Morning News | Nexthop AI completes $500 million Series B funding; "xMoney" will begin early testing next month; The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Iran's use of Binance to evade sanctions

整理：ChainCatcher

Important News:

• Over 85 digital asset companies, including Circle and Binance, join Mastercard's cryptocurrency partnership program
• Musk announces early testing of X digital payment system "xMoney" will begin next month
• CZ: Binance's annual revenue is about $5 billion, Forbes' estimate of my net worth is seriously inaccurate
• AI infrastructure company Nexthop AI completes $500 million Series B funding round, with participation from a16z and others
• The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Iran's use of Binance to evade sanctions
• National People's Congress representative proposes revision of the People's Bank Law to clarify the legal status of digital RMB
• Bithumb faces suspension of new customer services for violating anti-money laundering regulations

What important events happened in the past 24 hours?

YZi Labs demands CEA Industries respond to "operational vacuum" issue and terminate 10X asset management agreement

According to ChainCatcher, YZi Labs issued a statement based on a lawsuit filed by investor Abraham Gomez against Nasdaq-listed CEA Industries and its director Hans Thomas, indicating that the company is in a near "operational vacuum" state, lacking a CFO, COO, operational or marketing team, and even a fund management system, with no registered domain or functioning website.

YZi Labs pointed out that this situation highlights the failure of CEA Industries' board oversight, and while signing a 20-year asset management agreement with 10X Capital Asset Management to manage substantial funds, they failed to establish basic corporate governance and operational infrastructure. Therefore, they demand the board publicly respond to the related allegations, establish an independent committee to investigate Hans Thomas, and terminate the agreement with 10X Capital Asset Management.

Binance formally files a defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for false reporting

According to ChainCatcher, Binance officially filed a lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal on March 11, due to a report published by the media on February 23, 2026, regarding Iran sanctions.

Binance claims that the related content contains false and defamatory statements, which have led government officials to initiate baseless investigations against them. Binance's global litigation head Dugan Bliss stated that the lawsuit aims to hold The Wall Street Journal accountable for prioritizing traffic over journalistic integrity.

Lido responds to Aave liquidation event: Oracle price error caused liquidation, no issues with Lido protocol

According to ChainCatcher, Lido stated that Aave's CAPO oracle misquoted prices yesterday, leading to incorrect price boundaries for wstETH:USD in the AAVE market, triggering a liquidation event. No bad debts occurred, and all affected users will be fully compensated.

These erroneous price boundaries are unrelated to wstETH as the underlying asset and do not indicate any issues with the Lido protocol. Lido Earn products, including stRATEGY and GGV, were not affected by this liquidation, and user funds remain secure.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Iran's use of Binance to evade sanctions

According to ChainCatcher, The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how Iran uses the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, to evade U.S. sanctions.

The report cites company documents and informed sources, stating that an internal investigation into over $1 billion in suspicious fund flows at Binance was previously halted. These funds were funneled through the platform to a network funding Iran-supported terrorist organizations, including the Houthis in Yemen. The investigation focuses on the flow of these funds on Binance and its compliance risks.

AI infrastructure company Nexthop AI completes $500 million Series B funding round, with participation from a16z and others
According to ChainCatcher, Nexthop AI announced the completion of a $500 million oversubscribed Series B funding round, raising the company's valuation to approximately $4.2 billion. Investors in this round include a16z, Lightspeed, Altimeter Capital, Battery Ventures, Emergent Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), and WestBridge Capital.

The company stated that the funds will be used to accelerate the construction of efficient AI network infrastructure and launch three foundational network platforms, with the team now exceeding 300 people.

UK government's anti-fraud strategy document lists cryptocurrency as a "growing risk"

According to ChainCatcher, the UK Home Office released a strategic policy document for combating fraud from 2026 to 2029, listing cryptocurrency as a "growing risk."

The document points out that scams on social media and messaging apps induce victims to transfer money through emerging payment methods like cryptocurrency, and authorities still have weak links in combating such fraud. The country's National Crime Agency launched a nationwide campaign in 2025 to help consumers identify fraud, and the government is supporting law enforcement agencies, including the Serious Fraud Office, to enhance their investigative capabilities regarding crypto assets.

National People's Congress representative proposes revision of the People's Bank Law to clarify the legal status of digital RMB

According to ChainCatcher, Caixin reported that National People's Congress representative Fu Xiguo submitted a proposal to accelerate the revision and enactment of the People's Bank Law of the People's Republic of China, stating that the current digital RMB lacks clear legal regulation, and the issuance, circulation, and risk prevention face a legal vacuum. This leads to the central bank lacking legal basis in fulfilling its issuance management responsibilities, making it difficult to effectively ensure the safe circulation of digital RMB and protect financial consumer rights. The revision of the People's Bank Law should clarify the legal status of digital RMB and define the core responsibilities of the central bank as the issuer of digital RMB.

The new People's Bank Law should also include behaviors such as counterfeiting and tampering with digital RMB within the scope of legal regulation, clarifying corresponding legal responsibilities and penalties to ensure the safe circulation of digital RMB.

Bithumb faces suspension of new customer services for violating anti-money laundering regulations

According to ChainCatcher, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea has initiated sanction procedures against cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, as the exchange was found to allow users to transfer funds to unregistered overseas trading platforms and failed to implement customer identity verification (KYC) procedures. According to Seoul News, the sanctions may include a suspension of new customer services for up to six months, while existing users' deposits and withdrawals will not be affected.

This sanction adds to Bithumb's troubles, as the exchange previously mistakenly sent out $4 billion worth of Bitcoin due to operational errors and is currently under investigation by advertising regulators.

Other exchanges under FIU investigation include GOPAX and Coinone. Competitor Upbit also faced a three-month ban on new customers last year for similar violations and is currently challenging the ruling through legal means, with a court decision expected in April.

Arthur Hayes: I will not increase my Bitcoin holdings until the Fed restarts printing money

According to ChainCatcher, Arthur Hayes recently stated in a podcast that although he is bullish on Bitcoin in the long term (predicting it will reach $250,000 by the end of 2026), he will not purchase any Bitcoin until the Federal Reserve (Fed) eases monetary policy and restarts the "money printing machine."

Hayes pointed out that while the market generally believes that war is beneficial for Bitcoin, in reality, "money printing is beneficial for Bitcoin." He is concerned that ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could lead to massive sell-offs in U.S. stocks and Bitcoin, potentially triggering a liquidation chain reaction that could cause Bitcoin to drop below $60,000.

Currently, the price of Bitcoin is about $69,926, down 45% from its historical high of $126,000 set last October. He emphasized that the best buying opportunity will be when the Fed reintroduces liquidity to support military spending or alleviate market pressures.

CZ: Binance's annual revenue is about $5 billion, Forbes' estimate of my net worth is seriously inaccurate

According to ChainCatcher, Binance founder CZ stated on social media, "Forbes' estimate of my net worth is seriously inaccurate. Binance expects annual revenue of about $5 billion, but they estimate my net worth at $110 billion. I feel that if I try to claim I have a high net worth, they would actually lower my ranking, or even possibly remove me from the list altogether."

ChainCatcher previously reported that Forbes showed CZ's net worth surpassing Bill Gates, rising to $110 billion, ranking him 17th in the world.

Musk announces early testing of X digital payment system "xMoney" will begin next month

According to ChainCatcher, Musk announced that the digital payment system "xMoney" of the social media platform X will begin early public testing next month, initially in the U.S. market and then expanding globally.

Musk's ultimate goal is to transform X into a one-stop platform similar to WeChat, integrating streaming, messaging, images, videos, and financial services. In the future, users will be able to complete all financial transactions on X, including purchasing goods, storing value, tipping creators, and investing.

Over 85 digital asset companies, including Circle and Binance, join Mastercard's cryptocurrency partnership program
According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reported that Mastercard is recruiting over 85 digital asset companies, payment providers, and financial institutions to join a new global partnership program, including Circle, Binance, and Gemini.

The program aims to maintain the connection between cryptocurrency payments and the Mastercard network while positioning stablecoins as an alternative to traditional payment rails.
GoPlus: Beware of Google search results/ads for Clade Code being malicious installers
According to ChainCatcher, a security alert released by GoPlus warns that attackers are using Google search ads to deploy pixel-perfect clones of the official installation page for #Claude Code, which contains malware that steals user passwords, cookies, session tokens, and crypto wallets, credentials, and system information.

GoPlus advises users to identify ad indicators in search results, carefully check the URL against the official website for subtle differences; verify installation methods through official documentation, social media, or GitHub repositories; avoid executing unfamiliar commands directly, and analyze command behavior before running; and install security plugins to intercept phishing links, risky signatures, authorizations, and transactions in real-time.

USDC transaction volume surpasses USDT, stablecoin monthly trading volume reaches historic high

According to ChainCatcher, in February 2026, the monthly trading volume of stablecoins reached a historic high of $1.8 trillion, with USDC transaction volume surpassing the long-time leader USDT for the first time. Analysts attribute this to institutional participants' clear preference for compliant dollar infrastructure.

Adoption on the corporate side is accelerating. Circle completed $68 million in cross-account settlements among eight internal entities within 30 minutes using USDC, a process that would typically take 1 to 3 days via traditional bank wire transfers. CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that this process completed about 90% of the company's internal transfer settlements in a single day.

Analysts are also optimistic about Circle's prospects. Bernstein has given Circle an outperform rating, with a target price of $190, calling it a long-term winner. Circle's revenue is expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2025, a 64% year-on-year increase.

Competitive pressure is also rising, with institutions like Tether, PayPal, and Stripe launching their own stablecoin initiatives.

"Pig Butchering" mastermind Chen Zhi's lawyer submits motion to U.S. court to dismiss government's seizure of his Bitcoin

According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reported that this week, Chen Zhi, accused of being the mastermind behind a large-scale "pig butchering" scam, submitted a motion to a federal court in New York, requesting the dismissal of the U.S. government's seizure of a batch of Bitcoin associated with him. The lawyer argued that the prosecution's allegations regarding Chen's oversight of the scam operation lack specific evidence and are merely vague descriptions of the overall situation in Cambodia, while also questioning the timeline of the cryptocurrency seizure, asserting that this Bitcoin could not possibly be proceeds of fraud or money laundering.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last October the seizure of 127,271 Bitcoins controlled by Chen, valued at approximately $15 billion at the time. Chen's nationality was revoked by Cambodia in January this year, and he was extradited to China. Following sanctions from the U.S. and UK, over $1 billion in assets have been frozen or seized in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. Human rights organizations have pointed out that after the closure of the scam operation, thousands of trafficked workers have emerged from places like Sihanoukville, facing the risk of being sold again.

Meme Popularity Rankings

According to meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of March 12, 09:00,

The top five popular tokens on ETH in the past 24 hours are: SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI, ONDO

The top five popular tokens on Solana in the past 24 hours are: USELESS, Punch, WhiteWhale, APPLE, BUTTCOIN

The top five popular tokens on Base in the past 24 hours are: PEPE, BASED, B3, SKYA, NATO

What are some interesting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?

Bank card payments vs. stablecoin payments: Which is more suitable for AI agents?
Last Friday, I discussed with a maintainer from OpenClaw during a barbecue gathering about which payment rails agents should use. The debate lasted about 30 seconds, and he asserted directly:

"As long as it's not cryptocurrency, anything goes."

This is not without reason. Previously, after the Moltbook incident and a series of token issuances flooded the forums, OpenClaw's Discord community had completely banned any mention of cryptocurrency. Every serious discussion about agent architecture ultimately ties back to some token code. Therefore, banning the topic is a reasonable response.

Crypto Barbarians Jupiter Series: Still owe the market an answer

On February 26, 2026, on-chain detective ZachXBT officially unveiled the truth behind the Axiom Exchange insider trading case: a senior business developer abused backend permissions for ten months, profiting illegally over $400,000 by tracking KOL's private wallets. This report not only concluded the case but also settled the high-stakes prediction betting on Polymarket, which had a total stake of $40 million, leaving the entire market holding its breath.

However, the aftermath of the truth still lingers. Before the investigation was revealed, the market had unanimously pointed fingers at Meteora, whose implied probability once reached as high as 43%. This is not baseless speculation; according to crypto asset data platform RootData, Meteora is backed by a new Malaysian entrepreneurial team centered around Meow and Ben Chow, who built a full-stack matrix covering traffic entry, trading aggregation, and liquidity facilities from the ruins of Mercurial Finance in the Solana ecosystem.

Hong Kong Crypto Ecosystem 2.0: Stablecoins, RWA, and the new battleground for financial institutions

Waking up early and arriving late might be the most fitting description of Hong Kong's development history in the crypto industry.

In the early stages of the crypto industry, a series of companies that would later have far-reaching impacts were born here, including the current stablecoin giant Tether, the once-leading exchange FTX, the derivatives exchange BitMEX, and the well-known exchange Crypto.com. During that period, Hong Kong seemingly became one of the most important bases for global crypto entrepreneurship.

The world is no longer the same, Li Lin returns

News of a mass exodus of crypto talent has become increasingly common.

Those who once went all-in on Web3 are now changing their resumes to AI Builder. The people who experienced the barbaric growth of this industry are voting with their feet to leave.

However, as the most people leave, Li Lin is coming back. It is reported that he recently revealed his intention to return to entrepreneurship at the Avenir annual meeting.