Trump announced he ordered what he described as a massive bombing operation against Iran's Kharg Island and warned he would "wipe out" oil infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, according to his latest statement. He asserted that Iran has "NO ability to defend anything that we want to attack," citing what he called one of history's most powerful raids as a reference point for the scale of potential military action.

Social media metrics show expectations for an imminent end to the Iran, Israel, and US conflict peaked Tuesday after Donald Trump said the US was "winning very decisively." Sentiment has since weakened as more images, videos, and reports of retaliation circulated, though heading into the weekend there is a modest rise in social dominance for terms such as "war," "conflict," "battle," and "tensions" combined with words like "end" or "over." The data note that fear-based developments can significantly influence crypto market direction and increase volatility when crowd discussions spike around these topics.

Transaction data show 710 BTC, valued at $50,694,623, was transferred from Coinbase to an unidentified wallet address. The funds moved from the centralized exchange to an on-chain recipient whose identity remains unknown.

USDC Treasury issued 130 million USDC valued at $129.98 million, on-chain data show. The newly minted tokens expand the stablecoin's circulating supply.

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.

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.