A Bitcoin researcher said a rare two-block reorganization around block height 941880 was consistent with normal network behavior, not a coordinated "selfish-mining" attack. The episode briefly produced two equally long valid chains before Foundry USA extended its chain and ultimately notched a seven-block streak that orphaned AntPool and ViaBTC's blocks. The researcher noted the reorg occurred during a low-fee period and the two reorganized blocks brought Foundry only 0.025 BTC in transaction fees.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said political parties will be barred with immediate effect from taking cryptocurrency donations. The move follows a review that also proposes limiting annual donations from British citizens living abroad to between £100,000 and £300,000, alongside tighter checks on funding sources.

Tether said it has retained a "Big Four" accounting firm to carry out its first full, independent audit of its financial statements. The USDT issuer, which it describes as having a $184 billion market capitalization and serving more than 550 million users, framed the engagement as its most extensive inaugural audit and a step toward higher assurance for stablecoin reserves and operations.

Bitcoin's network hashrate is falling as large mining firms shut down rigs and convert capacity to AI-focused data centers. The shift follows an earlier peak near 1.2K EH/s in early 2026, with miners chasing higher returns from AI compute than BTC mining revenue per megawatt. Companies cited include Core Scientific, Bit Digital and Iris Energy, alongside reported multi-billion-dollar AI contracts signed in late 2025 and early 2026.

XRP fell from around $1.44 on March 21 to retest a horizontal support zone just under $1.38 by March 23. The RSI has printed higher lows as price made lower lows, forming a bullish divergence and moving out of the 20–30 oversold band. Separately, reports cite strong retail demand alongside XRP spot ETF assets sitting just above $1 billion.

A market report says XRP is being supported by strong retail demand and expanding utility, even as institutional flows remain comparatively cautious. Weekly ETF data showed $95 million in net inflows for spot Bitcoin ETFs and $20 million for Solana ETFs, while Ethereum saw $60 million in outflows and XRP ETFs recorded $0.6 million in positive flows. On-chain, the XRP Ledger set a milestone with 5.66 million wallets holding under 100 XRP.

Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla says XRP's price has not kept pace with a sharp increase in network activity, even as transactions approach 3 million per day. He argues XRP has not yet become a large-scale "liquidity bridge" for banks and businesses, and that major price appreciation would likely require stronger institutional demand.

Ripple's 2026 survey of more than 1,000 finance executives says traditional finance leaders are accelerating plans to integrate crypto, stablecoins, and tokenization into day-to-day operations. The report found that 72% view offering digital-asset solutions as a basic requirement to stay competitive, while 74% believe stablecoins can improve cash-flow efficiency and free up working capital.

On March 18, 2026, veteran trader Peter Brandt outlined two sharply opposing technical setups for Bitcoin, highlighting a potentially bullish horn pattern and an "ugly" bear flag. He criticized overly rigid bullish sentiment in the crypto community and emphasized that professional traders must stay flexible instead of clinging to a single narrative. Brandt said market participants should choose their own interpretation, stressing that opinions are cheap while risk management is essential.