In 2025, SEC disclosures showed that Peter Thiel-linked Founders Fund unwound its entire 7.5% position in Ether treasury company ETHZilla after the firm sold 24,291 ETH to meet debt obligations. ETHZilla had previously raised $425 million, pursued a large Ether reserve with over 100,000 ETH and relied on leverage, exposing structural vulnerabilities amid price volatility. The move highlights the operational and balance sheet risks of debt-fueled Ether treasury strategies compared with simpler Bitcoin-focused models.

On March 3, 2026, Visa and Bridge announced plans to extend their stablecoin-backed card program to more than 100 countries by year-end, up from the current 18. Cardholders will be able to spend stablecoins at over 175 million Visa-accepting merchants, while a separate pilot with Lead Bank is testing direct on-chain settlement for issuers.

In a March Truth Social post, President Donald Trump accused banking groups of trying to weaken the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulation law passed in July, and of blocking broader U.S. crypto market structure legislation. He argued that banks, despite strong profits, should not influence rules for digital assets and warned that delays could drive crypto firms to move to countries like China with clearer regulations. At the center of the dispute are restrictions on stablecoin yield payments, which have divided banks and crypto industry representatives and slowed progress in the Senate.

Kraken’s banking unit has reportedly obtained a Federal Reserve master account, becoming the first crypto-native company to gain direct access to the U.S. central bank’s core payment systems. The approval enables direct U.S. dollar settlement on Fed infrastructure but does not grant full banking privileges such as earning interest on reserves.

Bitcoin climbed to a monthly peak near $73,019 during the latest Wall Street open, but technical signals suggest the bear market risk remains. Analyst Keith Alan highlighted that a weekly death cross between the 21-week and 100-week moving averages is likely to print next week, which could precede another leg down unless a strong bullish catalyst emerges.

On 4 March 2026, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig pressed the U.S. Senate to move forward on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which passed the House 294–134 and cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee but remains held up in the Senate Banking Committee over stablecoin yield provisions. The bill would divide oversight between the SEC and CFTC and create a decentralization certification process, while critics question whether the CFTC has the funding and staff to supervise an expanded digital commodity market. Market participants expect potential price revaluations if the law is enacted, but political timing and institutional resistance continue to cloud its prospects.

On Feb. 27, Deloitte issued an independent accountant's report on Anchorage Digital Bank's USAT Reserve Report, covering the US dollar token USAT that the bank issues in collaboration with Tether. As of Jan. 31, 2026, Anchorage reported $17.6 million in reserve assets against $17.5 million in USAT tokens, while Tether's far larger USDT stablecoin, backed by $192.878 billion in assets and $186.540 billion in liabilities as of Dec. 31, 2025, still has no full Big Four audit. The new attestation gives Tether exposure to a federally regulated US stablecoin with a Big Four name, but leaves long-standing questions over USDT's reserves and governance unresolved.

On March 4, Morgan Stanley updated its Form S-1 for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, designating Coinbase Custody and BNY Mellon as its key custodial partners. The bank plans to run the spot Bitcoin ETF similarly to a traditional ETF structure, using cold storage for Bitcoin and providing custody insurance while sharing some liabilities with customers.