The Bank of Korea's second phase of Project Hangang is no longer a controlled experiment. Launched in March 2026, the expanded pilot now includes nine commercial banks - Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank joining the original seven - operating a system where the central bank issues wholesale CBDC to lenders, which then distribute deposit tokens directly to consumers.
Kraken's long-anticipated public debut is on hold. The crypto exchange, valued at $20 billion after a November 2025 funding round, has quietly shelved its plans to list on public markets - at least for now.
Visa Inc. and Crypto.com are taking diverging—but closely connected—paths into the next phase of the digital economy, where artificial intelligence is reshaping both financial infrastructure and the workforce. While Visa is building tools that allow AI agents to transact autonomously on blockchain rails, Crypto.com is restructuring its operations around AI integration, cutting jobs as automation becomes central to its strategy.
The machinery of American capital markets shifted on March 18, 2026. The SEC formally approved Nasdaq's proposal to allow securities to be traded and settled in tokenized form - a regulatory green light that opens the door to blockchain settlement inside the world's most scrutinized national market system.
The S&P 500 is moving onto blockchain infrastructure for the first time in an officially licensed format, marking a significant shift in how traditional financial benchmarks are distributed and traded.
Tel Aviv, Israel, 18th March 2026, PlayNewswire
Bitget has deepened its integration with Ondo Finance to offer over 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs
Mastercard Inc. has agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion, marking one of the most significant moves by a global payments giant into blockchain-based financial rails.
For most of crypto's history, "privacy coins" meant one thing: hiding transaction amounts from blockchain explorers. That definition no longer covers what is actually happening in this sector.
On March 16, 2026, a Buenos Aires court issued a nationwide block of Polymarket, the decentralized prediction market platform.
Japan-based investment firm Metaplanet has raised approximately $255 million from global institutional investors through a placement of new shares, part of a broader capital strategy that could unlock as much as $531 million in total funding to expand its Bitcoin holdings.
Bitpanda is preparing to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at a targeted valuation of €4–5 billion ($4.7–5.8B), making it one of the most closely watched European fintech IPOs of the year.
