CleanSpark, Cango, and BitFuFu February Combined Output Approximately 1250 BTC

March 7 — Stablecoin issuer Tether announced it co-led a $7.5 million investment round in startup Utexo, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Portal Ventures and Franklin Templeton. Utexo is building infrastructure to enable USDT to settle directly on the Bitcoin network and support payments via the Lightning Network. Its solution offers a pre-confirmable fixed fee and leverages Bitcoin’s security to complete transactions through atomic and privacy-focused settlement mechanisms. Paolo Ardoino noted that native USDT settlement on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network will further strengthen Bitcoin’s role as a global dollar settlement network. USDT currently has a supply of ~$184 billion, making it the largest USD stablecoin by market capitalization.

On March 7, asset management firm 21Shares launched the first physically-backed Polkadot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S. under the ticker TDOT, which is now trading on the Nasdaq. Eric Balchunas noted the ETF launched with $11 million in seed capital and carries a 0.3% management fee. Physically-backed crypto ETFs enable investors to bet on price movements without directly holding the digital assets. 21Shares describes Polkadot as a blockchain network built to connect multiple independent blockchains and enable interoperability. Its native token, DOT, currently has a market capitalization of approximately $1.7 billion. Previously, 21Shares has rolled out physically-backed ETFs tracking assets like Bitcoin, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, and Sui.

As of March 7, the U.S. dollar is on track for its best week in over a year, strengthening as the ultimate safe haven amid Middle East tensions and surging oil prices. As of press time, the spot dollar index is up 1.5% this week—its biggest weekly gain since late 2024. Hostilities are disrupting oil production and shipping, ramping up inflation worries for the Federal Reserve and other central banks. This has prompted traders to dial back bets on Fed rate cuts, giving the dollar an additional lift. Adding to economic complexity, a report released Friday showed U.S. employers unexpectedly cut jobs last month. Still, with focus centered on energy prices, the data only briefly pressured the dollar before it quickly resumed its climb. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield rose for the fifth straight day. “Right now, the market is looking past the weak data,” Bank of America FX strategist Alex Cohen noted. “Ongoing uncertainty and record-high oil prices are by far the dominant d

**March 7** As Middle East tensions escalate, global oil prices are climbing. WTI crude has surged more than 13% intraday, approaching $90 per barrel. Brent crude is currently trading at $89.15 a barrel, up over 8% on the day. Earlier, Brent futures climbed above the $90 level.

On March 6, Curve Finance announced via social media that PancakeSwap allegedly copied its code without permission, violating applicable open-source licenses. Curve noted this action not only raises legal concerns but, based on historical experience, is often unwise for projects using its code in a similar fashion. Curve also mentioned that if PancakeSwap wishes to continue using its StableSwap technology without legal risk and leverage Curve’s expertise to ensure user asset safety (SAFU), it can still reach out to Curve for authorized licensing and collaboration.

March 6 (CCTV News) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement saying it carried out the 22nd round of its “Operation Fulfilled Promise 4” on the seventh day of what it called “U.S.-Israeli war and aggression against Iran.” On that day, Iran launched a large-scale joint strike using a new generation of missiles against U.S. and Israeli targets, with diverse, widespread coverage. The statement noted that Iran deployed various drones and precision-guided missiles to target the Zafar Air Base in the region. During the operation, the base’s early-warning radar was destroyed, as were hangars storing and maintaining MQ-9 drones and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft — which are currently on fire. The statement also mentioned a primary school in Iran’s Minab city was attacked, killing 165 students, and that the strike originated from that base. Iran additionally used cruise and ballistic missiles to target the U.S. Ali Salim Air Base, where the base’s early-warning ra