U.S. Energy Secretary: U.S. Military 'Likely' to Escort Ships in the Strait of Hormuz by the End of the Month

March 12: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that all U.S. military bases in the region should close immediately, as these bases will be targeted. (FXStreet)

On March 12, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “The Strait of Hormuz must remain closed.” (Source: FXStreet)

March 12th: U.S. President Trump stated, “The U.S. is the world’s largest oil producer, far ahead of every other nation. When oil prices rise, we make a lot of money. But as President, the more critical priority is stopping the ‘evil empire’ Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — and preventing Iran from destroying the Middle East, or even the entire world. I will never let that happen!” (FXStreet)

On March 12, NickAI—an intelligent agent transaction operating system backed by Galaxy, a digital asset and data center infrastructure firm—will officially launch. Users can build AI agents without coding to enable 24/7 automated trading across cryptocurrencies, stocks, and prediction markets.

March 12th: Per Coinglass data, Coinbase’s Bitcoin Premium Index has stayed positive for two straight days, now at 0.0231%. Five of the past 10 days have seen positive premiums, with U.S. market buying sentiment beginning to rebound following 40 straight days of negative premiums. BlockBeats Note: Coinbase’s Bitcoin Premium Index measures the gap between Bitcoin’s price on Coinbase (a top U.S. exchange) and the global average price. It’s a key gauge for tracking U.S. capital inflows, institutional investment interest, and shifts in market sentiment. A positive premium means Coinbase’s Bitcoin price is above the global average, typically signaling: strong U.S. buying pressure, active inflows of institutional or compliant funds, ample USD liquidity, and mostly optimistic investor sentiment. A negative premium means Coinbase’s Bitcoin price is below the global average, typically reflecting: heavy U.S. selling pressure, waning investor risk appetite, increased market risk aversion

March 12th — Ark Labs has closed a $5.2 million seed funding round to scale infrastructure for programmable finance applications on Bitcoin (BTC), per The Block. Investors in the round include Tether, Ego Death Capital, Epoch VC, Lion26, Sats Ventures, Contribution Capital, Anchorage Digital, former PayPal CFO Ralph Ho, and other digital asset and fintech backers. Ark Labs did not disclose the round’s structure, timeline (open/close dates), or post-money valuation. Founded in 2024, Ark Labs now has over $7.7 million in total institutional support, with prior seed funding backed by Draper Associates, Fulgur Ventures, and Axiom Capital.