Crypto

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig wants to bring perpetual futures home, and it could happen as early as next month, according to his latest statement. In January remarks titled “Limitless: Onshoring True Perpetual Derivatives,” he laid out a vision for pulling crypto's most widely used leverage tool into US regulatory territory. Selig framed perps as instruments […] The post Bitcoin’s $85 billion derivatives engine may move onshore as CFTC eyes April approval appeared first on CryptoSlate.

US Bitcoin ETFs and MicroStrategy Drive $1.2B Demand Surge The post Institutional Accumulation: US Bitcoin ETFs and MicroStrategy Drive $1.2B Demand Surge appeared first on Cryptonews.

Kraken’s banking unit has won approval for a Federal Reserve “master account,” enabling it to move money on existing financial rails.

Your day-ahead look for March 4, 2026

BNY to act as administrator, transfer agent and cash custodian for Morgan Stanley’s proposed Bitcoin Trust.

A symmetrical triangle breakout and an unfilled CME gap are boosting the case that Bitcoin may revisit $80,000 in March. Bitcoin (BTC) bulls are eyeing a move back toward $80,000 in March, with at least three indicators flashing increasing upside momentum. Key takeaways: Bitcoin jumped by over 5% toward $72,000 on Wednesday. Read more

Positioning resets and liquidity expectations have seen Bitcoin retest $71,000 amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

In a first for crypto, Kraken’s banking unit gained access to the US Federal Reserve’s payment system, Fedwire, though without full banking privileges such as interest on reserves. US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken’s banking unit has been granted a limited-purpose master account by the US Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, giving it direct access to the Fed’s core payments system in a first for the crypto industry. Kraken Financial, the exchange’s banking unit, has gained access to the Fed’s payment system, Fedwire, allowing it to move money on the same rails used by banks and credit unions, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City approved a limited-purpose account for Wyoming-based Payward Financial as a “Tier 3 entity,” according to a statement by the bank. Read more

BTC jumped to $71,800 as investors turned to haven assets in light of the escalating Middle East conflict and renewed strength in altcoins.

TRM said a post-strike spike in Nobitex wallet activity looked like routine liquidity moves, even as Chainalysis flagged higher outflows from Iranian exchanges overall. Nobitex, Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, showed no signs of a sustained, user-driven run after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, even as blockchain data indicated a brief spike in activity and higher outflows from Iranian exchanges more broadly, according to separate analyses from TRM Labs and Chainalysis. The TRM report, which examined onchain activity around Nobitex after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, found that the platform recorded a noticeable increase in activity in the immediate aftermath, including transfers exceeding $35 million from hot wallets to cold storage. However, TRM said the transfers were likely part of the exchange’s internal treasury operations. “Based on historical behavior and wallet attribution, these movements aligned with routine liquidity management rather than user-driven withdrawals,” the report said. Read...

The approval lets Kraken speed up deposits and withdrawals for large traders and institutional clients, but is limited.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse backed President Trump’s remarks, saying they were aligned with public interest.

MARA Holdings may be poised to test the current BTC treasury meta. Major miners have been accumulating BTC as a strategic treasury rather than treating it as working capital. A shift could have implications that extend well beyond a single company. The company's March 2 filing authorizes balance-sheet sales of its entire 53,822 BTC treasury, […] The post Second top US Bitcoin miner authorizes sale of entire BTC stash as MARA eyes $3.8 billion liquidity option appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The international watchdog says P2P stablecoin transfers via self-custody wallets can bypass AML checks and urges countries to assess risks and apply proportionate safeguards. Peer-to-peer transfers made through self-custody crypto wallets are a key weak point in the stablecoin ecosystem because they can take place without a regulated intermediary, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said in a new report urging countries to tighten oversight as stablecoins spread into payments and cross-border transfers. In its report on stablecoins, unhosted wallets and P2P transactions, the global anti-money laundering watchdog said transactions conducted directly between users through unhosted wallets can occur without regulated intermediaries such as exchanges or custodians. The FATF said this structure can create gaps in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) oversight because the transactions occur outside the attention of entities required to monitor activity and report suspicious transfers. The report highlighted growing regu...

Trump Administration Threatens Banks Over Crypto Restrictions The post CLARITY Act News: Trump Administration Confronts Banks Over Crypto Banking Access appeared first on Cryptonews.

Bitcoin Reclaims $71K as Middle East Tensions Ease The post Why is Crypto Up? Bitcoin Reclaims $71,000 as Market Shrugs Off Middle East Escalation appeared first on Cryptonews.

[PRESS RELEASE – Tallinn, Estonia, March 4th, 2026] CryptoJets, a global private jet and helicopter brokerage, has announced a partnership with Transacta to support the growing demand for cryptocurrency payments in private aviation. The growing demand for fast and secure crypto payments Demand for cryptocurrency payment options in luxury travel continues to grow as wealth […]

Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund Situational Awareness LP has scaled to $5.52 billion in equity exposure in less than a year by betting on power, data centers and Bitcoin miners. Leopold Aschenbrenner has built a US stock portfolio heavily concentrated in companies that supply the power and infrastructure behind the artificial intelligence boom. The former OpenAI researcher, who left the lab’s superalignment team to launch San Francisco-based hedge fund Situational Awareness LP, has expanded it from $383 million in assets in early 2025 to a reported $5.52 billion in equity positions in its latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund’s 13F filing for Q4 2025 shows a highly concentrated portfolio built around betting that the real winners of the AI boom won’t be chatbots, but the power plants and data centers that feed them. Situational Awareness reported $5.52 billion in US equity positions across 29 holdings, with a large share of that value clustered in a handful of AI infras...

BTC price upside returned during Wednesday's Asia trading session as Bitcoin attacked a long-term trend line and psychological levels. Bitcoin (BTC) passed $71,000 on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions fueled ongoing volatility. Key points: Bitcoin price action teases a fresh breakout after failing to hold $70,000 since January. Read more

XRP served as the proof of concept in an assembly manual for altcoin ETFs. In a Mar. 2 post, Bitnomial argued that the real crypto-ETF shift isn't the SEC's faster timelines, but that regulated futures on CFTC-designated contract markets have become the practical prerequisite for new crypto ETF listings. XRP has moved from the centerpiece […] The post XRP rewrites the playbook for altcoin ETF approvals to surge in late 2026 after a wave of futures listings appeared first on CryptoSlate.