Crypto Market Weekly Recap: US-Iran War Steer Crypto Prices, Kraken Gets Fed Master Account, Tokenization Push March 2-6

In this crypto market weekly recap, Bitcoin and crypto prices were driven by the developments related to the U.S.-Iran war. BTC, ETH, and XRP prices gained higher and gold plunged as crude oil surged almost 20% amid intense volatility.

Crypto prices plunged ahead of the crypto options expiry and the US Nonfarm payrolls release. Regulatory developments picked up pace this week, but banks stall CLARITY Act progress.

Crypto Market Weekly Recap: US-Iran War Driving Bitcoin and Crypto Prices

This week, escalating tensions between the US and Iran sent shockwaves through global financial markets, with crypto experiencing heightened volatility. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and other crypto assets surged 7-10% as investors flocked to digital assets following positive macroeconomic data.

Crypto billionaire Arthur Hayes said rising oil prices will trigger FED money printing. The uncertainty increased amid profit booking amid risk-off sentiment among institutions. Massive redemptions from spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana ETFs met options expiry.

Kraken Secures Fed Master Account to Set the Stage for Other Crypto Firms

In a landmark move for the crypto industry, crypto exchange Kraken secured a Federal Reserve master account. This development positioned Kraken Financial as the first crypto firm to gain direct access to the US payment system, boosting crypto adoption by mainstream traditional finance. This is one of the major news stories in this crypto market weekly recap.

The crypto exchange’s banking arm will move money on the same rails that banks and credit unions use. This comes as multiple crypto companies such as Ripple and Circle seek a bank charter and a Fed master account to efficiently manage stablecoin.

US FED, FDIC, and OCC Advance Tokenization Push

The US Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued regulatory guidance on tokenization for banks. Regulators confirmed that tokenized securities will receive the same capital treatment as traditional securities.

US SEC sent the White House an interpretive guidance on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto. The new proposal also included plans for the regulation of prediction markets.

Meanwhile, the White House is again looking to clear a major roadblock regarding CLARITY Act progress. Reports say the crypto bill could still see a markup later this month despite setbacks.

The progress is now largely dependent on Senator Thom Tillis, who proposed the debated issue during the drafting of the bill. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass the crypto market structure bill immediately. He even criticized the banking industry for intentionally slowing down the progress of crypto bill.

Crypto Market Weekly Recap: XRP and Ripple Developments

Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz pointed out Ripple Prime gained fresh regulatory approval to open up access to massive institutional volume on the XRPL. Ripple is now included in the directory maintained by DTCC’s National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). Also, Ripple Prime added support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana derivatives on Coinbase.

Also, Ripple expanded its Payments service to combine fiat and stablecoin transfers worldwide. The company introduced new custody, collections, and liquidity features to streamline cross-border money movement.

Amid Ripple developments during the US-Iran war, a key indicator of XRP whale accumulation turned positive after three months. Not only CryptoQuant’s XRP Whale Flow 30-DMA, but also other on-chain metrics signaled potential for XRP price rally.