A Nevada state judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order that blocks Kalshi from offering sports, election and entertainment event contracts in Nevada. The ruling said state regulators are reasonably likely to win their challenge that the contracts violate Nevada gambling laws, and the court set an April 3 hearing on a possible preliminary injunction.

Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded fresh net outflows in the March 18–20 sessions even as BTC hovered around $70,000 and broader prices stayed relatively steady. On March 20, spot BTC ETFs saw a $52 million outflow and ETH ETF products posted a $42 million decline, while XRP was the outlier with a nearly $2 million inflow.

On March 21, 2026, the CFTC confirmed that BTC, ETH, and tokenized assets can be used as eligible collateral in regulated futures and swaps markets, subject to liquidity, custody, and risk-management requirements. Congress is set to follow with a House Financial Services Committee hearing on tokenization and the future of capital markets on Wednesday, March 25 at 10AM EST.

CFTC staff on Friday released an FAQ explaining how futures commission merchants, clearinghouses and swap dealers can operationally use digital assets as derivatives collateral under existing staff no-action guidance. The document aligns capital charges with recent SEC haircut guidance, applying a minimum 20% charge to bitcoin and ether and a 2% charge to payment stablecoins, while limiting how FCMs can use crypto in segregated customer accounts.

On March 2, the US Senate voted 84-6 to move forward with consideration of H.R. 6644, a broader housing-and-banking package that includes language barring the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC through Dec. 31, 2030. The procedural motion drew six "no" votes, one senator voting "present," and nine not voting, underscoring how the digital dollar debate has entered the mainstream.

After February's PPI print released on March 18 came in hotter than expected, gold fell 3.74% and broke the $5k support level. The move is being linked to a firmer U.S. dollar and more attractive Treasury yields, while Bitcoin has remained rangebound around $70k with limited inflows. With funding still negative and the Coinbase Premium Index declining, traders are debating whether crypto could eventually track gold's risk-off shift.

Altcoins finished the week with modest gains led by XRP (+2.98% to about $1.43), while ETH rose 1.34% to around $2,133 and SOL was nearly unchanged near $88.81 after a March 17 spike. Despite the green closes, activity looked weaker, with Binance altcoin volume near $7.7 billion versus $40–50 billion at the October and February 2025 peaks and other exchanges totaling about $18.8 billion versus roughly $91 billion at prior highs.

Coin Bureau founder Nic Puckrin said traders are underestimating the length and severity of the Middle East war's economic fallout and are leaning on the "TACO" trade narrative. He argued that if oil stays above $100 per barrel, growth could slow while PCE inflation rises by as much as 1 percentage point, increasing stagflation risk and complicating the Federal Reserve's path on rates.