0G Labs Announces Launch of 0G APAC Hackathon with a Total Prize Pool of $150,000

March 19 — The U.S. is deploying additional troops to the Middle East and may seize a key Iranian oil export hub to pressure Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, sources told *The Wall Street Journal* on Wednesday. Some 2,200 Marines from the U.S. Marine Corps’ 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are aboard amphibious assault ships en route from Japan to the Middle East, with an expected arrival time of about a week, the report said. The U.S. could use the force to occupy Harq Island as leverage to compel Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. Former U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Frank McKenzie noted: “(The U.S. military) could destroy its (Harq Island’s) oil infrastructure, causing irreversible damage to Iran and the global economy. Or we could occupy it as a bargaining chip.”

March 19 — A U.S. F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at a U.S. airbase in the Middle East after being struck by suspected Iranian artillery fire, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Capt. Tim Hopkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, confirmed the fifth-generation stealth aircraft was on a combat mission over Iranian airspace when it was forced to land urgently. The jet landed safely, and the incident is under investigation, Hopkins said. This would mark the first time Iran has targeted a U.S. aircraft since the conflict began in late February. Both the U.S. and Israel have deployed F-35s in the ongoing conflict; each aircraft costs more than $100 million. The emergency landing comes as senior U.S. officials continue to tout widespread military success against Iran. Defense Secretary Haggis said Thursday morning the U.S. is “achieving a decisive victory” and that Iran’s air defense systems have been “destroyed.”

March 19th, per The Block, Nasdaq-listed Forward Industries (FWDI) announced it will repurchase roughly 6.16 million shares from an institutional investor for $27.4 million. The transaction closed via a private agreement, cutting the company’s outstanding shares by ~7% and boosting its key metric of SOL holdings per share. On the financing front, Forward secured a $40 million digital asset-collateralized loan from Galaxy Digital, with an average interest rate of ~3.4% and a maturity of under five months. The loan is backed by pledged SOL, and the company noted the collateral yields an approximate 6.2% annualized return—allowing it to keep earning staking rewards while securing funding. The buyback comes as both FWDI’s stock price and the underlying asset (SOL) have declined. FWDI is down ~25% year-to-date, while SOL has fallen ~30% over the same period. Forward began accumulating SOL in September 2025, when the token traded at ~$240. Its current price is ~$88, marking a drop of o

March 19th — U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is probing ties between Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin R. Wash and the Epstein files. Warren told Wash, “Your name appears in the Epstein files.” She has asked Wash to address the Epstein files issue by March 31st. Polymarket’s prediction market currently puts the probability at 3% that Kevin Wash’s Federal Reserve Chair nomination will be withdrawn by May 15th.

Decentralized derivatives trading platform EdgeX announced on March 19 that its EDGE Airdrop Claim Page is now live. The claim window runs from 6:00 PM ET on March 19 through 7:59 AM ET on April 1, per the page.

On March 19th, LookOnChain monitoring data indicates that whale address 0x049b opened a 20x leveraged short position 2 hours prior—shorting 428.73 BTC (valued at $29.62 million) and 13,852 ETH (valued at $29.13 million)—with an unrealized profit now exceeding $1.15 million. Liquidation prices are as follows: - BTC: $72,409.98 - ETH: $2,226.62