GM to all of you nutcases. It’s Crypto Nutshell #842 haulin’ in news… 🪝🥜

We're the crypto newsletter that's more combustible than a nightclub deal where every player brought a gun and a grudge… 🔫🍸

What we’ve cooked up for you today…

What’s in the Crypto Nutshell Portfolio?

BREAKING: Bitcoin, Ethereum Waver as Fed Holds Interest Rates Steady

The rally just hit a wall.

Bitcoin dropped 5% on Wednesday, sliding from $76,000 to below $71,000 after the Federal Reserve held rates steady.

The broader crypto market shed more than $100 billion in value in 24 hours.

ETH fell over 5%. SOL dropped a similar amount.

Crypto stocks got hammered - Strategy down 5%, Galaxy down 7%, Gemini down 15%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at session lows, falling 1.4% and 1.5%.

The Fed kept its benchmark rate at 3.50%–3.75% as expected. But it was what Powell said afterward that moved markets.

He warned that the oil shock from the Iran war is already feeding into the inflation outlook.

"The oil shock for sure shows up," he said, while adding that "nobody knows" how long it will last.

The Fed raised its 2026 inflation forecast from 2.4% to 2.7% - a clear hawkish shift.

Powell dismissed comparisons to 1970s-style stagflation.

But the tension between slowing growth and sticky inflation is real, and the Fed isn't rushing to cut rates to fix it.

97% of traders now see no rate cut in April. A small group actually see a hike.

Rate relief is off the table for now.

Just yesterday, the SEC issued landmark guidance declaring most crypto assets aren't securities.

In any other week, that would have dominated the headlines. Instead, the macro swallowed it whole.

This is also Powell's second-to-last meeting as Fed Chair. His term ends in May, with Kevin Warsh expected to take over.

Looking further ahead, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes says he's waiting for rate cuts before buying again and believes the war will eventually force the Fed's hand.

Macroeconomist Lyn Alden sees the Fed already in a "gradual print" phase where new money is slowly being created.

The short-term pain is real. But the long-term setup may be building underneath it. 🚀

Knowing when to retire is harder than knowing how much to save. The timing depends on what your retirement actually looks like: how long your money needs to last, what you'll spend, and where your income comes from.

When to Retire: A Quick and Easy Planning Guide is built for investors with $1,000,000 or more who are ready to move from saving to planning. Download your free guide and start working through the details.

Download your free guide.

That's the provocative question Ran Neuner just posed to his audience this week.

Neuner is the founder of Crypto Banter, the largest live-streaming crypto platform in the world, former host of CNBC's Crypto Trader, Harvard alumni, CFA, and founder of the $200 million Banter Capital fund.

He's one of the most influential voices in the space.

This is what he tweeted out this week:

His argument is simple:

Bitcoin’ biggest competitor isn't another crypto. It's AI.

Both industries compete for the same thing: electricity.

And right now, AI is willing to pay significantly more for it.

Same electricity. But up to 8x more profitable on the AI side.

The result? Miners are already pivoting:

Neuner's question: if AI becomes the highest bidder for electricity, what happens to Bitcoin?

It's a fair question. But here's why it doesn't break Bitcoin:

First, miners pivoting to AI actually reduces the total hashrate, which lowers mining difficulty. That makes it cheaper & easier for the remaining miners to operate profitably. Bitcoin's difficulty adjustment is one of its most elegant features. It self-corrects.

Second, Bitcoin mining is increasingly moving toward stranded and renewable energy sources that AI data centers can't use. Flared natural gas, hydroelectric in remote regions, geothermal. These are not the same power grids that AI is competing for.

Third, as Bitcoin's price rises, mining revenue per megawatt rises with it. At $200,000 Bitcoin, those revenue-per-megawatt numbers look very different.

Fourth, and most importantly, Bitcoin's value doesn't come from mining. Mining secures the network. Bitcoin's value comes from its monetary properties, its fixed supply, its decentralization, its resistance to debasement.

None of that changes because some miners switch to AI.

AI competing for electricity doesn't kill Bitcoin. It just forces mining to evolve. And Bitcoin has been evolving since block zero. 🧬

Time for check in on Ethereum’s supply side dynamics.

To do that we’ll be focusing on the amount of Ethereum currently being staked.

Quick Note: Ethereum staking involves locking up ETH to support the blockchain’s security. In return, users earn rewards for staking.

If you’d like to learn more about staking, check out this article.

37.98 million ETH is now locked in staking. That's up 1.99 million ETH since the start of 2026.

Nearly 2 million ETH added to staking in just a few months - while the market has done nothing but punish holders.

31.47% of the entire supply is now staked. Earning yield. Off the market. Not heading anywhere near an exchange.

Combine that with exchange balances still draining and long-term holders sitting tight, and the available float keeps getting thinner.

Almost a third of all ETH is locked up and that number keeps climbing regardless of what charts look like. When sentiment eventually flips, the supply side of this equation is going to matter a lot. 🚀

You Can Now Trade Official S&P 500 Perpetual Futures via Hyperliquid. The S&P 500 index was licensed to Trade[XYZ], a provider of markets for real-world assets on Hyperliquid for perpetual futures.

FTX to distribute another $2.2 billion to creditors starting March 31. This marks the fourth distribution for the bankrupt FTX exchange, which has already repaid over $6 billion to former users and investors.

Polymarket snaps up Brahma as prediction market competition heats up. The acquisition brings Brahma’s DeFi infrastructure into Polymarket, as the company works to improve usability and expand its platform.

SEC Chair Explains Why NFTs Aren’t Securities. SEC Chair Paul Atkins says NFTs are generally not securities, citing their use as collectibles rather than investment contracts under new agency guidance.

Want to get even smarter? Check these out.

p.s. all completely FREE (one click subscribe link)

Select your answer below and you’ll be redirected to the results page. (answer explanation can be found after “Meme Corner”)

Because what would the crypto world be without its share of memes?

Trivia Answer: A smart contract exploit that drained roughly $60 million in ETH, leading to a hard fork that created Ethereum and Ethereum Classic 🥳

An attacker exploited a re-entrancy vulnerability in "The DAO," a decentralised investment fund built on Ethereum. The community voted to hard fork and reverse the theft, but a minority disagreed with overriding immutability and continued the original chain as Ethereum Classic. It remains one of the most debated decisions in crypto history.

Advertise with Crypto Nutshell to get your product or brand in front of the crème de la crème of crypto investors. Crypto Nutshell readers are high-income earners who are always looking for unique or interesting offers.

Get in touch today.😎

We read every comment submitted in this poll and love to hear what you guys have to say. 😁 (bonus points for suggestions 🍪)

DISCLAIMER: The content of this newsletter is not financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice. Please be careful and do your own research.