Crypto World
Largest Crypto & Web3 Event in Moscow
On April 14–15, 2026, Moscow will host Blockchain Forum 2026 — the largest crypto and Web3 event in the CIS region. Over the years, the forum has evolved into a key industry platform where digital asset leaders, banks, investment funds and technology companies converge to shape the future of the market.
Blockchain Forum is not merely a conference; it is an infrastructure-level meeting point for the ecosystem. It is where strategic discussions take place, partnerships are formed and projects that define the direction of the digital asset industry are launched.
Scale and Market Concentration
The 2026 edition is expected to bring together over 20,000 participants from 100+ countries, 250 exhibiting companies and more than 200 exclusive speakers, many of whom will be speaking in Russia for the first time.
This creates a rare concentration of expertise, capital and technological innovation on a single platform.
Attendees include investors, venture funds, banks, crypto exchanges, Web3 startups and infrastructure providers, enabling direct dialogue between builders, capital and institutional stakeholders.
200+ Exclusive Speakers
The agenda will feature leaders of major crypto platforms, investment executives, digital asset regulation experts and technology innovators. Many of these speakers rarely appear in the region, making Blockchain Forum a valuable opportunity for direct engagement and first-hand insights.
Exhibition and Practical Use Cases
The exhibition area will host 250 leading crypto companies presenting infrastructure solutions, new products and emerging technologies. Participants will not only hear about trends from the stage but also explore real-world applications — from product premieres to direct interaction with founders and teams.
AI Future Forum: The Convergence of AI and Web3
A dedicated AI Future Forum will take place alongside the main agenda, focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. The convergence of AI and Web3 is widely regarded as one of the defining directions of digital economy development in the coming years.
Networking as a Strategic Asset
Blockchain Forum is recognized as a strategic networking environment. Beyond the main stages, negotiations take place, investment discussions unfold and long-term partnerships are initiated. The structure of the event enables participants to gain, in two days, the level of access and insights that would otherwise require months of fragmented communication.
Official Afterparty Headliner — L’One
The official Afterparty will be headlined by L’One, one of the most prominent artists on the Russian stage. His live performance will serve as the culmination of the forum, bringing participants together in the atmosphere of a large-scale show combined with premium networking.
The Afterparty traditionally extends the business agenda into a more informal yet equally valuable environment for relationship-building.
Blockchain Forum 2026 represents a combination of strategic dialogue, technological innovation, and capital concentration, creating a space where decisions are made and the future of the market is shaped.
Tickets are available on the official website. A 10% discount is available with promo code beincrypto.
More details: https://blockchain.forum/en/
BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo has pledged 20 million British pounds ($27 million) to the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences (LIMS), ranking it among the largest private donations ever made to a United Kingdom research institution outside Oxford and Cambridge, British magazine Times Higher Education reported on Tuesday.
The commitment includes $13.3 million paid upfront and a further $13.3 million to be released once the Mayfair-based institute matches the amount through additional fundraising, Times Higher Education reported. The gift launches a wider campaign aimed at building an $80 million endowment to secure LIMS’ long-term future, per the report.
“I would like to see LIMS winning Fields Medals and Nobel Prizes – they are already doing some world-class things and I want to help,” Delo told the magazine.
Delo said he chose to support LIMS over a larger university because it allows leading researchers to focus solely on research without teaching or administrative burdens.“They are also approaching research in an innovative way – even offering coaching on research,” he said, while criticizing UK’s “lacklustre and inconsistent approach to scientific funding.”
Related: New donation widget lets creators accept crypto payments 24/7
Delo paid $10 million fine before receiving Trump pardon
Delo, who co-founded crypto exchange BitMEX in 2014, pleaded guilty in 2022 to US banking violations alongside his co-founders and paid a $10 million fine. He received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in March 2025.
Delo is also a LIMS trustee, and has previously backed several causes, including neurodiversity, academic freedom and mathematical education and research. In 2025, he funded the creation of the Ben Delo Fellowship at the London Institute.
Founded in 2011 by physicist Thomas Fink, LIMS operates from the Royal Institution, in rooms once occupied by chemist Michael Faraday. The institute focuses exclusively on research, backing three-year fellowships in theoretical physics, pure mathematics and artificial intelligence. In recent years, it has supported exiled Russian and Ukrainian scientists and attracted researchers from the US.
Cointelegraph reached out to LIMS for comment, but had not received a response by publication.
Related: Top UK Labour lawmakers push to ban political donations made in crypto
UK lawmakers call for temporary ban on crypto political donations
Last week, the chair of the UK’s national security committee called for an immediate temporary ban on political donations made in cryptocurrency, warning that such payments could enable foreign interference in British elections.
The move comes after Reform UK received a record $12 million donation last year from early cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne, marking the largest single political contribution ever made by a living individual in Britain.
Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum — BIP-360 co-author
AI Summary
- In the fast-evolving world of crypto neo-banking, traditional approaches are no longer sufficient.
- The future lies in Agentic AI, a sophisticated system that brings autonomous intelligence to the forefront.
- This technology goes beyond mere analysis, actively executing tasks with minimal human intervention.
- By seamlessly integrating with blockchain infrastructure, Agentic AI streamlines complex DeFi processes, enhances regulatory compliance, and optimizes user experience.
- In the competitive landscape of white-label neo banking, Agentic AI offers a range of benefits, from automating compliance and improving operational efficiency to enhancing treasury management and mitigating fraud risks.
“The future of crypto neo-banking won’t be built by dashboards – it will be governed by autonomous intelligence.”
Across the globe, regulators are tightening oversight, liquidity cycles are accelerating, and cross-border rails are fragmenting. White label neo banks can no longer rely on static compliance workflows or manual treasury oversight. They need infrastructure that thinks, reacts, and enforces policy in real time. Explore Agentic AI, not as a feature, but as a sovereign-grade control layer. From programmable compliance and self-adjusting liquidity engines to travel-rule automation and on-chain threat containment, agentic systems transform crypto neo-banking into a continuously adaptive, regulator-aligned machine. For enterprises and governments, this is no longer innovation theater. It’s operational survival and competitive advantage, engineered into the core.
Why Agentic AI Matters In Crypto Neo-Banking Development Space?
- Autonomy and action: Agentic AI doesn’t just analyze; it plans and executes tasks (sets goals, signs/submits transactions, and calls smart contracts) with limited human supervision. That makes it a natural fit where speed, continuous monitoring, and automated execution matter (e.g., liquidity management, treasury ops, automated compliance).
- Web3-native execution: On-chain agents can observe blockchain state, reason over real-time signals, and directly interact with smart contracts, making automation verifiable and composable with DeFi primitives. That capability is different from off-chain AI acting as an advisor.
- Simplifying DeFi and Neo-bank App UX: Agents can abstract complex DeFi steps for retail users (route swaps, managing gas, and harvesting yields) so that enterprises with neo-banking platforms can offer “one-click” Web3 products without exposing users to manual on-chain complexity.
What Extra Does Agentic AI In White Label Neo Banking Bring To The Table?
1. Delivers continuous, automated regulatory compliance (policy-as-code): Encode jurisdictional rules and platform policies as machine-readable policies so agents enforce them before any customer-facing action. This turns ad hoc manual compliance into deterministic, auditable enforcement, ideal for white-label BaaS vendors that must serve many license regimes and clients.
2. Reduces operational cost and time-to-market for licensees: White-label neo banking service providers promise rapid launches and lower OPEX; agentic automation accelerates routine back-office tasks (KYC triage, AML screening, reconciliation) and reduces human review volumes. This shortens onboarding cycles and improves unit economics for merchants and partners.
3. Enables safer autonomous treasury & liquidity operations: Agents continuously monitor liquidity, on-chain pools, and fiat corridors, then recommend or execute hedges, peg-support actions, or tranche rebalances within pre-approved guardrails, crucial for neo-banks offering tokenized products or stablecoin rails.
4. Improves customer UX while hiding Web3 complexity: Agents orchestrate multi-step DeFi flows (swap → stake → settle) and handle gas optimization, routing, and fallback logic so end users see “one-click” products without exposure to on-chain failure modes. This preserves the white-label brand experience across client deployments.
5. Provides a programmable, auditable “autonomy layer” that scales for many tenants: White-label neo banking platforms must operate multi-tenant rule sets. Agentic AI combined with policy-as-code delivers per-tenant policy profiles, versioning, and immutable decision logs, enabling auditability for both regulators and the platform’s customers.
6. Delivers near-real-time fraud detection and response: Agents spot anomalous sequences across on-chain and off-chain signals and can enact containment actions (temporary holds, multisig freezes, and session invalidation) with preconfigured escalation logic, reducing losses and reputational damage.
7. Supports composable, modular product extension (plug-and-play for partners): Because white-label offerings are built for reuse, agentic components (KYC agent, treasury agent, and payments agent) can be offered as modular microservices that clients enable/disable, accelerating product customization without code rewrites. Industry frameworks already encourage reusable agent patterns.
8. Enables explainability, governance, and human-in-the-loop controls: Best practice: agents operate with three authority modes: observe, propose, and execute. Critical/high-impact actions require multisig/human signoff; all agent decisions produce replayable rationales and evidence bundles for audits. This preserves regulatory comfort while unlocking autonomy.
9. Drives product differentiation and revenue enablement: Agentic features (autonomous savings, instant FX optimization, proactive fee-reduction routing) become premium modules that white-label operators can upsell to clients (merchant plans, high-volume remitters, cross-border SMEs). Agents make advanced automation a monetizable capability.
10. Mitigates vendor risk through policy and provenance controls: Agents should be cryptographically identifiable, have verifiable provenance (signed decision logs), and run within hardened key custody (HSMs/multisig). This reduces impersonation and audit risk for white-label vendors operating across multiple banking partners and regulators.
Now, let us have a closer look at how one of the hottest markets globally faces challenges in its financial market, and that can only be solved by integrating Agentic AI into white label crypto neo banking solutions that can overcome their pain points in a click.
Top Regulatory Markets Where Agentic AI Enhances White-Label Crypto Neo-Banking
1. United States
Major challenge
Fragmented regulator expectations, heavy custody & AML obligations, and fast-moving guidance that makes product roadmaps risky for banks offering crypto services.
How is agentic AI in neo banking helping them?
- Regulatory surveillance agents: continuously ingest regulator releases, rule changes, and enforcement actions; extract obligations; and auto-generate compliance checklists mapped to product features.
- Treasury-stress agents: run continuous scenario simulations (liquidity shocks and stablecoin runs); recommend hedges or rebalance steps; and prepare human-approved execution plans.
- Evidence-pack creation agents: when a suspicious flow is detected, agents collate on-chain traces + off-chain identity data into audit-grade packets for investigators.
2. United Kingdom
Major challenge
Retail transfers to regulated exchanges are frequently blocked or delayed by incumbent banks and payment rails, creating UX breakdowns and market fragmentation.
The Only Solution To The Problems: Agentic AI White Label Neo Bank App
- Payment-route intelligence agents: predict the likelihood of a rails approval using historical failure signals, merchant metadata, and bank rule heuristics; pre-choose compliant rails or suggest off-ramp alternatives to users.
- Auto-remediation agents: when a payment stalls, automatically surface the failure code, prepare corrective messages (pre-filled forms/evidence), and open the right banking/exchange ticket with the required attachments.
3. Singapore
Major challenge
High MAS expectations for KYC/AML, consumer protection, and strict data-privacy tradeoffs when combining on-chain transparency with off-chain identity.
Agentic AI-Based Neo Banking Acts As A Solution
- Policy-as-code agents: MAS rules and DPT (digital payment token) obligations encoded as machine-readable policies; agents enforce limits and trigger enhanced due diligence automatically.
- Privacy-aware orchestration agents: decide whether to store attestations off-chain or to submit zero-knowledge proofs on-chain, thus preserving auditability while respecting PDPA-like constraints.
4. Switzerland
Major challenge
High AML standards, reputational risk for banks that take crypto clients, and the need for continuous counterparty & contract monitoring.
Is an Agentic AI-powered customized BaaS platform, the solution to it?
- Continuous counterparty-risk agents: fuse on-chain behavior (mixing, sourcing of funds) with KYC/OSINT signals to produce evolving risk scores and recommended mitigations (transaction limits, additional attestations).
- Smart-contract guardian agents: run attack-surface simulations and detect anomalous contract state changes; when thresholds hit, trigger multisig freezes or emergency settlement paths.
5. United Arab Emirates
Major challenge
Rapid licensing growth (VARA/ADGM) meets uneven banking partner acceptance and strict local advertising/product rules, creating operational friction for entrants.
How does agentic AI in crypto neo banking help?
- Regulatory-fit assistants: automatically scan product copy, onboarding flows, and partner contracts against VARA/ADGM rule sets and flag non-compliant language or missing controls.
- Partnership-optimization agents: analyze historical acceptance patterns and generate tailored documentation bundles to improve bank partner approval odds.
Launch Your Agentic AI-Powered Banking Solutions Today
6. Nigeria
Major challenge
High grassroots stablecoin adoption for remittances and dollar-hedging amid FX instability; regulators worry about dollarization and capital flight.
How does agentic AI help?
- Stablecoin-peg & liquidity agents: monitor local liquidity, on-chain pool depths, and OTC lanes; automatically route swaps and on/off ramps to preserve peg and minimize slippage for retail users.
- Cost-optimal remittance agents: detect the lowest-cost, compliant corridor (stablecoin payment rails vs. traditional FX) and present the user with a single-click, auditable trail.
7. El Salvador
Major challenge
Volatility, limited merchant adoption, public distrust, and infrastructure constraints were exposed by nationwide policy experiments.
How does agentic AI help?
- User-protection agents: auto-offer instant fiat-backs or stable-value settlement for merchant receipts and protect small savers from token volatility via optional auto-convert rules.
- Resource-aware orchestration agents: if national initiatives tie to mining or local validation, agents in crypto-friendly neo-banking solutions schedule heavy compute/mining tasks for low-impact periods and prefer renewables where possible.
8. India
Major challenge
Tight KYC/AML enforcement, mandatory FIU registration, travel-rule implementation with zero thresholds, and frequent regulatory updates that raise compliance overhead.
How does agentic AI help?
- Travel-rule automation agents: collect, validate, and transmit originator/beneficiary data in real-time to meet India’s no-threshold travel-rule requirements and generate audit trails for FIU-Ind.
- Adaptive KYC orchestration agents: dynamically escalate to Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) based on behavior and maintain replayable decision logs for enforcement queries.
Concrete Crypto-Friendly Neo-Banking Use Cases
- Autonomous treasury & liquidity management: agents rebalance stablecoin reserves, shift assets between pools, or top up liquidity automatically based on thresholds and forecasts.
- Programmatic compliance & continuous KYC/AML monitoring: agents scan transactions, flag anomalies, and open tickets or freeze flows for human review.
- Personalized, active wealth management: per-user agents that rebalance portfolios, auto-stake, or switch yield strategies based on risk profile and market signals.
- Smart contract guardians: watch contracts for exploits (or upgrade opportunities) and execute emergency multisig flows or circuit breakers when rules are breached.
- Autonomous onboarding & UX helpers: agents assist users with wallet linking, gas estimation, and transaction bundling to reduce friction and errors.
Wrapping It Up!
Agentic AI is not a marketing checkbox; it’s an operational and product architecture that transforms white-label neo-banking from a static tech stack into an adaptive, policy-driven platform. When coupled with strong policy governance, explainability, and human gates, agentic AI is a practical and defensible way to reduce costs, accelerate launches, and offer premium automation to partners and end users.
Are you planning to launch your solution with the best team of experts? Get in touch with us! Antier, being the leading white-label neo bank development company, is at the forefront of this transformation. Combining advanced blockchain domain expertise with AI-native automation, our team architects modular, policy-driven agent stacks and secure custody layers that accelerate launches and harden operational controls. Our proven delivery cadence, spanning from full white-label deployments within seven days that are combined with enterprise-grade decisioning and deterministic audit trails, empowers clients to launch faster, operate smarter, and monetize automation.
Get in touch with us today and share your requirements or plan to start the execution.
Frequently Asked Questions
01. What is Agentic AI and how does it impact crypto neo-banking?
Agentic AI is an autonomous intelligence system that enhances crypto neo-banking by enabling real-time compliance, liquidity management, and automated execution of tasks with minimal human supervision, transforming traditional banking operations into adaptive, regulator-aligned processes.
02. How does Agentic AI improve regulatory compliance in white label neo banks?
Agentic AI automates regulatory compliance by encoding jurisdictional rules and platform policies as machine-readable policies, ensuring deterministic and auditable enforcement before any customer-facing actions, which is essential for white-label banking service providers.
03. What benefits does Agentic AI offer to enterprises using neo-banking platforms?
Agentic AI reduces operational costs and accelerates time-to-market for enterprises by automating complex processes, allowing for rapid launches of services and the delivery of user-friendly Web3 products without exposing users to the complexities of on-chain interactions.
Uniswap Labs and founder Hayden Adams have won a class action lawsuit that sought to hold them liable for scam cryptocurrencies traded on its platform, ending a four-year legal saga.
Manhattan federal judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed a suit against Uniswap on Monday with prejudice, saying the class group can’t hold Uniswap liable for the misconduct of unknown third-party token issuers.
It was the class group’s second attempt to sue Uniswap, which amended their complaint in May to focus on claims of state-level consumer protection violations, arguing that Uniswap allowed “rug pulls and pump and dump schemes,” according to Judge Polk Failla’s order.
The group, led by Nessa Risley, first sued Uniswap, Adams and venture firms Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures in April 2022. Their lawsuit was dismissed in August 2023, a decision that was later upheld on appeal.
Uniswap’s Adams posted on X that the ruling was a “good, sensible outcome” that sets a new legal precedent.
“If you write open source smart contract code, and the code is used by scammers, the scammers are liable, not the open source devs,” he added.
Class group failed to claim that Uniswap helped with fraud
In her latest opinion, Judge Polk Failla said the class group had failed to adequately allege that Uniswap “had knowledge of the fraud and substantially assisted in its commission.”
She added that “merely creating an environment where fraud could exist is not the same as affirmatively assisting in its perpetration.”
Related: New York judge blocks Binance bid to force US crypto claims into arbitration
“No matter how they try to dress up their allegations, Plaintiffs are basically alleging that Defendants substantially assisted fraud by providing ordinary services that anyone could use for lawful purposes, but that some used for unlawful purposes,” the judge wrote.
“Such an argument fails for the same reasons why a bank does not substantially assist a money launderer who washes his cash through the bank’s accounts, and why WhatsApp does not substantially assist a drug dealer who coordinates a sale on its messaging service: Simply providing the platform on which a fraud takes place is not the same as substantially assisting that fraud,” she added.
Big questions: Should you sell your Bitcoin for nickels for a 43% profit?
An amendment has been proposed to the Federal Reserve Act to ban the US central bank from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until 2030.
The language appears near the end of the 300-page “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” (HR 6644), released by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Monday.
Section 10 of the proposed legislation states that the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System or a Federal Reserve bank “may not issue or create a central bank digital currency or any digital asset that is substantially similar to a central bank digital currency directly or indirectly through a financial institution or other intermediary.”
The bill also contains an exception for stablecoins, stating that the Fed “shall not prohibit any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private,” and fully preserves the privacy protections of the physical currency.
The proposed prohibition includes a sunset clause that expires on December 31, 2030, after which new legislation would be needed to maintain the ban.
The White House issued a statement supporting the Act and opposing a CBDC, which it said could “pose significant threats to personal privacy and liberty.”
The Senate advanced it overwhelmingly on a procedural cloture vote (84-6) on Monday, limiting debate and moving forward, clearing the way for full floor consideration.
Not the first attempt at blocking CBDCs
This version of the housing bill revives language from prior failed attempts to prevent a US CBDC and is not the original legislation.
The “No CBDC Act” (S 464) is a standalone bill introduced by Senator Mike Lee in February 2025 that would prohibit the Fed or Treasury from issuing a CBDC; however, it stalled in Congress.
Related: ‘No privacy’ CBDCs will come, warns billionaire Ray Dalio
Further legislation prohibiting the Fed from issuing a CBDC was introduced in June 2025 by Congressman Tom Emmer under the “Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act” (HR 1919).
The bill passed a House vote on July 17, but has yet to pass full Senate approval.
China, Russia and India are testing CBDCs
Only three countries have officially deployed a CBDC: Nigeria, Jamaica, and The Bahamas, according to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC tracker.
A further 49 nations are actively testing CBDCs, including China, Russia, India and Brazil, while 20 nations have CBDCs in development and 36 are still researching them.
In February, Germany’s central bank president, Joachim Nagel, touted the benefits of CBDCs for the European Union, which is in the pilot phase.
Magazine: Would Bitcoin really be at $200K if not for Jane Street? Trade Secrets
Today, the US Dollar Index rose above the 98.70 level for the first time since the third week of January. Monday’s trading opened with a bullish gap, and upward momentum continues to build as news emerges of a major escalation in the Middle East:
→ Demand for safe-haven assets: Historically, the US dollar and US Treasury bonds have served as primary refuges for capital during periods of heightened uncertainty.
→ Military activity around the Strait of Hormuz is pushing oil prices higher (WTI jumped by approximately 10% yesterday) along with gas prices. This creates a direct pathway to another wave of global inflation.
Technical Analysis of the DXY Chart
Six days ago, when analysing the US Dollar Index (DXY) chart, we:
→ Reaffirmed the validity of the descending channel (marked in red), which originated in November 2025.
→ Once again highlighted the strength of demand, reflected in the confident upward trajectory (shown by the arrow) following the false break below the multi-month low of 96.50 at the end of January.
→ Suggested that bulls could regain momentum and break the prevailing downtrend.
Indeed, price action in early March confirms this view: the descending channel is losing relevance, being replaced by an upward trajectory marked in blue. In this context, developments in the Middle East are of critical importance:
→ If tensions begin to ease, the DXY may stabilise around the median line of the blue ascending channel.
→ A renewed escalation and the collapse of potential negotiations could trigger a further advance towards the upper boundary of the blue channel.
It is also worth noting that the area around the 98 level may now serve as support:
→ This zone previously saw rapid price appreciation, signalling strong buying pressure.
→ It was also the point of a bullish breakout from the red channel and above the 97.98 resistance level.
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Blockchain security firm OpenZeppelin says it has found methodological flaws and data contamination in its audit of OpenAI’s new artificial intelligence benchmark for blockchain security, EVMbench.
EVMbench was launched in partnership with crypto investment firm Paradigm in mid-February. It was built to evaluate how well different artificial intelligence models can identify, patch, and exploit smart contract vulnerabilities.
In an X post on Monday, OpenZeppelin said it welcomed the initiative but recently decided to put EVMbench “through the same scrutiny” it applies to all the protocols it helps secure, including the likes of decentralized finance heavyweights Aave, Lido and Uniswap.
In its audit, OpenZeppelin found two key issues: training data contamination and classification issues related to several high-severity vulnerabilities.
“We reviewed the dataset and identified methodological flaws and invalid vulnerability classifications, including at least four issues labeled high severity that are not exploitable in practice,” OpenZeppelin said.
The release of the EVMbench saw an evaluation of how well AI agents could theoretically exploit smart contract vulnerabilities. Anthropic’s Claude Open 4.6 topped the list, followed by OpenAI’s OC-GPT-5.2 and Google’s Gemini 3 Pro.
EVMbench testing may need revising
Looking at the first issue in data contamination, OpenZeppelin said the most important capability in “AI security is finding novel vulnerabilities in code the model has never seen before.”
However, during the EVMbench’s testing of AI agents, OpenZeppelin said that all the AI agents that scored the highest had “likely been exposed to the benchmark’s vulnerability reports during pretraining.”
During EVMbench testing, internet access was cut off for the AI agents, meaning they couldn’t simply search for solutions to problems. However, the benchmark was based on curated vulnerabilities from 120 audits conducted between 2024 and mid-2025, with the knowledge training cutoffs for these agents generally set to mid-2025.
As such, it ran the risk that the AI agents already had the answers to all of the problems stored in their memory.
“While this does not necessarily enable the model to identify the issue immediately, it reduces the quality of the test. The dataset’s limited size further narrows the evaluation surface, making these contamination concerns more significant,” OpenZeppelin said.
Related: Energym AI dystopia goes viral as crypto projects tout user-owned AI agents
Finally, OpenZeppelin said that there had been some significant factual errors in the EVMbench’s dataset, arguing that several “high-severity vulnerabilities” were invalid.
OpenZeppelin said it had assessed at least four vulnerabilities that EVMbench classified as high risk, but that don’t actually work. However, EVMbench had been scoring AI agents correctly for finding these supposedly false vulnerabilities.
“These aren’t subjective severity disagreements; they are findings where the described exploit doesn’t work.”
Ultimately, OpenZeppelin reiterated that AI will have a significant impact on bolstering blockchain security, but stressed the importance of applying the tech and testing it properly to maximize its potential.
“The question isn’t whether AI will transform smart contract security — it will. The question is whether the data and benchmarks we use to build and evaluate these tools are held to the same standard as the contracts they’re meant to protect.”
Magazine: AI won’t make you rich, but crypto games might, Axie founder steps down: Web3 Gamer
XRP is back in focus after new infrastructure developments tied to Ripple’s institutional push. Hidden Road ($HRFI) officially went live on the NSCC directory on March 2, 2026, per a DTCC notice.
Summary
- Hidden Road’s NSCC listing strengthens Ripple’s institutional positioning, potentially positive for long-term XRPL adoption.
- XRP remains below its 50-day SMA, signaling ongoing bearish structure.
- Support sits near $1.30 and $1.20; resistance stands at $1.45 and $1.62.
The development deepens the integration between Ripple and Hidden Road and strengthens Ripple Prime’s role in bridging traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi).
The NSCC (National Securities Clearing Corporation), a subsidiary of DTCC, handles post-trade clearing and settlement for U.S. equities.
If Ripple Prime infrastructure facilitates post-trade flows that eventually settle or interact with the XRP Ledger (XRPL), it could represent meaningful real-world volume moving onto blockchain rails.
While the integration does not automatically translate into direct Ripple token (XRP) demand, market participants often interpret institutional connectivity as a long-term bullish signal. The key question remains whether XRPL usage scales in a way that structurally increases XRP utility rather than simply expanding enterprise tooling.
XRP price analysis
From a technical standpoint, XRP is currently trading around $1.36 on the daily chart, consolidating after a prolonged downtrend from the $2.40 region earlier this year. Price remains below the 50-day simple moving average near $1.62, indicating the broader trend is still bearish.
Immediate support sits near $1.30–$1.32, with a stronger demand zone around $1.20, where buyers previously stepped in aggressively.
On the upside, resistance is clustered at $1.45, followed by the 50-day SMA at $1.62. A decisive break above that level would be needed to shift medium-term momentum.
The RSI (14) is hovering near 40, suggesting weak momentum but not yet oversold conditions. This reflects consolidation rather than strong accumulation. Unless XRP reclaims $1.45–$1.62, rallies may face selling pressure.
Shares in Core Scientific moved lower on Monday after the Bitcoin miner and artificial intelligence compute provider’s fourth-quarter earnings missed analyst expectations amid a late-year drop in crypto markets.
Core Scientific reported Q4 revenues of $79.8 million, down 16% from the year-ago quarter and missing Wall Street expectations of $90.4 million. Its crypto mining revenue fell nearly in half from Q4 2024 to $42.2 million.
The company posted net income of $216 million for the quarter, largely boosted by a $330.3 million fair value gain on its non-cash holdings. Its adjusted EBITDA showed a loss of $42.7 million.
The earnings come as Bitcoin (BTC) is trading nearly 50% below its peak in early October at around $68,000. The cryptocurrency fell sharply late last year after hitting a peak of over $126,000, ending 2025 at just under $88,500.
The drop has hurt Bitcoin miners’ profits, which are also facing headwinds from higher energy and computing costs, as many, including Core Scientific, spend big on pivoting to AI by offering colocation services for high-performance computers.
Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan said the company was “now past the halfway point on our existing builds and scaling our colocation platform into a 1.5-gigawatt pipeline of leasable capacity.”
The company added that it is expanding one of its sites in Texas to support 430 megawatts of gross power capacity and has increased power capacity at other sites in Georgia and Texas by 300 megawatts.
Shares in Core Scientific (CORZ) ended trading on Monday down 2.8% to $16.49. Its stock fell to a low of $14.69 after the bell, but recovered to end the after-hours session flat. Core Scientific’s stock is up over 13% so far this year.
Related: Nasdaq files for prediction market-style options on Nasdaq-100
Riot Platforms trades flat on Q4 revenue miss
Rival Bitcoin miner and AI compute hoster Riot Platforms also posted its Q4 results on Monday, reporting revenue of $152.8 million, up 7% from a year ago but missing analyst expectations of $157 million.
Shares in Riot Platforms (RIOT) traded flat on Monday, ending the day at $16.43 and moving less than 1% after hours to $16.28.
Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum — BIP-360 co-author
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has shown signs that selling pressure may be fading, though analysts caution that a durable bottom is far from guaranteed. In recent sessions, the asset has hovered around key technical levels, with the 20-day moving average offering a critical backdrop near $68,500 and volatility compressing as traders digest macro headlines. While one market update noted that BTC did not accelerate lower on risk-off news, the broader bear-market narrative remains intact for many observers, keeping upside exposure tactical rather than structural.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin appears to have shifted tactically rather than signaling a structural reversal, with near-term momentum stabilizing but persistent bearish conditions.
- The price has regained the vicinity of the 20-day moving average around $68,500, and Bollinger Bands are narrowing, potentially setting the stage for a defined trading range rather than a fresh down leg.
- BTC touched just above $70,000 in late trading on Coinbase but retraced to roughly $68,400, indicating continued volatility and intra-session shifts.
- The $62,500 level has held on three tests, reinforcing it as meaningful support amid a broader bear-market context.
- Bullish divergences are emerging in momentum indicators like RSI and stochastic, hinting at a possible stabilization even if the larger trend remains down.
Tickers mentioned: $BTC
Sentiment: Neutral
Price impact: Positive — a price bounce driven by crowd-long liquidations in derivatives and easing selling pressure.
Trading idea (Not Financial Advice): Hold. With no confirmed trend change, tactical exposure is reasonable while monitoring for a clear breakout or breakdown.
Market context: The price action unfolds against a backdrop of narrowing volatility, strengthening ETF-related flows, and evolving macro headlines that influence risk appetite across crypto markets. As liquidity conditions remain nuanced, traders are weighing whether recent moves represent a genuine shift in momentum or a temporary pause within a continuing bear market.
Why it matters
The latest price dynamics matter because they illuminate how traders are positioning around a potential bottom without assuming a durable reversal. The evidence for a tactical shift—such as stabilizing momentum indicators and a guarded recovery after tests of critical support—could influence risk management decisions for both hedge funds and retail participants. Yet the overarching framework remains cautious: many analysts still classify Bitcoin as being in a bear-market regime, meaning that any bullish exposure should be limited in scope and time-bound unless a clear directional breakout occurs.
From a market mechanics perspective, several indicators align to suggest a pause rather than a pivot. Volatility appears to be compressing, ETF flows have shown resilience, and the once-widening Coinbase discount has faded, all of which are inconsistent with a market rushing into a fresh leg lower. Still, analysts caution that these are characteristics of consolidation, not confirmation of a new uptrend. The resilience around the $62,500 level—tested multiple times—provides a potential platform for range-bound activity or a gradual accumulation phase, should buyers step in at these levels with sustained interest.
Additionally, the narrative around derivatives markets cannot be ignored. Recent observations point to deeply negative funding rates as a key driver of a short-term rebound, where crowded short positions were forced to unwind as price found support. While that dynamic can produce sharp, short-lived bounces, it does not by itself constitute a lasting reversal or a trigger for sustained upward price action. The absence of durable macro catalysts—such as clear liquidity inflows or institutional commitments—underscores why traders remain cautious about calling a new bull leg.
What to watch next
- Observe BTC’s behavior around the 62,500 support level over the coming sessions to see if buyers maintain conviction or if bears pressure the price lower again.
- Monitor momentum indicators (RSI, stochastic) for continued bullish divergences or a retreat back into bearish territory.
- Track ETF flow data and any shifts in the Coinbase-related pricing discounts as signals of broader liquidity and investor sentiment shifts.
- Watch for changes in funding rates in derivatives markets; a sustained shift back to positive funding could alter the risk-reward dynamic for long positions.
- Keep an eye on macro catalysts that could reintroduce risk-off pressures or, conversely, catalyze renewed risk appetite in crypto assets.
Sources & verification
- 10x Research market update: Is the Bitcoin correction over, bottom formed, or is this a bear-market trap? ( https://update.10xresearch.com/p/is-the-bitcoin-correction-over-has-the-bottom-formed-or-is-this-a-bear-market-trap )
- Bitcoin price context and market observations referenced in BTC price coverage (Cointelegraph article on price movements and bear-market context): https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-holders-show-zero-panic-as-btc-hits-dollar70k-amid-middle-east-tensions
- TradingView BTCUSD price data (Coinbase exchange view): https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=COINBASE
- ETF flows and related analysis referenced in coverage of how ETF activity affects Bitcoin price dynamics: https://cointelegraph.com/news/are-bitcoin-etfs-quietly-accumulating-or-just-not-selling-the-flow-data-that-matters
- Derivatives funding rate context and potential short-squeeze signals: https://cointelegraph.com/news/negative-bitcoin-funding-rate-may-signal-pending-short-squeeze-above-dollar70k
Bitcoin price action: tests of support and momentum signals
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been navigating a delicate balance between tactical resilience and structural risk. After a period in which selling pressure appeared to intensify alongside macro headwinds, the market is displaying a constellation of signals that traders read as a potential shift in near-term dynamics without confirming a new long-term trend. The most cited technical talking points center on the interaction with the 20-day moving average, the narrowing of volatility bands, and the resilience of a critical support zone around $62,500.
The 20-day moving average has re-emerged as a yardstick for assessing near-term momentum, with BTC hovering near that level at the time of writing. A tightening of Bollinger Bands reinforces the notion that price action may be compressing into a more defined range, which often precedes a breakout or a sustained consolidation. In practical terms, a break above the upper band could portend a bullish continuation, while a break below the lower band would reaffirm downside risk in a bear-market context. These technical nuances are amplified by the price’s behavior around the $70,000 mark in late sessions, where a brief ascent gave way to a retracement as traders reassessed risk and liquidity conditions.
From a supply-demand perspective, the $62,500 threshold has proven notable. It withstood tests on three separate occasions, suggesting authentic support that buyers have targeted in a market characterized by fragile liquidity. The price’s ability to rebound from the $63,000s demonstrates that demand exists at specific price points, even as overall sentiment remains cautious. In tandem, momentum indicators—specifically RSI and stochastic—have started to exhibit bullish divergences, a pattern that traders often interpret as an early harbinger of stabilizing momentum. While these signals are encouraging at the margin, they are not a substitute for a decisive trend shift, especially as macro catalysts remain uncertain.
Beyond the price action, market mechanics play a central role in interpreting the recent bounce. Negative funding rates in derivatives markets have contributed to a squeeze dynamic, where crowded short positions were unwound as price rose from the mid-$60,000s. This type of price activity is not inherently indicative of a durable reversal; it reflects the intricacies of leverage and risk parity in a market that remains susceptible to rapid shifts. The absence of broad, structural inflows—particularly from institutional buyers—keeps the door open for renewed pressure should liquidity conditions deteriorate or if macro risk sentiment deteriorates further.
Looking ahead, the market will be watching for sustained price action that can convert tactical gains into a more persistent trend. Traders will evaluate whether the momentum divergences sustain themselves, whether ETF flow dynamics continue to provide relief to selling pressure, and whether any macro event can catalyze a more pronounced shift in risk appetite. In the meantime, market participants are likely to treat any move that reclaims or holds above the $68,000–$70,000 zone as a potential cue for cautious optimism, while remaining mindful of the longer-term bear-market framework that many analysts still cite as the prevailing context.
The decline in altcoin market capitalization has started to slow in the first week of March despite numerous negative geopolitical developments. In addition, the newly released PMI index is reviving hopes that altcoins may recover soon.
However, any recovery could face significant challenges as the proportion of altcoins trading near their all-time lows continues to rise.
Why Could the PMI Report Influence Capital Flows into the Altcoin Market?
A positive macroeconomic signal has just emerged, bringing renewed optimism. The US ISM Manufacturing PMI has remained above the 50 threshold for two consecutive months.
The ISM Manufacturing PMI reflects survey results from purchasing managers about their business conditions. It helps assess whether the US manufacturing sector is expanding or contracting.
Specifically, the February 2026 PMI reached 52.4. Although it came in slightly lower than January’s 52.6, it still exceeded the forecast of 51.8.
Historical data shows that when the ISM PMI rises above 50—indicating economic expansion—it often coincides with strong rallies in Bitcoin and altcoins.
Analyst Ash Crypto explained that when PMI exceeds 50, the US economy enters an expansion phase. Corporate profits increase. Household income improves.
Consumer spending accelerates. Investor risk appetite strengthens.
“If ISM stays above 50 for a few more months, the crypto winter could be over soon,” Ash Crypto stated.
Analysts expect that the ISM Manufacturing PMI remaining above 50 for two consecutive months signals the beginning of a new US business cycle. This environment creates favorable conditions for capital to flow into high-risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.
Analyst Matthew Hyland combined PMI data with historical models and indicated that altcoin dominance has just confirmed a breakout signal.
The rising PMI, together with the recovery of the monthly MACD-H indicator and the breakout from a falling wedge pattern in altcoin dominance, suggests a potential altcoin season scenario in 2026.
38% of Altcoins Are Trading Near All-Time Lows
A recent report by CryptoQuant analysts reflects a still-bleak outlook for altcoins.
Darkfost, an analyst at CryptoQuant, stated that approximately 38% of altcoins are trading near their all-time lows. This marks the lowest level in the current cycle and appears even worse than the period immediately following the collapse of FTX.
“This chart perfectly illustrates the current situation for altcoins. Investors remain cautious and continue to lose interest in altcoins,” Darkfost explained.
However, he added that severely deteriorating conditions can also create an environment where opportunities begin to emerge.
A recent report by BeInCrypto highlighted additional signals in March that suggest altcoins could recover. However, the excessive number of altcoins combined with tight liquidity conditions may limit the extent of any rebound.
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