ShapeShift Founder Bolsters Holdings with Over 50,000 ETH, Totaling 86,305 ETH

March 19th, per The Block: Ripple-backed crypto firm Evernorth has filed an S-4 registration statement with the U.S. SEC to advance a business combination with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC backed by Arrington Capital. Upon closing the merger, Evernorth aims to become a publicly traded XRP treasury company on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN. Evernorth plans to raise over $1 billion through the transaction—primarily for open-market XRP purchases and building a leading global institutional-grade XRP treasury. Unlike passive crypto funds or ETPs, it will focus on long-term XRP holding growth via lending, liquidity provision, and DeFi yield strategies. The firm also intends to operate XRP validator nodes and integrate Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin into the DeFi ecosystem. Investors include Japan’s SBI Holdings (committing $200 million), Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, GSR, and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and other executives will serve as strategic ad

On March 19, Bitget announced the launch of **USDT-margined KAT perpetual contracts** (with leverage ranging from 1x to 20x) via an official statement. The platform’s contract trading bot will also go live simultaneously.

**March 19 Quick Note** Greek.live analyst Adam noted Wednesday that U.S. stocks showed a clear contagion effect from crypto markets: major U.S. equities slid sharply, pushing Bitcoin down from $74,000 to $71,000, while altcoins followed suit. Despite Fed Chair Powell’s hawkish remarks—warning of inflation risks from regional conflicts and signaling the Fed may skip rate cuts this year—the market had already priced in this outlook, and the rate decision was in line with expectations. The volatility spike from the drop was extremely short-lived; as of this morning, it has fallen below levels seen yesterday afternoon. With the quarterly settlement week approaching, Bitcoin could enter a low-volatility phase unless a major event disrupts the trend.

**March 19 Flash Update (Binance Research)** Geopolitical tensions escalate alongside a hawkish Fed, triggering a global **oil-driven stagflation shock**—key market moves: - **Oil**: Brent crude jumps 7%; WTI crude rises 4.2% - **Stocks**: S&P 500 down 1.45%; Nasdaq -1.25%; Russell 2000 -1.64% - **Metals**: Gold drops 3.6%; Silver -4.9% - **Dollar/Treasuries**: U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) up 0.76%; 10-year Treasury yield +6.5bps; CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) surges 17% to 25 - **Crypto**: Bitcoin falls 4.6%; Ethereum -5.2% ### Macro & Middle East Developments - Iran threatens Gulf energy facility strikes after Israeli attacks on its largest gas field; Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City confirms missile damage. - Hormuz Strait crude transit remains 98% below pre-conflict levels. - Pentagon seeks White House approval for over $200B in special funding for potential conflict with Iran. - Fed holds rates steady, maintains 2024 one-rate-cut forecast; **Producer Price Inde

March 19 – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.75% on Wednesday, with the policy committee voting 8-1 in favor of the decision, per its monetary policy meeting statement. While some Japanese economic sectors have shown weakness, the overall economy is in a moderate recovery. Exports and industrial production remain generally stable, and corporate profits stay high overall—though the manufacturing sector faces downward pressure from tariffs. Inflation expectations have risen moderately. Supported by overseas economies returning to growth, government economic measures, and a loose financial environment, the benign income-spending cycle is gradually strengthening, enabling the Japanese economy to sustain moderate growth. However, amid rising Middle East tensions, global financial and capital markets are seeing heightened volatility and sharp oil price gains—developments that warrant close monitoring. As the economy continues to improve, labor shortages are

ETHFI briefly surged 20% on news of its listing on Upbit’s KRW trading pair, per HTX market data as of March 19, and is now trading at $0.594.