Crypto Market Update: Strait of Hormuz Fears Rattle Crypto Markets

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$68,989.11, up by2.6 percent over the last 24 hours.

Linh Tran, senior market analyst at XS.com, wrote in an email to INN that the current market sentiment is primarily cautious and bearish in the short term, maintaining a conditional outlook for a medium-term recovery.

Tran notes that the market is facing pressure from unstable capital flows, evidenced by four consecutive declining sessions and a failure to sustain momentum above US$74,000, with escalating geopolitical tensions and a strengthening US dollar proving significant headwinds

While on-chain data shows a positive signal, with 32,000 BTC withdrawn from exchanges interpreted as long-term storage, she notes this is “not sufficient to confirm the start of a new bullish cycle” and may simply reflect re-accumulation amid volatility.

A potential for medium-term recovery exists only if the price can maintain consolidation above the key support zone near US$60,000. Failure could result in “deeper downside pressure toward the US$50,000 region”.

Ether (ETH) was priced at US$2,034.34, up by 3.7 percent over the last 24 hours.

Altcoin price update

• XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.37, up by 1.2 percent over 24 hours.

• Solana (SOL) was trading at US$85.98, up by 4.4 percent over 24 hours.

Today's crypto news to know

Nasdaq and Boerse Stuttgart Group partner for blockchain-based trade settlement in Europe

Nasdaq announced it has formed a partnership with Seturion, a new digital settlement platform developed by Germany’s Boerse Stuttgart Group, to modernize how financial trades are finalized in Europe with blockchain-based technology.

Seturion is a digital system developed to complete post-trade settlements. It supports any type of asset, works with public and private blockchains and allows payments in central bank money or digital, on-chain cash.

Nasdaq will link its European trading platforms to Seturion, allowing investors to trade tokenized securities directly on Seturion. According to an official announcement sent to the Investing News Network, the initiative will start with structured financial products before broadening it to more asset types and more institutions.

"As an open industry solution, Seturion contributes to (overcoming) current national settlement infrastructure silos to turn a unified European capital market into reality. We are delighted to welcome Nasdaq – an absolute leader in its field – as Seturion’s first partner and look forward to scaling across Europe," said Dr. Matthias Voelkel, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group.

Tal Cohen, president of Nasdaq, said, “Tokenization has the potential to unlock the benefits of an always-on financial ecosystem – enhancing how investors access markets, how issuers engage with shareholders. We believe that public companies should always remain at the center of the equity market ecosystem. This issuer‐sponsored approach for tokenized equity securities is designed to empower public companies and enhance global accessibility to US equity markets.”

Coinbase marks expansion with two announcements

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) has made two major crypto trading announcements in the past few days.

On Friday (March 6), Coinbase’s institutional platform, Coinbase Prime, announced it is expanding into a full prime brokerage stack by adding regulated futures contracts and a shared collateral pool that allows institutions to make both regular crypto buys and futures trades via its CFTC FCM.

Today, Coinbase rolled out futures contracts on Coinbase Advanced for users in 26 European countries, including perpetuals and term contracts on BTC, ETH and SOL, plus equity indices with up to 10x leverage, marking the first regulated derivatives access via a MiFID II entity.

Amina Bank AG becomes the first regulated bank to sponsor 21X

Amina Bank AG, a crypto bank regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), has become the first regulated bank to serve as a listing sponsor on 21X, the European Union’s inaugural fully regulated trading and settlement system for distributed ledger technology, according to an announcement made on Monday.

This partnership integrates AMINA’s institutional-grade custody for traditional assets with Tokeny’s tokenization platform and 21X’s regulated trading infrastructure on Polygon and Stellar blockchains. It creates an end-to-end pathway from asset custody to onchain issuance and secondary market liquidity, aiming to address barriers to institutional tokenization adoption.

Bitcoin slips as oil shock rattles global markets

Bitcoin traded under pressure over the weekend as a surge in oil prices and escalating tensions in the Middle East unsettled global markets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency hovered near US$66,456, down roughly 1.7 percent over 24 hours, after briefly dipping below US$66,000. US stock futures also dropped sharply ahead of the new trading week, with Dow futures falling more than 800 points and contracts tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also sliding.

Energy markets drove much of the turbulence. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped about 18 percent to above US$107 per barrel, while Brent crude surged roughly 16 percent, pushing global oil benchmarks back above the US$100 mark for the first time since 2022.

Traders are increasingly worried about potential supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping corridor responsible for roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments. Israeli airstrikes targeting energy infrastructure in Tehran and Iranian drone attacks against oil-related assets across the Gulf have intensified fears that the conflict could spread into global energy markets.

Treasury pushes legal authority to freeze suspicious crypto funds

The US Treasury Department is urging lawmakers to create a new legal framework allowing crypto platforms to temporarily freeze funds tied to suspected criminal activity.

The proposal appears in a report submitted to Congress under the GENIUS Act, the legislation that established the first federal framework for stablecoins.

Under the recommendation, exchanges and financial institutions would receive a legal “safe harbor” enabling them to hold suspicious digital assets while investigators review potential illicit activity. Today, crypto firms often identify questionable transfers through blockchain analytics but lack clear authority to pause those assets without risking legal exposure.

The proposed hold law would create a defined window during which platforms could delay suspicious transactions before funds are moved through additional wallets or converted to other assets.

US judge dismisses terrorism lawsuit against Binance

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Binance of facilitating terrorism financing, dealing a legal victory to the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The case was brought by more than 500 plaintiffs who were victims of, or related to victims of, attacks carried out by militant groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS between 2016 and 2024. The plaintiffs argued that Binance knowingly allowed transactions linked to sanctioned entities, indirectly enabling funds to reach terrorist organizations.

However, US District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that the complaint failed to establish a direct connection between the exchange’s conduct and specific attacks cited in the case. Awareness of potential misuse alone, the court said, does not meet the legal threshold required under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.

While the judge dismissed the case, she gave plaintiffs 60 days to amend their filing with more specific evidence tying individual transactions and wallet addresses to particular attacks.

Binance welcomed the decision, calling it a “complete vindication” of what it described as unfounded allegations.