Japanese and South Korean Stock Indices Open Lower, Nikkei 225 Index Down 1.48%

EmberCN monitoring data shows that on March 13th, a wallet tied to Trend Research (Yihua affiliate) borrowed ETH via Aave (decentralized lending protocol), transferred the funds to Binance, and shorted 27,000 ETH—valued at approximately $57.11 million—roughly 4 hours ago.

March 13 – Oil prices swung wildly in early trading today, per Bitget market data. Brent crude briefly neared $100/bbl, WTI hit ~$98/bbl, and both have since pulled back to $97.4 and $95.1/bbl, respectively. Earlier this Monday, Brent surged to nearly $100/bbl before tumbling below the threshold. Previously, the U.S. Treasury was weighing measures to cool oil prices, including futures market intervention. The Trump administration has temporarily permitted countries to buy Russian crude stranded at sea amid urgent efforts to stabilize global energy markets. It also announced Wednesday it would release oil from strategic reserves to head off a price shock. CME Group’s chief warned the administration that trying to lower oil prices via derivatives market intervention during tensions with Iran could spark an “epic disaster.” Still, wild price swings have fueled market speculation the Treasury may have intervened—though the department has declined to comment on the chatter. Right now,

Per on-chain analyst Ai Auntie (@ai_9684xtpa) on March 13, a whale accumulating ETH since March 11 withdrew another 10,421 ETH from Kraken 9 hours ago—valued at roughly $21.59 million. Over the past three days, the address has amassed 73,744.98 ETH total, with 63,324.36 ETH withdrawn earlier. Its current ETH holdings are worth $152 million, at an average withdrawal price of $2,072.2, leaving an unrealized gain of ~$4.04 million.

March 13th U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce delivered a speech Thursday at the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee, calling on regulatory bodies to simplify public company disclosure requirements and advance an innovative exemption mechanism for tokenized securities. Peirce noted that public companies dedicate significant resources to preparing mandatory disclosure documents, yet the content often fails to effectively improve investors’ access to high-quality information and may instead trigger information overload. Regulatory agencies, she argued, should avoid excessive market intervention. SEC staff are actively researching potential innovative exemption mechanisms to allow limited experimental exploration of tokenized securities within the existing securities law framework. Peirce also highlighted that blockchain systems have the potential to enable faster settlement and reduce reliance on traditional intermediaries in certain scenarios.

Apple announced on March 13 that it will adjust commission rates for iOS and iPadOS apps in the Mainland China App Store starting March 15, 2026. Key changes include: - Standard commissions for in-app purchases and paid apps will drop from 30% to 25%. - Eligible apps under the App Store Small Business Program and Mini Apps Partner Program, plus auto-renewable subscriptions after the first year, will see their rates reduced from 15% to 12%. The update was reported by CCTV News.

March 13 — Coinbase executives denied allegations that the company obstructed a tax exemption policy for small Bitcoin transactions. Earlier, Bitcoin advocates had speculated on social media that Coinbase told lawmakers Bitcoin was not widely used as a medium of exchange, making it ineligible for tax exemption. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the allegations “completely false,” noting the firm has long lobbied for tax exemptions on small Bitcoin transactions and will continue to do so. The company’s chief legal officer and chief policy officer also reiterated they “never lobbied against Bitcoin.” Currently, U.S. lawmakers are considering tax exemptions for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins—but Bitcoin is not included in the tax-exempt scope of the draft “Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act” (aka the CLARITY Act).