Bitwise’s Matt Hougan called it the “weekend that changed finance” as 
investors clambered onto Hyperliquid to trade the Israel-Iran conflict.

TradFi to adopt 24/7 crypto rails sooner than expected: Bitwise

XRP price failed to stay above $1.420 and started a downside correction. The 
price is now holding the $1.3320 support and might aim for another increase. 
XRP price started a downside correction and declined below $1.380. The price 
is now trading below $1.3740 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There 
is a new bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1.3880 on the hourly 
chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken). The pair could start 
another increase if it stays above $1.3320. XRP Price Dips To Support XRP 
price failed to stay above $1.40 and started a downside correction, like 
Bitcoin and Ethereum. The price dipped below the $1.3920 and $1.3880 levels to 
enter a negative zone. The price even dipped below the 50% Fib retracement 
level of the upward move from the $1.2702 swing low to the $1.4330 high. 
Besides, there is a new bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1.3880 
on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The bulls are now active above the 
$1.3320 zone. The price is now trading below $1.3750 and the 100-hourly Simple 
Moving Average. If there is a fresh upward move, the price might face 
resistance near the $1.370 level. The first major resistance is near the 
$1.3880 level, above which the price could rise and test $1.40. A clear move 
above the $1.40 resistance might send the price toward the $1.4320 resistance. 
Any more gains might send the price toward the $1.450 resistance. The next 
major hurdle for the bulls might be near $1.50. Downside Break? If XRP fails 
to clear the $1.3880 resistance zone, it could start a fresh decline. Initial 
support on the downside is near the $1.3320 level or the 61.8% Fib retracement 
level of the upward move from the $1.2702 swing low to the $1.4330 high. The 
next major support is near the $1.3085 level. If there is a downside break and 
a close below the $1.3085 level, the price might continue to decline toward 
$1.2880. The next major support sits near the $1.2650 zone, below which the 
price could continue lower toward $1.250. Technical Indicators Hourly MACD – 
The MACD for XRP/USD is now losing pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI 
(Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is now below the 50 level. 
Major Support Levels – $1.3320 and $1.3085. Major Resistance Levels – $1.3880 
and $1.4000.

XRP Price Begins Consolidation, Breakout Pressure Gradually Builds

Crypto.com is donating $1 million to After-School All-Stars to expand 
educational and summer programming for youth across the United States. On 
March 2, 2026, Crypto.com announced a $1 million donation to After-School All- 
Stars during an on-ice ceremony at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The 
event took place during a game between the LA Kings […]

Crypto.com Donates a Million Dollars to After-School All-Stars With LA Kings

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says the recent Bitcoin dip is being read very differently inside institutional circles than it is on crypto social media. In a March 2 interview with Scott Melker, Hougan said many professional allocators that missed the first leg of ETF-driven adoption are now treating lower prices as an opening, not a warning sign. Bitcoin Dip Draws Rush From Institutional Buyers The clearest example was a prospective client Hougan said had been in discussions with Bitwise for roughly two years before finally committing $11 million. For Hougan, that was less a story about sudden conviction than about how institutions actually move. “The average Bitwise client takes eight meetings before they allocate, which is brutal. But they meet quarterly. We’re about two years into the ETF boom. So they&#8217;re just now getting ready to allocate.” Bitcoin Insider Reveals Why Institutions Are Scrambling To Buy The Dip! | @Matt_Hougan pic.twitter.com/KUKndfw0mP — The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) March 2, 2026 That lag, he argued, is being mistaken for hesitation when it is often just an institutional process. “They’re not surprised that crypto is volatile,” Hougan said. “Like, wow, crypto is volatile, right? They’ve been waiting for an entry point.” He highlighted that spot ETFs saw net inflows during sharp down weeks, which he took as evidence that institutions remain “the marginal buyer” and are likely to keep entering the market. Related Reading: Bitcoin Prints Fifth Straight Red Month; Previous Streak Was Followed By 300% Surge Hougan drew a distinction between crypto-native sentiment and the way wealth managers, RIAs and larger institutions frame the asset. Retail, he said, has slipped into a full bear-market mindset, pointing to the crypto Fear &amp; Greed Index falling to 5. But institutions are operating on a different clock. “These people are making allocations for the next five or 10 years,” he said. “Even if you talk to the most bearish, despairing person on crypto Twitter and you ask them where Bitcoin will be in 10 years, they’re going to be pretty bullish.” That helps explain why falling prices are not necessarily slowing adoption. In many cases, Hougan said, advisors first buy Bitcoin personally, hold it for about a year, then begin allocating to a small group of clients before scaling up. “Typically what they do is they take their first 10 clients who have been asking them relentlessly about crypto for the last 10 years and they allocate on their behalf,” he said. “The big game comes when they go from 10 to 100.” Related Reading: Bitcoin Sentiment On Wall Street Has Turned Negative, Galaxy’s Thorn Says The distribution channels are also opening wider. Hougan said that, as of Q4, three of the four major wire houses can now proactively discuss Bitcoin with clients, while the fourth is expected to follow. Still, he estimated that roughly 20% to 25% of wealth managers remain closed to crypto exposure, underscoring that institutional access is still being rolled out rather than fully saturated. For Hougan, that is why the market may be underestimating what comes next. “Eventually Bitcoin ETFs, I think, will at some point have a trillion dollars of assets in them,” he said. “They’re not going to go down from here. It just takes time.” He was equally emphatic that this cycle feels different from prior drawdowns. “In previous bear markets, in FTX, the bear market felt existential,” Hougan said. “This winter doesn’t feel like that. Most people look at this as an attractive entry point. They don’t see death and despair. They see the world getting more digital, they see rising concern about fiat currency, they see a four-year cycle that would naturally mean we have a pullback.” If that view holds, the current drawdown may matter less as a test of conviction than as a transfer point: from fast-moving retail traders to slower, deeper pools of capital that are still early in their allocation process. At press time, BTC traded at $66,360. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Dip Has Institutions Scrambling To Buy, Insider Reveals

A Bitcoin Policy Institute study of 36 AI models found Bitcoin was the top 
monetary choice in 48% of responses, but more than half preferred stablecoins 
for payment scenarios.

Cryptocurrency price in USD