Bitcoin shows strength in institutional demand despite conflict in the Middle East
On March 2, BTC started the day at USD 65,700, on March 3 it gradually increased to USD 68,000-69,000, and on March 4 it jumped to approximately USD 74,000, and finally stabilized at USD 71,000-73,000 on March 5.
This represents a BTC increase of approximately 8 to 10% compared to the previous week. Thus, Bitcoin returns above the levels from mid-February.
Many analysts see this as an early sign of an upcoming new local high after last month’s sharp declines.
Trading volatility remains high, with large daily swings likely due to short covering, ETF flows and geopolitical news rather than a clear uptrend.
On Wednesday, we recorded such strong demand among spot Bitcoin ETFs for the first time.
Chart. Daily flows in Bitcoin ETF spot
The largest short position liquidations occurred at $72,000.
Liquidations of leveraged positions on Bitcoin futures
BTC is currently seeing a correction in its recent upward move, currently trading at UD 68,534.
Chart. Bitcoin rate (BTC/USDT)
What about Ethereum? The second largest cryptocurrency also rose, but at a slightly slower pace.
ETH was trading between $1,940 and $1,960 levels as recently as March 2 and then broke above $2,000, briefly reaching $2,180-$2,200 levels midweek on Wednesday.
Ether finally stabilized at $2,120-$2,130 on March 5 when the short-term dust finally settled.
YCharts data shows that ETH was trading at around $1,938 on March 2 and $2,125.83 on March 5, up around 10% over the period, although still slightly lower than it was during this period a year ago.
Also worth noting is the 11% increase in ETH to approximately $2,192, driven by the liquidation of over $100 million of short positions and increased inflows into spot ETFs.
In the shorter term, the price has started to stabilize near the $2,100 level, which many investors see as a turnaround level.
It may lead to a test of the USD 2,300-2,400 level if macroeconomic conditions are favourable.
Institutional DeFi adoption isn’t slowing down in 2026
In the case of stablecoins and DeFi, the past year has seen a fundamental shift in their perception – from tokenized stores of value to basic market infrastructure for the entire cryptocurrency industry.
The evolution of the stablecoin market in 2026 shows how institutional-grade DeFi protocols are positioning stablecoins as a new element of cross-protocol lending, derivatives, and liquidity, rather than merely serving as passive stores of value.
An analysis of the future of stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement systems shows that as increasingly regulated entities join the DeFi industry, demand is shifting towards tokens that can serve as settlement assets, collateral, and “gateways” to tokenized treasury and credit markets.
This creates a situation where stablecoin flows increasingly resemble traditional money market behavior, where vaults and RWA-backed structures handle complex processes and large-scale transactions, while users benefit from simple dollar-like balances.
On the Crypto-TradFi line, comments from early March from political forums and market analysts suggest that 2026 will be a turning point for the previously mentioned processes.
The World Economic Forum’s Digital Assets Forecast highlights that large banks are now issuing deposit tokens on public chains and integrating tokenized services such as 24/7 USD settlement and real-time cross-border liquidity into their core infrastructure, rather than treating them as isolated pilot projects.
At the same time, reports on DeFi and institutional adoption indicate that Wall Street offices are increasingly using on-chain tools, stablecoins, tokenized funds and restricted DeFi to obtain profits and manage collateral, even if the client-facing product appears to be a traditional fixed income or money market instrument.
Combined with the rebound in BTC and ETH this week, this supports the idea that prices may be emerging from a correction phase as the structural role of blockchains in global finance becomes more complex and mature.
