Crypto World
Circle Shares Surge as Bernstein Sees Stablecoin Adoption Upside
Circle (CRCL) shares just delivered one of Wall Street’s sharpest equity runs of 2026. The stock closed Tuesday at $118.09, up 5.6% on the session, pushing the company’s market cap to roughly $27.81 billion.
Shares in Circle gained 42% year to date and more than doubled since bottoming near $50 in early February, outrunning an S&P 500 that’s down 1.12% and a Nasdaq 100 that’s down approximately 1% over the same stretch.
Bernstein analysts are staying bullish. The firm reiterated its “Outperform” rating on CRCL and maintained a $190 price target, implying 60% upside from current levels.
The thesis centers on accelerating stablecoin adoption and the regulatory clarity that’s making institutional deployment of digital dollars increasingly viable.
The numbers behind the call are hard to ignore. USDC’s market cap grew 73% to $75.12 billion in 2025, gaining ground on Tether as the dominant dollar-pegged token. Circle reported full-year 2025 revenue of $2.7 billion, up 64% year over year, with Q4 swinging to profitability on BlackRock-managed reserve yields.
The company beat Q4 earnings per share (EPS) estimates of $0.35 by delivering $0.43, triggering a 35% single-day surge on February 25 that marked the start of the current run.
Bernstein’s bullish thesis leans heavily on the GENIUS Act, passed in 2025, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, setting standards for reserve backing, disclosures, and oversight.
That kind of clarity is what converts institutional interest into institutional allocation. Wall Street’s appetite for regulated crypto exposure has been building steadily, and Circle’s equity is increasingly functioning as a proxy for that demand.
The Levels That Change Everything for Circle (CRCL) Shares
Right now, $120 is the level everyone is watching. CRCL closed just below that mark Tuesday, and clearing it with volume would push the stock into territory last seen during its post-IPO decline from the 2025 highs above $260.
Generally, on the downside, $100 is the floor that matters. It’s a round-number psychological level and sits just below the 100-day moving average zone. If selling pressure returns and CRCL loses $100, the structure weakens quickly, and the February lows near $50 become a real reference point again.
The stock’s RSI had been near oversold territory in early February before the earnings-driven reversal, so a sustained move below $100 would reset sentiment sharply.
The Circle Payment Network is facilitating $3.4 billion in annual transactions, and the company has secured conditional OCC approval for a regulated banking charter.
Those initiatives reduce the revenue concentration risk that spooked investors during 2025’s rate-squeeze period.
Additionally, institutional flows into regulated crypto products have been accelerating broadly, and Circle’s banking ambitions position it to capture more of that pipeline.
What Traders Are Watching Next for CRCL
The immediate catalyst is whether Circle can post back-to-back profitable quarters. One profitable quarter stopped the bleeding; two consecutive quarters would confirm the business model is structurally sound, not just a one-time reserve yield pop.
If USDC continues gaining market share against Tether and interest rates stay supportive of reserve income, Bernstein’s $190 target starts looking less like a stretch and more like a base case.
But if rates compress reserve yields again or USDC growth stalls, the premium priced into CRCL at current levels evaporates fast.
The definitive signal bulls are waiting for is a sustained close above $130 on above-average volume. Until then, the stock is in a confirmed uptrend, but one that still needs to prove it can hold new highs.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
The post Circle Shares Surge as Bernstein Sees Stablecoin Adoption Upside appeared first on Cryptonews.
Ripple is planning to repurchase shares from its employees and previous investors.
The past 24 hours have been quite eventful for Ripple.
According to Bloomberg, the company is launching a share buyback program that values it at roughly $50 billion.
The company’s plan is to repurchase up to $750 million in shares from employees and investors. The tender offer is expected to run through the month of April.
Recall that Ripple previously raised $500 million at a $40 billion valuation. This happened back in November last year. Investors in that round included Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, and more.
As mentioned above, the last 24 hours saw Ripple get enlisted in Mastercard’s new Crypto Partner Program. The goal of that is to connect blockchain-based technology with the firm’s broad payments infrastructure.
Moreover, they also announced plans to secure an Australian Financial Services License. To do so, Ripple will be acquiring a local company called BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, subject to finalizing the standard completion process.
That said, XRP’s price has remained flat on this most recent news. At the time of this writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $1.39, up 0.7% in the past 24 hours.
You may also like:
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).
LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!
A bitcoin (BTC) treasury company just bought another BTC treasury company’s dividend-paying shares after selling its own dividend-paying shares. If that sounds circular, that’s not accidental.
The CEO of Nasdaq-listed buyer Strive, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy and an ex-president of beer company Anheuser-Busch, announced its $50 million cash purchase of Strategy’s STRC today.
Michael Saylor thanked him for the purchase, retweeting Strategy’s post in gratitude.
In the company’s own press release about buying another company’s dividend-paying shares, Ramaswamy admitted, “Instead of holding idle cash earning low yields in money market funds, we believe it makes sense to allocate a portion of those reserves to instruments like STRC.”
In January, Strive raised roughly $118 million through selling 1,320,000 shares of its own dividend-paying SATA.
SATA currently pays 12.75% annualized dividends, a far higher yield than even junk bonds.
Strive was able to raise money by selling SATA not only because of its generous dividend rate, but also because it sold shares at $90 apiece, $10 below its $100 par value.
This month, Strive then bought $50 million worth of STRC at full par value, which pays 11.5% annualized dividends.
Moreover, Strive hiked SATA dividends another 25 basis points today from 12.5% yesterday to encourage investors to bid up for shares that have fallen as low as $81 last month or 19% below par.
Even assuming the STRC that Strive purchased maintains its $100 quasi-peg — which is a huge assumption that hasn’t always held true — Strive is now earning a 125 basis point negative carry.
Bitcoin treasury companies paying dividends to each other
Both companies framed the deal as a triumph for so-called “digital credit,” a euphemism for elaborately complex fiat payout schemes by companies that own BTC.
Strategy CEO Phong Le said the purchase proves “institutions continue integrating STRC into their treasury strategies.” Cole called STRC and SATA “core building blocks for institutional capital.”
Read more: Strategy is paying credit card rates to keep STRC at $100
Strive now counts its STRC holdings as part of its SATA “dividend reserve” which could last for 18 months provided everything works out and the price of BTC doesn’t decline too much.
The company’s STRC shares that it purchased from Strategy for $100 apiece, just for historical reference, were trading at $93.10 as recently as February and $90.52 as recently as November.
Its annual SATA dividend obligation exceeds $54 million.
STRC itself has required seven consecutive dividend hikes just to trade near par. Strive counts on the stability of an instrument whose issuer keeps paying more to prevent it from breaking too far below its $100 par.
ASST, the common stock of Strive, is down 37% year-to-date. Strategy’s common stock MSTR is down 8%.
One BTC treasury company’s double-digit dividends helped to fund another BTC treasury company’s double-digit dividends. With both CEOs boasting about the deal, the circularity is a feature, not a bug.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Crypto World
Former legal executives from crypto exchange OKX unveil DeFi connectivity, risk-rating service
Three former executives who held high-profile legal, policy and product roles at crypto exchange OKX have unveiled an easy access decentralized finance connectivity platform called Shredpay, which is aimed at both retail customers and institutions in the U.S.
The Shredpay founding team is made up of CEO Mauricio Beugelmans, the former chief legal officer at OKX; president Melissa Muehlfeld, former OKX global general counsel; and CTO Peter Chang, the ex-VP of product at OKX.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) remains a tricky proposition for the uninitiated. The current market offerings are segmented and include no transparent risk information, making mainstream adoption difficult, according to a press release issued by Shredpay.
Beugelmans and co’s solution is to provide an uncomplicated, easily accessible onchain finance platform with clear risk ratings for DeFi protocols that help new users, the firm said.
The so-called ShredPay DeFi Ratings Index, evaluates protocols across smart contract security, liquidity depth, operational transparency, compliance, governance structure, and historical performance, providing users with standardized risk assessment comparable to traditional credit ratings.
“DeFi seems opaque, but it’s not about the technology – it’s about information asymmetry,” said Beugelmans. “Users often can’t easily distinguish between battle-tested protocols and exit scams.”
Shredpay CTO Chang said crypto natives may already know how to assess protocol risk; they read audits, track TVL, monitor governance. “We’re packaging that institutional-grade due diligence into a format that works for mainstream users. It expands the addressable market for every protocol we rate,” he said.
Ripple, the blockchain company closely associated with the XRP Ledger (XRP) network, has begun a share buyback that could value the company at about $50 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The blockchain payments firm plans to repurchase up to $750 million in shares from investors and employees through a tender offer expected to run through April, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Ripple is a major contributor to the XRP Ledger network, a blockchain designed for banks and payment firms to move money across borders and settle transfers in seconds. The firm said it has processed over 100 billion in transactions across its payments ecosystem.
The company has been quickly expanding through acquisitions, building services around trading and digital asset infrastructure. That push included the $1.25 billion purchase of prime brokerage Hidden Road and buying corporate treasury business GTreasury for $1 billion. The firm also issues a U.S. dollar stablecoin, the $1.5 billion , via its custody arm.
The move comes after a major funding round just months ago. In November, Ripple raised $500 million at a $40 billion valuation from a group of investors that included funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, affiliates of Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard and Marshall Wace.
That indicates a 25% higher valuation since the fundraising, despite a crypto market downturn that saw bitcoin and XRP tumble 30%-40% over the same period.
An analysis from WuBlockchain shows basis trade capital at record lows as hedging crowds out leveraged longs, pushing derivatives markets toward an unusual equilibrium.
The crypto derivatives market is sending an unusual signal: directional longs and directional shorts are nearly equal, a condition analysts say is historically unsustainable and could foreshadow a major shift ahead.
According to an analysis published by WuBlockchain yesterday, data from synthetic dollar protocol Ethena’s transparency dashboard reveals that deployed capital, a proxy for excess long demand in futures markets, has fallen to just $791 million, down more than 85% from its all-time high.
Since Bitcoin’s crash to $60,000 on February 8, Ethena’s basis position has shrunk by over 60%, dropping from more than $2 billion to under $800 million, even as the broader market has remained relatively flat.
Ethena operates by taking the short side of perpetual futures contracts against leveraged long traders, effectively running the classic crypto carry trade at scale. When demand for leveraged longs outstrips natural short interest, Ethena steps in to absorb the difference. Its shrinking book, therefore, implies that directional shorts and hedgers are increasingly filling the role that basis traders once dominated.
The author of the analysis, SoskaKyle, attributes the shift largely to a growing wave of hedging activity from crypto VCs and smaller projects seeking to protect their treasuries and lock in gains. With hundreds of small-cap tokens, each backed by dozens of investors and teams needing to manage their runways, the result has been a crowded trade: actively managed structured products that short baskets of correlated assets.
While this near-parity between longs and shorts could theoretically persist, history across asset classes suggests it rarely does for long, leaving the market a potential inflection point.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
Crypto World
Pepeto Price Prediction: Pepeto $7M Raise Looks Fully Priced In While DeepSnitch AI Could Catapult $10,000 Into $1M After March 31 DEX Launch
Ohio hit the prediction markets platform Kalshi with a hefty legal setback, with a federal court denying its injunction against Ohio gambling regulators. The challenges to the CFTC’s claim of exclusive jurisdiction over prediction market contracts. Kalshi will start the appeals process, but the regulatory landscape for prediction markets has become more unclear.
At the same time, the Pepeto price prediction is in focus as presales grow in popularity. However, since meme coins are falling, smart traders are actually opting for substance and are thus choosing DeepSnitch AI.
With a 31 March TGE locked down, $2M being raised, and the utility centered on analytics sourced by five AI agents, the 100x-300x are gaining solid ground, according to DeepSnitch AI’s growing community.
Prediction markets hit a roadblock
US District Court Chief Judge Sarah Morrison denied Kalshi’s request to block Ohio gambling regulators from treating its contracts as unlicensed betting products. The reasoning behind the ruling is that Kalshi didn’t establish that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Ohio’s sports gambling laws.
The decision splits from a Tennessee federal court ruling issued just weeks earlier. Despite Kalshi’s planned appeal, both rulings directly contradict CFTC Chair Michael Selig’s February claim that the federal regulator holds exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.
This is another piece of evidence that regulatory clarity in the US remains fragmented.
At the same time, retail traders are more interested in price action, and with the bear market in full swing, are rotating toward presales. Even though the Pepeto price prediction lends itself well for a quick flip, many are parking their assets in DeepSnitch AI and Bitcoin Hyper as their utility-focused approach could result in larger long-term gains.
Top ICOs to put on your radar
1. DeepSnitch AI: DSNT ticks down to anticipated 100x-300x TGE
DeepSnitch AI raised over $2M at $0.04399 during a bear market, confirmed a March 31 TGE, and shipped a live central intelligence layer ahead of schedule.
That’s three things most presales never manage to do.
Case in point: The Pepeto price prediction may lend itself well for flipping a profit, but the project is a simple meme coin with a cross-chain bridge that may or may not happen after the TGE.
When you compare that to DeepSnitch AI, which practically completed a complex analytics suite running on five AI agents a month ahead of schedule, it’s clear who the hard-hitter is.
The utility itself could land DeepSnitch AI on the list of tools that active traders rely on daily. No surprise, as the solution can do rug detection, track sentiment in real time, conduct instant smart contract audits, or even help you dig out some hidden gems.
The DSNT token will be available via Uniswap post-TGE, but since 100x-300x are quickly stacking up and exclusive DeepSnitch AI bonus codes that unlock extra tokens on purchases are still available, the best time to reserve your spot is now.
2. Pepeto price prediction: Is PEPETO worth it?
Based on the Pepe legacy, Pepeto not only brings the lore, but the team plans to deliver a cross-chain bridge post-launch.
The biggest issue is apparent after a short Pepeto market analysis, though: the coin will likely deflate a few days after the initial hype dies down and large investors take the profits.
This is to be expected as the Pepeto crypto outlook fits the lifecycle of most memes. There’s simply no reason to return to the project as it only offers meme value.
So, is Pepeto a hard pass?
Well, the Pepeto price forecast does maintain that a quick flip is valid, but you have to be realistic about long-term expectations. The token is priced at $0.000000186, and the community-sourced Pepeto price prediction sees the coin going to $0.00007128.
3. Bitcoin Hyper price prediction: Worth the wait?
One of the biggest presale fundraises of the current cycle, Bitcoin Hyper is building a Bitcoin L2 rollup that attempts to solve fee limitations and transaction speeds by implementing the Solana Virtual Machine.
Priced at $0.01367, the community expects the coin to target $0.3482, which is a solid 25x upside.
While Bitcoin Hyper is a much better play than what the Pepeto price prediction describes, it’s not without its flaws. This is primarily limited due to slower development and the lack of confirmed dates despite the whitepaper promising a Q1 mainnet launch.
Final thoughts: Don’t settle for scraps
The Pepeto price prediction may be heaven for traders making scalps, but the DeepSnitch AI presale is nothing short of a project with massive breakout potential.
With the presale closing on March 31, the window to secure your gains is getting smaller. Since you don’t want to miss out on the projected 100x-300x gains and DSNTVIP300 bonus that unlocks a 300% bonus on allocations above $30K, the best time to get on board is right now.
Don’t settle for scraps and secure your spot in the DeepSnitch AI presale ASAP. Keep an eye on the posts on X or Telegram to stay on top of the latest developments.
FAQs
1. How does the Pepeto price prediction stack up against DeepSnitch AI’s March 31 TGE potential?
Pepeto’s community targets of $0.00007128 from $0.000000186 make it a valid flip play, but structurally it’s a one-cycle bet. No recurring utility means no daily retention once the launch hype fades. DeepSnitch AI raised $2M, shipped a live intelligence layer ahead of schedule, and has a confirmed March 31 Uniswap TGE with 100x-300x community projections backed by a platform traders will return to daily. The comparison isn’t close on fundamentals.
2. What does the Ohio court ruling mean for prediction markets and crypto regulation broadly?
Chief Judge Morrison denied Kalshi’s injunction, ruling that the Commodity Exchange Act doesn’t preempt Ohio’s sports gambling laws, which directly contradicts CFTC Chair Selig’s exclusive jurisdiction claim. With a Tennessee court ruling the opposite way just weeks earlier, the regulatory landscape for prediction markets is now actively fragmented.
3. Is Bitcoin Hyper a better long-term play than the Pepeto price prediction suggests for meme coins?
Bitcoin Hyper’s $31.6M raise and 25x community price target of $0.3482 from $0.01367 make it a substantially stronger fundamental play than Pepeto. The Bitcoin L2 thesis is legitimate, and the Solana Virtual Machine integration is technically ambitious. The main risk is the lack of a confirmed TGE date despite the Q1 2026 whitepaper targets.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.
The latest rise in the consumer price index (CPI) was “in line with estimates,” and rising inflation has already been priced into the macroeconomic data for the March CPI print, according to market analysts at exchange-traded product (ETP) issuer 21Shares.
Shelter rose 0.2% in February, while the food sector of the CPI rose 0.4%, energy increased by 0.6%, and the index for all items, excluding food and energy, rose by 0.2%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) February CPI report.
Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares, said the upcoming CPI prints place even more pressure on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the body that decides interest rate policy. He said:
“What matters now is the Fed’s reaction function to the coming higher CPI prints. Do they ‘look through’ this temporary shock despite having been burned in the previous inflation cycle? Or do they tilt hawkish as a precautionary measure?”
Crypto markets remain resilient following the February CPI report, with the Total 3 market indicator, which tracks the entire crypto market capitalization excluding Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), only declining by about 1% from the intraday high of about $722 billion.
Related: Finance job openings fall to 13-year low as US economy loses 92K jobs
What does this mean for BTC’s price?
“In the immediate term, Bitcoin is likely to remain rangebound between $68,000 and $74,000. However, a breakout past the $75,000 resistance zone appears imminent,” according to Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21Shares.
If BTC manages to break above the $75,000 level, it could enter a consolidation phase between $75,000 and $80,000 in the medium-term, Mena said.
Historic price data shows that BTC typically rebounds by 15% or more after geopolitical market shocks, which would put its price in the $77,000 to $80,000 range, he said.
A market recovery to these levels could also be “accelerated” if the FOMC resumes easing interest rates in 2026, according to Mena.
Only 0.6% of traders expect an interest rate cut from the current 3.50%-3.75% range at the March 18 FOMC meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Magazine: The debate over Bitcoin’s four-year cycle is over: Benjamin Cowen
Binance.US, the American affiliate of the world’s largest crypto exchange, named Stephen Gregory as CEO, installing a compliance-focused executive at the helm at a time that competition among U.S. crypto trading platforms is accelerating.
Gregory replaced Norman Reed on March 9, the company said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. He was previously U.S. CEO of digital asset platform Currency.com, where he led the firm during its 2025 acquisition by CXNEST. He also held compliance leadership roles at crypto exchanges Gemini (GEMI) and CEX.io.
The leadership change comes as the U.S. crypto exchange landscape is changing. Over the past several months, trading platforms have raced to expand beyond digital assets, adding products such as tokenized stocks, prediction markets and traditional equities trading. Some exchanges have also struck partnerships with major U.S. stock exchanges to explore trading blockchain-based versions of publicly listed shares.
The appointment places a legal and regulatory specialist in charge at a time when U.S. oversight of crypto companies remains a central issue for the industry. Reed will remain with the company in an advisory role.
Gregory said the exchange’s brand remains strong and closely tied to the vision of its founder. “The Binance.US brand is extremely powerful,” he told CoinDesk, noting that its owner, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has “continuously advocated to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.” He said he plans to guide the company into its next phase while building on that foundation. Gregory added that by focusing on innovation for customers, Binance.US is positioned to take advantage of emerging opportunities and expand access to decentralized finance and a broader “tokenized value ecosystem.”
Binance’s global platform remains the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by a wide margin. The exchange recorded nearly $10 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, more than five times the volume of rival Coinbase (COIN), according to CoinGecko data.
The company said it plans to expand several parts of its business under Gregory’s leadership. In the past year, it has introduced products including Boost, staking services and a revamped referral program. It plans to expand its “Earn” suite and build new gateways connecting users to decentralized finance and tokenized assets.
Solana price approaches $90 resistance with Fibonacci and value area confluence. Failure to reclaim this level could trigger a rotation toward $70 support.
Summary
- Key Resistance: Solana testing $90 range-high with 0.618 Fibonacci confluence.
- Bull Trap Risk: Rejection could trigger liquidity sweep below $81.
- Downside Target: Range rotation may extend toward $70 value area low and $67 swing support.
Solana (SOL) price is approaching a critical technical inflection point as price rallies toward the $90 resistance level, an area where multiple technical indicators converge. After recovering from recent lows, the asset is now testing the upper boundary of its trading range, raising questions about whether the rally can continue or if another rejection will occur.
The $90 level represents a significant barrier for Solana because it aligns with several key technical indicators, including the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement, the value area high, and the upper boundary of the current ABC corrective structure.
When multiple indicators converge at a single price level, they often create strong zones of resistance where selling pressure may re-enter the market.
Solana price key technical points
- Key Resistance: Solana approaching $90 range-high resistance with Fibonacci confluence.
- Liquidity Target: Failure at resistance could trigger a move below $81 support.
- Major Support: Value area low sits near $70, with deeper support near $67.
Solana’s recent price action has unfolded within a broader corrective structure following a decline from its previous swing high. The current recovery move is best interpreted as part of an ABC corrective rally, where price temporarily rebounds before potentially continuing the broader consolidation phase.
Within this structure, the $90 resistance zone represents the most important level currently visible on the chart. This region has developed into a strong confluence area where several technical indicators overlap. The 0.618 Fibonacci retracement, widely regarded as a key retracement level in technical analysis, aligns closely with the value area highand the upper boundary of the current corrective structure.
These overlapping indicators create a cluster of resistance that may act as a final barrier preventing price from moving higher. When markets approach such areas without strong buying momentum, they often experience rejection as sellers begin defending the level.
Another important element to consider is the liquidity structure surrounding Solana’s current trading range. Financial markets frequently move toward areas where liquidity is concentrated, as these zones allow larger participants to execute positions more efficiently.
Meanwhile, Nasdaq-listed Solmate Infrastructure has announced plans to develop a Solana infrastructure hub in the United Arab Emirates as part of a broader corporate restructuring and capital overhaul, highlighting growing institutional interest in the ecosystem.
Below the current price action, significant liquidity rests around the value area low and nearby support levels. If Solana fails to break above the $90 resistance, the market may rotate lower to target these liquidity zones. One of the first key levels to watch in this scenario would be the $81 region, where short-term support has previously formed.
A rejection at resistance could trigger a deeper corrective move, pushing price below this level as the market searches for stronger support. In range-bound environments, this type of rotational behavior is common, as price moves between areas of high and low value.
Should selling pressure increase, Solana could eventually test the value area low near $70, which represents the lower boundary of the current trading range. This level previously acted as a strong support zone where buyers entered the market, preventing further downside expansion.
If the value area low fails to hold, the next key technical level would be the swing low near $67, which would represent the final major support within the current structure. A move toward this level would complete the broader corrective rotation within the range.
This development comes as Western Union is expanding its presence in blockchain payments through a new stablecoin initiative tied to the Solana network, reflecting increasing institutional activity within the ecosystem.
From a market structure perspective, Solana remains in a corrective phase as long as price stays below the $90 resistance level. Without a strong breakout above this zone accompanied by increasing trading volume, the probability continues to favor further consolidation rather than a sustained bullish trend.
What to expect in the coming price action
Solana is now approaching a decisive resistance level near $90, where several technical indicators converge. If the market fails to reclaim this area, the rally could develop into a bull trap, triggering a rotational move lower toward $81 supportand potentially the $70 value area low.
A break below that level would expose the next major downside target near $67, while a confirmed breakout above $90 would invalidate the bearish scenario and open the door for further upside.
Network News
ETHEREUM FOUNDATION STARTS EXPERIMENTING WITH DVT-LITE TECH: The Ethereum Foundation is testing a method for running validators that could make it significantly easier for institutions holding large amounts of ether to set up staking infrastructure, widening the pool of participants and creating a more decentralized network. In a post on X, blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the foundation is using a simplified version of distributed validator technology, or “DVT-lite,” to stake 72,000 ETH. The experiment aims to make running validators across multiple machines less complicated. Buterin said the goal is to reduce the process to something close to a one-click setup, where operators choose which computers will run validator nodes, launch the software and enter the same key on each machine. The system would then automatically connect the nodes and begin staking. “My hope for this project is that we can make it maximally easy and one-click to do distributed staking for institutions,” Buterin wrote. Running Ethereum validators today typically means operating a single node that holds the key used to sign blocks and participate in the network. If that machine fails or goes offline, the validator can stop working and may be penalized. Distributed validator technology (DVT) changes that by allowing multiple independent machines to collectively act as a single validator. Instead of relying on one key and one computer, several nodes work together, and only a handful of them sign for the validator to function. That means the validator can keep operating even if some machines go down. But existing DVT systems can be complicated to deploy because operators must coordinate networking, keys and communication between nodes. Buterin has previously argued that complexity is one reason large staking providers have come to dominate the ecosystem. The “DVT-lite” setup aims to automate much of that process, making it easier for institutions to run distributed validators with minimal infrastructure expertise.— Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
NVIDIA SHARES AI CREATES JOBS IN RARE BLOG: The AI jobs debate got its sharpest rebuttal yet, from the person selling the hardware. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang published a rare standalone essay laying out what he calls the “five-layer cake” of AI infrastructure: energy at the base, then chips, then physical infrastructure, then models, then applications. It positioned AI not as a software product or a chatbot but as an industrial buildout on the scale of electrification, one that requires trillions of dollars in physical construction and a massive workforce of electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, steelworkers, and network technicians. “These are skilled, well-paid jobs, and they are in short supply. You do not need a PhD in computer science to participate in this transformation,” he said. Huang’s argument for why the buildout needs to be so large starts with a fundamental shift in how computing works. Traditional software retrieves stored instructions, while AI generates new outputs in real time, with every response created fresh based on the context provided. It isn’t looking up an answer, but instead, reasoning through one on demand. Because intelligence is produced in real time, the entire computing stack beneath it has to be reinvented, which is why AI requires purpose-built infrastructure from the energy layer up rather than running on existing data centers. The timing is pointed. The essay arrives after weeks of mounting anxiety about AI’s impact on employment, from Block Inc.’s mass layoffs to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s comments about job displacement. Tech stocks had been selling off on the combination of those fears since early this year. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.
AAVE SEES RARE $27M IN LIQUIDATIONS DUE TO PRICE GLITCH: About $27 million was liquidated on the decentralized lending platform Aave over the last 24 hours, in what some market participants say may have been caused by a temporary pricing issue involving the token wstETH. Blockchain data flagged by risk-management firm Chaos Labs shows a spike in liquidations in the past 24 hours. Some observers believe the event may have been linked to a price update in a risk-oracle system that Aave uses to determine the value of collateral. Oracles are services that feed price data from the outside world into blockchain applications. Lending protocols like Aave rely on them to decide when a borrower’s collateral is no longer sufficient to back their loan — at which point the position can be liquidated. While such scenarios are rare, most recently, a price-oracle setup misconfigured by DeFi lender Moonwell briefly valued Coinbase Wrapped ETH (cbETH) at about $1 instead of roughly $2,200, leaving the protocol with nearly $1.8 million in bad debt. In Aave’s case, some say the issue may have involved wstETH, a token issued by Lido that represents staked ether. Because it accrues staking rewards over time, one wstETH is typically worth slightly more than one ETH. According to a post from LTV Protocol on X, at the time of the liquidations, Aave’s risk-oracle appeared to value wstETH at roughly 1.19 ETH, while the broader market valued it closer to 1.23 ETH. Volume remained relatively low for wstETH trading pairs, with just $10 million being traded over the past 24 hours, so it is unlikely any astute traders capitalized on the pricing mismatch before it snapped back. Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of Aave Labs, said in a post on X that there “was no impact to the Aave Protocol.” According to Chaos Labs, the incident was caused by a mismatch between stale parameters stored in a smart contract, including a reference exchange rate and its associated timestamp. Because those values were not updated in sync, the CAPO system temporarily calculated a maximum allowed exchange rate that was lower than the real market value of wstETH. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.
PUDGY PENGUINS LAUNCHES ITS WEB3 GAME: Pudgy Penguins shipped its flagship game to the general public, and the most notable thing about it is that you wouldn’t know it had anything to do with crypto unless someone told you. Pudgy World, the browser-based game first announced at Art Basel in late 2023, went live with 12 unique towns across a world called The Berg, narrative quests where players help a penguin named Pengu find someone named Polly, and a set of mini-games. CoinDesk played a 10-minute session and came away with a simple takeaway. It’s smooth, responsive, intuitive, and clearly not built with a crypto-first user in mind. “We created custom world-building tools using open-source web technology, giving us a lightweight editor built for speed and rapid iteration,” co-founder @chefgoyardi said in an X post. “Our asset pipeline lets artists work in Maya, Cinema4D, or Blender while custom Houdini scripts automatically convert everything into a web-optimized format. Creative freedom without compromise.” “We engineered physics specifically for the browser. Snappy movement, parkour, fluid navigation, and high frame rates even on lower-end devices,” they added.The game could be pure Club Penguin nostalgia for some users. The game was Disney’s browser-based virtual world that ran from 2005 to 2017 and peaked at over 200 million registered users, mostly kids who customized penguin avatars and played mini-games. It remains the template for what a mass-market Penguin game looks like, and the comparison Pudgy World could be measured against in the broader audience. The NFT gaming space has spent years producing products that feel like wallets with gameplay bolted on. Pudgy World goes the other direction, building something that works as a game first and connects to the token economy second. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.
In Other News
- Mastercard has launched a new Crypto Partner Program that brings together more than 85 companies from across the digital asset and payments industries, an effort to more directly link blockchain technology with the infrastructure that underpins global commerce. The program includes crypto exchanges, blockchain developers, fintech firms and banks such as Binance, Circle, Ripple, Gemini, PayPal and Paxos, the company told CoinDesk in a statement. Participants will work with Mastercard to explore how blockchain-based systems can connect with traditional payment rails used by banks, merchants and consumers around the world. Mastercard said the initiative focuses on practical use cases where digital assets are already gaining traction, including cross-border transfers, business-to-business payments and global payouts. For payment companies like Mastercard, the challenge is less about replacing existing systems and more about connecting new ones to the networks that already handle global commerce. Mastercard’s network links banks, merchants and consumers in more than 200 countries and territories. The company argues that blockchain-based payments will only scale widely if they can plug into that kind of global infrastructure.The Crypto Partner Program is designed to create that bridge. Companies in the program will work with Mastercard teams to help shape products that combine on-chain tools — such as programmable payments or tokenized assets — with established payment rails. — Helene Braun Read more.
- Foundry Digital, one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate, said it plans to introduce a zcash (ZEC) mining pool by next month, expanding beyond BTC and bringing a large institutional operator into the privacy-focused network. With the new pool, Foundry aims to offer zcash miners a U.S.-based platform designed around compliance checks, reporting standards and operational controls often required by public companies and large firms. The move addresses what Foundry describes as a gap in Zcash infrastructure. While the cryptocurrency has existed for nearly a decade, much of its mining ecosystem still consists of smaller global pools that often operate outside formal compliance frameworks. “Zcash has matured into an institutional-grade asset, but the mining infrastructure supporting it hasn’t kept pace,” Foundry CEO Mike Colyer said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. The expansion comes as privacy-focused cryptocurrencies regain attention across the market as new crypto tax reporting rules, with the threat of asset seizure, kicked in across the European Union at the turn of the year and as onchain analysis keeps developing, leading to growing demand for financial anonymity. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
Regulatory and Policy
- Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, on the same day the newspaper published a report claiming the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Iran used the world’s largest crypto exchange to move funds in violation of American sanctions. In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the company said the newspaper published “false and defamatory statements” about its compliance practices and handling of Iran-linked transactions in an article published on Feb. 23. In that article, the Journal said Binance fired staff who flagged funds moving through the exchange to sanctioned entities, allegations Binance rejected. The lawsuit says Binance did not fire employees for raising compliance concerns. Staff departures stemmed from alleged breaches of internal data protection policies rather than retaliation, it said.”Binance categorically did not dismantle any compliance investigation,” a spokesperson for the exchange told CoinDesk. “The WSJ continues to report the same falsities. As a result, we have filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal for defamation.” — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
- Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has introduced proposed legislation that would ban prediction market contracts tied to terrorism, war, assassination, and death, directly challenging market regulator CFTC’s shift toward looser regulation of event trading. The bill, dubbed the DEATH BETS Act, would strip the agency of discretion over whether to permit such contracts and write explicit prohibitions into law, putting Schiff on a collision course with CFTC Chair Mike Selig’s deregulatory agenda. Schiff, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee that oversees the CFTC, is positioned to press the issue legislatively as the agency’s new rule-making takes shape. Under the Commodity Exchange Act, the CFTC already has authority to block contracts tied to war, terrorism, or assassination if it determines they are contrary to the public interest. But enforcement hinges on the regulator’s judgment, meaning the scope of protection shifts with agency leadership. Schiff’s bill would eliminate that flexibility. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
Calendar
- Mar. 24-26, 2026: Digital Asset Summit, New York City
- Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- Apr. 29-30, 2026: Token2049, Dubai
- May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
- Sept. 29-Oct.1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- Oct. 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- Nov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- Nov. 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
Ripple Targets $50B Valuation With $750M Buyback Amid Major Partnerships
A Grumpy Nick Offerman Keeps This Fish Tale Swimming Along
Give me 10 Minutes and I’ll Give you Life-Changing Crypto Advice
-
Business5 days ago
Form 8K Entergy Mississippi LLC For: 6 March
-
Tech7 days agoBitwarden adds support for passkey login on Windows 11
-
News Videos2 days ago10th Algebra | Financial Planning | Question Bank Solution | Board Exam 2026
-
Fashion5 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Ann Taylor
-
Crypto World2 days agoParadigm, a16z, Winklevoss Capital, Balaji Srinivasan among investors in ZODL
-
Tech12 hours agoA 1,300-Pound NASA Spacecraft To Re-Enter Earth’s Atmosphere
-
Sports6 days ago499 runs and 34 sixes later, India beat England to enter T20 World Cup final | Cricket News
-
Politics5 days agoTop Mamdani aide takes progressive project to the UK
-
Business1 day agoExxonMobil seeks to move corporate registration from New Jersey to Texas
-
Sports4 days agoThree share 2-shot lead entering final round in Hong Kong
-
Sports4 days agoBraveheart Lakshya downs Lai in epic battle to enter All England Open final | Other Sports News
-
NewsBeat1 hour agoResidents reaction as Shildon murder probe enters second day
-
Entertainment5 days agoHailey Bieber Poses For Sexy Selfies In New Luscious Lip Thirst Traps
-
NewsBeat6 days agoPiccadilly Circus just unveiled ‘London’s newest tourist attraction’ and it only costs 80p to enter
-
Business3 days agoSearch for Nancy Guthrie Enters 37th Day as FBI Probes Wi-Fi Jammer Theory
-
Business12 hours agoSearch Enters Sixth Week With New Leads in Tucson Abduction Case
-
NewsBeat2 days agoPagazzi Lighting enters administration as 70 jobs lost and 11 stores close across Scotland
-
Tech2 days agoDespite challenges, Ireland sixth in EU for board gender diversity
-
Entertainment7 days ago
Harry Styles Has ‘Struggled’ to Discuss Liam Payne’s Death
-
Crypto World7 days agoNew Crypto Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Reports V1 Protocol Progress as Roadmap Enters Phase 3