The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

March 8 — per HyperInsight monitoring data — Binance whale address "pension-usdt.eth" has continued to expand its Bitcoin long position this morning. As of press time, the position totals 1,000 BTC with over 3x leverage, valued at nearly $67 million, and the address is sitting on an unrealized loss of $460,000.

March 8th: Per Onchain Lens monitoring, "buddy" deposited 90,188 USDC to Hyperliquid 10 minutes ago to top up their 25x-leveraged Ethereum long position, immediately adding 625 ETH to the long. Earlier, part of their long position was liquidated.

March 8: Hypersight data shows the "buddy" Ethereum long position was partially liquidated again 30 minutes ago. The 25x leveraged long now holds 2,500 ETH, with its liquidation price dropping to $1926. Total accumulated losses on Hyperliquid have reached $29.894 million.

**March 8 —** An Iranian Assembly of Experts member said a conference to elect the country’s Supreme Leader will take place within the next 24 hours, per Xinhua News Agency citing a March 7 message from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Ayatollah Muzafer, a member of the Assembly of Experts, noted current members are waiting for conditions to mature before carefully selecting the new Supreme Leader. He added no public announcement about the conference or election has been made so far, and urged the public not to trust rumors. In response, former U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope to participate in choosing Iran’s next leader, saying he does not want the U.S. to “face the same issue every five or ten years.” Trump had previously stated on March 5 that he “must personally participate” in selecting Iran’s next leader. That day, he also rejected the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a successor, declaring, “I must personally be involve

On March 8, the White House released President Trump’s U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy — marking the first time a U.S. cybersecurity strategy document explicitly mentions supporting the security of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. The strategy notes: “The United States will build secure technology and supply chains that protect user privacy end-to-end, from design through deployment — including the security of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies that underpin these systems.”

March 8th — U.S. military operations in Iran sent oil prices surging, leaving Washington’s policy toolkit nearly depleted. Experts warn other U.S. measures will be negligible if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t reopen quickly. Some experts have panned the Trump administration’s crisis management approach. Michael Alfaro, chief investment officer at energy and industrial hedge fund Gallo Partners, noted: “Many policy decisions or leaks from the government over the past 48 hours signal desperation to calm the oil market.” He added commodity prices will jump again if there’s no indication by Monday the Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen. But others have defended the White House’s strategy. Dan Brouillette, Trump’s first-term energy secretary, told the Financial Times the administration has a longer-term view than financial markets. “High oil prices are temporary,” he said. “Now is the time to oust this regime and end its decades-long extortion of the strait.” (Wall Street View)