$80K or $60K? Bitwise Analysts Just Made Their Bet

The April 15 Tax Day Catalyst

Hougan expects crypto weakness heading into April 15—the deadline for Americans to file taxes and pay capital gains from 2025. 

Investors who harvested gains last year must now pay taxes, potentially forcing them to sell crypto to cover the bill.

“My experience historically is that crypto is often weak heading into tax day and then starts to rally right around then,” Hougan told Milk Road this week.

The theory carries extra weight this year after the outsized gains many traders booked in late 2024 and early 2025 — especially from the Trump memecoin’s surge in January 2025.

Why $80,000 Beats $60,000

Both Bitwise analysts still expect Bitcoin to reach…

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Bitcoin Fear And Greed Index Hits Extreme Fear At 13

As of March 27, 2026, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index reads 13, placing sentiment in Extreme Fear. The current price of bitcoin is near $66,000.

The index spans 0 to 100, with lower readings tied to fear-driven market conditions and higher readings tied to greed-driven conditions.

The metric compiles inputs across price volatility, market momentum, trading volume, Bitcoin dominance, social sentiment, and Google Trends activity. The combined dataset forms a sentiment gauge used to track emotional conditions across Bitcoin markets.

Readings in the Extreme Fear range have aligned with prior stress phases in BTC market cycles.

Bitcoin Magazine Pro data highlights these zones as periods…

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Intercontinental Exchange Announces $600 Million Investment In Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has completed a $600 million direct cash investment in prediction market platform Polymarket as part of a broader equity fundraising round, according to a company announcement.

The new investment follows ICE’s previously disclosed $1 billion commitment made in October 2025. With the latest infusion, ICE says it has now fulfilled its obligations under the investment agreement, which also includes plans to purchase up to $40 million in additional Polymarket securities from existing holders.

Polymarket, a blockchain-based prediction market platform that allows users to trade on…

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Bitcoin Plunges 3% And ETFs Bleed $171M After Ukraine Destroys Russian Oil Ports

Ukraine Blows Up Trump’s Oil Plan

President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russian crude to compensate for oil supply disruptions caused by the Iran war and cool energy markets.

Ukraine destroyed that strategy this week with drone strikes on ports and refiners in Russia’s Leningrad region.

The damage represents “the most serious threat” to Russia’s oil exports since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to observers. 

About 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity is now offline, creating what Oilprice.com editor Michael Kern described as “a logistics problem first—and a supply problem second,” CoinDesk reported.

“In conjunction with the war in the…

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Plunge Early Friday Hours As Iran Snubs US Peace Deal

Bitcoin at $66,000 is driven by a macro sell-off after Iran rejected a U.S. peace proposal, pressuring risk assets and pushing sentiment deeper into the fear zone (26); liquidations stand at $447.7 million over the past 24 hours.  

Bitcoin ETFs saw $171.2 million in net outflows on Thursday, while Ethereum ETFs reported $92.5 million in net outflows.  

Trader Commentary:

Trader Lennaert Snyder expects downside continuation, with a bearish target at the prior weekly low of $67,360. However, he remains patient, waiting for a bounce and confirmation before entering safer short positions rather than chasing the move late.

CyrilXBT said Ethereum remains in a strong downtrend and is showing…

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Bitcoin Price Crashes To Two-Week Low Near $66,000

Bitcoin price fell below $66,500 on Friday, hitting its lowest level in more than two weeks as a wave of long liquidations and mounting macroeconomic stress weighed on the crypto market..

Data shows nearly $300 million in long positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data, compared with roughly $50 million in short liquidations, pointing to an unwind of crowded bullish positioning in crypto futures. The imbalance reflects a market that had leaned heavily long and is now adjusting as sentiment shifts.

The bitcoin price selloff coincided with a broader risk-off move across global markets. Nasdaq 100 futures have fallen about 10% from their…

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Coinbase Shares Slide As Crypto Market Faces Broad Sell-Off

Bitcoin Leads Market LowerMacro Pressures Weigh on SentimentInnovation Amid Volatility

This allows borrowers to use Bitcoin or USDC as collateral for Fannie Mae-eligible mortgages. “Token-backed mortgages are a major first step,” said Max Branzburg, Coinbase Head of Consumer Products.

Regulatory Shifts on Horizon

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig expects to approve crypto perpetual futures within weeks. This aims to bring offshore trading volume back to U.S. markets. Coinbase currently utilizes 50-year contracts as a workaround for these products.

COIN Stock Price Activity: Coinbase Global shares were down 3.44% at $167.41 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo…

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Maxine Waters Seeks Clarity On Kansas City Fed’s Approval Giving This Crypto Exchange Access To ‘Critical’ Financial Infrastructure

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) sought further information on Thursday on the decision to grant cryptocurrency exchange Kraken access to Federal Reserve services.

Waters Says Approval Lacks Transparency

Waters, the leading Democrat on the House Committee on Financial Services, penned a letter to Jeff Schmid, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, requesting details about the bank’s recent approval of a “limited purpose account” for Kraken.

This approval—the first in U.S. history for a cryptocurrency company—gives Kraken direct access to Fedwire, the core payment infrastructure used by thousands of U.S. banks and credit unions.

Waters expressed her…

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Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Drop As Trump Pushes Iran Deal Deadline—Unity Software, Oracle, SoFi Technologies In Focus

U.S. stock futures fell on Friday following Thursday’s sharp sell-off. Futures of the major benchmark indices were lower.

Tehran, however, reportedly rejected a 15-point U.S. proposal conveyed through Pakistan, with a senior Iranian official telling Reuters that senior officials and a representative of the supreme leader found it served only American and Israeli interests.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.45%, and the two-year bond was at 4.00%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool’s projections show markets pricing a 93.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in its April meeting.

IndexPerformance (+/-)Dow Jones-0.16%S&P 500-0.14%Nasdaq… Read more on Benzinga