Crypto Newsletter

Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin in the March-April phase of 2026; ETH rose 4% in 7 days vs. BTC 3.9%. The ETH/BTC ratio (0.0313) recovers from February lows (0.028), but remains below January highs (0.038). Analysts forecast Bitcoin annual targets for 2026 of $72k–$82k, bullish scenarios up to $118k.

The EU fully implements MiCA from Q1 2026; CASP licenses are mandatory for all crypto firms, non-compliant stablecoins have been delisted from platforms. In parallel, the US rolls out GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act (OCC rules by July 2026, enforcement January 2027). This massively fragments or consolidates the global stablecoin supply.

Arbitrum and Polygon dominate with 40k TPS and 600+ dApps; JPMorgan, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank actively use Layer-2 networks for secondary market settlement. RWA tokenization, institutional perpetuals DEXs, and AI infrastructure tokens attract concentrated capital inflows.

BlackRock IBIT posts record volumes ($18B daily); Morgan Stanley launched proprietary MSBT ETF and leverages $1.9 trillion in assets under management. ETF structure lowers entry barriers for pension funds, endowments, and asset managers; US government strategic Bitcoin reserve reinforces mainstream integration.

DeFi in 2026 focuses on real protocol revenues and sustainable yields instead of token incentives. RWA perps and CLOB-based perps DEXs converge toward institutional-grade infrastructure. Staking mechanisms offer attractive yields compared to US Treasuries (3–5%).

CLARITY Act regulates stablecoin rewards and RWA yield structures, but is delayed by industry concerns over 'regulatory slow-rolling'. SEC and CFTC have until summer 2026 for rulemaking; alignment with EU MiCA is being pursued but is not guaranteed.