Crypto World
The great AmEx partnership with XRP that wasn’t
For months, XRP influencers on X and YouTube have been promising their followers that American Express (AmEx) was about to embrace XRP. The long–awaited announcement finally arrived on March 30.
Turns out, the NFL sponsorship deal with the credit card giant had nothing to do with XRP. Yesterday, AmEx became the Official Payments Partner of the NFL, i.e., for presale tickets, on-site experiences, and game perks.
Not a single mention of Ripple or its blockchain.
The hype had been building for months and reached a crescendo in the hours before the announcement.
The same false promise has resurged in viral waves for years.
A years-long pattern of recycled hype
XRP influencers have forecasted AmEx’s use of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) an embarrassing number of times.
Months and even years ago, influencers claimed it was “a done deal” with AmEx, attaching diagrams, conference videos, audio clips, and assortments of annotated screenshots.
In January 2025, a leader of the XRP Army told his followers that Garlinghouse had revealed a partnership with AmEx under a non-disclosure agreement.
In March 2025, another influencer posted that AmEx had confirmed manufacturing a crypto card with Ripple.
By July 2025, yet another XRP influencer cited an unattributed infographic claiming AmEx somehow uses XRPL.
On YouTube, dozens of videos promote the same false narrative. Creators repackaged old footage as breaking news.
What actually happened in 2017
The entire mythology traces back to one real event. In November 2017, AmEx and Ripple announced a pilot for cross-border business payments between the US and UK via RippleNet.
Critically, that pilot did not use the XRP coin. Ripple’s own executive told CNBC at the time, “The technology we have developed, it separated a connection from the cryptocurrency or the token.”
AmEx could use Ripple to exchange value from one fiat currency to another, he explained, “without the need for any intermediate blockchain currency.” Treacher added that XRP “will come into play later on in the evolutionary dynamics and the other players.”
Read more: Here’s why Ripple XRP partnerships and MoUs often go nowhere
It never did. AmEx never expanded the pilot, adopted XRP, or pursued any deal with Ripple beyond 2017. AmEx has never confirmed any new XRP deal, and the more recent viral claims have been labeled fake and misleading.
Still, the AmEx rumor gained its inception then, and XRP influencers kept recycling it for years.
The XRP engagement economy of nonexistent partnerships
XRP influencers have turned the gap between RippleNet partnerships and actual XRPL usage into a cottage industry.
The pattern is consistent. Influencers cite details about a years-old blockchain pilot, conflate RippleNet with XRP token usage, add ‘breaking’ or ‘just in’ or emergency siren emojis, and collect effortless engagement on social media.
Worse, some posts promoted unrelated tokens alongside the AmEx fiction. One Binance Square user bundled the fake announcement with a promotion for an unrelated token that would allegedly benefit from the non-existent AmEx-XRPL deal.
Protos has previously documented hundreds of Ripple partnership announcements that generated minimal usage of XRP, from MoneyGram to Bhutan’s central bank.
XRP is down 29% year to date. AmEx, meanwhile, is selling football tickets using regular dollars.
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Bitfarms (BITF) shares climbed 6.6% on Tuesday despite reporting a widened $284.5 million net loss for 2025, driven by a decline in Bitcoin prices and a high cost of revenue, with the company advancing its pivot to AI and high-performance computing.
The company’s full-year results statement on Tuesday showed a 72% year-on-year increase in revenue to $229 million. This was outweighed by $248 million in cost of revenue, leading to a gross loss.
General and administrative expenses also increased year over year, while the change in fair value of digital assets led to a $50.5 million loss in 2025 compared with a gain of $26 million in 2024. This was partially offset by a $28.2 million realized gain on the sale of digital assets.
The results show the difficulty that some Bitcoin miners have faced in turning a profit. Bitcoin mining profitability margins have slimmed for miners as Bitcoin has fallen 46% from its high in October, while Bitcoin difficulty — a measure of how difficult it is to mine a block — has increased 58.5% since the last halving event in May 2024.
In the earnings call, Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon said it made the “bold decision to walk away” from its Bitcoin mining business in November and has built a new business powering HPC and AI data centers:
“No half-measures, no compromises, and in time, no Bitcoin. We built a new company,” he said, adding that Bitfarms expects to rebrand to Keel Infrastructure on Wednesday and has been given shareholder approval to move its legal base from Canada to the US.
The filing shows Bitfarms currently still holds approximately $161 million in unencumbered Bitcoin.
In the statement, Gagnon added: “Everything we built in 2025 — the sites, the team, the balance sheet — was in service of one thesis: that HPC/AI’s exponential growth requires top-tier infrastructure, and we intend to build to meet that demand.”
Related: MARA sells $1.1B in Bitcoin to buy back debt at 9% discount
BITF shares closed Tuesday trading hours up 6.64% to 2.73 Canadian dollars ($1.96), Google Finance data shows.
Bitfarms said its focus with HPC and AI is to power hyperscalers and neoclouds for the next wave of AI applications.
“We are not here to compete with hyperscalers or Neoclouds. We are here to enable them. Our focus is providing the critical and largely invisible foundation that will allow the world’s most advanced AI platforms to deploy on time and scale without interruption.”
It is in the process of advancing a 2.2 gigawatt digital infrastructure development pipeline across North America to deliver on that goal.
Bitfarms is one of several Bitcoin miners that have expanded or pivoted into AI in search of higher-margin opportunities in HPC and AI.
Iris Energy is scaling AI cloud services with Nvidia GPUs, while Cipher Mining has secured a long-term AI hosting deal with AI cloud platform Fluidstack. Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings have also expanded into AI and HPC.
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The “Memescope Monday” trading event flopped and has left traders with a bad case of the Monday blues after it failed to pull in the wins and highs of memecoins’ earlier days.
Last week, various memecoin traders built up hype for the event that would see a community of traders all buying and selling Pump Fun memecoins together in an attempt to boost trading volume and relive the trading days of 2024 and 2025.
One of the bigger voices calling for the event, a crypto influencer called Orangie, encouraged students to skip school and trade memecoins instead, before deleting the video.
The hype worked, and activity across Pump Fun increased, with the number of tokens created on Monday jumping by 83% in 24 hours, and Pump Fun’s daily volume increasing by 78% from the previous day.
However, the day saw more losses than wins, and now sentiment across crypto traders is poor, with users saying that “memecoins are over” and that Monday’s trading get-together was a “mass extraction event.”
Read more: Kash Patel ‘spiderkash’ leak triggers dozens of Solana memecoin scams
Crypto trader Scharo claimed that volume looked promising to begin with, but as soon as Orangie began his memescope stream and “got rinsed,” trading volume began to die.
Orangie shared that he lost over $3,000. His trading stream only lasted a couple of hours, and when he lost his earnings, he proceeded to play games on his PC instead.
Scharo claimed that “the moment [Orangie] stopped pushing, the trenches went quiet and retail disappeared.”
Scharo was also upset that neither Pump Fun nor its chief operating officer (COO), Alon Cohen, posted anything on the big day.
It’s unclear how involved Pump Fun was in the event’s creation, as the platform only made a single promotional post the night before.
Read more: Whoever’s running SBF’s X account keeps following memecoin shills
The crypto influencer RASMR noted that the third top trader on Monday, according to FOMO, only managed to make $12,000, with the second and top traders of the day making roughly $23,000 and $24,000.
He compared these trader profits to previous trader leaderboards where people would make over $500,000 on memecoins. As such, he claims the low wins show Memescope Monday was an “utter atrocious disaster” and how “dead everything is on-chain.”
Memescope Monday trader lost $90K to drainer
Other traders suffered losses outside their control, as one X account claimed that 1100 SOL (worth roughly $90,000) was stolen from them in a draining incident that took place during the event.
Thompsonrueul said, “I don’t know what to feel, and I don’t know what to do,” and pleaded for help from the crypto community. Their funds are reportedly still sitting in the thief’s wallet.
Read more: Burwick Law wants Pump Fun sanctions over harassment claims
Others noted that across the board, it was hard to make any profits on memecoins on Monday as more experienced, dedicated traders were able to quickly sell their tokens using the liquidity of newcomers.
Indeed, that seemed to put off the crypto influencer Gainzy, who said that it’ll mainly be traders quickly selling their tokens.
He said, “The people that make the most money on memes have the shortest hold time. They’re farming you, you’re exit liquidity, this should be very obvious.”
It was no surprise for most, as there was already a consensus before the event that it would be a perfect opportunity for pump-and-dumpers to make profits.
Memescope Monday only managed to move the price of Pump Fun’s token up by 4% yesterday. It has since fallen lower from this point and is now 81% down from its all-time-high last year.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
The a16z-backed privacy chain goes live with private smart contracts, but warns users of known critical vulnerabilities as audits continue.
Bitcoin trades in a tight mid‑$60k range beneath stacked moving‑average resistance, with extreme fear and weak momentum keeping any breakout on a short leash.
Summary
- Bitcoin trades in a tight $66,037–$68,130 range, capped by layered moving average resistance.
- All major EMAs and SMAs sit above spot, with the 200‑day EMA near $85,095 reinforcing downside pressure.
- Momentum gauges remain neutral to weak, as sentiment hovers in “extreme fear” territory across crypto markets.
Bitcoin (BTC) hovered around $66,597 on March 31, 2026, as the largest cryptocurrency by market value remained trapped in a narrow range and “technically constrained” beneath a wall of moving averages. The coin traded between $66,037 and $68,130 over 24 hours, leaving its $1.33 trillion market capitalization and roughly $48.8 billion in daily volume more indicative of indecision than conviction.
That backdrop contrasts with recent sessions where, according to Bloomberg, Bitcoin briefly climbed as much as 2.6% intraday to about $68,335 before paring gains below $68,000 alongside broader risk assets.
On the daily chart, BTC has rolled over from a lower high in the mid‑$70,000s into the mid‑$60,000 band, a shift that Bitcoin.com’s technical desk characterizes as a transition from a prior bullish structure into a “neutral‑to‑bearish posture.” Key resistance is clustered between $68,000 and $69,000, then $71,000–$73,000, while support rests at $65,000–$66,000, with a clean break below $64,000 likely signaling a broader structural breakdown. A similar pattern has played out in recent weeks, with International Business Times noting that Bitcoin “traded around $68,500… showing signs of consolidation” after rejecting near $71,000 and slipping back toward the mid‑$60,000s.
Intraday, lower‑timeframe charts show compression rather than trend. Four‑hour price action has shifted from a downtrend into sideways consolidation after setting a higher low around $65,000, but repeated failures just below the $68,000–$69,000 band underscore persistent seller presence. On the one‑hour chart, lower highs remain intact and a modest bounce off the $66,000 region “has failed to generate follow‑through,” highlighting fragile microstructure and a slight bearish tilt.
Oscillators corroborate that drift. The relative strength index sits near 42, the commodity channel index prints around −104, and the moving average convergence divergence line is negative by roughly 947 points, collectively signaling subdued momentum and an absence of a strong trend rather than outright capitulation. That aligns with broader market analytics, where research firm Intellectia points out that Bitcoin’s recent swings have come with 30‑day volatility above 3%, indicating a “choppy” environment where thinner liquidity amplifies modest flows.
The clearest signal comes from moving averages: every major exponential and simple moving average currently sits above spot price. Short‑term gauges such as the 10‑day EMA around $67,832 and the 10‑day SMA near $68,138 are capping rebounds, while the 50‑day EMA (~$71,005), 100‑day EMA (~$76,713) and 200‑day EMA (~$85,095) mark a stacked band of overhead resistance consistent with a broader bearish structure. Earlier this year, a similar dynamic prompted a “death cross” warning as the 50‑day and 200‑day weighted moving averages flipped lower, a pattern flagged in a prior crypto.news story on Bitcoin ETF‑driven selling.
Sentiment mirrors the technical strain. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has spent much of the quarter in “extreme fear,” with readings as low as 18, according to on‑chain flow analysis by AInvest and data provider Alternative.me cited by CryptoRank. In that context, the near‑term path for BTC appears binary: Bitcoin.com’s technical team argues that “a sustained break and hold above the $68,000 to $69,000 resistance cluster” on rising volume would be needed to flip the narrative toward recovery, while a rejection followed by a decisive move under $65,000–$64,800 would likely confirm continuation toward the low‑$60,000 support zone.
In a previous crypto.news story on how moving averages can both signal and accelerate downside when price trades below all key bands, analysts warned that reclaiming at least one major EMA is often the first confirmation that distribution has run its course. For now, Bitcoin remains stuck beneath that threshold, with the burden of proof firmly on the bulls.
Bitcoin rose alongside U.S. stocks after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly said the country would be prepared to end the conflict if it receives security guarantees.
The crypto asset was trading at $67,762, up nearly 2% over the past 24 hours. The Nasdaq about doubled its gain on the news, now higher by 3.1%. WTI crude oil, meanwhile, tumbled from just shy of $105 per barrel to $102.
Pezeshkian’s unconfirmed remarks are raising the prospect of a diplomatic off-ramp, easing fears of a wider conflict that could disrupt oil flows, fuel inflation and continue to rattle global markets.
- Bitcoin price tested resistance around $68,000 amid gains for US stocks.
- The uptick came amid investor reaction to President Trump’s comments on the Iran war.
- Analysts say Trump’s posts this week could be weightier than macroeconomic data releases.
Bitcoin (BTC) hovered near highs of $68,000 on Monday as traders braced for potential market-moving signals this week.
The benchmark cryptocurrency rose as US stocks jumped amid news that President Trump is looking to end the Iran operation.
As the broader market enters what many see as a “wait-and-see mode,” analysts warn that beyond key macroeconomic data releases, US President Donald Trump’s commentary and events in Iran could be crucial to the next moves in BTC and the broader crypto market.
Bitcoin retests $68k amid Trump’s war comments
Bitcoin surged to the $68,000 resistance on Monday, March 30, 2026, mirroring a broad stock market rally sparked by President Donald Trump’s optimistic comments on winding down U.S. military operations in Iran.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by more than 300 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.
Investors interpreted Trump’s Truth Social post as a de-escalation signal amid the ongoing conflict.
“The United States of America is in serious discussions with a new, and more reasonable regime to end our military operations in Iran,” Trump posted, adding that “great progress has been made.”
Trump, however, typical of his posts, tempered optimism.
He warned that if the US does not hit a deal with Tehran and absent an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the US would end its “lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating” the electricity grid, oil wells, and Kharg Island.
Bitcoin price outlook
BTC had gained amid the optimism, testing resistance around $68,080. However, prices hovered near $67,770 as the initial surge slowed.
Analysts at derivatives platform Greeks.live have highlighted that Bitcoin’s short-term implied volatility has dipped below 50%.
BTC has consolidated around current prices, with analysts saying the market has entered a “wait-and-see” phase.
More significantly, the analysts opine that what Trump says next on the Iran conflict could be a key volatility trigger.
“The market has entered a wait-and-see mode,” the analysts stated. “This Friday’s unemployment rate and nonfarm payroll data are particularly important, and while there is a significant amount of macroeconomic data this week, none of it carries as much weight as President Trump’s tweets.”
This emphasis stems from Trump’s outsized influence on sentiment, with the ongoing Iran war and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a major factor.
Hormuz is a critical chokepoint for 20% of global oil supply, and escalations related to a blockade have recently spiked energy prices and stoked inflation fears.
With US forces bolstering their presence in the region, any of Trump’s posts on Truth Social could drive rapid repositioning.
From a technical perspective, BTC faces key resistance at $68,500, but a fresh break below $65,000 could allow bears to target $62,000.
- Bitcoin price tests $65,000 support amid oversold conditions and weak momentum.
- Rising US real yields and oil prices weigh on short-term buying pressure.
- Traders should watch the $68,400 resistance and $65,100 support for the next moves.
Bitcoin (BTC) is showing signs of short-term fatigue as it navigates a tricky market environment.
After failing to break above resistance near $68,400, BTC has retreated toward critical support between $65,600 and $65,100.
The cryptocurrency is now hovering in a delicate range, where technical oversold signals clash with potent macroeconomic pressures.
Technical analysis
The seven-day RSI currently sits at 32.37, suggesting that Bitcoin is nearly oversold.
This level often indicates a potential bounce, but the market has yet to show sustained buying strength. Short-term momentum is fragile, with price action struggling to maintain levels above $66,000.
Even though buyers have defended the $65,600 band so far, a break below $65,100 could signal a deeper correction.
Resistance remains firmly in place at $68,400, and attempts to push past it have been met with immediate selling. Traders should closely watch the $68,000–$68,500 zone, as it represents the ceiling for any short-term recovery attempts.
In this range-bound setup, the market is consolidating rather than trending decisively.
The macro headwinds shaping Bitcoin price movements
Bitcoin’s short-term struggles are compounded by external pressures.
Rising real yields, especially on 10-year TIPS in the United States, have increased the appeal of government bonds over risk assets like BTC.
As a result, investors seeking yield are diverting capital toward these safer instruments, leaving Bitcoin with weaker demand.
At the same time, WTI crude oil prices have surged past $103 per barrel and Brent crude oil prices have hit $114, adding another layer of market uncertainty.
Energy-driven inflationary concerns make the broader financial environment more cautious, further dampening appetite for speculative assets.
Adding to the pressure, a $2.2 billion payout by the FTX Recovery Trust to FTX creditors is scheduled for March 31, 2026.
Recipients may choose to liquidate portions of their holdings, which could add temporary selling pressure and keep BTC range-bound.
Even large buyers, often referred to as whales, are active but appear to be accumulating cautiously below $70,000.
This cautious accumulation suggests that institutional players are positioning for the long term but are unwilling to push aggressively at current levels.
What traders should expect this week?
Short-term momentum is still weak, so any bounce is likely to be contained unless macro conditions improve.
Overall, Bitcoin is at a crossroads, balancing oversold technical conditions against persistent bear pressures from rates, oil prices, and potential selling catalysts.
Traders should monitor the $65,100 level closely, as a decisive hold here would support consolidation between $65,100 and $68,000.
A break below this band could open the door to a further decline toward $63,000 or lower.
On the upside, sustained moves above $68,400–$68,500 would be required to challenge resistance near $70,000.
Trump’s push for an extra $200 billion Iran war budget on top of record defense spending is forcing crypto markets to reprice geopolitical risk, debt, and the dollar in real time. Trump’s reported push to have Arab states help bankroll…
Crypto World
Bitcoin enters the public bond market as Moody’s gives a first-of-its-kind crypto deal a rating
The New Hampshire Business Finance Authority is set to issue what appears to be the first rated bitcoin-backed bond of its kind, marking a step toward integrating crypto into traditional public finance.
The bonds received a provisional Ba2 rating from Moody’s Ratings, two notches below investment grade. They will be issued through the Business Finance Authority of the State of New Hampshire and are backed by bitcoin held as collateral, according to a press release.
“The Rated Bonds will be collateralized by a loan… backed by Bitcoin, a digital currency,” Moody’s said in its report.
The structure relies on bitcoin rather than cash flow from a business. Bondholders are repaid through the liquidation of BTC held in custody by BitGo, which will be sold if needed to meet interest and principal payments. The deal includes safeguards common in structured credit, including 1.6x overcollateralization and triggers that force liquidation if the loan-to-value ratio deteriorates.
Moody’s said its rating reflects “risks associated with the transaction’s collateral, structure and operation,” including bitcoin’s volatility. The agency used a 72% advance rate and short liquidation windows to model potential downside scenarios.
The bonds are limited recourse, meaning no public funds are at risk. “No public funds of the State of New Hampshire… may be used to pay amounts under the Rated Bonds,” Moody’s said.
That distinction matters. While the deal uses a state authority, it does not carry state credit backing. Instead, it resembles conduit or project finance, where the issuer serves as a pass-through.
Still, the structure places bitcoin into a part of the financial system where it has rarely appeared: rated debt issued through public channels.
The Ba2 rating places the bonds in speculative-grade territory, but also signals that credit agencies are developing frameworks to assess crypto-backed instruments.
The deal arrives as institutions continue to test ways to use bitcoin beyond trading or treasury holdings. The Labor Department on Monday proposed a rule following an executive order from President Donald Trump that directed regulators to expand access to digital assets in retirement portfolios, marking another step in that direction.
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