Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at US$86,053.53, reflecting an 8.6 percent decline over the past 24 hours. The day's trading range has seen a high of US$93,104.53 and a low of US$85,267.53.

Ethereum (ETH) is priced at US$2,133.88, a loss of 15 percent over the same period. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of US$2,358.91 and a low of US$2,104.19.

Altcoin price update

• Solana (SOL) is currently valued at US$144.76, down 17.5 percent over the past 24 hours. SOL experienced a high of US$163.72 and a low of US$141.96.

• XRP is trading at US$2.41, reflecting a 16 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency recorded an intraday high of US$2.68 and a low of US$2.37.

• Sui (SUI) is priced at US$2.67, showing a 16.9 percent increase over the past 24 hours. It achieved a daily high of US$2.96 and a low of US$2.63.

• Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.8748. The last 24 hours have shown a decrease of 15.5 percent. Its highest price on Friday was US$0.9905, with a low of US$0.8357.

Crypto news to know

Trump announces strategic crypto reserve

The crypto market rallied leading up to the markets’ opening on Monday after US President Donald Trump’s post about an impending strategic crypto reserve on Sunday morning.

After initially listing only XRP, SOL and ADA among the cryptocurrencies the reserve would hold, Trump clarified that Bitcoin and Ethereum would “be the heart of the Reserve,” sparking a rally that saw Bitcoin briefly retake US$94,000 after its fall below US$80,000 last week.

However, the market gains quickly reversed at the opening bell as investors weighed the potential economic benefits of a reserve against ongoing global economic uncertainty.

Timothy Enneking, CEO of Presearch, told the Investing News Network (INN) in an email, “Many announcements regarding crypto result in a short-term pop, followed by an immediate mean reversion. The pattern exists because while such announcements are certainly newsworthy and create a bit of euphoria, they really don’t fundamentally change the crypto landscape in any fashion.

“Trump’s announcement of additional specifics of the US Crypto Reserve, as well as the White House Crypto Summit on March 7, are quite different."

He sees this as a very positive sign for the future of the crypto market and reasons that a potential US government purchase of major cryptocurrencies could cause prices to skyrocket.

On the other hand, Michael Terpin, CEO of Transform Ventures and author of Bitcoin Supercycle, noted that the inclusion of altcoins in a Federal reserve was “ill-received by the Bitcoin community”.

He suggested to INN that only Bitcoin should be included and that adding other cryptos is comparable to including mining stocks in gold reserves: “Keep it simple and safe; keep the strategic reserve in Bitcoin. It’s also the only digital asset that has reached significant new all-time highs in every cycle.”

Trump first mentioned the possibility of such a reserve at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville in July 2024. At that time, he told the crowd he would make the US a “Bitcoin superpower”, vowing to create a Bitcoin strategic reserve days before Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced legislation to create a federal Bitcoin reserve.

Meanwhile, a crypto whale made a US$5.9 million USDC deposit to the Hyperliquid exchange on March 1, strategically employing up to 50x leverage to establish sizable positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The precise timing of this move, yielding profits exceeding US$6.8 million, in conjunction with Trump's announcement, raises concerns about possible insider knowledge — marking the third allegation involving government officials in recent times and the second involving Trump. Argentina's president, Javier Milei, is also facing controversy for his promotion of LIBRA, a memecoin that was launched with the help of American crypto developer Hayden Davis. Davis was also involved in the launch of Melania Trump’s memecoin.

Crypto analyst Carl Moon described the situation as “the biggest INSIDER TRADE I’ve ever seen.” It is unclear whether the trader was aware of Trump’s planned statements in advance.

SEC drops case against Kraken

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to ease legal tension with the crypto industry, agreeing to drop its lawsuit against Kraken.

The crypto exchange issued a press release on Monday (March 3) informing market participants that the case had been dismissed “with prejudice, with no admission of wrongdoing, no penalties paid, and no changes to our business.”

This action further signals the shift in the relationship between the crypto industry and the SEC, which became strained under former Chairman Gary Gensler. The Commission has already dropped nine cases against various crypto entities in 2025. Kraken’s legal disputes began in November 2023 when the SEC accused the company of operating as an unregistered securities exchange.

Lawmakers to form bipartisan caucus

US Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce the formation of a Congressional Crypto Caucus with GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), who also serves as vice chairman of the Digital Assets Subcommittee.

“We hope to build a unified, bipartisan coalition to cement America’s leadership in the future of digital assets and blockchain innovation,” Torres wrote, echoing the sentiment expressed by Emmer in a press release issued by FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett.

“This Caucus serves as an ideologically unified, nonpartisan group of members that can quickly mobilize to support key digital asset initiatives in Congress,” Emmer said. “We will continue to work to ensure the United States remains the best place in the world to build and innovate in the next iteration of the internet.”