Stocks

Bitcoin hovered around $70,000 on March 24, 2026 as global equities fell amid Iran war tensions. The asset recorded its longest run of negative correlation versus the S&P 500 since 2020, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $2.5B in monthly inflows and on-chain metrics suggested long-term holders were not distributing. Traders also watched $71,000–$71,500 as a potential breakout zone, with $68,500 cited as key downside support.

Bernstein analysts said bitcoin appears to have formed a cyclical bottom and reiterated an outperform rating on Strategy, projecting 226% upside from Monday's close of $138.20 to a $450 target. They argued STRC preferred shares are central to Strategy's capital model, helping it fund BTC purchases with non-dilutive, permanent capital as it continues to build its holdings.

Bitcoin (BTC) has climbed about 12% since the U.S.-Iran conflict began on February 28, 2026, trading near $71,144 as of March 24, 2026. Over the same period, gold (XAUT) is down 16% to roughly $4,420, while the S&P 500 (SPX) was off 4% from the conflict's start, at about 6,580.99 as of March 23, 2026.

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals said Monday it will rebrand as Stablecoin Development Corporation, and its shares climbed nearly 19% to $1.38 in the following session. The company said its ticker will switch from NBY to SDEV effective April 3, and disclosed holding two billion Sky (SKY) tokens as of March 16, plus 26.6 million SKY in cumulative staking rewards.

Strategy detailed new financing plans totaling up to $44.1 billion, including at-the-market sales of MSTR shares and two perpetual preferred stock offerings. The company said it has added nearly 90,000 BTC in the first three months of 2026 and now holds 762,099 BTC worth $54 billion.

Strategy Inc. has filed with the SEC to raise up to $44.1 billion through new equity offerings, aiming to fund additional Bitcoin purchases. The filing covers $21 billion in Class A common stock (MSTR), $21 billion in “Stretch” preferred (STRC), and $2.1 billion in “Strike” preferred (STRK). After the disclosure, MSTR closed at $138.20, up 1.87% for the session.

Bitcoin (BTC) has logged its longest stretch of moving independently from the S&P 500 since 2020, while BTC remained in a falling trend from September 2025 through March 23. The coin is down more than 45% since the October 11, 2025, crypto crash and was trading around $68,471 at press time. Over the same period, the S&P 500 gave back a Q4 2025 8.7% rally that pushed it to about 7,000 before sliding over the last two months.

Marc Syz has split from his family's Banque Syz over whether to embed a Bitcoin treasury strategy into the private bank, after its leadership declined the proposal. Future Holdings AG, described as holding 5,000 BTC worth about $450 million as of March 2026, is now being prepared for a dual listing on Nasdaq and the SIX Swiss Exchange with a CHF 500 million fundraising target.

Bernstein said Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN) remain the most direct ways to gain exposure to stablecoin growth, pointing to their shared USDC ecosystem. The firm argued that agentic machine payments could become an additional upside lever, though activity is still small, with Coinbase's x402 processing about $25 million over the past 30 days and Stripe's MPP seeing $5,000 in its first week.

NYSE Arca and NYSE American have eliminated the 25,000-contract position limit for options tied to 11 Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds after rule filings published March 10. The SEC acknowledged the changes on Sunday and waived the usual 30-day delay, putting the new rules into effect. The update also permits trading these ETF options as FLEX options with customizable strike prices and expiration dates.