• PAC Fairshake secured early victories in the 2026 U.S. congressional primaries by backing several candidates in key states.
• Jessica Steinmann won nearly 70 percent of the vote in Texas’ 8th District with financial support from Fairshake.
• Fairshake spent 1.5 million dollars opposing Democratic Representative Al Green, forcing his race into a runoff.
• Republican candidates Chris Gober and Trever Nehls also won their Texas primaries with Fairshake support.
• The PAC reported 193 million dollars in cash on hand at the start of the 2026 campaign season.

Crypto-backed political spending shaped several early outcomes in the 2026 U.S. congressional primaries. Fairshake supported multiple candidates in Texas, Arkansas, and North Carolina. The results now position the group to expand its allies after November.

PAC Fairshake Backs Primary Winners in Texas and Beyond

PAC Fairshake supported Jessica Steinmann in Texas’s 8th District, and she won nearly 70% of the vote. State results confirmed her dominant finish in the Republican primary. Federal Election Commission filings show the PAC spent more than $750,000 on her race.

Steinmann previously worked as a Department of Justice lawyer, and President Donald Trump backed her candidacy. Her campaign website states she supports digital assets and blockchain innovation. Fairshake said voters responded to her economic message and focus on emerging technology.

In Texas’s 10th District, Fairshake supported Republican Chris Gober, and he secured more than 50% in a crowded field. Gober founded Lex Politica and focuses on political litigation and government investigations. In the 22nd District, Trever Nehls won 76% of the vote after receiving Fairshake support.

Nehls is an Army veteran and a Trump loyalist, and he seeks to replace his identical twin brother. Both Texas districts lean Republican, and general election prospects appear favorable. Fairshake also supported Representative French Hill in Arkansas, and he won 77% of his primary vote.

Hill chairs the House Financial Services Committee and leads crypto legislation efforts in the House. Fairshake spent more than $400,000 on advertising in his race. In North Carolina, Republican Representative Tim Moore won 83% of the vote with PAC backing.

Texas Runoff Shapes Key Test for Fairshake Strategy

Fairshake also targeted longtime Texas Democrat Al Green in a newly redrawn district. The PAC spent $1.5 million on ads opposing Green. Green trailed pro-blockchain Democrat Christian Menefee, yet neither candidate secured more than half the vote.

Both candidates will now compete in a runoff election. Green has voted against crypto legislation and holds an “F” rating from Stand With Crypto. Menefee supports blockchain policy, and he advanced alongside Green into the next round.

Fairshake stated that its advertisements focus on political messages rather than digital asset policy. The group does not coordinate directly with candidate campaigns. It reported $193 million in cash on hand at the start of the campaign season.

The PAC and its affiliates rank among the largest political spenders in the country. During the 2024 cycle, Fairshake supported 53 candidates who now serve in Congress. The latest primary victories add to that list as the 2026 general election approaches.

South Korea’s stock market suffered one of its fastest declines in history this week, with the Kospi falling about 20% in two trading days, as geopolitical tensions have, for the moment, shattered what might be termed a speculative bubble in popular AI-related names.

The rapid decline followed months of aggressive buying by retail investors that had sent the Kospi — dominated by Samsung and SK Hynix — higher by nearly 180% in about 10 months.

The timing has drawn attention to activity in Korea’s crypto markets, where trading volumes have begun to climb again.

South Korea is one of the few markets where retail traders play a major role in both equities and digital assets. Analysts have long observed that local traders often rotate between speculative markets, rather than exiting risk assets entirely.

In November, a CoinDesk analysis described what was dubbed the “Great Korean Pivot,” noting trading volumes on domestic crypto exchanges fell as retail traders moved into technology stocks tied to artificial intelligence.

That equity rally, however, has now stalled or reversed.

When one market cools, South Korean trader attention frequently shifts to another. That’s perhaps benefiting crypto, which has seen bitcoin climb 7% in the past 24 hours to above $73,000. Ether (ETH), solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) are up similar amounts.

Retail signals remain moderate

While crypto trading volumes have moved higher, for the moment, at least, activity does not yet resemble the frenzied speculative surges seen in earlier Korean market cycles.

One key metric is the Kimchi premium, which measures the difference between bitcoin prices on Korean exchanges and global markets. When domestic demand surges, bitcoin often trades at a noticeable premium in Korean won markets.

That premium currently remains modest, with data from CryptoQuant showing the Korea Premium Index near 1%, well below levels seen during previous retail-driven rallies. There is, however, a modest uptick in retail sentiment as the Kimchi premium had dipped into negative territory in mid-January.

Crypto exchange Kraken has secured approval for a Federal Reserve master account, advancing digital asset integration into the U.S. banking system. The approval grants Kraken Financial direct access to the central bank’s core payment infrastructure. The decision also positions the firm at the center of a pilot program for proposed skinny master accounts.

Kraken Secures Federal Reserve Master Account Access

Kraken Financial obtained approval for a Federal Reserve master account after applying to the Kansas City Fed in 2020. As a result, the firm can access the central bank’s payment rails used by banks and credit unions. The development marks a structural shift in how crypto firms connect to the U.S. financial system.

With this approval, Kraken Financial can settle transactions through Fedwire and other core systems. Consequently, the firm can move funds faster and manage liquidity with greater precision. The access supports large clients and professional traders who require direct settlement infrastructure.

However, the Federal Reserve will limit the scope of services available to Kraken Financial. The firm cannot earn interest on reserves held at the central bank. In addition, it cannot access lending facilities or operate as a full-service commercial bank.

The approval arrives as Kraken prepares for a potential U.S. public offering. The company has already submitted a confidential draft S-1 filing. Therefore, the master account strengthens its institutional profile ahead of a possible listing.

Pro-crypto lawmakers have acknowledged the development as a milestone for digital assets. Senator Cynthia Lummis described it as a watershed moment for the sector. The approval also signals that regulators may consider structured integration models for crypto firms.

Pilot Program Advances Skinny Master Account Framework

The Federal Reserve structured Kraken’s approval as a pilot for proposed skinny master accounts. Governor Chris Waller introduced this framework to expand payment access without extending full banking privileges. The central bank aims to finalize the initiative before the end of the year.

Under this structure, approved entities can hold reserves and settle transactions through the central bank. However, they cannot lend, access the discount window, or provide traditional commercial banking services. Therefore, the framework separates payment access from broader banking authority.

Banking groups have raised concerns about regulatory consistency and oversight standards. The American Bankers Association warned that some applicants lack extensive supervisory histories. It also emphasized the need for uniform safety and soundness requirements across all participants.

Despite these concerns, the pilot reflects an effort to balance innovation and financial stability. The Federal Reserve continues to evaluate how digital asset firms fit within existing rules. At the same time, policymakers seek to maintain safeguards within the banking system.

The approval also demonstrates coordination among multiple regulators. Officials have indicated that agencies are working together on digital asset oversight. As a result, the pilot may influence how other applications progress in the coming months.

Ripple and Circle Stand to Benefit From Regulatory Shift

Other crypto firms have pursued similar access to the Federal Reserve system. Ripple, Anchorage, and Custodia Bank have each filed applications for master accounts. Custodia submitted its request around the same time Kraken filed its application.

The proposed skinny master accounts could benefit stablecoin issuers such as Ripple and Circle. These firms rely on secure reserve management and efficient settlement processes. Therefore, direct access to central bank payment rails could strengthen their operational models.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has also expanded its engagement with crypto firms. The OCC has conditionally approved national trust charters for Ripple, Crypto.com, Circle, and Paxos. In addition, it recently broadened Trust Bank’s services within the federal framework.

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman has addressed coordination efforts tied to digital asset legislation. She stated that regulators are working to implement the GENIUS Act alongside other agencies. The initiative aims to clarify digital asset treatment within the banking system.

Overall, Kraken’s approval establishes a precedent within the evolving regulatory landscape. The pilot program offers a controlled pathway for payment access without full banking powers. Consequently, the decision may shape how digital asset firms integrate with the U.S. financial system in the years ahead.

Crossmint has announced a partnership with Western Union to support the rollout of USDPT, a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, on the Solana blockchain. According to the Crossmint website, USDPT aims to provide a seamless, fast, and cost-effective way to transfer funds globally.

Western Union will integrate its Digital Asset Network with Crossmint, allowing the conversion of digital dollars into local currency through more than 360,000 collection points worldwide.

Malcolm Clarke, Western Union’s Vice President of Digital Assets, emphasized the strategic value of the partnership, stating, “Working with partners like Crossmint helps to seamlessly connect global wallets and digital platforms to Western Union’s trusted payment infrastructure… enabling Crossmint’s customers to enjoy reliable cash pick‑up options in more than 200 countries globally.”

The selection of Solana underscores its reputation for fast transaction speeds and low costs, further enhancing the efficiency of digital payments.

This strategic collaboration between Crossmint and Western Union not only enhances the efficiency of digital payments but also represents a pivotal moment in the adoption of blockchain technology for global money movement. As stablecoins become integral to financial transactions, partnerships like this are expected to drive further innovations and expansions in the digital payments landscape.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

Blockchain oracle provider RedStone has officially launched its price feed infrastructure on the Stellar blockchain.

In an X post on Wednesday, March 4, RedStone said that the integration aims to scale the decentralized finance ecosystem on Stellar, which is broadly used for payments and is one of the largest chains by real-world asset (RWA) value.

The deployment by RedStone introduces new layers of data for DeFi applications, focusing on delivering precise and reliable price feeds suitable for institutionally-focused tokenized RWAs.

“Lending protocols need reliable price feeds. DEXs need accurate data. RWA platforms need institutional infrastructure. You can’t build financial products without trusted oracles,” RedStone said on X today.

Stellar is currently the fifth-largest blockchain network in terms of RWA value on-chain, per data from RWAxyz. Distributed asset value on Stellar recently reached over $1.3 billion for the first time, up 25% in the past 30 days and 50% since the start of 2026.

By far the largest RWA on the network is Franklin Templeton’s on-chain money market fund, BENJI, with $678 million in distributed asset value on Stellar.

In its announcement today, RedStone noted that it will provide the BENJI fund feed as part of the integration “bringing institutional-grade price feeds of real-world assets to the Stellar DeFi ecosystem.”

Stellar, which launched in 2014, has a market cap of about $5.2 billion, ranking it 21st among cryptocurrencies, per The Defiant’s price page. XLM is up 6% in the past 24 hours as the broader crypto markets rally.

On-chain RWAs as a broader sector saw massive growth last year, bringing billions of dollars on-chain as an increasing number of large, global financial institutions launched tokenized funds and other assets.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

Four days into the onset of the US-Israeli war with Iran, bitcoin (BTC) has outperformed many major asset classes, including commodities that were supposed to shine in exactly this scenario.

Since Donald Trump authorized Operation Epic Fury’s opening airstrikes at 1:15am New York time on February 28, BTC has surged 12.1% from $65,492 to $73,419 at time of writing.

Crude oil, the one asset with an obviously bullish wartime supply reduction, gained a less impressive 10.4% from $67.29 to $74.31 per barrel.

Gold has actually dropped 3% since the onset of war despite an initial safe-haven spike.

Silver entirely retraced a brief spike on war fears and is now down 10.2% after a rollercoaster ride alongside gold and other precious metals.

Easy to beat, the S&P 500 Index flatlined at -0.1%.

A weekend of relative strength amid a bad year

Nvidia, the artificial intelligence (AI) darling that once moved markets by itself and gained signed assurance from the Pentagon that OpenAI would continue to generate plenty of demand for its chips, managed to rally a modest 2.8%. 

Even adjusting that 2.8% by 3.1x to account for Nvidia’s larger-than-BTC market cap, it still underperformed the world’s largest crypto by 340 basis points.

The disappointment from precious metals holders is evident. As the US military made obvious movements across the Atlantic into the Gulf states last week, gold and silver steadily ticked higher in textbook fashion — then spent the next three days bleeding out as the dollar strengthened and inflation fears displaced geopolitical hedging.

While BTC investors gained, owners of non-digital hard monies over the last week watched an initial pop turn into a net loss.

Of course, the numbers above are since the proper onset of war. Year-to-date figures are distinct.

Over this longer time frame, BTC has lost 16% while gold has rallied 18%. As usual, there are two sides to every story.

An even better weekend performer than oil

Although the outperformance of BTC raises eyebrows, crude oil’s gain makes intuitive sense. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint near Iran through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil transits daily. 

Tanker vessel traffic through the strait dropped roughly 81% since the war began, as insurers pulled war risk coverage and shippers avoided the strait for legitimate fears of human life. 

Tanker rates in the area hit all-time highs. Brent initially spiked 13% to $82 before settling a bit lower. Barclays analysts warned of $100 per barrel if the blockade holds, though the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus announced 206,000 barrels per day in additional output to soften the supply crunch.

Still, BTC outperformed oil during the year’s biggest war.

TLDR:

• • Hong Kong issues its first stablecoin licences in March 2026 under a strict reserve-backed regulatory framework. 
  • EnsembleX connects major banks through tokenised deposits, with HSBC settling HK$3.8M for Ant International in real time. 
  • Europe, the US, and Asia-Pacific are all building identical three-layer digital money stacks on incompatible platforms
  • Interoperability protocols are now considered foundational as fragmented infrastructure threatens cross-border settlement at scale.

Stablecoins are moving from concept to regulated reality in Hong Kong. Financial Secretary Paul Chan confirmed the city will issue its first stablecoin licences in March 2026.

The announcement came on February 26, drawing wide attention to the city’s broader digital money framework. Beneath the headline, however, lies a three-layer architecture that mirrors patterns emerging across major financial centres worldwide.

That convergence raises pressing questions about interoperability and the future of cross-border digital finance.

Hong Kong Builds a Three-Layer Digital Money Stack

Hong Kong’s approach to digital money operates across three distinct layers. Each layer runs on different infrastructure, yet all three are intended to work in coordination. This structure reflects the city’s commitment to developing programmable and interoperable finance.

The first layer covers licensed stablecoins governed by Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance. Under this framework, issuers must hold 100% reserve backing and maintain a minimum HK$25 million in capital.

Redemption is guaranteed within one business day. As a result, these stablecoins are well-suited for retail payments and cross-border transfers.

The second layer involves tokenised deposits through EnsembleX, launched in November 2025 with real money. Participants include HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China (Hong Kong), and other regional institutions.

BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are also taking part. HSBC completed the first cross-bank transaction on November 13, transferring HK$3.8 million for Ant International in real time.

The third layer is EnsembleTX, Hong Kong’s wholesale CBDC platform. It settles tokenised deposit transfers between banks. Financial Secretary Paul Chan has emphasised that it will strengthen cross-border interoperability standards.

A Global Three-Layer Pattern Takes Shape in 2026

Hong Kong is not alone in building this structure. Throughout February 2026, a similar three-layer model emerged across Europe, the United States, and Asia-Pacific.

Quant Network observed on X that the move signals global convergence. Infrastructure fragmentation, the network noted, is becoming a global problem whilst everyone builds the same thing.

In Europe, Deutsche Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel endorsed wholesale CBDC for programmable payments on February 16.

BNP Paribas then tokenised a money market fund on public Ethereum, departing from its earlier private blockchain approach.

Nine European banks plan euro stablecoin launches in H2 2026. The ECB’s Pontes wholesale CBDC project targets Q3 2026.

In the United States, five regional banks announced a tokenised deposit network for Q4 2026 via Cari Network. The banks described the move as a defense against stablecoin displacement.

The GENIUS Act creates a federal licensing framework for stablecoins, with implementation set to begin in July 2026.

Fragmented Platforms Create a Growing Interoperability Problem

With multiple layers running on incompatible platforms, interoperability has become a clear operational challenge.

A Hong Kong corporate treasurer, for example, could face settlement across six different platforms in a single cross-border transaction. Each platform carries its own governance structure, compliance requirements, and settlement logic.

Point-to-point integrations between systems do not scale well over time. Building bilateral links between EnsembleTX, Pontes, Ethereum, and Kinexys creates growing complexity with each new connection.

This mirrors the challenge correspondent banking faced before SWIFT introduced a universal messaging standard.

A Research and Markets report published on February 25 confirmed this challenge directly. It identified interoperability protocols and regulatory messaging standards as foundational to scalable tokenised markets.

With stablecoin licences now live in Hong Kong and major deployments scheduled through 2026, cross-platform coordination has become an operational requirement.

RedStone has launched a price oracle on Stellar after a recent oracle exploit.

Oracle provider RedStone has rolled out a dedicated price oracle on the Stellar network, aiming to support the chain’s expanding decentralized finance and tokenization ecosystem with more secure and reliable market data. The deployment comes in the wake of a $10m exploit tied to oracle vulnerabilities, an incident that reinforced how critical accurate pricing is for lending, collateralized positions, and automated liquidations. As Stellar pushes deeper into areas such as on-chain lending, tokenized real-world assets, and payment-focused DeFi applications, developers need resilient price feeds for assets referenced across smart contracts. RedStone’s integration is designed to give builders a modular source of off-chain and cross-chain prices while adding redundancy to the network’s existing tooling.

By embedding its oracle framework into Stellar’s infrastructure, RedStone intends to offer developers flexible options for how and when price data is delivered to contracts, including support for custom feeds and aggregation methods. That flexibility matters for protocols that may want different update frequencies or asset baskets, such as money markets, synthetic asset platforms, and tokenized securities issuers. The provider’s entry also signals growing third-party interest in Stellar as it evolves from a cross-border payments chain into a broader environment for tokenized assets and programmable finance. For the network, attracting a specialized oracle partner helps close a key tooling gap that has historically limited the complexity of DeFi applications that could safely launch on Stellar.

Strengthening Stellar’s DeFi stack

The RedStone deployment fits a broader industry trend in which chains and protocols are rethinking their reliance on single-source or lightly secured price feeds after a series of exploits. In recent years, attackers have repeatedly targeted thin liquidity and delayed oracle updates to manipulate prices, drain lending pools, or trigger bad debt across DeFi systems. By adding more robust oracle options, Stellar-based projects can diversify data sources and design more conservative liquidation and collateral mechanisms. This, in turn, can make it easier for institutional users and payment firms to consider launching products on the network, as they evaluate technical and risk controls alongside regulatory frameworks such as MiCA.

For developers, the presence of a new oracle provider may unlock designs that were previously too risky, including more sophisticated lending markets, structured products, and multi-asset vaults. Combined with growing interest in tokenized assets and payment rails from platforms comparable to Coinbase and from traditional players that operate similarly to Visa in the fiat world, the move suggests Stellar is positioning itself for a more competitive role in the multi-chain DeFi landscape. If RedStone’s integration delivers the promised reliability and resilience, it could become a core piece of the network’s DeFi stack, helping to prevent a repeat of past oracle issues while enabling a new wave of applications built on more trustworthy pricing infrastructure.

TLDR

• The Ethereum Foundation plans to position Ethereum as a trust layer for AI systems.
• The organization will focus on coordination and verification instead of building AI models.
• Davide Crapis said Ethereum can serve as a public verification layer for autonomous agents.
• The foundation supports ERC-8004 to standardize agent identity and trust.
• The strategy promotes privacy, local AI processing, and stronger cryptographic security.

The Ethereum Foundation has outlined a strategy to position Ethereum as a trust layer for AI systems. The organization said it will not compete in building large AI models. Instead, it plans to anchor identity, payments, and verification for autonomous agents.

Ethereum Foundation Outlines Coordination Role for AI Agents

The Ethereum Foundation said it will focus on coordination rather than raw AI computation. Davide Crapis, the AI lead at the EF, presented the plan at NEARCON 2026. He said Ethereum can serve as a “public, governance-less verification layer for AI.”

He explained that AI systems now handle trades, applications, and software tasks. However, centralized control could weaken decentralization and privacy. “If AI doesn’t have the properties we care about, and then we use AI for everything, basically no one has those properties anymore,” Crapis said.

He stated that Ethereum can help agents identify themselves and build trust. The network can also route payments and anchor cryptographic proofs. Heavy computing will remain off-chain on traditional servers.

The EF has supported standards such as ERC-8004 for agent identity and trust. Crapis said developers outside Ethereum have shown interest in these standards. He compared the system to a decentralized review network combined with payment rails.

He said Ethereum can maintain transparent histories for agents. Those records can help assess reputation and past actions. As a result, agents can transact without relying on centralized platforms.

Ethereum Extends Core Principles to AI Security and Privacy

The Ethereum Foundation also aims to bring privacy and censorship resistance into AI systems. Crapis referred to this effort as “Props AI” inside the organization. The program promotes privacy, openness, and security in AI design.

He warned that centralized AI services can build detailed user profiles over time. Queries and usage patterns can reveal personal data. Therefore, the EF supports more local AI processing on user devices.

“We want to create a world where users retain as much data and power as possible,” Crapis said. He added, “We just don’t give it to operators.” The approach seeks to limit unnecessary data transfer to large platforms.

Security forms another part of the initiative. Crapis predicted that AI systems will automate cyberattacks and impersonation. “We will probably see hacks orchestrated by AI,” he said.

He argued that traditional authentication models may fail under AI-driven impersonation. In response, he emphasized the importance of cryptographic keys. Control of a private key provides mathematical proof of ownership.

“In a world where AI is in the wild, we want Ethereum to be the place with the big lock,” Crapis said. He added, “If I have the keys, I still have power.” The EF described the AI program as one of several ongoing priorities.