On-chain data from Bitfinex indicates a large crypto whale shifted roughly $22.7 million from tokenized gold XAUT into 10,242 ETH, worth about $21.9 million. During this period, Ethereum traded close to $2,100 and showed improving technical momentum, while XAUT eased from highs above $5,500 to around $5,015.

Bitcoin and crypto exchanges that once defined the industry by disrupting traditional finance now face rising competition as major banks expand digital asset services. Large institutions such as Morgan Stanley are moving into trading, custody, and staking while using third-party infrastructure providers to launch quickly. With banks’ broader distribution, capital efficiency, and diversified revenue models, trading activity and fee structures at established crypto exchanges could come under sustained pressure.

The Ethereum Foundation has rolled out a new EF Mandate, which Vitalik Buterin frames as a constitution, manifesto, and operational guide for the ecosystem. He says the Foundation will act as a steward focused on censorship resistance, open source, privacy, security, and other core principles instead of chasing short-term trends. The mandate also introduces the CROPS framework and the "walkaway test" to keep Ethereum aligned with a decentralization-first philosophy.

Bitcoin has rallied toward a monthly peak near $74,000, delivering a 10.42% weekly return, its best seven-day performance since September 2025. Analysts are tracking Coinbase's premium gap, rising spot BTC ETF inflows above $1.9 billion, and corporate accumulation via Strategy's 11,042 BTC purchase, while highlighting liquidity clusters between $75,000 and $80,000 as critical price zones.

Rich‑list data for early 2026 indicates that the largest 10 XRP addresses control over 11 billion coins, while the top 50 wallets together hold around 40–45% of the circulating supply. With only about 60 billion XRP actually in circulation and the remainder locked in Ripple‑linked escrow, a mix of corporate, exchange and whale wallets dominates ownership, as around 2,200 XRP is enough to reach the top 10% of addresses and roughly 46,000 XRP places a wallet in the global top 1%.

Bitcoin briefly climbed above $74,000 before facing a swift rejection and continues to trade well below its $126,000 peak from last October. Analysts are watching support near $70,000 and resistance around $74,000 to $76,000, with some seeing upside toward $85,000 if levels flip, while others warn of a possible slide toward $50,000 later this year.

On March 13, Bitcoin again met heavy selling pressure near $74,000–$74,500, keeping it locked in a wide trading band while traders watch key on‑chain levels. Several large-cap altcoins such as ETH, BNB, XRP, SOL, DOGE, HYPE, ADA, BCH and XMR are testing or approaching major moving averages and resistance zones that could signal either trend reversals or extensions of their consolidations.

The Ethereum Foundation published a formal mandate on Friday, setting out its mission to keep Ethereum decentralized and ensure users retain ultimate control over their onchain assets and data as the protocol scales. The document states that the foundation will prioritize core protocol upgrades, long-horizon research, cybersecurity and developer tooling while aiming to reduce its own role over time so Ethereum can function even if the foundation disappears.