Morning News | Nscale completes $2 billion Series C funding; 20 millionth Bitcoin has been mined; Polymarket will launch S&P 500 binary options products

整理：ChainCatcher

Important News:

• U.S. Treasury Submits Report to Congress, Acknowledging Legal Privacy Uses of Crypto Mixers and Suggesting Legislation to Freeze Suspicious Digital Assets
• AI Data Developer Nscale Completes $2 Billion Series C Funding, Led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries
• Solana Shanghai Builder Station Officially Launched at Alibaba Center in Shanghai Hongqiao
• Bloomberg: Polymarket to Launch S&P 500 Binary Options Products
• Strategy Spent $1.28 Billion Last Week to Purchase 17,994 Bitcoins
• The 20 Millionth Bitcoin Has Been Mined, Current Block Subsidy is 3.125 BTC
• Stablecoin Payment Company KAST Completes $80 Million Financing, Co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital

What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours?

Bloomberg: Polymarket to Launch S&P 500 Binary Options Products
According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reports that the on-chain prediction market platform Polymarket plans to introduce binary options products for the S&P 500 index, allowing users to bet on whether the index price will "rise" or "fall."
Strategy Spent $1.28 Billion Last Week to Purchase 17,994 Bitcoins
According to ChainCatcher, official news states that Strategy spent approximately $1.28 billion last week to increase its holdings by 17,994 BTC, with an average price of about $70,946 per coin.

As of March 8, 2026, Strategy holds a total of 738,731 BTC, with a total cost of approximately $56.04 billion, averaging about $75,862 per coin.

The 20 Millionth Bitcoin Has Been Mined, Current Block Subsidy is 3.125 BTC

According to ChainCatcher, data from the CloverPool Bitcoin explorer shows that more than 17 years after the genesis block of Bitcoin was created in January 2009, the network has crossed one of its most significant milestones, having mined over 20 million coins.

This milestone was reached at block height 939,999, with the current block subsidy being 3.125 BTC.

Previously, in November, the network had already surpassed 95% of the total supply. As the network has undergone several halvings, the rate of new issuance has gradually slowed, with less than 1 million BTC remaining in block subsidy rewards until miners ultimately rely entirely on transaction fees.

The next halving is expected on April 11, 2028. As each halving further reduces the issuance, the remaining supply will be released at an increasingly slower rate. Analysts estimate that the last 1 million coins will take over a century to mine, with the smallest unit, the satoshi, expected to be issued around 2140.

BitMine Increased Holdings by 60,976 ETH Last Week, Tom Lee Reiterates Current Phase is "Late Mini Crypto Winter"

According to ChainCatcher, Bitmine announced today that its total holdings of cryptocurrencies, cash, and "high-risk, high-return investment projects" amount to $10.3 billion. As of March 8, 2026, at 4:00 PM EST, the company's crypto assets include: · 4,534,563 ETH · 195 Bitcoins · $200 million in Beast Industries equity · $14 million in Eightco Holdings equity · Total cash of $1.2 billion.

Bitmine Executive Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee stated, "This week, against the backdrop of war concerns and soaring oil prices, Ethereum's price has shown resilience. We continue to believe that crypto prices are in the late/final stages of a 'mini crypto winter.'" He cited analysis from Bitmine advisor Tom DeMark, indicating that ETH price movements are highly correlated with the S&P 500 index in the fall of 2011 and 1987 (with correlations of 89% and 93%, respectively). If this analogy holds, ETH prices are expected to bottom out slightly below the recent low of $1,740 between March 8 and 14.

Lee revealed that Bitmine accelerated its accumulation of ETH over the past week, increasing its holdings by 60,976 ETH, above the previous weekly average of 45,000 to 50,000. "As the saying goes, no one rings a bell at the bottom, so Bitmine's strategy is to slightly accelerate the accumulation pace." As of March 8, Bitmine has staked a total of 3,040,483 ETH, valued at $6 billion, accounting for 67% of its total holdings.

Sharplink 2025 Financial Report: Ethereum Holdings Increased to 868,699 ETH, Staking Rewards Reached 14,516 ETH

According to ChainCatcher, Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury company Sharplink released its full-year financial report for 2025, disclosing that its Ethereum holdings have increased to 868,699 ETH, including 604,618 native ETH, 208,893 ETH redeemed from LsETH, and 55,188 ETH redeemed from WeETH, along with 14,516 ETH in staking rewards, making it the second-largest publicly traded company by ETH holdings globally.

Additionally, the company disclosed it holds $28.5 million in cash and $1.9 million in USDC, and it plans to continue increasing its ETH holdings and expanding staking transactions.

Ethereum Foundation to Use Bitwise Infrastructure to Stake Approximately 70,000 ETH

According to ChainCatcher, PR Newswire reports that asset management company Bitwise announced that the Ethereum Foundation is using its on-chain staking department's developed open-source software, Dirk and Vouch, for treasury staking. The Ethereum Foundation has completed its first deposit of 2,016 ETH and plans to ultimately stake approximately 70,000 ETH, valued at about $140 million.

This staking aims to utilize Dirk's distributed signer and Vouch's multi-client verification tools to ensure network security and client diversity.

Solana Shanghai Builder Station Officially Launched at Alibaba Center in Shanghai Hongqiao

According to ChainCatcher, Solana has partnered with Alibaba's Shanghai Hongqiao Center to establish the Solana Shanghai Builder Station. This site is supported by relevant government units in the Minhang District of Shanghai and is Solana's first Builder Station in the Chinese-speaking market, serving as a co-creation space for developers centered around the international public chain ecosystem.

The platform is positioned as a long-term infrastructure node for technical construction, aiming to provide developers with technical co-creation, industry connections, and international links, offering full-chain incubation support around Layer 1 underlying technology research and Web3 application development.

AI Data Developer Nscale Completes $2 Billion Series C Funding, Led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries

According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reports that UK AI data center developer Nscale has completed $2 billion in Series C funding, with a valuation of $14.6 billion.

Aker ASA and 8090 Industries led the round, with participation from Nvidia, Lenovo, Nokia, and others; former Meta executives Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg, and Susan Decker have joined the board.

Stablecoin Payment Company KAST Completes $80 Million Financing, Co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital

According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reports that stablecoin payment company KAST has completed its latest round of financing, raising $80 million, with a valuation of $600 million. The round was co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, and the funds will be used for expansion in North America, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as for hiring, licensing applications, and product development.

According to insiders, KAST expects its annual revenue run rate to rise to $100 million this year. This financing further confirms the trend of venture capital firms continuing to invest in the digital dollar account space, with related startups attracting significant capital inflows.

Former CFTC Chairman: The "Digital Asset Market Clarity Act" Has Greater Implications for Banking than for Crypto Industry

According to ChainCatcher, former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Christopher Giancarlo stated that the currently stalled "Digital Asset Market Clarity Act" has greater implications for banking than for the crypto industry. He pointed out that bank legal advisors are informing boards that without regulatory certainty, they cannot invest billions of dollars in building digital payment infrastructure.

The bill has been stalled since this year, with the main controversy revolving around whether to allow crypto companies to pay rewards to stablecoin holders—banks are concerned that this will lead to capital outflows and are demanding a "level playing field," while crypto companies like Coinbase strongly oppose this.

Giancarlo warned that if banks continue to resist, related crypto businesses will shift to Europe and Asia, leaving U.S. banks in a more passive position. He estimates that the probability of the bill passing is about 60-40, but noted that both sides have missed the deadline set by the White House, and many issues remain unresolved.

U.S. Treasury Submits Report to Congress, Acknowledging Legal Privacy Uses of Crypto Mixers and Suggesting Legislation to Freeze Suspicious Digital Assets

According to ChainCatcher, the U.S. Treasury submitted a 32-page report to Congress stating that crypto mixers can be used for legitimate financial privacy purposes, allowing users to protect sensitive information such as personal wealth, business payments, or charitable donations. This position marks a shift from its stance when it sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022.

The report reveals that North Korean cybercriminals stole at least $2.8 billion in digital assets between January 2024 and September 2025, including $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit, and routinely used mixers for multi-step money laundering. Since May 2020, over $1.6 billion in mixer deposits have flowed into cross-chain bridges, with over $900 million concentrated in a bridging protocol related to North Korean money laundering activities.

The report distinguishes between custodial and non-custodial mixers, noting that compliant custodial mixers can provide customer identity and off-chain transaction data, but it did not recommend imposing new restrictions on non-custodial mixers. In terms of legislative recommendations, the report urges Congress to create a digital asset-specific "freezing law" to provide safe harbor protections for financial institutions to temporarily freeze suspicious assets during short-term investigations and suggests that Congress clarify which DeFi participants should bear anti-money laundering obligations.

The report also proposes adding a "sixth special measure" to Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, authorizing the Treasury to impose bans or restrictions on specific digital asset transfers that do not involve agency banking relationships. This report was prepared based on Section 9 of the GENIUS Act signed in July 2025.

Kuwait Halts Oil Production Due to Closure of the Strait of Hormuz
According to ChainCatcher, foreign media reports that Kuwait has halted oil production due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Coinbase CEO: Cryptocurrency Will Break Down Barriers to Financing and Capital Formation

According to ChainCatcher, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated on the X platform that cryptocurrency will break down barriers surrounding financing and capital formation. He noted that the reduction of fundraising friction will increase the number of global startups and accelerate their development. Every entrepreneur knows that the fundraising process is time-consuming and expensive.

Slow Mist CISO: USB Version of OpenClaw Poses Security Risks
According to ChainCatcher, Slow Mist CISO 23pds (Shan Ge) stated on the X platform that USB versions of OpenClaw have appeared on Taobao and Xianyu, claiming that users can plug and play after purchasing and configuring the model. However, OpenClaw has excessive permissions, making it difficult for ordinary users to identify malicious Skills, which can lead to asset losses.
Tencent Launches "Little Lobster" WorkBuddy to Help Users Improve Overall Office Efficiency
According to ChainCatcher, Tencent has officially launched the WorkBuddy tool, which can be used without complex deployment. This tool, dubbed "Little Lobster," aims to enhance user office efficiency. WorkBuddy integrates various practical functions, supporting document management, collaborative communication, and task tracking, helping users easily cope with diverse work scenarios.

Tencent stated that the launch of WorkBuddy is to meet the demand for convenience and efficiency in modern office work, helping enterprises improve overall work efficiency. Users only need to download the app to immediately experience its convenient features.

12 of the Top 20 Trading Markets on Hyperliquid are HIP-3 Assets, Demand for Real-World Assets Heats Up

According to ChainCatcher, decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid disclosed that among its top 20 trading markets by volume, 12 are HIP-3 assets, covering real-world assets such as commodities and stock indices, marking an acceleration of the platform's ecosystem extending into the macro-financial domain.

HIP-3 (Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal No. 3) allows developers to deploy perpetual futures markets for various assets such as commodities and stock indices through external price feeds. Related contracts for crude oil, silver, and major stock indices have become some of the most actively traded products on the platform.

Meme Popularity Rankings

According to meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of March 10, 09:00,

The top five popular ETH tokens in the past 24 hours are: SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI, ONDO

The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: $michi, BILLY, USELESS, PENGUIN, Punch

The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: PEPE, B3, SKYA, NATO, TOSHI

What Are the Noteworthy Articles to Read in the Last 24 Hours?

Trading Never Sleeps: On-Chain, Crude Oil, and Leverage
During the weekend from March 7 to 8, as the war in the Middle East continued and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz worsened, oil-producing countries announced production cuts one after another.

However, the global crude oil futures market was closed, making on-chain 24-hour trading highly sought after.

Binance launched WTI crude oil perpetual contracts on Saturday; trading volume for crude oil contracts on the Gate platform surged over 900% compared to the previous period.

On Monday, as traditional futures markets opened, WTI saw a daily surge of over 30%. Trading volume for WTI crude oil contracts on Hyperliquid jumped from over $100 million on March 3 to nearly $1 billion by the 9th.

Everyone is saying this is a highlight moment for on-chain commodities, yet no one is asking who determines the prices in this window.

What Ethena's Trends Reveal About the Cryptocurrency Market

The crypto market has been in a risk-off state for several months, and I have been closely studying various market data to look for signs of a potential turnaround. In this article, I will delve into the market structure of perpetual futures and analyze market risk appetite using data from Ethena's transparency dashboard.

In short: Ethena's deployed capital is at its lowest point in years, only 71% of the 2025 low. This is not a criticism of Ethena but reflects the current market situation. Directional short positions are almost equal to directional long positions, which is an extremely rare and historically difficult balance to maintain in the cryptocurrency space.

AAVE Founder Issues Warning: DeFi Must Not Become an Exit Liquidity for Wall Street Private Credit
To ensure that RWA succeeds in DeFi and that DeFi can achieve meaningful scale through real-world assets, the entire industry needs to thoughtfully and cautiously build opportunities that connect TradFi (traditional finance) and on-chain markets.