Weekly Preview | SEC and CFTC Joint Crypto Regulatory Guidance Takes Effect; Polymarket Announces Major News, Community Speculation Revolves Around Fundraising or Cryptocurrency Issuance

Breaking News Preview:

• The joint cryptocurrency regulatory guidance document issued by the U.S. SEC and CFTC will officially take effect on March 23.

• Backpack will be performing at TGE on March 23.

• Polymarket will announce major news on March 23, with the community speculating that it may involve fundraising or issuing a token.

• The foreign ministers of the G7 will meet in Paris from March 24 to 25 to discuss ending the war with Iran;

• The U.S. Congress will hold a hearing on tokenization on March 25, and the CEO of the Blockchain Association will appear as a witness.

• Humanity (H) will unlock approximately 105 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on March 25th, representing approximately 4.19% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $10.2 million.

• Metaplanet will hold its shareholders' meeting on March 25.

March 23

Policy and regulation:

Bloomberg analysts: The SEC may process Morgan Stanley's BTC ETF application as early as March 23.

In response to the question of "how long will it take for the U.S. SEC to process Morgan Stanley's BTC ETF application", Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said: "It will take at least 75 days from the date of application submission. So it will be around March 23."

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management , which manages approximately $8 trillion in assets, has recommended a Bitcoin allocation range of 0-4% to its clients in its latest filing for a Bitcoin spot ETF. Calculations suggest that a 2% allocation would correspond to a Bitcoin size of approximately $160 billion, roughly three times the size of the existing IBIT share.

The joint crypto regulatory guidance document issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Canada Fintech (CFT ) will officially take effect on March 23.

According to Forbes, the joint guidance document on crypto assets issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was officially filed with the Federal Register on March 20 and is expected to take effect immediately after its official release on March 23 (next Monday), providing direct and actionable regulatory guidance for crypto market participants.

This document, with committee-level authority, will fully replace the "Analysis Framework for Digital Asset 'Investment Contracts'" released in 2019. It will also provide clear guidance for the enforcement and daily oversight work of the SEC and CFTC, marking the formal departure of the previous ambiguous stage of "enforcement instead of regulation" in US crypto regulation and the entry into a new stage of clear rules.

This joint guidance document is reportedly built upon Project Crypto, launched in 2025. This project, jointly driven by two regulatory bodies, aims to coordinate regulatory powers and establish a unified classification system for crypto assets. The guidance document is seen by the industry as a "regulatory bridge for crypto assets," providing clear guidance not only on crypto industry behavior, judicial analysis, and enforcement policies, but also offering immediate compliance clarity for entrepreneurs and investors before Congress moves forward with bipartisan market structure legislation. Its compliance basis is more stable and authoritative than previous employee-level guidance.

It is worth noting that the document divides crypto assets into five categories, clarifies the regulatory jurisdiction of different assets such as digital goods and digital securities, and clarifies the compliance boundaries of common crypto activities such as mining, staking, and airdrops, thus clearing away key obstacles for institutional entry and industry compliance innovation.

Exchange:

Binance will launch PAYP USDT perpetual contracts on March 23.

Binance will launch PAYP USDT perpetual stock contracts on March 23rd at 22:30 (UTC), supporting up to 10x leverage. The contract tracks PayPay stock prices and settles in USDT. It supports 24/7 trading and multi-asset trading, allowing users to use other assets such as BTC as margin. Funding fees are settled every 8 hours.

Project Updates:

Backpack will be performing at TGE on March 23.

Backpack announced that it will conduct TGE on March 23. Previously, Backpack announced its token economics: 25% of TGE will be released, with 24% allocated to token holders.

Polymarket is set to announce major news on March 23, with community speculation suggesting it may involve fundraising or the issuance of a new token.

Mustafa, a member of the Polymarket team, posted on the X platform that a major announcement will be made next Monday. Because the tweet included a coin symbol, the community speculates that it may be related to a funding round or token launch.

Nillion: nilChain will cease operation on March 23. Users need to migrate their NIL tokens to Ethereum in time.

Privacy blockchain project Nillion announced on the X platform that nilChain will cease operation on March 23. Users who still hold NIL tokens on Cosmos must migrate to Ethereum. After the chain shuts down, standard transfers will no longer be possible.

Neutron has switched to a long-term maintenance model, and starting March 23, dNTRN holders can redeem their NTRN.

Neutron, a Cosmos ecosystem project, has announced its transition to a long-term maintenance mode. Due to unfavorable market conditions over the past few months rendering its original strategy ineffective, and after failing to find alternative paths such as new product development, blockchain acquisitions, and a new leadership, Neutron has decided to prioritize the interests of its users and builders by transitioning the network to a long-term maintenance state. The DEX and Supervault will be suspended and enter a withdrawal-only mode no later than April 17th. dNTRN holders can redeem their NTRN through the Drop website or the Neutron application starting March 23rd. wstETH holders must bridge back to Ethereum by June 30th; the redemption mechanism for NTRN holders will be announced separately. Hadron Labs will be responsible for network maintenance until June 30, 2026, after which a manual withdrawal guide will be released. Governance will transition from a custom system to the standard Cosmos staking model, inflation will be dynamically adjusted, and the validator set will be reduced.

Token unlocking:

SOON will unlock approximately 21.88 million tokens at 4:30 PM Beijing time on March 23, representing about 5.06% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $2.8 million.

March 24

Macroeconomics:

On Tuesday, March 24th at 7:30 AM, Japan will release its February core CPI year-on-year rate; from 4:15 PM to 5:30 PM, the preliminary March manufacturing/services PMI values ​​for France, Germany, the Eurozone, and the UK will be released successively; at 9:45 PM, the preliminary March S&P Global Manufacturing/Services PMI value for the US will be released.

The G7 foreign ministers will meet in Paris on March 24-25 to discuss ending the war with Iran.

The Canadian Foreign Minister stated that the G7 foreign ministers will meet in Paris from March 24 to 25 to discuss pushing forward diplomatic efforts to end the war with Iran.

Token unlocking:

SoSoValue (SOSO) will unlock approximately 13.33 million tokens at 5 PM Beijing time on March 24th, representing about 4.55% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $5.4 million.

Nillion (NIL) will unlock approximately 114.4 million tokens at 9 PM Beijing time on March 24th, representing about 36.40% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $5.3 million.

Monad (MON) will unlock approximately 170 million tokens at 10 PM Beijing time on March 24th, representing about 0.34% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $3.6 million.

March 25

Policy and regulation:

The U.S. Congress will hold a hearing on tokenization on March 25, and the CEO of the Blockchain Association will appear as a witness.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett wrote on the X platform that the U.S. Congressional Financial Services Committee plans to hold a hearing on tokenization next Wednesday at 10 p.m. (Beijing time), and Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, will attend as an invited witness.

Project Updates:

BASED tokens will be airdropped directly to users' Hyperliquid wallets on TGE day. Eligible users can designate their receiving wallet on March 25th.

Omnichannel trading platform Based announced on Twitter that, to ensure a smooth experience and avoid claim congestion, the BASED airdrop tokens will be directly distributed to users' Hyperliquid wallets on the day of TGE, without requiring manual claiming. Eligible recipients can specify or update their preferred receiving wallet on the official page before 20:00 on March 25th. If no wallet is specified, the tokens will be sent to the user's default address.

Exchange:

Binance will delist APTUSD and OPUSD-margined perpetual contracts on March 25th.

Binance Futures will automatically settle and delist the COIN-M APTUSD and OPUSD perpetual contracts at 17:00 (UTC+8) on March 25, 2026.

Project Updates:

Metaplanet will hold its shareholders' meeting on March 25.

According to a Metaplanet announcement, the company's 27th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at Piara MM in Yokohama. The agenda items will be announced separately once finalized. The shareholder eligibility date is December 31, 2025.

Token unlocking:

Humanity (H) will unlock approximately 105 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on March 25th, representing approximately 4.19% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $10.2 million.

Plasma (XPL) will unlock approximately 88.89 million tokens at 8 PM Beijing time on March 25th, representing about 3.98% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $8.4 million.

March 26

Project Updates:

Huma Finance's Q3 token airdrop claim will close on March 26th.

Huma Finance announced that the HUMA token Q3 airdrop is now open for claims and will close on March 26th at 21:00 (snapback time: February 24th 00:00). Q4 has also launched simultaneously. Q3 users can claim the entire allocation at once. After claiming, users can stake HUMA to earn a 4% annualized yield (APY). Withdrawing locked PST or mPST during the claiming period will affect the allocation for the next quarter.

SOON: The soonBase L3 network will be shut down on March 26 to redirect resources to AI capital market development.

The Solana ecosystem project SOON announced on the X platform that its soonBase L3 network will be officially shut down on March 26. The team stated that, as the SOON ecosystem develops, resources will be concentrated on advancing the AI ​​capital market and the construction of related AI-driven products and infrastructure. The SOON mainnet and svmBNB network will remain unaffected and fully operational.

All users must withdraw their assets on soonBase L3 via the official bridging tool before March 26th. After closure, remaining assets will be transferred to a team-controlled contract on Base for safekeeping, and subsequent withdrawals will require manual processing by the team.

March 27

Macroeconomics:

At 22:00 on Friday, March 27th, the final readings of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for March and the final reading of the one-year inflation rate expectations will be released.

Exchange:

Bithumb will delist Neiro (NEIRO), and trading will close on March 27.

Bithumb will delist Neiro (NEIRO). The official statement indicates that, based on the materials submitted by the foundation, the reason for the trading warning flag has not been eliminated, therefore, the decision has been made to terminate trading support. Trading will close on March 27th, and withdrawals will close on April 27th.

The South Korean Federal Institute for Financial Services (FIU) fined Bithumb approximately $24.6 million and ordered it to partially cease operations for six months, starting March 27.

South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has imposed a six-month partial business suspension and a fine of 36.8 billion won (approximately US$24.6 million) on virtual asset exchange Bithumb for violating anti-money laundering (AML) obligations. During on-site inspections conducted between March and April of last year, the FIU found approximately 6.65 million violations of the Specific Financial Information Act, including 45,772 transactions with 18 unreported overseas virtual asset operators and approximately 6.59 million violations of Know Your Customer (KYC) and transaction restriction obligations.

The partial shutdown will last from March 27 to September 26. During this period, existing users' transactions will not be affected, but new users' transfer of virtual assets (deposits and withdrawals) will be restricted. In addition, Bithumb's representative director will receive a "reprimand," and the person in charge of the report will be suspended from duty for 6 months.

March 28

Policy and regulation:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended the deadline for resolving applications to list Nasdaq Bitcoin Index options from March 28 to May 27.

According to the SEC website, it has decided to extend the processing period for a decision on Nasdaq PHLX's proposed rule change regarding the listing and trading of Nasdaq Bitcoin Index options. The rule change proposal was initially submitted on September 23, 2025, and the SEC had previously initiated procedures in December 2025 to determine whether to approve it. In accordance with applicable laws, the SEC has now postponed the deadline for a final decision on this application from March 28, 2026, to May 27, 2026. The SEC explicitly stated that the extension is to ensure sufficient time for consideration of the proposal and the various questions and public comments it raises.

Token unlocking:

Jupiter (JUP) will unlock approximately 53.47 million tokens at 10 PM Beijing time on March 28th, representing about 1.55% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $8.3 million.

March 29

None available

Specific time to be determined

Project Updates:

Musk: A major update to the xAI recommendation algorithm will be released next week, and it will also be open source.

According to Jinshi News, Musk stated that a major update to the xAI recommendation algorithm will be released next week, and it will also be open-sourced.