Stablecoin

Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm RedotPay is pursuing a $150 million pre-IPO raise at a targeted $4 billion valuation ahead of a potential U.S. listing that could happen as early as this year. The company says it is already profitable, while citing annualized total payment volume reaching $10 billion in December with year-over-year growth above 300%. The fundraising effort comes amid senior executive departures and the absence of a sitting CFO.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index ended a 48-day run in the “extreme fear” zone after rising to 28 and then holding at 26 on Wednesday, pointing to improving risk sentiment. In March, total crypto market cap is up 7.65% (about $174 billion), while Binance logged a $2.2 billion USDT inflow on March 18 and exchange stablecoin reserves rose to $68.5 billion from $64 billion on March 8.

On March 17 in Washington, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it joined an SEC interpretation that explains how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets and related transactions. The CFTC said it and its staff will administer the Commodity Exchange Act in a manner consistent with that SEC interpretation. The guidance also discusses areas including commodity classification for some non-security crypto assets, plus airdrops, protocol mining, protocol staking, and wrapping.

US Senator Cynthia Lummis said at the DC Blockchain Summit on Wednesday that Congress is "so close" to moving a digital asset market structure bill forward after unexpected hurdles in 2025. She said the biggest sticking point has been disagreement over stablecoin yield versus rewards, while adding that the DeFi provision had largely been resolved.

BNB Chain's tokenized real-world assets (RWA) segment has moved above $3 billion, with distributed asset value at $3.15 billion after gaining 33.8% over the past 30 days. The network shows 40,916 RWA holders and $1.4 billion in RWA transfer volume over the same period, alongside 345 recorded assets including products such as Circle's USYC and BlackRock's BUIDL.

SBI VC Trade said it will introduce a fixed-term USDC lending product in Japan on Thursday, allowing retail customers to lend USDC to the platform for interest payments. The firm said each offering will accept applications up to 5,000 USDC, and the arrangement is treated as a loan to SBI VC Trade rather than a deposit, leaving users exposed to counterparty risk and lockups during the term.

On March 18, 2026, Aster said it expanded its collaboration with World Liberty Financial (WLFI) by rolling out USD1-denominated perpetual contracts and related trading incentives. The initial USD1 perps list BTC, ETH, and SOL pairs, with 10+ more pairs planned in the coming weeks, alongside 0-bps maker fees and a 0.5-bps taker fee on USD1 markets. Aster also said users may earn WLFI token rewards and additional incentives for holding USD1 on the platform as it prepares for the Aster Chain mainnet.

On March 18, 2026, Aster said it expanded its collaboration with World Liberty Financial (WLFI) by adding USD1 as collateral and launching USD1-denominated perpetual contracts. The rollout starts with BTC, ETH and SOL pairs, with 10+ more pairs planned in the coming weeks, alongside incentives such as up to 2.5 million WLFI tokens distributed monthly and a 0.5-bps taker fee on USD1 pairs. Aster said the integration is aimed at strengthening USD1 liquidity and supporting the launch of its Layer 1 network, Aster Chain.

On March 18, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said he is considering a crypto “safe harbor” that would let projects operate without immediate securities registration while they work toward decentralization. He also described four crypto asset categories—digital commodities, collectibles, tools, and payment stablecoins—as outside securities laws, and suggested custody rules could be revised to allow broker-dealers to hold crypto and traditional securities together.

On March 17, the U.S. SEC released new guidance explaining how federal securities laws apply to different crypto assets and activities. The framework outlines categories such as digital commodities, stablecoins, digital collectibles, digital tools, and digital securities, and also addresses airdrops, staking, protocol mining, and token wrapping. Issued in coordination with the CFTC, officials said the interpretation is intended to reduce long-standing classification uncertainty and support clearer oversight.