Wintermute: The escalation of the Middle East situation and the risk of stagflation have led to a temporary respite for the cryptocurrency market According to TechFlow, on March 17th, cryptocurrency market maker Wintermute posted on social media that the situation in the Middle East has entered its third week of escalation, with Brent crude oil rising 26% this week. The market has lowered its expectation of a rate cut in 2026 to only one. In this context, the cryptocurrency market performed better than all major asset classes except crude oil, with BTC rising during the week while stocks, bonds, and gold all experienced declines. In terms of digital assets, BTC rebounded by about 10% from Monday's low, hitting seven consecutive daily bullish lines and rebounding to $31000; ETH kept up and held above $2000. The Coinbase BTC premium indicator has been reset, and the structural pressure of discount that had lasted for months has subsided. The spot Bitcoin ETF recorded its first consecutive five-day net inflow of $767 million in 2026, with a single day inflow of $251 million on Monday, led by IBIT; The Ethereum ETF has had a net inflow of approximately $160 million for four consecutive days. Strategy has once again increased its holdings of 1360 BTC; Bitmine announced the purchase of ETH for $128 million, and Ethereum Foundation sold 5000 ETH directly to it through over-the-counter trading. The BTC implied volatility index (DVOL) has compressed from 61 to 51, and the correlation between BTC and stocks has also significantly weakened. On a macro level, the annualized core PCE reached 3.1%, the non farm employment was -92000, the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, and stagflation has become the benchmark scenario. This week, the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, and Bank of England will announce their interest rate decisions on the same day, making it the most concentrated single day event in macroeconomic impact in recent months.