Japan's $3 trillion financial group MUFG announced plans to deploy artificial intelligence in its loan review processes and to jointly explore a stablecoin proof of concept with three megabanks. The initiative will enhance credit assessment using AI tools while collaborating with the other major banks on a shared stablecoin framework at the proof-of-concept stage.

Visa, ANZ, ChinaAMC and Fidelity International completed a cross-border settlement pilot for a tokenized money market fund purchase, the project participants said. Conducted under Phase 2 of Hong Kong's eHKD Pilot Programme, the test used Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to process the transaction. The pilot enabled an Australian investor to acquire a tokenized money market fund in Hong Kong, with settlement taking place almost instantly over blockchain infrastructure.

Bitcoin fell after Iran rejected reports of new nuclear negotiations with the U.S., adding uncertainty to global markets. The development prompted risk-off positioning in crypto as traders reduced exposure. Digital assets declined alongside broader market caution driven by lower risk appetite.

Stablecoin markets recorded weekly net inflows of $1.7 billion last week, a 414.5% increase from the prior week that lifted the 30-day average to roughly $162.5 million in daily inflows and coincided with about a 6.3% rise in onchain activity, Messari data show. Average transaction size declined as volumes grew, pointing to broader retail participation, after a period that included only about $249 million in weekly inflows two weeks earlier and roughly $4.4 billion in net outflows over the 30 days ending February 18. The policy backdrop includes the CLARITY Act advancing in the House in July 2025 to outline a digital-asset framework and the GENIUS Act enacted in July 2025 to regulate stablecoins and restrict issuers from paying yield solely for holding a token while allowing third-party rewards tied to balances, with President Trump publicly criticizing banks for slowing progress. Messari notes that ongoing debate over yield-bearing stablecoins and broader market-structure legislation, alongside demand for settlement assets such as USDC and USDT, is keeping market participants focused on how regulatory clarity could shape future issuance, user incentives, and overall crypto liquidity.

Bitcoin could see cumulative liquidations of $1.154 billion on major centralized exchanges if the price rebounds above $75,000, Coinglass data show, as cited by BlockBeats on March 5. A drop below $72,000 would correspond to $334 million in long liquidations, while a move below $71,000 would reach $1.234 billion in liquidation intensity. BlockBeats notes the liquidation chart reflects relative intensity of liquidation clusters rather than exact contract numbers or values, with higher bars indicating concentrated liquidity that may trigger stronger market reactions when price reaches those levels.

Social media discussions about altcoin season have dropped to their lowest level in two years, market intelligence platform Santiment reported, noting that past periods of unusually low "altseason" mentions have often preceded major altcoin rallies. Santiment data show that weekly references to altcoin season, when compared with price moves in Dogecoin and other meme coins, tended to spike near market tops, while sharp drops in chatter have historically appeared close to market bottoms. The Altcoin Season Index currently stands around 43, well below the 75 threshold used to signal a full altcoin cycle, indicating that most altcoins continue to lag Bitcoin as traders wait on crypto forums and Reddit for a further Bitcoin move before a broader rotation. Total crypto market capitalization recently rose about 2% in one day to roughly $2.45 trillion after Donald Trump called on U.S. lawmakers to finalize crypto market structure rules, with Bitcoin gaining nearly 6% and large-cap altcoins such as Ethereum and XRP advancing between 3% and 9%.

Western Union plans to launch USDPT, a USD-pegged stablecoin, on the Solana blockchain. The token is positioned as a competitor to RLUSD in the dollar-denominated digital asset space.

Crypto-related equities rallied on March 4 as Bitcoin rose above $74,000, gaining 5.8% during the session, CoinCodex data show. Strategy (MSTR) climbed more than 10%, Coinbase added 14%, and miners Hut 8 and American Bitcoin Corp rose 13.89% and 11.65%, respectively. The move followed comments from former President Donald Trump, who at a White House press conference criticized US banks over delays to crypto legislation, urged the Senate to expedite its review of the CLARITY Act, and said the United States intends to be a dominant force in cryptocurrencies. The CFTC began a regulatory review of prediction markets and the SEC requested clarification on how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets, while continued inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs reinforced optimism that a clearer regulatory framework may be emerging.

Bitcoin (BTC) climbed back above $70,000 within the past 24 hours and briefly touched $74,000 on March 5, 2026, as U.S. President Donald Trump voiced support for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, according to the report. The policy-driven shift in sentiment coincided with more than $500 million in short positions being liquidated in the derivatives market, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield stood at 4.11% and the U.S. Dollar Index at 98.813. BTC staged a sharp V-shaped rebound from a recent low of $63,000 to above $72,000, with short-term resistance now seen in the $74,400–$75,000 range and the 4-hour RSI around 53.18. Ethereum (ETH) rose about 8% to reclaim the $2,000 level and trade near $2,129, supported by a $129 million buy wall around $1,980, as around 3.4 million ETH remain queued for staking with an estimated 60-day wait time.