Cryptopolitan

A prominent crypto YouTuber has warned that viral social media claims predicting a massive surge in XRP’s price are misleading investors and distorting expectations about the token’s real potential.

According to Zach Humphries, the viral social media predictions about XRP’s future value are setting investors up for disappointment. In a recent YouTube video, he negated speculation that the asset might reach $245 this year or even $350. He argued that the overhyped price-range predictions are only inflating investors’ expectations on the asset’s future value.

He also stated that influencers and creators are insisting on predictions for their content, and none of their arguments are based on honest, actual market analysis.

XRP needs to grow by 173x  to reach $245

Humphries pointed out that XRP prices predicted in the hundreds are not commensurate with today’s market fundamentals. For the asset to reach $245, it would have to grow nearly 173 times, to a valuation of around $15 trillion, he said. He said the XRP predictions could not be realistically reached since the overall crypto market is only worth $2.5 trillion. Estimates of $350 per XRP may also equate to a valuation of over $21 trillion — well beyond what current market dynamics support.

Despite his doubts, Humphries said he remains confident in XRP’s future and acknowledged the strong foothold it has in the altcoin market. But he cautioned investors not to buy into hype and overhyped forecasts. This kind of forecast is often aimed at investors hoping to see a small XRP position turn a profit, only to disappoint them when the results simply do not track up, he said. He told investors to avoid unrealistic price goals and set reasonable targets based on adoption and market dynamics.

Multiple XRP analysts had also forecast higher prices that failed to materialize last year. Some expected XRP to rise beyond its all-time highs in 2025, reaching double digits, while others speculated on triple- or four-digit pricing. But XRP stayed below $3.84 by the end of the year, and in 2026, it even came close to dropping below $1.

Speaking on some of the 2025 bold predictions, XRP enthusiast King Vale denounced influencers he labeled “fake super clowns” for pushing unrealistic XRP targets to attract inexperienced investors. In his post, he even shared a list of major 2025 XRP forecasts that failed to materialize, citing Jake Claver, Chad Steingraber, and Crypto Sensie.

Many of the missed predictions last year suggested gains ranging from 2,000% to over 5,000%. Most influencers began pronouncing these price targets after the asset grew about 7 times sometime in 2025, following the November 2024 breakout.

XRP ETFs pulled in nearly $19 million over the past week

Meanwhile, XRP ETFs are seeing more inflows despite the asset’s price decline. Per SoSoValue data, XRP ETFs have attracted nearly $19 million in the last week. But XRP is still trading near $1.40, over 60% off its all-time peak, and has shed close to 11% of its value in the past month, according to CoinGecko.

Nonetheless, compared to inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, XRP funds lag incredibly behind. Inflows into Bitcoin ETFs topped $1.3 billion last week. However, experts have asserted that because the two ETF products differ, they shouldn’t be compared directly. Some market commentators also asked investors to keep a level-headed approach to Bitcoin ETF investments.

For instance, Bitwise Asset Management’s chief investment officer, Matt Hougan, said, “We need to remember that Bitcoin ETFs are a massive outlier. They were the most successful ETF launch of all time by a factor of six. They are not normal.”

He further noted that XRP ETFs were doing really well considering the current market conditions.

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Publicly traded Bitcoin miners have disclosed that they sold over 15,000 BTC since last October, just ahead of the market’s all-time high. The downturn sparked a bear market, impacting industry profits, according to TheEnergyMag’s Miner Weekly newsletter.

Following this news, reports indicated that, as companies have reduced their Bitcoin holdings in recent months, the trend of holding BTC as a primary treasury asset, popularized during the 2024–2025 market surge, is losing momentum.

Notably, reports highlighted that various significant players in the mining sector were actively engaged in this sell-off. To support this claim, reliable sources confirmed that Cango sold approximately 4,451 BTC last month, representing approximately 60% of its total reserves. Moreover, Bitdeer allegedly sold all its BTC from its treasury the same month.

Other major players include Riot Platforms and Core Scientific, which executed several Bitcoin sales towards the end of last year and intend to sell about 2,500 of the cryptocurrency in the first quarter, respectively.

Several miners shift their focus towards the AI sectors amid challenges in the mining industry 

Regarding the current state of the crypto market, several analysts argued that what started as a firm commitment to holding BTC, commonly known as HODLing, is losing momentum among publicly traded miners. For them to sustain daily needs, reports highlighted that these miners now opt to embrace the development of AI infrastructure, a capital-intensive, high-appeal business area.

Some factors contributing to the decline in mining profit margins include stiff industry competition, rising energy prices, and lower Bitcoin prices. At this point, sources claimed that the 90% margins miners enjoyed in 2021 have disappeared, creating severe, life-threatening pressure on those relying solely on Bitcoin for survival.

Regarding those who have decided to shift their focus to the AI sector, analysts noted that this trend is accelerating as Bitcoin prices hover around $70,000. This figure is almost 50% lower than the peak reached last October.

To illustrate the intense nature of the situation, the analysts stressed that top-tier mining companies are liquidating or preparing to sell assets to fund their AI expansion.

In attempts to explain the current market situation, recent reports noted that several mining companies successfully boosted sales in the wake of the post-October Bitcoin crash, which had made profitability difficult. Collectively, these firms sold more than 15,000 Bitcoins in five months.

In a statement, Riot stated that, “the ongoing decline in bitcoin’s price might require them to sell more than expected so they can maintain enough cash flow for daily operations and working capital.”

On the other hand, Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), historically recognized for aggressive Bitcoin acquisition, adopted a new operating strategy. In this new approach, the company revised its treasury policy, enabling the liquidation of held reserves rather than restricting sales to newly mined assets. Interestingly, this approach was adopted at a time when MARA held more than 53,000 BTC as of December 31, 2025.

In other words, this scenario demonstrates the end of the  HODLing era as miners are forced to sell their Bitcoin holdings due to profit pressures. At this particular moment, sources highlighted that the hashprice, representing essential miner revenue, has plunged to $30 per PH/s per day, according to a recent analysis of quarterly reports.

Given current market conditions, the majority of publicly traded mining firms are operating at or near zero-margin levels. Following this finding, TheEnergyMag noted that,  “Historically, the difference between hashprice and hashcost has been a major reason for treasury liquidations.” 

Uncertainties surrounding the mining industry as it suffers major debts 

In response to the current situation in the mining industry, several analysts conducted research and found that the recent downward trend differs from previous downturns. This is because a large number of miners began last year with major debts. 

The urge to fund large-scale AI infrastructure development alongside ongoing operational needs, largely driven by the need for massive data center capacity, prompted these miners to demonstrate heightened interest in credit lines, Bitcoin-backed loans, and secured bonds.

With this focus in mind, the three significant miners, Hut 8, MARA Holdings, and Riot, had pledged over 14,500 Bitcoin as collateral for loans towards the end of last year.

To break down the situation for better understanding, analysts explained that the loan-to-value ratio rises as BTC’s price declines. In simpler terms, sharp declines in valuation have increased the necessary collateral ratios, compelling firms to lock up more assets to meet loan requirements.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the marginal recovery in Bitcoin’s value to over $74k has not provided substantial relief to miners, whose operational pressures persist. 

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Numele acțiunilor cloud și software au fost rarele verde de joi, în timp ce piața mai largă a scăzut.

Fondul de calcul cloud WisdomTree (WCLD) a crescut cu 2,7%, stabilind cea mai bună sesiune de la 24 aprilie, când a crescut cu 4,7%. Traderii au continuat să cumpere ticker-e cloud chiar și când petrolul a crescut, iar indicii principali au scăzut puternic.

Scăderea mai amplă a acțiunilor a fost reluată după o pauză de o zi. Îngrijorările legate de războiul din Iran au revenit, pe măsură ce petrolul brut american a depășit 80 USD pe baril.

Petrolul a devenit centrul zilei. A atras atenția de la câștiguri și a pus fiecare grafic de risc pe jar.

The government contractor’s son accused of stealing cryptocurrency assets seized by the U.S. government has been apprehended in the Caribbean through the collaboration of the FBI and the French authorities. 

ZachXBT first caught on to John Daghita’s alleged crime after he bragged and showed off his stolen wealth in a Telegram group chat. Daghita was arrested with multiple hardware wallets and stacks of $100 bills. 

How did a government contractor’s son access millions in seized Bitcoin?

John “Lick” Daghita, a government contractor’s son accused of a massive crypto heist, is now in custody following an international manhunt that reached a dramatic conclusion in the Caribbean.

The FBI confirmed that Daghita was apprehended on the island of Saint Martin through the collaborative efforts of the FBI and the French Gendarmerie’s premier elite tactical unit. 

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest on Thursday, March 5, 2026, via social media, stating that the FBI will work 24/7 with international partners to “track down, apprehend, and bring to justice those who attempt to defraud American taxpayers.” 

During the arrest, authorities found Daghita with a metal briefcase containing stacks of $100 bills, multiple hardware wallets, and several USB drives. 

Cryptopolitan previously reported that the incident started at a Virginia-based firm called Command Services & Support (CMDSS) owned by Dean Daghita, the father of the suspect. 

CMDSS holds an active IT contract with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) that specifically tasks the company with helping the government manage and dispose of seized or forfeited cryptocurrency assets.

Because of this position, the firm had access to wallets that held billions of dollars in digital assets taken from major criminal cases, including the infamous 2016 Bitfinex hack. 

John Daghita then used his access to obtain the information needed to move funds from government-controlled wallets into his own.

The investigation into the breach started in January 2026. On-chain investigator ZachXBT found that a wallet known as 0xc7a2 had received $24.9 million from a U.S. government wallet in March 2024. ZachXBT followed the money further and found another wallet, 0xd8bc, which held approximately $63 million in digital assets obtained during the final quarter of 2025.

CMDSS’s X account, official website, and LinkedIn profiles were all deactivated shortly after the link between John and his father became public, but the FBI still identifies John Daghita as a “government contractor” in official statements.

What led the authorities to the “Lick” alias on Telegram?

Cryptopolitan reported that John Daghita’s downfall was his flamboyant lifestyle and love for showing off his wealth.

For many months, he used the online alias “Lick” and frequently engaged in “brokeshaming” other users on Telegram, but during a heated argument in a group chat with another threat actor named Dritan Kapplani Jr., he caught the attention of ZachXBT. 

Daghita flaunted $23 million in his crypto wallets and moved the funds between different addresses to prove he had control over them.

ZachXBT began tracing the wallet addresses back through the blockchain, and Daghita was exposed. In an effort to cover his tracks, he wiped out his NFT usernames and changed his Telegram screen name. Daghita also allegedly sent small amounts of the stolen Ethereum to ZachXBT’s public wallet to try and implicate him in the crime. 

Recent official reports from the U.S. Marshals Service and DOJ show a growing concern regarding the security of digital assets that are not supported by major exchanges and require specialized contractors for management known as Class 2–4 assets. 

Daghita’s case has prompted calls for a full audit of all government-contracted crypto custody firms to ensure that no other “nepo-babies” have access to the nation’s digital reserves. The U.S. government currently holds over 198,000 BTC. With Bitcoin prices currently hovering near $72,000, the total value of these holdings is tens of billions of dollars.

Daghita is currently being held in Saint Martin and is expected to face extradition to the United States. He will likely face charges related to the theft of government property, wire fraud, and money laundering.

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Nvidia has stopped making AI chips meant for China and is redirecting that capacity into its next platform, Vera Rubin, betting that regulation in Washington and Beijing will keep blocking China sales.

A report from Financial Times alleges that Nvidia has moved manufacturing slots at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) away from the H200 and toward Vera Rubin. Foundry time is limited, so the swap signals Nvidia is not counting on meaningful H200 volume in China soon.

The company has faced months of uncertainty around US export approvals and the risk of Chinese restrictions.

The H200 is an older Nvidia AI processor and has been presented as compliant with US export controls. Vera Rubin, unveiled earlier this year, is the newer architecture, built for heavier AI systems that need faster compute, more memory bandwidth, and better scaling across clusters. Demand is strong from US tech groups like OpenAI and Google.

In Washington, the Trump administration has been talking about limiting Chinese companies to buying 75,000 H200 chips each.

The same per-customer cap would also include Advanced Micro Devices’ MI325 accelerators because they offer similar capability. These accelerators are used to build and run artificial intelligence models.

Vera Rubin gets priority as Trump and Xi near talks

Even with caps, total shipments into China could still reach as many as one million units. Most applications come from a small set of Chinese tech giants, so per-buyer limits would squeeze the totals.

Under that structure, those companies could collectively receive only hundreds of thousands at most. The 75,000 limit is less than half of what companies like Alibaba and ByteDance privately told Nvidia they wanted to buy.

The next few weeks matter because Trump is planning a meeting with Xi. The US president wants a deal that allows H200 exports to Chinese companies classified as nonmilitary. Enforcement stays tricky because advanced chips can be redirected after arrival.

Technically, the H200 is the most powerful chip from Nvidia’s previous generation. It was the industrial standard for training and operating AI software like ChatGPT until Nvidia debuted the current Blackwell line last year. It delivers about six times the computational capability of what Trump’s team had previously cleared for China, and it beats anything Huawei can make.

Beijing rejected earlier efforts to export Nvidia’s less-advanced H20, even though AMD was able to sell some units of an equivalent processor. Trump also weighed Blackwell shipments, then decided against them for now after senior advisers pushed back, leaving H200 as the compromise.

In a February congressional hearing, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said enforcement would rely on detailed license terms Nvidia must follow and declined to state whether he trusts China to comply.

Last week, CFO Colette Kress said small China approvals have brought in no revenue yet, and Nvidia does not know if any imports will be allowed into China.

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Core Scientific a obținut un împrumut de 500 de milioane de dolari de la Morgan Stanley, cu o caracteristică de tip accordion care ar putea extinde angajamentele totale la 1 miliard de dolari, în cea mai semnificativă susținere instituțională de până acum a transformării companiei de infrastructură digitală din miner de Bitcoin în furnizor de calcul pentru inteligență artificială.

Afacerea, evaluată la rata de finanțare garantată pe termen scurt plus 250 de puncte de bază, va finanța dezvoltarea centrelor de date, inclusiv achiziția de echipamente, costurile de pre-dezvoltare, achiziția de imobile și contractarea energiei.

Piața globală de criptomonede a înregistrat o creștere în urma escaladării tensiunilor geopolitice din Orientul Mijlociu. Cu toate acestea, acest avans a reușit să revigoreze o dezbatere de lungă durată asupra unui adevărat activ-refugiu. Eric Balchunas a observat că Bitcoin a crescut cu aproximativ 12% de la atacul din Iran, în timp ce prețurile aurului au scăzut în aceeași perioadă.

Sentimentul investitorilor pentru activele digitale părea să se îmbunătățească, în timp ce alte piețe de active au văzut indici roșii. Indicele Fricii și Avidității arată că melancolia pieței a revenit în categoria „Frica” după ce a petrecut zile sub „Frica Extremă”.

China released a five-year technology plan on Thursday, pledging to push artificial intelligence across its economy, just as a Middle East war began threatening the internet cables and data centers that US tech giants had staked their AI future on.

The 141-page document, released at the opening of China’s National People’s Congress, mentions AI more than 50 times. It calls for the country to “seize the commanding heights of science and technological development” and achieve “decisive breakthroughs in key core technologies,” including quantum computing and humanoid robots.

A separate report from China’s state planning body claimed the country leads the world in AI, biomedicine, robotics, and quantum technology research, and said independent progress has been made in chip development.

The plan calls for trialing robots in sectors facing labor shortages and deploying AI agents that can work with little human oversight. The government also committed to building large computing clusters on cheap power and backing AI open-source communities.

The push comes as Beijing grapples with an ageing population, a deepening tech rivalry with Washington, and the fast rise of Chinese AI developers like DeepSeek.

Yuan Yuwei, a fund manager at Trinity Synergy Investment, said China’s 2025 targets were drawn up before the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. “That’s very negative for China, which counts the Strait of Hormuz as a crucial trade route,” he said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared the Strait of Hormuz shut on March 3, threatening to “set ablaze” any vessel that tried to pass. At least five tankers have been damaged, and around 150 ships are stranded. In the Red Sea, Houthi militants said they would resume attacks on shipping to back Iran, ending a ceasefire in place since late 2025. Both waterways turned into war zones at the same time, which analysts say is without precedent.

For this reason, China moved quickly to protect its own position in the conflict. Beijing secured preferential access through Hormuz for its ships and negotiated with Iranian officials to keep oil and gas tankers safe. According to senior executives at Chinese state-owned gas companies briefed by government officials, Beijing asked Iran not to target tankers in the waterway and to leave export hubs like Qatar alone.

Washington distracted in guarding the chips from China, ignoring infrastructure

The war has put more than oil at risk. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google built data centers across the Gulf and ran undersea cables through two narrow passages, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, to reach Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Both are now closed to commercial traffic.

Around 17 submarine cables cross the Red Sea, carrying the bulk of data traffic between Europe, Asia, and Africa. More cables pass through the Strait of Hormuz, serving Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. If they are cut, repair ships cannot safely get to them.

“Closing both choke points simultanceously would be a globally disruptive event,” said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik. “I’m not aware of that ever happening.”

Drones hit three AWS data centers over the weekend, two in the UAE and one in Bahrain. AWS told customers to think about moving workloads out of the Middle East, saying the regional environment “remains unpredictable.”

US security planning in the Gulf focused on keeping advanced chips away from China, not on protecting physical infrastructure from attack.

“U.S. government and industry leaders have prioritized expansion over kinetic risk mitigation, reflecting how AI development is outpacing national security doctrine,” said Sam Zabin of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

A White House visit to the Gulf last May brought in $2.2 trillion in investment pledges.

OpenAI, G42, Oracle, Nvidia, and SoftBank announced Stargate UAE, a planned 5-gigawatt AI campus in Abu Dhabi. Amazon put $5 billion into an AI hub in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s Humain.

“The structural advantages have not yet changed, although the story is still being written,” said Ryan Bohl of RANE Network. “If this conflict continues, there will increasingly be a greater likelihood that major impacts will alter the perception of safety and value for the long term.”

US battles soaring electricity bills at home

Apart from the risk to its infrastructure, the U.S is trying to work around criticism of energy use by Big Tech. Seven tech companies, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon, signed a “ratepayer protection pledge” at the White House this week. They agreed to build or buy new power for their data centers, pay for grid upgrades, and hire locally where they build.

Trump said the deal “will help keep down utility bills very substantially,” though he said it would “take a little bit of time to get there.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the goal is to lead in AI “without raising electricity prices for Americans.”

John Quigley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania was skeptical. “The burden of proof is on them,” he said of White House officials, “to prove this is more than just a stunt.”

Trump had promised to halve household energy bills in his first year. Residential prices rose 6% in 2025 instead, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The war with Iran could push them higher, analysts say, as supply chains tighten and oil and gas prices rise.

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Rusia se pregătește să legalizeze tranzacțiile cu criptomonede, dar propriile sale restricții, pe lângă sancțiunile occidentale, sunt așteptate să o deconecteze în mare măsură de piața globală de criptomonede.

Regulatorii din Moscova doresc acum să canalizeze majoritatea operațiunilor cu monede prin intermediul jucătorilor financiari tradiționali, cum ar fi băncile și brokerii, limitând efectiv accesul legal la activele digitale.

Băncile rusești vor primi licențe pentru schimbul de criptomonede

Banca Centrală a Rusiei (CBR) sugerează permiterea instituțiilor financiare consacrate, cum ar fi băncile comerciale și brokerajele, să lucreze cu criptomonede sub licențele lor existente.

Solana turned into a payment and settlement layer, boosting its use cases. Even with an outflow of token launches, Solana showed its network still had utility and a source of regular fees. 

Solana turned into a settlement layer for payments in the past year, outperforming other networks and some fintech apps. While fintech has advanced in the past year, some of the payments are still using outdated rails, have downtime, or cause delays. 

The latest Messari research shows Solana is turning into a new platform adopted as a payment rail and an alternative to fintech. As Cryptopolitan reported, one of the latest signs is the expansion of stablecoin payments in February. 

Toward the end of 2025, Solana was also added to Revolut as a payment gateway, further exposing the network to mainstream users. Solana wallets like Phantom also focus on easy payments and value transfers. 

Total payment volume on Solana is up by over 755%

Total payment volume on Solana grew by 755.3% in 2025, based on Messari’s methodology. The growth of Solana surpassed other fintech apps, which also saw increased volumes. 

In the past year, Solana’s Total Payment Volume (TPV) growth significantly outperformed both leading fintechs and peer blockchains, increasing 755.3% YoY.

This is nearly triple the median growth rate of 268.24%. pic.twitter.com/R8LY1SDHxZ

— Youssef (@0xYoussef_) March 5, 2026

The Solana network carries 46% of stablecoin transfers among its peers, including competing L1 and L2 chains and fintech apps. In the past year, Solana carried an estimated $2.61B in stablecoin payments. 

Solana competes with Polygon, Base, and Arbitrum for fast and cheap payments. Just like Polygon, Solana aims to add payments as one of its main use cases, to offset the slowdown of other narratives and use cases. 

In 2025, Solana got a boost from partnerships with VISA, Stripe, and Worldpay, where the chain was used to accept and settle stablecoin payments. VISA’s USDC pilot program passed $3.5B in annualized volume. Worldpay reduced processing times by 50% using the Global Dollar Network (USDG), explained Messari. Solana carries 57% of the USDG supply, in addition to other stablecoins. 

Solana becomes the venue for branded stablecoins

Solana is one of the most active venues for USDC, but has also seen an inflow of branded assets. The chain carries a significant part of the supply of PYUSD, which increased its payment speed by 500% in the past year. 

Solana attracted several stablecoins, though USDC remains the most active asset. | Source: Dune Analytics

Western Union also chose Solana to launch its native stablecoin. Fiserv also launched its FIUSD, tailored as a tool for interbank payments. 

The Gusto project aims to further speed up USDC payments and make them compatible with small businesses in the USA. 

The increased payment volume boosted the Solana network fees. Solana is now the second-biggest fee producer after TRON, with over $5M in weekly fees from transactions. The increased network activity supported SOL, which recovered to $88.48 after the latest dip below $80.

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The OKB token exploded over 41% to $120 just hours after the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced an investment in OKX at a $25 billion valuation today, March 5. 

The news sent the exchange token vertical as both institutional and retail traders rush to ready themselves before the New York Stock Exchange possibly launches tokenized stock trading later this year.

The token’s price increase drove a 24-hour trading volume to over $470 million, which is approximately 1,657% more than the usual daily volume of around $44 million.

OKX’s OKB token has cooled off since its initial vertical surge on the news of the ICE announcement. Source: CoinMarketCap

ICE, which is also the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, will get a board seat at OKX as part of the investment.

The specific details of the investment are yet to be revealed, but Halder Rafique, OKX’s global managing partner, said it’s not just a “very casual investment”.

Token explosion signals market conviction

OKB was trading around $77 before the announcement, running as high as $120, although the price has since cooled. A surge like that reflects a market conviction that ICE’s backing will make OKX a legitimate traditional finance (TradFi) to crypto bridge.

According to Fortune, this deal will allow OKX to enable users to trade tokenized stocks and derivatives listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which will most likely begin in the latter part of 2026. OKX will also provide live price feeds of crypto assets tradeable on its exchange to ICE as well.

The price action is also a recovery from OKB’s recent trading range, although it is still a fair way from its all-time high price above $220 in 2025.

While ICE has declined to specify investment terms or the exact stake acquired, the deal’s structure reveals strategic priorities beyond regular venture capital.

OKX will provide ICE with real-time crypto feeds (competing with data from Coinbase and Binance), while developing the infrastructure for OKX users to trade blockchain-wrapped NYSE stocks with benefits like lower gas fees and 24/7 trading.

OKX positioning for US expansion post-settlement

The ICE partnership comes as part of OKX’s aggressive US market entry, following a troubling compliance history.

In February 2025, OKX reached a $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Two months after that, OKX relaunched US operations in California with a new CEO and compliance framework.

The timing of the ICE announcement also contrasts with Binance drawing renewed compliance scrutiny.

“We are the sober ones in the industry in many ways,” Rafique claimed, positioning OKX as the compliance-focused alternative to offshore competitors.

The OKX investment also represents ICE’s third major crypto move in four months, following a $2 billion Polymarket investment in October 2025, and a January announcement of tokenized securities trading infrastructure.

Nonetheless, with 21 million tokens in fixed supply and nearly a $2 billion market cap, OKB is now trading at a small fraction of the $88 billion valuation of BNB, the token of the world’s largest exchange.

That gap represents either a massive upside and market share capture if OKX delivers, or a sore reminder that announcements don’t guarantee growth.

OKX’s ability to convert the DOJ settlement stigma into trust and deliver on its second half of 2026 timeline will determine whether the surge was the beginning of consistent growth or just a temporary, speculative spike.

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Dogecoin (DOGE) retained a surprisingly high liquidity. The market depth for the meme coin is around twice as high as for BTC. 

Dogecoin (DOGE) remains one of the most liquid assets, not only among meme tokens and coins. Compared to BTC, DOGE has a greater market depth, according to recent Kaiko research. 

Market depth is the main metric for slippage, and is closely watched to gauge eventual corrections. BTC stalled just below $73,000, once again raising concerns about selling pressure. 

DOGE retains liquidity even after the October 10 crash

According to Kaito research, the crypto market saw major shifts in available liquidity. DOGE held up surprisingly well, both in comparison to altcoins and to BTC. Kaito noted that DOGE increased its market depth after the October market crash, going against the market trend. 

DOGE book depth recovered quickly in 2026, according to Kaito research. According to the latest gauges, on average, DOGE 1% market depth sits around $13M, while BTC 1% market depth is at around $6M. 

Liquidity conditions may vary and change quickly, but DOGE shows it has not turned into a dead asset. DOGE still traded with much lower volumes compared to BTC and ETH, but was widely distributed on exchanges, tapping multiple global markets. 

DOGE is also a mined coin, adding to its longevity and resilience. Litecoin and Dogecoin mining rate is now close to its highest level in the past three months. 

Did a DOGE ETF boost market liquidity?

DOGE performed with great resilience in the past five months, contrary to the overall market sentiment. One of the reasons was the approval of DOGE ETF, which boosted inflows. 

Currently, there are four live DOGE ETFs and two more pending. The funds have a relatively low level of assets under management, but still managed to attract buying even during the market downturn. 

DOGE open interest also increased in the past few days, rising to over $445M, from a recent low of $353M. 

DOGE remained around a three-month low of $0.09. Despite this, the coin has seen some short-term rallies. Historically, DOGE has gone through significant breakouts and surges in interest. 

In early 2026, DOGE transactions are down to all-time lows of around 24K per day. During active periods, DOGE has handled over 2M daily transfers. Currently, the DOGE network carries around 50K daily active wallets. 

One big boost for DOGE may be the introduction of payments through X. DOGE has been promised to become the asset for micropayments, though adoption has lagged despite Elon Musk’s promises.

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Platformele de piață de predicție sunt sub supravegherea autorităților de reglementare și a legiuitorilor din cauza unei serii de pariuri controversate pe arme nucleare, război și lideri străini.

Aceasta ridică întrebări serioase despre cine tranzacționează și ce ar putea ști înaintea restului dintre noi.

Polymarket retrage contractul nuclear după reacții negative

Polymarket, unul dintre cele mai mari nume din domeniul piețelor de predicție, a retras în tăcere un contract săptămâna trecută care le permitea utilizatorilor să parieze dacă o armă nucleară ar fi detonată în acest an.

Pagina arată acum un mesaj simplu: “Evenimentul a fost arhivat.” Înainte de a fi retras, piața, care oferea date de rezolvare pentru 31 martie, 30 iunie și înainte de 2027, atrăsese deja mai mult de 650.000 de dolari în volum de tranzacționare, conform unei versiuni cached a paginii.

Western Union has joined forces with a blockchain payments firm to launch a new digital dollar token, even as Washington’s effort to regulate the crypto industry hits a wall.

The money transfer company said Wednesday it had partnered with Crossmint to bring its USDPT stablecoin to the Solana blockchain. The deal connects Crossmint’s wallet and payment tools to Western Union’s payout system, enabling fintech firms and developers to tap into the new token through the platforms they already use.

BREAKING: @WesternUnion is launching USDPT, a new stablecoin on @solana.@Crossmint will power wallets and payment APIs connected to Western Union's Digital Asset Network.

Stablecoins will be redeemable through 360,000 cash locations in 200+ countries.https://t.co/pPNmJwork3

— Solana Payments (@solanapayments) March 4, 2026

Through the USDPT token, users will be able to swap digital dollars for local currency at more than 360,000 Western Union cash pickup locations across more than 200 countries and territories. The company first mentioned the stablecoin in October 2025, with a planned launch in the first half of this year. Its network already moves money in more than 130 currencies through shops, bank accounts, and digital wallets.

Crossmint says it serves more than 40,000 clients and provides tools, including smart wallets and cross-chain stablecoin management. The company says its platform makes it easier for businesses to add stablecoin payments without heavy technical work.

Stablecoins have been drawing interest as a cheaper, faster option, with settlements happening almost immediately.

That is particularly relevant in economies where local currencies have lost value.

Chainalysis found in October 2025 that stablecoins account for more than half of crypto purchases made in Argentine pesos, Brazilian reals, and Colombian pesos on major exchanges across Latin America.

Former UN under-secretary-general Vera Songwe told a World Economic Forum panel in January that stablecoins are also gaining ground in Africa as a remittance tool, adding that money sent home by workers now outweighs foreign aid for the continent.

Banks pull plug on White House crypto deal

Back in the United States, the legislation meant to govern all of this is in trouble. Crypto bill talks broke down after banks said they could not support a White House compromise, doubting whether any law would pass before the year is out.

Trump, whose family has its own crypto token and who actively courted crypto donors during his campaign, went on Truth Social Tuesday to blast the banking industry. “We are not going to allow them to undermine our powerful Crypto Agenda,” he posted.

The bill, the Clarity Act, would set out rules for when digital tokens are classed as securities or commodities, and would create a framework for stablecoins.

Banks had already killed an earlier version in January over a provision that would have let crypto firms offer rewards on stablecoins, which lenders say could pull deposits out of banks. Standard Chartered has put that potential outflow at around $500 billion by the end of 2028.

The White House tried offering a solution last month with a compromise that would allow stablecoin rewards in limited cases, such as peer-to-peer payments, but not on money sitting idle. Crypto firms agreed to that. Banks did not. A banking industry source said lenders still believe even the narrowed terms could trigger deposit flight.

Industry warns July deadline or crypto reform dies

The crypto industry spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto candidates in the 2024 elections. Now, with summer recess approaching and floor time in short supply, insiders say the clock is ticking.

“If this doesn’t get passed and put in front of the President’s desk, I’d say by July, I think everyone feels that, generally, that window will have been closed because of the mid-terms,” said Adrian Wall, managing director of the Digital Sovereignty Alliance. “It will be a tremendous setback that will be very difficult for us to overcome.”

The industry is not waiting around, as Western Union is not alone in moving fast.

Cryptopolitan reported recently that Visa and Bridge announced their stablecoin card program would be available in more than 100 countries by the end of the year. Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm owned by Stripe, currently runs stablecoin-backed Visa cards in 18 countries. The expansion will extend that reach into Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.

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President Donald Trump gathered the leaders of America’s most powerful technology companies at the White House on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, to sign a Ratepayer Protection Pledge.

The pledge is a voluntary commitment by the likes of Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI to build, finance, or procure their own power generation and cover all infrastructure upgrades associated with their data centers, ensuring that those costs are not passed on to ordinary American households.

The move addresses a growing political liability for a Trump administration that has pushed for more investments in AI and infrastructure developments of data centers. 

A CNBC analysis published last November found that average electricity prices had risen more than 6% nationally, with households in states like Virginia, Illinois, and Ohio hosting high concentrations of data centers seeing rates climb by as much as 12% to 16% over the past year. 

Other states like California and Texas have also seen slight bumps in their electricity bills.

What exactly are the tech companies promising to do?

Under the terms of the pledge, companies will negotiate separate rate structures with utilities and state governments and are committed to pay those rates for power and related infrastructure brought online to service their data center, whether they use the electricity or not. 

They will also coordinate with grid operators to make backup generation resources available, contributing to grid resilience and helping to prevent blackouts during emergencies.

David Sacks, the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, hailed the deal on X as a superior alternative to “Bernie Sanders’ total ban on new data centers, which would halt the construction boom currently driving wage growth and job growth for blue-collar workers.” 

Sacks believes the pledge would lower electricity prices when AI companies pay for grid upgrades and sell surplus power back to the grid. The pledge also commits signatories to hire and train workers from within the communities where they build and operate facilities, a provision the White House said would create thousands of local jobs.

The signing follows a series of executive actions by Trump to address energy bottlenecks in the AI sector, including regulatory reforms to accelerate deployment of advanced nuclear reactors for data center use, the “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan” launched in July 2025, and an intervention by the National Energy Dominance Council in January 2026 in the troubled PJM power market, a move the White House says “will drive what is expected to be the single largest development of power plants in U.S. history.”

Will the pledge actually protect consumers from rising bills?

Roughly ten days ago, some energy experts and environmental groups cast their doubts on President Trump’s pledge. 

Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, told Politico that the White House was “putting this pledge on the wrong entities,” since the details of how energy costs are distributed among ratepayers are determined by utilities and state regulators, not by the technology companies signing the document. 

Brandon Owens, a grid expert and founder of advisory platform AIxEnergy, noted that most cost pressure comes from transmission, distribution, and system readiness; expenses are likely to persist even if a data center self-supplies generation.

Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, pointed out that the voluntary agreement contains no enforcement mechanisms and provides ratepayers with no means of verifying whether companies honor their commitments, with climate group 350.org dismissing the pledge as a “theatrical stunt with no enforceable mechanism.” 

AI rush and power demands push Bitcoin miners to pivot

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge comes at a time when a parallel transformation is underway in the cryptocurrency sector. Bitcoin miners, who already operate large-scale data centers with secured power capacity and the precise infrastructure now in demand, are liquidating their coin holdings at an increasing pace to fund pivots into AI and high-performance computing. 

More than 15,000 BTC have been sold from peak treasury holdings across publicly listed miners, according to data from BTC Treasuries, with sales from Core Scientific, Bitdeer, Riot Platforms, and Bitfarms accounting for the bulk of those disposals. 

Core Scientific, one of the largest listed miners, sold roughly 1,900 Bitcoins for approximately $175 million in January and expects to liquidate substantially all of its remaining holdings during the first quarter of 2026, directing proceeds towards AI colocation expansion. 

Bitdeer has reduced its treasury to zero, having raised a further $368 million through convertible notes and equity to fund data center and AI cloud growth. Bitfarms’ chief executive officer Ben Gagnon has been blunt about the shift, declaring, “We are no longer a Bitcoin company.”

It is also worth noting that the same technology giants whose energy appetites drove Trump’s ratepayer pledge are also the end clients that pivoting Bitcoin miners are rushing to serve, and these giants are also heavily involved in the investments that are pushing these pivots, as the AI race intensifies.

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Bybit a lansat oficial competiția Wall Street Showdown a Festivalului de Acțiuni Bybit TradFi cu un fond de premii de 100,000 USDT.

Competiția de tranzacționare Bybit TradFi în curs de desfășurare se încheie pe 10 aprilie 2026, disponibilă doar pentru utilizatorii eligibili Bybit TradFi, excluzând utilizatorii Pro și instituționali.

Utilizatorii noi pot revendica sarcini prin intermediul Hub-ului de Recompense după finalizarea unui proces obligatoriu de Verificare a Identității Lv. 1.

Bybit a lansat oficial competiția Wall Street Showdown a Festivalului de Acțiuni Bybit TradFi cu un fond de premii de 100,000 USDT. Competiția de tranzacționare în curs de desfășurare se încheie pe 10 aprilie 2026 și este disponibilă doar pentru utilizatorii eligibili Bybit TradFi, excluzând utilizatorii Pro și instituționali.

Acum șapte luni, ChangeNOW deja lua avans față de restul. Benchmark-ul de viteză al Swapzone pentru mijlocul anului 2025 a înregistrat schimbul la o medie de aproximativ 1.8 minute pe schimb: suficient de rapid pentru a revendica prima poziție dintre cele opt platforme testate. Rivalul său cel mai apropiat, Changelly, a întârziat la aproximativ două minute. Toți ceilalți nu erau cu adevărat în conversație.

Acum, diferența s-a lărgit la ceva mai aproape de o prăpastie.

Raportul de urmărire al Swapzone din 2026, Benchmark-uri de Viteză: Compararea Schimburilor Non-Custodiale 2026, se bazează pe 150.000 de tranzacții finalizate pentru a contura o imagine a unei industrii care încă se confruntă cu o problemă pe care ChangeNOW pare să o fi rezolvat în mare parte. Mediana de piață pentru un schimb USDT-ETH se situează în prezent la 45 de minute. Mediana ChangeNOW pentru aceeași pereche: sub 60 de secunde. Aceasta nu este o diferență marginală, este o diferență de 45x.

Tokenul Aave încearcă să iasă dintr-un interval de tranzacționare strâns, deoarece Aave Labs a publicat rezultatele complete ale auditurilor sale de securitate V4, care au implicat 345 de zile de recenzii acumulate care nu au găsit vulnerabilități de severitate ridicată.

Raportul de audit din 4 martie avansează actualizarea de protocol mult contestată cu o zi după ce inițiativa Aave Chain condusă de Marc Zeller (ACI) a anunțat plecarea sa din cauza tensiunilor crescânde de guvernanță.

Într-un raport intitulat „Securitate prin design: Aave V4,” Aave Labs a detaliat un program de un an începând din martie 2025 până în februarie 2026, care a inclus desfășurarea a 15 cercetători în patru firme de audit, verificări formale, teste de invariabilitate și un concurs public de șase săptămâni.

Shares of Solana-focused infrastructure firm SOL Strategies surged about 21% after the company reported strong growth in its staking operations, including rapid adoption of its new liquid staking platform. The rally followed a February business update showing expanding validator activity and rising assets under delegation.

The company said its STKESOL liquid staking platform surpassed 691,000 SOL staked and attracted 1,034 holders within weeks of launch. Investors’ confidence has grown significantly since this update was issued, as the business continues to expand its validator and staking operations on Solana amid broader market turmoil.

According to the Canada-based firm’s February performance report, users, assets under delegation, and staking rewards have all been steadily ascending — all important metrics for companies with validator and staking services.

SOL Strategies embraced liquid staking, enabling users to earn rewards while keeping their assets liquid via tokenized staking positions. This move enables them to access an additional source of income beyond the company’s validator and institutional staking services.

The company has said that STKESOL’s growth contributed to the overall increase in validator activity. Its validator network grew to 33,568 unique wallets in February — up from approximately 31,000 at the beginning of the month.

In addition to liquid staking, SOL Strategies stated that its total assets under delegation stood at 3.87 million SOL. This includes the company’s own treasury stake and tokens delegated by third parties. The company’s proprietary validators made approximately 1,276 SOL in rewards during the month

Multiple revenue streams support expansion

Michael Hubbard, interim CEO of SOL Strategies, said the company was continuing to scale its staking infrastructure despite volatility in the cryptocurrency market. He added that the staking platform now had four revenue streams running simultaneously: treasury staking, third-party delegated staking, liquid staking, and institutional staking services.

Partnerships such as the one with global asset manager VanEck were part of its institutional offering, he said. Strong year-on-year growth was also demonstrated in the company’s most recent quarterly results. That was 69% higher than the same quarter a year earlier.

Staking and validator rewards totaled 9,787 SOL in the quarter, up 120% year on year. These numbers imply that the firm’s emphasis on Solana-based infrastructure has grown substantially in the last year. Execution, Hubbard said, remains top of mind as the company pushes to sustain this momentum.

Apart from this milestone, SOL Strategies’ Solana portfolio surged to approximately 529,000 tokens from an initial record of 139,726. The increase reflected both a robust balance sheet and heightened investment in Solana. 

Stock rebounds despite longer-term decline

SOL Strategies’ shares closed up 20.97% Wednesday on the Nasdaq at $1.50 after the update. The steep surge reflects optimism among investors on the growing scope of the company’s staking businesses, as well as its new liquid staking product. 

Despite recent gains, the stock has dropped 75.81% over the past six months. SOL Strategies — like many crypto-related equities — has also been hit by broader market trends and price movements in digital assets. The February update also covered governance changes ahead of the company’s planned annual shareholder meeting on March 31. 

The company said Michael Hubbard will transition from interim CEO to permanent chief executive. In the past, SOL Strategies was known as Cypherpunk Holdings. The company acquired SOL in Q2 2024 and formally rebranded in September 2024, in line with its focus on Solana-specific growth. 

Since then, it has served as a treasury and infrastructure company focused on Solana validators and staking products/services. That strategy is being bolstered by the explosive growth of its liquid staking platform. 

For investors, the latest numbers indicate that SOL Strategies is growing into a more diversified staking business, with multiple income streams tied to the Solana ecosystem. 

There are still market risks, though STKESOL’s strong uptake and rising delegation figures have clearly helped shore up short-term confidence, as evidenced by the 21% jump in the stock.

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