused on open interest (OI).
Market observers, he said, should watch for OI to “ditch” — an event that would precede the end of the push higher.
“No sign yet,” he acknowledged, noting that price was now interacting with its 50-day simple moving average (SMA).
As Cointelegraph reported, this was a key overhead resistance zone of interest during previous breakout attempts.
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.
A crypto-backed development push on the Caribbean island of Nevis is drawing scrutiny as a Belgian-born investor advances a plan to convert roughly 2,400 acres into a tech-friendly, libertarian enclave. Destiny, the project led by Olivier Janssens, has proposed a steady stream of citizen grants alongside a multi-decade infrastructure program, aiming to reshape a portion of Nevis into what its proponents describe as a futures-focused urban community. The initiative comes with a controversial twist: residents could begin receiving monthly stipends of $100 in the near term, a policy that critics say amounts to political influence-peddling and raises anti-corruption concerns as the government weighs the proposal. The latest figures show Destiny intends to pour $50 million into the island’s infrastructure to fund hospitals, health centers, villas and job creation, while distributing a share of profits to citizens and a sovereign wealth fund. The project seeks authorization under St. Kitts and Nevis’ Special Sustainability Zones regime, a framework that parliament passed in 2025 to facilitate such developments.
Key takeaways
- Destiny plans to acquire and restructure about 2,400 acres on Nevis, pairing a major land redevelopment with a $50 million infrastructure program to fund hospitals, health centers and housing.
- Residents would receive $100 per month once the final government agreement is approved, up from the initial 30 East Caribbean dollars (about US$11) announced in November 2025.
- Opponents argue the stipend is an attempt to sway public opinion and government decisions, calling for an investigation under anti-corruption law.
- The project is pursuing permission under the territory’s Special Sustainability Zones regime, approved in 2025 to enable large-scale, sovereign-backed development initiatives.
- Destiny’s model reflects a broader crypto-inflected “city-building” trend discussed by founders seeking new governance experiments, including high-profile figures who advocate land-buying and community creation as a form of “exit” from traditional institutions.
Tickers mentioned:
Sentiment:
Market context: The Nevis proposal arrives amid a wave of crypto-enabled urban ventures that leverage offshore jurisdictions and new regulatory regimes to test governance, funding models and citizen-participation schemes within a evolving regulatory landscape.
Why it matters
The Destiny project sits at the intersection of crypto wealth, political risk and economic development in a small Caribbean jurisdiction. By proposing to buy and restructure a sizable tract of land and commit a substantial infrastructure budget, Destiny taps into a growing appetite among cryptocurrency founders to experiment with new urban forms. The approach blends private capital, tokenless governance concepts and citizen benefits, raising questions about accountability, long-term sustainability, and how such schemes should be regulated in jurisdictions that balance attraction with the need for oversight.
At the heart of the debate is the compensation mechanism promised to residents. Destiny has signaled a monthly stipend of $100 would be paid immediately after final government approval to participate in the venture. That figure marks a substantial increase from its earlier commitment of 30 East Caribbean dollars per month (roughly US$11). Critics argue that this is a form of influence buying, designed to curry favor with local authorities and sway public sentiment. Kelvin Daly, a member of Nevis’ Reformation Party, condemned the move as a coercive pressure tactic, arguing it amounts to private-sector interference in domestic socioeconomic policy. He urged authorities to probe potential breaches of anti-corruption laws in connection with the program.
Destiny’s leadership frames the project as a pathway to broader economic resilience. The plan envisages 10% of profits returned to Nevis’ citizens and another 10% funneled into the territory’s sovereign wealth fund, aligning private development with public benefit. If approved, the initiative would begin channeling tens of millions into the island’s infrastructure, including healthcare facilities and housing, while creating jobs for residents and potentially catalyzing further private sector investment. The framework under which Destiny seeks approval—St. Kitts and Nevis’ Special Sustainability Zones Act—was crafted to authorize and regulate ambitious, cross-border development efforts in a way that is meant to balance innovation with oversight. The 2025 act represents a formal mechanism to enable such projects, providing a legal pathway for foreign-backed ventures that promise social and economic returns to local communities.
The broader crypto city-building trend has drawn attention from prominent figures in the space. Balaji Srinivasan, a former Coinbase executive and early advocate of technologically driven, community-led cities, highlighted the concept at the Network State Conference in Singapore in October 2025. In his remarks, Srinivasan urged crypto and tech enthusiasts to collectively acquire land and assemble tech-forward communities, framing the endeavor as Silicon Valley’s “ultimate exit” from perceived failings in traditional U.S. institutions. He also presented research suggesting there are about 120 “start-up societies” in varying stages of development worldwide, underscoring the scale of this movement beyond a single project. The discourse surrounding these ideas highlights a broader aspiration within parts of the crypto ecosystem to reimagine governance, citizenship, and public services through distributed, decentralized methods.
Destiny’s public-facing materials emphasize a long-term commitment to the Nevis landscape. The project contends that the land purchases and infrastructure investments would not only provide amenities for residents but also help position Nevis as a testing ground for governance models that blend private capital with public benefit. Still, the initiative’s reception on the ground has been mixed, with critics warning that high-profile incentives could distort local decision-making processes and invite scrutiny from anti-corruption watchdogs. The Nevis government’s timeline for final approval remains unclear, and observers will be watching closely for how regulators interpret the Special Sustainability Zones Act in the context of this proposal.
Sources and statements tied to the project point to a nuanced dynamic between ambition and risk. An email report cited by the Financial Times describes the monthly payment structure and its conditional nature on securing a final agreement, while the Special Sustainability Zones Act page on SKNIS outlines the statutory framework that would govern such initiatives. Destiny’s communications and the timing of government decisions will likely shape both investor confidence and local sentiment in the months ahead. The discourse around this project sits at the confluence of venture capital appetite, political accountability, and the evolving regulatory landscape for crypto-enabled urban experiments.
Project Destiny, preview. Source: Destiny.com
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has a long-standing place in the lore of Destiny’s founder, with Janssens described as an early investor and a former member of the Bitcoin Foundation board in 2015, during which the group’s status was publicly questioned. This history is cited in discussions about the project’s credibility, as well as the broader narrative of crypto-led city-building that continues to attract both supporters and critics.
What to watch next
- Timeline for final government approval under the Special Sustainability Zones Act, with any public disclosures from SKN authorities.
- Regulatory or anti-corruption inquiries related to the $100 monthly stipend proposal and the broader governance framework.
- Progress on Destiny’s $50 million infrastructure plan, including hospital and housing milestones and job-creation metrics for Nevis residents.
- Reactions from local communities and political parties to the citizen-profit-sharing model and the long-term governance structure of the project.
- Updates from other high-profile crypto-city initiatives, including any new documents or speeches from proponents like Balaji Srinivasan and related ventures.
Sources & verification
- Financial Times reporting on Destiny’s payment proposal and government-facing communications (email seen by FT).
- Special Sustainability Zones Act 2025 documentation from SKNIS outlining the regulatory framework.
- Destiny’s public materials and references to the proposed $50 million infrastructure program and profit-sharing commitments (Destiny.com).
- Balaji Srinivasan’s Network State Conference remarks and the referenced document detailing a 120-start-up-society framework.
- Historical references to the Bitcoin Foundation’s status and Janssens’ involvement in 2015 (as cited by crypto press and analysis).
Destiny’s Nevis plan tests crypto-led city-building and regulatory risk
Olivier Janssens, a crypto veteran whose early Bitcoin investments and past board roles have anchored him in the sector’s lore, is steering a bold experiment on Nevis. The Destiny project envisions acquiring and restructuring approximately 2,400 acres with an eye toward crafting a “tech-friendly libertarian” community that blends innovation with public-services investment. The proposed model relies on a mix of private capital and public benefits—chief among them a 10% profit share for citizens and another 10% for Nevis’ sovereign wealth fund—paired with a robust infrastructure program aimed at improving healthcare facilities, housing, and local employment.
While the economic calculus sounds appealing on its face, the political optics of the plan have triggered friction. A key demand from opponents is greater scrutiny of the incentive structure and the potential for influence on public decision-making. Kelvin Daly, a member of Nevis’ Reformist Party, publicly described the plan as “influence buying” and urged authorities to look into possible breaches of anti-corruption statutes. The social contract being advanced with Destiny would hinge on final government approval—an approval that has yet to be publicly reconciled with the island’s regulatory environment. The dispute underscores a broader tension in crypto-city projects: the desire to accelerate development through outsized private funding versus the need for transparent governance and credible oversight.
Destiny’s formal path forward rests on the Special Sustainability Zones regime, a 2025 statute designed to accommodate ambitious, cross-border schemes that promise measurable community benefits. The legal framework aims to strike a balance between attracting foreign investment and ensuring governance remains accountable to residents. In parallel, Destiny’s critics and supporters alike are watching a broader narrative in which crypto founders advocate for a more decentralized, entrepreneurial approach to city-building as a potential alternative to traditional governance models. The movement is not isolated: Balaji Srinivasan highlighted similar ideas at a major conference in Singapore, circulating a vision of “start-up societies” and land ownership as a lever for sustainable, tech-forward communities. The discussion signals both opportunity and risk as jurisdictions weigh the implications of crypto-enabled development in a world where regulatory expectations are still evolving.
The Financial Times report, SKNIS documentation, and Destiny’s own materials collectively frame a transformation in how offshore territories might partner with private developers to deliver public goods. If the government ultimately approves the plan, Nevis could become a focal point for a new class of experiments at the intersection of crypto finance, governance, and urban planning. The next steps will likely reveal whether such ventures can responsibly balance private ambition with public accountability, and whether residents see meaningful long-term dividends beyond the immediate monthly stipends.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six individuals and two companies it says helped North Korea convert $800 million in 2024 into crypto to launder the money and fund its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Thursday that the operation placed IT workers into foreign companies and channeled their earnings back to Pyongyang. The network operated across multiple countries including Vietnam, Laos and Spain, according to the Treasury.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has for years targeted cryptocurrency protocols and networks to steal and launder funds. Last year, hackers linked to the country stole a record $2 billion of crypto, according to the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The sanctioned network relied on a mix of crypto infrastructure, including centralized exchanges, hosted wallets, decentralized finance (DeFi) services and cross-chain bridges, to facilitate movement of the funds, Chainalysis said in a post on its website.
OFAC’s designation included 21 crypto wallet addresses across several blockchains including Ethereum, Tron and Bitcoin, reflecting what the Chainalysis researchers described as the DPRK’s increasingly multichain approach to moving and obscuring illicit funds.
“The North Korean regime targets American companies through deceptive schemes carried out by its overseas IT operatives, who weaponize sensitive data and extort businesses for substantial payments,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in the statement.
According to Treasury, DPRK-backed teams used fraudulent documentation, stolen identities, and fabricated personas to gain employment with legitimate companies, including those in the U.S. and allied countries.
The North Korean government then reportedly appropriated most of the wages earned by these overseas IT workers, generating hundreds of millions of dollars for its WMD and ballistic missile programs. Some of the workers were able to introduce malware into company networks to extract proprietary and sensitive information.
Among those sanctioned is Nguyen Quang Viet, CEO of Vietnam-based Quangvietdnbg International Services Co., whom the Treasury said converted roughly $2.5 million into cryptocurrency for North Korean actors between mid-2023 and mid-2025.
Key Takeaways
- Zillow (Z) touched a 52-week low at $41.91, representing a 38% decline year-over-year
- Shares are trading 55% beneath the 52-week peak of $93.88
- JPMorgan argues that concerns over AI threats and legal issues are exaggerated
- Company’s board greenlit a $1.25 billion expansion to its stock repurchase program
- Shares climbed approximately 6% Friday following JPMorgan’s analysis before the March 24 AI event
Zillow’s shares experienced a turbulent week before staging an unexpected Friday recovery.
Following a dip to a 52-week bottom of $41.91 early in the week, Zillow (Z) rallied approximately 6% Friday after receiving supportive commentary from JPMorgan. The investment firm challenged the pessimistic outlook that has weighed on shares.
The real estate platform has shed roughly 38% of its value over the trailing twelve months. In just the last half-year, shares have plunged almost 49%. At its nadir, the stock was changing hands 55% under its 52-week peak of $93.88.
Despite the substantial markdown, the company maintains a market capitalization approaching $10 billion.
JPMorgan contended that prevailing worries surrounding artificial intelligence threats, pending litigation, regulatory headwinds, and modifications to listing protocols are being magnified beyond reason by market participants. The firm believes investors are failing to properly value Zillow’s fundamental business operations and long-range strategic positioning.
The financial institution also highlighted Zillow’s forthcoming AI summit scheduled for March 24 as a possible inflection point. JPMorgan suggested the gathering could showcase how Zillow’s proprietary data assets, integrated operations, and end-to-end platform provide the firm with sustainable competitive advantages.
Technical indicators continue flashing a “sell” signal for the equity, which remains down approximately 40% year-to-date. Daily trading volume averages roughly 4.3 million shares.
Fourth Quarter Results: Modest Performance
Zillow delivered Q4 2025 financial results that presented a split outcome. The company posted revenue of $654 million, exceeding analyst projections of $650.23 million. However, earnings per share registered at $0.39, falling marginally short of the $0.40 consensus estimate.
On the analyst coverage side, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered its price objective from $65 to $60 while maintaining its Market Perform designation. The research group observed that Zillow’s 2026 outlook aligned largely with Street expectations, though profitability headwinds stemming from litigation expenses were identified as a risk factor.
William Blair similarly maintained its Market Perform stance following the buyback disclosure.
Share Repurchase Initiative Bolstered
Zillow’s board of directors authorized a substantial enhancement to its stock repurchase framework. Management added $1.25 billion to the existing authorization, elevating total remaining buyback capacity to approximately $1.3 billion.
InvestingPro analytics identified Zillow as possibly trading below intrinsic value at present price levels. The service additionally observed that the equity has exhibited significant price volatility, aligning with recent trading patterns.
JPMorgan’s assessment and the March 24 AI summit represent the primary near-term catalysts capturing investor attention.
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