Geopolitics

The U.S. CLARITY Act gained bipartisan support in the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate, failing to meet the review and voting schedule. The main debate centers on the definition of stablecoin yield payments, with the banking industry supporting strict restrictions, while crypto companies strongly oppose. Four core issues remain unresolved, and the bill may be delayed due to the impact of the 2026 elections.

Tether announced on February 27 that it has frozen approximately $4.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency tokens, mainly due to involvement in "illegal activities." The freeze includes $61 million of USDT related to "pig butchering" scams. As a stablecoin issuer, Tether has the ability to remotely freeze specific wallets, demonstrating its centralized nature. Research indicates that cryptocurrency money laundering activities are rapidly increasing, and FATF has called for strengthened regulation to address the associated challenges.

Former Mt. Gox CEO Karpelès proposes a hard fork of Bitcoin to recover approximately 79,956 Bitcoins stolen in 2011. The proposal suggests adding consensus rules to allow funds to be returned to creditors through court proceedings, but it faces concerns about undermining Bitcoin's immutability and the risk of chain splits. This proposal is currently mainly to spark discussion and has not been implemented.

Bitcoin today fell due to the US January PPI data exceeding expectations, the bankruptcy of UK MFS triggering credit panic, and pressure on tech stocks. The rise in core PPI has intensified inflation concerns, and uncertainty in Federal Reserve policies has increased. $64,000 is a key support level; a break below could potentially trigger deeper liquidity issues.

Former Mt. Gox CEO Karpelès proposes recovering the 79,956 BTC stolen in 2011, worth approximately $5.2 billion, through a Bitcoin hard fork. The plan allows funds in specific addresses to be managed under new rules to repay creditors, but it requires coordination across the entire network and carries a risk of division.

_Iran supplies 2–5% of Bitcoin hashrate. A grid outage could cut global mining power and slow block times until difficulty adjusts._ Bitcoin markets are watching oil and regional security risks, yet little attention is on Iran’s role in global Bitcoin mining. Iran contributes an estimated 2

The cryptocurrency market has recently experienced a significant rebound, with market capitalization skyrocketing by over $170 billion overnight. Analysts believe this is due to the sudden disappearance of long-term selling pressure that had been suppressing the market, related to the insider trading lawsuit against quantitative trading firm Jane Street. During this rebound, Bitcoin and Ethereum saw notable gains, and the market sentiment has turned more optimistic. As selling pressure eases, analysts remain optimistic about the future.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed optimism for the future of crypto during his speech at the XRP Australia 2026 hackathon, highlighting the collective efforts of advocates worldwide. JP Morgan forecasts a potential boost in the crypto market by late 2026, driven by regulatory clarity from the Clarity Act.

Ukraine is accelerating the development of its central bank digital currency, the "Electronic Hryvnia," with the goal of enhancing financial infrastructure and increasing the adoption of digital payments. Due to the wartime environment and infrastructure investments, official issuance still faces challenges. Investors should pay attention to relevant legislative developments to adjust asset allocations accordingly and assess the impact of payment system reforms on the crypto market.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on stablecoin yields to discuss the impact of the GENIUS Act. The bill prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest but does not restrict platform rewards, raising concerns about potential bank deposit outflows. Banking industry representatives pointed out the potential risk of deposit outflows, while supporters argued that there is no substantial evidence. Regulatory agencies emphasized that there have been no signs of large-scale deposit outflows at present and plan to enhance regulation of digital assets.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused the U.S. Department of Defense's ultimatum in 2026, prohibiting Claude AI from being used for military purposes, as it crossed the red line of autonomous weapons and surveillance. This incident highlights the potential threats of the Defense Production Act, which could impact the technology and cryptocurrency industries. Anthropic faces the risk of losing military contracts, and the broader supply chain exclusion could have more far-reaching effects, testing the resilience of decentralized architectures.

The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced the "Blockchain Development and Innovation Act," aimed at amending Section 1960 of the Code to clarify that decentralized developers who do not hold others' funds will not be considered illegal. This bill interacts complexly with the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, and industry stakeholders are concerned about its impact on DeFi legislation. The bill is expected to improve future criminal protections for developers.

Affected by geopolitical tensions and U.S. tariff policies, gold prices continued to hit record highs in 2026, reaching $5,417 per ounce at the end of January and remaining above $5,000, driving significant growth in tokenized gold protocols. Meanwhile, the crypto market came under pressure, with market capitalization dropping over 21%, and Bitcoin falling back to levels seen before Donald Trump's election in 2024.

Bitcoin recently retreated from $71,000 to $67,000, mainly due to false breakouts caused by forced short liquidations and increased market risk premium from ongoing uncertainties in US-Iran nuclear negotiations. On the technical side, $71,000 is a major resistance level; if it cannot be effectively broken through, it will impact the short-term trend. The decline in open interest indicates market deleveraging, and the price increase lacks sustainable support.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin releases a long-term roadmap, proposing to address the threat of quantum computing by changing signature and data schemes, recommending the use of quantum-resistant hash signatures, with EIP-8141 as the core, supporting quantum-safe signatures while reducing verification costs.

Bitcoin’s rally stalled as the cryptocurrency retreated from over $69,000 to roughly $67,000, triggering over $470 million in liquidations and wiping $40 billion off its market cap. Market Cap Shrinks Amid Liquidations On Feb. 26, bitcoin’s relief rally hit a wall. After effortlessly sweeping p

Tether has recently posted multiple job openings in South Korea, planning to expand its team to meet market demand. Industry insiders say that Circle is also pushing for business expansion. Additionally, South Korea's upcoming Digital Asset Basic Act may require overseas stablecoin issuers to establish local branches to comply with regulatory requirements.

The cryptocurrency market has recently experienced a significant rebound, with market capitalization skyrocketing by over $170 billion overnight. Analysts believe this is due to the sudden disappearance of long-term selling pressure that had been suppressing the market, related to the insider trading lawsuit against quantitative trading firm Jane Street. During this rebound, Bitcoin and Ethereum saw notable gains, and the market sentiment has turned more optimistic. As selling pressure eases, analysts remain optimistic about the future.

The UK will make adjustments to the Individual Savings Account (ISA) policy in April 2026, and retail investors will no longer be able to use ISAs to purchase cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs), as they are reclassified as assets that do not comply with ISA rules. This change will impact investors' tax planning and asset allocation strategies, especially increasing investment complexity for young investors, while also reflecting the cautious attitude of UK regulators.