US Senate Takes First Major Step on Stablecoin Law
The US Senate Banking Committee approved the GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoin issuers, by a vote of 18 to 6. With this development, stablecoin regulation is one step closer to the Senate plenary session, while a similar process needs to be completed in the House of Representatives. Although Democratic senators proposed additional regulations, these proposals were rejected in the committee, where Republicans are in the majority. Senator Elizabeth Warren argued that the bill poses a risk to national security and suggested that it could be linked to Donald Trump’s own stablecoin project.
Senator Bill Hagerty, who prepared the bill, stated that the law would protect consumers, encourage competition and support innovation. Republicans, who took control of Congress in the 2024 elections, have made stablecoin regulation one of their priorities. For the bill to become law, the Senate and House of Representatives must combine the separate bills and bring them to a final vote.
XRP and ETH Comparison Shapes Ripple Case
As the SEC’s five-year lawsuit against Ripple draws to a close, the comparison of XRP to Ethereum has become a hot topic. The SEC is trying to determine whether the same applies to XRP, while treating Ethereum as a pure commodity. Ripple’s legal team is negotiating to ease the court’s ruling, which includes a $125 million fine and a ban on selling XRP to institutional investors.
The fairness of Ripple’s punishment is up for debate as the SEC’s new administration looks to clean up previous fines for crypto firms. Due to this uncertainty, the case is being prolonged.
Gold Breaks Records While Bitcoin Declines
Gold reached a new record as risk appetite in global markets decreased and proved its safe haven feature once again by approaching $ 3,000. During the same period, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices experienced sharp declines, while Bitcoin also lost value in parallel with stocks and fell to $ 81,000.
It is particularly noteworthy that investor interest has changed direction. While gold ETFs saw the largest inflows in the last two years, spot Bitcoin ETFs have experienced a total outflow of $ 5 billion since February. This trend shows that investors see gold as a safer asset compared to Bitcoin in the current environment of economic uncertainty. Although there have been periods when Bitcoin rose in the past; For now, gold remains strong in the markets.
U.S. Treasury Department Seeks Custody Solution for Bitcoin Reserve
The U.S. Treasury Department has held meetings with three major crypto custody firms, including Anchorage Digital, to ensure the security of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Officials are gathering information on how to store digital assets, their impact on the stablecoin market, and long-term strategies. While it is currently envisaged that the Bitcoin reserve will be stored by third-party firms, the government is aiming to establish its own custody infrastructure in the future. However, it is still unclear where the approximately 200,000 BTC in the government’s possession are kept.
Last year, the U.S. Marshals Service entrusted its large-scale digital assets to Coinbase. However, Coinbase has refrained from making a statement on whether the government holds Bitcoin reserves. President Trump’s decision to establish the Bitcoin Reserve is considered a significant turning point in the government’s approach to crypto assets. Leaders in the crypto custody industry say there is still uncertainty about where the government’s BTC is currently being held.
Democrats React to Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Plan
Representative Gerald Connolly is pressuring the Treasury Department to halt Trump’s plan to establish a national Bitcoin reserve due to conflicts of interest. Connolly argued that Trump acted without congressional authorization and that the plan could harm American taxpayers.
The reserve, created by Trump’s executive order, will be funded by seized Bitcoin from the Treasury. However, Connolly said the plan carries a risk of personal gain, citing Trump’s role in the TRUMP memecoin and WLFI projects. In addition, Trump’s initial statement that he would include SOL, XRP and ADA in the reserve, and then later announced that it would only include Bitcoin, has caused confusion. Connolly requested that the treasury share all the details of this process by March 27.
Trump-Backed WLFI Completes $550 Million Token Sale
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has raised $550 million in a token sale backed by the Trump family. The DeFi-focused project will use the funds for development and expansion.
Although the target was initially lowered due to weak demand, the sale gained momentum thanks to the popularity of Trump-related tokens. Tron founder Justin Sun invested $75 million in the project. WLFI holders will be able to participate in governance decisions, but tokens will not be transferable for 12 months.
Ethereum Developers Launch New Testnet for Pectra Update
Ethereum developers will launch a new testnet called Hoodi on March 17 to test the Pectra upgrade. Pectra’s mainnet activation has been postponed until April 25 at the earliest due to synchronization issues on the Holesky and Sepolia testnets. The developers note that the process may take longer until they are sure the upgrade is stable.
In addition, developers are working on the Fusaka update, which includes scaling solutions such as PeerDAS and EOF. However, the delays in Pectra increase the complexity of Ethereum’s process of managing large-scale changes.
Aave Brings DeFi and RWA Together with Horizon
Aave Labs has announced an initiative called Horizon to integrate institutional investors into DeFi. The project will allow tokenized money market funds (MMF) to be used as collateral for stablecoin loans.
Horizon will initially operate as a licensed version under Aave V3 and will contribute to the ecosystem with a profit-sharing model. While the on-chain RWA sector is growing rapidly; Aave’s move aims to increase institutional adoption.
Bolivia Turns to Crypto for Fuel Trading
Bolivia has allowed state oil company YPFB to import fuel using crypto assets amid a growing currency crisis and fuel shortage. The government aims to maintain fuel subsidies and secure energy supplies with this move.
The country’s long-standing decline in natural gas production and declining exports have increased import dependency, while a dollar shortage makes payments difficult. YPFB has yet to issue a crypto asset payment, but has announced that the system is ready. The path for this move is paved when Bolivia lifts its crypto ban in 2024. However, the government has yet to announce which crypto assets will be used and how it will hedge against price fluctuations. If successful, the move could represent a significant shift in Bolivia’s economic strategy.
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BITCOIN (BTC)
BTC is trading at $81,948 as of this morning, up 1.03%. Having fallen to $80,100 yesterday, BTC has been on the rise after encountering buying from there and is attempting to move upwards by taking support at $81,629. In the negative scenario, if the $81,629 level is lost, the $80,107 level can be followed as the first support point. If this zone is broken, a decline to $76,753 and then $74,408 is possible.
In the positive scenario, the $83,981 level stands out as the first resistance point. If this level is exceeded, the $86,704 and then $89,649 levels can be followed as the next resistance zones.
ETHEREUM (ETH)
ETH is priced at $ 1,888 as of the morning hours with a 1.30% gain in value. ETH, which has been following a horizontal course for the last few days, experienced a slight pullback by being rejected at $ 1,908.
In downward movements, the $ 1,840 – $ 1,800 region stands out as a strong support area. If this region is broken, the $ 1,757 level can be followed. In a deeper decline, the $1,665 area will be the main support point.
In upward movements, the $1,908 level stands out as the first resistance point. If this level is exceeded, the $1,960 and then the $1,997 levels can be followed as resistance. In a stronger rise, $2,075 and $2,153 levels can be targeted.
RIPPLE (XRP)
XRP is traded at $ 2.29 with a 1.74% gain as of the morning hours. If the positive scenario continues for XRP, which has been in a positive trend for three days, the 2.3 1- 2.37 band will first appear as the first resistance zone. If this zone is broken, an increase towards the $ 2.46 and $ 2.55 bands may be seen. In particular, closing above $2.37 could create stronger momentum for XRP.
In a negative scenario, the $2.25 level can be followed as the first support point. If closing below this level occurs, the $2.19 level may come to the fore. In a deeper pullback, $2.13 and $2.08 levels can be monitored as support.
AVALANCHE (AVAX)
AVAX is trading at $ 18.61 as of the morning hours with a 0.65% gain in value. AVAX, which was rejected from the 18.96 resistance in the morning hours, can be expected to test this level again. For a possible positive trend, breaking the 18.96 resistance will be critical first. Then, the 19.74 and 21.03 levels can be met as resistance.
In case of possible pullbacks, the $ 17.87 level can be followed as the first support point. Below this level, the $ 17.29 and $ 16.20 levels maintain their support positions. Especially in case of a decline below the 16.20 level, a decline to the 14.90 region may be observed.
SOLANA (SOL)
SOL is traded at $ 123.78 as of the morning hours with a 0.85% loss in value. SOL, which was rejected from the resistance zone, is having difficulty exceeding the 126.71 level. If the pullbacks continue, the $ 118.17 level can be followed as the first support point. Below this level, 112.54 stands out as the critical support zone.
In upward movements, the 126.71 level is in the resistance position. If this level is exceeded, the 135.47 level can be followed as resistance. Above, the 147.06 and 155.25 levels stand out as strong resistance areas.
