Pepeto just crossed $7.43 million raised as stages continue closing ahead of schedule and the project confirmed that all three platform products are entering final completion ahead of an exchange listing that the team says will include Binance from day one. In a market where most presales struggle to survive a single month of bad sentiment, Pepeto kept attracting capital through five consecutive red months for Bitcoin and a Fear and Greed Index that hit single digits, which tells you everything about what kind of investors are behind this project. The crypto news today is not about another token making promises, it is about a presale that kept building and kept raising while every other project in the market either went quiet or disappeared.

Crypto News Today: Why Every Cycle Produces One Infrastructure Winner and Why 2026 Belongs to the Meme Economy

Every major crypto cycle in the last decade created one category of infrastructure that defined it, and the investors who recognized that pattern early are the ones who walked away with life changing returns. As CoinDesk reported, Bitcoin ETFs just snapped a five week outflow streak with over one billion dollars in net inflows across three straight days, signaling that institutional money is rotating back into the market at levels that suggest a floor is forming. In 2020 the winner was decentralized exchanges and anyone who bought Uniswap or SushiSwap tokens before the DeFi summer made returns that large cap holders could only dream about.

In 2023 it was Layer 2 solutions, and the projects that solved Ethereum scaling rewarded early believers at multiples that made Bitcoin recovery look like a savings account. The pattern is always the same, the market crashes and shakes out weak hands, a new category of infrastructure emerges that solves a real problem, and the projects that lead that category become the breakout stories of the entire cycle.

In 2026 that category is meme coin infrastructure, and the reason is simple math. As Forbes documented, the combined meme coin market touched forty five billion dollars at its peak with Dogecoin alone reaching eighty eight billion and Shiba Inu hitting forty billion. That is tens of billions of dollars in proven demand flowing through a sector that has never once had its own dedicated trading platform, its own cross chain bridge, or its own listing exchange.

Every single meme coin that reached those numbers did it with zero infrastructure underneath, which means every trader who bought and sold those tokens paid unnecessary fees, dealt with fragmented liquidity across dozens of platforms, and had no way to move their assets between blockchains without losing value in the process. The demand was validated beyond any debate. The tools to serve that demand were never built. Until now.

What Makes Pepeto the Best Crypto Presale in 2026 and Why Three Products Change the Math for Everything That Comes After

Pepeto is not another meme token hoping for a viral moment. It is the first project that looked at the forty five billion dollar meme economy and built the actual infrastructure that every trader in that market needs but has never had. PepetoSwap is approaching launch as a zero tax cross chain trading engine that connects Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana so traders can move between the three biggest meme coin ecosystems without bleeding value on every swap. Pepeto Bridge is nearing completion as a dedicated cross chain bridge that uses a lock and mint mechanism to transfer assets securely between networks, which means billions of dollars in meme tokens that currently sit stranded on single chains will finally have a way to flow freely. And Pepeto Exchange enters final development as the first curated listing platform specifically built for meme projects, where scam tokens get rejected and only verified projects earn a listing.

That is three products solving three problems that no other project in the market is even attempting to address, and that gap is exactly what makes Pepeto the next crypto to explode when the market turns. The meme appeal is real because the branding around the god of frogs has captured attention across every major meme community in crypto, but the infrastructure underneath is what separates this from everything that came before it.

Dual security audits from SolidProof and Coinsult have verified the smart contracts with zero critical vulnerabilities found, staking rewards at 210% APY compound daily for every holder, and the project sits at the center of an ecosystem where every swap, every bridge transfer, and every exchange listing creates organic demand for the token. As BeInCrypto reported, Bitcoin long term holder selling dropped eighty seven percent from February to March, which historically signals that the worst of the downturn is behind us and recovery is approaching. The best crypto presale positions are always taken before that recovery arrives, not after.

Why Pepeto Stands Alone as the Next Crypto to Explode and What Smart Investors Already See

The picture is clear for anyone willing to look. Forty five billion dollars in proven meme coin demand has never had infrastructure built to serve it, and Pepeto is the only project in the market filling that gap with three real products approaching launch.

Every cycle rewards the infrastructure that defines it, and in 2026 that infrastructure belongs to the meme economy. Communities built during extreme fear are the ones that lead the next wave, and Pepeto community has done nothing but grow through the worst market conditions in years. Visit the Pepeto official website and enter the presale before the next bull run turns this window into a memory.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

What is the best crypto presale to buy in 2026?

Pepeto is the best crypto presale in 2026 because it is the only project building three dedicated products for the forty five billion dollar meme coin economy. No other presale combines a zero tax trading platform, cross chain bridge, and verified listing exchange at this stage.

What is the next crypto to explode in this market cycle?

Pepeto is positioned as the next crypto to explode because it fills an infrastructure gap that no other project has addressed. With over $7.43 million raised during extreme fear conditions and three products nearing completion, the project has the traction and utility to lead the meme economy when the market recovers.

What does crypto news today say about the market recovery?

Crypto news today shows Bitcoin ETFs snapping a five week outflow streak with over one billion in net inflows, and long term holder selling dropping eighty seven percent. These signals historically precede major recoveries, which makes presale positioning more urgent than ever.

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.

Bitcoin (BTC) (CRYPTO: BTC) edged up toward $70,000 on Monday as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East cast a long shadow over risk assets. Despite the macro jitters, on-chain metrics painted a mixed picture: short-term holder selling pressure cooled, while derivatives activity revealed a broader deleveraging backdrop. The latest data suggest that recent buyers have withdrawn some of their downside risk, even as price tested key liquidity zones near the round-number milestone.

Key takeaways

• Short-term holder losses to exchanges fell to 3,700 BTC on March 1, against a backdrop of escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, while Bitcoin briefly dipped to around $63,000 in that window. The release indicates a drop in panic-sell behavior from newer entrants compared with the February capitulation episode.
• Bitcoin’s spot and derivatives dynamics show divergent patterns: spot buy-side delta remained positive across major venues (Binance, Coinbase, OKX), while open interest on major exchanges slipped in early 2024, signaling deleveraging rather than blanket selloffs.
• Derivatives metrics point to a marked contraction in leverage: Binance open interest fell from roughly 130,800 BTC to about 97,680 BTC since the start of the year, a roughly 25% retreat, paired with a leverage ratio near 0.146 for the week—levels historically linked to tighter risk conditions.
• The price action is flirting with a crucial external liquidity pocket between $70,000 and $71,500, a zone that could catalyze a move toward $80,000 if buyers marshal sufficient momentum. The monthly RVWAP, anchored in the high-$60k range, remains a reference point for holders with gains on the month.
• Market observers note that the most event-driven holders have paused distribution, with some analysts cautioning that a sustained breakout will depend on whether realized losses stay contained amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

Tickers mentioned: $BTC

Sentiment: Neutral

Price impact: Positive. The current price action suggests that diminished loss-driven selling and renewed spot demand are underpinning the push toward the $70k area, even as the market remains attentive to external risk factors.

Market context: The recent price move unfolds in a background of reduced leverage and a preference for liquidity accumulation, as traders weigh geopolitical developments against ongoing macro uncertainty and shifting risk sentiment.

Why it matters

The latest on-chain signals indicate that the sell pressure from newer entrants has eased, potentially reducing the risk of a rapid capitulation under continued geopolitical pressure. This dynamic matters for both traders and long-term holders; it suggests that a break above the current liquidity zone could be self-reinforcing, drawing in more buy orders as supply/demand imbalances shift toward equilibrium.

From a market structure perspective, the combination of lower short-term losses flowing to exchanges and a cooling in leverage points to a transitional moment. A sustained move through the $70,000–$71,500 region may invite further participation from both retail and institutions, particularly if volatility remains contained and market depth improves on major platforms. The monthly RVWAP near the high-$60k area acts as a barometer for whether the current rally has a firm base or remains a conditional lift tied to external risk events.

However, the risk narrative remains intact. Analysts have highlighted that the most event-sensitive holders have not accelerated distribution, implying that the market could remain sensitive to headlines. If realized losses reaccelerate toward prior capitulation levels, any upside could prove fragile, with volatility potentially re-emerging as geopolitical tensions evolve. In that context, the current price move is as much about macro risk sentiment as it is about technical setup and on-chain behavior.

What to watch next

• Monitor the $70,000–$71,500 liquidity pocket; a clean hold above this zone could invite a test of the $80,000 area where prior supply capped upside in January.
• Track realized loss dynamics in coming days to assess whether losses stay contained or reaccelerate, potentially reigniting selling pressure.
• Watch open interest trends on major derivatives venues for hints of ongoing deleveraging or renewed speculation.
• Observe spot delta across exchanges for signs of renewed bid strength or weakening demand as macro headlines evolve.
• Stay alert to macro/regulatory signals and geopolitical updates, as any escalation could reintroduce volatility into the short-term horizon.

Sources & verification

• Short-term holder loss transfers to exchanges data from CryptoQuant, including March 1 figures (3,700 BTC) and the February capitulation window (89,000 BTC).
• Binance open interest and leverage ratio data from CryptoQuant, noting a drop to 97,680 BTC from 130,800 BTC and a weekly average leverage ratio of 0.146.
• Market commentary on liquidity pockets and HTF (high-timeframe) liquidity zones from trader analyses, including observations on range highs around 70–73K.
• Spot flow data across exchanges indicating positive delta for BTC on Binance, Coinbase, and OKX during the breakout window.
• Technical references to price action around the Monthly RVWAP and the potential implications for annualized gains and positioning strategies.

Bitcoin’s price action tests liquidity pockets as markets weigh geopolitical risk

Bitcoin (BTC) (CRYPTO: BTC) moved toward the $70,000 mark as the Middle East conflict risk intensified, testing the market’s readiness to absorb shocks without a wholesale withdrawal from risk assets. The on-chain narrative shows a stabilizing pattern on the back of decreasing shorts, as shorter-term holders appear to be taking a step back from the frenetic distribution that characterized earlier selloffs. On-chain metrics reveal that realized losses among short-term holders dropped to 3,700 BTC on March 1, even as Bitcoin’s price slid to roughly $63,000 during the same window.

In a comparison to early February, the February 5–6 period saw a much larger capitulation event, with 89,000 BTC moving to exchanges at a realized loss. Since then, the pace of loss-driven inflows has softened, suggesting a cooling in immediate panic. MorenoDV, a crypto analyst, noted that the most event-sensitive holders did not accelerate distributions and described a state of “zero panic”—a signal that the market may be pausing to reassess risk amid ongoing tensions. The crucial takeaway is that the current sell-off impulse appears less aggressive than the February episode, though the risk of renewed selling hangs on the trajectory of external developments.

Derivatives markets paint a nuanced picture. CryptoQuant data show that the BTC derivatives landscape has undergone a meaningful deleveraging, with Binance open interest retreating from roughly 130,800 BTC to 97,680 BTC since the start of the year—a 25% contraction. The estimated leverage ratio hovered around 0.146 on a weekly basis, a level that historically aligns with tighter market conditions as positions are unwound. This backdrop implies that the recent price action may be sustained by a reduction in speculative risk rather than a broad-based rally driven by fresh leverage.

From a price-structure viewpoint, Bitcoin is testing a nearby external liquidity pocket spanning $70,000 to $71,500. A break above this band could set the stage for an expansion toward the $80,000 region, where previous supply constraints left a ceiling in January. Market chatter highlighted that higher-timeframe liquidity pools, especially near the range highs around 70–73K, tend to act as magnets when they accumulate size. The practical implication is that the next significant move may hinge on whether buyers can defend the lower boundary of this pocket and push through to the next milestone.

Spot activity supports a bullish tilt more than a purely speculative push. Data indicating positive delta across Binance, Coinbase, and OKX suggests that demand is anchored in real purchases rather than purely derivatives-driven play. If this spot bid strength persists and the deleveraging trend continues, the market may be better equipped to absorb adverse headlines without a fresh cascade of selling. Yet even with these positive signals, traders remain cognizant of the regulatory and macro uncertainty that can abruptly alter the risk calculus for crypto markets.

The broader market context remains reserved. While risk assets have occasionally benefited from a calmer liquidity backdrop, the ongoing geopolitical situation remains a major variable. As investors scan for guidance, the balance between on-chain signals—lower loss transfers and reduced leverage—and macro headlines will likely dictate whether Bitcoin can convert current strength into a durable uptrend or revert to a consolidative phase.

If you break down what’s standing in the way of advancing the crypto sector’s top goal in Washington — Clarity Act legislation — the part of the debate that the industry can control is narrow: stablecoin rewards.

That’s not the only issue that could potentially derail the bill to finally establish a tailored legal footing for crypto markets in the U.S., but it’s the one in which industry insiders have a strong say. Companies such as Coinbase have been vigorously defending that business turf, wanting to keep giving customers incentives for engaging with stablecoins on their platforms.

But Wall Street banking lobbyists rolled in and made an argument that getting yield on stablecoin accounts is a lot like getting interest on savings accounts, and if the former kills the latter, the death of the deposit business means the strangulation of bank lending. That argument stuck with enough lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that it stopped the Senate’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in its tracks.

Heels have been digging in, and the resulting impasse will get harder to break as the weeks fly by, until the Senate’s own calendar quirks could effectively shove the whole mess toward 2027.

Upper hand?

Until now, the crypto side has argued that it has the upper hand, because the crypto bill that already passed into law — the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act — seemed to allow third-party platforms such as Coinbase to offer rewards tied to other issuers’ tokens, such as Circle’s. However, a newly proposed rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that’s implementing GENIUS concluded that such relationships may violate the intent of the law, leaving the crypto world’s confidence a little shaken.

The last time the crypto and banking negotiators sat down with White House officials, President Donald Trump’s crypto advisers seemed to favor a compromise that would allow some rewards — not for merely holding stablecoins, but for actually using them for transactions and to support crypto infrastructure. Crypto insiders felt confident in their leverage, with GENIUS behind them and the White House favoring certain rewards.

But bank representatives haven’t necessarily seen the White House in the driver’s seat, because the White House doesn’t get a vote in advancing the Senate’s bill. The bankers haven’t yet raised their hands to move beyond their earlier position that virtually all categories of rewards need to be banned, despite the White House having set the end of February as an informal (unmet) deadline for compromise.

So where does that leave things?

The banks can hold out, and if they continue to cast stablecoin rewards as an existential threat to the traditional financial system and Main Street lending, it could keep their allied lawmakers on their side at the fatal expense of the Clarity Act. What they risk is that the GENIUS Act remains the law of the land on this point. The OCC’s latest work may help bolster their confidence that strict rewards limits will be put in place, but that final agency rule would have to land on a very restrictive interpretation.

The crypto industry can also hold out, and if it can successfully lobby against the OCC’s proposed rule, it may still manage to preserve stablecoin reward programs it believes should be allowed under the wording of the GENIUS Act. But that may come at the cost of the Clarity Act, which is the single most important policy aim since the birth of crypto.

Regulations either way

Would an absence of Clarity mean that the industry continues without U.S. regulations? Probably not, because the U.S. markets regulators — the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — are working on rules that will define their crypto jurisdictions. The drawback, though, is that it would be done without the foundation of new law, so the rules would be reasonably easy to peel back or revise under future leadership changes at those agencies.

As if that wasn’t enough for the crypto negotiators to consider, there’s this: If they were to capitulate somehow on stablecoin yield, and the bill advanced along party lines through the Senate Banking Committee (as it already was through the Senate Agriculture Committee), the crypto-industry sacrifice brings no guarantee the effort gets passed by the rest of the Senate.

The problem is that Democratic senators have asked for some other significant points in this bill, and so far, those requests have gone unanswered. They want more vigorous defenses against illicit finance in crypto, especially focused on the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, and some of the Democrats’ past ideas were bashed by the industry as DeFi death threats. They also want politically dicey limits on the personal crypto business ties of senior government officials — most significantly, President Trump. And they demand that vacant Democratic seats get filled in the CFTC and SEC.

None of the points represent impassable roadblocks, but in the months of talks, they haven’t been cleared, yet. Some of the requests — such as commission nominations — would depend on willingness from the White House.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking away on 2026 Senate floor time for a major legislative accomplishment. Because this is a midterm election year, the lawmakers will scarcely be working in the Senate after the end of July. And apart from the scheduling practicalities, the nearness of hot-blooded campaigning erodes the chances of the parties getting together on a bill.

At this stage, insiders on the crypto side of the talks have expressed frustration over the unwavering position of the bankers, even as the digital assets businesses have seemed prepared to abandon stablecoin rewards on accounts in which the tokens are simply held (like a bank account). Still, people like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (“We’re going to reach a win-win-win outcome“) and Ripple CEO Brian Garlinghouse (predicting 80% odds of passage) have sought to maintain industry confidence.

That optimism seems to have kept Polymarket bettors favoring Clarity Act passage this year above a coin flip, currently at 70%.

In the coming weeks, the crypto industry may be forced to decide whether some kind of further sacrifice on stablecoin rewards is worth eliminating one of the major impediments to advancing a bill. And the banks may have to decide whether they can contend with the GENIUS Act’s treatment of stablecoins as it stands. So far, neither are moving, and tension is building.

US President Donald Trump jolted global markets once again on Monday, after warning that a “big wave” is still coming in the escalating Iran conflict.

However, instead of triggering a traditional flight to safety, markets witnessed one of the sharpest cross-asset reversals in recent memory: precious metals plunged while crypto surged.

Markets Defy Safe-Haven Playbook as Capital Rotates From Gold to Bitcoin

Trump described ongoing U.S. military strikes as “very powerful” in an interview with CNN, suggesting that a larger phase of the operation remains ahead.

Within just 60 minutes, gold and silver erased an estimated $1.1 trillion in combined market value. Spot gold fell 2.05%, shedding nearly $100 per ounce and wiping out roughly $750 billion in value.

Meanwhile, Silver posted an even more violent reversal, plunging 7% in under two hours. It erased approximately $370 billion as prices moved toward $88 per ounce.

At the same time, capital rotated aggressively into digital assets. Bitcoin broke above $69,000, surging 5% in roughly 50 minutes and adding an estimated $60 billion to its market capitalization. Ethereum reclaimed the $2,000 level, climbing 5.8% and contributing another $23 billion.

“The Crypto market has added $100 billion in the last 45 minutes, liquidating nearly $80 million in short positions,” one analyst noted.

The divergence caught many off guard, given that investors have been accustomed to gold outperforming during geopolitical stress.

Instead, metals saw heavy selling pressure while crypto absorbed the headline shock and accelerated upward.

Derivatives Signal Limited Leverage as Bitcoin Absorbs Geopolitical Shock

Initial headlines reportedly triggered roughly $300 million in total crypto liquidations. However, derivatives data suggested a more resilient structure beneath the volatility.

Funding rates were sitting in the 6th percentile, indicating limited speculative excess. Open interest declined by only about $1 billion, suggesting that leverage had largely been flushed out before the geopolitical escalation.

Similar Middle East tensions last year led to more disorderly price action. This time, Bitcoin dipped briefly but did not spiral lower.

The absence of aggressive cascading liquidations may signal a market that was already braced for geopolitical risk.

The metals reversal, meanwhile, raises questions about positioning and liquidity dynamics. Quick unwinds in gold and silver futures markets can amplify volatility when crowded trades reverse.

The scale of the move, reaching more than $1 trillion erased in an hour, shows how fragile sentiment can become when expectations shift abruptly.

With Trump signaling that a larger military phase could still lie ahead, volatility is unlikely to fade. The next wave of headlines may test whether crypto’s resilience holds, or whether traditional safe havens regain their footing.

Strategy, formerly Microstragegy, announced today, March 2, that it has acquired an additional 3,015 Bitcoin (BTC), according to an X post from the firm. The purchase totalled approximately $204.1 million, at an average price of $67,700 per Bitcoin.

This latest BTC buy marks Strategy’s largest since January and brings its total Bitcoin holdings to 720,737 BTC, further solidifying its status as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries. The firm, which pioneered the digital asset treasury (DAT) strategy as far back as 2020, has continued to make weekly BTC purchases in recent months.

Last week’s purchase is its largest since Jan. 20, when Strategy bought 22,305 BTC for an average cost of $91,519, according to its website, which marked its largest single purchase since late 2024.

Bitmine Also Buys ETH

Meanwhile, Bitmine Immersion Technologies continues to hold onto its position as the largest Ethereum DAT company, also announcing a fresh purchase today, according to a press release from the firm. The company accumulated nearly 51,000 ETH in the past week alone, bringing its holdings to 4,473,587 ETH, per the release. Bitmine also noted that it is staking a total of 3,040,483 ETH as of March 1.

The continued accumulation from the two largest DATs comes as BTC and ETH both post 24-hour gains in a broad crypto market rally today, despite the escalating military action in the Middle East, after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran this weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

BTC rallied back over $69,000 and ETH pushed over $2,000 today, supported by renewed inflows into spot crypto ETFs at the end of last week.

The DAT trend exploded last year, as an increasing number of publicly traded firms began accumulating not only BTC and ETH, but smaller cap assets. Experts, however, expressed concerns about the risks and questioned the viability of the DAT structure as a long-term strategy, especially for smaller, more volatile crypto assets.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

PI has the second-highest bullish sentiment today (March 2nd).

Last month, Pi Network’s team celebrated a special milestone and announced several important updates aimed at improving the entire ecosystem.

Despite the enhanced volatility, PI closed February in green, which could explain why it has been trending lately.

The Recent Developments and What’s Next?

It was on February 20, 2025, when Pi Network officially launched its Open Network, making PI publicly accessible and enabling exchanges to provide trading services with it. Last month, the team celebrated the first anniversary of that milestone and unveiled several important updates.

It revealed the completion of protocol v19.6, making v19.9 the final step ahead of the much-anticipated v20. The team also reminded that nodes need to migrate promptly, as outdated versions will no longer be able to participate in the network.

Shortly after, Pi Network introduced its long-awaited Ecosystem Token Design, a framework meant to ensure that new tokens on the Mainnet are tied to real utility rather than speculation. The team urged Pioneers to review the mode and provide feedback before final implementation.

Besides that, Pi Network’s co-founders, Chengdiao Fan and Nicolas Kokkalis, answered some hot questions involving the controversial KYC process, the entity’s jump into the AI sector, and other intriguing topics.

The community’s attention has now shifted to March 14: a date known across the community as Pi Day, due to its symbolic resemblance to the mathematical constant π (3.14). The team marked the same date last year with an ecosystem expansion, but it’s unclear whether they plan something similar in less than two weeks. X user Pi Community claimed that Pi Day has always been “a powerful moment to showcase major progress, current work, and what’s next.”

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PI in Focus

PI closed in February at around $0.17, representing a 10% monthly increase. Currently, it trades just south of that mark, which could explain why the asset has been trending lately.

According to CoinMarketCap, PI has the second-highest bullish sentiment today (March 2nd), trailing only Kaspa (KAS). Further down the list are well-known altcoins such as Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), and Ethereum (ETH).

This development has left some market observers baffled. X user Mr. Brondor, for instance, wondered how “a useless crypto” like PI could have one of the strongest bullish sentiments.

Token Unlocks and More

While some industry participants have been floating the unrealistic (at least as of now) idea that PI could explode to as high as $50, certain technical indicators suggest a short-term correction could also be on the way.

Data shows that over the next few weeks, token unlocks will be quite aggressive with the record day being March 7 when almost 21 million coins will be released. This doesn’t guarantee a price decline, but it will allow some investors to offload holdings they have been waiting for some time.

Meanwhile, the amount of PI stored on centralized platforms has been gradually rising lately and now sits at nearly 435 million tokens. This trend is considered bearish, as a growing exchange supply increases the likelihood of a substantial sell-off.

Polkadot price prediction leans bullish as traders position ahead of a major DOT supply cap upgrade.

Polkadot (DOT) is trading at $1.57 at press time, up 1.6% over the past 24 hours. The token has climbed 22% in the last seven days, recovering from a sharp pullback. Even so, DOT is still down roughly 65% over the past year.

Price is moving near the top of its weekly range between $1.24 and $1.74. Spot trading volume came in at $250 million in the last 24 hours, down about 15% from the previous day. In derivatives markets, activity has also cooled.

CoinGlass data shows volume down 25% to $558 million, while open interest slipped 5% to $203 million. As the market awaits the next catalyst, some traders seem to be lowering their exposure. 

Major tokenomics changes set for March

The shift in sentiment comes ahead of a key upgrade floated by Polkadot developer Parity Technologies. Starting March 12, Polkadot will introduce a new issuance framework built around a Dynamic Allocation Pool.

Under the proposal, DOT’s total supply will be capped at 2.1 billion tokens. Treasury burns will end. Instead of removing excess tokens from circulation, newly minted DOT, transaction fees, and slashes will be directed into the DAP, a permanent on-chain account governed by the network.

Issuance will follow a stepped schedule. Emissions will be cut by 53.6% in the first phase. After that, 13.14% of the remaining supply will be issued every two years. The first reduction begins on March 14, 2026. Based on current projections, the supply cap would be reached around the year 2160.

The goal is to create a predictable monetary structure while allowing governance to allocate funds across validator rewards, staking incentives, treasury spending, and a strategic reserve.

Staking reforms and validator rules

Staking rules will also change. Following a transition period, validators will need to hold at least 10,000 DOT as self-stake. 10% will be the minimum commission rate. 

The introduction of a StakingOperator Proxy will enable service providers to run validators for institutional clients in a non-custodial setup. In April, the unbonding period will be shortened from 28 days to 24 to 48 hours, and nominators will no longer be slashable.

These adjustments are designed to improve capital efficiency while maintaining network security as issuance declines.

Polkadot price technical outlook

On the daily chart, DOT is trying to stabilize after months of lower highs and lower lows. The long-term structure is still bearish, but short-term momentum has improved.

After a strong recovery from the $1.30–$1.40 demand zone, the price broke through resistance around $1.50–$1.55. Before the breakout, Bollinger Bands had tightened, and as the price tests the upper band around $1.68, volatility is currently increasing. 

The relative strength index has recovered from near-oversold levels around 30 and is now in the mid-50s. Momentum is no longer deeply negative. A sustained move above 60 would add confidence to the recovery.

If DOT closes cleanly above $1.70, the next likely target sits near $2.00. A break above $2.20 would disrupt the pattern of lower highs and could shift the medium-term structure higher, opening the door to $2.40–$2.60.

If momentum fades and price drops back below $1.40, the recent breakout would weaken. A move under $1.12 would put $1.00 back in focus. With the supply cap narrative approaching and price holding above recent breakout levels, DOT is at a technical crossroads. 

The crypto bear market has dragged down most major digital assets this year, but HYPE has moved in the opposite direction. Year to date, the token is up 23.9%, matching gold’s gain over the same period. The S&P 500 is slightly negative, while bitcoin has fallen 23.7% and ether more than 33%.

The divergence is notable not only because HYPE is crypto-native, but because it has decoupled from the broader digital asset market. Its performance increasingly reflects the value of the platform behind it rather than the market’s direction.

HyperLiquid, the decentralized derivatives exchange that underpins HYPE, is built to monetize activity rather than price appreciation. In bull markets, capital tends to concentrate in spot exposure. In choppier conditions marked by drawdowns and macro shocks, derivatives volume tends to persist. Traders shift from buying to positioning, and the platform collects fees on both sides.

While trading volume on competitor platforms Aster and Lighter has tumbled in recent months, HyperLiquid’s has increased, rising from $169 billion in December to more than $200 billion for both January and February. Aster, meanwhile, went from $177 billion in December to less than $100 billion in February, with Lighter suffering an even sharper drop, DefiLlama data shows.

Total volume on HyperLiquid since its inception has now hit a whopping $4 trillion.

Volatility as a business model

HyperLiquid’s core product is perpetual futures, which allow traders to go long or short with leverage. When prices grind higher, leverage amplifies upside. When markets slide, shorting and basis trades step in. The exchange collects fees on both sides.

That structure becomes particularly relevant in a year marked by turbulence across asset classes. Rather than relying on sustained price appreciation, the exchange captures turnover. In sideways or declining markets, traders often increase frequency, hedge exposure, or rotate into relative-value strategies. Activity replaces direction as the primary driver.

And that business model has yielded positive results. Gross protocol revenue grew by 96% in Q3 of 2025 to $354 million, with the fourth-quarter total hitting $286 million, the majority of which came from perpetual trading fees.

That revenue comes from a super-lean team of fewer than 15 employees, with half focused on engineering. HyperLiquid founder Jeff Yan has also refused investment from venture capitalists to maintain independence – a bold approach uncommon in the crypto industry.

Trading beyond market hours

More recently, HyperLiquid has expanded beyond crypto-native pairs. It now offers synthetic exposure to foreign exchange, commodities and major equity indices. It also provides weekend trading for U.S. equities, an innovation that resonates with retail traders accustomed to crypto’s round-the-clock rhythm.

For a generation raised on app-based brokerage platforms, the traditional market calendar feels restrictive. As seen over the past weekend, geopolitical escalations often land outside the typical weekday trading window. HyperLiquid’s structure allows traders to react in real time rather than wait for Monday’s open.

HyperLiquid’s silver market has also been a resounding success with trading volume nearing $750 million over a recent 24-hour trading period despite traditional markets being closed for the majority of Sunday.

The exchange has also introduced pre-IPO perpetual markets tied to companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX. These instruments are synthetic and do not confer equity ownership, but they offer directional exposure to private companies. In effect, they create a parallel venue for price discovery among retail participants otherwise excluded from late-stage venture valuations.

The product FTX tried to build

The model carries echoes of an earlier vision. FTX pitched 24-hour trading, tokenized equities and seamless leverage across asset classes. Its collapse stemmed from custody risk, shoddy balance-sheet practices, and the commingling of funds.

HyperLiquid operates on a non-custodial framework, with on-chain settlement and transparent vault mechanics. Users interact with smart contracts rather than deposit funds into a centralized entity’s balance sheet. In a post-FTX landscape, that distinction carries weight. Retail traders who absorbed losses from centralized failures remain sensitive to counterparty exposure.

HyperLiquid delivers many of the features once marketed by FTX, but through infrastructure designed to reduce reliance on a single custodian.

The exchange also leans into competition and gamification. Leaderboards prominently rank traders by performance, creating protagonists like James Wynn, who lost $100 million on HyperLiquid after engaging in a high-risk long-only trading strategy using leverage when bitcoin was above $100,000.

The mechanic encourages engagement. Traders can build reputations through short positions, market-neutral strategies or well-timed directional bets, and that creates a buzz on social media – effectively acting as a marketing vehicle even in volatile markets.

The centralization test

Claims that HyperLiquid is insulated from bear markets require context. One year ago, the protocol faced a credibility shock that raised questions about decentralization.

In April 2025, the total value locked in the Hyperliquidity Provider vault fell from $540 million to $150 million within a month. The trigger was a trading episode involving a token called JELLY. A trader opened a large short position on HyperLiquid while simultaneously buying the token on illiquid decentralized exchanges. Thin liquidity distorted price feeds and forced the vault into a toxic position via liquidation.

As JELLY’s reported price spiked to levels unsupported by deep liquidity, the vault’s unrealized losses mounted. HyperLiquid intervened, force-closing the market and settling JELLY at $0.0095 rather than the roughly $0.50 price being relayed by oracles. The decision protected the vault from substantial losses, but it ignited backlash.

Critics argued that a protocol marketed as decentralized had exercised discretionary control reminiscent of a centralized exchange. Governance optics deteriorated quickly. Yield on the vault fell sharply, and users withdrew capital.

Security researchers described the episode as an economic design flaw rather than a smart contract exploit. Jan Philipp Fritsche of Oak Security characterized it as unpriced vega risk, where leveraged exposure to volatile assets drained the risk fund in a predictable manner. The episode underscored that economic vulnerabilities can be as destabilizing as technical bugs.

HyperLiquid later modified its governance process, shifting asset delistings to an on-chain validator voting mechanism. The change did not eliminate scrutiny, but it addressed one of the central criticisms.

The vault has since recovered to $380 million in TVL, offering users a 6.93% APR.

Resilience through activity

Despite the controversy, trading volume on the exchange remained robust, and with competitors Aster and Lighter losing momentum, HyperLiquid is positioning itself as a mainstay in the ongoing cryptocurrency bear market.

Risks remain. Regulatory attention could intensify around synthetic exposure to private companies and U.S. equities. Liquidity fragmentation in thinner markets could resurface pricing distortions. Governance mechanisms will continue to be tested under stress.

Yet HYPE’s relative strength this year reflects a structural distinction. Rather than functioning as a high-beta bet on digital asset appreciation, it increasingly behaves like a claim on a venue that monetizes volatility.

In a cycle defined less by sustained rallies and more by sharp swings, that positioning has mattered.

Bitcoin’s latest governance clash escalated this week as the first block signaling support for a temporary soft fork designed to restrict arbitrary, non-monetary data in the blockchain’s transactions was produced by mining pool Ocean.

The proposal, formally assigned BIP-110 after evolving from earlier drafts, aims to reinstate strict limits on transaction output sizes and arbitrary data fields for about a year. The idea is to curb what proponents see as “spam” uses of block space for non-financial data. They argue that unchecked data, including large inscriptions and so-called OP_RETURN payloads, threaten the original blockchain’s role as sound monetary infrastructure and burden node operators.

The community remains deeply divided. Prominent critics, including Blockstream CEO Adam Back, have warned that consensus-level intervention could harm Bitcoin’s credibility and lead to preferential treatment of some transactions in violation of the principle of neutral transaction capacity. He also questioned the level of support for the proposal, which, he said, increased the risk of the blockchain being split.

Adding fuel to the debate, a developer recently inscribed a 66 KB image in a single transaction on Bitcoin, an apparent pushback against BIP-110’s core claims and a demonstration of how large amounts of data can be encoded even without relying on OP_RETURN.

OP_RETURN and similar approaches are script instructions used to mark a transaction output as invalid for spending, effectively allowing users to repurpose that space to permanently embed arbitrary data — like text or images — directly into the blockchain

As the controversy unfolds, it underscores enduring philosophical tensions within Bitcoin. Should network aggressively defend a narrowly defined monetary purpose or maintain maximal neutrality toward arbitrary uses of its base layer?