Month: March 2026

DAOs May Need To Ditch Decentralization To Court Institutions

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Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) were built on an ideological premise that is now running up against the realities of running a business, where decentralization collides with the need for legal ownership and control. On March 11, DAO Across Protocol made a controversial proposal to transition to a private company through a token-to-equity exchange buyout. Risk Labs, the team behind Across (ACX), said that the token and DAO structure “materially” impacted its ability to close deals with enterprises and institutions. The industry reaction has been split. Decentralized finance (DeFi) researcher Ignas…

Stablecoins to Replace Old FX Rails, but Off-Ramps Remain a Chokepoint

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Stablecoins are gaining traction in high-cost cross-border payment corridors in emerging markets as they reduce some of the inefficiencies of legacy foreign exchange (FX) infrastructure, according to research firm Delphi Digital. Stablecoins are emerging as the cheapest alternative to move US dollars in emerging economies due to the high costs of legacy FX corridors, which can reach up to 8% in combined fees when sending money to Argentina or Nigeria.  Delphi said in a Monday article on X that 81% of the cost in those corridors comes from servicing the…

Bitcoin Adoption Metrics Say One Thing, Price Action Says Another

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Key takeaways Bitcoin’s price reflects short-term marginal buying and selling, while adoption reflects long-term structural shifts. Ownership expansion, institutional integration and merchant growth can accelerate even when the market price remains flat or declines. In 2025, Bitcoin expanded significantly across institutions, banks, corporations, merchants and sovereign entities. These shifts represent deeper entrenchment within global financial systems, even as headline price performance appeared underwhelming. Institutions accumulated substantial amounts of Bitcoin, but much of this demand was offset by distribution from long-term holders. As supply changes hands between cohorts, price may consolidate…

Decentralized Compute Has Failed

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Opinion by: Leo Fan, founder of Cysic Decentralized compute has failed. Not because it can’t find you a cheap GPU; it’s actually quite good at that. The problem is that every major network today still forces you to trust the node operator with your data and results.  We have replaced Amazon’s login page with a wallet connection and called it Web3. A staggering $2 billion to $3 billion was poured into “decentralized cloud” tokens from 2023 to 2025. Yet none of the top players can give a smart contract mathematical…

Mastercard to acquire stablecoin firm BVNK for up to $1.8B

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Global financial services giant Mastercard announced Tuesday it has reached a deal to buy BVNK, a stablecoin payment infrastructure provider, for up to $1.8 billion. The acquisition will integrate BVNK’s platform with Mastercard’s global network, creating seamless connections between fiat and stablecoins. Mastercard expects that stablecoins and tokenized deposits will become standard offerings for financial institutions and fintechs. The company plans to provide a robust and compliant framework to support these services, bridging digital currencies with traditional financial systems. “This acquisition reinforces what we have always done, using innovation and…

Cari Taps ZKsync’s Prividium as US Banks’ Answer to Stablecoins

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Cari Network, a permissioned network for banks led by former United States Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig, has chosen Matter Labs’ Prividium infrastructure to power a bank-governed tokenized deposit network for US regional and mid-sized lenders.  Built on ZKsync and anchored to Ethereum, the platform is designed to let participating banks issue and move tokenized deposits around the clock while keeping them on the balance sheet as bank liabilities, according to a Tuesday release shared with Cointelegraph. The move comes as lawmakers debate frameworks such as the Guiding and…

Vietnam shortlists firms for first regulated crypto platforms

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Vietnam is moving to launch its first licensed crypto exchanges as part of a plan to reduce reliance on overseas platforms and better control capital flows. According to a March 12 finance ministry document reviewed by Reuters, five companies passed an initial qualification round for Vietnam’s pilot crypto exchange program, including affiliates of Techcombank (TCEX), VPBank (CAEX), and LPBank (LPEX), as well as stockbroker VIX Securities and conglomerate Sun Group. Vietnam plans a 0.1% personal income tax on crypto transactions via licensed platforms as part of a five-year pilot program…

PayPal expanding PYUSD stablecoin access to 70 countries: Report

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PayPal is expanding access to its stablecoin PYUSD to 70 countries, including regions across South America, Africa, and Asia, whereas previously only users in the US and UK could hold it, Fortune reported Tuesday. Users can now send, receive, and store PYUSD while also earning rewards, with US users receiving around 4% annually. This move reduces high cross-border fees, allows users to keep funds in a USD-pegged asset instead of converting to local currencies, and introduces wallet balance functionality in countries where funds previously had to be withdrawn immediately. PYUSD…

Polymarket Faces Nationwide Block Ordered by Argentina Court

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A court in Argentina has ordered a nationwide block of the major crypto-based prediction market platform Polymarket over unauthorized gambling. Argentina’s national communications and media regulator, Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM), received a court order to block access to the Polymarket website and its variants across the country, according to a ruling dated March 11. The order was issued by the Buenos Aires Court of First Instance in Criminal, Contravention and Minor Offenses No. 31, which is investigating Polymarket under Argentina’s Criminal Code for allegedly offering gambling services without authorization.…

Bitcoin Bulls Risk Getting Trapped at Six-Week Highs

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Bitcoin (BTC) risks turning its rebound into a classic “bull trap” as the price rejects at strong resistance. Key points: Bitcoin faces flat Coinbase spot demand and an open interest divergence as prices rise above $75,000. This risks ending the rebound due to structural weakness, analysis warns. Any push higher toward $80,000 will be “challenging.” BTC market lacks “spot buying support” New research from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant released on Tuesday warns that the recent BTC price rebound may collapse. “The Bitcoin market is currently exposing a critical structural vulnerability…