Startale Group said on March 26, 2026 it completed the second close of its Series A round, adding $50 million from SBI Group, Inc. to bring the total to $63 million. The raise follows a $13 million investment from Sony Innovation Fund in January 2026, with the company planning to use the capital to advance Strium for tokenized securities and expand work on the JPYSC yen stablecoin and related onchain settlement infrastructure.

A federal grand jury in Ohio indicted two Chinese pharmaceutical companies and six Chinese nationals over alleged fentanyl precursor trafficking and money laundering, after investigators said customers were told to pay through crypto wallets controlled by the defendants. The case, tied to the FBI's Operation Box Cutter, also includes charges against three defendants for allegedly seeking to provide material support to a Mexican cartel designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

The UK government is moving forward with a temporary moratorium on political donations made via cryptocurrencies, with amendments planned to the Representation of the People Bill and a "retrospective effect" from March 25. Once enacted, parties, candidates and MPs would have 30 days to return any unlawful donations received in the interim, and the ban would remain until Parliament and the Electoral Commission deem the rules robust enough for transparency and confidence.

On March 25, the Reserve Bank of Australia said the country is moving past experimentation toward real-world deployment of tokenized assets and wholesale digital currencies. It also presented Project Acacia research estimating tokenized money and assets could save about $16.7 billion (AU$24 billion) a year by reducing manual work, settlement delays, and capital costs. The RBA also announced a long-term DFMI sandbox for banks and fintechs to test tokenized products under supervision while highlighting risks such as liquidity fragmentation and platform incompatibility.

Crypto entrepreneur Nic Carter said Bitcoin developers are moving too slowly on making the network quantum-resistant, while Ethereum already has a post-quantum roadmap targeting 2029. He argued that elliptic curve cryptography is nearing obsolescence and that blockchain systems may need to support changing cryptographic schemes, as he warned ETH/BTC could reflect diverging priorities.

Ethereum (ETH) climbed nearly 3% on Wednesday, extending a rebound that lifted price back to the $2,160 area. Ali Martinez said the move may signal a shift from bearish to bullish, highlighting an ascending-triangle setup, on-chain MVRV readings below 0.8, and a SuperTrend flip as key supports for the thesis.

Bitcoin has moved back above $71,500, but on-chain activity suggests a battle between selling and longer-term accumulation. Arkham data shows Bhutan’s government sent over 500 BTC to market, while BlackRock withdrew more than 2,200 BTC from exchanges as BTC held near $71K and watched $71,200 support and $72,500 resistance.

Ethereum (ETH) battles the $2,170 level as Bitmine accumulates a $10 billion stake. Discover if the 31% staking ratio and the Pectra upgrade will trigger an ETH breakout to $2,500.