Circle's stock has extended its breakout since early February and is up 49% year to date, outstripping both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 over the same stretch, as Wall Street increasingly treats stablecoins as a separate asset class distinct from crypto speculation, according to the summary. The $USDC issuer is benefiting from accelerating stablecoin usage in payments and onchain settlement, with USDC circulation now close to $79 billion. Bernstein analysts maintain an "Outperform" rating on Circle shares and a $190 price target, which is about 60% above current trading levels, citing this adoption trend.

Solana-based stablecoin transactions reached an all-time high of $650 billion in February, driven by growing demand for onchain payments. The record volume reflects increased usage of stablecoins on the Solana network for payment activity during the month.

The U.S. military is preparing to deploy at least 2,500 Marines and one additional warship to the Middle East, AP reported. The deployment is part of a broader U.S. military presence in the region.

The Pentagon plans to send up to 5,000 Marines to the Middle East following intensified Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the deployment of an amphibious ready group in response to the escalation. The move directly addresses recent Iranian activity in the key maritime corridor.

Etherscan issued an alert that address poisoning attacks on Ethereum are becoming more automated and widespread, aiming to trick users into sending funds to lookalike addresses. The attacks exploit visual similarities between genuine and fraudulent wallet addresses to target user transactions.

Bitcoin remains in search of a market bottom, with the $60,000 level serving as a critical area to watch, Fidelity Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer said. Timmer emphasized that $60,000 represents an important price zone for determining where Bitcoin may stabilize.

USDC Treasury minted 52 million USDC tokens valued at $51.99 million, on-chain data show. The newly issued stablecoins were created directly from the USDC Treasury wallet.

Global crypto market capitalization rose from $2.469 trillion to $2.572 trillion on March 13, adding $103 billion in 24 hours, CoinGecko data show. Bitcoin jumped over 4.4% to retest last week's high of $74,215 before easing to $72,425 at press time, while Ethereum advanced more than 5.5% to a five-week peak of $2,209 before pulling back to $2,164. CoinGlass data show total crypto Open Interest climbed 5.45% to $108.62 billion over the same period, and liquidations surged by more than 125% to $389.4 million, with about $314 million tied to short positions. CryptoQuant analyst Sunny Mom described Bitcoin as being in a "stress test" phase and at a "Value Bottom" for long-term DCA, suggesting further upside could depend on sustained spot and derivatives demand in the coming weeks.

Stand with Crypto has spent $7 million on attack ads against Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton in the state's Democratic Senate primary, Stratton said. The spending has occurred despite her limited public comments on crypto. Stratton's main opponent, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, backed stablecoin legislation in the Genius Act and supported advancing the Clarity Act.