Bitcoin is trading around $65,800 with a roughly 2% daily decline, while its market capitalization stands at about $1.3 trillion and trading volume has dropped close to 10% to around $40 billion. Major altcoins such as Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano and Dogecoin are posting steeper losses of over 3–4%, and the Altcoin Season Index remains at 35, indicating that market conditions continue to favor Bitcoin over higher‑risk tokens.

South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol ordered a cross-agency inspection of seized crypto asset management after the National Tax Service exposed a hardware wallet recovery phrase in a press release photo on Thursday. The leak led to the loss of roughly 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens valued at about 6 billion won, and follows an earlier custody failure involving 22 BTC allegedly misplaced by Seoul's Gangnam police.

In its Quarterly Banking Profile for the fourth quarter of 2025, the FDIC reports that US banks held $306.1 billion in unrealized losses on securities, a level it describes as elevated despite a $31 billion, or 9.2%, quarterly decline. The agency also notes that three institutions were added to the problem bank list, raising the total to 60, while industry profits for 2025 reached a record $295.6 billion, up 10% from 2024.

A JPMorgan Chase research note forecasts that passage of the U.S. CLARITY Act by mid-2026 could significantly accelerate institutional adoption of digital assets and fuel a crypto rally. The bill, which cleared the House with bipartisan backing but is now stuck in the Senate, is being held up by disputes over how stablecoin yields should be treated. Industry leaders including the CEOs of Ripple and Coinbase have publicly expressed strong confidence that the legislation will be approved by late April 2026.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argued in a Monday blog post that prolonged and costly US efforts in Iran under President Donald Trump could push the Federal Reserve to cut rates and expand the money supply. He cited past conflicts such as the 1990 Gulf War, the post-2001 war on terror and the 2009 Afghanistan surge as examples where the Fed allegedly eased policy, and said he plans to wait for any rate cuts before heavily increasing his Bitcoin and altcoin exposure.

Oil prices exploded over 5% in early trading on Monday, March 2, 2026, as a direct military confrontation between the U.S., Israel, and Iran sent shockwaves through global energy markets. The surge follows the confirmed death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrikes over the weekend, an event that has plunged the world's most critical oil-producing region into unprecedented chaos.

Gold (XAU/USD) prices erupted on March 2, 2026, hitting fresh intraday highs of $5,400 as joint US-Israeli military operations against Iran intensify. With Polymarket traders betting on a 90% chance of a higher daily close and the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed, discover why analysts from J.P. Morgan and BofA are now eyeing a structural rally toward $6,000.

The crypto market has seen a modest rebound, with XRP forming a potentially constructive technical pattern, Bitcoin reacting strongly from the $67,000 region and Ethereum edging back toward $2,000. XRP's price is tracking an ascending support line despite remaining below key moving averages, while Bitcoin's bounce from oversold levels suggests a temporary local bottom. Ethereum is attempting to stabilize just inside the $2,000 area, though broader trend indicators still point to a cautious, not yet confirmed, recovery.