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XRP’s Biggest Single-Candle Move in Weeks Was Built on a Story Iran Says Never Happened

XRP Price Prediction

The post XRP’s Biggest Single-Candle Move in Weeks Was Built on a Story Iran Says Never Happened appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Markets do not wait for the truth. They react to the perception of it, and this morning, that distinction cost unprepared traders dearly.

When President Trump stepped in front of cameras claiming Iran had agreed to 15 diplomatic concessions, including a binding commitment to abandon its nuclear program, and suggested he and the Ayatollah would jointly oversee oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, markets moved instantly. Brent crude cratered more than 10%. Bitcoin jumped nearly 4% inside a single 15-minute candle. XRP climbed steadily, peaking around $1.47 before pulling back as traders began reading the fine print.

The fine print was significant. Iran’s security committee flatly contradicted every claim Trump made, with a spokesman stating the president was either lying or speaking nonsense, and that no negotiations of any kind were underway. Two sides. Two completely opposite stories. One enormous market move.

The divergence raises an uncomfortable question that professional traders are already asking: who knew what, and when?

The sequencing of events, oil shorts and crypto longs opened ahead of the announcement, then a presidential press conference that moved both assets in precisely those directions, is the kind of pattern that regulators notice. Whether coordination occurred is unknown. That the opportunity existed is not.

Beyond the headline controversy, the underlying geopolitical reality has not materially shifted. The Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. Missiles are still being exchanged. The person Trump reportedly spoke with inside the Iranian government is not believed to hold military decision-making authority, making any agreement effectively symbolic at best.

For XRP specifically, the technical picture remains what it was before this morning’s noise. The critical support level sits just below $1.40 on the moving average. If the conflict extends and oil pushes toward the $200 per barrel range that several analysts are projecting, XRP could test levels closer to $1.00. The 200-week simple moving average for Bitcoin sits near $59,000, which represents a realistic floor in a prolonged escalation scenario.

The rally today was real. The catalyst behind it deserves serious scrutiny.

Markets that move on incomplete information tend to correct once the full picture emerges. Traders who chase momentum without understanding the narrative behind it are typically the ones left holding the position when that correction arrives.

The situation is still developing. The fundamentals have not changed.

Polymarket Insider Trading Rules 2026: What the New CFTC-Backed Regulations Actually Mean

Portugal Bans Polymarket Over €110M Election Bets

The post Polymarket Insider Trading Rules 2026: What the New CFTC-Backed Regulations Actually Mean appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The platform that out-predicted every pollster in 2024 is now doing something arguably more significant than calling elections: it is building the compliance infrastructure to survive, and shape, the next era of regulated finance.

Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market with billions in lifetime trading volume, this week published sweeping market integrity rules across both its decentralized platform and its CFTC-regulated U.S. exchange. For an industry that has long operated on the fringes of financial regulation, the move signals a fundamental maturation.

The updated framework targets three categories of insider trading with unusual specificity. Traders are now explicitly barred from acting on stolen confidential information, profiting from illegal tips, and most notably, trading on any contract where they hold enough authority to influence the outcome itself. That final prohibition is striking in its scope and has no clear parallel in traditional exchange rulemaking.

The enforcement architecture backing these rules is equally serious. On the decentralized side, every transaction is recorded on the Polygon blockchain, making trading activity publicly auditable by anyone. On the U.S. exchange, a three-tier surveillance framework operates around the clock, anchored by a formal Regulatory Services Agreement with the National Futures Association, the same body that oversees the futures industry.

What makes this moment important is not just the rules themselves, but what they reveal about where prediction markets are headed. Polymarket is not merely seeking legitimacy. It is actively constructing the infrastructure of a regulated financial venue, complete with real-time surveillance, sanctioning authority, and law enforcement referral pathways.

During the 2024 election cycle, hedge funds, media organizations, and policy analysts treated Polymarket pricing as a signal. Regulators were watching too.

The question is no longer whether prediction markets belong in mainstream finance. Polymarket has decided they do, and it is writing the terms accordingly.

Gold Price Prediction 2026: Peter Schiff Says $11,400 Is Coming After The Worst Losing Streak In Years

Gold Price Prediction 2026 Peter Schiff Says $11,400 Is Coming After The Worst Losing Streak In Years

The post Gold Price Prediction 2026: Peter Schiff Says $11,400 Is Coming After The Worst Losing Streak In Years appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Gold is having one of its worst months in decades. Nine straight losing sessions. A 13% drop in a single month. A 27% collapse from its January all-time high. And yet one of the world’s most prominent gold bulls is not selling. He is buying more and saying the biggest surge in gold’s history is just getting started.

Here is everything you need to know about why gold is falling right now, what comes next and why Peter Schiff thinks this selloff ends at $11,400.

Why Is Gold Falling Today

Gold is trading around $4,350 per ounce on Monday, down 3% on the session and 13.18% lower than one month ago. The metal hit an all-time high of $5,608 in January 2026 and has been falling ever since.

The reason is not complicated. The Iran war pushed oil above $112 a barrel. Expensive oil fires up inflation. Inflation forces the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high. High interest rates make U.S. Treasury bonds more attractive than gold, which pays no interest at all. Investors sold gold to buy bonds. Simple as that.

Markets are now pricing in a Federal Reserve rate hike by year-end, a development that would put even more upward pressure on yields and downward pressure on gold in the short term.

The Iran Pause That Did Not Help

President Trump announced Monday that he was postponing strikes on Iran for five days following what he described as productive conversations with Tehran. The news briefly lifted gold before Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency denied any talks had taken place at all, attributing Trump’s retreat to Iran’s threat to target power plants across the entire region.

The mixed signals left markets confused rather than relieved. Gold trimmed some losses but held its downward trajectory, extending the losing streak to nine sessions, the longest run since 2023.

Trading Economics projects gold ending this quarter near $4,499 before recovering toward $4,879 over the next twelve months. That is the consensus. Schiff thinks the consensus is wildly wrong.

Peter Schiff Gold Price Prediction: Why He Sees $11,400

Peter Schiff, one of the most followed voices in precious metals investing, published a historical comparison this week that is getting significant attention across financial markets.

“In the early months of the 2008 financial crisis, gold crashed 32%, about 40% of its prior bull market gain,” Schiff wrote. “After gold bottomed, it surged 178% over the next three years. Gold nearly hit $4,100 today, down 27%, about 40% of its gain since $2,000. A 178% surge from that low puts gold at $11,400.”

The numbers line up almost exactly. Gold’s current drawdown from its January peak mirrors the percentage decline seen at the very start of the 2008 crash, right before the metal began one of the greatest bull runs in its history.

Schiff also pushed back on the narrative that a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran would be bad news for gold.

“If the war ends soon, that is negative for gold. But not enough to offset all that is positive,” he wrote. “The government will still pay to replenish the weapons used and rebuild what it destroyed. So there will be larger deficits and more inflation than if the war had never been fought.”

His argument is that the war has permanently worsened the fiscal backdrop regardless of outcome. Bigger deficits, higher inflation, weaker growth and a dollar under structural pressure all point in the same direction for gold over the medium and long term.

“If you were bullish on gold before the war, you should be more bullish now,” Schiff said.

Gold Price Forecast: What the Data Says

Here is where gold stands today against the key benchmarks investors are watching.

Gold is currently trading at $4,462 per ounce. Its all-time high was $5,608 in January 2026. It is down 27% from that peak. It is still up 48.27% compared to one year ago. Trading Economics consensus puts it at $4,499 by the end of the quarter and $4,879 in twelve months. Peter Schiff’s target from the $4,100 low is $11,400.

Why are Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Prices Rallying Today?

Why Is the Crypto Market Up Today Bitcoin, Ethereum & XRP Lead Broad Rally

The post Why are Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Prices Rallying Today? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Bitcoin surged past $71,000, Ethereum climbed 5% and XRP jumped 3.4% on Sunday as news that the United States and Iran had held direct talks toward a full resolution of Middle East hostilities sent shockwaves through global markets and triggered one of crypto’s strongest single-day rallies in months.

The total crypto market cap jumped 3.64% to $2.45 trillion, adding roughly $85 billion in value within hours of President Trump confirming the talks had taken place.

“A deal with Iran could happen within five days or sooner,” Trump said, adding that direct negotiations had been held over the past two days. Iranian state media denied any direct communication with Washington, a claim Trump dismissed outright.

What Flipped the Market

For weeks, the Iran conflict had been the single biggest weight on risk assets globally. Oil above $112, surging Treasury yields, a strengthening dollar and inflation fears had been crushing crypto, gold and equities simultaneously. Sunday’s news reversed every single one of those pressures in minutes.

Oil crashed 14% in under ten minutes after reports that Trump had halted planned strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days to allow negotiations to proceed. Gold, which had already fallen 25% from its all-time high wiping out $10.3 trillion in market cap, extended its decline as the safe-haven trade unwound sharply.

Crypto, which had been moving in near-perfect correlation with equities throughout the conflict, surged alongside stocks as risk appetite returned across the board.

Every Major Coin Moved

The rally was broad and decisive. Bitcoin rose 4.11% to $71,579. Ethereum gained 5% to $2,182, its strongest session in weeks. Solana climbed 4.78% to $91.35. XRP added 3.41% to $1.44. Dogecoin rose 3.28% to $0.094. BNB gained 2.84% to $647.

The average crypto RSI jumped to 51.09, moving out of oversold territory for the first time since the conflict began. 

Institutions Were Already Moving

The rally did not come out of nowhere. On-chain data showed BlackRock transferred $87.7 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase in the hours before the rally. Michael Saylor’s Strategy firm added 1,031 Bitcoin to its treasury.

The SEC and CFTC’s formal classification of major tokens including Bitcoin and Ethereum as digital commodities, confirmed earlier this week, also contributed to the positive mood by removing a layer of regulatory uncertainty that had been overhanging the market for years.

For now, the mood has shifted. The war trade is unwinding. The institutional buyers are active. And for the first time in weeks, crypto investors have a reason to feel something other than fear.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Declared Non-Securities as SEC Chair Atkins Backs Clarity Act: ‘I Trust It Will Reach Trump’s Desk’

SEC Project Crypto Framework

The post Bitcoin and Ethereum Declared Non-Securities as SEC Chair Atkins Backs Clarity Act: ‘I Trust It Will Reach Trump’s Desk’ appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins made one of the most significant announcements in the history of American crypto regulation on Tuesday, declaring that Bitcoin, Ethereum and a broad range of digital assets are formally exempt from securities laws, a ruling that draws a clear legal line under more than ten years of industry confusion and enforcement-by-ambiguity.

Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit 2026, Atkins unveiled a new token taxonomy and investment contract interpretation framework that the SEC is implementing immediately.

“The SEC’s persistent failure to provide clarity on this question is over,” Atkins told attendees.

What the Framework Actually Says

The new framework establishes four categories of crypto assets that are explicitly not securities under U.S. law. Digital commodities, which include Bitcoin and Ethereum, sit at the top of the list. Digital collectibles, digital tools, and payment stablecoins issued under the GENIUS Act round out the remaining three categories.

SEC Chair: BTC and ETH Have Been Clearly Defined as Non-Securities

On March 18 at the DC Blockchain Summit 2026, SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced a new token taxonomy and investment contract interpretation framework, ending long-standing regulatory uncertainty.

The framework… pic.twitter.com/009JGB2Nvl

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 22, 2026

Under the new interpretation, only one class of crypto asset remains subject to SEC oversight: digital securities, defined narrowly as traditional financial securities that have been tokenised and moved onto a blockchain. Everything else falls outside the SEC’s jurisdiction.

Atkins was blunt about what this means for the agency’s identity.

“We are not the Securities and Everything Commission anymore,” he said.

Safe Harbors for Startups and Fundraising

Beyond the taxonomy, Atkins previewed two new capital-raising pathways designed to bring crypto innovation back to U.S. soil.

The first is a startup exemption, a time-limited registration exemption lasting up to four years that would allow early-stage crypto projects to raise up to $5 million while operating under a regulatory runway rather than full securities compliance.

The second is a fundraising exemption that would allow more established projects to raise up to $75 million in any 12-month period, provided they file a disclosure document with the SEC covering the project’s financial condition and audited financial statements.

Both exemptions would sit alongside existing capital-raising mechanisms, not replace them.

Congress Still Holds the Final Card

Despite the sweeping nature of Tuesday’s announcement, Atkins was clear that regulatory frameworks issued by the SEC alone are not a permanent solution. Only Congress, he said, can future-proof crypto regulation through comprehensive market structure legislation.

He expressed strong support for the bipartisan Clarity Act currently moving through Capitol Hill, describing Regulation Crypto Assets as a head start on implementing the bill ahead of its expected passage.

“I trust it will soon reach President Trump’s desk,” Atkins said.

For an industry that has spent a decade navigating enforcement actions, legal threats and regulatory ambiguity, Tuesday’s announcement marks the clearest signal yet that Washington is finally ready to let crypto grow up.

Why are Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Prices Crashing Today: Iran, Trump and the Strait of Hormuz Explained

Crypto News Today How Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Are Positioned Into the Weekend

The post Why are Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Prices Crashing Today: Iran, Trump and the Strait of Hormuz Explained appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP tumbled sharply on Sunday after Iran responded to President Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum not with concessions but with an escalation, vowing to fully close the Strait of Hormuz and strike energy, technology and water infrastructure across the Middle East. With 33 hours remaining on Trump’s deadline, markets are pricing in the very real possibility of direct military confrontation.

The total crypto market cap fell 2.31% to $2.36 trillion, wiping roughly $55 billion in value as investors moved swiftly out of risk assets.

What Iran Said

Iran’s response, relayed through senior military commanders, was unambiguous. The country would completely seal the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes daily.

Strikes on vital regional infrastructure, including energy facilities, IT systems and water desalination plants, were explicitly threatened. Officials added that Iran had stockpiled enough essential goods to withstand up to one year of sanctions pressure, signalling the country has no intention of backing down quickly.

Iran’s military leadership also announced a formal shift in strategy from defensive to offensive operations, a significant change in posture that immediately rattled financial markets worldwide.

The Numbers

Every major cryptocurrency fell in lockstep with equities as the headlines broke.

Bitcoin dropped 2.58% to $68,820, dragging its market capitalisation below $1.38 trillion. Ethereum fell harder, losing 3.36% to $2,082, its steepest single-session drop in weeks. XRP declined 3.04% to $1.39. Solana shed 2.72% to $87.33, and Dogecoin fell 2.82% to $0.091.

The CoinMarketCap Fear and Greed Index hit 27, deep in fear territory. The average crypto RSI across the market fell to 39.59, approaching oversold levels not seen since the early weeks of the Iran conflict. 

Why Crypto Falls When Wars Escalate

The moves reflect a market that has fundamentally repositioned crypto as a risk asset rather than a safe haven. When geopolitical fear spikes, institutional investors reduce exposure across equities, commodities and digital assets simultaneously, rotating into cash and government bonds instead.

Adding to the pressure, interest rate hike expectations are quietly creeping back into market pricing. 

What Happens Next

The next 33 hours are the most consequential for markets in weeks. If Trump extends or softens his deadline, a relief rally across risk assets is likely. If Iran takes any military action before the clock runs out, expect Bitcoin to test the $65,000 level and broader crypto market cap to approach $2.29 trillion, the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level analysts have identified as critical support.

Macro events this week will add further volatility. S&P Global Services PMI data arrives Tuesday, U.S. crude oil inventory data on Wednesday, initial jobless claims on Thursday, and Michigan Consumer Sentiment on Friday.

Pi Network News: Pi Price Faces Six-Month Headwind as Token Unlocks and Development Delays Compound

Pi Network Launches Protocol 20 Mainnet Upgrade

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Pi Network’s token is under serious pressure, falling 5.16% to $0.190 in 24 hours. For a coin that once traded at $2.98 over a year ago, the decline represents a 93% collapse from its all-time high, and analysts warn the bottom may still be months away.

Three Forces Pushing Pi Lower

The immediate trigger was macro. President Trump’s threat to strike Iranian power infrastructure sent risk assets into a tailspin on Saturday, and Pi, as one of the market’s more speculative tokens, felt the pain disproportionately. A 16 million Pi token unlock on March 21 added fresh selling pressure on top of an already fragile price structure, flooding the market with new supply at precisely the wrong moment.

Pi’s 24-hour range told the story clearly: a high of $0.201 gave way to a low of $0.1878, with buyers unable to mount any meaningful defence.

The Deeper Problem: Development Is Too Slow

Beyond the short-term noise, a growing number of community voices are raising structural concerns about Pi’s roadmap. Dr. Pi, one of the network’s most followed commentators, published an assessment this week that is circulating widely across crypto forums.

“Pi will keep falling,” they wrote. “The current user base is driven by overly optimistic expectations about announcements from the Pi Core Team, creating only a short-lived boom.”

The core argument is damaging: that Pi Launchpad, which recently went live on testnet, will generate no real token demand because it is entirely sentiment-driven rather than backed by genuine utility. Based on the core team’s historical pace, he estimates the full launch is at least six months away. PiDex, the network’s decentralised exchange, is even further out.

“Their intention is clear,” they wrote. “They do not want to enable speculative trading.”

Even smart contracts, when they eventually arrive, will be rolled out in a tightly controlled, limited manner, only for hand-picked projects the team specifically endorses. For a community that has been mining and waiting for years, the timeline is testing patience to its limits.

A Community Running Out of Steam

Perhaps the most sobering observation concerns the human cost of the long wait. Dr. Pi said that while Pi’s community remains enormous on paper, active participation is steadily declining as pioneers exhaust their enthusiasm. Early miners and third-party developers, he argued, have already been worn down by years of delays.

Where the Price Goes Next

Technically, the immediate line in the sand is $0.176. A hold above that level could allow Pi to consolidate and stabilise. A break below opens the door to $0.15, a level that would represent a fresh all-time low and likely trigger another wave of capitulation selling.

For bulls, the target to watch on the upside is $0.21. A reclaim of that level would signal that selling pressure is easing and that sentiment may be turning.

XRP Price Could Hit Double-Digits by End of Trump Term as Clarity Act Clears Final Hurdle, Experts Say

Ripple acquisitions

The post XRP Price Could Hit Double-Digits by End of Trump Term as Clarity Act Clears Final Hurdle, Experts Say appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

A last-minute compromise between the White House, U.S. banks, and crypto firms over stablecoin yield rules has dramatically improved the odds of the Clarity Act becoming law this year, a development that analysts say could be the most consequential regulatory moment in digital asset history.

Prediction market Polymarket now prices the bill’s passage at 72%, up from 63% just one week ago, after negotiators resolved a months-long standoff over whether stablecoin holders should be allowed to earn interest on their holdings.

The Stablecoin Standoff, Solved

Banks had fiercely resisted provisions that would allow retail customers to earn 4% to 5% annual yields on stablecoins, fearing it would drain deposits from the traditional banking system. Under the tentative deal, crypto firms will be prohibited from using terms such as “interest” or “yield” for stablecoin rewards, limiting but not eliminating the returns available to holders.

Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Crypto Council, called it “a major milestone,” crediting Senators Tom Tillis and Tim Scott for bridging the partisan divide. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had previously put the odds of passage by end of April at 90%.

“Watch April very closely,” one Washington policy analyst wrote this week. “The path just opened.”

What It Means for XRP

Senator Cynthia Lumis, one of the bill’s most vocal champions, framed the Clarity Act as central to Trump’s stated ambition of making the United States the global capital of digital assets.

For XRP specifically, the stakes are substantial. The CFTC and SEC this week jointly indicated that XRP, Chainlink, and similar tokens would be classified as digital commodities rather than securities, a designation that removes a significant legal barrier to institutional adoption.

Evernorth, the company building what it describes as the largest XRP treasury in the world ahead of a planned Nasdaq listing, noted this week that institutional use of XRP as a cross-border liquidity bridge is growing, even if retail price action has not yet reflected it.

“The version of XRP that could drive sustained utility demand is when banks and businesses leverage it as working capital,” the firm’s chief executive said.

The $600 Trillion Comparison

Supporters of the bill are drawing parallels to the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which gave legal clarity to derivatives markets and helped expand that asset class from roughly $100 trillion to over $600 trillion within a decade, before the same instruments became central to the 2008 financial crisis.

If crypto follows a similar trajectory after the Clarity Act is signed, analysts argue that trillions of dollars currently sitting on the sidelines at firms like BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs could move into digital asset markets. Hence experts say XRP could hit double-digits. 

The Senate Banking Committee is expected to be the next critical checkpoint, with April seen as the make-or-break window for the bill’s passage before attention shifts to midterm election season.

CoinDCX Founders Arrested in $85,000 Crypto Fraud Linked to Impersonator Network

Israeli Arrested for Selling Secrets to Iran for Crypto

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The co-founders of CoinDCX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, were arrested and questioned by police this week in connection with an alleged fraud totalling roughly 71 lakh rupees ($85,000) — a case the company says was carried out entirely by scammers impersonating them, not by the founders themselves.

Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal were detained after a First Information Report named them in connection with the scheme. CoinDCX said the complaint was filed against the wrong people, calling it “a conspiracy against CoinDCX by impersonators posing as founders.”

Fake Sites, Real Victims

The exchange says criminals built a network of fraudulent websites mimicking its brand to steal money from ordinary investors. Between April 2024 and January 2026, CoinDCX says it identified and reported over 1,212 fake websites designed to look like its official platform. Victims were allegedly told to transfer funds in cash to third-party accounts that had no connection to the real exchange.

“We have taken cognizance of the fact and published a notice to public at large on our website that CoinDCX is being targeted by fraudsters. The entire conspiracy falsely claims that funds were transferred to accounts which have no relation to CoinDCX,” the company said in a public statement,” they said.

Exchange Cooperating, Founders Cleared of Blame

CoinDCX said both co-founders are fully cooperating with law enforcement and maintained they had no involvement in the fraud. The company has published a public warning on its website urging users to verify they are using the official platform before making any transactions.

Brand impersonation scams have become an escalating problem across India’s fast-growing digital finance sector, with fraudsters increasingly targeting well-known crypto platforms to exploit retail investors.

Authorities have not yet commented publicly on the status of the investigation.

Why is Bitcoin Price Going Down Today?

Crypto Crash Today

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Trump’s Iran ultimatum triggers $232M liquidation cascade; crypto market sheds $45B in 30 minutes

Bitcoin dropped nearly $2,000 in under 30 minutes on Sunday after President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran’s power infrastructure unless Tehran reopened the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, sending shockwaves through global risk assets and triggering one of the largest single-session liquidation events in crypto derivatives markets this year.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency slid to $69,141, down 2.26% on the day, as the threat, a sharp reversal from Trump’s comments just 24 hours earlier that he was considering “winding down” the conflict, caught leveraged traders badly offside. 

Crypto Moves in Lockstep With Stocks

The broader crypto market fell 1.95% to a $2.38T market capitalisation, moving in near-perfect correlation with equities. Crypto’s 88% correlation with the S&P 500 and 92% correlation with gold, evidence that digital assets are being traded as macro risk instruments rather than independent stores of value.

Ethereum dropped 1.96% to $2,110, Solana shed 2.06% to $88.25, and Dogecoin fell 2.92% to $0.092. The CoinMarketCap Fear & Greed Index sat at 28, deep in fear territory.

Leverage Was the Accelerant

Bitcoin liquidations surged 86% in 24 hours, with long positions accounting for over 90% of the total, a sign the market had been positioned for a continued recovery before the geopolitical shock arrived. The average crypto RSI fell to 40.1, approaching oversold territory.

What Comes Next

Analysts are watching the $2.34T total market cap level as immediate support. A breach could expose the $2.29T level, the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement from the recent swing high. Recovery, most agree, hinges entirely on the next 48 hours of diplomatic headlines from Washington and Tehran.

Quadruple Witching 2026: Bitcoin’s Most Dangerous Trading Day of the Quarter Has Arrived

Bitcoin Price

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One of the most turbulent days in the financial calendar has arrived. Quadruple witching, a quarterly event where trillions of dollars in derivatives expire simultaneously, is happening today, and crypto markets are already feeling the pressure.

What Is Quadruple Witching?

Four times a year, on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December, four major types of derivatives expire on the same day: stock index futures, stock index options, single stock options, and single stock futures. Traders must close, roll over, or settle all positions at once, causing a sharp surge in trading activity and often violent price swings across financial markets.

This One Breaks Every Record

Today’s expiration is not just big. According to Goldman Sachs, it is the largest ever recorded.

More than $7.1 trillion in notional options exposure is set to expire today, including roughly $5 trillion tied to the S&P 500 index alone and $880 billion linked to single stocks. December options expirations are typically the biggest of the year, but Goldman says this one eclipses all prior records.

To put the scale into context, the options expiring today represent notional exposure equal to approximately 10.2% of the total market capitalisation of the Russell 3000. That is not a quarterly routine. That is a historic event.

What History Says About Bitcoin on Witching Days

Crypto does not operate in isolation from traditional finance anymore. Bitcoin increasingly moves alongside broader risk assets, meaning sharp equity swings have a habit of spilling directly into digital markets.

Historical data from 2025 paints a consistent picture. Bitcoin tended to show muted or flat performance on quadruple witching days themselves, followed by weakness in the days and weeks after. In September last year, a sharp post-witching decline took Bitcoin from $177,000 all the way down to $108,000. In June, it drifted to a local bottom just two days after the event.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is holding around $69,800, with Ethereum at $2,134, XRP at $1.43, and Solana at $88.93. The broader market Fear and Greed Index sits at just 30, firmly in fear territory.

A Second Crypto Expiry Is Coming Next Week

Even after today passes, the market is not in the clear. A separate $13.5 billion in crypto derivatives are set to expire on Deribit on March 27, just one week away. Positioning data shows traders are leaning toward volatility strategies rather than strong directional bets, signalling the market is bracing for continued turbulence rather than a clean recovery.

Top Analyst Reveals What’s Next For Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Prices

Why Is the Crypto Market Up Today Bitcoin, Ethereum & XRP Lead Broad Rally

The post Top Analyst Reveals What’s Next For Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Prices appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Gareth Soloway, Chief Market Strategist at VerifiedInvesting.com, is doubling down on his bullish crypto calls,  and so far, the charts are proving him right.

About a month ago, when Bitcoin had just flushed to $60,000 and retail sentiment was bearish, Soloway turned bullish. Most people thought he was wrong. 

“When I see eight out of ten comments calling me a clown, I put more money into the trade,” he explained. For Soloway, extreme retail fear is not a warning, it is an invitation.

Bitcoin: The $74,000 Line That Changes Everything

Bitcoin is now trading above $74,000, marking eight consecutive days of gains. Soloway says the level to keep an eye on is a daily close above $74,000. If that holds, the next targets are $80,000 to $85,000.

The resistance at this level is not random. Soloway traced it back to a long-term trend line connecting multiple major price pivots, a classic technical setup where old support becomes new resistance. A clean break above it, he says, opens the door to the next significant leg higher.

Ethereum: A 45% Move Could Be on the Table

Ethereum has broken out of what Soloway describes as a textbook inside bar pattern, a structure where price compresses after a strong reversal before launching higher. ETH is now trading above $3,300 and confirming the breakout.

His price targets: $2,600 to $2,800 — which from the recent consolidation low would represent a 45% move. 

Solana and XRP Join the Party

Soloway is also long Solana, currently up around 15% on the trade, with targets of $115 to $118 after clearing the $100 resistance zone.

For the XRP community, Soloway revealed he picked up XRP over the weekend after spotting the same breakout pattern forming across the chart. He is already up 10% on the position and says the setup looks nearly identical to the other trades that have worked.

Despite the short-term bullishness, Soloway is clear-eyed about the macro backdrop. The larger trend, he says, still points downward. 

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