Robinhood has launched a betting markets hub as the online brokerage — best known for stock trading — expands its presence in emergent asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and event contracts, according to a March 17 announcement. 

Robinhood’s stock, HOOD, rose roughly 8% on the Nasdaq after the announcement, according to data from Google Finance.

The new betting feature will let users “trade contracts for what the upper bound of the target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men’s and women’s College Basketball Tournaments,” it said. 

HOOD’s intraday performance on the Nasdaq on March 17. Source: Google Finance

The online brokerage is tapping Kalshi, the US’ first CFTC-regulated prediction platform, to operate the event contract platform, it said. 

Kalshi is already registered to list dozens of event contracts, covering outcomes ranging from election results to Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings.

Prediction markets “play an important role at the intersection of news, economics, politics, sports, and culture,” JB Mackenzie, vice president and general manager of futures and international at Robinhood, said in a statement. 

Experts say political betting markets often capture public sentiment more accurately than polls. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket accurately predicted US President Donald Trump’s November election win even as polls indicated a tossup.

Related: Robinhood tips Singapore launch, touts memecoin interest: Report

Rising popularity

Prediction markets have become increasingly popular in the US since September 2024, when Kalshi prevailed in a lawsuit challenging a CFTC decision to bar it from listing political event contracts.

By November, trading volumes across popular prediction markets neared $4 billion for contracts tied to the US elections.

Robinhood tested the waters of political event contracts in October when it started letting certain users bet on the outcome of the presidential election between former Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.

In February, Robinhood suspended Super Bowl betting after receiving a request from the CFTC to nix its customers’ access to the event contracts.

Beyond stock trading

Robinhood has been expanding its footprint in emerging asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and derivatives. 

On March 13, the company listed memecoins like Pengu (PENGU), Pnut (PNUT) and Popcat (POPCAT) in a bid to expand its presence in crypto. Back in January, it rolled out futures contracts tied to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).

Robihood’s latest earnings report shows the firm posted a 700% year-over-year jump in crypto revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024 as Trump’s election win and rising market prices fueled boosted crypto trading.

X Hall of Flame: Memecoins will die and DeFi will rise again — Sasha Ivanov 

Robinhood has launched a betting markets hub as the online brokerage — best known for stock trading — expands its presence in emergent asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and event contracts, according to a March 17 announcement. 

Robinhood’s stock, HOOD, rose roughly 8% on the Nasdaq after the announcement, according to data from Google Finance.

The new betting feature will let users “trade contracts for what the upper bound of the target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men’s and women’s College Basketball Tournaments,” it said. 

HOOD’s intraday performance on the Nasdaq on March 17. Source: Google Finance

The online brokerage is tapping Kalshi, the US’ first CFTC-regulated prediction platform, to operate the event contract platform, it said. 

Kalshi is already registered to list dozens of event contracts, covering outcomes ranging from election results to Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings.

Prediction markets “play an important role at the intersection of news, economics, politics, sports, and culture,” JB Mackenzie, vice president and general manager of futures and international at Robinhood, said in a statement. 

Experts say political betting markets often capture public sentiment more accurately than polls. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket accurately predicted US President Donald Trump’s November election win even as polls indicated a tossup.

Related: Robinhood tips Singapore launch, touts memecoin interest: Report

Rising popularity

Prediction markets have become increasingly popular in the US since September 2024, when Kalshi prevailed in a lawsuit challenging a CFTC decision to bar it from listing political event contracts.

By November, trading volumes across popular prediction markets neared $4 billion for contracts tied to the US elections.

Robinhood tested the waters of political event contracts in October when it started letting certain users bet on the outcome of the presidential election between former Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.

In February, Robinhood suspended Super Bowl betting after receiving a request from the CFTC to nix its customers’ access to the event contracts.

Beyond stock trading

Robinhood has been expanding its footprint in emerging asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and derivatives. 

On March 13, the company listed memecoins like Pengu (PENGU), Pnut (PNUT) and Popcat (POPCAT) in a bid to expand its presence in crypto. Back in January, it rolled out futures contracts tied to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).

Robihood’s latest earnings report shows the firm posted a 700% year-over-year jump in crypto revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024 as Trump’s election win and rising market prices fueled boosted crypto trading.

X Hall of Flame: Memecoins will die and DeFi will rise again — Sasha Ivanov 

Ripple Labs has filed a trademark application for the word mark “Ripple Custody,” indicating that the company behind the XRP (XRP) token is considering expanding its brand in the crypto custody space.

The filing notes four use cases for the word mark, including one that reads “Financial services, namely, custodial services in the nature of maintaining storage and possession of cryptocurrency […] for financial management purposes.”

Crypto custodians store and manage digital assets for individuals and institutions, aiming to minimize risks such as private key loss and security breaches. The demand for custody services has grown significantly in recent years, especially following the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US in 2024. Major players in this space include Coinbase, Citi and BNY Mellon, among others.

Screenshot of Ripple Labs’ trademark application. Source: JUSTIA Trademarks

The trademark filing follows Ripple’s launch of its custody service in October 2024. At the time, the company said the move sought to diversify its revenue streams beyond its payment settlement service.

A Ripple spokesperson declined to comment on the trademark filing.

Will Ripple launch a crypto wallet?

Another use case listed in the trademark filing reads, “downloadable software for custody of cryptocurrency, fiat currency, virtual currency, and digital currency; downloadable software for transmission and storage of cryptocurrency, fiat currency, virtual currency, and digital currency.”

The use case may indicate that Ripple could be planning to launch a cryptocurrency wallet, either to support its native token, XRP, or a wider variety of digital assets. Currently, the company does not offer a crypto wallet. The wallet services offering would provide another revenue stream to Ripple by collecting transaction fees.

Companies already offering support for XRP and other cryptocurrencies include Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets, Trust Wallet, Exodus and many others.

Magazine: Hall of Flame: Crypto Banter’s Ran Neuner says Ripple is ‘despicable,’ tips hat to ZachXBT

Ripple Labs has filed a trademark application for the word mark “Ripple Custody,” indicating that the company behind the XRP (XRP) token is considering expanding its brand in the crypto custody space.

The filing notes four use cases for the word mark, including one that reads “Financial services, namely, custodial services in the nature of maintaining storage and possession of cryptocurrency […] for financial management purposes.”

Crypto custodians store and manage digital assets for individuals and institutions, aiming to minimize risks such as private key loss and security breaches. The demand for custody services has grown significantly in recent years, especially following the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US in 2024. Major players in this space include Coinbase, Citi and BNY Mellon, among others.

Screenshot of Ripple Labs’ trademark application. Source: JUSTIA Trademarks

The trademark filing follows Ripple’s launch of its custody service in October 2024. At the time, the company said the move sought to diversify its revenue streams beyond its payment settlement service.

A Ripple spokesperson declined to comment on the trademark filing.

Will Ripple launch a crypto wallet?

Another use case listed in the trademark filing reads, “downloadable software for custody of cryptocurrency, fiat currency, virtual currency, and digital currency; downloadable software for transmission and storage of cryptocurrency, fiat currency, virtual currency, and digital currency.”

The use case may indicate that Ripple could be planning to launch a cryptocurrency wallet, either to support its native token, XRP, or a wider variety of digital assets. Currently, the company does not offer a crypto wallet. The wallet services offering would provide another revenue stream to Ripple by collecting transaction fees.

Companies already offering support for XRP and other cryptocurrencies include Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets, Trust Wallet, Exodus and many others.

Magazine: Hall of Flame: Crypto Banter’s Ran Neuner says Ripple is ‘despicable,’ tips hat to ZachXBT

Bitcoin (BTC) dominance, a measure of Bitcoin’s overall share of the crypto market, has been steadily rising since 2023 amid a torrent of new cryptocurrency coins and tokens.

The current BTC market dominance is roughly 61.6%, down from the local peak of 64.3% recorded on Feb. 3.

BTC market dominance broke back above 60% on Feb. 2 amid a general market downturn over fears of a prolonged trade war between the United States and its trading partners.

Macroeconomic uncertainty typically takes a toll on risk-on assets, and the recent market downturn hit altcoins harder than BTC due to their lower liquidity and higher-risk profiles.

Bitcoin market dominance has been rising since 2023. Source: TradingView

The current market cycle also features Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which silo liquidity into these financial instruments — preventing capital rotation into altcoins, which crypto traders and investors have become accustomed to.

Previous cycles were characterized by investors rotating profits from less risky assets such as BTC into progressively higher-risk investments, starting with high market cap altcoins and eventually working their way into smaller cap tokens.

The liquidity siloed in traditional investment vehicles coupled with the proliferation of new coins and tokens competing for limited investor attention and capital has led some analysts to suggest that altcoin season is now a thing of the past and will not be a feature of the current or future market cycles.

Related: Bitcoin poised to reclaim $90,000, according to derivatives metrics

Too many tokens have saturated the market

The total number of cryptocurrency tokens and coins listed on CoinMarketCap on Feb. 8 was below 11 million unique assets, as of March 15 the number of digital assets listed on the website has surged to over 12.7 million.

Tens of millions of unique digital assets are now floating around the markets. Source: Dune

Over 600,000 tokens were launched in January 2025 alone. The vast majority of these assets were memecoins created on fair launch platforms and low-cap altcoins.

According to market analyst Jesse Myers, when these coins fail, they do not go to $0. Instead, they linger around market capitalizations of $10,000 to $100,000 — permanently trapping capital inside illiquid pools.

The proliferation of new tokens and digital assets prompted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to reevaluate the exchange’s token listing process to meet consumer demand.

Magazine: DeFi will rise again after memecoins die down: Sasha Ivanov, X Hall of Flame

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Ether’s (ETH) price has been consolidating within a roughly $130 range over the last seven days as $2,000 remains strong overhead resistance.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and Bitstamp shows that ETH price oscillates within a tight range between $1,810 and $1,960.

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Ether price remains pinned below $2,000 for several reasons, including declining Ethereum’s weak network activity and decreasing TVL, negative spot Ethereum ETF flows, and weak technicals.

Negative spot Ethereum ETF outflows

The underperformance in Ether’s price can be attributed to investors’ risk-off behavior, which is visible across the spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETH outflows from these investment products have persisted for more than two weeks.

US-based spot Ether ETFs have recorded a streak of outflows for the last seven days, totaling $265.4 million, as per data from SoSoValue.

Ether ETF flow chart. Source: SoSoValue

At the same time, other Ethereum investment products saw outflows totaling $176 million. This brings month-to-date outflows out of Ether ETPs to $265 million, in what CoinShares’s head of research, James Butterfill, described as the “worst on record.”

He noted:

“This also marks the 17th straight day of outflows, the longest negative streak since our records began in 2015.”Weak onchain activity hurts ETH price

To understand the key drivers behind Ether’s weakness, it is essential to analyze Ethereum’s onchain metrics.

The Ethereum network maintained its leadership based on the 7-day decentralized exchange (DEX) volume. However, the metric has been declining over the last few weeks, dropping by approximately 30% in the last seven days to reach $16.8 billion on March 17. 

Ethereum: 7-day DEX volumes, USD. Source: DefiLlama

Key weaknesses for Ethereum included an 85% drop in activity on Maverick Protocol and a 45% decline in Dodo’s volumes.

Similarly, Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) decreased 9.3% month-to-date, down 47% from its January high of $77 billion to $46.37 billion on March 11.

Ethereum: total value locked. Source: DefiLlama

Lido was among the weakest performers in Ethereum deposits, with TVL dropping 30% over 30 days. Other notable declines included EigenLayer (-30%), Ether.fi (-29%), and Maker (-28%).

Ether’s bear flag target is at $1,530

Meanwhile, Ether’s technicals show a potential bear flag on the four-hour chart, which hints at more downside in the coming days or weeks.

Related: ETH may bottom at $1.6K, SEC delays multiple crypto ETFs, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 9 – 15

A bear flag is a downward continuation pattern characterized by a small, upward-sloping channel formed by parallel lines against the prevailing downtrend. It gets resolved when the price decisively breaks below its lower trendline and falls by as much as the prevailing downtrend’s height.

ETH bulls are counting on support from the flag’s lower boundary at $1,880. A daily candlestick close below this level would signal a bearish breakout from the chart formation, projecting a decline to $1,530. Such a move would represent a 20% descent from the current price.

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The relative strength index is positioned in the negative region at 48, suggesting that the market conditions still favor the downside.

The bulls will attempt a daily candlestick close above the flag’s middle boundary at $1,930 (embraced by the 50 SMA) to defend the support at $1,880. They must push the price above the flag’s upper limit of $1,970 to invalidate the bear flag chart pattern.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public corporate Bitcoin holder, has announced its smallest Bitcoin purchase on record.

Strategy on March 17 officially announced its latest 130-Bitcoin (BTC) acquisition, bought for around $10.7 million in cash, or at an average price of roughly $82,981 per BTC.

The latest Bitcoin purchase was made using proceeds from the “STRK ATM,” a new Strategy program looking to raise up to $21 billion in fresh capital to acquire more BTC.

Strategy’s new 130-BTC buy is the smallest one ever recorded since the company announced its first purchase of 21,454 BTC for $250 million in August 2020.

Strategy is 774 BTC away from holding 500,000 BTC

With the new purchase, Strategy and its subsidiaries now hold 499,226 BTC, acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $33.1 billion and an average purchase price of around $66,360 per BTC, including fees and expenses.

After purchasing 130 BTC, Strategy still needs to acquire 774 BTC to reach a total holding of 500,000 BTC.

Source: Michael Saylor

According to the Strategy website, the company’s Bitcoin yield now stands at 6.9%, significantly lower than its 15% target for 2025. 

Smallest buy on record

Despite Bitcoin’s price falling to multimonth lows below $80,000 last week, Strategy’s latest buy is significantly smaller than its most recent purchases, making it the smallest ever announced BTC purchase by the firm.

Related: Strategy shares down 30% since Saylor’s Forbes cover

Prior to the latest purchase, the smallest BTC purchase by Strategy was a 169-BTC purchase in August 2024, according to official records by Strategy.

Strategy’s Bitcoin acquisitions in 2025. Source: Strategy

So far in 2025, Strategy has acquired 51,656 BTC in seven announced acquisitions.

Strategy’s “BTC $ Gain” indicator is 74% away from yearly targets

After spending roughly $4.4 billion on its seven Bitcoin purchases in 2025, Strategy recorded a BTC gain value versus the dollar of $2.6 billion year-to-date.

Strategy’s “BTC $ Gain” indicator, which tracks the dollar value of BTC gain calculated based on the market BTC price in a certain period, is now 74% away from the company’s target of $10 billion in 2025.

Strategy’s 2025 targets and YTD results as of Feb. 2, 2025. Source: Strategy

By the end of 2024, Strategy’s BTC $ Gain reached $13.8 billion, while the Bitcoin yield hit a massive 74%.

Magazine: Crypto fans are obsessed with longevity and biohacking: Here’s why

Bitcoin’s (BTC) stochastic RSI has printed a bullish cross with a history of preceding sharp price rebounds.

Stochastic RSI tracks momentum based on price movements relative to their range over a given period. This classic indicator operates between 0 and 100, with values above 80 considered overbought and below 20 deemed oversold.

BTC/USDT weekly price chart. Source: TradingView/Merjin The Trader

A crossover of the blue %K line above the orange %D line from an oversold region technically suggests growing upward momentum.

Another $120,000 BTC price target emerges

Historical fractals show that each time the weekly stochastic RSI made the bullish cross, Bitcoin underwent sharp price recoveries within three to five months. Its gains have averaged at around 56% during such rebounds, ̛including rallies that extended beyond the 90%-return mark.

BTC/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

That includes a roughly 90% rally from November 2022 lows, 92% gains in late 2023, and a staggering 98% move into Bitcoin’s recent all-time high of around $110,000 in January 2025.

If history repeats, Bitcoin could see another parabolic rise by July or August, aligning with previous stochastic RSI bullish crosses that delivered outsized returns.

Market analyst Merjin the Trader says Bitcoin’s price can reach at least $120,000 if the Stochastic RSI fractal plays out as intended.

Source: Merjin The Trader

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s bullish reversal outlook receives further cues from its 50-week exponential moving average (50-week EMA; the red wave in the chart above) at around $77,230.

The 50-week EMA wave has served as a strong accumulation zone for traders since October 2023.

In case BTC’s price breaks decisively below the 50-week EMA, it could head toward the next support target at around the 200-week EMA (the blue wave), near $50,480, down approximately 40% from current prices.

Bitcoin hedge funds are buying the dip

Another bullish sign comes from hedge fund accumulation during the ongoing price correction.

Global crypto hedge funds are increasing their Bitcoin exposure, as seen in the latest rolling 20-day beta to BTC, which has surged to a four-month high. This suggests that institutional investors are buying into the dip, positioning themselves for potential upside.

Global crypto hedge funds rolling 1-month beta to Bitcoin. Source: Glassnode/Bloomberg

Beta measures how closely hedge fund returns track Bitcoin’s movements. When beta rises above 1.0, it indicates that the fund rises more than BTC’s price. Conversely, when the beta drops below 1.0, the fund moves less than Bitcoin.

Related: Peak ‘FUD’ hints at $70K floor — 5 Things to know in Bitcoin this week

The beta is now at a 4-month high, meaning hedge funds believe the recent Bitcoin dip is a buying opportunity and expect higher prices ahead, reinforcing the $120,000 price outlook as discussed above.

As Cointelegraph reported, the $120,000+ is becoming a popular target for summer 2025.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

While most analysts expect the crypto bull cycle to continue until the end of 2025, concerns over an economic recession in the United States, along with crypto’s “circular” economy, may still threaten crypto valuations.

Despite the recent market correction, most crypto analysts expect the bull cycle to peak after the third quarter of 2025, with Bitcoin (BTC) price predictions ranging from $160,000 to above $180,000.

Beyond external concerns, such as a potential recession in the world’s largest economy, crypto’s biggest industry-specific risk is the “circular” nature of its economy, according to Arthur Breitman, the co-founder of Tezos.

“Within the industry, the main risk is that the industry is still very much in search of grounding. It’s all still very circular,” Breitman told Cointelegraph.

“If you look at DeFi, for example, the point of finance is to finance something […], but if the only thing that DeFi finances is more DeFi, then that’s circular,” said Breitman, adding:

“If the only reason people want to buy your token is because they feel other people will want to buy this token, that’s circular.”

This is in stark contrast to the stock market, which is “built on revenue-generating businesses,” making the crypto industry’s “lack of grounding” one of the main industry threats, Breitman added.

Other industry insiders have also criticized the state of the crypto economy, specifically related to the latest memecoin meltdowns, which are siphoning liquidity from more established cryptocurrencies.

Solana outflows. Source: deBridge, Binance Research

Solana was hit by over $485 million worth of outflows in February after the recent wave of memecoin rug pulls triggered an investor flight to “safety,” with some of the capital flowing into memecoins on the BNB Chain, such as the Broccoli memecoin, inspired by the Changpeng Zhao’s dog.

Related: Rising $219B stablecoin supply signals mid-bull cycle, not market top

US recession fears are crypto’s biggest external risk: Tezos co-founder

Beyond industry-specific events, larger macroeconomic concerns, including a potential US recession, threaten traditional and cryptocurrency markets.

“In terms of macro events, I still think we could see a recession,” said Breitman, adding:

“There’s a lot of bullish winds for the market, but there’s also a lot of traditional recession indicators which have been flashing for a while now. So I don’t think you can rule it out.”

Cryptocurrency markets still trade in significant correlation with tech stocks, meaning that a recession will cause a widespread sell-off, he added.

Related: Libra, Melania creator’s ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ memecoin crashes 99%

The current trade war concerns, driven by US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs and continued retaliatory measures, have reignited concerns over a potential recession.

Source: Polymarket

Over 40% of market participants expect a recession in the US this year, up from just 22% a month ago on Feb. 17, according to the largest decentralized predictions market, Polymarket.

Magazine: Crypto fans are obsessed with longevity and biohacking: Here’s why

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the company had always met and “exceeded” its legal obligations in moderation, cooperation and fighting crime. 

On March 17, the Telegram founder posted an update on the messaging application, saying he was already back in Dubai after spending months in France. Durov said the process is still ongoing but added that it “feels great to be home.”

The post follows reports that the Telegram founder was allowed to leave France and return home. On March 15, a report citing anonymous sources said the executive had departed from France after getting approval from a French court to leave the country. 

Durov was arrested in Paris on Aug. 24 as part of an investigation into the instant messaging app. The executive was accused of running a platform that allowed illegal activities. 

Pavel Durov shared a post on Telegram after returning to Dubai. Source: Pavel Durov

Telegram founder says company “exceeded” legal obligations

In his post, Durov thanked the judges for allowing him to return to Dubai. The executive also expressed gratitude toward his lawyers and team, saying that they could show that the company had surpassed what was legally required of them. He wrote: 

“I want to thank the investigative judges for letting this happen, as well as my lawyers and team for their relentless efforts in demonstrating that, when it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years, Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations.”

Durov also thanked his supporters across the globe. He said he was grateful for the community’s support throughout the ordeal. “There is nothing our billion-strong community can’t overcome,” Durov added. 

Related: Free speech and online privacy: Pavel Durov’s rise to the top

Telegram founder’s return to Dubai fuels Toncoin rally

Durov’s release fueled a rally for Toncoin, the native crypto asset of The Open Network (TON), a project heavily associated with Telegram. On March 15, Toncoin surged from $2.93 to $3.46, reaching a seven-day high of $3.59 on March 17. At the time of writing, the crypto asset is trading at $3.41, according to CoinGecko. 

TON Society, a grassroots movement supporting the TON blockchain, celebrated Durov’s release. The group said they’ve stood behind the executive since his arrest, praising the Telegram founder’s “commitment to freedom of speech and transparency.”

The group previously wrote an open letter to French authorities, urging them to release the Telegram founder. 

Magazine: Crypto fans are obsessed with longevity and biohacking: Here’s why