Circle minted 250 million USDC on the Solana network 6 hours ago

On Wednesday, March 4, Bitget market data shows South Korea’s KOSPI index opened 280.62 points lower, down 4.85%, at 5,511.29 points.

Iran’s Fars News Agency reported on March 3 that Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, stated the Strait of Hormuz is fully under Iranian naval control, with more than 10 oil tankers having been shelled in the waterway. Akbarzadeh noted the IRGC Navy has repeatedly warned the strait is in a war state, where any vessel could be targeted by shelling or drones. Despite these warnings, over 10 oil tankers have been hit and destroyed, he added. He emphasized that since Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, oil tankers, merchant ships, and fishing vessels are no longer permitted to transit the strait. (Xinhua News Agency)

March 4: CNBC reports Nvidia has temporarily closed its Dubai office, with employees working remotely.

March 4 — Former U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S.’s first regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance, the GENIUS Act, is facing “threats and weakening” from the banking industry. In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed banks are seeking to influence the legislative process and urged Congress to accelerate passage of the Crypto Market Structure Act. “The U.S. must speed up market structure legislation,” Trump wrote. “Americans deserve to get higher returns on their money.” He also criticized banks for trying to derail the administration’s crypto policy agenda despite posting record profits, warning that vague regulatory rules could shift the U.S.’s crypto sector advantage to countries like China. Sources note the banking industry has repeatedly pushed for amendments to the GENIUS Act related to stablecoin returns. Some lobbyists argue allowing stablecoins to offer returns could siphon deposits away from traditional banks. In response, Trump said banks shou

March 4 On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a comprehensive trade embargo on Spain after the European Union and NATO ally refused to let American troops use its military base for counter-Iran missions. Trade law scholars noted that despite last month’s Supreme Court ruling against Trump’s tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he still has the power to impose a trade embargo—but only if he declares a national emergency, citing Spain as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the U.S. In a statement, the Spanish government responded that the U.S. must respect the autonomy of private businesses, international law, and the U.S.-EU bilateral trade agreement. (Source: Golden Finance)

March 4th — Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told David Senra on his podcast that the SocialFi feature the Base App launched last year “didn’t really pan out.” Armstrong noted the feature was always an experiment, but its real-world performance fell short of expectations. As a result, Coinbase has shifted its product focus: the Base App will now double down on trading functionality and the self-custody wallet experience, positioning it more like a “self-custody version of the Coinbase app.” In July 2025, Coinbase will rebrand its non-custodial Coinbase Wallet as the Base App, framing it as an on-chain “super app” integrating social tools, messaging, gaming, and trading. Base team lead Jesse Pollak had actively promoted the Creator Coin feature, which lets users tokenize creator accounts or social content — with users able to buy related tokens via likes or interactions to support creators’ earnings. Armstrong added that during the SocialFi experiment, some posts racked up thousand