Rep. Maxine Waters sent a March 26 letter to Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid asking how Kraken Financial obtained approval for a limited purpose Federal Reserve account and what conditions were attached. The letter presses for details on permitted services (including FedACH, Check Services, FedCash, and Fedwire Securities Services), balance and liquidity limits, and any additional oversight beyond Wyoming’s SPDI framework, with a written response requested by April 10, 2026.

Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said on March 27 that the market is moving from expecting institutional adoption to active deployment, adding that many allocators already hold crypto and more could enter over the next six months. He cited a Coinbase Institutional survey of 351 firms showing 74% expect higher prices over the next 12 months and 73% plan to increase allocations, with 29% targeting portfolio weights above 5% by 2026. Bitwise and VettaFi data also indicated advisor participation is rising, including a larger share allocating to crypto and more gaining the ability to trade it for clients.

XRP traded at $1.33247 at 9:11 a.m., down 3.07% in 24 hours as it hovered near support around $1.326 after a session range of $1.38237 to $1.32559. Derivatives data showed $450.54 million in total liquidations over the past day, while XRP liquidations totaled $7,746,753, dominated by $7,151,908 in longs. Technical readings remained bearish, with RSI at 32.00 and price pressing the lower Bollinger Band near $1.32568 as macro uncertainty tied to U.S.-Iran tensions and oil at $111.41 per barrel weighed on risk sentiment.

The FTC said on March 26 that it sent warning letters to Paypal, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard over policies and practices that may limit customer access to financial services. The agency signaled that account restrictions or service denials that conflict with disclosed terms or reasonable consumer expectations could lead to investigations or enforcement actions.

Commentary shared March 25, 2026 says major financial market institutions are moving key functions onto blockchain networks to speed transactions, cut friction, and broaden access. A16z Crypto operating partner Jason Rosenthal argues this shift resembles a full migration rather than scattered pilots, pointing to tokenization features like fractional ownership and faster settlement. The discussion also cites initiatives involving DTCC and major exchanges as examples of institutional on-chain momentum.

Strategy Inc. said March 25 that it is hiring a Bitcoin Security Director and rolling out a Bitcoin Security program to coordinate with the global cybersecurity, crypto, and bitcoin security community. The initiative follows the Feb. 6, 2026 introduction of the program and a March 10, 2026 opening of recruitment for the role. The company reported holdings of 762,099 BTC valued at about $54.63 billion at a bitcoin price of $71,676, alongside $2.25 billion in USD reserves and $8.25 billion in debt.

On March 23, Grayscale research head Zach Pandl said crypto markets stayed relatively stable during the war with Iran, arguing valuations could recover more meaningfully as macro risks fade. By March 25, oil had fallen more than 5%, with Brent around $98.28 and WTI near $87.68, while Grayscale also pointed to ETP inflows, higher perpetual open interest, and improving U.S. policy signals as supportive factors.

Ondo Finance said on March 25 it partnered with Franklin Templeton to offer tokenized exposure to five ETFs through Ondo Global Markets, with Franklin Templeton continuing to manage the underlying funds. The setup issues wallet-held tokens that mirror ETF share ownership, enabling continuous trading outside traditional market hours and potential use in DeFi. The five ETFs span growth equities, large-cap stocks, gold, high-yield corporate bonds, and income-focused equities.

Ripple said on March 25 it joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) BLOOM initiative, bringing XRP Ledger (XRPL) infrastructure and Ripple USD (RLUSD) into programmable settlement models. The pilot with supply chain finance firm Unloq will test conditional payment triggers for trade settlement in a regulated environment.