Crypto Morning Brief: Fed Holds Rates Steady; Kraken Pauses IPO Plans
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Crypto Morning Brief: Fed Holds Rates Steady; Kraken Pauses IPO Plans
SEC Approves Nasdaq’s Rule Amendments for Tokenized Securities Trading, Allowing Stock Settlement via Blockchain
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: TechFlow
Yesterday’s Market Highlights
Fed Holds Rates Steady
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would keep the federal funds rate target range unchanged at 3.5%–3.75%.
Trump Temporarily Waives Jones Act to Curb High Energy Prices
According to foreign media reports, the Trump administration has temporarily waived the century-old shipping regulation known as the Jones Act to reduce domestic transportation costs for oil, natural gas, and other goods—a latest move in response to energy price surges triggered by the Iran conflict. On Wednesday, Trump authorized foreign-flagged vessels to transport a range of goods between U.S. ports for the next 60 days. The waiver partially exempts certain cargo from statutory requirements, allowing foreign ships to temporarily carry multiple products. According to White House officials, these include coal, crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, natural gas liquids, fertilizer, any product primarily derived from refined petroleum, and other energy derivatives. However, some analysts believe this waiver is expected to have only limited impact, given the scale of supply-chain disruptions.
U.S. February PPI MoM at 0.7%, YoY at 3.4%
According to JIN10 Data, U.S. February PPI MoM rose 0.7%, above expectations of 0.3% and the prior reading of 0.50%. U.S. February PPI YoY stood at 3.4%, exceeding expectations of 2.9% and matching the prior reading of 2.90%.
SEC Approves Nasdaq’s Rule Amendments for Tokenized Securities Trading, Enabling Blockchain-Based Settlement
Per an approval order issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 18, 2026, the SEC has formally approved Nasdaq’s proposed rule amendments (SR-NASDAQ-2025-072), permitting tokenized securities trading on Nasdaq under the Depository Trust Company (DTC) tokenization pilot program. Under the new rules, eligible securities include Russell 1000 index constituents and ETFs tracking major indices such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100.
Tokenized securities must share the same CUSIP number and ticker symbol as their traditional counterparts and confer identical shareholder rights to be listed and traded. Nasdaq stated that tokenized and traditional securities will trade on the same order book with equal priority, and that trading rules, market surveillance, and T+1 settlement mechanisms remain unchanged.
Tempo Launches Mainnet and Introduces Agent Payment Protocol MPP
According to official announcements, Tempo—the blockchain project jointly developed by payments giant Stripe and crypto venture firm Paradigm—has officially launched its mainnet today. Developers can now build on it via publicly accessible RPC endpoints.
Also launched alongside the mainnet is the Machine Payment Protocol (MPP), an open standard co-drafted by Stripe and Tempo designed to provide a unified coordination mechanism for programmable payments among intelligent agents (Agents). MPP supports multiple payment methods—including stablecoins and bank cards—and interoperates across diverse payment rails. Visa has extended MPP to card-based payments on its network, while Lightspark has integrated it into Bitcoin Lightning Network payments.
In addition, Tempo stated it is collaborating with partners including Anthropic, DoorDash, Mastercard, Nubank, OpenAI, Ramp, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, and Visa to drive real-world mainnet adoption.
Ethereum Foundation Deploys 3,400 ETH into Morpho Vaults
Per an official announcement, the Ethereum Foundation announced today it has deployed 3,400 ETH into Morpho Vaults, including 1,000 ETH into Morpho Vaults V2.
Algorand Foundation Cuts Staff by 25% Amid Macroeconomic Uncertainty and Crypto Market Downturn
According to The Block, the Algorand Foundation announced on March 18, 2026, it would cut 25% of its workforce. The Foundation stated the layoffs are a measured response to global macroeconomic uncertainty and the broader crypto market downturn—not a hasty decision. The Foundation employs fewer than 200 people. It currently holds approximately $38 million in USD-denominated assets and 1.1 million ALGO tokens; ALGO’s market capitalization stands at roughly $805.8 million, ranking #78 globally. The Foundation reaffirmed its commitment to the long-term development and ecosystem growth of the Algorand protocol. This round of layoffs reflects a broader industry trend, with OP Labs, Messari, Block, and others having recently announced similar reductions.
Binance to Delist A2Z, FORTH, HOOK, IDEX, and Other Tokens
Per an official announcement, Binance will halt trading and delist the following tokens effective April 1, 2026, at 11:00 AM (UTC+8):
- Arena-Z (A2Z)
- Ampleforth Governance Token (FORTH)
- Hooked Protocol (HOOK)
- IDEX (IDEX)
- Loopring (LRC)
- Neutron (NTRN)
- Radiant Capital (RDNT)
- Solar (SXP)
Binance HODLer Airdrop Launches for Fabric Protocol (ROBO)
Per a Binance official announcement, Binance has launched its 62nd HODLer airdrop—Fabric Protocol (ROBO), a decentralized infrastructure protocol designed to coordinate robot and AI workloads. Users who subscribed to BNB Simple Earn (flexible or locked) and/or on-chain yield products between March 4–6, 2026, will receive ROBO token airdrops, expected to be credited to users’ spot accounts within five hours of the announcement.
ROBO has a total supply of 10 billion tokens; 100 million tokens are allocated to this airdrop, with another 200 million reserved for future marketing activities. The token is deployed on both the BNB Smart Chain and Ethereum networks; circulating supply at launch is 2.231 billion tokens (22.31% of total supply).
Kraken Pauses IPO Plans, May Revisit Listing When Market Conditions Improve
According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has paused its initial public offering (IPO) plans and may reconsider listing once market conditions improve.
According to sources, Kraken’s parent company Payward confidentially submitted an S-1 registration draft to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 19 last year. The pause stems primarily from the sustained crypto market decline since Bitcoin hit an all-time high in October last year, resulting in shrinking trading volumes and increasingly cautious investor sentiment.
Polymarket Acquires DeFi Infrastructure Startup Brahma
According to Fortune, prediction market platform Polymarket has announced the acquisition of Brahma, a startup focused on cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure. The transaction amount was not disclosed.
Brahma was co-founded in 2021 by Alessandro Tenconi, Akanshu Jain, and Bapi Reddy Karri, providing DeFi infrastructure services to enterprises and individuals, with over $1 billion in cumulative transaction volume processed. Following the acquisition, Brahma will terminate existing projects with other partners.
The acquisition aims to enhance user experience—including simplified wallet creation, asset deposits and conversions, and outcome token redemptions—while also leveraging Brahma’s DeFi expertise to bring more liquidity to niche-market contracts.
Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket, stated that the Brahma team possesses strong capabilities in designing, operating, and scaling complex products. Polymarket’s valuation is reportedly now $20 billion. Unlike its main competitor Kalshi—which relies primarily on fiat infrastructure—Polymarket has operated exclusively on blockchain architecture since inception.
Market Data
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