Crypto World
Top Democrat on House committee questions Kraken’s Federal Reserve account
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, is questioning the limited “master account” obtained by crypto exchange Kraken from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which she said raises potential consumer-protection issues and questions about the approval process.
Waters, who is likely to return to the chairman seat on the committee if the Democrats regain a House majority in this year’s elections (set at an 84% chance in current bets on Polymarket), sent a Thursday letter to the president of the Kansas City arm of the Fed system, Jeff Schmid. She suggested that the unusual approval for a “limited purpose account” at Kraken, which allows the firm to become the first to win direct access to Federal Reserve payment services, is on unclear legal footing.
“The announcement raises questions about the approval because neither statute nor the Federal Reserve Board’s Account Access Guidelines refer to a ‘limited purpose account’ type,” she wrote in the letter. “Accordingly, I write to request that you clarify the terms of Kraken’s account access approval and provide additional information regarding the process and considerations informing the approval.”
The new account granted the U.S. firm full-fledged access to the same payment rails that much of the traditional financial system operates on. Several crypto-native firms have sought that access but are still awaiting approval, keeping a close eye on a separate effort at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington to write rules that could govern a “skinny” master account for such businesses. That process is still in the early stages.
When the Kansas City Fed was asked to comment on Waters’ queries, a spokesman said the bank has “received the letter and will review it.”
The regional bank in Kansas City — one of the 12 such banks nationwide — announced earlier this month that Kraken would get the long-sought-after access. Schmid said at the time that his bank was trying to maintain a system that “supports a level competitive field and reinforces the stability and resilience that has underpinned the Federal Reserve’s payment system offerings throughout its history.”
Read More: Court closes Custodia fight with Federal Reserve just as Fed opens master-account door
GameStop revealed on Tuesday that it pledged nearly all of its Bitcoin as collateral on Coinbase as part of a covered call strategy in January, ending two months of speculation over whether it had sold the coins.
In a 10-K annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the video game retailer revealed it pledged 4,709 Bitcoin (BTC), nearly all of its Bitcoin, as collateral under an agreement with Coinbase Credit, using the position to sell covered call options.
The SEC filing clears speculation from January that GameStop was preparing to exit its Bitcoin position after onchain analysts pointed out that it transferred its entire Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime.
The Bitcoin treasury industry has faced pressure in recent months as Bitcoin has fallen 45% from its all-time high, with some analysts casting doubt last year on the sustainability of buy-and-hold strategies.
The move shows GameStop sought to earn income on its Bitcoin by placing short-dated call options with strike prices between $105,000 and $110,000 that are set to expire Friday.
The disclosure shows a $2.3 million unrealized gain and a $700,000 liability tied to the options, while some covered-call contracts expired unexercised in January.
GameStop’s covered call strategy enables it to sell call options that give buyers the right to purchase its Bitcoin at a fixed price. GameStop earns premiums and retains the Bitcoin if the options aren’t exercised.
GameStop directly holds just one Bitcoin now
Since GameStop moved 4,709 Bitcoin to Coinbase, a counterparty that can rehypothecate or reuse the pledged Bitcoin, GameStop is no longer counting those assets as directly held.
Putting Bitcoin up as collateral “resulted in the derecognition of the pledged digital assets and the corresponding recognition of a digital asset receivable,” GameStop said in the filing.
“Although the classification of these assets has changed, our economic exposure is consistent with direct ownership of the underlying Bitcoin,” it added.
GameStop still holds one Bitcoin that wasn’t put up for collateral.
GameStop added that its pledged Bitcoin was worth $368.3 million by Jan. 31 and that it recorded an unrealized loss of $59.7 million on that date because of Bitcoin’s price drop.
Related: Bitcoin in ‘later stages’ of bear market: Watch these BTC price levels
GameStop launched a Bitcoin treasury after its CEO, Ryan Cohen, met with Strategy chair Michael Saylor in February 2025 to discuss how Bitcoin strategies can be implemented.
Prior to moving the 4,709 Bitcoin to Coinbase, GameStop’s Bitcoin stash ranked in the top 25 Bitcoin treasuries by holding size.
Magazine: Bitcoin may face hard fork over any attempt to freeze Satoshi’s coins
White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks is changing titles and joining the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology as co-chair, he announced Thursday.
Sacks, who was named U.S. President Donald Trump’s crypto and AI czar before Trump retook office last January, has overseen the White House’s early work on crypto initiatives, including the passage of the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act and more recently, work around the crypto market structure bill.
“PCAST is the principal body of external advisors tasked with shaping science, technology, and innovation policy for the President and the White House,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Thirteen of the world’s most accomplished leaders in science and technology will join us as this PCAST’s initial members.”
Sacks told Bloomberg earlier Thursday that his czar role was designated as a “special government employee,” meaning he legally could only serve in that position for 130 working days. Democrats in Congress had already raised concerns that he had exceeded this period last fall.
He does not have this same issue serving as a co-chair on the advisory committee.
Sacks said in the Bloomberg interview that the council would make policy recommendations and conduct studies around artificial intelligence, quantum computing, nuclear power and other “cutting edge technologies.”
“I think you can expect us to make some recommendations in those areas. We want to push forward the president’s A.I. framework that was already released just last week,” Sacks said in the interview. “So you’ll see, I think, a lot of activity around that. But it will also be other areas as well.”
Sacks did not mention crypto in the interview.
Other members of the committee include Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Dell founder Michael Dell, early Coinbase backer Fred Ehrsam, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Meta (formerly Facebook) founder Mark Zuckerberg, among others. Michael Kratsios, who’s served in both of Trump’s administrations, will serve as the co-chair.
Nasdaq’s drive to tokenize equities could reshape capital markets by introducing a two-tier landscape where regulated US exchanges sit alongside blockchain-based trading venues. A TD Securities note suggests the move may create parallel systems capable of splintering trading activity and producing price differences across platforms as tokenized stocks gain traction.
The bank’s analysis highlights Nasdaq’s parallel push, joining NYSE’s tokenization efforts, to advance three main tracks: modernizing post-trade settlement for tokenized assets, enabling issuances of tokenized shares, and extending trading to offshore venues such as Kraken. Taken together, these efforts could lead to a split market where one stream operates within the traditional US regulatory framework and another on offshore, blockchain-enabled platforms.
TD Securities cautions that offshore venues—while backed by real securities—could escape the American regulatory perimeter. If tokenized shares trade on these platforms, prices could diverge from those on standard US venues, complicating price discovery and potentially siphoning activity away from established exchanges. Cointelegraph reached out to TD Securities for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Key takeaways
- Nasdaq’s tokenization strategy comprises three parallel efforts: post-trade settlement upgrades, tokenized equity issuance, and offshore trading support on platforms such as Kraken.
- The initiatives could yield a two-tier market: a regulated US market and an offshore, blockchain-based trading ecosystem, with potential price differentials between venues.
- Tokenized equities are gaining real traction, as shown by Kraken’s xStocks platform, which has surpassed $25 billion in cumulative trading volume and grown about 150% since November.
- Trading across multiple venues may create 24/7 access and broader round‑the‑clock liquidity, but it also introduces new risks around activity concentration and inconsistent pricing.
- Industry context shows broader momentum: Coinbase expanding tokenized stock offerings and NYSE’s collaboration with Securitize to explore 24/7 tokenized securities, signaling growing competition for traditional equity trading.
Nasdaq’s tokenization roadmap could redefine how equities are traded
The TD Securities note frames Nasdaq’s tokenization ambitions as a triad of initiatives designed to integrate blockchain-based trading into mainstream markets without waiting for a single, wholesale overhaul of market structure. First, settlement modernization would adapt clearing and custody processes to handle tokenized shares more efficiently after trade execution. This is a prerequisite for reliable, scalable on-chain settlement that can coexist with existing post-trade infrastructure.
Second, Nasdaq is examining mechanisms to issue tokenized shares themselves, potentially enabling corporate issuers to digitalize equity ownership in a way that can be traded on both traditional venues and compatible blockchain networks. Third, the exchange is said to be exploring offshore trading opportunities, effectively enabling tokenized equities to be traded on platforms outside the domestic regulatory perimeter, with Kraken cited as an example of such a venue.
Taken together, these moves imply a market where the “same” stock could be represented and traded across different rails. In practice, that means investors might access tokenized versions of equities in a 24/7 framework outside normal exchange hours, while the same underlying share remains available through standard US listings during regular hours.
For market participants, the implications are twofold. On one hand, the potential for continuous liquidity and new liquidity pools could improve access and price discovery in certain scenarios. On the other hand, the emergence of parallel offshore venues raises questions about regulatory alignment, investor protection, and the coherence of pricing across ecosystems.
Markets adapting to tokenized competition and regulatory risk
Today’s crypto-enabled trading ecosystems already feature a growing set of tokenized equities, with traders increasingly engaging a broader, cross-border audience. Cointelegraph reported that Kraken’s xStocks platform, which provides tokenized versions of publicly traded shares on blockchain-based venues, has surpassed $25 billion in cumulative trading volume, reflecting around 150% growth since November. The momentum underscores a real appetite for around-the-clock access to equities in a tokenized format, even as traditional venues continue to operate within their established hours and rules.
Behind this expansion sits a broader industry trend: the push by major exchanges to experiment with tokenization while contemplating how to regulate, govern, and ultimately integrate these assets with existing equity markets. The NYSE, for its part, has been pursuing tokenization through a partnership with Securitize to develop a platform for tokenized securities that could support extended or non-traditional trading hours. This collaboration mirrors a wider market push toward an “everything exchange” model, where tokenized assets compete for space alongside conventional securities.
From an investor perspective, the emergence of multiple venues tied to the same underlying asset could alter how portfolios are constructed and how risk is assessed. If tokenized shares trade at different prices across regulated and offshore platforms, traders may need to track multiple price signals and navigate potential arbitrage opportunities. The prospect of 24/7 trading, while attractive for liquidity and access, also introduces new layers of risk—especially if regulatory guardrails diverge between venues or jurisdictions.
Regulators will likely weigh the benefits of broader access and innovation against the need to preserve investor protections and market integrity. The current conversation highlights a tension between accelerating tokenization and maintaining a cohesive, transparent market framework. As market participants deploy more tokenized offerings, observers will be looking for alignment in settlement standards, custody controls, and cross-venue price discovery mechanisms.
Beyond Nasdaq and NYSE, other industry players have already begun positioning for tokenized trading. Coinbase has pushed into tokenized stock offerings as part of an “everything exchange” strategy, signaling a competitive push from crypto-native platforms into equity trading. In parallel, NYSE’s collaboration with Securitize points to a broader ecosystem of tokenized securities designed to enable more flexible trading paradigms, including around-the-clock access that challenges traditional market hours.
What remains uncertain is how regulators will reconcile these parallel rails. Will there be harmonized standards for settlement and custody across on-chain and off-chain venues? How will investor protections translate when trading occurs on offshore platforms? And how quickly will price discoveries across venues converge or diverge under a regime of tokenized equities?
In interviews and briefings, contributors like Reid Noch of TD Securities emphasize that while tokenization promises to broaden access and liquidity, it also introduces new complexities. The coming months are likely to bring more concrete regulatory guidance, clearer cross-venue interoperability standards, and perhaps pilot programs that test tokenized trading in controlled environments before any broad rollout.
As the market digests these developments, investors and traders should monitor several cues: the pace at which settlement and custody workflows adapt to tokenized assets, the degree of cross-venue price convergence, and the regulatory responses that could either unlock or constrain offshore trading activity. The balance between innovation and oversight will shape how tokenized equities evolve from experimental concepts into mainstream instruments.
Readers should watch for updates from Nasdaq and NYSE on timing and scope of tokenized trading pilots, along with any new clarity from US regulators on cross-border trading and tokenized securities. The coming months could reveal whether tokenization simply augments existing markets or fundamentally reconfigures how equities are priced, traded, and owned.
TLDR
- Tether has launched XAUt on BNB Chain to expand access to its tokenized gold product.
- Binance has listed XAUt for spot trading against USDT, BTC, USDC, TRY, and U.
- XAUt holds a market cap of about $3.2 billion and is backed by roughly 1,800 gold bars in Swiss vaults.
- Spot gold reached $5,595 per ounce in January before falling to around $4,450 on March 26.
- Crypto.com now offers tokenized gold perpetual contracts alongside spot trading in XAUt and PAXG.
Tether has launched XAUt on BNB Chain to expand access to its tokenized gold product. Binance confirmed it will list XAUt for spot trading against USDT, BTC, USDC, TRY, and U. The move places tokenized bullion inside one of the largest exchange ecosystems as gold trading activity shifts into crypto markets.
XAUt and Tether Expand Tokenized Gold Access
Tether introduced XAUt on BNB Chain to widen the distribution of its gold-backed token. The company aligned the launch with Binance’s spot listing announcement. As a result, traders can access XAUt across several major trading pairs on the same day.
Binance stated it would enable spot trading for XAUt against USDT, BTC, USDC, TRY, and U. The exchange added the token to its main trading platform. Therefore, users can buy and sell tokenized gold within existing crypto portfolios.
BNB Chain reported that XAUt holds a market cap of nearly $3.2 billion. The network linked the token to about 1,800 gold bars stored in Swiss vaults. Reuters reported in January that XAUt controls about 60% of the global gold-backed stablecoin market.
BNB Chain ranks as the second-largest chain for RWAs by distributed asset value, according to RWA.xyz. The network also said it attracted new asset inflows and holders over the past month. Consequently, Tether gains broader onchain reach for its bullion-backed token.
Gold Price Swings Drive Crypto Market Activity
Gold prices recorded sharp moves earlier this year and drew fresh trading interest. Spot gold reached a record $5,595 per ounce in January as geopolitical tensions increased. However, prices later reversed direction and erased part of those gains.
Gold traded near $4,450 on March 26. The metal has fallen more than 15% since the war on Iran began on February 28. Higher oil prices, inflation concerns, and a stronger dollar pressured prices during that period.
Crypto platforms responded to the volatility by expanding gold-linked products. Crypto.com said its exchange now supports tokenized gold perpetual contracts. The platform also offers spot trading in XAUt and PAXG.
These products allow users to gain leveraged exposure to gold price movements around the clock. As a result, tokenized bullion now sits alongside traditional crypto assets. Traders can switch between digital tokens and gold exposure within the same exchanges.
Paolo Ardoino described the BNB Chain launch as a utility-driven step. He said the expansion aims to make gold more usable in digital markets. The rollout coincides with Binance activating spot trading for XAUt across multiple pairs.
Crypto World
Avalanche price holds near $9.70 as U.S. ‘digital commodity’ ruling meets subnet growth
Avalanche price is grinding around $9.70 as a U.S. “digital commodity” label, fee and subnet upgrades, and growing RWA and ETF activity push fundamentals ahead of AVAX’s stalled chart.
Summary
- Avalanche trades around $9.67 with a market cap near $3.8 billion and 24-hour volume above $220 million.
- AVAX is consolidating roughly 10–12% below key $10 resistance after a March ruling that classified it as a U.S. “digital commodity” and a series of scaling upgrades.
- Subnet expansion and rising real‑world asset activity contrast with subdued price action, mirroring a broader pause across large L1 tokens.
Avalanche (AVAX), the native token of the Avalanche Layer‑1 smart contract network, is trading at about $9.67 today, with 24-hour spot volume around $226.7 million and a market capitalization close to $3.88 billion. Yahoo Finance data show AVAX closing at $9.6793 on March 26, 2026, after opening near $9.67, continuing a tight range that has persisted for several sessions. CoinGecko lists daily trading volume near $1.01 billion when aggregating spot and derivatives, representing a 61.30% increase from the previous day, suggesting renewed activity even as price remains rangebound.
Price history from CoinMarketCap places Avalanche’s recent closes between $9.17 and $9.75 over the first week of March, with March 6 seeing an open at $9.3838 and close at $9.4534, underscoring how the token has spent much of the month pivoting around the $9–$10 zone. Investing.com’s historical series similarly shows AVAX closing at $8.99 on March 22 after trading between $8.93 and $9.34 that day, with 5.19 million AVAX changing hands. Put together, the tape shows a large‑cap L1 in consolidation rather than in a trending phase.
Beyond the chart, Avalanche has logged a string of structural developments in March. Phemex notes that Avalanche was formally described as a “digital commodity” by the U.S. SEC and CFTC on March 17, 2026, a designation that clarifies its status alongside assets like Bitcoin in certain regulatory contexts. In parallel, CoinMarketCap’s latest Avalanche update highlights a recent upgrade that implemented three proposals: ACP‑226, allowing validators to dynamically adjust minimum block times; ACP‑204, adding support for the secp256r1 cryptographic curve used in Apple’s FaceID and TouchID; and ACP‑181, which stabilizes the validator set for short periods to reduce gas costs and improve cross‑chain reliability. CoinMarketCap’s analysis notes that these changes are intended to make Avalanche faster, cheaper and more secure, particularly for mobile users and cross‑chain applications.
These improvements build on the earlier “Octane” hard fork in May 2025, which reduced subnet deployment costs by approximately 83%, cut the minimum base fee by 99.6% and introduced dynamic fee algorithms to prevent spam in periods of high demand. Together, the upgrades frame Avalanche as a high‑throughput L1 with a scaling strategy centered on subnets—custom, application‑specific blockchains that require AVAX for staking and fees.
Avalanche’s longer‑term growth thesis is increasingly tied to subnets and real‑world asset (RWA) tokenization. Yahoo Finance previously reported that the Avalanche Foundation committed 4 million AVAX—valued at around $290 million at the time—to attract gaming, DeFi and NFT projects to its subnet ecosystem, via the “Multiverse” incentive program. CoinMarketCap’s Avalanche updates also reference the Evergreen Subnet initiative for institutions and RWA partners such as BlackRock and Securitize, which are working on on‑chain products that would settle on Avalanche infrastructure. Binance’s recent deep dive points to more than 75 active subnets, a $40 million Retro9000 rewards program, and the launch of a Nasdaq‑listed AVAX treasury firm and spot AVAX ETF as signs of growing institutional involvement.
Despite these developments, WazirX’s March 2026 outlook characterizes AVAX as technically weak but fundamentally supported, identifying $10 as a key support‑turned‑resistance level and outlining a medium‑term consolidation band between $9 and $11. Within the broader L1 landscape, Avalanche’s sideways trading near $9.70 stands in contrast to the more explosive moves seen in smaller altcoins, but resembles a common pattern among major smart‑contract platforms where on‑chain fundamentals improve ahead of price. For real‑time data, readers can track AVAX on the crypto.news market‑cap dashboard via the Avalanche price page, and compare it against other large L1 tokens such as Ethereum and Solana on their respective price pages.
Crypto World
XRP Price Prediction Meets SEC ETF Deadline as Pepeto Outperforms and Investors Choose Exchange Tools Over Web3
The SEC faces its final deadline today on the remaining batch of spot XRP ETF applications, and with $1.44 billion already flowing into XRP funds and Goldman Sachs holding the largest institutional position at $153 million, the xrp price prediction hinges on whether that institutional capital wave finally arrives at scale.
While XRP waits for one more catalyst, attention shifts. The exchange that raised more than $8 million with verified tools already running is where investors are choosing to position before the listing. The XRP outlook shows strength in the infrastructure, but Pepeto with 100x projected by analysts offers the kind of return that XRP at $1.34 needs years to match.
The SEC reaches its 240 day maximum deadline on March 27 for the remaining spot XRP ETF applications from Grayscale, WisdomTree, and Franklin Templeton, with $1.44 billion in total inflows and Goldman Sachs holding $153 million as the single largest institutional allocation, according to CoinDesk.
Bloomberg analysts place the odds of at least one approval before year end at 95%, and the SEC commodity classification on March 17 removes the final regulatory obstacle, according to The Block.
The xrp price prediction benefits from ETF clarity, but the exchange already at presale pricing with a Binance listing confirmed is where the compressed return lives.
Where the ETF Catalyst Meets Presale Returns Before Trading Opens
Pepeto
XRP ETF volumes are rising, which shows institutions still enter crypto infrastructure even when prices swing. But sentiment flips fast and holding one token without protection exposes you to every shift.
That is why Pepeto stands apart. It is not a bet on one coin recovering but on giving traders verified answers in every market. The exchange raised more than $8 million at $0.000000186, and wallets are buying access to tools that help them make verified decisions.
The xrp price prediction may show strength, but the risk scorer checks every contract before your capital touches it, PepetoSwap handles every trade at zero fees, and the cross chain bridge sends tokens at zero cost.
Inside the platform, the contract scanner, the real time risk checker, and the zero cost bridge all run from one fast verified exchange with 193% APY staking compounding early positions while stages fill faster. The SolidProof audit verified every contract, and the developer who created the original Pepe coin reaching $11 billion with the same 420 trillion supply built the exchange alongside a former Binance expert.
If crypto keeps growing, the need for verification only grows with it, and the demand for Pepeto grows alongside. Getting in before that demand becomes obvious is where 100x lives.
XRP Price Prediction: Can XRP Break $1.60 Before the ETF Decision Lands?
XRP trades at $1.34 as of March 27 forming a tightening ascending triangle with the SEC ETF deadline arriving today, according to CoinMarketCap.
The xrp price prediction puts resistance at $1.45 then $1.55, with a break above $1.60 opening the path to $2.00. Support holds at $1.30 with $1.10 below if the triangle breaks down. Standard Chartered set the 2026 target at $2.80, citing rotation away from XRP. Weekly ETF inflows dropped from $200 million at launch to under $2 million by early March.
The XRP forecast for the year ranges from $2.50 to $4.00 if the CLARITY Act passes, but even the bullish case is a recovery play over quarters, not the 100x the presale delivers from one listing.
XRP Price Prediction Confirms the Pepe Cofounder Plus Exchange Tools Plus Binance Listing Is the Rarest Combination
The SEC ETF deadline landing today barely moved the price despite $1.44 billion already inside XRP funds, and that tells you where attention shifts in 2026. The real returns flow into early exchange infrastructure built before the listing.
Pepeto crossed $8 million with verified tools running and a Binance listing confirmed. Retail traders finally get exchange level tools at presale pricing, and early wallets get the full distance between this entry and the listing.
The Pepeto official website is where the Pepe cofounder plus exchange tools plus a Binance listing creates the rarest combination crypto produces, and entering before the listing is how you collect what the rest of the cycle references.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs:
What does the xrp price prediction show after the SEC ETF deadline?
XRP targets $1.60 as the breakout trigger with $2.00 above if the ascending triangle resolves bullish, while $1.30 holds as support.
How do the latest XRP developments affect the market?
XRP ETFs pulled in $1.44 billion but weekly flows dropped to $2 million, and the commodity classification has not yet attracted the institutional wave. The Pepeto official website is where verified exchange tools at presale pricing offer stronger near term returns.
What are the key xrp price prediction levels right now?
XRP consolidates in a triangle with $1.45 and $1.55 as resistance, $1.30 as support, and Standard Chartered targeting $2.80 for 2026 if the CLARITY Act advances.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.
Crypto World
Kalshi Partners with ARK Invest to Meet Rising Institutional Demand for Prediction Markets
TLDR:
- Kalshi launches a formal market request pipeline to meet growing institutional investor demand.
- ARK Invest partners with Kalshi to list prediction markets aligned with its investment research.
- Live markets on Kalshi now cover non-farm payrolls, deficit-to-GDP ratios, and business KPIs.
- Crowd-sourced prediction markets are becoming alternative data signals for major financial institutions.
Prediction markets are gaining traction among institutional investors, and Kalshi is now at the center of this shift. The platform has partnered with ARK Invest to list markets used in investment research and analysis.
Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, confirmed the collaboration publicly. Several markets are already live, covering non-farm payrolls, deficit-to-GDP ratios, and business KPIs. The move reflects growing institutional appetite for crowd-sourced financial signals.
Kalshi’s Formal Pipeline Now Serves Institutional Demand
Kalshi has been witnessing a steady rise in institutional interest in prediction markets. To address this, the platform developed a formal market request pipeline for institutional partners.
This pipeline allows institutions to work directly with Kalshi to list relevant markets. The structure gives major investors a standardized way to access crowd-sourced economic data.
The partnership with ARK Invest is one of the earliest collaborations built through this pipeline. ARK Invest, known for its research-driven approach to disruptive innovation, is using Kalshi to support its analysis process.
Through the pipeline, ARK can request specific markets aligned with its investment focus. This creates a direct link between institutional research needs and market creation on the platform.
Mansour took to X to confirm the partnership and outline its scope. He wrote: “As institutional adoption of prediction markets grows, Kalshi is seeing increased demand for a formal market request pipeline to help investors leverage the wisdom of the crowd.” He added that ARK Invest is actively working through the pipeline to list markets used in analysis.
The collaboration also points to a wider pattern among financial institutions. More investors are turning to prediction markets as alternative data sources for decision-making.
These markets aggregate collective public intelligence around key economic events. Kalshi is positioning itself to serve that growing need at an institutional level.
Live Markets on Kalshi Already Supporting ARK’s Research Process
Several markets created through the ARK partnership are already active on Kalshi. Non-farm payroll markets are among the live options available to investors today.
Deficit-to-GDP ratio markets and business KPI markets are also accessible through the platform. These give institutions a real-time, crowd-sourced view of major economic indicators.
Non-farm payroll data is one of the most closely watched monthly economic figures. A prediction market around it lets institutions gauge crowd expectations before official government releases.
This forward-looking signal can help firms calibrate their strategies more accurately. ARK Invest is actively incorporating this data into its research process.
Deficit-to-GDP ratio markets offer macroeconomic visibility that traditional data providers rarely surface. Tracking this ratio helps investors assess long-term fiscal sustainability trends.
A crowd-sourced market around it gives institutions an independent read on public sentiment. That kind of alternative signal is increasingly valued in institutional investment circles.
Mansour closed his post by noting “more to come,” suggesting additional markets are being planned. Kalshi appears set to grow the pipeline and bring more institutional partners on board.
The platform’s ability to convert research needs into live markets sets it apart. As institutional adoption of prediction markets continues to grow, Kalshi’s pipeline model may become a standard tool for major investors.
Opinion by: Samuel Owusu-Boadi, founder of WellsForAll
Over the past decade, crypto philanthropy has exploded. From a niche experiment to a transformative force channeling billions into global causes, crypto philanthropy’s moment has arrived.
According to data from The Giving Block, crypto donations exceeded $1 billion in 2024, proving that blockchain-based giving is now a legitimate, more transparent (in theory) and efficient alternative to traditional charity fundraising. While these figures show momentum, scale alone does not equate to success, especially in philanthropic projects across Africa.
Across the African continent, many crypto philanthropy initiatives are designed as moments — token launches, non-fungible token drops and campaigns designed to generate attention, capital and optimism in short bursts. These hype cycles rarely account for what happens after the launch window closes. No long-term systems are built to facilitate continued investment and oversight.
Why is this an issue? Public good projects cannot function on hype cycles. They require assets that endure for decades, with maintenance schedules, governance structures and local accountability.
There is no shortage of donation campaigns for philanthropic projects in Africa. What is lacking is long-lasting infrastructure. When philanthropy is structured around visibility rather than durability, the result is predictable: short-term relief followed by quiet failure.
The transparency illusion
Crypto philanthropy evangelists often point to blockchain’s transparency as a solution to these shortcomings. Onchain records can show where funds move, when they move and who authorized them. As valuable as this type of insight is, it is also incomplete.
Transparent records alone solve little without tangible truth on the ground. A transaction hash cannot confirm that infrastructure remains functional, that communities continue to benefit or that maintenance funding still exists. Blockchain systems can record intent, but they cannot verify tangible outcomes in the projects that crypto philanthropy seeks to enable. Academic research has highlighted that while blockchain may improve traceability, it does not automatically guarantee accountability or effect without additional systems that sit beside or within it to link the two.
Without on-the-ground presence and continuous oversight, onchain transparency risks becoming nothing more than performative in its credibility. Accountability must exist where the physical infrastructure exists, which means establishing frameworks outside of the distributed ledger that can track and measure tangible outputs. If effect is only measured at the transaction level, the most important question in any philanthropy project goes unanswered: Did lives meaningfully improve?
Ignoring local ownership makes failure inevitable
This gap between digital transparency and physical reality becomes more frustrating when projects are designed without the input from the communities they aim to serve. Many crypto philanthropy initiatives are conceived and executed by teams that have never visited the regions affected by their decisions.
Without local leadership overseeing these projects, responsibility evaporates once funding slows. Infrastructure that lacks community ownership will deteriorate quickly. Without clearly defined custodianship and locally managed maintenance resources, even well-funded projects deteriorate once initial enthusiasm fades.
At times, crypto-backed charitable initiatives in Africa treat local ownership as a cultural nicety, or an afterthought, rather than the heart and soul of the project. Communities must co-manage and protect assets if those assets are expected to survive. Projects that treat beneficiaries as end users rather than stewards inevitably collapse.
Charity tokens create dependency instead of dignity
Considering these observations, it becomes quite clear that most charity tokens and crypto fundraising models are designed to deliver temporary relief. They perform well at mobilizing attention and capital quickly but struggle to support systems that operate year after year.
Shifting the aim toward structural infrastructure enables philanthropic projects to function as a type of economic infrastructure, where longevity and sustainability are properly accounted for, and not merely as a charitable intervention. When clean water systems, schools or clinics remain operational over long periods, they reduce dependency rather than reinforce it.
Related: Ripple commits $25M to US school nonprofits
Dignity emerges not from receiving aid, but from creating systems from that aid that truly stand the test of time and endure.
Without long-term operational thinking, projects inadvertently recreate the very dependency dynamics they claim to disrupt.
Repeated failure harms the entire crypto industry
The consequences of these failures extend beyond individual projects. Whenever an initiative collapses, or public trust in a crypto-backed charity project erodes, not only is the power of philanthropy questioned, but so is belief in blockchain itself. With these failures, skepticism toward future crypto-powered initiatives only gets louder.
Africa experiences this damage the most. Failed experiments leave behind broken infrastructure and weakened confidence, making it harder for responsible models to gain support and traction. Philanthropy should never be treated as an experimental case study or showcase for blockchain technology. When human well-being is at stake, failure is not as abstract as we like to think.
For the crypto industry, this represents a credibility challenge. If blockchain is to play a meaningful role in global development, it must demonstrate discipline, restraint and accountability — not novelty for its own sake.
Maturity, not abandonment
With all this being said, is it time to abandon crypto philanthropy projects? Certainly not. Crypto advocates often highlight the advantages of digital assets in philanthropy, including borderless transfers, reduced transaction costs and immutable records. These benefits are real and largely undisputed.
For blockchain to contribute meaningfully to sustainable effects, then it must be treated as governance infrastructure rather than a marketing fundraising function. That means prioritizing local ownership, multi-year planning, maintenance funding and accountability frameworks that extend beyond the ledger.
Until crypto philanthropy builds systems instead of hype, it will continue to fail the communities it claims to serve.
Opinion by: Samuel Owusu-Boadi, founder of WellsForAll.
This opinion article presents the author’s expert view, and it may not reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. This content has undergone editorial review to ensure clarity and relevance. Cointelegraph remains committed to transparent reporting and upholding the highest standards of journalism. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the company.
MARA Holdings sold more than $1 billion of Bitcoin in March to repurchase convertible debt at a discount, using its BTC holdings to reduce leverage, the company said Thursday.
In a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the largest listed US Bitcoin miner said it would buy back about $1 billion of zero-coupon convertible notes due 2030 and 2031 for roughly $913 million in cash, capturing about $88 million in savings, or close to a 9% discount to par.
The company said it sold 15,133 Bitcoin (BTC) for around $1.1 billion between March 4 and March 25 to fund the transactions, which it said will cut its outstanding convertible debt by about 30% to roughly $2.3 billion once the deals close at the end of the month. According to Bitcointreasuries.net, MARA now holds 38,689 BTC on its public balance sheet.
MARA’s chairman and chief executive officer, Fred Thiel, commented in a release that the transaction enhanced the company’s “financial flexibility” and increased its “strategic optionality” as MARA expands “beyond pure-play Bitcoin mining into digital energy and AI/HPC infrastructure.”
Related: Riot Platforms’ AI/HPC push could net up to $21B, says activist holder
MARA’s premarket share price reacted positively to the news, rising from yesterday’s close of $8.25 to $9.29, a gain of around 12.6%, and traded at $8.74 (+5.56%) at the time of writing, according to data from Yahoo Finance.
Bitcoin miners continue to sell down their stashes
The move follows a $1.7 billion net loss in the fourth quarter of 2025, driven largely by non-cash fair-value adjustments on MARA’s Bitcoin holdings. At the time, MARA pushed back against speculation that it was quietly selling down its BTC holdings, saying it continued to view Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset while actively managing its balance sheet.
MARA is part of a broader shift among crypto miners seeking more stable revenue streams, redeploying energy and infrastructure toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The company recently agreed to acquire a majority stake in Exaion’s AI-focused data centers, and peers are making similar moves.
Bitdeer sold down its Bitcoin treasury to zero in February as it pivots toward infrastructure and service‑based revenues in cloud and AI compute, while Canaan has invested in US mining sites in Texas to run both Bitcoin mining and AI workloads from the same energy-intensive facilities.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a blistering letter to Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh on Thursday, predicting he would serve as a “rubber stamp for President Trump’s Wall Street First Agenda,” and accusing him of having learned “nothing from your failures” during a prior stint at the central bank.
Warren, D-Mass, in the letter reported first by CNBC, told Warsh that his record as a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors from 2006 until 2011 — which included the 2008-09 financial crisis and Great Recession — “should disqualify you from a promotion.”
“But President Donald Trump has vowed that ‘anybody that disagrees with’ him ‘will never be the Fed Chairman,’ ” Warren noted.
“And you, apparently, have passed his test,” she added.
“As Fed Chair, you will be responsible for directing economy-altering policies that have serious
consequences for American workers and communities,” Warren wrote. “However, your track record leading up to, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis raises significant concerns about your ability to do so.”
The letter, which CNBC obtained before it was publicly released, asked Warsh pointed, detailed questions about 10 different subject areas to be answered for his confirmation hearing at the Senate Banking Committee, where Warren is the ranking Democrat.
But those queries were buried at the bottom of what reads as a scathing, eight-page indictment of his tenure at the Fed, and what she called his advocacy “against tougher safeguards intended to prevent big bank failures and taxpayer bailouts” after he left the central bank.
“I write to better understand what, if anything, you’ve learned from your failure to prioritize American families over Wall Street before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis while serving as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Warren said in the letter’s first sentence.
“Rather than implementing policies to improve the lives of the American public, you ignored the obviously excessive risk-taking on Wall Street; worked tirelessly to bail out large financial institutions after their bets blew up the economy; and advocated for policies that would have further harmed the millions of Americans who lost their jobs, were thrown out their homes, and saw their life savings evaporate,” she continued.
Warsh did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC about the letter.
Warsh’s nomination is in limbo as Warren’s fellow Banking Committee member, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has said he would effectively block the nomination from being considered by the full Senate until a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell is resolved.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has indicated she has no intention of dropping that probe.
Pirro’s office is seeking to reverse a ruling on March 11 by a federal judge in Washington, blocking subpoenas issued to the Fed as part of its investigation of Powell, which is purportedly focused on cost overruns of the pricey renovation of the Fed’s headquarters and testimony about that project to the Banking Committee.
District Court Judge James Boasberg, in his order quashing those subpoenas, wrote, “There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will.”
Trump has repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, pressured Powell and the entire Board of Governors to cut interest rates more quickly and deeply than they have since Trump reentered the White House in January 2025.
Powell earlier in March said he would remain as chair pro tem if Warsh is not confirmed by May, when Powell’s term as chair expires.
In her letter to Warsh on Thursday, Warren said that when he began his service on the Board of Governors, there were “warning signs of the coming crisis” in the subprime home-lending market.
“Yet rather than using the Fed’s powerful supervisory and regulatory authorities to address the severe consumer and financial stability risks posed by subprime mortgages, you defended and even implicitly promoted these products,” Warren wrote.
“Astonishingly, in December 2007, you agreed that “subprime mortgages have gotten a bad name
in this environment,” she wrote. “You also promoted derivatives and other forms of ‘financial innovation’ as vehicles to disperse risk and make the financial system safer.”
“Again, you were wrong.”
Warren said that during the resultant financial crisis, “you appear to have prioritized the interests of large financial institutions ahead of the American public.”
“Your eagerness to bail out Wall Street, including through taxpayer-assisted megamergers, was not surprising, given the seven years you spent as a Morgan Stanley mergers and acquisitions executive prior to joining the George W. Bush Administration,” Warren wrote.
“It has been well-documented that you played a central role helping to arrange numerous [multibillion-dollar] bailouts and even obtained an ethics waiver to deal directly with Morgan Stanley, which received the special regulatory approvals from the Fed on an expedited basis necessary to access additional emergency support.”
The senator said Warsh also advocated for higher interest rates at the time, “further imperiling an ailing economy” that was hemorrhaging jobs.
“Your monetary policy record shows a repeated failure to accurately assess the impact of inflation on the American economy,” Warren wrote.
“It appears you have learned nothing from your failures,” she wrote.
“Since leaving the Fed, you have advocated against tougher safeguards intended to prevent big bank failures and taxpayer bailouts.”
— CNBC’s Matt Peterson contributed to this article.
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