Insight: 2026 May See 'Crypto Winter,' but Institutionalization and On-chain Transformation Are Accelerating

March 28th: Per OnchainLens monitoring data, whale address 0xb19 deposited 2 million USDC into HyperLiquid and opened a 4x leveraged long position on 60,964 BRENTOIL contracts, worth roughly $6.5 million. Meanwhile, whale address 0xfee entered a counterparty short position, opening an 8x leveraged short position on 71,519 BRENTOIL contracts valued at approximately $7.6 million.

March 28: OnchainLens monitoring shows a whale address has deposited 4 million USDC into HyperLiquid and begun purchasing HYPE. As of now, the address holds 56,208 HYPE valued at over $2 million. It also has an active Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) order, which is expected to expand its position further in approximately 10 hours.

Multiple rounds of intense bombings targeted sites across Tehran, Iran’s capital, in the early hours of local time March 28, per CCTV International News. The U.S. and Israeli strikes mark the largest such attack on Tehran in recent weeks. Iran has yet to release official details about the "Iran-U.S. negotiations" that media outlets are closely tracking. From recent military moves by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to this morning’s large-scale airstrikes, there is no indication of easing military tensions among the parties. Iran’s Mehr News Agency confirmed Tehran’s Iran University of Science and Technology was hit by the U.S.-Israeli strikes in the early hours of March 28.

March 28 — Divergence in the U.S. crypto industry over stablecoin yields remains a key bottleneck slowing overall legislative progress. Multiple sources note that while draft language for related provisions has circulated in Congress recently, negotiations have yet to yield a substantive breakthrough. Jason Somensatto, Policy Director at Coin Center, called stablecoin yields the "primary obstacle" to advancing the current crypto market structure bill, adding that consensus on other provisions could quickly emerge if this issue is resolved. The core dispute centers on whether stablecoins should be allowed to offer yields to holders. The previously passed GENIUS Act already bars issuers from directly paying interest to users but does not restrict rewards from third-party platforms. The banking industry fears this will trigger deposit flight, while the crypto sector argues restricting yields would stifle innovation. Coinbase has faced criticism for objecting to certain provisions

March 28 — At the Future Investment Initiative Summit in Miami, former U.S. President Donald Trump delivered new comments on cryptocurrency development Wednesday (March 28). Trump stated the U.S. will become the world’s “undisputed superpower of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency,” and bluntly called Bitcoin “very powerful.” He noted that more people are turning to cryptocurrency for payments, and this trend is accelerating. Trump also emphasized the U.S. needs to retain a leading position in crypto assets and related financial innovation to secure its dominance in the evolving global financial system.

March 28—The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported U.S. President Trump spoke at the Institute of International Finance’s Priority Summit in Miami Beach, addressing the ongoing month-long U.S.-Iran conflict. When discussing the conflict and the stock market, Trump said he had initially expected the Iran war to hit the stock market harder. “I thought the drop would be bigger,” he stated, adding, “I also expected oil prices to climb even higher.” WSJ noted the S&P 500 has fallen for a fifth straight week, hitting its lowest level since August 2023.