The US military strike on Iran over the weekend intensified global tensions and investor anxiety. Yet, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, stated that it also highlighted the important role of crypto and on-chain markets.

With major stock exchanges closed, on-chain markets stepped in as the primary venue for global price discovery.

US Strike on Iran Exposed a Structural Gap That Only Crypto Markets Could Fill

In a recent memo titled “The Weekend That Changed Finance,” Hougan noted that when President Trump announced a military strike on Iran at 2:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, global markets were closed. Stocks, futures, forex, and exchanges across Europe and Asia had all gone dark for the weekend.

The only traditional markets still running were small Middle Eastern exchanges in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Hougan suggested that on-chain markets were the only venues that responded in real time. Thus, they filled a structural void left by closed traditional exchanges.

“In years past, if a major geopolitical shock hit on a Sunday morning, investors would wait until the U.S. futures markets opened at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday to find out what the impact would be. But as this weekend showed, they now have an alternative: They can turn to crypto-based rails, which trade 24/7/365, globally. And this weekend, they did,” he said.

BeInCrypto also reported that the impact of the attacks was quickly evident in the crypto market, with Bitcoin (BTC) dropping on the news. According to Hougan, for most of that Sunday, “on-chain finance was the center of the financial world.”

He noted that Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual exchange, became a “focus.” Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 decentralized exchanges allowed traders to trade synthetic perpetual futures contracts tied to traditional assets.

BeInCrypto reported that HIP-3’s open interest exceeded $1 billion. Overall, the platform saw over $11.5 billion in trading volume across Saturday and Sunday, according to DeFiLlama data.

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The Core Team also indicated that the next big step should be completed by PiDay.

Just a few weeks after going to protocol version 19.6, the Core Team has announced the completion of the subsequent upgrade, which is now one step away from v20.

Aside from going into detail on what those Pi updates might indicate for the community, we will check the latest price action from the underlying token in this article.

V19.9 Is Here

CryptoPotato reported on February 21 that the protocol v19.6 migration was successfully completed, which meant that v19.9 is the last one left before v20. Hours ago, the team took it to X to indicate that the 19.9 migration is officially completed as well, and all eyes have now turned to v20.2. According to the team, it could be done by March 14 – the day known as PiDay in the Pi Network community.

Network Update: Protocol v19.9 migration successfully completed. Next up is v20.2 — Aiming to complete before Pi Day 2026. Node operators should make sure they’re upgraded and stay tuned for further instructions: https://t.co/mnbwVzhaD9

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) March 4, 2026

As with all previous updates on the protocol front, the team reminded that all node operators have to ensure they have upgraded to the current version; otherwise, they risk being disconnected from the network.

The explanatory blog post from the team noted once again that Pi Nodes are the “fourth role” in the Pi ecosystem. They have to run on laptops and desktops instead of mobile phones. While there are some similarities with other blockchain networks, such as having the same responsibilities in terms of validating transactions, there are also several key differences:

“Unlike most other crypto projects, the Pi Node will continue to follow the philosophy of user-centric design. Instead of requiring deep technical knowledge to set up a node, everyday people will be able to do that by installing a desktop application on their computers. Through this computer application, Pioneers can switch the node software on/off to make their devices available/unavailable for serving as a node.”

PI Price Update

After bottoming out at $0.1312 on February 11, which became the latest all-time low, Pi Network’s native token began a strong rebound that drove it to over $0.20 at one point days later. However, it was stopped there, and the market volatility brought it south to under $0.16 by the end of the month.

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Nevertheless, it reacted well and now sits above $0.172, which means a 12% monthly increase. PiScan data shows a somewhat worrying trend for the next couple of weeks in terms of daily token unlocks. Although the average number is at 6.8 million for the next month, there are a few days with over 15 million. March 7 will see the most unlocks, with almost 21 million tokens set to be released.

These unlocks do not guarantee sell-offs, but increase the chances for a price correction, as many investors have been waiting for years for their assets.

South Korean police have arrested a series of individuals believed to be acting as hired agents committing what authorities describe as “private revenge” attacks, which have involved vandalism and threatening behavior directed at private residences.

South Korean police arrest agents in series of “private revenge” vandalism cases

According to reports, the most recent arrest was carried out on March 1 by the Suwon District Court, which issued a warrant for a man in his 20s identified only as Im on charges of property damage and criminal trespass.

Prosecutors allege that on the evening of February 22, the suspect entered an apartment building in Dongtan New City, Gyeonggi Province, where he allegedly sprayed red lacquer on the front door of a resident’s home and scattered trash on the floor.

Police say the suspect also distributed dozens of leaflets defaming the alleged victim and broadcasted excrement at the scene.

Police say they are pursuing leads on the person or network believed to have instructed the group through the encrypted messaging app Telegram, suggesting an organized effort behind the vandalism. All of the suspects arrested so far reportedly told investigators that they were paid between 500,000 and 1,000,000 won (about $380 – $760) in cryptocurrency for carrying out the acts.

Earlier arrests include another man in his 20s detained after entering a multi-family home in Sanbon-dong, Gunpo City on February 24 and spraying the front door with lacquer while leaving threatening materials.

Prosecutors said the suspect’s behavior and materials suggested coordination with others giving instructions.

Authorities are also reviewing a December incident in Pyeongtaek involving similar criminal behavior. Police have linked that case and the recent ones to overlapping methods and are continuing to investigate possible connections and higher-level coordinators.

Officials say the crimes illustrate how social media and encrypted platforms can be misused to organize and incentivize harassment, and they have pledged to track down those orchestrating the campaign.

Ethereum (ETH) has traded sideways around $2,000 since the beginning of the year. This price action has strengthened accumulation sentiment and encouraged investors to store assets off exchanges. The latest data shows multiple new records in ETH withdrawals, reflecting investor confidence in the asset.

Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for building Ethereum into a comprehensive sanctuary technology ecosystem amid rising geopolitical instability.

Investors Withdraw Over 31 Million ETH From Exchanges in the Past Month

According to a report from Lookonchain, the wallet address gammafund.eth withdrew 9,000 ETH ($17.86 million) from Binance today.

Earlier, on March 2, BitMine executed a significant acquisition. The firm purchased 50,992.8 ETH, increasing its total holdings to 3.71% of Ethereum’s total supply.

Data from CryptoQuant shows that ETH withdrawals from exchanges reached approximately 31.6 million ETH in February. This marked the highest level since November last year.

Among exchanges, Binance led with around 14.45 million ETH withdrawn, accounting for nearly half of the total outflows. Other exchanges such as OKX (3.83 million ETH) and Kraken (1.04 million ETH) also recorded significant outflows.

This trend has continued into early March. It reflects investor behavior of moving assets away from centralized exchanges. Investors appear to expect ETH to rise in the medium- to long-term. As a result, they prefer holding ETH in private wallets rather than keeping it on exchanges.

The wave of ETH withdrawals has occurred while ETH fluctuates around $2,000. The price remains 60% below last year’s peak.

“When such movements coincide with sensitive price levels, they may reflect either increased long-term holding conviction or a strategic reallocation of positions,” commented analyst Arab Chain.

As a result of this withdrawal wave, ETH exchange reserves fell to a record low in March, according to CryptoQuant.

The chart shows that since the beginning of the year, ETH balances on exchanges have declined from 16.8 million ETH to 15.9 million ETH. The reserves reached an all-time low on March 2.

Recent escalations in military conflicts have not triggered any panic selling. Instead, investors appear to have responded in the opposite direction. They have accumulated even more aggressively.

Vitalik Buterin Calls for Building “Sanctuary Technologies” for Ethereum

In his latest post, Vitalik Buterin emphasized the current global context. He pointed to increasing government and corporate control and surveillance, ongoing wars, and the concentration of power.

In that context, he stated that Ethereum has not yet made a meaningful contribution to improving people’s real lives.

He proposed that Ethereum position itself within an ecosystem that builds what he calls “sanctuary technologies.”

He explained that these technologies should be free and open source. They should help people live, work, communicate, manage risks and assets, and cooperate toward shared goals. They should remain sustainable under external pressures, such as those from governments, corporations, and censorship. The ultimate goal is to reduce the severity of power conflicts and prevent systems from being weaponized.

His vision may still be distant. However, following the early March test, investors are currently betting on ETH as an asset they want to hold during instability. They are willing to tolerate unrealized losses to maintain their positions.

Meanwhile, another analyst explained where’s bitcoin most likely bottom.

Bitcoin’s price went through some intense volatility in the past week or so, especially since the attacks between Israel and the USA on one side, and Iran, on the other began on Saturday morning. Within this timeframe, the asset tried to reclaim the coveted $70,000 level on a couple of occasions, but to no avail.

The last such example was on Monday when it skyrocketed by $5,000 in minutes, going from $65,200 to $70,150. However, the bears intercepted the move and pushed the cryptocurrency to under $66,400.

Although it has recovered some ground and is close to $69,000 as of press time, popular analyst CW believes there’s a massive obstacle in its path.

Citing data from Coinglass, they indicated that bitcoin whales are forming sell orders at just over the current levels, which is “holding down the price.” Bitcoin could move higher “when these sell orders disappear,” they added.

$BTC whales are forming sell orders and holding down the price.

When these sell orders disappear, the next move will occur. pic.twitter.com/RsLIajaxpM

— CW (@CW8900) March 4, 2026

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Fellow analyst Ali Martinez also weighed in on BTC’s recent performance, and more specifically on its expected bottom during this bear cycle. He noted that the asset has historically bottomed somewhere between the 1.0 and 0.8 MVRV Pricing Bands.

The Market Value to Realized Value Metric is calculated by dividing the former by the latter. Higher levels typically mean that the underlying asset could be overvalued, and vice versa.

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If history is any indication, bitcoin’s bottom might not be in yet. Instead, Martinez’s graph shows that it could be somewhere between $43,600 and $54,500.

Over the past decade, Bitcoin $BTC has consistently bottomed between the 1.0 and 0.8 MVRV Pricing Bands. pic.twitter.com/bETaOvRPNN

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) March 4, 2026

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Ray Dalio picked an interesting week to trash bitcoin.

The Bridgewater Associates founder said on the popular All-In Podcast on Tuesday that investors should stop comparing bitcoin to gold, arguing that the largest cryptocurrency lacks central bank support, has no privacy, and faces long-term threats from quantum computing.

“There is only one gold,” Dalio said. “Gold is the most established money” and the second-largest reserve currency held by central banks.

The timing undermined the thesis, however. On the day Dalio made those comments, gold dropped $168 to $5,128, a 3% decline, while bitcoin fell just 0.7% to $68,700. Five days into the U.S.-Iran war, the asset Dalio prefers was getting hit harder by exactly the kind of crisis he says it’s supposed to protect against.

The decoupling isn’t new. Bitcoin and gold moved together from July through early October, until the broader crypto crash in October wiped out $20 billion in leveraged positions. Since then the two assets have gone in opposite directions. Bitcoin is down over 45% from its October peak. Gold rallied 30% to over $5,100 in the same period.

Gold spiked on Saturday’s initial strikes, then gave back those gains as the conflict widened and oil disruption became the dominant concern. Bitcoin sold off on Saturday, bounced on Sunday after Iran supreme leader Khamenei’s death, got rejected at $70,000 on Tuesday, and has since settled in the mid-$67,000s.

That shows neither asset has fully operated as a safe haven this week. Both have been volatile. Bitcoin has just been less volatile, which isn’t the outcome Dalio’s framework predicts.

Dalio’s specific criticisms aren’t new either. He flagged bitcoin’s transparency, noting that “any transaction can be monitored and directly, perhaps, controlled.” He questioned whether central banks would ever accumulate an asset that runs on a public ledger. And he raised quantum computing as a longer-term existential risk.

He’s not entirely bearish. Dalio holds roughly 1% of his portfolio in bitcoin for diversification and recommended a 15% allocation to bitcoin or gold in July, calling it the “best return-to-risk ratio” given America’s debt trajectory.

Dalio warned last month that the “World Order” led by the U.S. had “broken down” and that investors needed to rethink how they protect wealth. Whether gold is still the only prescription is the part the market is actively debating, and this week’s price action hasn’t made his case any easier to make.

TLDR

• Bridge, now owned by Stripe, is partnering with Visa to bring stablecoin-enabled payment cards to over 100 nations by late 2026
• Users can make purchases at 175 million Visa-accepting merchants using crypto wallets including MetaMask and Phantom
• Stablecoin transactions through Visa reached an annualized volume of $4.6 billion by December 2025
• Direct onchain settlement is now operational through Lead Bank’s participation in the program
• Bridge secured conditional national bank charter approval from US regulators in February 2026

The partnership between Visa and Bridge, Stripe’s recently acquired subsidiary, is set to deliver stablecoin-connected payment cards to consumers in more than 100 nations before 2026 concludes. Initially launched across Latin American markets in 2025, the service currently operates in 18 countries.

These innovative cards enable consumers to complete everyday transactions using digital currency stored in their cryptocurrency wallets. Compatible wallets include popular options like MetaMask and Phantom. Businesses receiving payments get funds in their local fiat currency, maintaining the familiar transaction experience.

The geographic rollout will encompass European nations, Asia-Pacific territories, African markets, and Middle Eastern countries. All 175 million merchant locations within Visa’s established network will support these payment cards.

Stripe completed its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, which has subsequently expanded its stablecoin operations and pursued US banking authorization.

Regulatory approval came from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in February 2026, granting Bridge conditional authorization. This regulatory green light permits Bridge to hold cryptocurrency, create stablecoins, and oversee stablecoin reserve management.

The payment system accommodates four distinct stablecoins: Circle’s USDC, the euro-backed EURC, PayPal USD, and Paxos’s Global Dollar. These digital currencies operate on four different blockchain platforms: Solana, Ethereum, Stellar, and Avalanche.

Stablecoin Settlement Goes Onchain

A significant enhancement to this initiative allows transactions to complete directly using stablecoins. Bridge’s collaboration with Lead Bank, a commercial banking institution participating in Visa’s experimental program, makes this possible.

Previously, Bridge’s system required converting stablecoin holdings to traditional currency before finalizing transactions. The updated infrastructure enables settlement to occur entirely onchain through Visa’s network.

Cuy Sheffield, who leads Visa’s cryptocurrency division, explained that the payment giant is positioning itself where commerce is increasingly happening—which now includes blockchain networks.

By December 2025, Visa’s stablecoin settlement activity had achieved an annualized processing volume of $4.6 billion.

Custom Stablecoins Enter the Picture

Visa is exploring compatibility with Bridge-created stablecoins. These are proprietary digital currencies that companies design and operate using Bridge’s platform, offering an alternative to established issuers like Tether or Circle.

Zach Abrams, serving as Bridge’s CEO, indicated this capability would empower companies to integrate their own branded stablecoins into card payment programs.

Mastercard has similarly entered this market segment. The competing payment network recently activated stablecoin card functionality within the United States through MetaMask’s non-custodial wallet service.

Stripe is simultaneously working with investment firm Paradigm on Tempo, a blockchain network designed specifically for payment processing. The GENIUS Act, landmark US legislation addressing stablecoin regulation, has been enacted and is encouraging traditional financial institutions to explore this technology space.

Bridge’s conditional banking charter approval from US regulators in February 2026 represents the latest milestone in this evolving narrative.

Key Takeaways

• XRP declined 2.4% over a 24-hour period, settling around $1.36 with trading activity between $1.34 and $1.40
• Market-wide selloff intensified due to Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions pushing oil prices upward
• Ripple announced integration of stablecoin capabilities, including RLUSD, into its payment infrastructure
• Technical analysis shows crucial support at $1.3320 with resistance positioned at $1.3880
• Market observers note RLUSD could potentially rival XRP’s traditional bridge currency function within Ripple’s network

On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, XRP experienced a 2.4% decline over 24 hours, settling near $1.36 based on CoinGecko market data. The digital asset fluctuated within a $1.34 to $1.40 price corridor throughout the trading day.

The token maintained a market capitalization hovering around $83 billion. Trading volume reached approximately $3 billion within the same 24-hour timeframe.

The price decline mirrored a wider retreat across risk-sensitive assets. Market participants attributed the selloff primarily to intensifying U.S.-Israel military operations targeting Iran.

“The market is concerned that the US is getting pulled deeper into this conflict,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder.

Bitcoin experienced a parallel downturn, declining 1.35% to $68,496 during the identical period. Data from Chainalysis revealed significant cryptocurrency withdrawals from Iranian trading platforms, totaling $10.3 million between Saturday and Monday.

Ripple Unveils Enhanced Payment Infrastructure

Tuesday brought Ripple’s announcement regarding the expansion of its Ripple Payments platform to accommodate both conventional fiat currencies and stablecoin assets. The firm is strategically positioning RLUSD, its dollar-backed stablecoin, as a primary instrument alongside XRP within the enhanced platform.

“Success in this space requires enterprise-grade infrastructure, extensive licensing, and deep liquidity,” said Monica Long, Ripple’s president.

Throughout the previous year, Ripple has strategically transformed itself into a stablecoin infrastructure provider. This transformation included the $200 million acquisition of Rail, a stablecoin payment solutions company, and the subsequent RLUSD launch following the Genius Act’s passage, which established clearer regulatory guidelines for stablecoins.

Implications for XRP’s Market Position

Historically, XRP has functioned as the primary bridge currency within Ripple’s international payment infrastructure. RLUSD now presents an additional option operating within the identical ecosystem.

Certain market analysts contend this development presents complications for XRP’s value proposition. Financial institutions utilizing XRP for transaction settlements typically execute conversions almost instantaneously, generating minimal sustained buying pressure.

RLUSD introduces a stable, regulatory-compliant alternative that may prove more attractive to banking institutions and financial service providers.

From a technical analysis perspective, XRP is currently positioned beneath its 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. A descending trend line has established itself with resistance concentrated near $1.3880 on the hourly timeframe.

Should the price breach $1.3880, subsequent resistance levels appear at $1.40 and $1.4320. On the downside, support levels are identified at $1.3320, followed by $1.3085.

XRP reached peak values approaching $3.50 in late 2025 before entering a correction phase. The token has remained below $1.50 since that downward adjustment.

As of Tuesday’s close, XRP was valued at roughly $1.36.

Locking in Tomorrow’s Transaction Costs Today. In decentralized finance, everyone obsesses over yield, leverage, and tokenomics. But there’s a quieter, far more structural variable that shapes everything: blockspace.

On networks like Ethereum, blockspace is the scarce resource. Every transaction competes for inclusion in a block, and users pay gas fees to win that competition. When demand surges—NFT mints, memecoin frenzies, liquidation cascades—fees can explode in minutes.

Now imagine if you could hedge that risk.

Welcome to the idea of Gas Futures & Blockspace Hedging: markets where users lock in future transaction costs—like airline tickets, but for blockchain execution.

Why Gas Is a Financial Risk

Gas fees are not just a UX annoyance. They’re a real economic variable.

High gas costs:

• Wipe out DeFi yield strategies

• Make liquidations unprofitable

• Block DAO governance participation

• Kill arbitrage spreads

• Force traders to delay execution

For funds, market makers, NFT projects, and on-chain businesses, gas volatility is operational risk.

And what do markets do with risk?

They price it.

The Core Idea: Gas as a Tradable Commodity

Blockspace is finite per block. That makes it:

• Scarce

• Auctioned

• Variable in price

In other words, perfect for derivatives.

A gas futures market would allow users to:

• Lock in a maximum gas price for a future time window

• Buy guaranteed transaction inclusion rights

• Hedge against expected congestion

Instead of reacting to network chaos, you pre-purchase execution capacity.

How Gas Futures Could Work

Here are a few possible models:

1. Fixed-Price Forward Contracts

A user agrees today to pay a fixed gas price next month.
If market gas spikes above that level, they win.
If it stays low, the seller profits.

Think: Over-the-counter blockspace forwards.

2. Blockspace Options

Buy the right—but not obligation—to transact at a specific gas ceiling.

If network demand surges, you exercise.
If not, you let it expire.

This mirrors commodity options markets.

3. Block Inclusion Tokens

Validators could tokenize future block capacity

For example:

• “Slot #X in Epoch Y” becomes tradable

• Users buy inclusion guarantees in advance

• Validators receive upfront capital

This transforms execution priority into a financial instrument.

Who Would Actually Use This?

This isn’t for casual users sending $20.

The real demand would come from:

🏦 On-Chain Funds

Need predictable execution costs for rebalancing or liquidation defense.

🖼 NFT Projects

Launching during peak hype? Pre-locking gas ensures mint success.

⚖️ MEV Searchers

Guaranteed inclusion = edge preservation.

🏛 DAOs

Governance proposals executed without being priced out.

Why This Doesn’t Exist (Yet)

Several structural challenges:

1. Validator Coordination

On networks using Proof-of-Stake like Ethereum, block proposers rotate frequently. Futures would require coordination across validators or protocol-level changes.

2. Demand Uncertainty

Gas prices are reflexive. If everyone hedges, pricing models must adjust dynamically.

3. MEV Interaction

Blockspace is not just space—it contains MEV opportunities. Pricing execution without pricing MEV is incomplete.

The Bigger Picture: Financializing Infrastructure

We’ve already seen:

Gas futures are the next logical layer: derivatives on execution itself.

This turns blockchain infrastructure into a financial market of its own.

Instead of:

“I hope gas isn’t high tomorrow.”

It becomes:

“I’ve hedged my execution risk.”

That’s a fundamental shift.

What This Unlocks

If gas futures become liquid and reliable:

• DeFi strategies become more stable

• DAO governance becomes more predictable

• Launches become more structured

• On-chain businesses can forecast operational costs

It transforms blockchain from a chaotic fee auction into a hedgeable production environment.

Final Thought

Most people treat gas like weather—unpredictable and annoying.

But blockspace isn’t weather.

It’s a commodity.

And once a commodity becomes hedgeable, it becomes programmable.

Gas futures wouldn’t just smooth transaction costs—they’d complete the financial stack of decentralized networks.

The real alpha isn’t in the token.

It’s in owning tomorrow’s blockspace.

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In a memo titled “The Weekend That Changed Finance,” Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan says a recent geopolitical shock has revealed a fundamental shift in how financial markets operate, potentially accelerating the migration of global finance onto blockchain-based infrastructure.

According to Hougan’s commentary, the markets’ response to an unexpected U.S. military strike on Iran late on a Sunday demonstrated the growing relevance of 24/7 on-chain trading venues at times when traditional exchanges are closed.

Hougan noted that during the early morning hours Eastern Time, conventional financial markets, including U.S. equities, futures and forex trading, were largely offline. Instead, crypto-enabled markets continued to price assets and process trades around the clock, with on-chain platforms such as the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid and tokenized commodity markets taking center stage in price discovery.

Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures on both crypto and real-world assets saw significant volume spikes, and Bloomberg reportedly referenced its crude oil contract when reporting on the strike’s market impact.

In the memo, Hougan argued that the episode showed more than just a temporary anomaly in trading hours; it illustrated a structural evolution in the global financial system. In his view, investors no longer need to wait for traditional markets to open to respond to major news, because blockchain rails and stablecoin-based trading venues operate continuously and globally.

That, he suggested, creates a competitive imperative for institutional participants, hedge funds, banks and asset managers, to onboard stablecoin wallets and familiarize themselves with decentralized finance mechanisms if they want to remain relevant in future market environments.

Hougan’s memo frames the weekend as a milestone moment that could hasten the adoption of on-chain finance, challenging the conventional belief that digitized finance will slowly edge into traditional markets over many years.

Instead, he suggests, the transition might unfold much more rapidly as market participants adapt to systems that never close.