Crypto Weekly Summary

Bitcoin Proves More Resilient Than Gold and Silver from Gulf Conflict

March 29, 2026

Weekly Recap: Total Market Cap (1.9%) to $2.38T

• Week in Review
  • The crypto sector is little changed on the week and since early February the broader crypto market has continued to trade in the $2.3-2.6T range. JPM notes that BTC showed market resilience and increased activity during the conflict in Iran, while gold and silver experienced significant liquidations and position unwinds. Gold ETFs recorded $11B in outflows during March, and silver ETF flows reversed all gains made since the previous summer; conversely, BTC sustained positive inflows as users, particularly within Iran shifted capital to self-custody wallets and international platforms to hedge against currency devaluation and economic instability.
  • At the House Committee on Financial Services hearing on the tokenization of securities, a clear partisan divide emerged as GOP members prioritized innovation and global competitiveness while Democrats emphasized investor protection. Industry witnesses from Nasdaq and SIFMA characterized tokenization as an evolutionary update to existing infrastructure rather than a revolutionary shift requiring an entirely new regulatory framework, though crypto-native and traditional witnesses disagreed on whether to pursue formal notice-and-comment rulemaking or faster, existing SEC methods. Despite these procedural differences, a general consensus formed regarding the risks of creating parallel, unlinked markets that could undermine Regulation NMS and best execution rules. Additionally, witnesses identified specific legal hurdles to modernization, most notably citing the 1982 Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act as a primary headwind for the tokenization of bonds.
  • The legislative focus for the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act has shifted to a critical May deadline to clear the Senate floor before the November midterm elections likely stall bipartisan progress. In response to the leaked Senate draft’s strict passive yield ban, the CRCL share prices saw a 7% recovery following a 20% crash the prior day. The formal Senate Banking Committee markup is scheduled for late April. This legislative pivot directly threatens Circle’s core revenue model which relies on interest from its ~$78B Treasury reserve by closing pass-through loopholes that previously allowed partners like Coinbase to incentivize USDC adoption through yield sharing.
• Highlights
  • Bitcoin/DLT/DeFi
    • BlackRock’s head of digital assets highlighted AI as a key driver for the next phase of crypto growth (CoinDesk)
    • Coinshares Q1 mining report: mining economics have significantly worsened since late 2025 (Report)
    • All in one DeFi platform Backpack (BP) unveils native token BP (CoinDesk )
    • Ethereum Foundation teams launch pq.ethereum.org, a resource for post-quantum security efforts (Ethereum )
    • ETH ICO participant sells ~$23M in ETH (TheBlock )
    • TRM Labs integrates new AI agent into its Forensics service (PR )
    • Ethereum Foundation launches pq.ethereum.org to secure Ethereum against future quantum computing threats (CoinDesk )
    • Ethereum staking protocol Lido reports FY revenue (23%) y/y and profits shrinking as staking yields fall (The Block)
    • Virtuals announces launch of virtuals console, an AI agent platform requiring no code (Virtuals )
    • Ondo/Canton in the spotlight this week as more institutions leverage the blockchains (CoinDesk )
  • Corporate
    • Tether has paused plans to raise $15-20B as it awaits the results of its first full financial audit (Bloomberg)
    • Mizuho expects Mastercard will become the network connector linking the fiat and crypto worlds (The Block )
    • Franklin Templeton partners with Ondo Finance to create tokenized versions of five of its ETFs (The Block )
    • Anchorage Digital adding support for Tron custody and network staking (The Block)
    • LayerZero has integrated its interoperability protocol with Canton to support cross-chain asset transfers (MEXC)
    • Katana acquires IDEX, announces new perps offering (Katana )
    • NYSE and Securitize to develop 24/7 tokenized securities platform (TheBlock )
    • Binance announces new restrictions to market makers, necessitates that they must disclosed partners (CoinDesk )
    • Visa joining Canton (CC) as Super validator (TheBlock )
    • Crypto firms including Crypto.com, Gemini and Algorand lay off workers amid crypto downturn and AI integration (CoinDesk)
    • Crypto exchange EDXM International to launch blockchain-based perpetual futures of KRW-USD currency pair (Bloomberg)
    • Australian superannuation fund HostPlus explores possibility of offering members access to crypto investments (Bloomberg)
    • Polymarket and Kalshi CEOs back new VC firm 5c(c) Capital focused on prediction market startups (CoinDesk)
  • Stablecoins/CBDCs
    • NBY unveils new stablecoin focus, changes name to Stablecoin Development Corp (SDEV) (Novabay )
    • Bitget launches onchain payments matrix, a stablecoin infra platform (Bitget )
    • USD T0 launches on Tempo (TheBlock )
    • Citigroup sees potential slowing of Circle’s stablecoin rewards but not complete restriction (CoinDesk )
    • Resolv USR stablecoin suffers $25M contract vulnerability exploit causing token to depeg from the dollar (TheBlock)
  • Politics/Regulation
    • Crypto exchange CoinDCX co-founders arrested on allegations of criminal breach of trust (EconomicTimes)
    • UK will implement moratorium on all political donations made through crypto (The Block )
• Data – Last Price, 7D%, Fully Diluted Valuation
  • Bitcoin (BTC) $66,751 / (1.8%) / $1401.77B
  • Ethereum (ETH) $2,014 / (1.8%) / $243.01B
  • XRP (XRP) $1.34 / (3.3%) / $134B
  • BNB (BNB) $613.95 / (2.1%) / $83.72B
  • Solana (SOL) $82.71 / (4.1%) / $51.56B
  • Hyperliquid (HYPE) $38.02 / +0.05% / $36.57B
  • TRON (TRX) $0.32 / +3.5% / $30.49B