Messari CEO Resigns, Company Initiates Layoffs and Shifts Focus to AI
March 17 (The Block) — Crypto market data platform Messari announced on Sunday that CEO Eric Turner has stepped down, and the company is laying off staff as it shifts focus to AI.
Diran Li, Messari’s chief technology officer, posted on X Monday that Turner formally resigned following board discussions, with Li taking over as CEO. Turner confirmed the transition on social media, noting he will remain an advisor. Turner assumed the CEO role in 2024, succeeding founder Ryan Selkis — who resigned after posting a series of controversial remarks on X.
On layoffs, Li wrote: “This transition also requires a difficult decision: we are parting ways with many team members who helped Messari reach where it is today.” He did not disclose the exact number of cuts. Li explained the restructuring aims to position Messari as an “AI-first” firm, serving institutional clients via research and AI-powered products.
Messari is not alone in recent crypto layoffs. Last week, Optimism developer OP Lab
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Due to community-led listing vote, Meme coin Punch briefly surged to a market capitalization above $16.5 million
March 17th — Per GMGN monitoring (link: https://gmgn.ai/sol/token/i_m4TE56o8_NV2RYH954cTJ3ckFUpvfqaQXU4ARqqDH3562nFSpump), Solana-based meme coin Punch saw a short-term spike this morning. Its market cap jumped from $10 million to a peak of $16.5 million before settling at $13.7 million, marking a 49% 24-hour gain. Trading volume over the same period hit $3.5 million.
This uptick ties to Punch’s participation in a community listing vote on an unspecified exchange, where current vote share has cleared the 73.61% threshold required for the listing.
BlockBeats Note: Meme coins are highly volatile, relying heavily on market sentiment and hype rather than actual value or utility. Investors are advised to exercise caution due to these risks.
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「Fed Speak」: The Fed is leaning towards staying silent this week, with recent impacts being influenced by both sides
March 17 – Nick Timiraos, often called the "Fed Whisperer," said: "The Fed may lean toward staying silent this week, but its forecasts are pushing it to outline a policy path. Two former Fed chairs told me they aim to avoid predicting near-term rate cuts. Whether current officials will follow suit is the key focus of this meeting — and both hawkish and dovish policymakers could defend their stances by citing the same data point." (FX168)
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A whale's multiple short positions were liquidated, but they continued to add to their BTC and ETH short positions against the trend
Update: On March 17, crypto analytics platform LookOnChain reported that amid a market surge, crypto whale 58bro.eth had multiple short positions liquidated—covering assets including ENA, LTC, BNB, BTC, ETH, and HYPE.
However, the whale continued shorting against the trend by depositing 7.81 million USDC into Hyperliquid to add to his BTC and ETH short positions.
Notably, he remains profitable overall, with total gains topping $32.8 million.
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The current mainstream CEX and DEX funding rate shows a market shift towards a downtrend, diverging from the price increase
On March 17th, per Coinglass data:
- Bitcoin trades at $75,480, up 3.67% in 24 hours;
- Ethereum sits at $2,353.4, a 7.68% 24-hour gain.
Despite these price upticks, mainstream funding rates across centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges are shifting bearish.
**Key Details:**
- BTC funding rates on major platforms (e.g., Binance) have fallen below the 0.005% threshold, with some platforms now in negative territory;
- ETH’s bearish signal is more widespread: Binance rates are below 0.005%, and multiple platforms show negative rates;
- Shorts continue paying fees to longs to hold their positions.
*BlockBeats Note:*
Funding rates are set by crypto exchanges to align perpetual contract prices with underlying asset values. They facilitate fund transfers between long and short traders (exchanges do not charge this fee) and adjust holding costs/profits to keep contracts near spot prices.
**Benchmark Guide:**
- 0.01% = baseline rate;
- Rates above 0.01%
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"The 'ETH Whale Whisperer' this morning took profit on a $96 million ETH long position, realizing a profit of $14.5 million."
On March 17th, data from Coinbob Popular Address Monitor shows the "ETH Whale Trader" address (0xa5b0) expanded its total unrealized gains on long positions to over $25 million, driven by ETH’s climb above $2300.
Subsequently, over the past 4 hours, the address closed ~40,000 ETH long positions at an average price of ~$2350—equivalent to $94 million—realizing a $14.5 million profit.
As of press time, its key positions are:
- 15x ETH Long: Holding ~30,000 ETH (valued at ~$70.7 million) with an average entry of $1991; unrealized gains = $11 million (233%).
- 20x BTC Long: Holding ~700 ETH (valued at ~$50.8 million) with an average entry of $68,420; unrealized gains = $5.04 million (190%).
This whale previously built a $1 billion ETH long position late last year and fully closed it in February. Recently, it has re-established positions, often receiving transfers from Matrixport (suggesting potential affiliated addresses). It frequently uses high-volume strategies like large-s
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