U.S. consumer confidence plunged in March and inflation expectations soared on concerns that President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs will push up prices and weaken the economy. Trump's tariffs have sparked a trade war. The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index, released on Friday, fell to 57.9 from a final reading of 64.7 in February. The index erased all of its gains after Trump won the election last November. Consumers' 12-month inflation expectations jumped to 4.9% from 4.3% in February. Over the next five years, consumers expect inflation to reach 3.9%. The shock of tariffs and the escalation of the trade war have roiled financial markets, triggering a stock market sell-off that also contributed to the sour sentiment this month. A poll showed that 57% of respondents believed that Trump's measures to revive the economy, including deep cuts in government spending and mass layoffs of federal workers, were too shaky, and 53% believed that the tariff war would do more harm than good.

As a key component of the ecosystem, the cross-chain bridge undertakes the basic function of connecting different blockchain networks and realizing cross-chain asset transfer.

Binance Wallet announced the launch of an exclusive TGE (Token Generation Event), and early project applications are now open; Binance Wallet is committed to helping small and medium-sized promising projects launch their tokens fairly through exclusive TGE events and reach an active real user base. After the token is launched, the token will be included in Binance Alpha. As a Binance platform listing observation selection pool, Binance Alpha is a platform for showcasing early crypto projects with growth potential. In addition, projects can also get liquidity support from Binance Wallet to start on-chain liquidity.

Layer1 blockchain Shardeum is preparing for the launch of its mainnet and has launched a structured airdrop campaign for early contributors. A total of 5.5 million SHM tokens will be distributed to 63,000 eligible wallets, and the airdrop is divided into two different phases, each targeting a different group of contributors: Phase 1 rewards users who participated in the Liberty Alphanet and Sphinx Betanet between February 2022 and June 2024, with a snapshot taken on June 22, 2024, with a total allocation of 3.3 million SHM. Phase 2 is mainly aimed at those who participated in Shardeum's Atomium incentivized testnet between June 2024 and March 2025, and a snapshot was taken on March 1, 2025, with a total allocation of 2.1 million SHM.

Last night, Hong Kong time, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the Trump family had negotiated with Binance.US about acquiring shares. However, a few hours later, Zhao Changpeng tweeted to refute the rumor, saying that WSJ distorted the facts and that he had never discussed the equity transaction of Binance.US with anyone.

Brazil plans to simplify international financial transactions for import and export contracts between BRICS member countries by using blockchain technology. The topic will be one of the priorities during Brazil's one-year presidency, which begins in January 2025. The proposal is different from the previous idea of creating a common currency for BRICS countries. Sources said the move is not aimed at creating a standard transaction currency for foreign trade to compete with the US dollar. The focus this time is on making international transactions more efficient, which can be achieved through a technology that is closer to the immediacy and programmability of cryptocurrencies, which are already widely used in informal settings.

Understand the main differences between Ethereum, Solana, and Aptos in the life cycle of a transaction

U.S. Representative Byron Donalds plans to submit a draft bill to formalize the Trump administration’s recent executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and U.S. digital asset reserve. If the bill is passed, it will ensure that the policy will not be revoked by a future presidential executive order.

21Shares US LLC announced plans to liquidate two Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETFs, the ARK 21Shares Active Bitcoin Ethereum Strategy ETF (Cboe BZX: ARKY) and the ARK 21Shares Active On-Chain Bitcoin Strategy ETF (Cboe BZX: ARKC). Shareholders may sell their holdings in the Funds until the close of trading on Thursday, March 27, 2025, and such transactions may be subject to customary brokerage fees. The last trading day for both funds will be March 27, 2025. The Funds will be liquidated on or about March 28, 2025. Shareholders who continue to hold Fund shares on the Fund's liquidation date will receive a liquidation distribution equal to their pro rata ownership interest in the Fund on that date. Shareholders who receive a liquidation distribution will generally realize a capital gain or loss equal to the net asset value of their shares.