BlackRock Accumulates 9,615 BTC in Three Days as ETF Flows Flash First Bullish Signal
Bitcoinis trading up roughly 3.4% Tuesday morning near $68,000 after whipsawing over the weekend when U.S.–Israeli airstrikes on Iran briefly sent prices near $63,000.Bloombergthe selloff "left almost no lasting trace of fear or safe-haven demand," attributing the muted reaction to already-lightened positioning after months of consolidation.Barron's, a 24/7 settlement layer for macro hedging while traditional markets were closed. Iran's security chiefaWall Street Journal reportclaiming Tehran was reaching out to resume nuclear talks, sending bitcoin briefly near $66,768 as investors rotated into gold, while President Trump confirmed airstrikes would continue for "four to five weeks."Reuters reportedthe dollar strengthened on safe-haven buying while the yen and euro weakened on energy-import vulnerability. The clearer signal came from on-chain gold proxies: tokenized gold market cap surged past $6B,per Blockhead, as physical gold hit $5,394/oz and whales rotated from stablecoins into PAXG and XAUT. Roughly 38% of altcoins are trading near all-time lows. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with "Crypto Currents," daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio.BLACKROCK ACCUMULATES 9,615 BTC IN THREE DAYS AS ETF FLOWS FLASH FIRST BULLISH SIGNAL SINCE OCTOBER:showed BlackRock(BLK)received another 4,082 BTC from Coinbase Primeon Tuesday, its third consecutive day of accumulation, totaling 9,615 BTC in net inflows. The pattern of consistent ETF-related flow through Coinbase Prime signals sustained institutional demand even as bitcoin trades roughly 46% below its October all-time high. Separately,SoSoValue datashowed U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $458M on Monday, one of the quarter's strongest inflow days, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust accounting for roughly half of three-session inflows totaling $1.1B.RIOT PLATFORMS POSTS RECORD $647M REVENUE BUT NET LOSS BALLOONS TO $663M:Riot Platforms(RIOT)reported FY25. However, the company swung to a net loss of $663M from net income of $109M in 2024, driven by $346.8M in depreciation, a $158.1M contract settlement loss, and other non-cash items, while adjusted EBITDA collapsed to $13M from $463M. Q4 revenue of $152.83M missed consensus of $158.05M, and the Q4 EPS of ($2.03) badly missed the (22c) estimate. On the positive side, Riot's AMDdata center lease is now generating revenue, with expected annual net operating income of approximately $25M. The diverging paths of Core Scientific and Riot Platforms illustrates the broader miner identity crisis: CORZ is selling every last bitcoin for AI, while RIOT tries to straddle both worlds.CORE SCIENTIFIC TO LIQUIDATE ENTIRE BTC TREASURY TO FUND AI PIVOT:In the session's most consequential corporate development, Bitcoin miner Core Scientific(CORZ)disclosed during its Q4 earnings call that it sold over 1,900 BTC in January for approximately $175M at an average of $92,100 and plans to sell the remaining 600 BTC during Q1 26 to fund its AI data center colocation buildout,.. At year-end 2025, CORZ held 2,537 BTC at an average cost basis of $101,639, meaning the company is liquidating at a loss relative to its carry. Q4 revenue came in at $79.8M, with colocation revenue surging 268% year-over-year while self-mining revenue fell 57%, underscoring the speed of the pivot. CEO Adam Sullivan said the company is "building a differentiated data center platform" as it accelerates toward AI infrastructure with CoreWeaveas its primary customer. CORZ is now effectively a pure-play AI colocation stock shedding its last bitcoin exposure.ECB WARNS STABLECOINS THREATEN MONETARY POLICY AS SENATE PASSES CBDC BAN:A European Central Bank working paperwarned that widespread stablecoin adoption, particularly dollar-backed instruments, could trigger reallocation from euro-area bank deposits to digital assets, constraining lenders' intermediation capacity and weakening ECB monetary transmission. The paper adds fuel to a broader transatlantic tension: the U.S. is actively encouraging stablecoin growth while Europe fears deposit flight. On the legislative side, the U.S. Senate advanced the "21st Century ROAD to Housing Act" by a vote of 84-6, which includes a provision temporarily banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency until December 31, 2030,. The bill carves out an exception for private, permissionless "dollar-denominated" currencies, language widely interpreted as favorable to stablecoins like USDCand USDT, and the White House issued a statement explicitly endorsing the CBDC ban provision. The divergence means Circle(CRCL)and Coinbase face a widening regulatory moat domestically even as European competition intensifies.JPMORGAN FILES 21 BITCOIN-LINKED STRUCTURED NOTES; SLAM CORP GETS CRYPTO-NATIVE LEADERSHIP:JPMorgan(JPM)filed, offering 1.5x upside leverage with barrier protection. The filings continue JPMorgan's aggressive push into bitcoin-structured products. Subversive Bitcoin Acquisition Corp.filed itsthird amendment to a $100M S-1for a first-of-its-kind SPAC that places 10% of IPO proceeds directly into a bitcoin account, with Jefferies, Canaccord Genuity, and Galaxy Digital as underwriters. Canton Strategic Holdings(CNTN), which has a $545M digital asset treasury strategy, announced its CEO was. Massimo Group(MAMO), the powersports manufacturer that adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy in December 2025, filed an8-K appointing a new CFOeffective March 2. Finally, Marex Group(MRX)with revenue up 27% to $2.02B, citing digital asset futures as part of its expanded clearing product offering.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at$67,758.83, while etherwas trading at$1,971.13,according to price data from TipRanks.