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

March 12 (Sing Tao Daily) — Hong Kong is set to announce its first batch of approved stablecoin issuers this month, with sources naming Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and licensed virtual asset trading platform OSL as initial candidates. The rollout could come as early as next week, though the list remains subject to last-minute changes. Previously, around five institutions were in the running, but regulators may narrow the final tally to three by prioritizing banks to bolster market stability and confidence. Notably, rumors suggest Chinese firms have not made the cut, with Circle Tech and LianLian Digital unlikely to land spots in the first batch. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has declined to comment on the market speculation.

March 12 — The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced Thursday (March 11) that 32 member nations have agreed to release 400 million barrels from strategic petroleum reserves (SPR). At 400 million barrels, this marks the largest collective SPR release in IEA history. Following the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, IEA members released a total of roughly 183 million barrels in two separate actions — this time’s scale is double that. To date, several countries have publicized their individual contributions: - United States: 172 million barrels - Japan: ~80 million barrels - South Korea: 22.5 million barrels - Germany: ~19.5 million barrels - France: Up to 14.5 million barrels - United Kingdom: 13.5 million barrels Notably, critical details for the energy market remain undisclosed — including the release pace, timeline, and the ratio of crude oil to refined products. These specifics often matter more than the total volume alone. (Wall Street View)

On March 12, Avantis announced a plan to buy back and burn its AVNT token on X, allocating 30% of its daily trading revenue—including opening fees, closing fees, and profit fees—to repurchasing and burning AVNT tokens on the open market. This mechanism is now officially in effect. Additionally, the team noted that following a protocol efficiency upgrade, the repurchase ratio is expected to rise to over 50%, with the target set for the end of Q2 2026.

On March 12, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said the crypto industry could take three possible paths forward: traditional finance absorbing crypto, a full migration to decentralized finance (DeFi), or traditional finance and crypto coexisting as parallel economies. He also noted that most of these outcomes would "kill off" the Cypherpunk ideal.

March 12th — Per Chainalysis data, whales and institutional investors withdrew 44,888 ETH from Kraken yesterday, followed by an additional 18,436 ETH (valued at $38.26 million) from the exchange early this morning. In total, over roughly one day, they pulled 63,324 ETH (worth $131 million) from Kraken, with the average withdrawal price around $2,072 per ETH. The ETH is currently distributed across four wallets.

March 12 — Per data from SolanaFloor, Pump.fun has registered subdomains for Base, BSC, Monad, and Ethereum, suggesting the platform may be eyeing expansion beyond the Solana ecosystem to other blockchains. Additionally, Pump.fun has removed the "Solana" location tag from its X account profile.