21Shares macro head Stephen Coltman said the 2026 divergence between Bitcoin and gold reflects different buyer bases, with gold more tied to central bank demand while BTC is more widely held by individuals. He noted gold slipped to about $4,497 per ounce after peaking near $5,600 in January 2026, while Bitcoin stayed relatively steady as Middle East hostilities began. Coltman argued around-the-clock BTC access can matter during crises, as some regional exchanges were shut down shortly after the conflict started.

NYSE Arca and NYSE American filed SEC rule changes to remove the 25,000-contract position and exercise limits on options tied to spot bitcoin and ether ETFs, with the changes effective immediately. The update covers options on 11 crypto ETF products and also permits these contracts to trade as FLEX options with customizable terms. With these filings, major U.S. exchanges now treat crypto ETF options the same as other commodity-based ETF options.

Immunefi's “State of Onchain Security 2026” report argues that a hack's impact extends well beyond the moment funds are stolen, often turning into a months-long operational and market crisis. The report estimates average direct theft at about $25 million and finds hacked tokens saw a median 61% drop over six months, with 84% failing to regain their hack-day price in that period.

Altcoin spot trading has continued to cool, with CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost noting volumes across Binance and other large exchanges have fallen to extreme lows versus February and October 2025. Binance’s altcoin spot volume dropped to $7.7 billion while other exchanges combined handled about $18.8 billion, putting Binance near 40% of the total. The data also shows prior spikes above $40 billion were common in 2025, but activity has stayed compressed since the start of 2026.

Indian media reports say CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal were detained and sent to police custody until March 23 in a case tied to an alleged investment fraud. The complaint alleges a loss of about 71.6 lakh rupees (roughly $85,000) connected to a scheme promising high returns and CoinDCX-linked franchise rights. CoinDCX rejects the allegation, saying the fraud was executed via impersonators operating copycat websites rather than its platform.

SkyBridge managing partner Anthony Scaramucci said Bitcoin’s bear market still fits a four-year cycle framework and may stay volatile for most of the year before turning higher in Q4 2026. He added that ETF inflows and institutional participation have reduced volatility without fully eliminating cyclical behavior, and cited the prior drop from about $126,000 to $60,000 as an example of sentiment getting upended.

Bitcoin (BTC) traded below $69,000 on Sunday after a weekend drop toward $68,000, putting focus back on the 200-week EMA near $68,300. In the prior 24 hours, more than $300 million in longs and nearly $100 million in shorts were liquidated. Analysts also pointed to a daily-chart “golden cross” (21-day SMA over 50-day SMA) as a possible source of short-term relief.

TRON-related updates dated March 5–21 include Justin Sun's $10M SEC settlement, TRON DAO's March 17 entry into Mastercard's Crypto Partner Program, and reported network revenue topping $1M per day. TRX traded near $0.317, about 26% below its $0.43 December 2024 high, while holding a multi-month $0.27–$0.35 range. Analyst Crypto Patel pointed to a six-year ascending support line and outlined bullish targets if $0.25–$0.30 support remains intact.