It was a landmark week for crypto regulation. U.S. regulators moved to bring crypto-perpetual futures to American exchanges for the first time, while Justin Sun quietly closed his SEC chapter with a $10 million settlement.
Meanwhile, a federal judge handed Uniswap (UNI) a clean win, ruling the protocol can’t be held liable for scam tokens. Beyond the legal drama, Cardano went live in Swiss supermarkets, and sentiment hit extreme fear territory.
Here’s everything you need to know. Read the full recap below.
Ethereum Eyes $7,000 as Fundamentals Strengthen Despite War-Driven Slump
Ethereum is trading around $1,987, down 60% from its peak, but analysts see a strong recovery ahead. Key drivers include record DeFi activity, rising staking demand, growing stablecoin adoption, and upcoming upgrades like sharding and stealth addresses. Analysts also expect an end to the Iran war to boost investor appetite for risk assets, with price targets set at $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, and eventually $7,000.
Cardano Goes Mainstream in Swiss Grocery Stores
Swiss shoppers can now pay for groceries with Cardano’s ADA at 137 SPAR supermarkets, following a partnership between the Cardano Foundation and crypto firm DFX.swiss. Payments settle in real time directly from native wallets; no card intermediary is involved. DFX.swiss handles conversions between ADA and Swiss francs behind the scenes, with merchant fees potentially 2/3 lower than those of traditional card networks.
Polkadot Eyes Supply Overhaul as ETF Launches on Nasdaq
Despite the debut of a new 21Shares ETF, $TDOT, on Nasdaq, Polkadot’s price slipped to $1.47. Attention is focused on a March 12 protocol upgrade that caps DOT supply at 2.1 billion tokens and slashes emissions by 53.6%, marking a major shift in the token’s economic structure.
Toncoin Price Eyes 120% Rally, But Heavy Resistance Looms
Toncoin is testing the upper boundary of a multi-month falling wedge pattern, with analyst Javon Marks projecting a potential 120% surge toward $3. However, that target sits directly on major weekly moving averages acting as resistance, and broader technical indicators remain bearish, leaving the breakout unconfirmed.
Justin Sun Settles SEC Fraud Case for $10 Million
Justin Sun has agreed to a $10 million settlement with the SEC, ending a 2023 lawsuit alleging he sold unregistered crypto tokens and manipulated TRX trading to generate $31 million in fake demand. All charges against Sun personally were dropped, though no wrongdoing was admitted.
Nation-State-Grade iOS Exploit Now Targeting Crypto Wallets
A powerful exploit kit called Coruna is targeting iPhones running iOS 13–17.2.1, using 23 zero-day vulnerabilities to silently steal cryptocurrency seed phrases and wallet keys. Detected on 42,000+ devices, it requires just one click on a malicious site. Apple hasn’t patched all affected versions; hardware wallets are recommended.
SEC Sends Crypto Securities Framework to White House for Review
The SEC has submitted a draft framework to the White House outlining how U.S. securities laws apply to crypto assets and transactions. Under OIRA review since March 2, the guidance aims to clarify when tokens count as securities, replacing the agency’s previous case-by-case enforcement approach with clearer, industry-wide rules.
Filecoin Bets on AI Storage, But Price Still Waiting for Proof
Filecoin has unveiled a 2026 strategy that shifts focus from raw storage supply to paid, on-chain demand, with AI infrastructure as its main target. The network already has institutional partners, such as MIT and the Smithsonian. FIL trades around $1.00, with analysts watching $1.10 as the key breakout level before any bullish commitment.
Binance Targets Five New Asian Licenses as It Bets Big on APAC Growth
Binance plans to secure five new regulatory licenses across Asia-Pacific by the end of 2026, bringing it to over 20 jurisdictions worldwide. The exchange already operates in Australia, India, Japan, and other countries, and is eyeing South Korea next. It’s tailoring products and compliance to each local market rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
U.S. Regulators Set to Legalize Crypto Perpetual Futures at Home
The CFTC plans to allow crypto perpetual futures on regulated U.S. exchanges within a month, ending years of traders relying on offshore platforms. The new framework will require stricter leverage caps and transparency rules than those foreign exchanges currently enforce, bringing a massive segment of the crypto market under American oversight.
NEAR Protocol Surges 41% After Privacy Trading Feature Goes Live
NEAR Protocol jumped over 12% this week, hitting $1.44, following the launch of Confidential Intents, a privacy layer that lets traders hide order details while remaining audit-compliant. The feature, aimed at institutional and AI-driven traders, has already processed $2.7 billion in 30-day volume. Analysts eye $1.97 as the next key breakout level.
Judge Clears Uniswap of Liability for Scam Tokens
A U.S. federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Uniswap, ruling that the decentralized exchange wasn’t responsible for scam tokens traded on its platform. The court found that fraudulent token issuers, not the protocol, caused investor losses, and that existing 1930s securities laws don’t apply to open, permissionless smart contracts.
XRP Eyes March Rebound Backed by ETF Demand and RWA Growth
Despite five straight months of losses, XRP shows signs of recovery. Spot XRP ETFs pulled in $58 million in February, outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which saw outflows. The XRP Ledger also surpassed Solana and Polygon in real-world asset tokenization, now holding over $2 billion in assets. Analysts see a potential 50% climb toward $2.
Vitalik Proposes Two-Step Plan to Future-Proof Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin has outlined a two-part plan to make Ethereum faster and more compatible with zero-knowledge proofs. The first step, already in progress, replaces Ethereum’s state tree with leaner, cheaper proofs. The second, more speculative step involves gradually shifting to a new virtual machine, potentially boosting proof efficiency by 50–100x.
