Crypto News

Latest headlines from across the crypto world.

U.S. Prepares for Ground War, Iran Warns of Counterstrike, Pakistan Plans to Mediate

March 30: A U.S. official said enough troops would be in place by early next week to conduct a major ground offensive against Iran. Separately, another U.S. official noted all options are on the table when asked about the possibility of a ground operation and potential next steps. Israel’s Channel 12 reported March 29, citing an anonymous security source, that Israel plans to invite the U.S. to relocate some of its Middle East military bases to Israel and build new bases there after the current conflict. Israel views this as an opportunity to reshape the U.S. military presence in the region, the report said. Recently, Israel has emphasized its value as a key U.S. ally: it provides not only stability but also critical combat and intelligence capabilities, and U.S. bases in Israel would create a strategic advantage for both sides. March 29 (local time): A spokesman for Iran’s Armed Forces Central Command, Hatam Anbia, said Iran will target the residences of U.S. and Israeli military commanders and political figures in response to recent attacks. The spokesman added this action is retaliation for strikes on residential areas in several Iranian cities by the parties involved. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said U.S. proposals conveyed to Iran via intermediaries are “extremely extreme and unreasonable.” Pakistan announced last Sunday it is preparing to host “meaningful talks” in the coming days to end the Iran-related conflict. Previously, Tehran accused the U.S. of seeking negotiations while simultaneously planning a ground invasion. The U.S. State Department and White House have not commented on the potential Pakistan-hosted talks. Sources said preliminary discussions among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are focusing on a proposal to resume shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Lookonchain

Bitcoin.com Mar 29, 22:30 UTC

US Troops in Region Top 50,000 as Polymarket Gives 71% Odds Forces Enter Iran by April 30

The Pentagon is moving tens of thousands of troops into the Middle East and drawing up contingency plans for limited ground raids inside Iran, but no U.S. forces have entered Iranian territory as of March 29, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern time. What Trump Is Deciding About Iran Ground Troops — And What Has Actually […]

Jamie Redman

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 21:35 UTC

Iran’s Top Power Broker Shares Trading Advice As Trump’s TACO Trade Falters

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted what amounted to trading advice on X (Twitter), calling Trump’s pre-market announcements a “reverse indicator” and urging followers to take the opposite side of every energy move. The post added a surreal layer to a week that saw Wall Street’s most popular dip-buying strategy collapse under the weight of real geopolitical risk. The TACO Trade Hits a Wall The Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO) trade defined market behavior for much of 2025. Traders bought every Trump-induced dip, expecting a reversal within days. That playbook worked reliably during tariff standoffs with China, Canada, and the EU. However, it broke down last week. Trump extended his deadline to strike Iranian energy infrastructure from March 27 to April 6. The expected relief rally never came. Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau noted that repeated flip-flopping was undermining market confidence. Investors stopped treating delays as a path to peace. They began seeing them as tactical pauses before further escalation. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker slashed Q1 growth estimates to 2%, down from 3.1% just a month earlier. Meanwhile, CME FedWatch data shows markets pricing in rates holding steady through late 2026, with only a modest probability of any move. Fed Fund Futures. Source: CME FedWatch Tool This represents a far cry from the multiple rate cuts investors expected at the start of the year. Ghalibaf and the Bond Market Warning Ghalibaf, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander who has emerged as Iran’s most visible wartime political figure, went beyond denying U.S. talks. He told followers that Trump’s pre-market posts serve as profit-taking setups. “Pre-market so-called ‘news’ or ‘Truth’ is often just a setup for profit-taking. Basically, it’s a reverse indicator. Do the opposite,” wrote Ghalibaf. Separately, Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke said bond vigilantes had turned against Trump due to the combined pressure of the tariff war and the Iran conflict. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has climbed to 4.46%, approaching the 4.5% threshold that forced Trump to pause reciprocal tariffs in April 2025. Ghalibaf had also warned earlier in the week that financial institutions buying U.S. Treasury bonds were legitimate military targets. That statement added direct geopolitical risk to the bond market’s existing fiscal concerns. Why the Old Playbook No Longer Applies The TACO strategy worked because Trump’s trade counterparties were rational economic actors. China, the EU, and Canada all wanted stability and accepted face-saving compromises. Iran presents no such dynamic. Its supreme leader was killed in the opening strikes. Its military infrastructure has been hit repeatedly. Yet Tehran has not moved toward negotiations. Ghalibaf himself accused Washington on Sunday of planning a ground invasion while publicly signaling that talks were underway. With Brent crude above $110 per barrel and the Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed, the economic damage from the war is already embedded in prices. Dip-buyers who relied on TACO logic now face a market in which the geopolitical premium is no longer a temporary spike but a structural feature. The question heading into next week is whether the 10-year yield crossing 4.5% will force the White House to act, as it did during last year’s tariff crisis, or whether a real war proves harder to walk back than a trade dispute.

Lockridge Okoth

U.Today Mar 29, 21:33 UTC

Shiba Inu: Shytoshi Kusama Silence on X Lingers, Break Coming Soon?

Shiba Inu lead ambassador Shytoshi Kusama has maintained five weeks of silence on social media, with expectations increasing in the SHIB community.

U.Today

Bitcoin.com Mar 29, 21:30 UTC

Crypto ATM Count Falls to 38,928 as 597 Machines Exit the Market in Q1 2026

Figures compiled by coinatmradar.com indicate that approximately 597 crypto automated teller machines (ATMs) have been withdrawn from the market so far this year. Crypto ATM Data 2026: 597 Net Removals Recent figures show the global count of crypto ATMs edged close to the 40,000 mark this month, yet data recorded on March 29, 2026, reveals […]

Jamie Redman

The Block Mar 29, 20:54 UTC

Lido DAO proposes $20 million one-off LDO buyback as token hovers near all-time low

At current prices of ether and LDO, which are both in the slumps, the buyback could absorb around 8.5% of LDO's circulating supply.

Zack Abrams

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 20:46 UTC

How Bitcoin Fueled Larry Fink’s Biggest Payday as BlackRock CEO

BlackRock raised CEO Larry Fink’s total compensation to $37.7 million for 2025, a roughly 23% jump from the prior year, as its Bitcoin ETF quietly became one of the firm’s top revenue generators. A proxy filing showed the pay package included a $1.5 million base salary, a $10.6 million cash bonus, and roughly $24.6 million in stock awards. The stock component accounted for most of the increase, rising by about $6.5 million from 2024. Bitcoin ETF Revenue Surged in 2025 The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) became a significant earnings driver during the year. BlackRock’s filings show the fund collected approximately $174.6 million in net sponsor fees for 2025, up from $47.5 million during its 2024 launch year. The iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) added another $18.4 million. Combined, both crypto products generated roughly $193 million in fees. While that remains a fraction of BlackRock’s total 2025 revenue of $24.2 billion, it marked one of the fastest-growing product lines in the firm’s history. IBIT surpassed $100 billion in assets during the year, making it one of the fastest ETFs ever to reach that level. Fink has publicly stated that digital assets could become a $500 million annual revenue source for the firm within five years. “Private markets for insurance, private markets for wealth, digital assets, and active ETFs. We believe all of these could become $500 million revenue sources over the next five years,” he wrote in a recent note. Record AUM Drove the Bigger Picture Bitcoin (BTC) alone did not account for the full pay increase. BlackRock ended 2025 with a record $14 trillion in assets under management, fueled by $698 billion in full-year net inflows. The firm beat Wall Street profit estimates in Q4, posting $2.18 billion in net income excluding one-time charges. The compensation committee weighed overall financial performance, strategic execution, and business growth when setting the award. Private markets expansion, active ETFs, and technology platforms also factored heavily alongside the crypto business. However, not all shareholders were convinced. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services had recommended voting against the executive pay packages. BlackRock said it received 67% of votes cast in support of its compensation program. History Shows Pay Can Swing Sharply Fink’s compensation has moved in both directions before. BlackRock cut his total pay 30% to $25.2 million for 2022, when rising interest rates and market turmoil pushed the firm’s AUM down 14%. His pay fell again, roughly 18% in 2023. That precedent suggests a sustained downturn in crypto prices or broader markets could pressure future awards. Still, with digital assets now woven into BlackRock’s long-term strategy, Bitcoin’s role in the CEO’s compensation story is likely here to stay.

Lockridge Okoth

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 19:46 UTC

MicroStrategy Chair Michael Saylor Breaks 13-Week Bitcoin Buying Ritual

Strategy (MicroStrategy) may have skipped its weekly Bitcoin (BTC) purchase for the first time since late December, potentially ending a 13-week accumulation streak. Executive Chair Michael Saylor did not post his customary Sunday “Orange Dot” tracker on X (Twitter). He instead pivoted to promoting Stretch (STRC), the company’s perpetual preferred stock. A Monday 8-K filing will confirm whether the firm actually paused or quietly added to its holdings. What Happened to MicroStrategy’s Orange Dots For roughly 13 consecutive weeks, Saylor would post a Bitcoin accumulation chart on Sundays with orange markers signaling upcoming purchases. A detailed 8-K filing would then follow on Monday mornings, with the ritual becoming a reliable signal for traders tracking the firm’s weekly buys. During the streak that began in late December, Strategy acquired approximately 90,831 BTC. The company now holds 762,099 Bitcoin at an average acquisition price of $75,694 per token, according to its corporate dashboard. MicroStrategy Bitcoin Holdings. Source: Strategy This Sunday, however, Saylor shifted focus entirely. His posts highlighted STRC’s performance. “Over the past 30 days, $STRC has been less volatile than every company in the S&P 500—and every major asset class—while delivering an 11.5% dividend yield,” he wrote. STRC Takes Center Stage The timing of the pivot is not random. Strategy filed a $42 billion at-the-market equity program on March 23, split evenly between $21 billion in MSTR common stock and $21 billion in STRC preferred shares. A separate $2.1 billion ATM facility for its STRK preferred series was also announced. STRC pays a variable annualized dividend, currently set at 11.5% for March 2026. The rate has risen for seven consecutive months since the instrument began trading in July 2025. Its dividend resets monthly and is designed to keep shares trading near the $100 par value while reducing volatility. Saylor argued in a follow-up post that the breakeven Bitcoin annual return needed to sustain the STRC dividend indefinitely sits at roughly 2.13%, a figure far below BTC’s historical performance. CEO Phong Le previously stated in February that Strategy is pivoting away from common stock issuance toward preferred shares as the primary vehicle for funding future BTC purchases. What the Silence Could Mean The missing signal arrives as Bitcoin trades at $66,389, down roughly 47% from its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000. Meanwhile, MSTR shares have also fallen about 76% from their November 2024 peak. Bitcoin and MSTR Price Performance. Source: TradingView However, a missing Sunday post does not guarantee a buying pause. Strategy could still announce a purchase in Monday’s 8-K filing. The firm has occasionally varied its signaling pattern before. Strategy has also formally paused buying in the past. The firm briefly halted acquisitions in early July 2025 and again in early October 2025. Both turned out to be temporary. If Monday’s filing confirms no new BTC was added, it would mark the first break in a streak that added 90,831 Bitcoin since late December. If a buy is announced, the silence may simply reflect Saylor’s tactical shift toward spotlighting STRC at a critical moment for the product’s growth.

Lockridge Okoth

Benzinga Mar 29, 19:31 UTC

Michael Saylor Spent A Decade Doing 'Everything Under The Sun,' But Still Couldn't 'Get Ahead' — Success Hit When He Understood This One Thing

Michael Saylor may have gone all-in on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), but his path there, as he describes, was riddled with “despair” and selread more

Aniket Verma

Bitcoin.com Mar 29, 19:30 UTC

Lido Launches Vaults and Earn Products as Staking Yields Compress

Lido DAO has formally approved a $60 million operating budget for 2026 and outlined a strategy to move beyond its core liquid- staking product into yield vaults, institutional wrappers, and what the protocol calls “real-business DeFi.” Lido DAO Targets Corporate Treasuries and Tokenized Assets in Three-Year DeFi Plan The plan, detailed in the GOOSE-3 governance […]

Jamie Redman

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 19:02 UTC

“Smartest Man Alive” Drops 5 Crypto Predictions With Key Highlight on XRP

YoungHoon Kim, a South Korean figure who claims to hold the world’s highest IQ at 276, posted five bold crypto predictions on X (Twitter), with XRP (XRP) at the center. Kim has built a large social media following and regularly posts about Bitcoin (BTC), XRP, and broader market trends. Kim Declares Himself the “Son of XRP” In a rapid-fire string of posts on X, Kim called himself the “Son of XRP,” claiming he was “born to send XRP to $100” and that “no one can stop” him. He also declared that “crypto is about to explode.” These posts follow a pattern of increasingly aggressive XRP advocacy from Kim. He previously predicted XRP price could hit $100 within five years and has argued that Ripple token is superior to BTC. As of this writing, the XRP price was $1.32, down by 1.67% in the last 24 hours. Notably, a move to $100 for the XRP price would constitute a 7,475% increase above current levels. XRP Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto Kim did not stop at XRP. He stated that altseason had arrived “100%,” predicted meme coins would pump first, and called BTC “basically a meme coin.” Bold Claims Meet Skepticism Kim’s crypto predictions draw amplified attention because of his claimed IQ of 276, which he uses to brand himself as the world’s smartest person. However, that claim has faced sustained pushback. For starters, his January 6 prediction, forecasting a $100,000 target for the Bitcoin price within 48 hours or by January 8, fell falt as BTC dropped from $93,747 to close at $91,099. Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: TradingView His prior crypto forecasts have also missed targets. Kim predicted XRP would reach a new all-time high by late 2025. That did not happen. He also projected BTC would hit $300,000 in early 2026, a level it has not approached. Similarly, a VICE investigation published in July 2025 reported that high-IQ experts could not reproduce his claimed score from his test data. Chris Leek of Mensa called attempts to extrapolate 276 “a nonsense.” Australian psychometrician Jason Betts estimated Kim’s actual score did not exceed 175. Kim’s supporters, including the GIGA Society Professional, have countered that the 276 figure uses a standard deviation of 24, equivalent to 210 on the more common SD15 scale. A supporting pre-print released in August 2025 was later withdrawn.

Lockridge Okoth

CoinDesk Mar 29, 19:00 UTC

Stablecoin payments go 'invisible' in Southeast Asia as crypto card business surges

StraitsX, a Singapore-based company, has seen rapid growth in its stablecoin card program, with a 40x surge in transaction volume and an 83x increase in card issuance between 2024 and 2025.

Francisco Rodrigues

The Block Mar 29, 18:42 UTC

Canada proposes ban on crypto political donations in election integrity bill

The bill follows years of warnings from Canada's election watchdog and comes one day after the U.K. announced a moratorium on political crypto donations.

Zack Abrams

CoinDesk Mar 29, 18:31 UTC

Strategy may have paused bitcoin accumulation last week, ending a thirteen week buying streak

The company seemed to have skipped it's weekly bitcoin purchase announcement for the first time since late december.

James Van Straten

U.Today Mar 29, 18:17 UTC

Canadian Billionaire Mocks Crypto Bull's Tom Lee Latest Market Prediction

Canadian billionaire and mining magnate Frank Giustra has mocked Wall Street strategist Tom Lee over his highly optimistic market forecasts.

U.Today

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 18:11 UTC

Hackers Reportedly Leak 1.5 Million Binance Account Login Data

Binance is successfully courting institutional trading activities, but a growing wave of data security alarms on its retail front threatens to complicate the firm’s ambitions. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by market capitalization has started 2026 with explosive momentum in its over-the-counter trading division. In January and February alone, Binance’s OTC platform recorded 25% of its total volume for all of 2025. Captcha Bypass Exposes 1.5 Million Binance Users in Scraping Attack This sharp rise reflects a broader market maturation, as large-cap investors and institutional players increasingly seek private execution channels for massive trades. Binance CEO Richard Teng explained that these entities prioritize deep liquidity to avoid slippage and market disruption. The exchange’s OTC desk allows buyers and sellers to execute block trades directly, shielding their strategies from public order books. However, beneath this institutional polish, operational red flags are mounting. On March 28, cybersecurity platform VECERT reported that a threat actor operating under the alias PexRat offered a private database containing the personal information of 1.5 million Binance users for sale. The leaked data purportedly includes full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and Know Your Customer verification statuses. More alarmingly, the threat actor claims to possess victims’ last-login IP addresses, device user agents, and two-factor authentication statuses. This includes whether users rely on SMS, email, or dedicated authenticator apps. Meanwhile, the potential exposure of 2FA logs and KYC data presents a severe operational risk. It leaves compromised users highly vulnerable to targeted SIM-swap attacks and sophisticated phishing campaigns. Crucially, VECERT’s analysis of the authentication logs and sample data revealed that Binance’s internal servers were not directly breached. Instead, the firm outlined a sophisticated credential stuffing and scraping operation. “The evidence suggests that the attacker managed to bypass or abuse security mechanisms (such as Captcha) in the login interface or some platform API, allowing a constant flow of unblocked requests,” VECERT explained. This incident follows a January report by cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler, who uncovered roughly 420,000 Binance-linked credentials exposed via similar infostealer malware. Ultimately, these events present a critical stress test for Binance’s cybersecurity practices, as the exchange cannot afford the continued automated scraping of its users’ data.

Oluwapelumi Adejumo

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 18:04 UTC

Bitcoin Longs Hit Multi-Year High on Bitfinex, Raising Downside Risk

Bitcoin long positions on Bitfinex have surged to roughly 79,343 BTC, the highest level since November 2023. Analysts view this spike as a warning signal.  Historically, similar buildups in leveraged longs have coincided with local price tops or sharp declines. Bitcoin Long Positions on Bitfinex Against Price Chart. Source: X/Wu Blockchain This metric reflects margin traders betting on higher prices. However, when positioning becomes crowded, the market often turns fragile.  Is Bitcoin Price About to Crash Hard? With many traders already long, fewer buyers remain to sustain upward momentum. As a result, price rallies tend to stall. Moreover, these positions are typically leveraged. If Bitcoin drops even slightly, forced liquidations can trigger rapid selling. This creates a cascade effect, where falling prices lead to more liquidations and deeper declines.  Past cycles have shown this pattern repeatedly during periods of excessive long exposure. At the same time, broader macro conditions remain uncertain. Equity markets have weakened, and geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on risk assets.  Bitcoin has recently traded in a tight range, struggling to break resistance. In such an environment, crowded long positioning increases vulnerability to downside moves. Large market participants also monitor these imbalances. When positioning becomes one-sided, they may push prices lower to trigger liquidations and accumulate at cheaper levels.  This dynamic is common in derivatives-driven markets. Bitcoin’s current structure remains range-bound. However, the surge in Bitfinex longs suggests the market is overextended on the bullish side.  Unless strong spot demand emerges, the risk of a sharp correction remains elevated.

Mohammad Shahid

CoinDesk Mar 29, 18:00 UTC

No one is 100% happy with the stablecoin yield agreement: State of Crypto

The crypto and banking industries saw Senators Alsobrooks and Tillis' agreement-in-principle for stablecoin yield.

Nikhilesh De

Bitcoin.com Mar 29, 17:30 UTC

Wall Street Fear Gauge Hits 31 on Hormuz Supply Fears and Oil Price Shock

The CBOE Volatility Index closed at 31.05 on Friday, a 13.16% single-session gain that pushed Wall Street’s fear gauge to its highest close since late 2025. Meanwhile, gold held near $4,491 per ounce and silver recovered to $69.82, both propped up by geopolitical anxiety tied to the Middle East conflict. VIX Jumps to Highest Close […]

Jamie Redman

BeInCrypto Mar 29, 17:27 UTC

Analyst Says Bitcoin Just Hit the Phase That Tripled Facebook’s User Base

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas argues that Bitcoin (BTC) has entered the same adoption phase that took Facebook from 1 billion to 3 billion users. The comparison frames BTC’s loss of countercultural appeal as a sign of maturation, not decline, with spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) acting as the catalyst for mainstream entry. ETF Expert Likens Bitcoin to Facebook’s “Uncool” Phase, Bullish? Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior ETF analyst and co-host of the Trillions podcast, compares Bitcoin’s current moment to when older generations flooded Facebook. “Bitcoin rn feels like when your parents joined Facebook. On one hand, it’s not as ‘cool’ anymore because of the Boomers, but on the other hand, Facebook’s user base grew from like 1 billion to 3 billion people since the coolness factor went away, so..,” wrote Balchunas. Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens Facebook hit 1 billion monthly active users in 2012, according to Meta data. By the end of 2023, that figure reached 3.07 billion. Year-over-year growth rates collapsed below 10% after 2013, yet the absolute user base nearly tripled during that “boring” stretch. Statista chart showing Facebook MAU growth from 2011 to 2023 alongside declining YoY growth rates, Source: Statista The Numbers Behind the Analogy Balchunas also asked for hard data on Bitcoin holder growth over 3, 5, and 10 years. He noted that BlackRock reported roughly 1 million people bought its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the fund’s first year alone. Current estimates place the number of global Bitcoin holders at approximately 106 million, up from a range of 30 to 50 million in 2021. IBIT now holds 782,180 BTC, representing about 3.9% of the total supply. BlackRock IBIT BTC Holdings. Source: BlackRock Meanwhile, some macro analysts note that no-coiners keep declaring Bitcoin dead, yet really, it’s just getting started. When an asset loses its identity-driven appeal and attracts broad, passive capital, that transition often marks the start of its largest growth phase, not the end. Can Bitcoin’s holder base follow Facebook’s trajectory from 1 billion toward 3 billion? The directional trend since ETF approval points in that direction. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights

Lockridge Okoth