Goldman Sachs Predicts: Bottom is in | Crypto Catch Up | March 23 – 29, 2026

From El Salvador to Australia, from World Foundation to Tether, here are some crypto news you may have missed last week.

El Salvador’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve surpasses 7,600 BTC

The Bitcoin Office (El Salvador’s official agency) confirmed on March 28–29, 2026 that the country’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has grown to 7,605.37 BTC, valued at approximately $506 million (at current BTC prices around $66,500).

This marks another incremental increase because the reserve stood at 7,585.37 BTC earlier in March after adding ~7 BTC weekly and ~30 BTC monthly.

President Nayib Bukele’s government continues its long-term accumulation strategy, treating Bitcoin as a core national reserve asset. No new large purchases were detailed this time.

Goldman Sachs: Crypto prices may be nearing cycle bottom

In a March 26–27, 2026 research note, Goldman Sachs analyst James Yaro stated that the crypto market drawdown has reached ~90–95% of historical peak-to-trough averages for this cycle, suggesting prices “may have bottomed” after months of declines.

• Crypto-related equities are down about 46% from their October 2025 peaks, with recent “volatile but flattish” performance making valuations more attractive.
• However, it warned that trading volumes could keep sliding, potentially pressuring 2026 revenue (-2%) and profits (-4%), with low-volume periods historically lasting ~3 months.

World Foundation completes $65M OTC sales of WLD tokens

On March 28, 2026, the World Foundation (behind Worldcoin) announced via X that its subsidiary World Assets, Ltd. closed $65 million in over-the-counter (OTC) WLD sales to four counterparties over the past week (first settlement March 20).

• Average price: ~$0.2719 per token (roughly 239 million WLD sold).
• $25 million of the tokens come with a 6-month lockup.
• Proceeds will fund core operations, R&D, orb manufacturing, and ecosystem development; remaining flows will route through a designated multisig wallet.

Tether selects KPMG for full audit of ~$185B USDT reserves, hires PwC

Reports on March 27, 2026 revealed Tether has engaged KPMG for its first-ever full financial-statement audit of the $185 billion USDT reserves, a major step because the company has long been criticized for not having a Big 4 accounting firm auditing its financials.

• It has also hired PwC to prepare internal systems, controls, and reporting ahead of the review.

The audit will cover assets, liabilities, and full controls. This comes as Tether eyes aggressive U.S. expansion, weighs a potential $15–20 billion equity raise (at $500B valuation), and launches its own USAT stablecoin amid evolving U.S. regulation (e.g., GENIUS Act).

Stablecoin payments go ‘invisible’ in Southeast Asia

Singapore-based StraitsX saw 40x growth in card transaction volume and 83x in card issuance (2024–2025).

• Its XSGD (Singapore dollar stablecoin, 70%+ market share in non-USD stables) powers cards for partners like RedotPay (>$2.95B card volume in 2025).

Global on-chain crypto card spending surged 420% in 2025:

• Visa’s stablecoin cards hit a $3.5B annualized run rate. Under Singapore’s Project BLOOM, cross-border QR payments (e.g., Thailand–Singapore) convert currencies invisibly in the background.
• Expansions are planned for Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong; upcoming XSGD/XUSD on Solana for micropayments.

StraitsX CEO Tianwei Liu emphasized that “the best stablecoin infrastructure is one people don’t see.”

(Please also read the BitPinas interview with Tian Wei.)

Binance Australia hit with $6.9M fine

On March 27, 2026, Australia’s Federal Court ordered Binance Australia Derivatives (Oztures Trading Pty Ltd) to pay an AUD $10 million (~$6.9M USD) penalty.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) cited failures in client onboarding from July 2022–April 2023 that let 524 retail investors access high-risk derivatives without proper protections.

• Binance allowed unlimited quiz retakes and weak verification, misclassifying clients as “sophisticated” or “wholesale.”
• Affected investors suffered AUD $8.66M in losses + AUD $3.89M in fees.
• Binance self-reported in 2023, paid ~AUD $13.1M in compensation, ceased derivatives business, and surrendered its AFSL.

BSP warns public against fake online article misusing the name, image of the BSP Governor

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued an official public advisory (Item ID 7856) cautioning Filipinos against a fake online article that improperly uses the name and image of BSP Governor.

The notice urges the public to verify sources and avoid engaging with the misleading content, which appears designed to promote scams or unauthorized schemes.

Canada moves to shut crypto out of election financing

Filed March 26, 2026 as part of Bill C-25 (amending the Canada Elections Act), the government proposes a full ban on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, candidates, associations, and third parties.

Accepted crypto must be returned, destroyed, or liquidated within 30 days (proceeds to the Receiver General).

The ban also covers money orders and prepaid products over traceability concerns and to block untraceable foreign influence. Penalties will be fines up to 2x the donation value (or $100k automatic for corporations).

India arrests suspect tied to Myanmar crypto scam compounds

On March 27, 2026, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sunil Nellathu Ramakrishnan (aka Krish), a Mumbai-based kingpin in a human-trafficking network linked to Myanmar’s cyber-scam compounds (specifically KK Park in Myawaddy).

Victims were lured from India to Thailand then forced into romance frauds, digital arrest scams, and crypto investment schemes. Searches yielded digital evidence of operations spanning Myanmar and Cambodia

“Smartest Man Alive” deletes top 5 crypto predictions

Self-proclaimed “Smartest Man Alive” YoungHoon Kim (South Korean personality claiming verified IQ 276) posted five bold crypto predictions on X in late March 2026. Then deletes it later.

According to BeInCryptp, he heavily spotlighted XRP, calling himself the “Son of XRP,” claiming he was “born to send XRP to $100,” and asserting “no one can stop” it.

Other predictions: altseason is here “100%,” meme coins will pump first, and BTC is “basically a meme coin.”

The prediction on X was later deleted.

Ripple CEO: Stablecoins could be crypto’s ‘ChatGPT moment’ for businesses

In a FOX Business interview, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said stablecoins will be crypto’s “ChatGPT moment”, which means the breakthrough that drives mainstream business adoption.

He noted Fortune 500/2000 boards and CEOs are already asking treasurers/CFOs “what are we doing with stablecoins?” and called it “the unlock” for broader blockchain services.

Attacker spent just $1,808 to hold an entire crypto project hostage

On March 26, 2026, an attacker bought 40 million MFAM tokens (~$1,808 at $0.000025 each) via a malicious smart contract and submitted governance proposal MIP-R39 to the Moonwell DAO (multichain lending protocol, ~$85M TVL on Moonbeam/Moonriver).

The proposal would have granted the attacker admin control over seven markets and core contracts, allowing drainage of over $1M in user funds. Voting ended Friday; the project’s security firm (Blockful) called it “clearly an attack.”

Disclosure: AI has been used to help develop this article.

This article is published on BitPinas: Goldman Sachs Predicts: Bottom is in | Crypto Catch Up | March 23 – 29, 2026

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