Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

Gate News bot message: According to Gate's official announcement on March 18, 2026 Gate launches the "Crazy Wednesday" activity, running from March 18, 2026 at 14:00 to March 22 at 16:00 (UTC+8). Users can unlock blind boxes by completing multiple tasks including flash swaps, spot trading, contract trading, and deposits. Prizes include FOGO tokens, lucky bags, and Leica cameras, with a 100% win rate. During the event, the platform offers a USDT 14-day fixed wealth management product with 8% annualized yield. New users can enjoy a 3-day 100% annualized yield bonus. Additionally, surplus asset wealth management products are available including 0G, APT, AZTEC, and IDOS, with maximum annualized yields reaching 300%. Users who stake BTC, ETH, and SOL can enjoy up to 16% annualized yield, with SOL staking of 0-1 eligible for 16% annualized returns. All rewards will be distributed within 14 business days after the event concludes.

On Polymarket, a new account invested $241,000 betting that Backpack token's FDV on day one will exceed $300 million, with current prediction probability at 71%. Backpack will launch its token on March 23rd and unlock 25% of circulating supply. Currently, the token's pre-market price is approximately $0.36.

Gate News reports that on March 18, CZ posted on the X platform stating that the clear information provided by the SEC is a significant advancement for the cryptocurrency industry. He will participate online in the DC Blockchain Summit at 9:25 AM Eastern Time on March 18, where he will share his insights on the US crypto industry, the future direction of the sector, and his personal behind-the-scenes development experience.

On March 18, a security incident occurred at Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo when a man breached the enclosure of viral pygmy hippo Moo Deng to take photos and was arrested. Although the hippo was unharmed, it may have been frightened, and veterinarians will monitor the animal's condition. The zoo is approximately a two-hour drive from Bangkok.

Gate News, on March 18, South Korean financial regulators stated that they will expand the 100 trillion won market stabilization plan if necessary. In addition, regulators will also formulate specific measures to prohibit "dual listing" between parent and subsidiary companies (meaning parent and subsidiary companies listing on the stock market simultaneously).

Gate News: On March 18, ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees made public comments regarding the SEC's explanatory guidance on crypto assets, believing the significance of this guidance lies in the SEC acknowledging its own power boundaries. Erik Voorhees contrasted Gensler's tenure's large-scale enforcement actions against utility tokens, pointing out that these actions significantly decreased entrepreneurs' willingness to design utility tokens at that time, instead catalyzing the emergence of a large number of

Nexus closed its testnet on March 17 and entered the mainnet phase directly, supporting DeFi applications, financial institutions, and AI systems. The testnet attracted 2.6 million participants and processed 58 million transactions, achieving a 1000x improvement in throughput.

An on-chain address increased its ZEC short position again on March 17-18, currently holding approximately 17,157 ZEC with unrealized losses of $800,000, making it the largest short on-chain. The address has been consistently shorting ZEC and previously experienced significant unrealized losses before gradually turning profitable. The address also holds short positions on ETH.

Gate News, on March 18, Starknet mainnet will begin a planned upgrade starting at 17:10 (UTC+8) today, with an estimated downtime of approximately 12 minutes. Starknet stated that this upgrade is part of its move toward further decentralization, which will transfer the block hash calculation of Starknet blocks to decentralized Apollo nodes.

Gate News reported that on March 18, according to the Financial Times of the UK, Microsoft is considering taking legal action against a $50 billion deal between Amazon and OpenAI. Microsoft believes that the deal may violate its exclusive cloud services partnership agreement previously reached with ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

On the prediction market Polymarket, 2 new addresses invested $36,200 betting that the US military will enter Iran this year, with the current probability at 62%. Meanwhile, Trump stated that the US is not yet prepared to end military operations in Iran.

International oil prices declined on March 18, with WTI crude falling over 3% and Brent crude dropping over 2%. The WTI futures contract price on the Hyperliquid platform fell below $93, and Abraxas Capital's positions turned fully profitable with total positions of $27.8 million.

Gate News: On March 18, Starknet officially posted on X stating that its mainnet will temporarily shut down starting at 9:10 AM UTC today for a scheduled upgrade.

On March 18, Alibaba Cloud announced price increases of up to 34% for its AI computing power and storage products due to the global explosion in AI demand and supply chain price increases. Computing cards and file storage products also saw significant price increases. This round of price increases is primarily driven by the surge in Token call volume, with Alibaba Cloud prioritizing AI computing power demand for Token business.

Anuma, in the ZetaChain ecosystem, has launched Anuma Friends, an AI phone number feature that allows users to interact with AI assistants via SMS without downloading apps or internet access. Services include Anuma and Coco, with subscription fees of $5.99/month.

SlowMist and a certain CEX released an AI Agent security report indicating that security threats from AI Agents in the Web3 ecosystem are increasing, including prompt injection, supply chain risks, and task tampering. The report recommends protective measures such as enabling two-factor authentication and risk monitoring, and establishing a five-layer security governance framework.

Multiple Democratic U.S. senators have expressed concerns about Meta's plan to introduce facial recognition in smart glasses, pointing out that the technology could threaten privacy and data security. The senators emphasized the surveillance risks of smart glasses and demanded that Meta clarify data usage and consent acquisition procedures. This move reflects increasingly intense regulatory discussions surrounding surveillance technology.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated that over 200 military experts have been assisting the U.S. in the Middle East to counter Iranian drone threats, with these experts possessing extensive experience to build defense systems. Ukraine is optimizing air defense costs, emphasizing the importance of low-cost drone interception. Zelenskyy revealed that 2000 interceptor drones can be produced daily, and discussions are underway with the U.S. on cooperation plans.

On March 18th, Coin Center sent a letter to the U.S. SEC, urging the prioritization of systematic cryptocurrency asset regulatory rules to avoid market fragmentation and unfairness. The letter pointed out that crypto networks should be considered public infrastructure. The SEC recently issued a classification for non-securities crypto assets and signed a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC, aimed at strengthening regulatory coordination. Coin Center warned that selective regulation could impact market fairness. The U.S. Congress is advancing the CLARITY Act, expecting to provide a clear compliance pathway for digital assets.

On March 18, US natural gas prices fell 3.6% briefly, leading all liquidations across the network, with a cumulative decline of 11.6%. The largest long position address was liquidated as prices fell below $2.91, with liquidation size reaching 638,364 contracts and losses of $200,000. Meanwhile, the address held BTC short positions and crude oil and gold long positions as hedges, but suffered losses on both sides.