Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan argued that the U.S. military strikes on Iran announced on a Sunday morning pushed crypto and onchain finance into a central role for global price discovery. He wrote that traditional markets were largely closed while crypto venues, tokenized gold, and prediction markets saw surging activity. Hougan now believes professional traders and institutions effectively have no choice but to adopt onchain finance tools.

On Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump criticized banks for blocking progress on the Senate’s crypto market structure legislation over restrictions on stablecoin yield payments. He warned that attempts to undermine the GENIUS Act and delay the CLARITY Act are unacceptable, and urged banks to reach an agreement with the crypto industry. Lawmakers and industry groups remain divided over whether the bill should ban all stablecoin yield, leaving the legislation stalled in the Senate.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission plans to introduce a framework for U.S. crypto perpetual futures within the next month, according to Chairman Michael Selig. The move aims to recapture trading activity that has shifted to offshore exchanges and make these leveraged, non-expiring contracts more accessible to domestic, including retail, traders while regulators and lawmakers continue to debate broader digital asset rules.

As of March 4, 2026, U.S. lawmakers remain divided over whether stablecoin issuers and crypto platforms may provide yield-style incentives to users, leaving the CLARITY Act stuck in the Senate after a strong bipartisan vote in the House. Representative French Hill is urging senators to accept the House-approved language, while traders on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket are still assigning notable odds that the bill will be enacted in 2026.

The crypto market is under pressure as Shiba Inu continues to breach short-term support patterns and XRP attempts a fragile recovery toward the $1.60 region. Bitcoin has rebounded from around $63,000 and is consolidating below $70,000, with a breakout still technically possible if buying momentum and volume strengthen. Overall trends for these assets remain cautious, with key moving averages acting as resistance and limiting the scope of any rebound for now.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump argued that U.S. banks are undermining key crypto legislation by stalling the Clarity Act, following the earlier passage of the GENIUS Act on stablecoins. He warned that disputes over whether stablecoins can offer yield are delaying broader market structure reforms and could drive digital asset activity to China and other jurisdictions. The Clarity Act remains stuck in the Senate as lawmakers, banks and the crypto industry clash over stablecoin rules and their impact on traditional banking.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump used Truth Social to claim that the GENIUS Act, a U.S. stablecoin framework, is being undermined by banks amid a dispute over stablecoin yields. He urged Congress to quickly pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, arguing that Americans should earn more on their money and that the crypto market structure bill must move forward.

Strategy Inc. disclosed via an SEC filing that between Feb. 23 and March 1, 2026, it bought 3,015 BTC for $204 million, lifting its corporate Bitcoin reserves to 720,737 BTC at a total cost of $54.77 billion and an average entry price of $75,985. On-chain data indicates about 470 million XRP, with a netflow of $472 million from XRP Ledger to Binance, raising concerns over potential selling pressure as XRP trades around $1.36 after a modest rebound. At the same time, three Dogecoin ETFs from Grayscale, 21shares and Bitwise have repeatedly posted $0 in daily net inflows since Feb. 3, accompanied by relatively low trading volumes and prolonged weakness in Dogecoin's price performance.