Project Progress

Pi Network completed a mainnet upgrade to Protocol 20 on March 18, providing a smart contract execution environment to support upcoming NFT and escrow functionalities. Smart contracts will be rolled out in phases, with the first phase featuring subscription contracts, followed by escrow contracts and NFT tools in subsequent phases. Each step requires security audits and community verification to ensure safety and stability.

Pi Network's latest upgrade to Protocol 20 establishes foundational support for smart contracts, focusing on real-world applications. The rollout emphasizes careful testing and community feedback while improving tools like Pi Wallet and SDK, marking a significant advancement for the ecosystem.

Gate News, on March 18, Jupiter Wallet announced the launch of Auto Earn feature. This feature allows users to set a trigger amount (minimum $10). When the wallet balance reaches the set threshold, the system will automatically deposit tokens into the Jup Lend protocol. This process requires no gas fees from users, and idle tokens can automatically generate yields.

Decentralized derivatives platform Aster launched Aster Chain on March 18, a high-performance privacy blockchain designed specifically for perpetual futures, supporting cross-chain asset deposits and emphasizing account-level privacy protection. Although the mainnet launch drove a brief surge in ASTER price, trading volume and total locked value declined significantly. Whether it can attract liquidity in the future will be key to its growth.

New York-based platform Theo announced the completion of a $100 million funding round and launched thUSD, a yield-bearing stablecoin backed by gold. It creates two independent sources of income through arbitrage between the gold token thGOLD and gold futures, aiming to provide hedging and returns in unstable markets. Unlike Tether Gold and PAX Gold, thUSD not only tracks gold prices but also actively generates additional yield. The platform plans to open in 200 countries worldwide and is compatible with various lending protocols.

Gate News Update: On March 18, João (@0xTimepunk) announced today that he has officially joined the Aave Protocol as Chief Smart Contract Engineer. João will be involved in smart contract development for the protocol and work with the team to advance the development of on-chain lending applications. It is reported that João previously served as Engineering Lead at Superform XYZ and is also an AI project

Nado decentralized exchange launched Silver commodity perpetual futures (XAG-PERP) on March 18, supporting up to 20x leverage with an isolated margin mode that ensures liquidation of a single position does not affect other holdings. Trading hours align with CME Globex, with position reduction operations only available during non-trading sessions.

Nexus closed its testnet on March 17 and entered the mainnet phase directly, supporting DeFi applications, financial institutions, and AI systems. The testnet attracted 2.6 million participants and processed 58 million transactions, achieving a 1000x improvement in throughput.

Gate News, on March 18, Starknet mainnet will begin a planned upgrade starting at 17:10 (UTC+8) today, with an estimated downtime of approximately 12 minutes. Starknet stated that this upgrade is part of its move toward further decentralization, which will transfer the block hash calculation of Starknet blocks to decentralized Apollo nodes.

Gate News: On March 18, Starknet officially posted on X stating that its mainnet will temporarily shut down starting at 9:10 AM UTC today for a scheduled upgrade.

Anuma, in the ZetaChain ecosystem, has launched Anuma Friends, an AI phone number feature that allows users to interact with AI assistants via SMS without downloading apps or internet access. Services include Anuma and Coco, with subscription fees of $5.99/month.

Harry Howard AI recently completed testing of its prediction market product, attracting 8,518 participants and generating 26,423 transactions. The platform secured $3 million in seed funding in 2025, is currently advancing private fundraising efforts, and plans to launch a token.

Stacks Labs has successfully implemented the SIP-034 upgrade, enhancing network processing efficiency for DeFi applications by up to 30 times by resolving critical bottlenecks. This update allows selective reset of resource limits, enabling more transactions per block, particularly benefiting complex DeFi use cases. While STX tokenomics remain unchanged, the upgrade may boost long-term network activity.

The CFTC issued a "no-action" letter to Phantom Technologies, allowing it to connect users to regulated futures markets without registering as a broker. This decision promotes transparency for non-custodial wallet developers and may guide future regulations.

Starchild platform launched the Skills Hub feature on March 18, enabling users to browse and install community skills, support custom skill publishing, integrate mainstream crypto data sources, and achieve modular workflow sharing. Currently available in beta version with free trial.

Privacy-first wallet Shield, built on privacy blockchain Aleo, launched its iOS version on March 18, allowing users to use it on iPhone with support for private transfers, stablecoins, and cross-chain swaps, while employing zero-knowledge proof technology to protect transaction privacy.

Pi Network has launched the "Security Circle Activation Protocol," aimed at enhancing network resilience and trustworthiness, and promoting integration toward DeFi and Web3. The new protocol introduces a decentralized governance layer, strengthens transaction validation and participant identity verification, and provides a framework for institutional participation. The community is optimistic about rumors of well-known institutions joining, but caution should be exercised pending official confirmation. This technical upgrade is viewed as an important step in driving Pi Coin toward a mature financial ecosystem.

Five major U.S. regional banks have announced the launch of Cari Network, a blockchain payment platform leveraging ZKsync technology to enable real-time settlement while maintaining FDIC insurance protection. Unlike stablecoins, this platform records tokenized deposits directly on bank balance sheets in compliance with regulatory requirements. Facing competitive and regulatory pressures, banks chose to take action before 2026 to capture first-mover advantage. The core strengths lie in legal structure and safeguard mechanisms, but the platform also faces challenges in interoperability and market competition.

The head of the Plasma engineering team stated that Plasma One has entered the private testing phase, aimed at enhancing the usability and user experience of crypto products and building services similar to a new type of digital bank. The team plans to accelerate iteration and open up early access.

Gate News reports that on March 18, xStocks announced on the X platform that its points system, xPoints, now has query functionality enabled. Users can automatically accumulate points through three methods: holding tokenized stocks in their wallet, establishing positions in the lending market, and providing liquidity to decentralized exchanges (DEX). xStocks stated that it will announce more partnership information in the coming weeks.