The post Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Secures up to $1B Morgan Stanley Funding for AI Pivot appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

On Thursday, Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific Inc. (Nasdaq: CORZ) announced that it had secured up to $1 billion from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to accelerate the shift of its Bitcoin mining facilities (all 10 sites) into AI data centers.

Per terms of the agreement, Core Scientific will receive an initial $500 million, 364-day loan. An accordion feature allows it to increase this amount to up to $500 million.

The firm will use the funding to purchase equipment, land, and cover the extra energy costs associated with high-density colocation for its AI clients.

Core Scientific stimulus loan to transition to AI

The recent development comes after Core Scientific reported missing Q4, 2025 revenue estimates by over $44 million. This happened as Bitcoin dropped from its 2025 all-time high of $126K to a 2025 low of $71K, with miners’ production costs at roughly $93K. At press time, Bitcoin was yet to escape this miner capitulation zone, trading at $71,086.

Source: MacroMicro

To counter these negatives, Core Scientific recently dumped nearly all (2,537) of its Bitcoin holdings to fund AI infrastructure. The company is also in a $10 billion partnership with the AI cloud platform CoreWeave, where it provides the AI facilities necessary for CoreWeave’s graphical processing units (GPUs).

Pragmatic approach towards profitability

Core Scientific is one among many large-scale Bitcoin miners that have partially or fully transitioned into AI data centers. Others include Iris Energy, Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, and Hut 8 Corp.

The move is supported by their pre-existing electric grids and pre-allocated power capacity, in addition to physical infrastructure such as land, warehousing, and cooling facilities. 

Hosting AI will now generate up to 25X more revenue per kilowatt-hour than Bitcoin mining. This income will also be tied to the dollar, making it more stable than that tied to Bitcoin.

Core Scientific stock is yet to reflect this development, trading at $15.67 (-1.07% in 24h) at press time.

Source: MarketWatch

The post Will the Trump Fed Nominee Kevin Warsh Catapult Bitcoin to $80K? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

On March 4, US President Donald Trump officially nominated Kevin Warsh as Chairman of the US Federal Reserve. Following Senate approval, Warsh will succeed Jerome Powell, whose second four-year term expires on May 15, 2026.

Bitcoin and other markets’ reaction to the announcement

In the past decade, Warsh has compared Bitcoin to gold on several occasions, stating, “If you’re under 40, Bitcoin is your new gold,” and that Bitcoin is a “sustainable store of value, like gold.” Last year, he described the digital asset as a “good policeman” for federal policy.

This advocacy and his recent nomination have sparked a risk-off attitude among crypto and stock markets alike. 

At writing time, Bitcoin was trading at $73,599, up 7.54% over 24h.

Source: CoinMarketCap

The digital asset also led crypto ETFs’ inflows, which reached $1 billion in the past week and broke a five-week streak of outflows totaling $4 billion. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 rose 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively.

What’s next?

The January 30 “Warsh Shock” saw markets bleed in anticipation of tight Warsh-led monetary policies. Markets now depict recovery, after the Fed nominee called for interest rate cuts.

Critics view his nomination as “unconventional” since, unlike his predecessors, he lacks a Ph.D. Others add that Trump ties make his endorsement “politically dependent.” Meanwhile, Senator Thom Tillis has blocked the nomination until the Department of Justice (DoJ) completes its criminal investigation of Powell.

Analysts from Kalshi traders project the market could hit $80,000 this month. This theory is supported by the 24h upsurge in Bitcoin open interest to $50.31 billion (14.79%).

BREAKING: Our traders forecast Bitcoin will hit $80,000 this month pic.twitter.com/jhZ9XzXpyF

— Kalshi Traders (@KalshiTrade) March 4, 2026

BTC’s Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram has also gradually declined, suggesting dissipating sell pressure.

Source: Bitbo

Meanwhile, the taker buy/sell ratio on Binance has risen to a high of 1.18, showing buyers are outweighing sellers.

Analysts propose that a consistent daily close above $71-$72K is required to hit a target of $84K.

The post Stablecoins Weaken Eurozone Monetary Policy Transmission: European Central Bank appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

In a March 3 report titled “Stablecoins and Monetary Policy Transmission”, the European Central Bank (ECB) warned that increased stablecoin adoption was undermining financial stability and policy effectiveness in the eurozone.

ECB outlines the cascade of risks imposed by stablecoins 

According to the ECB, as more people swap the euro for these virtual currencies, banks lose a stable and low-cost source of funding from retail deposits.

This forces them to switch to the more expensive wholesale funding that comes with volatile interest rates for both the banks and the customers they lend to.

ECB estimates that for every 10% increase in stablecoin market cap, there will be a 0.2% reduction in bank lending. It further adds that interest cuts to stimulate the economy would be useless, since banks will have tightened their lending policies to keep their operations afloat.

The ECB adds that widespread adoption would import US monetary conditions to Europe since most (85%+) of these digital currencies are dollar-backed.

The ECB projects a non-linear pattern to these effects, saying that they would accelerate should the digital currency market cap hit $2-$4 trillion by 2030.

Source: European Central Bank

To counter these risks, the ECB is promoting the digital euro, which it says is safer from a bank run than private stablecoins

Growth and adoption headwinds

As of March 4, 2026, the global stablecoin market capitalization was approximately $316.27 billion. While this is dwarfed by the eurozone’s €17 trillion bank deposits, its growth is notable since it has more than doubled in the past three years.

Despite this, the banking industry is strongly pursuing a stablecoin-yield ban with the upcoming CLARITY Act. US President Donald Trump has vowed to look into this, saying, “They (banks) need to make a good deal with the crypto industry.”

America can’t afford to wait. Congress must move quickly to pass the Clarity Act.

Let’s make the U.S. the digital asset capital of the world. https://t.co/bL9WOeOkZr

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) March 3, 2026

French Hill, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, recently suggested the Senate could simply label stablecoins as a payment device rather than an investment product, just as stipulated by the GENIUS Act.

Moderator: “You also need to figure out crypto.” Chairman of @FinancialCmte @RepFrenchHill: “Well, I have figured it out!”

Hill, at the @MilkenInstitute Future of Finance event, said that if the Senate can’t reach a straightforward conclusion on the stablecoin yield issue,… pic.twitter.com/rZQch3IQUc

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) March 3, 2026

Meanwhile, TD Cowen multinational investment bank, said banks will likely lose the stablecoin-yield fight.

The post Indiana Mandates Crypto Inclusion in State-Managed Retirement and Savings Plans appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Indiana has become the first state in the US to legalize the inclusion of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies into state-managed retirement and savings plans.

On March 3, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed this into law under House Bill 1042, titled “Regulation and Investment of Cryptocurrency.”

Henceforth, state-managed retirement and savings plans should provide at least one cryptocurrency as an investment option in a user’s self-directed brokerage account. This kind of account will allow users to operate nodes and engage in peer-to-peer transactions.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be included in these plans, but not stablecoin-related funds due to the current lack of clarity regarding stablecoin yields. 

Pension providers now have until July 1, 2027, to have fully integrated digital asset provisions into their systems.

Indiana Bill to include crypto investments for pensioners

The Indiana bill levels the playing field for digital and traditional finance, banning any taxes that bring discrepancies between the two.

Also part of the bill was the prohibition of unreasonable restrictions on crypto mining zones.

Source: X

Other US states that have integrated crypto-related options for pensioners are Wisconsin ($321 million in Bitcoin ETFs) and Michigan ($45 million in BTC and ETH ETFs). Florida and New Jersey are in the process of doing the same.

Internationally, countries that have implemented or are exploring the incorporation of digital assets into pension funds include Canada, Japan, Australia, and Germany.

Providing these at the workplace are Fidelity Investments, 401(k) providers, and self-directed IRA (Individual Retirement Account) custodians.

Community Reaction

The new Indiana legislation has received mixed community reactions following its enactment. Supporters cite the bill’s alignment with the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, its progressive nature, and the provision of pensioners’ autonomy.

On the other hand, critics cite financial risk from dabbling in highly volatile financial instruments, in addition to the state’s distancing itself from direct digital asset investments. The bill also raised controversy regarding Indiana’s specific stance when it comes to cryptocurrencies amid the recent scam-related ban of crypto ATMs.

The post Iranians Increase Self-Custody Bitcoin Reserves Amid Iran-Israel War appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Citizens of Iran are heavily purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) and directing it to self-custody wallets. 

A 2026 report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis showed an uptick in Iran’s crypto system valuation from $7.4 billion in 2024 to $7.8 billion in 2025. 

The report also highlighted that users withdrew roughly $10.3 million worth of cryptocurrencies from major Iranian exchanges to crypto wallets in the 48hours following the US-Israel’s preemptive strike on Iran. Within minutes of the hit, the country’s largest exchange, Nobitex, saw a staggering 700% spike in outflows.

This coincided with a steady uptrend in Bitcoin outflows before and after the January 8 government-imposed internet blackout.

Source: Chainalysis

Bitcoin becomes the financial lifeboat for Iranian citizens

Bitcoin has primarily become a financial haven for Iranians since its long-term value acts as an inflationary hedge. Iran’s native currency, the Rial, has declined 90% in value since 2018. Inflation in the country has also escalated to 40-50%, the highest recorded since World War II.

Additionally, Bitcoin in self-custodial wallets is immune to state/exchange restrictions and security vulnerabilities. In mid-2025, Nobitex suffered a $90 million hack, while Tether continues to blacklist addresses and freeze USDT funds for alleged Iranian conspirators. 

Meanwhile, the nation’s central bank (CBI) has suspended rial-crypto conversions several times to prevent further devaluation of the rial. The bank has recently become more accommodating of cryptocurrencies, but on the condition of real-time user surveillance.

Another reason for the migration is the January government-imposed internet blackout, which rendered cryptocurrencies on exchanges useless. Additionally, cryptocurrencies’ digital nature makes them highly portable for those anticipating fleeing the country. 

Most importantly, cryptocurrencies allow cross-border remittances despite sanctions such as the SWIFT bank line of disconnects.

Researchers now estimate that 15 million Iranians (20% of the population) are involved with or using Bitcoin, among other cryptocurrencies.

Iran joins sanctioned countries in Bitcoin adoption

Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and North Korea are sanctioned countries that are increasingly pivoting towards cryptocurrencies to bypass international trade restrictions.

Crypto firms Binance and, ironically, the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) are now facing Senate probes related to Iran-linked flows.