Analyst | Crypto

Fallout from the Iran war will likely weigh on markets for much of 2026, dashing hopes of rate cuts until Q3 by the earliest, the Coin Bureau's Nic Puckrin said. Now almost a week old, the Bitcoin (BTC) recovery is “fragile” as the crypto market faces geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds from the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to Nic Puckrin, a crypto market analyst and founder of the Coin Bureau media outlet. “Even if the war ends now, its repercussions will likely be the story of 2026, and certainly the dominant narrative for Q2. I don’t expect to see a rate cut until late Q3 or Q4, if at all,” Puckrin told Cointelegraph. He said that he sees:  If Bitcoin closes the week above $71,000, it could signal continued upside for BTC, with resistance forming around the $74,000 level, he said. At last look, it was trading at about $71,276, according to TradingView data. Read more

Bitcoin and Ether are each less than 10% away from price levels that could signal a potential reversal in the crypto market, according to a macro analyst. Bitcoin and Ether aren’t far from levels that could signal a trend reversal this year, despite a growing consensus across the industry calling for a bear market, according to macro analyst Jordi Visser. “If we trade above $76,000 and at the same time we see Ethereum above $2,400, I believe that is the beginning of a move that will be sustainable this year because I don't think we're going to have a recession,” Visser said on the Anthony Pompliano podcast published on YouTube on Friday. A move to $76,000 would represent an increase of 6.1% from Bitcoin’s (BTC) price of $71,646 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap data. Ether’s (ETH) move to $2,400 would represent an increase of around 8%. Read more

The longer Bitcoin's price stays flat, the bigger the move up could eventually be, according to a crypto analyst. Bitcoin’s prolonged consolidation below $70,000 may be paving the way for a more significant rally, according to a crypto analyst. “The longer it lasts, the heavier the breakout will be,” MN Trading Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said in an X post on Friday. “Bitcoin remains stagnant in this area, which means that there's literally no direction,” van de Poppe said, adding that he is eyeing Bitcoin (BTC) breaking through $71,000, a level the asset hasn’t reached since March 26. Read more

Bitcoin ETFs offer more use cases for the average investor’s portfolio than a gold ETF does, according to ETF analyst James Seyffart. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could surpass gold ETFs in total assets under management (AUM) as investor demand expands beyond the traditional “digital gold” narrative, according to ETF analyst James Seyffart. “There are just more use cases of why somebody would put a Bitcoin ETF in a portfolio,” Seyffart said on the Coin Stories podcast published to YouTube on Friday. He pointed to Bitcoin’s (BTC) role as digital gold, a store of value, a portfolio diversifier, and a form of digital capital and property, adding that the market also views Bitcoin as a “growth risk asset.” Seyffart explained that Bitcoin has “all these different ways” of being viewed, while gold only has “one of those things.” Read more

The value of the Bitcoin treasury company's holdings peaked at over $711 million in October 2025, when BTC hit an all-time high of about $126,000. Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company Nakamoto (NAKA) selling its BTC at a loss could signal capitulation of more crypto treasury companies and the start of a “contagion” that could spark a wave of forced selling, according to market analyst Nic Puckrin. "Cracks are beginning to show in the digital asset treasury (DAT) market,” Puckrin said, adding that the war in the Middle East will likely place further pressure on Bitcoin’s price and treasury companies in a reinforcing cycle. He said: Nakamoto sold 284 BTC in March for $20 million, implying a price of about $70,000 per coin; the company also reduced its stake in the publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet, selling shares at a loss.  Read more

Bitcoin charts point to a possible rally to $80,000, but spot volumes need to increase in order for the rally to hold. Bitcoin (BTC) is testing the $71,500 pivot, a key level across multiple timeframes and analysts noted that price action is tilted toward a possible rally to $80,000. As traders remain split between futures-driven speculation and weak spot demand, Bitcoin has tested the $71,500 inflection point four times in the past seven days. A positive is that the price has held above the 50-period exponential moving average (EMA) on the four-hour chart, but the 50-day EMA on the daily chart continues to act as a level of resistance. Crypto trader Skew described the position as a “compression zone,” where the tightening price range and trading may lead to a strong directional move. Read more

21Shares' macro chief looks at why Bitcoin has held relatively steady since the start of Middle East hostilities, while gold has slipped below $4,500 and key support levels. The divergence between gold and Bitcoin (BTC) in 2026 can be explained by two distinct segments of buyers, according to Stephen Coltman, head of macro at crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) provider 21Shares. Gold’s rally over the last three years has been primarily fueled by central bank buying, while Bitcoin is more widely held by individuals than financial institutions, Coltman told Cointelegraph. He said: However, BTC has more utility for individuals who may use it as an alternative “lifeline” when local banking infrastructure fails during times of crisis, and accessing the traditional financial system is not possible.  Read more

The SEC's digital asset market taxonomy, which classifies most cryptocurrencies and tokens as non-securities, is a major step for US regulators. The recent guidance from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission establishing a taxonomy for digital assets put a “final nail” in the coffin of SEC policy under former Chairman Gary Gensler, according to Alex Thorn, the head of firmwide research at investment firm Galaxy. The SEC guidance, published on Tuesday, established a taxonomy for digital assets, dividing them into five categories, including digital commodities, digital collectibles like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital tools, stablecoins, and tokenized securities.  Under the old SEC policy framework, the regulations governing which cryptocurrencies met the legal criteria of “investment contracts” were legislative rules, as opposed to the new 2026 guidance that was filed as an interpretive rule, Thorn said. He explained the significance: Read m...

The disruption to the oil market and critical energy effects may have long-term economic effects that investors are not pricing in. Traders are miscalculating the severity and the duration of economic fallout from the Middle East conflict and are pricing in a “TACO” trade, which stands for “Trump always chickens out,” according to market analyst and founder of the Coin Bureau, Nic Puckrin. The term was coined by Wall Street and refers to US President Donald Trump backing down in geopolitical conflicts. However, Puckrin warned that “Trump is not in sole control of the situation,” and there are no easy or quick exits from the war. If oil continues to trade above $100 per barrel, economic growth will slow, and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation will rise by up to 1 percentage point, Puckrin said.  Read more

Banks seek to deploy capital in the most efficient way possible, but capital rules under the Basel III framework make crypto holdings costly. The Basel III rules, which govern bank capital requirements, are set to be updated in 2026, and if Bitcoin (BTC) receives a lower risk rating in the revised rules, it could potentially trigger a “huge” influx of liquidity into BTC, according to market analyst Nic Puckrin. Under the current Basel rules, BTC and similar digital assets are given a 1,250% risk weight, meaning banks must hold reserve assets at a 1:1 ratio to back any Bitcoin held on their balance sheets, Puckrin said. These restrictive capital requirements make it “almost impossible” for banks to hold BTC or offer BTC-related services, he added. He said: Read more

USDC’s market cap is approaching a record $80 billion, with one analyst linking the surge to capital flight and turmoil in Dubai’s real estate market. The market capitalization of the USDC stablecoin is approaching a record high near $80 billion as demand surges in the Middle East, with one analyst linking the spike to capital flight from the United Arab Emirates. According to data from CoinMarketCap, USDC (USDC)’s circulating supply has risen to roughly $79.2 billion, marking a new all-time high for the dollar-pegged stablecoin. The stablecoin’s market cap previously hit a high of below $79 billion in December last year. The increase comes after supply expanded by billions of dollars in recent weeks. The stablecoin’s market cap stood at just over $70 billion in early February and at $75 billion earlier this month. Read more

The crypto altcoin market is in turmoil as investor sentiment plummets and digital asset prices fail to recover from the October 2025 crash. An estimated 38% of altcoins are now hovering near all-time lows, which is worse than the post-FTX market crash, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost. The current market is “unfavorable” for risk-on assets, and the crypto markets are the first to absorb this risk-off posturing, he said, adding: Examples of altcoins, cryptocurrency that typically serves as an alternative to Bitcoin (BTC), include Cardano’s ADA (ADA), which is hovering at about $0.10 above its all-time low of $0.17. Polkadot (DOT) reached an all-time low of $1.13 in February, but is now up 33% from there, and Polygon (POL) is trading at about $0.02 off its all-time low of $0.08.  Read more

Gold has become "overextended" after climbing to more than $5,247 per ounce, according to Jan3 CEO and Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow. Bitcoin (BTC) is relatively undervalued compared to gold and the global money supply, which could signal a price reversal, according to Samson Mow, the CEO of Bitcoin technology company Jan3. “Bitcoin is about 24%-66% below its trend relative to gold's market cap or global money supply, while gold is overextended,” Mow said in a Saturday post on X. Gold futures for April delivery closed Friday at $5,247.90; Tokenized gold PAX Gold USD was trading at the time of writing at $5,404.14. Read more

Demand from Bitcoin accumulation addresses reached a new high, with analysts citing a futures market CME gap as a prediction point for their higher short-term price targets. Bitcoin (BTC) saw a sharp dip below $67,400 during the Monday session open, after it rallied above $70,000 over the weekend. An immediate recovery may come at the back of BTC order book data, which shows aggressive bid positioning, and onchain data pointing to a rise in long-term accumulation.  Analysts now say the move may extend toward the $80,000–$84,000 region, with order book liquidity playing a key role in the next move. Key takeaways: Read more

The ETF issuer warned that investors who pick the fund tied to the losing US presidential outcome could lose nearly all invested capital. US-based ETF issuer Roundhill Investments has filed with the US securities regulator to launch six exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to event contracts on the outcome of the 2028 US presidential election. ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in an X post on Saturday that, if approved, the ETF products would be “potentially groundbreaking.” “Opens up huge door to all kinds of stuff,” Balchunas said, adding that prediction market applications are easy to sign up to, but ETFs are “just that much easier.” Read more

Bitcoin has seen record realized losses in one of the cryptocurrency’s largest-ever capitulation events as short-term holders sold at steep losses amid its decline. Bitcoin has posted $2.3 billion in realized losses in what one analyst says is one of the largest capitulation events in history, rivaling its crash in 2021. Bitcoin’s (BTC) seven-day average realized net losses hit $2.3 billion, analyst IT Tech said in a note on CryptoQuant on Thursday, which it called “one of the largest capitulation events in BTC history, rivaling the 2021 crash, 2022 Luna/FTX collapse, and mid-2024 correction.” “This puts us in the top 3-5 loss events ever recorded,” IT Tech added. “Only a handful of moments in Bitcoin's history have seen this level of capitulation.” Read more

AI data center spending is eclipsing crypto’s hoped-for supercycle as Bitcoin miners shift capital toward high-performance computing infrastructure. After years of debate in some corners of the crypto industry, Bitcoin and digital assets are on the verge of a long-awaited “supercycle,” typically defined as an extended, structurally driven boom that lasts beyond a normal market cycle. However, the only development resembling such durable, capital-intensive expansion may be underway in AI infrastructure, according to the latest newsletter from Blockbridge Consulting, which has been rebranded to TheEnergyMag from TheMinerMag. In the newsletter, analyst Wolfie Zhao described a “trillion-dollar build supercycle” tied to AI data center infrastructure. Read more

Bitcoin may continue to copy its 2022 bear market if bulls fail to reclaim the 200-week exponential moving average by the end of the week, new analysis said. Bitcoin (BTC) battled a key 200-week trend line around Thursday’s Wall Street open as “bearish acceleration” fears persisted. Key points: Bitcoin threatens to add the 200-week exponential moving average to its list of new resistance levels. Read more

Bitcoin ETFs may be sitting on their “biggest losses” since launching in January 2024, but there is a silver lining, according to an ETF analyst. US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holders are showing relatively firm conviction despite a four-month Bitcoin downtrend, according to ETF analyst James Seyffart. “The ETFs are still hanging in there pretty good,” Seyffart said in an X post on Wednesday. While Seyffart said that Bitcoin (BTC) ETF holders are facing their “biggest losses” since the US products launched in January 2024 — at a paper loss of around 42% with Bitcoin below $73,000 — he argues the recent outflows pale in comparison to the inflows during the market’s peak.  Read more

Bitcoin fell under $73,000 as futures liquidations soared and worries over this week’s US corporate earnings triggered a stock sell-off. Will traders finally step in to buy “discounted” BTC? Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled to a new 2026 low of $72,945 on Tuesday as bulls failed to hold the $80,000 level as support. Year-to-date, Bitcoin trades at a 15% loss and remains nearly 45% down from its $126,267 all-time high, raising investor concerns that BTC’s cyclical bull market may have reached an end.   Rocky price action in US stock markets is an alleged driver of the selling across the crypto market. Since the end of Q4 2025, investors questioned whether the costs associated with the artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out and the lofty fundraising and valuations were sustainable. Investors fear that product demand and revenue may fall short of industry projections, and this souring sentiment is visible across the Magnificent 7 stocks, along with the S&P 500, DOW and NASDAQ, which are currently trading down 0.7...