Binance (CRYPTO: BNB) has told Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that an internal review found no direct transactions between its platform and Iranian entities.

Media reports alleging $1.7 billion in Iran-linked flows are “demonstrably false” and “defamatory,” according to Binance.

The Senate Probe

Blumenthal opened an inquiry in February, following allegations that two Binance partners, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, acted as middlemen for money laundering and allowed trade with Iranian government entities, Coindesk reported on Friday.

The Times reported Binance’s internal investigators discovered more than 1,500 accounts accessed from Iran…

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Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), TD Bank and Citgroup (NYSE:C) have outlined plans to integrate Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) into traditional finance as regulatory clarity improves and institutional demand grows.

At the “Bitcoin for Corporations” panel during Strategy World 2026 on Feb. 28, the banks discussed how digital assets could be integrated into traditional financial infrastructure.

Morgan Stanley Expands Crypto Services On E*TRADE

Morgan Stanley said it is expanding its crypto strategy by enabling clients on its E*TRADE platform to buy and sell spot cryptocurrencies.

Amy Oldenburg, the bank’s head of digital asset strategy, said the firm is also building native custody and exchange infrastructure…

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Culper Research published a short report on Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) on Thursday, calling its economics “impaired” and warning the network may be entering a “death spiral.”

The short seller also accused Fundstrat’s Tom Lee of “throwing good money after bad” through his ETH treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE:BMNR).

The report’s title says it all: “What Vitalik Knows, and Tom Lee Doesn’t.”

What Happened

In the short report, Culper says the Fusaka upgrade was supposed to cut transaction fees by 10-30%.

Instead, fees collapsed by roughly 90%, gutting the EIP-1559 burn mechanism that once made ETH deflationary.

The firm says Vitalik and validators…

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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) dropped below $70,000 on Friday morning after the U.S. economy unexpectedly shed 92,000 jobs in February, and macro analyst Benjamin Cowen warned the March rally was a textbook bull trap that may now be over.

What Happened

Nonfarm payrolls came in at negative 92,000, far below the 59,000 consensus and a sharp reversal from January’s revised 126,000 gain. Unemployment rose to 4.4%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) fell below 6,800 as oil headed for its biggest weekly gain since the early days of the Ukraine war.

Cowen argues the Fed is now trapped.

It cannot cut rates aggressively to save the labor market because energy prices are surging amid the Iran conflict.

Benzinga

A16z crypto, the Web3 arm of the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, has started seeking capital for its fifth fund.

People familiar with the effort told Fortune the firm is aiming to gather roughly $2 billion for the fund, which will focus solely on blockchain investments.

• Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF Shares shares are sliding. Why is ETHE stock falling?

One source added that the fundraising process is expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2026.

The firm has been actively investing in other crypto-related companies throughout the last several months. 

Yesterday, it was announced that A16z and Thrive Capital are reportedly leading a $4 billion funding round for…

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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down to $68,000, with the recent rally only a relief bounce within a broader bearish market structure, according to a prominent analyst.

Competing Market Narratives              

Trader Mayne said on Thursday Bitcoin’s rebound from the Iran conflict lows has created two opposing narratives in the market.

One group believes the breakout signals the end of a multi-month range and the start of a move higher.

The other views the rally as a temporary bounce within a broader bear trend.

Mayne sides with the bearish higher-timeframe view, arguing that Bitcoin recently confirmed a monthly market structure break, a signal that historically indicates the broader…

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Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is down 4% while Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) dropped 10% over seven days as meme coins struggle — with PENGU (CRYPTO: PENGU) the only exception.

DOGE And SHIB Bleeding

Dogecoin is down 87% from its $0.74 all-time high reached May 8, 2021.

It’s down 2% in 24 hours and 11% in 30 days.

DOGE started 2026 near $0.118, fell to $0.102 by February, and continues declining.

Technically, DOGE is trapped in a descending channel with the Supertrend firmly red and Chaikin Money Flow reading -0.18, signaling institutional money is exiting. 

The upper Bollinger Band near $0.1036 forms key resistance while the lower band around $0.0889 acts as nearest support.

Meanwhile, Shiba Inu…

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Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) co-led a $7.5 million seed round in Utexo to enable native USDT settlement on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Lightning Network as CEO Paolo Ardoino said “Bitcoin has always been central to Tether’s long-term vision for USDT.”

The $7.5M Utexo Investment

Tether co-led the round with Big Brain Holdings and Portal Ventures. Franklin Templeton, Maven11 Capital, Fulgur Ventures. Other investors also participated. 

USDT has a supply of $184 billion, making it the world’s most popular dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Utexo’s technology allows USDT transactions to be settled directly on the Bitcoin network, including the first-ever availability of USDT over the Lightning…

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Kazakhstan’s central bank formed a $350 million portfolio from gold and foreign exchange reserves for crypto-related investments starting April, focusing on crypto infrastructure companies and index funds rather than direct Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) allocations.

The $350M Allocation

Governor Timur Suleimenov announced the investment program at a briefing on interest rates Friday. 

“We are currently developing a list of instruments in which we will invest. This includes not only cryptocurrency itself,” Suleimenov said.

The portfolio will include shares of high-tech companies related to cryptocurrencies and digital financial assets, index funds, and other instruments that exhibit similar…

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