On March 2, 2026, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer, Eric Halem, was convicted of kidnapping and robbery for orchestrating a $350,000 Bitcoin theft from a 17-year-old in a Koreatown high-rise. The December 28, 2024 crime involved a fake police raid using vests, handcuffs, and threats of severe violence to force the victim to hand over a crypto hard drive. Halem, who resigned from the LAPD in 2022 but was still an active reserve officer at the time, faces sentencing on March 31, 2026.

On 3 March 2026, the HKMA, Shanghai Data Bureau, and China's National Technology Innovation Center for Blockchain signed an MoU to build shared blockchain infrastructure for cross-border cargo trade and finance. The platform will digitize electronic bills of lading, connect systems like CDI and CargoX, and target the $1.5 trillion trade finance market by cutting processing costs and settlement times, with particular benefits expected for SMEs.

On March 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla permanently dismissed all remaining claims in the Risley v. Universal Navigation case against Uniswap Labs and founder Hayden Adams. The ruling found that developers of Uniswap's open-source protocol cannot be held liable for scam tokens created and traded by anonymous third parties, following earlier federal securities claims that were thrown out in 2023. Together with the SEC ending a separate Uniswap investigation in early 2025, the decision marks a key moment for how courts and regulators are treating decentralized finance, even as experts caution that future rules may still focus on centralized elements such as interfaces and governance.

On 2 March 2026, Binance derivatives data showed open interest dropping from 130,800 BTC to 97,680 BTC, a decline of about 25% alongside an estimated leverage ratio near 0.146. Bitcoin is trading close to $69,000, while aggregate open interest across exchanges hovers around $20.81 billion and key liquidation zones cluster between $62,000–$63,000 and $69,000–$70,000. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recently posted a $506 million net inflow, and Binance's BTC futures open interest of roughly 129,080 BTC now exceeds that of CME.

On 2 March 2026, Pi Network entered a pivotal stage, enforcing a mandatory node upgrade toward Protocol v23 while preparing to launch its decentralized exchange on 12 March 2026. The project reports over 16.2 million mainnet migrations, 17.7 million KYC-verified users, more than 421,000 active nodes and 300+ mainnet apps, with circulating supply at roughly 9.3–9.4 billion PI out of 100 billion. PI changes hands around $0.16–$0.19, down over 90% from its $2.10 peak in February 2025, and analysts are divided on whether upcoming upgrades and the DEX can offset dilution risks from unreleased tokens.

On 2 March 2026, Aave governance advanced the "Aave Will Win" framework after an off-chain Temp Check that ended on 1 March 2026 with 52.58% support, 42% opposition, and 5.42% abstentions. The plan would redirect 100% of gross revenue from Aave-branded products to the DAO treasury, while Aave Labs seeks an annual $25 million stablecoin budget plus 75,000 AAVE, and the proposal now heads to the ARFC phase before an on-chain vote. AAVE is trading near $114.8 in a $110–$120 range, with neutral technical indicators as the market awaits the final governance decision.

On 2 March 2026, Bitcoin was trading in a consolidation range around $65,000–$68,000 after retreating from its 2025 all‑time high of $126,000. Macroeconomist Henrik Zeberg forecasts a cycle peak between $110,000 and $120,000 by the end of March 2026, with a 25% chance of an overshoot to $140,000–$150,000 and similarly bullish targets for Ethereum and Solana. He cites a supportive risk-on backdrop, ongoing spot ETF inflows and expanding institutional participation, while other analysts highlight macro uncertainty and waning retail enthusiasm as key risks.

On 2 March 2026, Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3, argued that Bitcoin is significantly undervalued versus gold and global liquidity, estimating it trades 24% to 66% below its historical trend. He pointed to a BTC-to-gold Z-score of -1.24 as of 1 March 2026 and highlighted that gold’s market cap is still roughly 10 times larger than Bitcoin’s. Mow continues to project a long-term price target of $1 million per BTC and expects further nation-state adoption, while some analysts warn Bitcoin could still retest the $50,000 area amid macro risks.

By February 2026, tokenized gold’s market cap surpassed $6B after roughly $2B of inflows, with over 1.2 million ounces stored in regulated, audited vaults. In 2025, capitalization climbed 177% and volume jumped 1,550% to $178B, while Q4 turnover topped $126B and outpaced the five largest gold ETFs, as EU and Singapore rules enforced strict one-to-one backing and audits.