Crypto World
Vancouver Staff Say Bitcoin Cannot Be Held in City Reserves
Vancouver city staff said Bitcoin cannot be held in municipal reserves and recommended that the city council drop a proposal to create a Bitcoin reserve.
City staff, led by Colin Knight, general manager of the Finance and Supply Chain Management department, “conclusively determined” that Bitcoin (BTC) is not an “allowable investment” for the city under the Vancouver Charter, according to a motions update report dated March 2.
Staff recommended merging the motion with other related initiatives to reprioritize resources, with a final decision pending a council vote at a meeting on March 10.
The proposal to create a Vancouver Bitcoin reserve was originally introduced in late 2024 by Mayor Ken Sim as part of a motion titled “Preserving the City’s Purchasing Power Through Diversification of Financial Reserves — Becoming a Bitcoin-Friendly City.”
The council passed the motion with six votes in favor and two opposed. However, the latest developments could stall the proposal entirely.
Bitcoin’s inflation hedge argument fades amid bear market
Introducing the proposal in 2024, Mayor Sim said the motion was partly aimed at helping the city hedge against inflation using Bitcoin, which has often been described as “digital gold” because of its fixed supply capped at 21 million coins.
“As an open, decentralized, and secure digital asset, Bitcoin has been recognized by many financial experts and analysts as a potential hedge against inflation and currency debasement,” the motion reads.
Related: Bitcoin is forming a bottom as the 4-year cycle ends: VanEck CEO
The argument that Bitcoin acts as an inflation hedge has weakened recently as the cryptocurrency’s price declined sharply. Bitcoin has fallen about 50% from its October 2025 peak of above $126,000, returning to late-2024 levels and briefly touching lows near $60,000.
Despite skepticism from some analysts who argue Bitcoin does not behave like digital gold, macroeconomists such as Lyn Alden remain bullish on the digital asset relative to gold in the near term.
“If I had to bet Bitcoin versus gold over the next two to three years, I would bet Bitcoin,” Alden said on the New Era Finance podcast on Wednesday.
Magazine: Would Bitcoin really be at $200K if not for Jane Street? Trade Secrets
Sam Bankman-Fried’s X account, which claims to relay the convicted fraudster’s words “through a proxy,” is now apparently spending much of its time following promoters of insider enrichment schemes.
Among those followed by the account, according to tracker service Web3 Alerts, are a robot memecoin promoter, a “chaos trader on Solana shitters,” and another memecoin trader.
Another follow claims to be “manifesting 1000x” but most probably hasn’t.
The tracker first flagged the pattern on February 26 when @SBF_FTX followed someone who claims to be a “copy trade messiah.”
Its owner openly promotes a token that’s lost one-quarter of its value in the past three months and is down 90% from its December 24 high.
The token’s description has all the hallmarks of AI slop, including run-on sentences, universality, superficiality, and a word salad of futuristic buzzwords. It reads:
“An end-to-end solution enabling agents across domains, frameworks, and specialties to work together seamlessly in a unified environment—combining custom cognitive frameworks, collaborative architectures, and intelligent integrations to enable novel ways of executing work. From business automation to creative production, users will have access to agentic-driven workflows that adapt to their needs, enabling them to streamline processes and tackle ambitious projects with more autonomy than ever before. The entire agent-powered teams can be configured, deployed, and tailored without necessitating any technical expertise. We are defining a new era in personal autonomy.”
Whoever controls Bankman-Fried’s X account also followed someone on March 5 whose bio advertises a “Trojan referal bot” (that probably follows all terms of service and spells correctly when it actually conducts those referrals).
That account promotes a Marco Rubio memecoin, “the most memeable guy right now” besides thousands of more famous people.
There are, of course, dozens of Marco Rubio memecoins with track records of near-total collapse, and a limitless supply of new, interchangeable celebrity memecoins.
Whoever is relaying Bankman-Fried’s messages from prison wants to know about them.
A proxy for prison communications
The @SBF_FTX account uses Bureau of Prisons-approved phone calls and emails to relay the prisoner’s words via tweets. Its bio reads: “SBF’s words. Posted through a proxy” and notes that follows don’t indicate endorsements.
That disclaimer does a lot of heavy lifting. In recent weeks, SBF has been re-litigating his criminal conviction in the court of public opinion. He’s serving a 25-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy after stealing roughly $8 billion from FTX customers.
Read more: SBF wants Trump to know he was working with Republicans all along
Federal inmates may not access social media directly. “A friend” manages it on Bankman-Fried’s behalf.
The follow spree from SBF’s account
All of this isn’t just disturbing, it has profound financial ramifications. Unfortunately, the @SBF_FTX account still moves markets.
For example, when it posted “gm” in September 2025, the former FTX token FTT surged 60% within minutes. Follows or mentions from the account can push real traffic toward obscure tokens, disclaimer or not.
The follow spree raises obvious, indeterminate questions. Has the convicted architect of one of crypto’s largest frauds directed his “friend” to follow memecoin promoters from a federal prison? Why is this person following a “chaos trader on Solana shitters”? Why is SBF’s account lending a million followers’ worth of credibility to coin peddlers in the first place?
Bankman-Fried took billions of dollars from FTX customers, without their consent, to trade at his offshore hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Now someone speaking for him is following the next generation of coin promoters.
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Trading volumes in tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) routed through 1inch’s integration with Ondo have passed $2.5 billion since the partnership went live in September 2025.
According to data published on Dune Analytics and a release shared with Cointelegraph, real-world assets (RWAs) are now the fastest-growing volume category on 1inch. While they still account for a minority of overall flow, 1inch co-founder Sergei Kunz told Cointelegraph that “the direction of travel is clear,” and shows no signs of slowing down, despite the broader crypto slump.
Most of the activity is happening on BNB (BNB) Chain, where roughly $2 billion in related volume has been generated over 1.3 million transactions, with peak active users nearing 24,800 in a single period.
Kunz said that the combination of a low-friction user experience and massive retail distribution made BNB Chain “the natural place for RWA activity to occur,” adding that it was “happening faster and more retail-sized than on Ethereum (ETH).”
Related: MEXC expands tokenized stock offerings with new Ondo Finance listings
He added that both retail and advanced users were trading RWAs, and that the typical swap size was around $1,400, which he said showed “real capital, deployed with intent” rather than test traffic.
The most popular tokens are currently well-known traditional finance names such as Nvidia ($354 million in volume), Tesla ($332 million), Google ($249 million), and Netflix ($98 million), plus silver among non-equity assets ($225 million).
Tokenized RWAs defy slump as Ethereum nears $15 billion
The milestone comes as tokenized RWAs emerge as one of the few consistent growth stories in crypto. Ethereum’s RWA total value locked (TVL) has climbed to nearly $15 billion, up roughly 200% over the past year.
Tokenized US Treasuries have been a major driver of that growth, with a market cap that has risen by over $1 billion since the start of 2026, a roughly 50x increase since 2024, as products like BlackRock’s BUIDL fund help pull traditional fixed income onchain.
Related: Kraken’s xStocks tops $25B in volume with more than 80K onchain holders
At the same time, tokenized RWAs and the infrastructure behind them have continued to attract fresh capital. RWA tokenization projects were among the biggest winners in crypto venture funding in 2025, while onchain RWA markets climbed roughly 13.5% over 30 days during a period when the wider crypto market shed around $1 trillion in value.
RWAs to become everyday DeFi plumbing
1inch’s Ondo integration shows how aggregators are evolving into distribution rails for regulated RWA issuers. Kunz said 1inch remained non-custodial and did not issue the RWAs itself, with eligibility and jurisdictional controls enforced at the issuer level, while it focuses on routing, application programming interfaces (APIs) and disclosures.
Looking ahead, Kunz sees RWAs taking “the next leap forward” only when liquidity depth, standards and regulatory clarity align, at which point he expects tokenized assets to function as everyday “financial plumbing on DeFi” rails rather than a niche side bet.
AI Eye: IronClaw rivals OpenClaw, Olas launches bots for Polymarket
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) moved Wednesday to settle its high-profile enforcement case against Justin Sun and his affiliated companies, proposing a $10 million civil penalty.
If approved by a federal judge, the judgment would dismiss all remaining claims against the TRON founder with prejudice, marking a decisive end to the years-long legal battle.
- Settlement Terms: Rainberry Inc. agrees to a $10 million penalty and an injunction against deceptive practices without admitting wrongdoing.
- Case Dismissal: All claims against Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation will be dismissed with prejudice.
- Regulatory Signal: The deal represents a significant de-escalation by the SEC following recent leadership changes and industry pushback.
Discover: The best meme coins on Solana
SEC Deal: A $10 Million Resolution to Years of Litigation
According to a proposed final judgment filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Rainberry Inc., the company behind the BitTorrent protocol, will pay the $10 million civil penalty.
The company also agreed to a permanent injunction barring it from violating anti-fraud provisions in future securities offerings. Crucially, Rainberry accepted the settlement without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.
In exchange for this penalty, the SEC agreed to dismiss all outstanding claims against Sun personally, as well as the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent Foundation. The dismissal is “with prejudice,” meaning the regulator cannot refile these specific charges against Sun or his foundations in the future. The agreement effectively clears Sun’s personal liability in the matter.
Sun confirmed the development on social media on today. In a statement on X, he noted that the resolution “brings closure” and declared his intention to focus on “accelerating innovation in the U.S. and around the world.”
I am very pleased to confirm that the SEC has moved to dismiss all claims against me, Tron Foundation, and BitTorrent Foundation.
Today’s resolution brings closure, but I never stopped building. I will continue to focus on accelerating innovation in the United States and around…— H.E. Justin Sun
(@justinsuntron) March 5, 2026
Context: From Celebrity Charges to Political Pivots
The SEC originally sued Sun in March 2023, alleging the unregistered sale of TRX and BTT tokens.
The regulator’s complaint was extensive, accusing Sun of directing wash trading to artificially inflate TRX volumes and orchestrating undisclosed payments to celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Jake Paul for promotion.
Six of those celebrities settled in 2024 for roughly $400,000 combined.
This settlement arrives amid a broader shift in SEC enforcement strategy following the presidential inauguration.
Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Maxine Waters, criticized the move in a recent letter, suggesting the agency is retreating from crypto enforcement cases involving figures with political connections.
Sun reportedly invested heavily in World Liberty Financial tokens and attended events associated with the new administration prior to this resolution.
What the Justin Sun Case Says About the SEC Now
The $10 million figure is relatively modest compared to the billions sought in other recent crypto cases. It signals that the current SEC is prioritizing case clearance over maximum punitive damages, a sharp departure from the “regulation by enforcement” era of 2023.
This shift aligns accordingly with a maturing market structure. As recently discussed on Cryptonews, the biggest winners of the next cycle may be the most regulated entities that successfully navigate the government’s requirements.
If this pragmatic approach continues, expect other stalled enforcement actions to resolve quickly in the coming months, likely with similar “no admission of guilt” structures.
Discover: The next crypto to explode!
The post SEC Moves to Settle Justin Sun of Tron Case With $10M Penalty appeared first on Cryptonews.
Bitcoin exchange withdrawals spiked to more than $2 billion of BTC on Wednesday, with analysis eyeing a potential major spot buy.
Bitcoin (BTC) “large-scale accumulation” is on the radar after 31,900 BTC left Bitfinex in a single day.
Key points:
-
Bitcoin exchange withdrawals spark hope of a fresh round of accumulation this week.
-
Bitfinex sees its largest daily BTC outflow since June 2025 at around 25,000 BTC.
-
Exchange stablecoin flows point to Bitcoin dip-buying.
Bitcoin withdrawal spike raises eyebrows
New analysis released on Friday by Axel Adler Jr., a contributor to onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, confirmed that a major BTC buy occurred this week.
On Wednesday, exchange outflows suddenly spiked, with the day’s total withdrawals nearing 32,000 BTC ($2.26 billion).
“Total outflow for the week reached approximately 47,700 BTC – one of the highest weekly figures over the past year,” Adler wrote.
“The Mar 4 spike (-31,900 BTC) is anomalous: single-day events of this magnitude are most often associated with large position transfers to cold storage, though a portion of such spikes may reflect internal custodian movements.”
For the week through Friday, exchange flows were net negative every day — a phenomenon that Adler says has bullish implications for the BTC price trend.
“A sustained negative BTC netflow typically signals reduced potential selling pressure in the spot market,” he continued.
“Confirmation of the bullish interpretation will emerge if the netflow remains negative for another 3-5 days without a significant return of coins to exchanges – at that point the signal qualifies as ‘sustained accumulation.’”
CryptoQuant and CoinGlass data confirmed Wednesday’s outflow spike, with exchange Bitfinex as the venue. The outflow marked Bitfinex’s largest since June 2025.
Analysis suggests ”large spot purchase”
Stablecoin activity, meanwhile, was neatly aligned with the withdrawal, with capital flowing to exchange wallets, while BTC left, indicating buying.
Related: Bitcoin trader sees ‘lower soon’ as BTC price starts to erase $74K breakout
“In early March 2026, a large green bar (~$1.1B) was recorded – a significant liquidity inflow to exchanges – after which netflow declined to -$37.5M as of the current date,” Adler summarized.
The “anomalous” 32,000 BTC outflow thus points to accumulation at price levels around $70,000.
“This behavior is commonly observed during large spot purchases, where assets are acquired on exchange and then moved to cold custody,” the analysis concluded.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
The U.S. job market weakened appreciably in February, possibly putting back in play the chance of Federal Reserve rate cuts in the first half of 2026.
The country loss 92,000 jobs last month, according to Friday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists had forecast an addition of 59,000 new jobs, compared with January’s gain of 126,000.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% versus economist expectations of 4.3%, and January’s reading of 4.3%.
Under pressure overnight ahead of the report and trading down to $70,000 as oil soared higher and equity markets dipped, bitcoin remained right around that mark in the minutes following the data.
U.S. stock index futures continue lower, with the Nasdaq down 1% and S&P 500 off 0.8%. The 10-year Treasury yield has fallen four basis points to 4.11%. Precious metals reversed an early decline, with gold now higher by 1% and silver by 2%. WTI crude oil is up 6.2% to $86 per barrel.
Ahead of this morning’s report, markets were pricing in a 95% probability that the Federal Reserve would hold rates steady at the March 18 meeting and an 85% chance of no rate cut in April.
Meanwhile, rising oil prices linked to tensions in the Middle East could add upward pressure to inflation expectations. If sustained, higher energy prices may feed into broader inflation, particularly through energy and food costs. Combined with signs that the U.S. economy may be re-accelerating, this could prompt markets to reassess the path of monetary policy.
Quick Summary
- BofA reinstated coverage with “buy” ratings for Ford, GM, and Tesla on March 4, 2026
- Price targets set at $17 for Ford (34% potential gain), $105 for GM (14% upside), and $460 for Tesla (14% upside)
- Both Ford and GM expected to capitalize on pivot away from EVs toward profitable trucks and SUVs
- Tesla’s buy rating driven primarily by robotaxi business, which BofA values at approximately 52% of total company worth
- Electric vehicle sales projected to decline over 20% in 2026 amid reduced incentives and slower manufacturer deployment
On March 4, 2026, Bank of America resumed its analysis of North American automobile manufacturers, designating Ford, General Motors, and Tesla as premier investment opportunities for the coming year.
According to analyst Alexander Perry, the automotive sector stands poised to exceed market projections in 2026. Perry cited evolving regulatory frameworks and renewed emphasis on traditional combustion engines as primary catalysts.
Ford earned a “buy” designation alongside a $17 price objective. This represents a potential 34% appreciation from the stock’s opening value on March 4.
According to Bank of America’s assessment, Ford stands in an advantageous position to capitalize on emerging U.S. regulatory shifts. The financial institution anticipates Ford will intensify its concentration on truck and SUV production, segments that deliver superior profitability compared to electric vehicle offerings.
Ford commands more than 30% of the pickup truck segment, with its F-Series maintaining its position as America’s best-selling vehicle nameplate. The automaker expanded its domestic market penetration by 50 basis points throughout 2025.
General Motors similarly earned a “buy” recommendation, accompanied by a $105 price objective — representing 14% appreciation potential from March 4 levels. GM maintains the leading position among U.S. automakers with 17.1% market share.
Electric Vehicle Momentum Slows
Bank of America indicates that both Ford and GM stand to gain as the automotive industry retreats from ambitious electrification goals. Substantial EV investments and stringent emissions regulations had compressed profitability margins over recent years.
The investment firm calculates variable profit margins for trucks and SUVs at $17,500 per unit, substantially exceeding the corporate average range of $10,000 to $12,000.
BofA projects electric vehicle sales will contract by more than 20% throughout 2026 as government subsidies diminish and manufacturers decelerate their EV deployment strategies.
Perry observed that multiple manufacturers are postponing or abandoning lower-margin electric vehicle initiatives while prolonging their internal combustion engine production timelines.
Bank of America additionally highlighted that the elimination of CAFE penalty structures and greenhouse gas emission relief measures are empowering automakers to optimize their product portfolios toward higher-margin vehicle categories.
Tesla’s Autonomous Vehicle Strategy
Tesla secured a “buy” rating with a $460 price objective, likewise representing 14% upside potential from March 4 values. BofA’s investment thesis for Tesla centers predominantly on its self-driving vehicle operations.
The firm anticipates rapid expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi network. Tesla’s autonomous taxi services currently function in San Francisco and Austin, with deployments planned for seven additional metropolitan areas during the first half of 2026.
BofA calculates that the robotaxi division comprises approximately 52% of Tesla’s overall enterprise value. While competing platforms employ comprehensive sensor arrays combining cameras, radar, and lidar technology, Tesla utilizes an exclusively camera-based system that the firm characterizes as more cost-effective and readily scalable.
Perry also identified favorable macroeconomic conditions supporting the broader automotive industry. The average age of vehicles on American roads has reached 12.8 years, while vehicle miles traveled have achieved record levels — dynamics that BofA suggests may initiate a significant vehicle replacement wave.
Shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR), a company specialising in big data analytics software, have become one of the stock market’s standout performers at the start of this spring.
While the closing price on the last trading day of February was around $137, during yesterday’s session the stock climbed to $155.
Why Is PLTR Rising?
The stock’s strong performance is driven by a combination of fundamental factors, including:
→ Competitors’ problems at the Pentagon: News about temporary restrictions placed on the AI start-up Anthropic in its work with US government agencies has strengthened Palantir’s position as a reliable partner.
→ Use in the Middle East conflict: Analysts at Baird highlighted this week the ability of Palantir’s systems to operate in real time and deliver predictive analytics on the battlefield.
→ Higher price targets: Several agencies (including Zacks and Trefis) have raised their forecasts for PLTR shares amid expectations that revenue growth could reach around 78% by the end of the year.
In addition, technical factors are also playing a role.
Technical Analysis of the Palantir Technologies (PLTR) Share Price
In November 2025, we noted that the chart had taken on a bearish tone and that the $190–200 zone could act as resistance. Indeed, in December PLTR shares made a bearish reversal from that area and fell to around $130 in less than two months, breaking support near $166 (which later turned into resistance).
New data now makes it possible to outline a broader ascending channel. In this context, the price formed a bullish inverted head-and-shoulders pattern (H&S) near the lower boundary in February.
The bullish gap around the $139 level appears to represent a breakout above the neckline of the pattern, while the surge in trading volume highlights the strength of demand.
Considering that the stock has risen by more than 10% over the past week, it may now be regarded as technically overbought, making a short-term pullback a reasonable expectation.
From a broader perspective, however, the bulls’ attempt to resume the long-term upward trend in PLTR shares may ultimately prove successful.
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Crypto World
BTC, ETH at a Crossroads After Reclaiming Key Levels, ADA Whales on the Move: Bits Recap March 6th
Here’s everything most interesting surrounding BTC, ETH, and ADA.
The past few days have been quite positive for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), whose prices soared to a one-month peak.
Cardano’s ADA also headed north, but the bears intercepted the move, and the asset is now deep in red territory on a weekly scale. The correction aligns with recent whale behavior, suggesting they may be scaling back their exposure to the token.
BTC’s Performance
Nearly a week ago, the US and Israeli forces attacked Iran, thus marking the start of a new major military conflict that stunned the world and sent shockwaves through the financial and crypto markets. BTC reacted with an immediate plunge below $64,000, but just hours later, it rebounded above $67,000 following reports that the supreme leader of the Asian country, Ali Khamenei, had been killed.
The primary cryptocurrency continued its uptrend, reaching a monthly high of nearly $74,000 on March 4. Some of the potential catalysts behind the rally could be the initial indications that Iran is willing to discuss terms for ending the war, as well as the growing interest in the asset from large investors.
Data from SoSoValue show that inflows into spot BTC ETFs have been substantial over the past several days. The trend indicates that big investors, such as hedge funds and pension funds, have been increasing their exposure to the asset through these funds, whose issuers must buy real Bitcoin to back these purchases.
Some analysts, such as Ali Martinez, believe BTC could post much more significant gains in the short term. Earlier this week, he underlined the importance of reclaiming the $70,685 resistance level, adding that the $72,000-$81,000 zone has very little supply and describing it as “open air in that range.”
“The next major supply clusters appear around $83,307 and $84,569, which could act as the significant resistance zones,” he claimed.
Others were not so bullish. X user Ted reminded that shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, BTC showed a similar upside move before undergoing a severe correction, suggesting history could repeat itself.
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How’s ETH Doing?
The second-largest cryptocurrency followed BTC’s footsteps, posting a painful decline below $1,900 but later rising to almost $2,200. As of this moment, it trades at around $2,060, representing a 4% increase on a seven-day scale.
Earlier this week, Ali Martinez assumed that a sustained close above $2,147 could set the stage for a further ascent to $2,335 or even $2,542. On-chain indicators such as the plummeting supply of ETH stored on exchanges support the bullish case.
Recently, the balance plunged to 15.93 million tokens, the lowest point since the summer of 2016. This means that investors continue to abandon centralized trading venues and move their holdings to self-custody, thereby reducing immediate selling pressure.
On the other hand, analysts like X user Emirhan suggested that a break below the key $2,109 level could open the door to a drop to under $1,900. The price did indeed slip beneath that mark, and we have yet to see whether an additional decline will come next.
The ADA Whales
Cardano’s native token tried to reclaim $0.30 but failed, and it is now worth around $0.26 (per CoinGecko’s data), representing a 7% decrease over the last week.
According to Martinez, the big investors have “redistributed” 230 million tokens in the span of just seven days. His graph displays a reduction in their total holdings, which can be interpreted as a major sell-off that could impact the price for several reasons.
This development increases the amount of ADA circulating on the open market, and without a corresponding rise in demand, the additional supply could suppress the valuation. Additionally, whale distribution signals fading confidence that may unsettle smaller players and prompt them to cash out as well.
It is important to note that the big investors had a much different strategy in recent months, accumulating roughly 820 million ADA between August 2025 and February this year.
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Crypto World
Kazakhstan central bank to invest up to $350 million in crypto and digital asset markets
Kazakhstan’s central bank revealed plans to allocate up to $350 million from its gold and foreign exchange reserves to investments linked to cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
The bank’s governor, Timur Suleimanov, said the institution is developing a list of acceptable investments, which will extend beyond direct cryptocurrency holdings, according to a Reuters report on Friday.
The country became a major bitcoin mining hub after China’s 2021 mining ban pushed operators abroad. In 2025, Astana-based Fonte Capital introduced central Asia’s first spot bitcoin ETF (BETF), offering regulated, physically backed exposure to bitcoin.
The investment strategy is expected to include shares of high-tech companies connected to digital assets, cryptocurrency infrastructure firms and index funds whose performance tracks crypto markets.
Deputy central bank chair Aliya Moldabekova said the investments would be made in April and May, emphasizing that authorities are taking a measured approach.
“We are not talking about any large investment in cryptocurrencies,” Moldabekova said, according to Reuters. “We are currently selecting companies that deal with digital assets, for example those involved in cryptocurrency infrastructure.”
The allocation represents only a small share of the country’s overall reserves. As of Feb. 1, the central bank held $69.4 billion in gold and foreign exchange reserves, while the country’s national fund, which accumulates oil revenues, held $65.23 billion in assets, according to the central bank data.
Bitcoin (BTC) and global equity markets have stabilized above key psychological price levels, shaking off an early-week sell-off triggered by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
While Bitcoin is trading firmly above $70,000 and the S&P 500 has recovered lost ground, the bond market is signaling that the coast is far from clear.
Yields on U.S. Treasuries have surged for four consecutive days, warning traders that the combination of energy shocks and sticky inflation could keep the Federal Reserve hawkish for longer.
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Bitcoin and Stocks: Reading the Risk-On Signal in the Price Charts
The price of Bitcoin is around $70,500 as of Friday, marking a resilient 6% rebound for the week. The leading cryptocurrency briefly touched $73,470 on Wednesday, recovering sharply from a slide to near $63,000 over the weekend. That initial drop was driven by a spike in oil prices following reports of blocked transit in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that rattled risk assets globally.
The recovery has been mirrored in the equity markets. S&P 500 futures bounced from a multi-week low of 6,718 to reclaim the 6,840 level, stabilizing after the U.S. pledged naval escorts to secure energy transport routes.
This synchronized price action highlights a rising correlation between crypto and traditional equities. Bitcoin briefly reclaimed $73k despite war chaos, yet its tight coupling with the S&P 500 suggests it remains vulnerable to broad macro sentiment rather than acting as a detached safe haven.
If Bitcoin can maintain support above $72,000, it builds a base to challenge the $74,000 local high. However, if the correlation with equities holds and stocks roll over, the $65,000 level becomes the critical invalidation point for this relief rally.
Bond Yields Flash Warning: Why Traders Can’t Ignore the Macro Noise
While equity traders are buying the dip, bond traders are pricing in risk. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has climbed from 3.93% to 4.15% in just four days. Bond prices move inversely to yields, and this sharp move suggests capital is demanding a higher premium for inflation risk.
The two-year yield, which is highly sensitive to Fed policy expectations, has jumped to nearly 3.60%. This repricing directly impacts risk appetite; higher yields typically drain liquidity from speculative assets like crypto by offering a more attractive risk-free return.
Fed rate cut hints had previously sent BTC flying past $72k, but the bond market is now effectively taking those chips off the table.
Data from CME Fed funds futures confirms the shift in sentiment. Investors now see less than a 50% chance of two rate cuts this year, a steep drop from the nearly 80% probability priced in before the conflict began.
If the 10-year yield breaks above 4.20%, it could exert heavy downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price. If yields stabilize or retreat below 4.00%, it would likely greenlight the next leg up for risk assets.
While some point to recent surges in altcoin ETFs as evidence of persistent institutional appetite, cautious analysts note that oil shock impacts are often delayed. If energy prices bleed into broader inflation data, the Federal Reserve may have to hold rates high, capping the upside for Bitcoin and stocks alike.
The Levels That Change Everything: What Traders Are Watching
Traders are focusing on three critical levels to determine the market’s next direction:
First, watch Bitcoin at $74,000. This is the immediate resistance cap; a daily close above this level would signal that the market has fully absorbed the geopolitical shock.
Second, monitor the 10-Year Treasury Yield at 4.2%. This is the danger zone for risk assets. If yields push through this level, expect algorithmic selling to hit both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin.
Finally, the invalidation level sits around $63,000. If the current stabilization fails, a break below this support would suggest the downtrend is resuming.
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The post Bitcoin Price and Stocks Stabilize as Bond Market Signals Ongoing Macro Risk appeared first on Cryptonews.
This XRP Cycle Will NOT Play Out As You Expect.. – Raoul Pal
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