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In a landmark move for the banking sector, the UK’s Monument Bank has tokenized £250 million in regulated customer deposits using the Midnight protocol, a privacy-focused sidechain on the Cardano blockchain. This marks the first instance of a Bank of England-supervised institution migrating live customer funds onto a privacy-preserving blockchain infrastructure. The development coincides with Cardano’s technical roadmap advancing, including the nearing Van Rossem hard fork.
The selection of Cardano’s Midnight network, which launched on March 29 with over 163,000 blocks already produced at inception, was driven by evolving regulatory frameworks. Regulations like MiCA and GDPR require financial institutions to keep customer transaction data off public ledgers. Midnight’s Selective-Disclosure model provides a solution, allowing regulators cryptographic access to transaction data without making it publicly visible. According to bank representatives at the Digital Asset Summit 2026, this specific capability is not currently offered by networks like Ethereum or Solana. The infrastructure is supported by nine finance and technology firms operating nodes, including Worldpay and Bullish.
Monument Bank’s rollout will occur in three phases. The tokenized deposits will continue to accrue interest, remain fully backed by pound sterling, and are protected by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
On the core protocol, Cardano is preparing for the Van Rossem upgrade. This hard fork to Protocol 11 will introduce new Plutus built-in functions—including array types, modular exponentiation, and multi-scalar multiplication—without disrupting existing smart contracts. The Cardano Node 10.7.0 release was announced as imminent in late March.
Looking further ahead, the Ouroboros Leios upgrade is scheduled for late 2026, aiming to introduce parallel block processing at the base layer. Development activity remains robust, evidenced by 572 commits across 83 repositories on March 30 alone.
Despite these advancements, ADA’s market price continues to face significant pressure. The token is trading near its 52-week low and has lost approximately one-third of its value since the start of the year. Short interest has recently reached its highest level since June 2023, creating a market environment where any upward price movement could potentially trigger a cascade of liquidations. Although large holders purchased over $53 million worth of ADA last week, the price remains below key technical resistance levels.
The coming months will determine whether the Monument Bank initiative attracts other regulated institutions, potentially bridging the current gap between Cardano’s developmental milestones and its market valuation. The launch of the Leios upgrade by the end of 2026 will serve as a critical test for this convergence.
After a historically poor performance in March, the precious metal is showing clear signs of revival. A shift in market dynamics, driven by changing interest rate expectations and a recalibrated geopolitical outlook, is drawing buyers back to gold. A notable turn in sentiment among institutional investors appears to be providing a solid base for the current recovery.
Last month, investors endured the steepest monthly decline since October 2008, with gold shedding roughly 14 percent. Market observers now largely view that sharp correction as a completed market cleansing. The sell-off successfully purged a significant volume of speculative leveraged positions from the system.
This newly healthier market structure is attracting fresh capital. For the first time following an extended period of outflows, major gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are reporting inflows once more. Concurrently, structural demand from central banks continues to provide underlying stability. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) remains a key buyer, persistently executing its strategy to diversify foreign exchange reserves away from U.S. Treasury securities.
The prospect of a near-term de-escalation in Middle East tensions, recently highlighted by U.S. President Trump, altered the trading landscape mid-week. The receding risk of a broader conflict pushed oil prices lower, subsequently easing recent inflation anxieties. This shift, in turn, reduces the imperative for the U.S. Federal Reserve to maintain a aggressively hawkish interest rate policy.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note promptly fell below the 4.3% threshold, having traded close to 4.5% just the week before. Since gold offers no yield itself, this decline in bond rates lowers the opportunity cost of holding the non-interest-bearing asset. The price movement reflects this dynamic, with gold trading at $4,807.20, marking a solid single-day advance of 2.29%.
Despite robust private payroll data from ADP, the upward momentum for gold persisted into the middle of the week. The precious metal’s next significant challenge arrives with the official U.S. non-farm payrolls report on Good Friday. Should the employment figures come in weaker than forecast, the current recovery trend could find sustained reinforcement from further diminished expectations for future interest rate hikes.
For years, the consistent purchasing of gold by central banks provided a foundational pillar of support for the market. That dynamic is now showing signs of reversal. Significant sales by Russia and Turkey are introducing fresh uncertainty, potentially undermining a core narrative that has driven the multi-year rally in gold prices.
Following a steep decline of over 13% in March, the price of gold has recently stabilized near $4,774 per ounce. A recovery of approximately 1.4% today is being fueled by signals of a potential de-escalation in the Iran conflict. US President Trump suggested that attacks on Iran could cease within two to three weeks, regardless of whether a formal agreement is reached.
The recent sales activity follows a clear and pragmatic logic. Faced with growing budget shortfalls, Russia’s central bank offloaded 500,000 ounces in January and February alone, reducing its reserves to a four-year low. Meanwhile, Turkey sold and swapped an estimated 50 to 60 tonnes of gold amid the Iran war, primarily as a tool for short-term market stabilization.
Analysts at Natixis identify a structural pattern behind these moves: central banks are increasingly tapping their gold reserves to finance emergency energy purchases and cushion the impact of rising oil prices on their domestic currencies. Market observers are paying particularly close attention to institutions in Asia and the Middle East—regions previously considered the primary engines of global gold demand.
Despite these developments, major financial institutions have not revised their optimistic year-end forecasts. JPMorgan maintains a price target of $6,300 for gold, while UBS anticipates $6,200. Goldman Sachs presents a more conservative estimate of $5,400. All three firms base their assessments on expectations of continued central bank demand, potential interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, and elevated geopolitical uncertainty.
It is precisely the first of these supporting factors—ongoing central bank demand—that now faces pressure. As long as conflict in Iran drives up energy costs and forces affected economies to liquidate reserves, the strength of the buyer side remains in question. Whether it will be sufficient to justify these bullish annual targets is unclear. The next significant directional move for gold will likely hinge on the concrete details emerging from President Trump’s forthcoming address on the situation in Iran.
The cryptocurrency market appears to be enjoying a resurgence this spring, with spot Bitcoin ETFs recording their first significant capital inflows in months. However, a deeper analysis of on-chain metrics and regulatory filings reveals underlying pressures that challenge this optimistic surface narrative. Behind the scenes of fund manager accumulation, major investors and financially distressed crypto firms are offloading their holdings.
Significant selling pressure is emerging from major holders, often referred to as “whales.” The Exchange Whale Ratio, a key metric tracking the behavior of large Bitcoin entities, showed a notable increase throughout March. This trend indicates that high-net-worth participants are moving a larger proportion of their coins to exchanges, typically a precursor to selling. While short-term geopolitical developments, such as signals pointing toward a potential de-escalation in the Iran conflict, provided modest support to market sentiment and prevented a steeper decline, the actions of these large holders present a countervailing force.
The market’s next directional move in April is likely to be heavily influenced by a series of upcoming macroeconomic and regulatory events:
Particular attention will be paid to the conference at month’s end, which will feature the first joint appearance by the chairs of the SEC and the CFTC. This event could provide concrete signals regarding the future regulatory framework for the sector.
Further pressure on Bitcoin’s price trajectory originates from corporate treasury strategies, especially those involving leveraged positions. A recent mandatory SEC filing from Nakamoto Inc. highlights the risks of debt-financed crypto investments. To cover operational costs following expensive acquisitions and service loan interest, the company was forced to liquidate a portion of its Bitcoin reserves in March. Management reportedly realized a loss of approximately 40% on the original investment.
This financial strain is mirrored in the firm’s equity performance; its share price has shed nearly all its value since peaking in May 2025. The corporate Bitcoin landscape is now characterized by extreme concentration. The company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) alone commands about 76% of the total holdings among public corporate treasuries and has continued to make recent purchases. In contrast, activity from the rest of the sector has dwindled significantly.
Following a weak start to the year marked by substantial outflows in January and February, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds witnessed a turnaround in March. These investment vehicles attracted inflows totaling $1.32 billion, ending a four-month streak of net withdrawals. The iShares Bitcoin Trust from BlackRock remains the industry leader, now commanding nearly half of the entire spot ETF market. Despite this renewed institutional demand, the premier cryptocurrency, trading around $68,150, remains down approximately 23% year-to-date, underscoring the complex dynamics at play.
A statement from former President Donald Trump suggesting the U.S.-Iran conflict could conclude within weeks provided a catalyst for digital asset markets on Wednesday. Ethereum emerged as a standout performer, leading gains among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization with a 24-hour advance exceeding 5%.
From a charting perspective, Ethereum’s daily price action has formed a classic bullish continuation pattern known as a cup-and-handle. This technical setup points to a key resistance level at $2,200. A successful breach could see the price target the pattern’s neckline around $2,384, with the 100-day moving average near $2,450 acting as the subsequent hurdle.
Market sentiment on prediction platform Polymarket, however, reveals underlying concerns. Traders now assign a probability greater than 59% that ETH will lose its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency in 2026—a significant shift from a 17% probability at the start of the year. In the immediate term, further commentary on the Iran situation is expected to be the primary driver for price direction.
This recent uptick occurs against a backdrop of considerable pressure. Data from CryptoRank indicates Ethereum shed approximately 32.8% of its value throughout the first quarter of 2026. The product outflows troubling the ecosystem extended into March, with spot Ethereum ETFs witnessing net withdrawals for a fifth consecutive month. Outflows for March surpassed $77 million, following an even larger $369 million exit in February. Cumulatively, these investment vehicles have seen a reduction in assets under management totaling more than $2.4 billion.
A fundamental shift in Ethereum’s monetary policy is contributing to the headwinds. Following the Pectra upgrade in early 2026, the network returned to an inflationary state. A decline in transaction fees has led to a 71% drop in the daily volume of ETH being burned. This dynamic undermines the “ultrasound money” narrative that had positioned ETH as a deflationary store of value after the Merge.
Despite these macroeconomic and structural challenges, on-chain data presents a countervailing narrative of strong holder conviction. The supply of ETH held on centralized exchanges has plummeted to 16 million, reaching a multi-year low. This migration of coins away from trading platforms and into staking contracts, cold storage, and DeFi protocols signals a preference for long-term holding rather than an intent to sell.
Ethereum’s foundational role in the digital asset space remains intact. It continues to serve as the dominant settlement layer for stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. With over $160 billion in stablecoin value secured on its blockchain, the network maintains a substantial lead over all competitors.
The protocol’s development roadmap outlines continued evolution, with the Glamsterdam upgrade scheduled for the first half of 2026 and the Hegotá upgrade expected in the second half of the year. These planned improvements aim to address network performance and functionality.