Headline
▌Trump Urges Passage of Clarity Act, Accuses Banks of Obstructing Legislative Process
US President Trump stated on Truth Social that the banking industry is attempting to weaken the GENIUS Act he signed and is "hijacking" the Clarity Act due to opposition to stablecoin yield arrangements. This market structure bill has been stalled since the Senate Banking Committee postponed its review in January. The crux of the dispute lies in whether to allow third parties, including Coinbase, to offer yields to stablecoin holders. The White House has spearheaded negotiations between the two sides, but no agreement has yet been reached.
▌Visa to Launch Crypto Credit Card in Over 100 Countries
Visa announced it will launch a cryptocurrency credit card in over 100 countries.
As of press time, according to CoinGecko data: BTC price is $68,466.94, a 24-hour change of -0.6%; ETH price is $1,986.60, a 24-hour change of -2.2%; BNB price is $633.71, a 24-hour change of -0.7%. SOL price is $86.99, up 0.1% in the last 24 hours; DOGE price is $0.09004, down 3.7% in the last 24 hours; XRP price is $1.36, down 2.2% in the last 24 hours; TRX price is $0.2806, down 0.9% in the last 24 hours. WLFI price is $0.1044, a 24-hour change of -2.4%; HYPE price is $31.47, a 24-hour change of -4.8%. Policy: CFTC Chairman: Obstacles to US Perpetual Contracts to be Cleared in the Coming Weeks. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig stated at an event in Washington that the agency is working to allow truly professional perpetual contracts to operate in the US within the next month and expects to release a related announcement soon. Mike Selig pointed out that previous regulatory policies led to a large outflow of companies and liquidity overseas. Furthermore, the CFTC and SEC are advancing several digital asset policies through Project Crypto, including providing clear guidance for DeFi developers and establishing clear standards for prediction markets. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins also noted that while regulators are pushing for innovation exemptions to allow industry experimentation, legal certainty from Congress is still needed. Currently, legislation regarding transparency in the digital asset market is still under negotiation in the US Senate. The Tennessee Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act has been recommended for passage and submitted to the Finance, Taxation, and Ways and Funds Committee for consideration. If passed, the state treasurer will be allowed to invest up to 10% of public funds in Bitcoin.
▌Trump Meets with Merz: Both Sides Agree on Eliminating the Current Iranian Regime
US President Donald Trump met with German Chancellor André Merz at the White House on Tuesday. Trump stated that the two leaders would discuss the war, and said that the German leader "has been helping." Trump indicated that a trade agreement would also be on the agenda. Merz stated that both Germany and the United States want to eliminate the current Iranian regime. Merz said, "We are in agreement on getting rid of this terrible regime in Iran. We will discuss the follow-up matters." He added that he would also discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict with Trump. Trump stated that Germany allows US troops to land in certain areas, but the United States has not requested Germany to provide troops.
▌US Media: CIA Plans to Weaponize Kurdish Forces to Overthrow Iranian Regime
According to CNN, citing sources, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is planning to provide weapons to Kurdish forces to encourage the Iranian people to overthrow the existing regime. It is reported that the Trump administration has been actively communicating with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq to discuss providing them with military support. In addition, a senior Iranian Kurdish official revealed on Tuesday that Trump spoke with the chairman of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of the targets of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The senior Iranian Kurdish official revealed that Iranian Kurdish opposition figures are expected to participate in ground operations in western Iran in the coming days. The source stated, "We now believe the chances are very high." The source also said that these militia groups are hoping to receive support from the United States and Israel.
Blockchain Applications
▌Vitalik: Ethereum Should Be Part of a "Sanctuary Technologies" Ecosystem
Vitalik Buterin posted on social media that concerns about trends such as privacy erosion, war, and the AI race are growing, while Ethereum's role in improving real life, enhancing freedom, and digital security remains limited. He proposed that Ethereum should not only focus on the financial sector, nor should it attempt to "fix the world," but should become part of a "sanctuary technologies" ecosystem. Through open-source, decentralized infrastructure, it should provide users with a shared digital space not controlled by a single entity, enabling people to collaborate under external pressure, manage risk and value, and reduce the possibility of any single power gaining "complete control." Vitalik emphasized that Ethereum's role is to build long-term digital arrangements, including multi-signature structures, markets, and governance mechanisms, and to collaborate with a broader open technology ecosystem to enhance the overall resilience of the system.
▌Kazuo Ueda: Central Bank Currency Settlement Trials Based on Blockchain System to be Conducted
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Tuesday that the central bank will conduct trials using blockchain technology to settle deposits held by financial institutions at the central bank. These trials will be part of the Bank of Japan's ongoing "sandbox project," which aims to enable the use of central bank currency in various settlement scenarios through blockchain technology. The Bank of Japan manages interbank settlements, liquidity, and monetary policy through reserve accounts held by commercial banks at the central bank. Analysts say that introducing blockchain technology to settle such reserves could enable 24/7 instant settlement and reduce the risk of systemic congestion under stress. The Bank of Japan launched its central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial in 2021 and began a pilot project for retail CBDC in 2023. The Bank of Japan also continues to engage in dialogue with private financial institutions on optimizing settlements using wholesale CBDCs.
In addition, the Bank of Japan is participating in an international trial aimed at establishing a mechanism that allows central banks to issue central bank currency in the form of tokenized deposits on the blockchain, which would help simplify cross-border payments. Cryptocurrency ▌Bloomberg ETF Analyst: Bitcoin ETF Records $1.5 Billion Inflow in the Past 5 Days According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the baby boomer generation has once again stepped in to help! Following yesterday's surge, the Bitcoin ETF has recorded $1.5 billion in inflows in the past 5 days. This is the largest single inflow in quite some time. Notably, almost all of the initial ten spot ETFs participated, indicating both breadth and depth of inflows.
▌Bitcoin's circulating supply is about to surpass the 20 million milestone; the final 1 million will take 114 years to mine
19,997,001.16 Bitcoins have been mined, leaving only about 3,000 to reach the 20 million milestone, which is expected to be achieved within 7 days at the current production rate. This means that 95% of the fixed total supply of 21 million Bitcoins has entered circulation, and the remaining 1 million will be produced gradually over the next century. Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, hardcoded a total supply limit of 21 million in the protocol. With the halving mechanism every four years, Bitcoin's inflation rate has fallen below 1%, and currently, about 450 Bitcoins are produced daily.
▌Michael Saylor: Buying Bitcoin Now
Strategy founder Michael Saylor stated, "I'm buying Bitcoin now, are you?"
▌Northern Trust Holds 1.58 Million Shares of Strategy, Worth $210.4 Million
According to market news: Northern Trust, the custody giant managing $1.4 trillion in assets, has increased its stake in Bitcoin treasury company Strategy ($MSTR).
Specific data shows that the company increased its holdings by 11,629 shares, bringing its total holdings to 1.58 million shares, worth approximately $210.4 million at the current market value. American Bitcoin, a Bitcoin mining company backed by the Trump family, announced the purchase of 11,298 ASIC miners. After the purchase, its total number of miners will increase to 89,242, with a total hashrate of approximately 28.1 EH/s, representing an increase of approximately 12% in total hashrate capacity. The new miners are expected to be delivered and deployed at the Drumheller site in March 2026. YZi Labs Invests $100 Million in BNB Holdings Fund YZi Labs announced that it will invest $100 million in the BNB Holdings Fund, the institutional version of BNB income fund managed by HashGlobal. Coinbase will suspend trading of 25 perpetual contracts on March 16th at approximately 13:00 UTC on the Coinbase Advanced and Coinbase International Exchange platforms. These contracts include MET-PERP, REZ-PERP, BABY-PERP, SUPER-PERP, SUSHI-PERP, GMX-PERP, ERA-PERP, XAN-PERP, VINE-PERP, T-PERP, YB-PERP, WCT-PERP, HOME-PERP, NOT-PERP, MINA-PERP, CATI-PERP, DOGS-PERP, COW-PERP, GRT-PERP, DRIFT-PERP, COOKIE-PERP, ARKM-PERP, B3-PERP, SXT-PERP, and... BB-PERP.
Important Economic Developments
▌New York Fed President Shows Policy Resolve: Rate Cuts Could Resume After Tariff Shocks Subside
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Williams stated that further rate cuts would be reasonable once most of the impact of tariffs has subsided and inflation has slowed further. Williams did not mention the economic impact of the Iran conflict in his prepared remarks. Williams stated, "If inflation follows the path I expect, the federal funds rate will eventually need to be lowered further to prevent monetary policy from unintentionally becoming more restrictive." He added that tariffs will have an additional follow-through effect on consumer prices in the first half of this year, after which inflation will fall to 2.5% by the end of 2026 and return to 2% in 2027. Meanwhile, Williams noted "encouraging signs of stabilization" in the labor market in recent months, with the unemployment rate expected to continue to decline slightly this year and next, driven by "robust" growth. He projects economic growth of approximately 2.5% this year.
He stated, "Given the lack of a second-round effect and well-anchored inflation expectations, I expect the tariffs to have a largely one-off impact on prices," adding that the peak impact of the tariffs will pass "later this year." Federal Reserve's Schmid stated that the focus should be on the macroeconomic situation, and the only thing the Fed can do to bring inflation down to 2% is to continue suppressing inflation; significant fiscal stimulus measures will be introduced in 2026. He also indicated that people are more uncertain about employment and artificial intelligence than about the economy.
▌Fed's Kashkari: If Inflation Cools, One or Two More Rate Cuts Later This Year May Be Appropriate
Fed's Kashkari stated that the US economy does not need restrictive policies and does not want to repeat the mistake of "temporary" misjudgment; before the Iran war, inflation was trending positively, but now the conflict has made the outlook for monetary policy uncertain; with the shadow of war looming over the future, the Fed can wait and see. He also stated that if inflation cools, one or two more rate cuts later this year may be appropriate.
▌The Probability of the Fed Maintaining Interest Rates in March is 97.4%
According to CME's "FedWatch": the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates by 25 basis points by March is 2.6%, and the probability of maintaining interest rates is 97.4%.
The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by a cumulative 25 basis points by April is 14.4%, the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 85.3%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point cut is 0.3%. The probability of a cumulative 25 basis point cut by June is 37.1%.
Golden Encyclopedia
▌What is the value of BTC?
BTC is often compared to "digital gold," but its core value is the "promise of immutable scarcity." First, BTC has monetary properties, but it is not a currency because it lacks a stable unit of account. It is a pure "monetary" property, that is, a consensus game among humans regarding "what can serve as a store of value." Gold's core value is also this, but gold's scarcity depends on the physical geological constraints, while BTC's scarcity depends on mathematics and game theory; it is a scarcity at the information level.
But what truly makes BTC unique is not the coin itself, nor the "digital gold" narrative, but rather that blockchain is the first permissionless, unshutdownable value settlement layer in human history. This is a completely new category of infrastructure. No sovereign entity can unilaterally prevent the final settlement of a BTC transaction. This property may be underestimated in peacetime, but it will be repriced during periods of geopolitical conflict and escalating capital controls. BTC is a systemic hedge. It doesn't hedge against inflation, nor against the US dollar. It hedges against the structural degradation of institutional trust. In other words, BTC's value is not endogenous, but reflexive—the more people believe it has value, the more valuable it becomes, and vice versa. Therefore, BTC is the financialized expression of humanity's distrust of its own institutional capabilities. Its ceiling depends on the depth and breadth of this distrust, and its floor depends on the existence of a superior alternative.
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