News Block: Did Jane Street Crash Bitcoin? Block's AI-Fueled Jobs Cut, Banks Announce Major BTC Plans, Iran Conflict Heats Up

**Natalie Brunell** (0:01)
Welcome to the Coin Stories News Block powered exclusively by Ledn. I'm Natalie Brunell, and in about 10 minutes or less, I'll provide you with insightful updates on Bitcoin, financial markets and the global economy. Everything you need to know in one block. Let's go.
Bitcoin is trading around 65, 66,000 as we head into March, and this past week was absolutely packed with developments that tell two very different stories about where this market is heading. On one hand, some of the biggest banks on Wall Street stood on stage and told the world they're building native Bitcoin infrastructure. On the other, questions about market integrity and geopolitical risk are creating real headwinds. Let's start with some of the positive news. Strategy World 2026 took place in Las Vegas last week, and the announcements that came out of the conference were nothing short of historic. Morgan Stanley, a bank that manages $8 trillion in assets, announced that it is rolling out spot Bitcoin trading on the E-Trade platform this year through a partnership with crypto infrastructure provider ZeroHash. But that's just the beginning. Amy Oldenburg, the bank's head of digital asset strategy, laid out a multi-phase roadmap that includes building native custody, an internal exchange platform, and eventually Bitcoin yield and lending products, all under the Morgan Stanley brand. Morgan Stanley wants to be the first major bank to offer Bitcoin trading, custody and lending entirely in-house. Not through a third party, not through a crypto native startup. Oldenburg also noted that a considerable number of Morgan Stanley clients already hold Bitcoin off platform, meaning the demand is there. The bank is just building the rails to meet it. And they weren't the only ones. Citigroup announced it plans to launch institutional Bitcoin custody later this year, integrating Bitcoin into the same safekeeping, reporting and tax frameworks it uses for traditional assets. Nisha Sarandran, who had Citi's Digital Asset Custody Buildout, described their vision with the phrase, make Bitcoin bankable. So you have Morgan Stanley building a full stack Bitcoin offering for retail investors and Citi doing the same for institutional clients. These are two of the largest banks in the world. And they're not just dipping their toes in, they're diving in. Strategy, of course, also had updates of its own. Three companies, Prevalent Energy, Anchorage Digital and Orange BTC, disclosed that they've added STRC to their corporate treasuries. STRC now has an aggregate stated value of about $3.4 billion, and its dividend was just raised to 11.5 percent for March. Strategy also signaled that 2026 will see a structural shift toward funding Bitcoin purchases through preferred stock rather than common equity. The takeaway from Strategy World was simple. The institutional plumbing for Bitcoin is being built rapidly and at scale. These are the institutions that move capital markets, and they are committing real resources to a Bitcoin first future. And if you haven't yet, be sure to listen to my interview with Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, which got more than 1.4 million views on X alone. Of course, he started the week with an announcement of another Strategy purchase. They now hold more than 720,000 Bitcoin.
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All right, let's talk about a story that consumed crypto Twitter last week. Jane Street, one of the most powerful and secretive trading firms on Wall Street, is under fire from multiple directions. First, Terraform Labs bankruptcy administrator has sued Jane Street, accusing the firm of using insider knowledge to front run trades that helped trigger the 2022 Terra USD collapse, a crash that wiped out $40 billion in value. Jane Street has denied the allegations, calling the lawsuit baseless.
But what really set the Bitcoin community on fire was a viral theory that Jane Street has been systematically suppressing Bitcoin's price, allegedly selling Bitcoin around 10 a.m. Eastern every trading day as an authorized participant for BlackRock's iBit, pushing prices lower, triggering liquidations and then buying ETF shares at a discount. After the Terraform lawsuit was filed, the pattern appeared to stop. Bitcoin rallied over 10% and the weekly candle turned green for the first time in five weeks. Over $320 million in short positions were liquidated. However, not everyone is convinced. Market data cited by economist Alex Kruger shows no consistent 10 a.m. dump, suggesting the moves actually represent broader Nasdaq risk repricing. Ari Paul of Blocktower Capital said that while large firms absolutely game the system with short-term microstructure plays, that's not the same as structurally pinning Bitcoin below fair value for months. His explanation, OGs sold tens of thousands of coins and not enough people wanted to buy them. But here's what matters most. This conversation is shining a spotlight on the role of authorized participants and Bitcoin ETF structure. Jane Street is also facing a $560 million manipulation case out of India and a reported DOJ investigation. Whatever the outcome, these are the kinds of institutional accountability questions that need to be asked as Bitcoin matures. Now, let's turn to the biggest developing story in the world right now. On Friday, the United States and Israel launched major military strikes on Iran, including strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has retaliated with missile and drone strikes against US bases and allies across the Middle East. Now, we're not going to try to be Iran experts here. We're just going to focus on the economic and financial dimensions because the market implications can be enormous. The first concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This narrow waterway handles roughly 20% of the world's oil supply, about 20 million barrels per day. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has repeatedly been broadcasting warnings to vessels instructing ships not to pass. Several companies have already paused shipments. If the Strait is disrupted for any sustained period, oil prices could spike and a prolonged closure, as one analyst put it, is a guaranteed global recession. Connect this to the macro picture we've been tracking for months. Inflation is still above the Fed's target. We have a slowing economy, structurally rising deficits and a trillion dollar annual interest bill. Add any kind of energy shock and the Fed's policy dilemma can become exponentially worse. All else being equal, wars are inflationary. Governments spend more, supply chains break, energy prices spike and historically, that means cash and bonds underperform hard assets. As Warren Buffett once said, The one thing you could be quite sure of is if we went into some very major war, the value of money would go down. I mean, that's happened in virtually every war that I'm aware of. So the last thing you'd want to do is hold money during a war. And there's a Bitcoin angle here too. Chainalysis reported that Iran's crypto ecosystem reached $7.8 billion in 2025 with state-sponsored Bitcoin mining and stable coins used to bypass sanctions. About 15 million Iranians now have crypto exposure. Many using it as a hedge against 50% inflation and a collapsing real. These are two powerful sides of the same story. The Iranian government using Bitcoin to evade sanctions. Iranian citizens using Bitcoin to survive them. The tool is neutral. It's the intention that matters. As military operations continue and the geopolitical map shifts, one thing is clear. In an environment of geopolitical risk and monetary debasement, an asset that no government controls and no border can restrict becomes more and more relevant, not less. Now finally, a story that didn't grab as many headlines last week, but connects directly to everything we've been talking about. Jack Dorsey announced that Block is cutting nearly half of its workforce. Over 4,000 people let go, taking the company from over 10,000 employees to just under 6,000. Here's what makes this different from a typical round of layoffs. Block's business is strong. Gross profit is growing and profitability is improving. So why the massive cut? In his note to the company, Dorsey put it plainly. AI tools paired with smaller, more efficient teams are, enabling a new way of working, which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. Dorsey just ripped the AI bandaid off and the worries that other companies may follow suit fast. Zoom out because Block is potentially a preview of what's coming across the entire economy. Greg Cipolaro at NYDIG framed it like this. AI threatens knowledge work. The engine of human wealth creation since the industrial revolution. The worry is that AI displaces white collar jobs at scale, causing aggregate demand collapse, wages to fall and a deflationary spiral that could be unlike anything we've ever experienced. But here's the thing, we've been here before with technology. The steam engine, electrification, both caused real disruption and anxiety, and both ultimately expanded productive capacity and created entirely new categories of work. And AI will do the same. What does that mean for Bitcoin? In addition to what we've already talked about with AI using Bitcoin, if AI driven disruption gets painful enough, governments will respond the way they always do, with fiscal expansion and looser monetary policy. And that liquidity impulse has historically been rocket fuel for scarce assets. So zoom out. Banks are building Bitcoin rails. Courts are questioning Wall Street's biggest trading firm. A potential energy crisis is reshaping global markets. And AI is rewriting the rules of work. Four very different stories, but all pointing in the same direction. The old system is under pressure from every angle. And Bitcoin sits at the center of every conversation about what comes next. That's it for the News Block, your weekly Bitcoin and economic news update powered exclusively by Ledn. I'm Natalie Brunell. Make sure you're subscribed to Coin Stories so you never miss an episode. This show is for educational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. Until next time, keep stacking.