Invest ideasNews
11 Mar 2026, 07:27
Pi Network’s PI Token Jumps Again a Day Before Key Update Implementation
The updates recently implemented by the team, as well as the upcoming ones, continue to benefit Pi Network’s underlying asset, as PI is among the few alts in the green today. Aside from the expected completion of protocol v20.2 upgrade by tomorrow, the Pi Network community is also anticipating Pi Day – March 14. Pi’s Upcoming Updates The past several weeks have been quite eventful for Pi Network, especially in terms of upgrades and price movements. On February 21, the team announced that the protocol v19.6 migration was successfully completed, and the subsequent v19.9 iteration arrived on March 4. They explained at the time that the v20.2 update was next in line, with initial deadline expectations set for March 14, which was later moved to March 12. Both of the already completed updates were followed by impressive price gains from PI, and it seems the hype about the upcoming upgrade has not disappointed so far. Another factor that could be boosting the native token is the buildup to what became known as Pi Day, March 14, due to its symbolic resemblance to the mathematical constant π. As it happened last year, the community has hyped itself up, expecting some major announcements, perhaps a listing on a top-tier exchange such as Binance. PI Defies Market Correction As mentioned above, the protocol updates and perhaps anticipation for Pi Day have resulted in impressive gains for PI lately. The token is up by over 6% in the past day and sits just inches below $0.23. Moreover, it’s one of the best-performing crypto assets on a monthly scale, gaining 56%, and it’s up by 73% since its latest all-time low of $0.1312 marked on February 11. A few things to consider for its future price moves include the token unlock schedule, as over 13.5 million coins will be unlocked in three consecutive days starting today, and the number will jump to 17 million on March 17. Additionally, PI has a history of performing well in the weeks leading up to big announcements or updates, only to crash hard after in a classic sell-the-news event. Pi Network (PI) Price on CoinGecko The post Pi Network’s PI Token Jumps Again a Day Before Key Update Implementation appeared first on CryptoPotato .
11 Mar 2026, 07:00
Crypto Court Fight Not Over As Prosecutors Seek Retrial For Roman Storm
The US Treasury told Congress this month that crypto mixers have legitimate uses — including protecting consumer privacy. Days later, federal prosecutors in Manhattan moved to put the man who built one of the most-used mixers back on trial. A Split Jury, A Second Chance Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton filed a letter Monday asking federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla to schedule a retrial for Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash , on two counts where jurors deadlocked last year. Clayton’s office is pushing for trial dates between October 5 and 12, with proceedings expected to run three weeks. Prosecutors said they were ready to go as early as spring, but Storm’s defense team indicated they wouldn’t be available until late 2026. DOJ has decided it will retry Roman Storm in the fall. Despite failing to convince a jury the first time around, despite making obvious mistakes like calling irrelevant witnesses and not understanding the forensic analysis of their own blockchain evidence, and despite multiple… pic.twitter.com/MRZDHAugT8 — Amanda Tuminelli (@amandatums) March 10, 2026 Last August, a jury convicted Storm on one count — conspiring to run an unlicensed money transmitting business — but could not reach a unanimous decision on the other two: conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions. A hung jury does not count as an acquittal, which leaves prosecutors free to try again. Storm has since asked Judge Polk Failla to throw out even the conviction, arguing the government never proved he meant to help bad actors launder money through the platform. Crypto Crime: 40 Years On The Line The stakes are severe. Storm posted on X that a conviction on both retried counts could send him to federal prison for up to 40 years. He described his alleged offense bluntly: writing open-source code for a protocol he does not control, involving transactions he never personally handled. NEW: The DOJ has asked to retry @TornadoCash co-founder @rstormsf on the two counts the jury hung on in the first trial: money laundering and sanctions violations. Prosecutors proposed an early October retrial date, even as Storm’s Rule 29 motion to overturn his conviction on… https://t.co/0zX4hemook — Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) March 10, 2026 “A jury already couldn’t agree this was criminal,” Storm wrote. “But the SDNY prosecutors want to keep trying with the hope of getting a different answer.” Amanda Tuminelli, legal chief at crypto advocacy group the DeFi Education Fund, called the retrial decision “incredibly disappointing.” She pointed to what she described as prosecutorial missteps during the first trial — irrelevant witnesses, a weak grasp of the blockchain forensics at the center of the case, and what she called flawed legal reasoning around third-party developer liability. The Memo That Didn’t Hold Storm also raised a pointed contradiction. In April, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo stating the Justice Department “is not a digital assets regulator” and would stop pursuing cases that effectively impose regulatory frameworks on crypto. Storm noted that the same DOJ is now seeking his retrial anyway. “Same country, same DOJ,” he wrote. “Just filed to retry me anyway.” Reports indicate Clayton’s letter was filed the same week the Treasury Department’s congressional report acknowledged that some people use crypto mixers for entirely lawful purposes, including keeping their spending habits private. Whether that acknowledgment will factor into Storm’s defense remains to be seen. His acquittal motion is scheduled for argument in early April, and a ruling is expected before any retrial date is set. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
11 Mar 2026, 06:48
Major Ripple (XRP) Announcement for Australian Users
Ripple – the firm behind one of the world’s leading cryptocurrencies, XRP, announced plans to secure an Australian Financial Services License. The move aims to further enable the company to expand its payments offering in the country, allowing financial institutions, fintech businesses, and enterprises to move value more efficiently and quickly across borders while working within established regulatory frameworks. Speaking on the matter was Fiona Murray, Managing Director at Ripple for the Asia Pacific region, who said: “Licensing is fundamental to Ripple’s strategy, ensuring we can deliver secure, compliant solutions to customers worldwide. Australia is a key market for Ripple, and an AFSL strengthens our ability to scale Ripple Payments across the region. By leveraging blockchain technology and digital assets, we enable customers to move value globally with greater speed, transparency, and reliability. We remain focused on working closely with regulators to support the next phase of growth for digital asset infrastructure.” Ripple’s Plan Regarding the AFSL The goal is to obtain the license by acquiring BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd., subject to finalizing the standard completion process. The move will supposedly strengthen Ripple’s capabilities to offer a licensed platform for moving funds across the globe. Once obtained, the license will allow the company to manage the full lifecycle of a transaction – from onboarding and compliance through funding, forex, liquidity management, as well as the final payout. Additionally, Ripple will be able to directly oversee settlement, connect customers to local payout partners, and optimize transaction routing, resulting in quicker settlement, more transparency, and reduced counterparty risk, according to the official blog post . International Licensing Underway Obtaining the Australian Financial Services License will be just the last in a series of similar moves for Ripple, which is evidently seeking international licensing. As CryptoPotato reported earlier this year, the firm secured a preliminary electronic money institution license in Luxembourg, which allows it to issue digital cash and provide digital payment services within jurisdictions regulated by the CSSF (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg). With that, the US-based firm now holds licenses in several jurisdictions, including but not limited to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Ireland, New York, Japan, and more. The post Major Ripple (XRP) Announcement for Australian Users appeared first on CryptoPotato .
11 Mar 2026, 06:00
Bitcoin Crosses 20 Million Coins Mined — And Only 1 In 20 Remains
The last full Bitcoin could be mined sometime in the 2090s. Only fractions will follow until roughly 2140, when the final satoshi is expected to be produced. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Break 5-Month Streak With 2nd Consecutive Week Of Inflows That endpoint moved one step closer Sunday when miners pulled the 20 millionth coin from the network — exactly 17 years, two months, and one week after the first block was mined in January 2009. A Pool Called Foundry USA Did The Work The Foundry USA mining pool mined that coin at block height 939,999, collecting a reward of 3.125 BTC. That figure reflects the current payout level set by the April 2024 halving, which cut daily network production from 900 BTC to roughly 450 BTC. The 20 million mark means 95.24% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist is now out in the world. For every 20 coins already mined, just one remains to be created. The remaining 1 million will take about 114 years to fully issue. Not All 20 Million Coins Are Accessible According to blockchain analytics firms River Financial and Chainalysis, between 2.3 million and 3.7 million BTC are gone permanently — lost to forgotten passwords, misplaced private keys, and early holders who never passed on wallet access. Recent data has estimated about 1.8 million coins were lost during Bitcoin’s earliest years, when the asset had little value and storage infrastructure was unreliable. Another 230 BTC is locked forever due to the original genesis block and early outputs written with scripts that cannot be spent. The practical supply available to buy, sell, or hold sits well below 20 million. Miners Face A Long-Term Revenue Problem The same halving schedule that caps Bitcoin’s supply also shrinks miner income over time. Daily issuance will fall below 30 BTC by the 2040s and below 2 BTC per day by the 2060s. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Valuation Model Hints At $500K Cycle Average, Analyst Says Once subsidies approach zero, transaction fees become the only compensation miners receive for securing the network. Whether those fees can sustain robust protection remains unanswered. The milestone arrived while Bitcoin traded around $69,282, down nearly 21% year-to-date. Despite pressure from macroeconomic uncertainty and Middle East conflict, it gained about 3.44% over the past week. The next halving is scheduled for April 11, 2028, cutting the block reward from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
11 Mar 2026, 04:45
Ethereum Price Plummets 30% Despite Shattering Network Activity Records
BitcoinWorld Ethereum Price Plummets 30% Despite Shattering Network Activity Records In a stark divergence that has captured the attention of analysts globally, the Ethereum network has shattered its own usage records while its native token, ETH, has experienced a significant price decline of approximately 30% over the same period, according to on-chain data from CryptoQuant reported by CoinDesk in March 2025. Ethereum Price Decline Amidst Unprecedented Network Growth Recent data presents a compelling paradox for the world’s second-largest blockchain. While Ethereum’s fundamental metrics signal robust health and adoption, its market valuation tells a contrasting story. The network’s daily active addresses surged to nearly two million last month, decisively surpassing the peaks observed during the historic 2021 bull market. Concurrently, smart contract calls, a critical indicator of developer and user engagement, exceeded 40 million per day. This surge in activity, however, failed to translate into positive price momentum for ETH. Instead, the cryptocurrency’s value trended downward, creating a significant analytical challenge for investors and observers. The disconnect highlights the complex, multi-factor nature of cryptocurrency valuation, where network utility does not always correlate directly with short-term price action. Analyzing the On-Chain Data and Selling Pressure CryptoQuant’s report provides crucial context for this price-action divergence. A key finding points to a measurable shift in investor behavior. Specifically, the analytics firm identified that the volume of ETH being transferred to centralized exchanges grew at a faster rate than that of Bitcoin (BTC) over the observed timeframe. This metric is widely monitored as a proxy for potential selling pressure, as investors typically move assets to exchanges to facilitate trades. The accelerated inflow of ETH to trading platforms suggests a rising intent to sell among a segment of holders, which can create downward pressure on the price, even in the face of strong network fundamentals. This dynamic underscores a market where macroeconomic factors, broader crypto sentiment, and capital rotation can outweigh positive on-chain signals in the short term. The Role of Exchange Reserves and Market Sentiment To understand the price pressure, experts often examine exchange reserve balances. An increase in ETH held on exchange wallets generally indicates higher liquid supply readily available for sale. When this increase outpaces buying demand, it naturally exerts downward pressure on the price. Furthermore, the broader cryptocurrency market in early 2025 has faced headwinds from regulatory developments and shifting global monetary policy, influencing investor sentiment across all digital assets. Consequently, even a high-utility network like Ethereum is not immune to these overarching market forces. The data suggests that while the network’s long-term value proposition may be strengthening, short-term market mechanics and sentiment are currently driving price discovery. Historical Context and Network Fee Dynamics This is not the first time Ethereum has experienced a decoupling between price and usage. Historically, periods of intense network congestion and high transaction fees have sometimes preceded price corrections, as high costs can dampen user experience. Interestingly, the current scenario differs. Network fees have shown a “sluggish trend,” according to the report, meaning they are not spiking alongside the record activity. This could be attributed to successful layer-2 scaling solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism absorbing a significant portion of transactions, thereby keeping base-layer fees manageable. The table below contrasts key metrics from the 2021 peak and the recent period: Metric 2021 Bull Market Peak Recent Period (Feb-Mar 2025) Daily Active Addresses ~1.5 Million ~2.0 Million Smart Contract Calls/Day ~35 Million >40 Million ETH Price Trend Rising Declining (~-30%) Primary Network Narrative DeFi & NFT Boom Institutional Adoption & Layer-2 Scaling The comparison reveals that current network usage is fundamentally stronger, yet the price reaction is inverted. This reinforces the analysis that external selling pressure and market sentiment are the predominant price drivers at this juncture. Broader Implications for Blockchain Valuation Models The Ethereum situation prompts a reevaluation of how blockchain networks are valued. Traditional models often emphasize: Network Activity: Daily users and transaction volume. Developer Activity: Smart contract deployments and calls. Total Value Locked (TVL): Assets secured in decentralized applications. Fee Revenue: Value captured by the network. While Ethereum scores highly on these fundamental metrics, the price decline illustrates that other powerful factors are at play. These include: Exchange Flow Dynamics: Net movements to and from exchanges. Macroeconomic Conditions: Interest rates and inflation concerns. Relative Asset Performance: Capital flows into or out of competing assets like Bitcoin. Regulatory Newsflow: Impacting institutional entry and overall market confidence. For long-term investors, this divergence may present a complex scenario. Strong fundamentals suggest underlying health and potential for future appreciation, while short-term technicals and market structure indicate ongoing caution. Conclusion The recent Ethereum price movement, declining sharply against a backdrop of record-breaking network activity, serves as a critical case study in cryptocurrency market dynamics. The data clearly shows that robust on-chain fundamentals—including historic highs in daily active addresses and smart contract calls—can be temporarily overshadowed by pronounced selling pressure, as evidenced by accelerating ETH exchange inflows. This analysis underscores the importance of monitoring a holistic set of indicators, from network utility and scaling progress to exchange reserve flows and broader market sentiment, to form a complete picture of asset valuation. The enduring strength of Ethereum’s network usage may ultimately realign with its market price, but the current divergence highlights the nuanced and often counterintuitive nature of crypto markets. FAQs Q1: Why did the Ethereum price fall if network activity was so high? The price fell primarily due to increased selling pressure. Data showed ETH was moved to exchanges at an accelerating rate, increasing the readily available supply for sale. This selling pressure, potentially driven by broader market sentiment or profit-taking, outweighed the positive signal from high network usage. Q2: What does ‘daily active addresses’ mean, and why is it important? Daily active addresses represent the number of unique Ethereum addresses involved in a successful transaction each day. It is a key metric for gauging genuine user adoption and network utility, as opposed to speculative trading activity. A record high suggests growing real-world use. Q3: How do exchange inflows affect cryptocurrency prices? An increase in the flow of a cryptocurrency to centralized exchanges often signals that holders intend to sell. This raises the liquid supply on the market. If buying demand does not increase proportionally to absorb this new supply, it typically leads to downward price pressure. Q4: Were Ethereum network fees high during this period of record activity? Surprisingly, no. The report noted network fees showed a “sluggish trend.” This is likely because a significant portion of the transaction activity occurred on layer-2 scaling solutions (like Arbitrum and Optimism), which reduce the load and cost on the Ethereum mainnet. Q5: Does strong network activity guarantee a future price increase for ETH? Not in the short term. While strong, sustainable network activity is a positive fundamental indicator for long-term value, short-term prices are influenced by many factors, including market sentiment, macroeconomic conditions, and trading flows. Strong fundamentals can be a precursor to future price appreciation, but the timing is uncertain. This post Ethereum Price Plummets 30% Despite Shattering Network Activity Records first appeared on BitcoinWorld .
11 Mar 2026, 04:45
DIA launches Value to bridge oracle data gap as $100B RWA market migrates into DeFi
DIA announced the launch of Value, positioning as pricing infrastructure for institutional capital entering DeFi. The oracle computing intrinsic fair value targets over $100 billion in tokenized assets that lack liquid secondary markets. $19 billion in leveraged DeFi positions were liquidated on October 10, 2025, when oracles malfunctions compounded losses. DIA announced the launch of its new oracle, Value, as a tool built specifically to eliminate oracle-based issues. As such, instead of depending on last-trade prices like traditional oracles, Value computes the asset’s innate fair value from its on-chain state, taking the NAV, proof of reserves, and redemption rates into account. The news comes on the back of three oracle failures over the last six months, costing over $7 million in debt for Moonwell . The most recent incident occurred on February 15, when a misconfigured Chainlink oracle reported cbETH at $1.12 instead of approximately $2,200. Liquidation bots immediately took action, seizing 1,096 cbETH (worth around $1.78 million). $19B loss shows what happens when Oracles are tested While the Moonwell incidents are concerning, they are relatively small incidents compared to the infamous October 10, 2025, crash. That day, over $19 billion in leveraged DeFi assets were liquidated in less than 24 hours, compounded by oracles sending false market data and causing automated liquidations across protocols. The liquidation wave sent Bitcoin prices crashing from $122,000 to $106,560, Ethereum dropped to $3,551, and even Solana crashed to $174. As DIA noted in its announcement , “For illiquid assets, this risk is structural. Thin order books invite manipulation, stale data misinforms risk models, and protocols are forced to either accept those risks or refuse to support the asset entirely.” This created the need for a different approach. “Oracles were built to answer one question: how is the market valuing this asset?” said Dillon Hanson, Head of BizDev at DIA. “But when most institutional assets entering DeFi don’t trade on secondary markets, you need infrastructure that answers a different question: what is this asset fundamentally worth? That’s what Value does.” Fair value will be gotten from on-chain state DIA’s Value executes a range of valuation methodologies covering the full spectrum of illiquid digital assets. Each methodology improves its pricing accuracy by acquiring relevant data from the most direct, verifiable data source available, whether that’s an on-chain smart contract state, reserve balance, or reference data for off-chain assets. When it comes to yield-bearing tokens, however, Value reads the redemption rate directly from the protocol’s smart contract and sets a price that the asset could actually be bought for. That way, there’s no need to source data from old prices from another market. Value also works across different asset types, allowing protocols to safely accept illiquid collateral, verify stablecoin reserves in real-time, and price complex trades with yield-bearing tokens and fund shares. Industry stakeholders have commented on the novelty of the Value oracle system. The co-founder of Hemi Network, Jeff Garzik, commented: “Bitcoin sitting idle is a trillion-dollar opportunity cost. hemiBTC lets holders deploy BTC productively into DeFi, but that only works if the pricing layer can verify the actual Bitcoin backing each token on-chain. DIA Value does exactly that. No secondary market dependency, no centralized attestations. It’s the kind of infrastructure that makes Bitcoin-native DeFi viable: fully trustless and verifiable.” Zygis Marazas, the Head of Product at DIA, also mentioned that “traditional finance solved illiquid asset pricing decades ago with NAV calculations, mark-to-model frameworks, and reserve verification. Blockchain makes it possible to execute those same methodologies with full transparency and 24/7 availability.” $940B asset manager Apollo enters oracle-agnostic lending Value is already handling fair value pricing for projects like Euler, Morpho, Silo, and Hydration, alongside integrations across lending, stablecoin reserve verification, and tokenized securities. Apollo announced in February that it was acquiring up to 90 million MORPHO tokens, about 9% of total supply, over the next 48 months. The deal is part of the firm’s integration of Morpho’s on-chain lending infrastructure as a bridge to tokenized real-world asset lending. Apollo oversees roughly $940 billion in assets. The firm’s main business revolves around private credit and real estate finance, which are the same kind of illiquid institutional assets without secondary markets, tipped to get a boost from DIA Value.
