Weekly Crypto Market News: DeFi Infrastructure, Regulation & Capital Flows

March 9 – March 15, 2026

Executive Summary

  • Funding totaled $220M across 18 projects, with capital concentrated in stablecoin financial apps, crypto accounting infrastructure, and Bitcoin-native execution layers. Several acquisitions also pointed to continued consolidation across prediction markets, social wagering, and onchain financial services.
  • Protocol activity centered on stablecoin innovation, RWA integrations, and derivatives infrastructure. Highlights included thUSD's gold-backed stablecoin launch, Jupiter enabling staked SOL as collateral, tokenized equities trading via Jupiter and xStocksFi, and new RWA credit rails linking restaked ETH to mortgage markets. Token unlocks exceeding $5M and large linear emissions continue across major tokens
  • Ethena is proposing a dynamic redemption model for sUSDe as reserves shift toward more liquid collateral, while expanding yield sources beyond perp funding into institutional credit markets through Maple and Anchorage. The changes reflect a structural pivot toward diversified yield and greater liquidity flexibility.
  • Mastercard launched a global Crypto Partner Program integrating stablecoins and digital asset infrastructure into its payment rails for remittances, payouts, and settlement. The initiative signals a shift toward stablecoins functioning as embedded payment infrastructure within traditional card networks rather than standalone crypto products.

Venture Capital & M&A Pulse

Headline: 18 projects raised $220M total.

Top Raises

  • KAST ($80M Series A) -- Stablecoin-powered neobank with 1M+ users and $5B in annualized transaction volume; led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, with Peak XV Partners, HSG, and DST Global Partners
  • Cryptio ($45M Series B) -- Crypto accounting and ERP platform serving Circle, Société Générale, and Gemini; led by Sentinel Global and BlackFin Capital Partners, with 1kx, Alven, BlueYard Capital, and Ledger Cathay Capital
  • Zcash Open Development Lab ($25M Seed) -- New independent org formed by former Electric Coin Company team to develop the Zcash protocol and Zodl wallet; backed by Coinbase Ventures, a16z crypto, Paradigm, Maelstrom, Chapter One, Winklevoss Capital, Balaji Srinivasan, and Haseeb Qureshi
  • Unitas ($13.33M Seed) -- Onchain yield infrastructure issuing USDu and sUSDu stablecoins; backed by SevenX Ventures, Amber Group, Taisu Ventures, Bixin Capital, and Stanford Blockchain Builders Fund
  • VeryAI ($10M Seed) -- Palm-based human identity verification for the AI era; led by Polychain Capital, with Anagram Crypto, Berggruen Institute, and Anatoly Yakovenko
  • Kled AI ($5.5M Seed) -- Human data marketplace; backed by K5 Global, Sebastian Thrun, Diplo, and Cox Exponential
  • Nebula3 ($5.4M Strategic) -- Multichain GameFi platform adapting Web2 indie games for Web3; backed by Immutable, Kaia, Starknet, and XFounders
  • Ark Labs ($5.2M Seed) -- Developing Arkade, a programmable execution layer for Bitcoin; led by Tether, with Ego Death Capital, Sats Ventures, Anchorage Digital, and Contribution Capital
  • OP_NET ($5M Seed) -- Smart contract layer built directly on Bitcoin L1; led by Further, with Morningstar Ventures, Anagram Crypto, and UTXO Management

M&A Highlights

  • Jito Foundation acquired SolanaFloor -- Solana-focused news and research platform that had wound down in February following a parent organization exploit; will resume operations under Jito ownership with full editorial independence preserved
  • Meta acquired Moltbook -- AI-agent social network in which most content was generated by autonomous AI personas; signals Meta's push into agent-based social experiences
  • PolyGun acquired Polymarket Analytics -- Leading prediction market data platform tracking 2.3M+ traders across Polymarket and Kalshi; analytics pipeline to be embedded directly into PolyGun's copy trading product
  • Paribu acquired Clave -- Turkish digital asset exchange acquires Web3 smart wallet and account abstraction platform to expand its onchain financial services

Emerging Themes

  • Bitcoin infrastructure draws concentrated capital
    Three of the nine featured raises --- Ark Labs, OP_NET, and Zcash Open Development Lab --- target programmable execution, native smart contracts, and privacy-first infrastructure directly on Bitcoin, reflecting a maturing conviction that Bitcoin's base layer can support a broader application ecosystem beyond simple value transfer.

DeFi Launch Radar

Protocol & Chain Releases

New Feature Rollout

Ecosystem Expansions

Token Launches

Token Unlocks & Airdrops

Token Unlocks

  • According to Wu Blockchain News and Tokenomist:
  • Large one-time token unlocks (each exceeding $5 million) scheduled over the next 7 days: ZRO, BARD, RIVER, ARB, MBG, YZY, and KAITO.
  • Large linear unlocks (with daily unlocks exceeding $1 million) over the next 7 days include RAIN, SOL, CC, RIVER, TRUMP, WLD, DOGE, ASTER, and TAO.

Airdrops

  • xStocksFi | xPoints program
    xStocksFi launched the xPoints rewards program, tracking holding, liquidity, and borrow lend activity for future ecosystem rewards.

Last Week Highlights

Ethena Adapts as Basis Compresses

Dynamic Unstaking Reflects a More Liquid Reserve

Ethena governance is proposing to replace the fixed 7 day sUSDe unstaking cooldown with a dynamic model ranging from 1 to 7 days, based on the liquidity profile of USDe's backing assets. The shift reflects a material change in the reserve structure. Early in 2025 roughly 93% of collateral sat in perpetual futures positions, requiring longer exit windows. Today perps represent only ~11% of backing while ~89% sits in stablecoins and liquid assets, meaning liquidity is substantially higher than at launch.

A dynamic cooldown would shorten redemption times when reserves are highly liquid while automatically extending them during stress periods. For users looping sUSDe strategies, this creates a much more flexible liquidity profile, aligning exit windows with actual reserve conditions rather than a fixed worst case assumption.

Expanding Yield Sources Beyond the Basis Trade

Ethena is also proposing to expand reserve deployments into institutional credit through Maple Finance and Anchorage Digital. If approved, portions of the stablecoin backing could be deployed into overcollateralized lending markets, introducing a new yield source outside of centralized exchange funding markets.

The move reflects a broader structural shift. As perp funding and basis opportunities become increasingly competitive, relying exclusively on exchange carry becomes harder to sustain. Allocating part of the reserve base to institutional lending diversifies yield sources while keeping positions transparent through Ethena's proof of reserves framework.

Ethena's Growth Is Essentially Self Funded

Ethena's growth model is unusual in that it largely funds itself from idle collateral yield. While sUSDe currently pays roughly 3.5% APR, much of the backing capital is not actively deployed in basis trades. Instead a large share sits in USDtb, which earns yield from U.S. Treasury exposure.

At the same time, only about half of the USDe supply is staked, meaning a large portion of collateral continues generating yield without needing to pay staking rewards. That excess yield is redirected into incentive programs, liquidity campaigns, and protocol reserves.

In effect, Ethena is able to bootstrap adoption using the yield generated by un-staked collateral, turning idle balance sheet capacity into growth capital. The result is a system where expansion is largely financed internally rather than through external token emissions.

Mastercard Moves to Own the Stablecoin Payment Layer

The Card Networks Are Rewiring for Onchain Settlement

The program reflects a broader shift underway across the payments stack. Mastercard has already integrated crypto cards, tokenization platforms, and digital asset settlement tools. In parallel, SoFi is preparing to use its SoFiUSD stablecoin for settlement across Mastercard's network, while MetaMask recently launched a Mastercard linked self custody payment card.

The direction is clear. Stablecoins are moving from trading instruments into global settlement rails embedded inside traditional payment networks.

Stablecoins Are Quietly Becoming Payment Infrastructure

Mastercard has launched a global Crypto Partner Program with more than 85 crypto companies, including Binance, Circle, Ripple, Gemini, PayPal, and Paxos. The initiative focuses on building real products around cross border remittances, B2B payments, payouts, and settlement, integrating digital asset infrastructure directly into Mastercard's global payment rails.

The goal is not speculative crypto usage. It is enterprise payment infrastructure where blockchain rails handle settlement while card networks maintain compliance, distribution, and merchant acceptance.

Crypto Firms Become Infrastructure Providers

The structure of the partnership matters. Mastercard is not competing with crypto firms. It is plugging them into the global payment network. Exchanges, wallet providers, and stablecoin issuers become infrastructure providers for settlement, liquidity, and programmable payments.

This creates a hybrid model where traditional payment distribution meets blockchain settlement speed.

Why This Matters

The structure of the partnership matters. Mastercard is not competing with crypto firms. It is plugging them into the global payment network. Exchanges, wallet providers, and stablecoin issuers become infrastructure providers for settlement, liquidity, and programmable payments.

This creates a hybrid model where traditional payment distribution meets blockchain settlement speed.

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