Gate Daily (March 3): MicroStrategy buys 3,015 Bitcoins on dips; Nasdaq enters prediction market

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a strong rebound, currently around $68,990 as of March 3. MicroStrategy purchased an additional 3,015 BTC this week, increasing its holdings to over 720,000 coins. Nasdaq is entering the prediction market industry, planning to launch binary options on the 100 Index.

Macro Events & Crypto Hotspots

1. MicroStrategy recently bought 3,015 BTC at approximately $67,700 each, costing about $204.1 million. As of March 1, 2026, the company holds a total of 720,737 BTC, with an accumulated purchase cost of approximately $54.77 billion, averaging a holding cost of about $75,985 per coin.

2. Nasdaq plans to launch options contracts allowing bets of “Yes or No” on major stock indices, becoming the latest exchange operator to enter the rapidly growing prediction market industry. According to a rule change proposal filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company aims to list binary options on its flagship Nasdaq 100 Index and Nasdaq 100 Micro Index. The contracts will be priced between 1 cent and $1, reflecting market perceptions of the likelihood of certain outcomes. This will be Nasdaq’s first foray into mirror prediction products. These so-called “outcome-based options” will allow traders to take binary positions on whether specific events occur. Binary options are a simplified version of options contracts, with payoffs depending on the outcome of a “Yes or No” proposition. Financial contracts listed in prediction markets cover sports, politics, and pop culture. Unlike event contracts regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) such as Kalshi, Polymarket US, and CME, binary options are regulated by the SEC. Nasdaq’s contracts are currently awaiting SEC approval.

News Highlights

1. Tom Lee: Expect stock markets to rise in March, led by BTC, ETH, and others.

2. The Bitcoin network saw its first block supporting BIP-110, sparking disagreements over on-chain data restrictions.

3. PayPay plans to go public on Nasdaq, aiming to raise up to $1.1 billion.

4. U.S. Senate housing bill includes a clause banning central bank digital currencies.

5. Pump.fun mobile app now supports tokens issued by competitors and other non-native assets.

6. Vitalik Buterin proposes using “Big FOCIL” and encrypted memory pools to prevent centralization of block construction.

7. Uniswap wins a class-action lawsuit over “scam tokens,” with the court ruling that developers are not responsible for third-party illegal activities.

8. Tether hires Deloitte to produce a USAT reserve report.

9. An alliance of 12 European banks, Qivalis, plans to launch a euro stablecoin in the second half of this year.

10. Trump: Iran situation will become even more unstable.

Market Trends

1. Latest Bitcoin news: BTC has experienced a strong rebound, currently around $68,990. In the past 24 hours, liquidations exceeded $135 million, mainly short positions.

2. U.S. stock markets closed on March 2 with stability. The S&P 500 was nearly flat, after global market turmoil triggered by U.S. and Israel airstrikes on Iran. Investors actively bought the dip amid volatility. AI-related stocks saw strong buying, and rising oil prices boosted energy stocks, helping the market recover earlier losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.15% at 48,904.78; the S&P 500 rose 0.04% to 6,881.60; Nasdaq increased 0.36% to 22,748.86. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained 38.99 points, up 0.48%, closing at 8,137.36.

(Source: Gate)

3. According to Gate’s BTC/USDT liquidation map, with the current price at $68,937.90, if the price drops to around $68,028, total long liquidations exceed $309 million; if it rises to around $70,037, total short liquidations exceed $215 million. Short liquidations are significantly higher than longs, so traders should control leverage wisely to avoid large-scale liquidations during market fluctuations.

(Source: Coinglass)

4. In the past 24 hours, spot inflows totaled $3.97 billion, outflows $4.00 billion, resulting in a net outflow of $0.03 billion.

(Source: Coinglass)

5. Over the past 24 hours, net outflows were observed in contracts for $BTC, $ETH, $SOL, $BNB, $NEAR, and other assets, indicating trading opportunities.

Selected Insights from X KOL

Phyrex Ni (@Phyrex_Ni): “Recent operations haven’t been too difficult to write about; understanding the reasons behind market rises and falls makes it easier to find corresponding strategies. The biggest risk is when there’s no information or context, and prices fluctuate randomly. Recently, the main reasons for market volatility are the geopolitical conflicts between Iran and the U.S. — although it’s not over yet, it feels like it’s nearing the end, especially after Trump’s speech tonight indicating the U.S. will soon take significant action against Iran.”

“This news caused risk markets to rise, and Bitcoin followed suit. U.S. oil and gold prices declined, indicating the market believes the conflict may be ending soon, especially since Iran’s top leader is no longer in power. However, former Treasury Secretary Yellen publicly stated today that the conflict between the U.S. and Iran could make the Fed more cautious about rate cuts, as the conflict might increase U.S. inflation.”

“Currently, there are no clear signs of the war ending; Iran has not given up resistance after the death of its top leader, and negotiations are not fully underway. It’s likely to continue fighting while negotiating, and the market volatility is probably driven by this ongoing conflict.”

“Looking at Bitcoin data, the yield is not high, but trading volume has increased slightly, and investor buying sentiment has improved somewhat. This is probably related to Trump’s ‘big’ statement. Recent market volatility mainly stems from geopolitical conflicts, but fundamentally it’s about inflation and monetary policy. We’ll see what the second half of the year brings. Hopefully, there won’t be too many surprises in the first half. Other data remains normal; early investors show no signs of rebalancing, and most are still holding a wait-and-see attitude, even those in loss positions.”

Today’s Outlook

1. Eurozone February Consumer Price Index preliminary (monthly), previous: -0.5%

2. Eurozone February Consumer Price Index preliminary (annual), previous: 1.7%

3. U.S. January Durable Goods Orders revised (monthly), previous: -1.4%

4. Kansas Fed Chair Esther George to speak on monetary policy and economic outlook

5. Bank of Japan Governor Ueda Kuroda to speak at a fintech seminar