“Very Different and ‘Strange’”

Find out our latest reports, listed below:

• Block Scholes x Panoptic: Bridging The Onchain Convexity Gap

• Volatility Report: February 2026

• 2026 – the year of RWA perps?
  

• Bybit x Block Scholes: “2026: It's Different This Time?”

Market Snapshot: Overnight Moves

Daily Updates:

• President Trump’s lack of commitment to confirm the possibility of a ceasefire yesterday weighed heavily on risk-sentiment across asset classes. 
• Bitcoin has fallen from the $72K level it reached in the middle week and now trades around $67K, while the S&P 500 fell 1.74%, its biggest drop since the war began on Feb 28. 
• ETH is down 2% on the day, though continues to trade above $2,000. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw their seventh consecutive day of outflows yesterday, with $392M exiting the funds since March 18. The last time the funds saw this long of an outflow streak was between Dec 11 and Dec 19, 2025 when outflows amounted to $705.6M. 
• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $171.2M in net outflows on Thursday, the biggest one-day withdrawal since March 6. 

• On his Truth Social platform, Trump referred to the Iranian negotiators as “very different and ‘strange’”, claiming that Iran has been “begging” the US to make a deal, yet publicly “state that they are only ‘looking at our proposal.’” He also threatened the regime further after it rejected the US’s 15-point peace proposal stating that “They better get serious soon, before it is too late”. 
• During a cabinet meeting later in the day at the White House, he struck an unsure tone about the viability of any diplomatic agreement between the two nations. 
• The US president said “they’re lousy fighters, but they’re great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal … I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that.”
• Yesterday evening he then wrote on his social media platform, “I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.”

• The lack of any clear de-escalatory offramp saw oil prices continue to surge higher. Brent crude oil is trading at $109 per barrel, up 2% so far today. 
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said yesterday that the US will begin an insurance program designed to boost the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz soon. That comes after Trump’s announcement earlier in the month that the International Development Finance Corporation would provide insurance guarantees with naval escorts to help vessels pass through safely. 
• Bessent said that “The oil market is well-supplied. We’ve taken actions to ensure that oil supplies stranded at sea are made available to the global market”. 

• Yesterday, Initial Jobless Claims edged up to 210K from 205K today, but continuing claims fell by 32K to 1.819M, the lowest level since May 2024.

• According to Financial Times, Tether announced today that it has engaged KPMG to conduct its first full independent financial statement audit, bringing Big Four oversight to the issuer of the $184.2B USDT stablecoin. 

• Announced on 26 March, Anchorage Digital said it will add TRX custody on its main platform and Porto wallet, with support for native staking and additional TRC-20 assets to be introduced in phases.
• The TRON's network currently hosts around $84B in USDT, exceeding Ethereum, and remains one of the most heavily used blockchains globally. 

• MARA Holdings sold 15,133 BTC between March 4–25, 2026 for around $1.1B, to fund a $1.0B repurchase of its 0.00% convertible senior notes, buying back around $367.5M (2030 notes) for $322.9M and around $633.4M (2031 notes) for $589.9M.
• This totals an around $88.1M (around 9%) discount, reducing convertible debt by around 30% and lowering future dilution risk.
• This implies MARA’s current holdings are around 38,700 BTC, down from 53,822 BTC it reported in early March, after selling 15,133 BTC (around 28% of its holdings),
• The BTC sale was primarily to finance the discounted debt buyback, improving balance sheet efficiency, with remaining proceeds allocated to general corporate purposes

• In its latest 10-K, filed this week, GameStop disclosed that it did not sell the 4,709 BTC position worth roughly $324M as of 31 January.
• Instead, the company pledged the bitcoin as collateral with Coinbase Credit and used part of the position in a covered-call strategy with strikes set at $105,000-$110,000.
• The structure allowed GameStop to generate option premium income while retaining BTC exposure, though with upside capped above those levels.

• AI-native mortgage lender, Better, and US-based cryptocurrency exchange and custody provider, Coinbase, have partnered to introduce a new mortgage product where borrowers can use Bitcoin (BTC) or USDC as collateral instead of a traditional cash down payment.
• The mortgages originated and serviced by Better but structured as standard conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae, while Coinbase provides custody and infrastructure for the pledged digital assets.
• Borrowers go through standard mortgage approval checks and, once approved, can use crypto holdings as collateral instead of selling them, with those assets backing a separate loan that provides the cash down payment and avoids triggering a taxable sale.
• The product is designed so that price drops in BTC do not trigger margin calls or forced liquidations, with collateral only at risk if the borrower becomes seriously delinquent (e.g. 60 days behind on payments).
• Launched as the first token-backed conforming mortgage, the product links digital asset holdings to real estate financing and is initially available with BTC and USDC, with plans to expand eligible token types over time.

This Week’s Calendar:

Charts of the Day:

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