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Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has reportedly put its multi-billion dollar initial public offering (IPO) on hold due to worsening market conditions, CoinDesk reported. The exchange, which formalized its listing plans about four months ago, is said to be rescheduling due to the recent crypto market downturn, decreased trading volume, and the impact of falling asset prices on its corporate valuation. The company has not withdrawn its IPO plans entirely and has left open the possibility of resuming the process if market conditions improve.

Major exchanges have seen $122 million worth of futures liquidated in the past hour. In the past 24 hours, $389 million worth of futures have been liquidated.

A surge in energy prices due to the war in Iran is causing a decline in the Bitcoin hashrate, putting pressure on both miners and the broader market, according to an analysis by CoinDesk. The network's hashrate fell by approximately 8% last week to around 920 EH/s. The report suggests this drop is likely tied to geopolitical tensions and the spike in oil prices resulting from the conflict, as about 8-10% of global Bitcoin mining occurs in markets sensitive to energy costs. As a result, Bitcoin's mining difficulty is expected to fall by up to 10%, which would be one of the largest downward adjustments in the last five years. CoinDesk also noted that a sharp decline in hashrate often coincides with periods of stress for miners and downward pressure on the price of Bitcoin.

SBI VC Trade, the digital asset subsidiary of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, has launched a USDC lending service for retail investors, Cointelegraph reported. The service allows users to deposit the stablecoin USDC on the platform for a set period to earn interest. The launch follows SBI's full-scale commercialization of USDC in Japan in March 2025, which came after securing regulatory approval, as part of the company's broader strategy to expand stablecoin adoption.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has reaffirmed her commitment to passing the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency regulation bill, by the end of this year, Crypto in America host Eleanor Terrett reported on X. According to Terrett, Lummis stated that she intends to finalize the bill by the end of the year, regardless of circumstances, and that the legislative schedule is proceeding as planned. The senator also noted that a solution has been found for the contentious issue of stablecoin yields and that negotiations on decentralized finance (DeFi) regulations are in their final stages.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $71,000. BTC is trading at $70,949.76 on the Binance USDT market.

Prediction market platform Polymarket has acquired crypto and DeFi infrastructure startup Brahma, Fortune reported. While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Polymarket plans to leverage the acquisition to more intuitively integrate blockchain technology into its user experience and expand its overall platform infrastructure. Following the integration, Brahma will gradually wind down its ongoing projects with existing corporate and individual clients.

According to data from Arkham, Grayscale deposited 6,157 ETH, worth approximately $13.74 million, to Coinbase Prime about two hours ago.

U.S. investment bank Benchmark has lowered its price target for blockchain infrastructure firm Bakkt to $22 from a previous $40, The Block reported. However, the bank maintained its "Buy" rating for the company. Benchmark noted that after restructuring its business and realigning its strategy, Bakkt is positioning itself as a digital asset infrastructure platform that connects traditional finance, cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins.

Canada's Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) has revoked the registrations of 23 cryptocurrency service providers, Decrypt reported. The move is part of a broader effort to strengthen the enforcement of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations targeting virtual asset service providers. The list of delisted companies includes overseas-based firms such as Slovakia-based Finast and UK-based Commerce Plex. These companies were reportedly engaged in foreign exchange and money transfer services in addition to their crypto operations.

Institutional investors' expectations for expanding digital asset investments remain strong despite the recent market correction, Cointelegraph reported. According to a survey of 351 institutional investors conducted by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon in January, 73% of respondents plan to increase their digital asset allocation by 2026. Additionally, 74% forecast a rise in cryptocurrency prices over the next 12 months. Approximately two-thirds of respondents are prioritizing regulated financial products, such as exchange-traded products (ETPs), as their means of investing in digital assets. Meanwhile, interest in stablecoins and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) is also growing rapidly. The survey found that 85% of respondents are either considering or already using stablecoins for payments and treasury operations. Furthermore, 63% showed interest in investing in tokenized assets, while 61% believe tokenization will have a meaningful impact on the structure of financial markets in the future.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $72,000. BTC is trading at $71,988.54 on the Binance USDT market.

S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), the world's largest index provider, has announced the launch of an S&P 500-based perpetual derivative in partnership with Hyperliquid (HYPE) and the real-world asset (RWA) marketplace TradeXYZ. Eligible investors outside the U.S. can now take leveraged long and short positions on the S&P 500 index around the clock on the Hyperliquid chain.

American Bitcoin (ABTC), a Bitcoin mining firm involving President Donald Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, now holds 6,899 BTC, surpassing the holdings of Galaxy Digital, Foresight News reported.

Crypto-fiat exchange service LINQ has launched V2 of its platform on the layer-1 blockchain Sui, the company announced on its official X account. The new version enables users to purchase the Nigerian Naira within its wallet and provides features such as bank deposits, withdrawals, and automatic deposits. According to Sui, the launch of LINQ V2 on its network has reduced transaction settlement times from 60 seconds to five seconds.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened lower today. - S&P 500: -0.36% - Nasdaq: -0.35% - Dow Jones: -0.46%

MicroStrategy's (MSTR) practice of issuing perpetual preferred stock (STRC) to acquire Bitcoin, while creating market demand, also contains structural risks, K33 Research noted in a report cited by The Block. The report stated that of the $1.57 billion in BTC purchased by MicroStrategy last week, approximately $1.18 billion was funded through the sale of STRC. STRC is a product designed to trade around $100 and offers an annual dividend of about 11.5%. According to the research, this structure is highly dependent on market sentiment. If BTC's price remains below its target for an extended period, credit risks could become prominent. However, the report also mentioned that the immediate risk is low, as MicroStrategy holds $2.25 billion in cash.

Tempo, a blockchain focused on stablecoins and payments, has launched its mainnet, the project announced on its official X account. The mainnet incorporates the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), a standard for machine-to-machine payments co-developed with payments firm Stripe, and will offer over 100 MPP-compatible services. The network also supports existing services such as global remittances and tokenized deposits.

The Ethereum Foundation announced it has deposited an additional 3,400 ETH into the DeFi lending protocol Morpho. This follows a deposit made by the foundation last October of 2,400 ETH and $6 million in stablecoins.

Binance has announced that it will list Katana (KAT) perpetual futures at 1:00 p.m. UTC on March 18, with support for up to 10x leverage.

Police in Incheon are searching for three suspects accused of robbing a victim of 40 million won ($29,000) under the pretense of a cryptocurrency transaction. According to the Gyeonggi Ilbo, the Incheon Michuhol Police Station received an emergency call at around 8:15 a.m. UTC today from a motel in the city's Michuhol district. The caller reported that they had arranged to meet for a crypto deal but were instead robbed of the cash. Police are now tracking the whereabouts of the three individuals believed to be involved.

Whale Alert reported that 786,206,868 USDT has been transferred from Aave to HTX. The transaction is valued at about $786 million.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for February rose 0.7% month-over-month, exceeding the market forecast of 0.3%. The PPI is reflected in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a time lag.

Kenya has introduced a stringent draft of cryptocurrency regulations in an effort to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list, The Block reported. The proposal includes provisions for mandatory licensing and security audits, stricter requirements for stablecoin issuers to hold reserves in local banks, and the introduction of new transaction fees. The regulatory framework is currently a draft and is scheduled to be finalized following a public consultation period.

SaharaAI, a decentralized AI platform, announced on its official blog that it has demonstrated its capabilities in building multimodal AI data through a collaboration with Microsoft Research. The company explained that Microsoft's data services significantly improved data quality and efficiency after adopting SaharaAI, leading to cost savings.