On March 1, crypto e-commerce firm Bitrefill reported a cyberattack involving an employee's compromised laptop, hot wallet theft and access to 18,500 purchase records. The firm linked the tactics to North Korean groups Lazarus and possibly BlueNoroff, and said it will cover the undisclosed losses using its operational capital. Bitrefill added that core services and sales volumes have largely returned to normal after introducing stronger security controls.

Since March 9, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated $962.8 million in net inflows across six consecutive trading days, while Bitcoin has advanced 12.5% from $65,960 to $74,250. On Monday alone, the products added $199.4 million, led by BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund.

Nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea has postponed the March 30 launch of its SEA token, saying current crypto conditions are too difficult and the token is not ready. The token, first unveiled in October as part of a shift toward a multi-chain "trade everything" app, was meant to power fee discounts, creator rewards and governance. OpenSea is ending its Waves rewards campaign and offering certain users fee refunds as the broader NFT market cap has dropped from $3.2 billion on Jan. 15 to $1.62 billion.

Aave plans to introduce a protection tool called "Aave Shield" that will block swaps with more than 25% price impact after a user lost over $50 million swapping USDT for AAVE through its interface last week. The loss occurred when $50.4 million in USDt was exchanged via CoW Swap but returned only about $36,500 in AAVE due to thin liquidity, infrastructure issues and a sandwich attack by an MEV bot.

On Thursday, BlackRock launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB), adding a staking-focused Ether ETF to its existing spot Bitcoin and Ether products that began trading in 2024. Robert Mitchnick said BlackRock will avoid more complex or exotic crypto ETF designs, even as ETHB recorded over $15.5 million in first-day trading volume and $43.5 million in inflows. He added that BlackRock is also developing a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF while investor demand remains concentrated in Bitcoin and Ether.

On its first trading day, BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) recorded around $15.5 million in volume from 592,804 shares traded on Nasdaq. The ETF invests in Ether, with 80% staked and 20% held liquid, launched with $106.7 million in net assets and charges a 0.25% sponsor fee, temporarily reduced to 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets.

Bitcoin-buying firm Metaplanet has created a new entity called Metaplanet Ventures K.K. to invest in Japan-based Bitcoin infrastructure, stablecoin and tokenization startups. The company plans to allocate 4 billion Japanese yen over the next two to three years as it anticipates Bitcoin being treated as a regulated financial asset by January 2028, while still prioritizing long-term BTC accumulation.

On Tuesday, Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 crypto trading platforms to join a new regulatory sandbox created under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act adopted in December. The 12-month program will let the firms test products under SEC oversight, with the possibility of gaining a full license after six months if they are market-ready and fully compliant with regulatory requirements.

On Wednesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission signed a memorandum of understanding to better coordinate supervision of financial markets, including crypto assets. The agencies plan to use technology-neutral rules, share data on common issues and apply a "minimum effective dose" regulatory approach to support innovation while preserving market integrity and global competitiveness.