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In brief Nasdaq files with the SEC to offer binary “Outcome Related Options” contracts. The move puts Nasdaq in competition with Kalshi, Polymarket, and Crypto.com. Wall Street giants like ICE, CME Group, and Cboe are also entering the space. Nasdaq Inc., the parent company of the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization, wants to roll out its own prediction market offering.The company intends to offer options contracts for yes-or-no bets, which would be priced between 1 cent and $1, according to an SEC filing submitted early Monday morning.Nasdaq’s so-called Outcome Related Options would let traders take binary positions on whether…

The price of Bitcoin jumped to a two-week high near $70,000 on Monday, pushing higher alongside riskier assets as the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran entered its third day.The leading digital asset by market cap recently changed hands around $68,938, a 4.4% increase over the past day, according to CoinGecko. Some platforms, including Coinbase and CoinMarketCap, showed Bitcoin briefly rising above the $70,000 mark late Monday morning before ticking back down.Bitcoin had fallen as low as $63,100 early Saturday, following initial word of bombings in Iran, and then ticked up throughout the day amid initial reports…

Leveraged Bitcoin and crypto traders are getting wrecked to start the week, as investors weigh the impact of the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran. Bitcoin surged from a 24-hour low of $65,280 to as high as $69,850, triggering a total of $432 million in liquidations, according to CoinGlass. The majority of the liquidations hit traders going short, coming in at $253 million. The pseudonymous crypto trader DonAlt says the fact that BTC’s price is not dropping despite the events in Iran is a potential sign of strength. “Bad news, decent response. Interesting spot, think you can make a good…

Bitcoin price opened US trading session strongly with a 3% surge above $68,000, according to CryptoSlate’s data.This marked a significant difference to its first response, which looked nothing like a clean safe-haven trade following the latest Middle East tensions.When headlines hit over the weekend about US strikes on Iran, the flagship digital asset fell below $64,000 before stabilizing, behaving less like digital gold than a liquid, around-the-clock risk asset.Gold moved the other way, rising toward $5,376 an ounce as investors sought traditional protection.In foreign exchange, the Swiss franc and Japanese yen strengthened, while the dollar also firmed, a familiar sign…

In brief Social media rumors argued that massive BTC dumps and hashrate collapse could follow the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran. Analysts and miners say Iran’s share of global Bitcoin mining is small and the impact limited. War-driven volatility is tied more to price sentiment than supply network risk, they argued. The escalating conflict in Iran is unlikely to significantly disrupt the global Bitcoin mining network, industry analysts and operators said, countering circulating rumours on social media platforms suggesting a disastrous hit to hashrate and a flood of Bitcoin sell-offs.“I don’t think it’s of any major concern for Bitcoin,” Wolfie Zhao,…

St. Cloud Financial Credit Union (SCFCU) announced the launch of its CU-Digital Asset Vault™, a digital-asset platform built specifically for credit union members.  Essentially, the Vault integrates directly with the credit union’s core systems, allowing members to hold and manage digital assets – like Bitcoin – while keeping the credit union in control of data, governance, and member relationships. The Vault uses DaLand’s CUSO’s Coin2Core™ architecture to connect digital-asset activity to SCFCU’s existing infrastructure.  Unlike many digital-asset services that hand off wallets — and along with them, control of member relationships, deposits, and data — to outside providers, the Vault…

In brief Former Labour minister Rushanara Ali has become the latest UK MP to call for an outright ban on political donations in cryptocurrency. Ali argued that crypto donations leave the UK open to “foreign interference in our democracy,” echoing the concerns of anti-corruption groups. To date, the only major party to accept crypto donations is Reform UK. A former Labour minister has joined a growing chorus calling for the U.K. to ban political donations made in cryptocurrency.Labour MP Rushanara Ali, who previously contributed to the government’s elections bill during her stint in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local…

The bitcoin price is on the move again this morning, pumping sharply from the mid‑$65,000 range to push toward $70,000, representing roughly a 6% gain in just a few hours as leveraged short positions face heavy liquidations.  Last week, Bitcoin price briefly surged past $69,000 on February 25 before retreating over the weekend, falling back to around $65,000. The move today comes after a volatile weekend marked by heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, when joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets, including reports of attacks near Tehran and Iran’s leadership, and then Iran’s retaliatory actions rocked risk…

In brief Strategy purchased $200 million worth of Bitcoin last week. The company issued STRC, but proceeds mostly came from common shares. Strategy raised STRC’s monthly dividend for a seventh time to 11.5%. Strategy disclosed its third-largest Bitcoin purchase of the year on Monday, scooping up $200 million worth of the asset using proceeds that partially came from preferred shares.The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm now owns roughly 720,750 Bitcoin, according to a press release, with its holdings currently worth about $49.5 billion. The company’s latest purchase comprised around 3,000 Bitcoin, bought for an average price of around $67,700 apiece.The Bitcoin-buying firm…

In brief BitMine added another $103 million in Ethereum last week. The firm now holds 3.71% of the entire circulating supply, though its unrealized losses sit near $7.7 billion. Nevertheless, shares are up more than 8% on Monday as crypto begins to rebound. Publicly traded Ethereum treasury BitMine Immersion Technologies added another 50,928 ETH or $103 million worth of Ethereum as the second-largest crypto asset continued its slide last week—though ETH is now surging as of Monday morning.The latest acquisition brings its total haul to 4,473,587 ETH, around 3.71% of the circulating Ethereum supply, now valued at $9 billion as…

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure A crypto analyst has drawn a striking comparison between XRP and the Russell 2000 index, a US stock market index that tracks the performance of smaller publicly traded companies. Based on the similarities found between the two assets, the analyst has suggested that the altcoin could be setting up for an explosive move into price discovery.  XRP Chart Mirrors Russell 2000 Index Trend A new technical analysis by market analyst Austin compares XRP’s recent price action with historical price movements of the Russell 2000 index. In an X…

Anthropic’s popular Claude AI chatbot platform has been dealing with an extended outage early Monday, with the company confirming issues and saying that it’s working on a fix.Users began reporting widespread problems connecting to Claude shortly after 6 a.m. ET, per Down Detector, with Claude’s status page showing an acknowledgement of issues soon after. According to the latest update, Anthropic wrote, “The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.””Claude is currently unavailable on our consumer-facing surfaces such as claude.ai and our apps,” a spokesperson told Decrypt. “The Claude API that powers businesses remains unaffected. Our team is working…

ProCap Financial, Inc. continued its twin strategic thrusts this week with the acquisition of 450 Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 5,457 BTC and lowering its average cost basis per coin, the company announced.  The aggressive accumulation comes as Bitcoin trades near $65,000, presenting what management views as a long-term buying opportunity amid broader market volatility. Chairman and CEO Anthony Pompliano said the Bitcoin purchases enhance the company’s balance sheet and position it to benefit from future upward movements in the flagship cryptocurrency. “We are doing two things at the same time: buying Bitcoin to average down our total cost…

When markets are closed and Bitcoin is moving, the custody agreement decides who can act.A spot Bitcoin ETF fixed an awkward problem for finance. Bitcoin used to arrive as software, keys, and operational responsibility. The ETF repackaged it as a ticker that sits next to every other ticker.That convenience came with a structural trade. Most ETF buyers get exposure while someone else holds authority. Gannett Trust frames that as a deliberate choice between convenience and control, rooted in something Bitcoin makes explicit.Ownership sits in keys and authorization, not in a statement that says you have economic exposure. Traditional markets blur…

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.GM!Today’s top news: Crypto majors dip then rebound amidst Iran War; BTC at $66k HYPE wins the weekend, rallying 20%+ to $30 while HIP-3 sees record OI Bitcoin ETFs saw $787M in net inflows last week US declares Anthropic as supply chain risk after negotiations on how the US could use Claud fell through Paradigm announced a new $1.5B fund focused on AI & Robotics ? Bitcoin Crashes, Rebounds During…

In brief Polkadot, Near, and Jupiter are among the altcoins that have clocked double-digit gains over the past week. The altcoin rally follows Bitcoin’s 4.7% recovery from a $63,000 low triggered by the U.S.-led attack on Iran. For this rally to transition into a sustained uptrend, experts cited a combination of renewed liquidity and the dissipation of uncertainty due to macro and geopolitical events. Altcoins including Near Protocol, Polkadot and Jupiter have posted double-digit gains over the past week, far outpacing Bitcoin as traders rotated into higher-beta assets following the leading crypto’s attempted recovery.Near Protocol jumped 19.4% over the past…