Key Highlights

• United Parcel Service inaugurated a $100 million distribution facility in Taoyuan, Taiwan — marking its biggest Asia Pacific investment
• The facility sits adjacent to Taiwan’s primary international airport, optimized for technology-related shipments
• Approximately 80% of cargo flowing through the center consists of high-technology products
• Applied Materials (AMAT) has designated this location as its primary Asian distribution point
• The company is exploring potential flight operations to Kaohsiung, near TSMC’s emerging manufacturing complex

United Parcel Service (UPS) has inaugurated a state-of-the-art $100 million distribution facility in Taoyuan, Taiwan, representing the company’s most significant infrastructure investment across the Asia Pacific region. This strategic facility aims to support surging requirements from technology manufacturers, especially within Taiwan’s globally dominant semiconductor sector.

United Parcel Service, Inc., UPS

Positioned strategically adjacent to Taiwan’s busiest international airport, the Taoyuan location offers optimal access for time-sensitive, high-value technology shipments. According to Lauren Zhao, who leads UPS Asia Pacific Supply Chain Solutions and Freight Forwarding operations, approximately 80% of cargo processed through this facility falls within the high-technology category.

Applied Materials (AMAT), America’s leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, has selected this facility to serve as its central Asian distribution hub. Shares of AMAT climbed 3.37% following the announcement.

“Taiwan’s semiconductor sector stands unrivaled globally in terms of technological advancement,” Zhao stated during the facility’s opening ceremony. She emphasized that manufacturing capabilities associated with this industry represent areas where Taiwan maintains worldwide leadership.

TSMC, recognized as the planet’s leading contract chipmaker, serves as a primary catalyst for regional logistics demand. The company’s processors are integral to AI infrastructure development occurring across the globe, establishing Taiwan as an indispensable link in international supply networks.

Southern Taiwan Expansion Under Review

Sam Hung, who directs UPS operations across Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, revealed that the logistics provider is evaluating flight service expansion to Kaohsiung in Taiwan’s southern region. This potential expansion hinges on demonstrated client requirements.

Kaohsiung hosts TSMC’s ongoing construction of a substantial new manufacturing facility, forming part of an expanding semiconductor industrial zone in Taiwan’s southern territory. Should this industrial cluster develop as anticipated, UPS may find compelling business justification for establishing operations there.

The substantial $100 million capital commitment demonstrates the extent to which logistics infrastructure is being developed to support Taiwan’s chip manufacturing ecosystem. With TSMC functioning as the nexus of AI hardware supply chains, rapid movement of equipment and materials has emerged as a strategic imperative for companies like Applied Materials.

Strategic Partnership with Applied Materials

Applied Materials selecting the Taoyuan center as its Asian operational headquarters provides UPS with a foundational client deeply embedded in chip production. AMAT produces the sophisticated machinery that fabricates semiconductors — meaning its logistics requirements directly correlate with semiconductor manufacturing timelines.

The UPS installation enables both organizations to react more rapidly to fluctuations in chip production requirements throughout the region. Such responsiveness proves critical when equipment delivery delays can potentially halt entire fabrication operations.

Currently, UPS maintains operations exclusively through Taoyuan airport within Taiwan. The Kaohsiung service expansion remains under active evaluation as of March 25, 2026.

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Bitcoin and the broader crypto market are holding firm alongside U.S. stock futures as oil prices, bond yields and the Dollar Index ease on signs that ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran could begin as early as Thursday.

Still, nothing is confirmed, and it may be too soon to position for a full return to normalcy, according to some observers.

“We are not geopolitical experts, but we would have thought Iran would have maximum leverage of high energy prices going into any negotiation,” analysts at ING said. “Thus, it is probably too early to expect any big drop in energy prices or a much softer dollar this week.”

Skepticism remains on the Iranian side as well. According to Axios, officials have told Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey that recent U.S. military movements have deepened suspicions that Trump’s peace proposal may be just a ruse.

Macro conditions are also turning less supportive. The U.S. money market curve has now priced out any Fed easing this year, a sharp shift from earlier expectations of at least two 25-basis-point cuts, which were seen as a key bullish catalyst for BTC and other risk assets.

On the crypto front, the news flow hasn’t helped either. Circle Internet’s (CRCL) stock slid Tuesday after a leaked draft of the Clarity Act suggested limits on paying interest on idle stablecoin balances. Meanwhile, Arkham Intelligence reported that Bhutan may be selling roughly $30 million worth of BTC, with the government still holding 4,453 coins valued at about $315.9 million.

Despite these headwinds, bitcoin continues to hold above $70,000, with dips proving short-lived. A market that refuses to fall on negative news often signals underlying strength, potentially setting the stage for a larger move higher. Dynamics of bitcoin’s impending options expiry on Friday point to a potential for a bounce to $75,000. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today

What to Watch

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead“.

• Crypto
• Macro
  • March 25, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. Import Prices MoM for February est. 0.2% (Prev. 0.2%); Export Prices MoM (Prev. 0.6%)
• Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)

Token Events

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead“.

• Governance votes & calls
• Unlocks
  • March 25: Humanity (H) to unlock 4.19% of its circulating supply worth $10.1 million.
• Token Launches

Conferences

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead“.

Market Movements

• BTC is up 2.21% from 4 p.m. ET Tuesday at $71,509.33 (24hrs: +0.68%)
• ETH is up 2.99% at $2,184.78 (24hrs: +1.43%)
• CoinDesk 20 is up 2.73% at 2,065.01 (24hrs: +0.93%)
• Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 7 bps at 2.74%
• BTC funding rate is at 0.0005% (0.4960% annualized) on Binance

• DXY is down 0.15% at 99.29
• Gold futures are up 3.13% at $4,536.90
• Silver futures are up 4.38% at $72.31
• Nikkei 225 closed up 2.87% at 53,749.62
• Hang Seng closed up 1.09% at 25,335.95
• FTSE 100 is up 0.85% at 10,049.44
• Euro Stoxx 50 is up 1.39% at 5,658.96
• DJIA closed on Tuesday down 0.18% at 46,124.06
• S&P 500 closed down 0.37% at 6,556.37
• Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.84% at 21,761.89
• S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.18% at 31,941.59
• S&P Latin America 40 closed up 0.43% at 3,480.97
• U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 6 bps at 4.39%
• E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.68% at 6,651.25
• E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.86% at 24,422.75
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 0.67% at 46,727.00

Bitcoin Stats

• BTC Dominance: 58.97% (0.16%)
• Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.03055 (-0.04%)
• Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 977 EH/s
• Hashprice (spot): $33.72
• Total fees: 2.5 BTC / $175,777
• CME Futures Open Interest: 116,345 BTC
• BTC priced in gold: 15.7 oz.
• BTC vs gold market cap: 4.77%

Technical Analysis

• The chart shows daily swings in the bitcoin-gold ratio since July last year.
• The ratio has bounced 23% this month, signaling bitcoin’s outperformance relative to gold.
• However, the broader bitcoin bear market is still intact and the ratio had yet to top the trendline representing the slide since August 2025.

Crypto Equities

• Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Tuesday at $181.04 (-9.76%), +2.94% at $186.36 in pre-market
• MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $8.25 (-7.41%), +3.52% at $8.54
• Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $14.33 (-0.28%), +2.72% at $14.72
• Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $16.85 (+1.63%), +2.43% at $17.26
• CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.58 (-4.01%), +2.61% at $9.83
• Exodus Movement, Inc. (EXOD): closed at $7.20 (-11.33%), +6.39% at $7.66
• CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI): closed at $38.87 (-1.35%)
• Circle Internet Group (CRCL): closed at $101.17 (-20.11%), +3.04% at $104.25
• Bullish (BLSH): closed at $37.37 (-5.51%), +1.61% at $37.97

Crypto Treasury Companies

• Strategy (MSTR): closed at $136.25 (-1.41%), +2.97% at $140.29
• Sharplink (SBET): closed at $7.17 (-4.53%), +3.63% at $7.43
• Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $21.30 (-1.84%), +2.58% at $21.85
• Strive Asset Management, LLC (ASST): closed at $9.93 (-4.89%), +2.01% at $10.13
• Upexi (UPXI): closed at $1.11 (-5.13%), +2.70% at $1.14
• Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.20 (+1.69%)

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

• Daily net flows: -$66.6 million
• Cumulative net flows: $56.31 billion
• Total BTC holdings ~1.29 million

Spot ETH ETFs

• Daily net flows: -$40.7 million
• Cumulative net flows: $11.7 billion
• Total ETH holdings ~5.79 million

Source: Farside Investors

While You Were Sleeping

As the chart shows, Alphabet (GOOGL) shares have dropped to their lowest level of 2026, with trading closing well below the psychological $300 per share mark.

Why Have Alphabet (GOOGL) Shares Declined?

The bearish move is driven by a combination of factors, including:

→ Escalating geopolitical tensions. With the prospect of a prolonged US conflict with Iran becoming more relevant, market participants may be reducing exposure to risk assets, favouring stability instead. Technology stocks are particularly vulnerable in such an environment.

→ In March, it was reported that Alphabet plans to allocate $175–185 billion to AI infrastructure this year. These expenditures could weigh on profit margins, while a quick return on investment is far from guaranteed.

In addition, media reports point to pressure from antitrust regulators, downward revisions to price targets by analysts, and share sales by GOOGL executives. Meanwhile, the chart and volume analysis highlight a significant shift in market sentiment.

Technical Analysis of GOOGL Shares

Note the price behaviour during periods of exceptionally high trading volumes. The arrows indicate:

→ A move above the $300 psychological level accompanied by a bullish gap — a sign of emotional buying momentum that gradually faded.

→ A sharp decline in February on very high volumes, suggesting that bears attempted to seize control. The formation of lower highs and lower lows confirms their success.

Yesterday, GOOGL opened with a bearish gap and closed at the low of a wide candle — a clear sign that sellers are strengthening their grip.

Bulls need to regain control quickly; otherwise, if bearish dominance persists:

→ Alphabet (GOOGL) shares may continue to decline within the red descending channel;
→ The $300 level could act as psychological resistance during any recovery attempts;
→ A move towards the $250 level cannot be ruled out.

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This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.

Memecoin launchpad Pump.fun introduced a new restriction on creator fee settings, limiting token deployers to a single post-launch change in how fees are distributed on the platform. 

In a post on X, Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen said the update aims to reduce “griefing” — where creators alter fee recipients after a token gains traction — and other forms of manipulation tied to fee redirection, where token creators can alter who receives fees after a coin gains traction. 

Under the change, each token will have one opportunity to redirect creator fees to a different wallet, after which the configuration becomes permanently locked. 

Pump.fun’s latest update follows a broader overhaul announced in January, when the platform acknowledged that its creator-fee model had skewed incentives by disproportionately rewarding token deployers over traders.

Pump.fun’s broader attempts to shift incentives to traders

On Jan. 10, the platform introduced changes like multi-wallet distribution and post-launch controls, aiming to improve transparency and better align rewards with trading activity. 

On Feb. 17, Pump.fun introduced “Cashback Coins,” requiring creators to choose at launch whether fees go to themselves or are redirected to traders, with that high-level model locked in once selected. 

The change aimed to rebalance the distribution of rewards between token deployers and traders. However, while the overall fee model was fixed at launch, creators or coin admins could still adjust the specific wallets receiving those fees and how they were distributed after a token went live.

Related: ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl Haliey Welch says memecoin implosion ‘traumatized’ her

This meant that even if the model didn’t change, the underlying recipients could, creating potential trust issues for traders. The latest update narrows that flexibility by allowing only a single post-launch change to fee recipients, after which the configuration is permanently locked.

Early community reactions suggest the change may do little to address broader trading dynamics on the platform. X user gake said the change might not help much, while another user, tom, described it as a “drop in the bucket” that shows the team is at least acknowledging the issue.

Pump.fun activity drops as fees and volume fall year over year

Pump.fun’s shift in its incentive structure comes as its fees have declined from their peak. DefiLlama data shows that in January 2026, the platform recorded $31.8 million in fees, down about 75% from $148 million in January 2025, its best-performing month to date.

In February 2026, the platform recorded $25 million in revenue, down 66% from nearly $75 million in February 2025.

The platform’s trading volume has followed a similar pattern. According to DefiLlama, Pump.fun recorded monthly volume of over $11.6 billion in January 2025, which fell to about $2.1 billion in January 2026, a decline of roughly 81%.

In February 2026, monthly volume totaled about $1.91 billion, down 68% from $6.1 billion in February 2025.