Cryptocurrency and fintech companies are increasingly seeking bank charters in an attempt to grow their businesses under the Trump administration, according to a report from Reuters, which talked to more than half a dozen industry executives.The moves come as the administration is seen as more industry-friendly and there are opportunities to gain the licenses that regulators under previous administrations may have been slow to approve. While discussions about pursuing bank charters are on the rise, it is unknown how many companies will ultimately follow through.

Bo Hines, executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, has signaled that comprehensive stablecoin legislation is imminent, with finalization expected in the coming months. Speaking at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on March 18, Hines emphasized the urgency of maintaining the US dollar's dominance in on-chain financial activity.

Kraken Senior Advisor Marco Santori says "you have to think about stablecoins as one of those critical bits of technology that will allow other things to be built upon it." He tells Sonali Basak and Tim Stenovec he believes decentralized finance is going to “explode” once there is more stabilized use of stablecoins.

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Four.Meme has halted operations and promised compensation to the affected users.

Institutional investors are increasingly bullish on cryptocurrency, with 83% planning to expand their allocations this year, according to a new survey conducted by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon. The research, which polled 352 institutional decision-makers in January, found growing confidence in digital assets as regulatory clarity improves and broader use cases emerge.

Base meme coins are heating up this week, with DOGINME, DRB, and CLIZA standing out as key tokens to watch. Doginme is leading the charge with explosive gains and growing hype after being added to Coinbase's listing roadmap.

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Keyrock launches U.S. entity in New York, led by Robert Valdes-Rodriguez, to strengthen institutional crypto liquidity and bridge traditional finance with digital assets amid improving regulatory clarity. The post Crypto Market Maker Keyrock Expands to U.S. with New Entity, Opens New York Office appeared first on Cryptonews.

Earlier this month, executives of Coinbase hinted at similar plans in the tokenization space amid hopes of a clearer regulatory landscape.

Institutional investors are increasingly bullish on cryptocurrency, with 83% saying they plan to up crypto allocations in 2025, according to a March 18 report by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon. Already, nearly three-quarters of firms surveyed said they hold cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and a “significant majority” said they plan to boost crypto allocations to 5% or more of their portfolios, the report said.

The investment firm placed a target of $310, a 69% upside, on the crypto exchange giant's stock.

US Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, said at the Digital Assets Summit on March 18 that Congress “should be able to get” both a stablecoin and crypto market structure bill done this year.Khanna added that there are 70 to 80 Democrats now who understand the importance of stablecoin legislation in increasing American influence around the world by giving more people access to dollars. Rep. Ro Khanna (right) at the Digital Assets Summit, March 18.

Bitcoin Magazine Samourai Wallet Developers Appear Together In Court At Fourth Pre-Trial Hearing Almost one year after the U.S. government charged the Samourai Wallet developers with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, the developers appeared in court for another pre-trial hearing. This post Samourai Wallet Developers Appear Together In Court At Fourth Pre-Trial Hearing first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Frank Corva.

The regulation of stablecoins in the US can reach President Donald Trump's desk in two months, according to the Executive Director of the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets Markets, Bo Hines.

Bo Hines, the executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, said comprehensive stablecoin legislation is expected to be finalized in the coming months, underscoring the government's urgency to maintain the US dollar's dominance in onchain activity. Speaking at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on March 18, Hines said stablecoin legislation is “imminent” following the Senate Banking Committee's approval of the GENIUS Act last week.

Financial technology and crypto firms are increasingly applying for state or national bank charters, despite the community's historical resistance to centralized banking.

The United States Federal Reserve March 2025 FOMC Meeting kicked off today, with the broader market on the edge of whether a new interest rate policy will be announced. Over the past few weeks, market reactions, including sentiment from crypto investors, have shifted in the opposite direction from inflation readings.

Bo Hines, executive director of the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets, is confident that stablecoin legislation could be on President Donald Trump's desk within two months.

As attention toward crypto ramps up in Washington, a16z crypto has tapped its general counsel, Miles Jennings, to become head of policy.

Dune analytics firm and Artemis have released a collaborative analysis that provides a comprehensive overview of the stablecoin market from February 2024 to February 2025. Dune said it excluded March 2025 to ensure accuracy since the month's complete data was not yet available at the time of publication.

The UK government is launching a Digital Gilts pilot, using distributed ledger technology to test blockchain-based bond issuance. The project aims to modernize capital markets, improve liquidity, and offer broader access to government bonds for investors. The post UK Moves to Tokenize Government Bonds With Digital Gilt Pilot appeared first on Cryptonews.

Gyroscope said the protocol's revenue has surged to over $2 million annualized, with trading volume reaching $4.1 billion year-to-date.

Fintech and crypto firms are actively pursuing state and national banking licenses under President Donald Trump's administration to gain regulatory approval that was previously slow to materialize.

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Nigeria recently faced one of the most severe economic crises. Inflation surged to record highs towards the end of 2024.

Binance CEO Richard Teng denied reports that Binance.US was in deal talks with entities affiliated with US President Donald Trump during a March 18 panel at Blockworks' 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York.Teng's statement reiterated the position taken by Binance's founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and Trump, both of whom denied the story last week. On March 13, The Wall Street Journal reported that Binance.US, an independently-operated US cryptocurrency exchange, was discussing selling an equity interest to Trump-affiliated business entities, including a possible deal with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's decentralized finance (DeFi) project.

A growth strategy that relies heavily on strategic partnerships can be derailed when those partnerships come to a close.

Equities and digital assets are extending their downtrend as CNBC's Fed Survey reports an elevated risk of recession. The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Bitcoin (BTC) all plummeted on Tuesday morning ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement due on Wednesday.

From harsh crackdowns to reconsideration—what's really driving the SEC's sudden shift on crypto?

Ribbit Capital led the investment round with additional participation from Franklin Templeton, Nyca, First Round, and Lightspeed Faction.

Study held when bitcoin was heading towards all-time high of $108,000 and sentiment was extremely bullish.

The crypto exchange OKX has decided to “temporarily suspend” its decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator after consulting with regulators. Traders use data from DEX aggregators to find the best-priced trades across various decentralized exchanges. OKX's aggregator has recently come under scrutiny. Last month, hackers stole a staggering $1.

Halliday, an artificial intelligence powered startup helping automate services for any workflow, has secured $20 million in a funding round led by venture capital behemoth Andreessen Horowitz.

A circular with tax rules issued by Germany's finance ministry draws investors' attention to their obligations to record and report all cryptocurrency transactions. Violations of the guidelines can be treated as tax evasion, the German press reported, quoting experts providing clarity on the update.

Refined techniques to avoid detection

Bitcoin and global cryptocurrency markets retreated in tandem with U.S. equity benchmarks on Tuesday, as bearish sentiment gripped financial markets. The digital asset ecosystem contracted by 1.89% over 24 hours, slipping to $2.67 trillion, with BTC briefly dipping to $81,138 during trading hours.

Blockchain firm Halliday secures $20M from a16z and key investors, fueling the growth of its Workflow Protocol. The platform enables onchain app development without smart contracts, reducing costs and development time. The post Halliday Raises $20M Funding Led by VC Giant a16z appeared first on Cryptonews.

A friendlier regulatory environment has cryptocurrency companies and FinTechs trying to become banks. As Reuters wrote in an analysis Tuesday (March 18), companies that had been hoping to expand see President Donald Trump as their chance to obtain licenses that regulators had either been slow or reluctant to issue.

The caution of investors and an evolving sector

Crossmint plans to develop AI agent infrastructure and other enterprise blockchain tools with its fresh financing.

The markets are currently buzzing around a growing hypothesis: the American Federal Reserve (FED) could end its quantitative tightening (QT) program by May. This scenario, which seemed unlikely just a few months ago, is now considered a certainty by bettors on the Polymarket platform.

86% of institutional investors surveyed said they had exposure to digital assets or planned to make allocations to crypto in 2025.

Bitcoin Magazine ECB Prepping the Ground for Digital Euro Launch Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, has announced the intent to launch a Digital Euro in October. This post ECB Prepping the Ground for Digital Euro Launch first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Efrat Fenigson.

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Swyftx's CEO said the move would allow it to expand its operations to new markets.

Meme coins have surged in popularity across the crypto market, captivating audiences and sparking viral trends that often lead to significant financial opportunities. Coins like Arctic Pablo Coin, Goatseus Maximus, Shiba Inu, Turbo, Book of Meme, Pudgy Penguins, Neiro, and Baby Doge Coin have each carved out a unique space in the meme coin market.

But if history tells us anything, it's that true euphoria hasn't hit yet. One surprising way to measure the sentiment of the crypto market?