Brent crude has climbed beyond $110 per barrel as mounting tensions around Iran and disruption risks in the Strait of Hormuz drive fears of a deeper supply shock. The surge, which has added more than 30% to Brent in a matter of weeks, is pressuring global equities, bond markets and currencies as investors reassess inflation and growth outlooks. If prices remain elevated, scrutiny on central bank policy, energy costs and recession risks is expected to intensify.

Bitcoin fell close to 2% in about 15 minutes on Sunday, slipping to around $66,272 after earlier strength during the recent US-Israel strikes on Iran. Over the same period, oil prices surged from $95 to $113.7 per barrel before easing to $105, amid warnings that roughly 3 million barrels per day could be disrupted in the Strait of Hormuz. Crude is now trading at its highest level since April 2022, while Bitcoin has logged four consecutive days of decline after reaching $73,770 last Wednesday.

Between February 28 and March 2, crypto users withdrew about $103 million from Iranian exchanges following U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, while Russia drafted a separate stablecoin bill and Pakistan approved its Virtual Assets Act. Over the same period, Hong Kong stepped up efforts to attract Web3 firms and Binance outlined plans to obtain five additional regulatory licenses across Asia in 2026.

In its 2025 Exchange Leader report, CryptoQuant ranked KuCoin as the leading major exchange for proof-of-reserves transparency, awarding it a score of 96.7 out of 100. The ranking evaluated platforms on reserves, trading activity, and derivatives usage, with Bybit, Binance, Coinbase, and others also assessed across six performance pillars.

Over the past week, Bitcoin failed to clear the $74k resistance and retraced 8.9%, fueling pronounced volatility among medium-cap altcoins. OKB surged from $77 to $120 after its parent exchange received a $25 billion valuation, while Pi Network’s token broke key resistances and flipped its long-term trend. In contrast, Cardano fell 9.61% amid renewed criticism of its onchain activity and WLFI dropped 14% after a large team token sale, as traders watched BTC approach the $63k-$65k demand zone.

In early March 2026, Bitcoin ETFs shifted from more than $1.14 billion in inflows to hundreds of millions in daily outflows as large holders locked in profits. Ethereum, Solana, and XRP products mirrored this reversal, with major withdrawals from funds such as Fidelity's FETH and FSOL. At the same time, 21Shares listed the first U.S. spot Polkadot ETF and Morgan Stanley advanced its Bitcoin Trust filing, signaling ongoing institutional expansion despite short-term caution.

According to data cited in the report, SPDR Gold Trust saw a single-day outflow of $3 billion alongside a 4.4% drop in gold's price, its largest one-day correction since late January. Over the same week, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $568.45 million despite outflows on Thursday and Friday, marking a second consecutive positive week. A market analyst argued that in terms of ETF adoption, gold is "no serious competitor to Bitcoin."

In early March 2026, former Ripple senior engineer Steven Zeiler outlined why the Codius decentralized computing project failed, highlighting the absence of a native token and related incentives. Over the same period, Bitcoin posted a modest 1% monthly gain after double-digit losses in January and February, while Shiba Inu approached a key "max pain" liquidation area that could reset leveraged positions. Traders are also preparing for the U.S. CPI release on March 11, which may influence positioning in BTC, XRP and SHIB.