On March 5, bitcoin payments company Strike announced it had obtained both a BitLicense and a money transmitter license from the New York State Department of Financial Services. The approvals allow the Chicago-based firm to roll out its bitcoin brokerage, payments, and savings platform to residents and businesses in New York, completing Strike's availability across all 50 U.S. states.

Bitcoin's price slipped back below $70,000 after a brief rally fueled by more than $1.1 billion of spot ETF inflows over three sessions. ETF data from early March show a sharp shift from strong inflows to net redemptions, while analysts highlight stronger spot demand but warn that macro uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and renewed outflows leave the recovery fragile.

Aave Labs has released a comprehensive smart contract security blueprint for the upcoming Aave V4 upgrade, following a $1.5 million audit and verification program approved by the Aave DAO. The team outlined roughly a year of formal verification, layered reviews, testing and a public security contest, and committed to keeping these practices, including a permanent bug bounty, for future protocol development. The disclosure comes as governance tensions in the Aave ecosystem increase around funding decisions, contributor exits and the protocol's strategic direction.

Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has taken an equity stake in crypto exchange OKX at a $25 billion valuation, according to Fortune. The deal grants ICE a board seat and outlines plans for OKX to list tokenized NYSE stocks and derivatives in the second half of 2026, alongside a data arrangement for crypto price feeds.

From March 2 to March 4, spot bitcoin ETFs saw around $1.1 billion in net inflows while bitcoin's price briefly touched $74,000 and traded above $73,000. Analysts say the renewed institutional demand, led by BlackRock's IBIT, is reigniting discussion about bitcoin's potential role as a geopolitical and macro hedge amid tensions involving the U.S., Israel and Iran.

Core Scientific plans to sell substantially all of its bitcoin holdings in 2026, with most sales expected in the first quarter, to support its expansion into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure. The company held 2,537 BTC valued at $222 million at the end of 2025 and had already liquidated just over 1,900 BTC for about $175 million in January, leaving fewer than 1,000 BTC on its balance sheet.

Aave Chan Initiative founder Marc Zeller has released a detailed review of Aave Labs' historical funding and delivery ahead of a $51 million "Aave Will Win" Snapshot proposal. His report claims Aave Labs has benefited from about $86 million in total capitalization, questions revenue and usage around the Horizon RWA market, and raises concerns over swap-fee flows and voting power concentration. The review asks tokenholders to weigh these accountability and transparency issues before backing Aave Labs' new expansion plan and V4 roadmap.

Crypto exchange Backpack said it will allocate 20% of its equity to users who stake its token for at least one year. The plan offers a fixed token-to-equity swap ratio and seeks to address incentive misalignment, according to founder Armani Ferrante. The exchange flagged the initiative in an X post on Monday.

House Democrats have sent a formal letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asking about the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of World Liberty Financial's application for a national trust bank charter. The lawmakers are focused on issues such as foreign ownership, national security, regulatory independence and possible involvement of the White House or Treasury in the process.