A dormant 13.7-year-old Bitcoin whale address has been activated, containing 2100 BTC

March 20 — Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Wednesday she still expects three interest rate cuts by 2026. (Xinhua)

On March 20, police in Wanshan District, Tongren City, Guizhou Province, China, uncovered a virtual currency fraud case. Victim Mr. Chen lost 7,118 U Coins (worth over 50,000 yuan) in an offline USDT transaction. Scammer Mr. Tan used a "read-only wallet" (an address that only allows receiving funds and viewing balances) and a cash display scheme to trick Chen. Investigators found Tan first showed cash to gain Chen’s trust, then immediately transferred the funds and denied the transaction after Chen sent the U Coins to the read-only wallet. The case remains under further investigation. Police are warning the public: - Virtual currency-related transactions are illegal financial activities with significant risks; - Offline cash displays could be a scammer’s ploy; - Always confirm the legitimacy of a wallet address before transferring funds. (Source: Guangming Daily)

**12 Commercial Banks Likely to Join PBOC Digital Yuan System on March 20** Twelve commercial banks are expected to connect to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)’s digital yuan system on March 20, following an initial 10 institutions that include China’s six major state-owned lenders. The potential new members include 7 nationwide joint-stock banks (SPDB, CGB, HXB, CMBC, CEB, CZBank, and Hengfeng Bank) and 5 local city commercial banks: Jiangsu Bank, Bank of Beijing, Bank of Ningbo, Bank of Nanjing, and Bank of Suzhou, according to reports. As of now, the digital yuan’s operating institutions are: ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, BOCOM, PSBC, CMB, CIB, WeBank, and Webank, per Caixin.

On March 20, Onchain Lens reported that a whale withdrew 2.265 million ASTER (valued at approximately $1.54 million) from Binance after 5 months of inactivity, then deposited the tokens into Aster DEX.

March 20 — An Iranian military spokesman said Israeli and U.S. officials and military personnel will no longer be safe at "vacation spots and tourist destinations worldwide" following an airstrike that killed an Iranian official.

On March 20 (Wednesday), the Financial Times reported that a tanker operator paid Iran $2 million to ensure safe passage for its vessel through the Strait of Hormuz. The report noted that Iran is now charging "privileged" nations millions of dollars per tanker to secure safe transit through the strait.