On 1 April 2026, Russia's Finance Ministry approved draft laws that would route domestic crypto transactions through licensed intermediaries and limit retail purchases to 300,000 rubles per year per intermediary, subject to a suitability test. In the same week, Dubai's VARA released rules for exchange-traded crypto derivatives, allowing retail and institutional access with safeguards including a 5:1 retail leverage cap and a 20% initial margin requirement.

Bitcoin ETFs posted $69.4 million of net inflows on March 30, led by ARK Invest's ARKB at $33 million and Fidelity's FBTC at $28.9 million, while Ethereum ETFs added $5 million. On the same day, Solana ETFs saw $6.2 million in net outflows and XRP ETFs lost about $2.31 million. The session marked a small reversal after several days of net redemptions across major crypto ETF categories.

Bitcoin's network hashrate fell nearly 6% after a US-Israel joint operation in Iran on February 28, with Iran estimated to represent 6–8% of global mining capacity. In March 2026, several major miners accelerated a pivot toward AI data centers, including MARA Holdings' sale of 15,133 BTC for about $1.1 billion and Core Scientific's $1 billion debt financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. Other firms moved the opposite way, with American Bitcoin disclosing holdings of 7,000 BTC after its September 2025 Nasdaq debut.

On March 29, 2026, Canada advanced the Strong and Free Elections Act (Bill C-25) to prohibit political contributions made in bitcoin and other digital assets. The proposed ban would apply to parties, candidates, leadership and nomination contests, and third parties running election ads, even though no major federal party has publicly accepted crypto and none were disclosed in the 2021 or 2025 elections.

Morgan Stanley has filed to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, proposing the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust with a 0.14% annual fee. The trust would hold bitcoin directly, avoid leverage and derivatives, and list on NYSE Arca with custody shared by Bank of New York Mellon and Coinbase Custody. The filing comes as lawmakers weigh stablecoin and market-structure bills that could shape how crypto products compete with traditional banking.

On March 27, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net outflows of $225.5 million, while Ethereum ETFs posted $48.5 million in redemptions and Solana ETF products recorded $7.8 million in net outflows. Bitcoin network participation also cooled, with active addresses down more than 30% since August 2025. The data points to softer institutional risk appetite alongside weakening on-chain engagement.

On 27 March 2026 at 23:15, Charles Hoskinson framed Cardano's Midnight network as the ecosystem's next phase after Monument Bank announced plans to tokenize £250 million in customer deposits on Midnight. Hoskinson pointed to deflationary token mechanics and a "capacity exchange" model, while markets debated ADA versus NIGHT as both assets showed consolidation in recent technical signals.

GameStop's March 26 10-K said it did not sell its Bitcoin, but pledged 4,709 of its 4,710 BTC to Coinbase Credit as collateral for a covered-call options strategy. In fiscal 2025, the company reported a $131.6 million total loss on digital assets, while valuing its BTC position at $368.3 million as of January 31, 2026. The filing also followed Q4 2025 results released March 24 showing net sales of $1.104 billion, down 14% year over year.

Crypto ETF flows turned negative on March 26 as Bitcoin ETFs logged $171.3 million in net outflows and Ethereum ETFs posted $92.5 million in net outflows. The shift came as markets eyed a large options expiry, with about $16.4 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts set to expire this Friday.