On March 15, 2026, the United States and Japan announced at least $30 billion in energy agreements at the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial in Tokyo, covering around 20 deals in LNG, coal, nuclear, critical minerals, and batteries. The package builds on a $550 billion trade framework signed in mid-2025 and includes projects such as a $33 billion gas-fired power plant in Ohio and a $2.1 billion crude oil terminal in Texas. The arrangements come amid a Qatar LNG supply shutdown on March 2, which has sharply driven up European and Asian gas prices and increased urgency for diversification.

Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, said the US CLARITY Act must clear a Senate committee by the end of April and reach the Senate floor by early May 2026 to retain realistic prospects of passage. Ongoing disputes over stablecoin yield, broader questions about DeFi and agency oversight, and competing priorities such as the SAVE America Act are limiting the time available for comprehensive crypto market structure reform, which some analysts believe may not take full effect until 2029.

Galaxy Digital's Alex Thorn warned that if the US CLARITY Act fails to clear committee by the end of April, the likelihood of it becoming law in 2026 will be very low. He noted that debates over stablecoin rewards are seen as the main obstacle but cautioned that additional issues around DeFi, developer protections and regulatory authority could emerge, while other analysts project any crypto market structure rules may not take effect until 2029.

An analysis by TRM Labs found that less than 1% of on-chain crypto activity in Australia between March 2025 and February 2026 involved illicit counterparties, even as local entities processed about $50 billion in transaction volume. Sanctions-related flows made up roughly 70% of identified illicit volume, while darknet markets, investment fraud, and illegal goods and services formed the next largest categories. Australia's framework requiring digital currency exchanges to register with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre has coincided with a diversified crypto ecosystem and limited criminal exposure.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit voted 7-3 on Friday to reject Custodia Bank's request for en banc rehearing, leaving in place earlier rulings that the Federal Reserve can deny master account applications. The decision follows a more than five-year effort by the Wyoming crypto-focused bank to obtain a Fed master account and comes shortly after the Kansas City Fed approved Kraken Financial for a limited-purpose crypto master account.

Blockchain security firm Nominis reports that crypto attack losses dropped from $385 million in January to $49.3 million in February, with a single Step Finance incident on Solana accounting for over 60% of the damage. The study indicates that attackers are increasingly targeting users through phishing, address poisoning and malicious approvals, rather than focusing solely on protocol code vulnerabilities.

February’s US CPI data showed headline inflation rising 0.3% month-on-month and 2.4% year-on-year, while core CPI increased 0.2% on the month and 2.5% annually, keeping hopes for rate cuts alive. Since the report was released on March 11, payroll losses, major downward jobs revisions, and an Iran-linked oil supply shock have reshaped the outlook. The Fed heads into its March 17–18 meeting balancing softer inflation data against a weaker labor market and sharply higher crude prices.

On March 13, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded about $180.4 million in net inflows, with BlackRock's IBIT product contributing roughly $143.6 million. Ethereum ETFs saw around $26.7 million in net inflows and Solana funds added about $7.6 million, while XRP ETF flows remained close to zero.