Key Takeaways

• Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) plunged approximately 20% on Tuesday following reports of draft legislation that would prohibit yield payments on stablecoin holdings
• Coinbase (COIN), which partners with Circle on USDC distribution, declined 9.1% amid the same regulatory concerns
• The draft provision within the Clarity Act aims to restrict yield payments offered “directly or indirectly” on stablecoins that function like interest-bearing deposits
• Company insider Nikhil Chandhok offloaded 10,000 shares on March 23 at $123.08 per share, totaling $1.23 million, just before the stock tumbled
• Circle’s fourth-quarter financial performance exceeded expectations with earnings per share of $0.43 versus the anticipated $0.25, while revenues surged 76.9% compared to the previous year

Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) experienced a dramatic decline on Tuesday following revelations that proposed legislative language in the Clarity Act could eliminate the ability for platforms to provide yield on stablecoin deposits. The stock tumbled roughly 20% during trading, with Wednesday’s opening price settling at $101.90.

Circle Internet Group, CRCL

According to correspondence from the Blockchain Association distributed to its membership and subsequently examined by Barron’s, the proposed provision would prevent platforms from compensating investors—whether through direct or indirect means—simply for maintaining stablecoin balances in arrangements that mirror traditional interest-bearing bank accounts.

Circle serves as the creator of USDC, which ranks as the second-most widely circulated stablecoin globally. Income generated from USDC reserve assets, predominantly invested in U.S. Treasury securities and reverse repo agreements, is distributed between Circle and its distribution ally, Coinbase.

[[LINK_START_2]]Coinbase (COIN)[[LINK_END_2]] experienced a 9.1% decline on the identical trading day. The exchange presently provides users with a 3.5% annual percentage yield on USDC balances—an offering that would face elimination under the contemplated regulatory framework.

The negotiated provision, developed with contributions from White House officials and Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), underwent review by banking institutions and cryptocurrency companies throughout Monday and Tuesday. While activity-driven rewards and customer loyalty initiatives would remain permissible under the draft text, the Blockchain Association indicated it was pursuing additional clarification regarding acceptable programs.

The legislation has been under development for multiple years. Its primary objective involves establishing regulatory clarity for digital assets within the United States and providing exemptions from securities regulations for most cryptocurrency transactions. The stablecoin yield controversy has emerged as among several contentious elements.

Traditional banking industry representatives have consistently opposed stablecoin yield offerings, contending that such products divert customer deposits from conventional financial institutions, which generally provide lower interest rates.

Coinbase Leadership Previously Withdrew Endorsement

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, had previously retracted his backing for the Clarity Act when an earlier iteration of the yield prohibition came to light. The current compromise represents an effort to bridge the divide between banking sector advocacy and cryptocurrency industry interests.

Beyond the yield question, the legislation confronts additional obstacles. Democratic lawmakers have advocated for provisions preventing President Trump and his relatives from generating profits through cryptocurrency holdings. Republican members have predominantly resisted such additions. These negotiations remain suspended pending resolution of the yield controversy.

The legislative calendar presents another challenge. Congressional members express concern that the measure may not secure passage through both legislative chambers before midterm election campaigns intensify.

Executive Stock Transaction and Market Analyst Perspectives

The stock decline occurred mere days following an insider transaction. Nikhil Chandhok disposed of 10,000 CRCL shares on March 23 at an average price of $123.08, generating proceeds of $1.23 million. This marked his second divestiture in recent months—he had previously sold 20,000 shares in late February at $90.00 per share.

Notwithstanding the market turbulence, Circle’s recent financial metrics demonstrated strength. The organization disclosed fourth-quarter earnings per share of $0.43, substantially exceeding the consensus forecast of $0.25, accompanied by revenue of $770.23 million—representing a 76.9% year-over-year increase.

Wall Street analyst projections vary considerably. Wells Fargo reduced its price objective from $128 to $111 while maintaining an “overweight” recommendation. Robert W. Baird maintains an “outperform” rating with a $138 price target. MarketBeat’s aggregated consensus reflects a “Hold” rating with an average target price of $126.29.

CRCL has traded within a 52-week range spanning from $49.90 to $298.99.

STS Digital, a trading firm specializing in crypto options, unveiled a structured-products platform aimed at sophisticated investors as digital assets gain growing acceptance among traditional financial institutions.

One month after raising $30 million, the Bermuda-based company said the platform, which covers 400 tokens, is aimed at banks, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals seeking returns on top of their spot-market holdings. Kraken, the crypto exchange whose parent, Payward, took part in the fundraising, will offer the platform to its partners, STS Digital said in a statement shared with CoinDesk.

Crypto structured products are seeing rising demand as venture funds, portfolio managers and large mandate holders look for more tailored hedging solutions. Standard leveraged products like futures and perpetuals, with their one-size-fits-all design, often fall short, especially due to path dependency.

Structured products typically embed options that help navigate volatility and generate additional income on top of spot market holdings. Open interest is currently around $47 billion, according to TheTie, with the lion’s share on Deribit.

For Kraken, the partnership is also about deepening its bench of products. According to the release, the exchange is leveraging STS’ derivatives expertise to power its Dual Investment product, introduced earlier this month, to allow eligible clients to earn fixed returns on bitcoin BTC$71,186.92 and ether (ETH).

The agreement brings “structured strategies like covered calls to our platform, strengthens our growing suite of derivatives solutions and gives clients a new way to generate return that’s distinct from traditional crypto approaches like staking or lending,” Alexia Theodorou, director of derivatives at Kraken, said in the statement.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said tokenization could bring AU$24 billion in yearly efficiency gains to the national economy. 

Meanwhile, the central bank used findings from Project Acacia to show that tokenized assets and tokenized money are moving closer to practical use in wholesale finance. It said the next stage will focus on implementation, industry coordination, and market testing.

Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the central bank now sees tokenization as a question of “how” rather than “if.” He made the remarks while presenting findings from Project Acacia, which reviewed how tokenized assets and money could work in Australia’s wholesale financial system.

Jones said research from the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre estimated that tokenization could deliver AU$24 billion in annual efficiency gains. He also said the benefits could grow further if the technology supports the creation of new markets and services.

Project Acacia reviewed 20 use cases tied to tokenized assets, including government bonds, corporate bonds, repos, and investment funds. The project also tested settlement using four types of money, namely wholesale central bank digital currency, exchange settlement account balances, stablecoins, and bank deposit tokens.

The results showed that different forms of tokenized money may serve different roles. Jones said stablecoins could support smaller and newer tokenized markets, while bank deposit tokens may suit larger markets because banks already operate under prudential rules and have access to central bank liquidity facilities.

Moreover, Jones said stablecoins and bank deposit tokens could work in complementary ways rather than compete directly. This approach reflects the RBA’s current view that different tokenized payment tools may fit different parts of the wholesale market.

He also said market participants viewed a wholesale CBDC as “potentially helpful, but far from essential” for tokenized markets to develop. He pointed to the United States, where tokenized repo markets are already recording daily activity close to $400 billion without depending on a wholesale CBDC.

Sandbox and advisory groups set next steps

The RBA said it will work with the Council of Financial Regulators, the DFCRC, and industry participants on a set of new initiatives. A digital financial market infrastructure sandbox will provide a stage-gated setting for testing tokenized assets, money, and settlement systems.

The central bank will also review exchange settlement account access rules after payment service provider licensing reforms pass parliament. In addition, regulators and industry members will form a joint tokenisation advisory group, while an expanded Deposit Token Working Group will focus on interoperability between deposit tokens issued by different banks.

Monument Bank said it plans to tokenise up to 250 million pounds ($335 million) of retail customer deposits on the Midnight network in what it described as the first such move by a U.K.-regulated bank on a public blockchain.

The London-based challenger bank said the deposits will remain interest-bearing, fully backed by Monument and redeemable one-for-one in pounds sterling. They will also remain covered by the U.K.’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The move marks is a step in the push to bring tokenized financial products into regulated banking. While banks in the U.K. and elsewhere have explored tokenized deposits, most work to date has focused on institutional use or closed networks.

Monument is pitching this effort at retail customers, starting with clients with investable assets between 50,000 pounds and 5 million pounds, the so-called mass-affluent, according to asset manager St. James’s Place.

Monument, which says it has more than 100,000 customers and about 7 billion pounds in deposits, said the first phase will mirror savings balances on Midnight’s privacy-focused blockchain.

Later phases are meant to add tokenized investment products such as private market and commodity funds, followed by lending against those holdings inside the Monument app.

Midnight Foundation, which was developed by Shielded Technologies, a company linked to Cardano creator Input Output, is providing the blockchain infrastructure.

Monument said the system is designed so transaction data remains visible only to the bank and its customers, while operating within existing U.K. banking protections and compliance rules.

The announcement also points to a wider play. Monument said affiliate Monument Technology plans to offer tokenized deposit functionality through its Banking-as-a-Service platform. That could allow other institutions to adopt the same model.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose back above $71,000 during the early Asian trading hours on Wednesday after Trump’s administration offered a 15-point plan to Iran to end the war, sparking short-term optimism across risk assets.

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin bounces 4% to $71,500 after President Trump sent Iran a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war. 

• Bitcoin faces stiff resistance above $72,000. 

Bitcoin jumps 4% on ceasefire hopes

Data from TradingView showed BTC price rose as much as 4% to an intraday high of $71,300 from Tuesday’s low of $68,890, recouping all the losses incurred the day prior.

The price reacted to news that the US, through the primary intermediary Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff), has sent Iran a 15-point plan aimed at ending the war.

The key elements of the plan include: a temporary ceasefire with calls on Iran to dismantle or severely limit its nuclear program, suspend its ballistic-missile work, and the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for safe maritime traffic.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to deny any ongoing talks as ​​Trump delayed his self-imposed deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Following the news, WTI crude oil dropped 5.75% to $87 per barrel, while Brent crude shed 6% to trade at $98.

Gold extended yesterday’s gains, now up 2.53% on the day to trade at $4,561 at the time of writing.

This move eases inflation fears tied to disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, positively impacting risk assets, including Bitcoin.

Analysts noted the swift repricing, with Coinlore saying that Bitcoin is now acting as a “real-time sentiment instrument for global risk.”

CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr said that BTC will “likely remain headline-driven” until the US and Iran send a “public de-escalation signal.”

Bitcoin price faces “rough times ahead”

Despite the rebound, BTC’s upside appears to be capped at $72,000, where the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) and the upper trend line of a symmetrical triangle converge.

A break above $72,000 would confirm a bullish breakout from the triangle, toward the measured target at $92,400, 30% above the current price.

Glassnode’s cost-basis distribution heatmap reveals concentrated supply and resistance between $72,000 and $74,000, where investors acquired roughly 380,000 BTC over the last 30 days. This indicates that sellers could aggressively defend this zone.

On the downside, a dense accumulation cluster sits around $65,000, where investors previously acquired 160,000 BTC. 

This level coincides with the lower trend line of the symmetrical triangle, which, if lost, could trigger the next leg lower toward the bearish target of the triangle at $52,500.

Meanwhile, Capriole Investment’s Bitcoin Macro index has dropped to -1.37, levels seen at the depth of previous bear cycles.

The chart below shows that the metric historically spends a year at or below these valuations before recovering.

“Bitcoin Macro index is in the value zone,” Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards said in an X post on Wednesday, adding:

“In all prior instances, price went lower into deeper value first before recovering, suggesting we may have more rough times ahead first.”

As Cointelegraph reported, traders warn of a second bear flag breakdown that could clear the path for another sell-off below $50,000.