On March 12 in Washington, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce said staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are developing a targeted innovation exemption to enable limited trading of selected tokenized securities. She explained that the proposal, discussed at the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee meeting, would be narrower than a broader exemption floated in a draft recommendation and is intended to support experimentation with blockchain-based tokenization while maintaining investor protections.

On March 12 in Washington, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced it is inviting public comment on whether additional regulations or amendments are needed for event contracts traded on prediction markets. The agency issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to examine how the Commodity Exchange Act and current CFTC rules should apply, with written comments due within 45 days of the notice's publication in the Federal Register. Chairman Michael S. Selig said the consultation is part of the Commission's effort to support responsible innovation while maintaining its jurisdiction over prediction markets.

According to Wu Blockchain on March 14, 2026, Coinbase and Bybit are reportedly discussing a potential strategic investment partnership that could help Bybit access the compliant US market. The talks allegedly come as Bybit’s valuation is expected to be comparable to OKX’s recent $25 billion mark following its funding round. The rumored deal follows Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of derivatives platform Deribit in 2025 and OKX’s minority stake sale to Intercontinental Exchange.

During the February–March escalation around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, Hyperliquid’s 24/7 WTI perpetuals traded up toward $115 while NYMEX WTI futures halted at $89.04. As daily volumes on Hyperliquid climbed to roughly $1.2 billion and on-chain derivatives processed $1.59 trillion in six months, liquidity and automation began tightening spreads, even as depth still lags traditional benchmarks.

The United States Attorney's Office has filed a civil forfeiture action to seize about USDT 3.4 million in Tether tied to a crypto investment scam conducted on Ethereum. Authorities say the scheme targeted at least four victims in Massachusetts, Utah and South Carolina, with the funds later converted into USDT and confiscated in February and March 2025.

On 14 March 2026, the U.S. Treasury's OFAC imposed sanctions on six people and two companies accused of using remote IT jobs to channel roughly $800 million in 2024 to North Korea's weapons programs. The network allegedly relied on stolen identities, deepfake-enhanced job interviews, and crypto conversions, while global illicit crypto flows climbed to an estimated $154–$158 billion in 2025 with sanctions evasion, large-scale hacks, and industrialized fraud on the rise.

KRAK Acquisition Corp., a SPAC associated with crypto exchange Kraken, raised about $345 million in an IPO in January and is now evaluating crypto-native acquisition targets valued between $2 billion and $10 billion. The firm is focused on stablecoins, DeFi, tokenization, and digital payment infrastructure, aiming to help mid-sized and emerging companies access public markets while deepening Kraken's strategic ties across the digital asset ecosystem.

On Thursday, BlackRock launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB), adding a staking-focused Ether ETF to its existing spot Bitcoin and Ether products that began trading in 2024. Robert Mitchnick said BlackRock will avoid more complex or exotic crypto ETF designs, even as ETHB recorded over $15.5 million in first-day trading volume and $43.5 million in inflows. He added that BlackRock is also developing a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF while investor demand remains concentrated in Bitcoin and Ether.