Top Magazine Stories of The Week
Federal court ends Custodia Bank’s legal bid for a master account
A US federal court has rejected Custodia Bank’s final attempt to challenge the Federal Reserve’s authority over granting master accounts — effectively ending the crypto-focused bank’s five-year-long battle for direct access to the central bank’s payment system.
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said in a filing on Friday that it wouldn’t hear Custodia’s final appeal on that point in a 7-3 vote.
Custodia first applied for a master account in October 2020, which allows financial institutions to hold reserves directly at the Federal Reserve and access its payment rails, enabling them to settle transactions without relying on intermediary banks.
After the Fed rejected its master account application, Custodia turned to the courts, arguing the Monetary Control Act entitles state-chartered banks to access Fed services and therefore a master account.
Ethereum Foundation publishes mandate clarifying role and goals
The Ethereum Foundation, the non-profit organization that stewards the development of the Ethereum ecosystem, published its mandate on Friday, reaffirming its role and core pillars.
The foundation’s two stated goals are that Ethereum remains decentralized and that users have a “final say” over their onchain assets and data, while the protocol achieves mass scale, according to the mandate.
Censorship resistance, open source code, privacy, security and freedom-preserving technology are the core properties of Ethereum that will be upheld, the document said.
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls Bitcoin a ‘Ponzi scheme’
Boris Johnson, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, called Bitcoin a “Ponzi scheme” that has less value than Pokémon cards.
Johnson wrote an opinion article published in the Daily Mail on Friday that began with a story about a friend who had given 500 British pounds, or about $661, to a man who promised to “double his money” by investing it in BTC.
The friend continued to pay additional “fees” to the scheme’s promoter over the next three and a half years, but was never able to retrieve his funds. In total, 20,000 British pounds were sunk into the scheme (about $26,474), which Johnson said had led to financial hardship.
BlackRock says ‘exotic’ crypto ETFs not part of its strategy
BlackRock’s digital assets head, Robert Mitchnick, said the $14 trillion asset manager won’t get too creative with the types of crypto exchange-traded funds it offers, even as it launched a staking-focused Ether ETF on Thursday.
Speaking on CNBC’s Crypto World segment on Friday, Mitchnick acknowledged that some of the crypto ETF structures that other asset managers are experimenting with may appeal to certain investors, but said BlackRock will continue to take a more measured approach:
“Will we see some more exotic structures coming into the space? I think no question,” Mitchnick said. “Some of those will be interesting. Some of them will resonate with investors.”
However, “We will take a discerning approach in thinking about where else we would expand in this,” he said.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs extend inflow streak to five days for first time in 2026
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) logged their first five-day inflow streak of 2026, bringing in roughly $767.32 million this week.
The funds recorded $180.33 million in net inflows on Friday, extending the run of positive flows that began earlier in the week. The strongest day of the streak came on Tuesday, when spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $250.92 million, according to data from SoSoValue.
The last time the funds saw a comparable streak was in late November 2025, when spot Bitcoin ETFs logged five consecutive days of net inflows from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, bringing in a combined $284.61 million.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $71,718, Ether (ETH) at $2,118 and XRP at $1.41. The total market cap is at $2.44 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are River (RIVER) at 53.01%, Bittensor (TAO) at 46.23% and DeXe (DEXE) at 44.48%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Kite (KITE) at 26.09%, Midnight (NIGHT) at 9.63% and Decred(DCR) at 5.11%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“My worry is that large-scale coordinated political action with big money pools is a thing that can easily lead to unintended outcomes, cause backlashes, and solve problems in a way that is both authoritarian and fragile, even if it was not originally intended that way.”
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder
“By bringing together spot ether exposure and staking rewards in an ETP, ETHB provides investors with an important new avenue to participate in the ecosystem’s evolution.”
Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s global head of digital assets
“That’s when I’m going to buy Bitcoin when the central banks start printing money.”
Arthur Hayes, BitMEX co-founder
“The number one impediment to Bitcoin payments adoption is tax policy, not scaling technology.”
Pierre Rochard, board member for Strive
“Blockchain and the use of stablecoins, if you want to throw crypto into that, tokens, incredibly useful in terms of productivity.”
Stanley Druckenmiller, billionaire investor
Top Prediction of The Week
Bitcoin nears $74K, but data suggests the bear market is not over
Bitcoin jumped above $73,000 on Friday, successfully locking in the 70,000 support for the week. These gains occurred as the US reported weak economic activity data, triggering concerns of an impending recession while the war in Iran continues.
While macroeconomic events and institutional inflows may have contributed to Bitcoin’s recent momentum, traders are still questioning if the bear market has actually ended.
The US economy grew by 0.7% between October and December 2025, which was a significant downgrade from previous estimates, according to a US Commerce Department report released on Friday. While the final report is due April 9, the risks of a recession throughout 2026 have increased, driving investors away from US Treasuries.
Top FUD of The Week
DOJ and Europol take down SocksEscort network tied to crypto fraud
US and European authorities said Thursday they had disrupted SocksEscort, a malicious proxy service used by cybercriminals to hide their identities while carrying out fraud, including cryptocurrency account takeovers.
The DOJ said the service compromised at least 369,000 routers and other internet-connected devices in 163 countries, giving cybercriminals control over proxies that hid their true IP addresses.
The platform reportedly enabled crimes, including bank fraud and cryptocurrency account takeovers, since 2020. In one case cited by prosecutors, a victim in New York lost roughly $1 million in cryptocurrency.
Crypto ATM losses surge 33% in 2025 as AI superpowers scams: CertiK
Crypto ATM fraud surged to $333 million in the US in 2025, with complaints received by the FBI growing 33% in the year as scam networks became more industrialized while tapping into advanced AI deepfake technology.
Crypto ATM fraud is one of the fastest-growing financial crime categories in the US, according to cybersecurity firm CertiK in its latest report shared with Cointelegraph on Thursday, explaining that criminal organizations are exploiting the “speed and pseudonymity” of crypto ATMs or “kiosks” to extract funds from victims at an accelerating pace.
The FBI recorded more than 12,000 complaints between January and November 2025, also a 33% increase from the prior year. The US accounts for 78% of the world’s 45,000 cryptocurrency machines, said CertiK.
Chinese fraud victims challenge UK redress plan for 61,000 seized Bitcoin: FT
Victims of a Chinese investment fraud are challenging a United Kingdom proposal to compensate them through a Chinese redress scheme, arguing the plan could leave British authorities holding much of the upside from roughly 61,000 Bitcoin seized in a money-laundering investigation.
According to the Financial Times, citing court documents, the dispute has moved into the UK High Court as groups representing victims seek to recover funds linked to the cryptocurrency seized by police in London. The Bitcoin haul is now worth about 3.2 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) after rising sharply in value since the assets were confiscated.
Law firm Candey, which represents about 5,700 victims, said the proposed compensation arrangement may not guarantee fair restitution. The fraud scheme itself reportedly affected more than 128,000 investors in China, according to court documents cited by the FT.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
All 21 million Bitcoin is at risk from quantum computers
Even Bitcoin held in quantum-secure addresses will become vulnerable to sufficiently advanced quantum computers the moment it is spent.
Bitcoin’s ‘narrative vacuum,’ Ethereum now inevitable: Trade Secrets
Onchain indicators flash warning signs for Bitcoin, “altcoin season” social media mentions at multi-year lows.
Human brain cell wetware plays Doom, fly’s mind uploaded: AI Eye
Scientists “upload” a fly’s mind, brain cell wetware taught to play Doom, and research shows LLMs are turning everyone into The Borg.
Editorial Staff Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.