TechFlow News: On March 17, crypto market maker Wintermute posted on social media stating that the Middle East conflict has entered its third week of escalation, with Brent crude oil rising 26% over the week. Markets have now priced in only a single rate cut in 2026, down from earlier expectations. Against this backdrop, the crypto market has outperformed all major asset classes except crude oil: BTC rose over the week, while equities, bonds, and gold all declined. For BTC, key resistance levels to watch are $74,000 and $80,000.
In digital assets, BTC rebounded approximately 10% from Monday’s low, posting seven consecutive green daily candles and reclaiming the $71,000 level; ETH followed suit and held above $2,000. Coinbase’s BTC premium indicator has reset, signaling the dissipation of structural discount pressure that had persisted for several months. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their first five-day streak of net inflows in 2026, totaling $767 million—with Monday alone contributing $251 million, led by IBIT. Ethereum ETFs saw four consecutive days of net inflows totaling roughly $160 million. Strategy added 22,337 BTC last week, bringing its cumulative holdings above 761,000 BTC; Bitmine acquired 60,999 ETH last week, lifting its total holdings to 4.596 million ETH. The Ethereum Foundation sold 5,000 ETH directly to Bitmine via OTC transactions. BTC’s implied volatility index (DVOL) compressed from 61 to 51, and BTC’s correlation with equities notably weakened.
On the macro front, core PCE inflation reached an annualized 3.1%, nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000, and the unemployment rate stood at 4.4%, making stagflation the baseline scenario. This week, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England will all announce interest-rate decisions on the same day—the most concentrated macro event in months.
