The Federal Reserve will maintain interest rates at 3.5%-3.75% on March 18. Market attention will be on Powell's comments regarding inflation and future policy. Rising core PCE and oil price pressures limit the room for rate cuts, with only a 30% chance of easing this year. Political factors influencing Powell's tenure have led to noticeable market reactions, and risk assets as well as cryptocurrency prices are expected to be affected.

Middle East tensions remain elevated, with investors focusing on the impact of high oil prices on inflation and the Fed's interest rate decision. U.S. stocks rose slightly, with energy stocks performing well, while Bitcoin consolidated around thousand dollars. Markets expect the Fed to hold rates steady, with attention on Powell's remarks.

On March 17, the cryptocurrency market rebounded significantly due to substantial ETF inflows, with total market capitalization breaking through $2.50 trillion and reaching a six-week high. Bitcoin price briefly approached $75,000, potentially facing pullback risks in the short term. Privacy asset Zcash performed exceptionally well, with gains reaching 18%. OpenSea delayed its token issuance plan to address market uncertainty. The U.S. SEC is considering easing corporate financial disclosure requirements, which could benefit risk assets. The market still faces headwinds and profit-taking pressure.

Gate News reports that on March 17, according to monitoring, Alibaba is advancing an internal plan to provide employees with token allowances to encourage the use of AI models and tools in their work. Employees can freely use previously paid AI tools such as the Wukong and Qoder series, covering technical research and development as well as general office scenarios. Additionally, employees can apply for company reimbursement when purchasing Bailian Coding Plan memberships or external AI development tools.

Bitdeer's mining and operational data disclosed in February 2026 showed that its self-operated hash rate reached 68 EH/s, with 705 BTC mined, representing a year-over-year growth of 541%. The AI cloud business is developing well, with 2,096 GPUs deployed and annualized revenue of approximately $21 million. The company is also negotiating leasing agreements with potential customers and plans to begin mass production of the SEALMINER A4-1 mining machine in March 2026.

Gate News reports that on March 16, Byreal AI's Skill agent has launched on the ClawHub platform, providing autonomous discovery, installation, and execution capabilities for OpenClaw AI agents. Through this Skill, AI agents can achieve autonomous trading operations on Solana decentralized exchanges (DEX), as well as autonomous management functions for liquidity pools (LP).

This week, Bitcoin spot ETF net inflows were significant, with BlackRock's IBIT absorbing $600.1 million and solidifying its leading position, while Grayscale's GBTC saw outflows of $25.9 million. Meanwhile, Ethereum and Solana ETFs also performed well, but XRP ETF experienced capital outflows of $28.07 million. Analysis suggests that current capital flows indicate institutional demand for safe-haven positioning in mainstream crypto assets, while the cautious stance toward XRP may influence market trends.

Gate News reported that on March 15, Claude announced a doubled usage quota promotion from March 13 to 27 for users on free, Pro, Max, and Team plans. The promotion automatically takes effect during off-peak hours, defined as times outside 5 AM to 11 AM Pacific Time on each business day (12 PM to 6 PM GMT), as well as all day on weekends. Claude stated that this initiative aims to reward users and optimize system load.

Gate News reported that on March 15, Clément Delangue, CEO of the well-known artificial intelligence community Huggingface, recently stated on the X platform that the hype around OpenClaw will fade within six weeks. However, some users believe that OpenClaw is far from dead and remains active in developer communities and Asian markets, highlighting the geographic differences and rapid iteration characteristics of AI trends.

Fantasy.top faces accusations from angel investors, claiming the team went silent and refused to refund $50,000, sparking "soft Rug Pull" allegations. Founder Travis Bickle countered that the company operates based on product revenue and has not used investors' funds. Several well-known investors also reported experiencing similar situations.