2026-03-17 06:00 UTC | BLOCK 940980 BITCOIN $74,046 | GOLD $4,982 1. BTC retreats from $75K, holds prior resistance -- Pulled back ~$1,150 from war-era high; $74K former ceiling now testing as support. -- Each war drawdown smaller per CoinDesk; structural bid from $934M weekly ETF inflows and Strategy's $1.57B buy anchoring floor. 2. FOMC decision begins today, oil complicates pivot -- Fed meeting opens with WTI at $96.18 and $137B Treasury settlements draining liquidity simultaneously. -- Dovish dot-plot shift sends BTC toward $78K; hawkish hold at 4.24% yields risks retest of $70K support. 3. House privacy hearing convenes this afternoon -- HFSC opens 21st-century financial privacy overhaul; Treasury's mixer legitimacy report sets floor for testimony. -- Defines code-as-speech doctrine alongside DOJ Tornado Cash retrial; pivotal for sovereign transaction rights at federal level. 4. Ceasefire odds frozen at 13%, war is baseline -- Iran rejects diplomacy; ground entry steady at 25%, regime fall 27% by June, Hormuz locked at 100%. -- Eight-nation kinetic conflict now structural backdrop; SPR 120-day drawdown clock is the only market-recognized timeline. 5. Farage invests in bitcoin acquisition vehicle -- Reform UK leader backs Stack BTC, a London firm acquiring companies and allocating surplus capital to bitcoin. -- Political mainstreaming of bitcoin treasury strategy spreading beyond US; follows Strategy model into European politics.