DeFiance CEO: No "TACO" or Easing of Middle East Situation in the Short Term

On March 20, TheStreet reported that Ripple and its co-founder/executive chairman Chris Larsen each donated $5 million to the political action committee (PAC) Golden State Promise to fight California’s proposed “2026 Billionaire Tax Act.” The measure would force billionaires living in California as of January 1, 2026, to pay a one-time 5% wealth tax—with 90% of the proceeds earmarked for public healthcare. Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell slammed the proposal as a “5% theft on unrealized gains.” In response, several billionaires (including Google co-founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel) have chosen to leave the state.

**March 20th — AlphaTON Capital, the Nasdaq-listed firm under TON Finance, has finalized an agreement to acquire a 60% stake in gaming platform GAMEE for up to $11 million in total consideration, including a performance-linked additional payment over a two-year period.** GAMEE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Animoca Brands, with the platform valued at $18 million in the transaction. Under the deal terms: - AlphaTON Capital will assume day-to-day operational management of GAMEE; - The two parties will form a formal strategic alliance; - Animoca Brands is barred from acquiring a stake in AlphaTON Capital for two years. (Source: GlobeNewswire)

March 20 — Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Wednesday she still expects three interest rate cuts by 2026. (Xinhua)

On March 20, police in Wanshan District, Tongren City, Guizhou Province, China, uncovered a virtual currency fraud case. Victim Mr. Chen lost 7,118 U Coins (worth over 50,000 yuan) in an offline USDT transaction. Scammer Mr. Tan used a "read-only wallet" (an address that only allows receiving funds and viewing balances) and a cash display scheme to trick Chen. Investigators found Tan first showed cash to gain Chen’s trust, then immediately transferred the funds and denied the transaction after Chen sent the U Coins to the read-only wallet. The case remains under further investigation. Police are warning the public: - Virtual currency-related transactions are illegal financial activities with significant risks; - Offline cash displays could be a scammer’s ploy; - Always confirm the legitimacy of a wallet address before transferring funds. (Source: Guangming Daily)

**12 Commercial Banks Likely to Join PBOC Digital Yuan System on March 20** Twelve commercial banks are expected to connect to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)’s digital yuan system on March 20, following an initial 10 institutions that include China’s six major state-owned lenders. The potential new members include 7 nationwide joint-stock banks (SPDB, CGB, HXB, CMBC, CEB, CZBank, and Hengfeng Bank) and 5 local city commercial banks: Jiangsu Bank, Bank of Beijing, Bank of Ningbo, Bank of Nanjing, and Bank of Suzhou, according to reports. As of now, the digital yuan’s operating institutions are: ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, BOCOM, PSBC, CMB, CIB, WeBank, and Webank, per Caixin.

On March 20, Onchain Lens reported that a whale withdrew 2.265 million ASTER (valued at approximately $1.54 million) from Binance after 5 months of inactivity, then deposited the tokens into Aster DEX.