Cryptocurrency prices have experienced a sharp decline over the last few hours, with bitcoin (BTC) now being down around 3% over the last 24 hours, while major altcoins including XRP, BNB, and SOL are down between 4% and 5% over the same period.

The broader cryptocurrency market, represented by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), lost around 3.3% of its value over the period. The sharp drop brings BTC’s performance down 1.7% for the week, while CD20 is down nearly 5%.

Over the last 24 hours, over $300 million worth of long positions were liquidated on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, while $38.8 million worth of shorts were liquidated on these platforms, according to CoinGlass data.

The drop appears to be part of a wider derisking move among traders, as investors are anticipating the impact of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs that are set to come into effect on April 2. The move heightened after core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data came in hotter than expected on Friday.

Just this week, consumer confidence data dipped further than expected, while the index for future expectations came in at a 12-year low, and well below levels associated with an incoming recession.

This confluence of factors has seen investors reduce their exposure to risk assets and triggered a flight to safety. CoinDesk Data’s latest stablecoin report shows that gold-backed cryptocurrencies have benefitted from the risk-off move, as their market capitalization climbed above $1.4 billion in March.

Gold-backed cryptocurrencies are, in fact, countering the market’s bearish trend. While the CD20 is down over 3% in the last 24-hour period, tokens including PAXG and XAUT are up 0.7% to over $3,100. These tokens are up more than 18% year-to-date, while BTC is down 12.5% and the CD20 index 28% so far this year.

Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings (MARA) is launching a fresh $2 billion stock offering to buy more bitcoin, continuing its plan of buying BTC in the open market through capital raise while sticking to its “Hodl” strategy.

According to a Form 8-K and a new prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), MARA entered into an at-the-market (ATM) equity program with a group of investment banks including Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald, and others. The proceeds of the offering, which will see brokers selling shares of the miner from time to time, will be used mainly for the acquisition of bitcoin in the open market.

“We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin and for working capital,” MARA said in its prospectus.

This new fresh stock sales plan follows a previous ATM offering that targeted up to $1.5 billion for the miner.

MARA has adopted Michael Saylor’s strategy of raising funds through equity and convertible bond offerings and buying bitcoin in the open market. The miner now holds 46,376 BTC in its treasury, making it the second-largest bitcoin stash among publicly traded companies, behind Strategy’s 506,137 BTC.

The plan to buy bitcoin in the open market was adopted by the miner last year, even though a miner can theoretically mine bitcoin at a discount to the spot price. The industry became challenging after last year’s halving cut mining rewards by half, squeezing profit margins on the back of rising costs. This made buying bitcoin in the open market, alongside mining, a relatively better strategy for the miners.
Read more: Bitcoin Mining Is So Rough a Miner Adopted Michael Saylor’s Successful BTC Strategy

Terraform Labs, the firm behind the collapsed Luna token and the TerraUSD stablecoin, will open a portal on March 31 to allow investors to file claims for crypto losses tied to the company’s downfall and subsequent bankruptcy.

The online system, operated by claims administrator Kroll, is part of the company’s court-supervised wind-down process. Investors have until April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit claims through claims.terra.money. Late submissions will not be considered, meaning those who miss the deadline forfeit their right to any recovery, according to a Medium post.

Eligible claims must be tied to specific cryptocurrencies listed in the case documents and held during the period surrounding the Terra ecosystem’s collapse. Notably, assets with less than $100 in on-chain liquidity and certain others—like Terra 2.0’s Luna—will not qualify.

Claimants must also submit proof of ownership. The preferred method is read-only API keys from exchanges, which the administrator considers more reliable than screenshots or manually uploaded documents. The post adds that those using manual evidence may face extended review periods or risk their claims being denied altogether.

Once filed, claims will be reviewed and verified. Initial decisions will be shared within 90 days after the deadline and approved claims will be eligible for pro rata distributions once processing concludes.

The Terra ecosystem collapsed in 2022, leading to the largest destruction of wealth in just three days in the cryptocurrency space’s history. LUNA’s market capitalization plunged from over $41 billion to $6 million in that period.
Read more: Terraform Labs, Do Kwon Agree to Pay SEC a Combined $4.5B in Civil Fraud Case