Bitcoin Rally Reignites as ETF Inflows Surge

Plus: 🏦 Kraken gains direct access to the Fed’s payment rails, 📜 SEC sends crypto securities framework to the White House.

Author

Juan Aranovich
March 05, 2026

Hi! In today’s edition:

  • 📈 Bitcoin rebounds above $73,000 as ETF inflows return

  • 🏦 Kraken wins direct access to the Fed’s payment network

  • 📜 SEC sends crypto securities framework to the White House

  • 🎙️ Analysts debate Bitcoin’s outlook and AI’s impact on Gen Z finances

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Bitcoin Reclaims $73,000 as ETF Inflows and Risk Appetite Return

Bitcoin extended its rebound this week, briefly touching $74,000 for the first time in about a month before easing slightly. As of 5:45 am ET, BTC was trading at $73,427, while ether changed hands at $2,158 after also posting strong gains.

The rally marks a sharp turnaround after weeks of weakness that pushed bitcoin into one of its most oversold stretches on record. The broader crypto market followed higher, with dogecoin jumping more than 15% and several other major tokens posting double digit gains.

Institutional flows appear to be playing a role. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have attracted roughly $1.1 billion in inflows this week, including $462 million in a single day, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for about $307 million. The reversal comes after a five week stretch that saw roughly $3.8 billion leave the funds.

Crypto linked equities also surged alongside the market. Coinbase shares climbed about 15%, while Gemini jumped roughly 34%.

The move suggests sentiment may be shifting after February’s selloff, though the real test will be whether bitcoin can sustain momentum above the mid $70,000 range.

Kraken Wins Direct Access to the Fed’s Payment System

Kraken has secured something crypto firms have chased for years. Its banking arm has been granted a Federal Reserve master account, giving the company direct access to Fedwire, the central bank’s core payment network used by banks to move money across the financial system.

The approval means Kraken Financial can settle U.S. dollar transfers on the same rails that traditional banks use, rather than relying on intermediary institutions. That should speed up fiat deposits and withdrawals for institutional and professional trading clients.

A Fed master account allows regulated institutions to hold balances directly at the central bank and send payments through the Fed’s real time settlement infrastructure. Kraken’s version comes with limits, including no interest on reserves, resembling the “skinny” master account model the Fed discussed last year.

Still, the milestone is significant. Previous attempts by crypto focused banks, including Custodia, were rejected by regulators and courts. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the access allows the firm to operate “as a directly connected financial institution,” marking another step in crypto’s push to plug into the core plumbing of the U.S. financial system.

SEC Sends Crypto Securities Framework to the White House

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken another step toward clarifying how existing securities laws apply to crypto. 

On March 3, the agency submitted an interpretive framework to the White House that outlines how certain crypto assets and related transactions could fall under federal securities rules.

The proposal is now under interagency review at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Reports suggest the guidance may introduce a token taxonomy, a system for classifying digital assets and determining which ones qualify as securities. That distinction would shape how crypto firms register with regulators, what disclosures they must provide, and how they interact with investors.

Unlike staff guidance, this type of commission level interpretation carries stronger legal weight and does not require a formal vote.

The move reflects Chair Paul Atkins’ push to advance digital asset oversight, even as broader crypto legislation remains stalled in Congress.

4 Ways Zoomers Are Being Hit Financially and With the Rise of AI

Analysts Will Clemente, Joe Vezzani and Marcus Wu share their Bitcoin outlook amidst war. Plus, Will shares his thesis on Gen Z’s future, and Marcus previews his Bitcoin game theory model.

Bitcoin's price has largely held steady despite President Donald Trump's escalation of hostilities with Iran. Is this the bottom signal the market has been waiting for?

STIX investments chief Will Clemente, LunarCrush co-founder Joe Vezzani and Delphi Digital Research Analyst Marcus Wu explain why it looks like Bitcoin is bottoming, why a 10/10-style crash would have happened in crypto even without the Binance glitch, and why, regardless of the Jane Street rumors, it’s not beyond Wall Street to manipulate an asset.

They also address speculation that Jane Street has been suppressing Bitcoin's price and how AI's rapid advancement could impact crypto in light of Citrini Research's article and Jack Dorsey's Block layoffs.

Don't miss Joe's reasoning on why Trump could come to the market's rescue and Will's thesis on why zoomers face four unique financial and technological challenges. Plus Marcus also previews his new game theory model for trading the Bitcoin market.

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  • 🤝 U.S. President Donald Trump held a private meeting with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shortly before publicly criticizing banks for blocking crypto legislation, signaling White House support for the industry’s push to pass the GENIUS Act and broader digital-asset market-structure reforms.

  • 🗳️ Fairshake, the crypto industry’s political action committee, scored early victories in the 2026 U.S. congressional primaries, backing several pro-digital-asset candidates including Jessica Steinmann, a former Justice Department lawyer who won nearly 70% of the vote in Texas’ 8th District Republican primary.

  • 🔄 Sui Dollar (USDsui), the native stablecoin of the Sui blockchain created by former Meta engineers, launched with a model that recycles interest earned from its backing assets into the ecosystem, using that yield to buy back SUI tokens or fund decentralized finance activity instead of keeping the profits with the issuer.

  • 📜 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission submitted a new regulatory framework to the White House outlining how securities laws should apply to cryptocurrencies, focusing on a “token taxonomy” system that classifies digital assets to determine which fall under SEC oversight and investor-protection rules.

  • 💼 Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of Silicon Valley’s largest venture capital firms, is reportedly raising $2 billion for its fifth crypto investment fund, expanding a portfolio that has already deployed more than $7.6 billion into blockchain startups since launching its first dedicated fund in 2018.

  • 💳 Cyclops, a payments startup, raised $8 million from investors including Castle Island Ventures and F-Prime to help payment companies add stablecoin settlements and crypto payments for merchants without building blockchain infrastructure themselves.

  • 🛌 Tether invested $50 million in Eight Sleep, a health-tech startup that builds sensor-equipped smart mattresses tracking sleep and biometrics, funding new AI-powered wellness features that run directly on devices using Tether’s privacy-focused QVAC computing system.