Project Progress

HSBC and Standard Chartered are expected to become the first institutions in Hong Kong to obtain stablecoin issuance licenses, marking the imminent launch of Hong Kong's stablecoin regulatory framework. The new regulations require stablecoin issuers to obtain approval and comply with strict management requirements. The approval of both banks will drive traditional financial institutions' participation in blockchain payments and strengthen digital asset compliance.

Gate News, on March 13th, crypto lending platform Maple's syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT total deposits have exceeded $2.5 billion.

Aethir co-founder Mark announced that AethirClaw will be launched within the next one to two weeks, allowing users to deploy AI Agents on decentralized VPS. Aethir has deployed thousands of B300 GPUs, expanding its reach to 93 countries. Several major clients have already started AI projects based on its technology, and Aethir is actively accelerating the development of a decentralized AI computing power network.

Ripple Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse stated that the company will focus on developing enterprise blockchain applications, particularly the application of stablecoins in financial scenarios. Financial institutions' attention to digital assets continues to rise, and the efficiency improvements of blockchain technology in core business areas such as fund management have become a focus for management. Major institutions are actively deploying stablecoins to advance the development of enterprise-grade cryptocurrency payments.

The Across development team plans to convert DAO governance into private company management, leading to an increase in ACX token prices. The new structure aims to improve the company's ability to sign commercial contracts and stabilize revenue, while allowing token holders to exchange their tokens for company shares at a 1:1 ratio or opt for buybacks at prices above market value. This transition could spark a new wave of growth in blockchain technology and is regarded as a significant example in the evolution of crypto governance models.

Trump-backed World Liberty Financial is accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence and stablecoin payments, developing technology to support AI autonomous payments. The stablecoin market continues to expand, with projections reaching 3 trillion dollars by 2030. AI agents are expected to become the primary driver of this payment method in the future, propelling the development of the digital economy.

Ethereum has officially launched ERC-8004, establishing identity, reputation, and verification standards for artificial intelligence agents. Over 10,000 agents have already registered. This standard addresses the trust gap by enabling portable reputation and cross-platform discoverability, while integrating x402 payment mechanisms to enhance economic accountability for agents. Developers can easily integrate it without rewriting code.

Tencent Cloud team disclosed in an interview that there are over 10 Claw-class products in launch or development, with WorkBuddy already launched ahead of schedule. Tencent's security solutions cover host, network, and supply chain security. The team acknowledged that OpenClaw cannot possibly replace human labor, but believes that AI acceptance among non-technical users is significant.

Bitcoin mining pool operator Foundry Digital plans to launch a Zcash mining pool in April to serve institutional miners and promote the development of privacy blockchains. Despite Zcash's significant price pullback, institutions remain bullish on its long-term value, believing that privacy technology may play an important role in the financial system.

Kyle Samani published a long post on X platform discussing Solana's PropAMM, emphasizing its potential to surpass traditional centralized trading models in efficiency. He pointed out that by directly hosting market-making algorithms on the blockchain, PropAMM can achieve lower-latency price updates. Despite facing some challenges, the upcoming Solana upgrade will significantly enhance PropAMM performance and is expected to become the dominant on-chain trading model.

Circle is dedicated to building blockchain payment infrastructure to enhance capital flow efficiency. It collaborates with partners such as Mastercard to promote the adoption of stablecoin USDC, emphasizing the transformative potential of blockchain technology for the financial system. Stablecoins are primarily used for trading, payments, and value storage, with expectations for broader mainstream acceptance in the future.

AI Agent platform Starchild launched its Projects feature on March 13, allowing users to create projects and generate public links through natural language instructions. The newly launched Explore community feature enables users to share their work. New users can also receive a $5 free credit to experience the platform.

Anchorage Digital and Puffer Finance have integrated, allowing institutional clients to participate in Ethereum liquid restaking on their platform without the need to operate validators themselves, thereby reducing technical and compliance complexities. This integration aims to expand institutional access to on-chain services, including staking and governance. The restaking market has become an emerging sector, with a locked-in value of $7.2 billion, and institutional demand for this strategy continues to grow.

Gate News reports that on March 13, xAI Omni team technical lead Haotian Liu posted on social media stating he has left xAI earlier this week. Haotian Liu previously independently led the development of the Grok Imagine v0.9 & v1 (image + video generation) projects.

Bitcoin investor Olivier Janssens has proposed a plan to pay all residents on the Caribbean island of Nevis $100 monthly to promote his libertarian community project Destiny. The project has faced criticism from opponents, who have characterized the initiative as coercion and bribery. The project involves billions of dollars in development and plans to purchase 2,400 acres of land.

On March 13, Project 0 founder MacBrennan announced that a team member's GitHub key was compromised, and the attacker redirected users to other websites. The team detected and prevented the vulnerability in time, avoiding any loss of funds, but one user lost $1,000, and the platform will issue a full refund.

The OpenClaw project has over 300,000 stars on GitHub, ranking 9th, second only to some learning resource projects. The project was open-sourced by Peter Steinberger in 2025 and has experienced rapid growth, surpassing numerous notable projects in just two months, becoming the only active software project in the top ten.

Hong Kong is about to issue its first batch of stablecoin licenses, with approved institutions including HSBC, joint venture Anchorpoint, and OSL Group. Regulators aim to ensure market stability through strict regulations, while Chinese companies such as Ant Group and JD.com are absent from this round of license competition due to policy constraints. This move will impact the global stablecoin regulatory landscape.

Base Build announced on March 13 that it will launch new Base.dev foundational components aimed at simplifying the building, management, and showcase of applications, covering three major features: metadata, notifications, and distribution. The metadata feature will go live in mid-March, while notifications and distribution features are scheduled to launch on April 9, at which time Base App will discontinue using the Farcaster specification.

Brevis recently launched an end-to-end media authenticity system that allows images and videos to cryptographically prove their origins while protecting user data. The Shift From Detection to Proof On March 9, 2026, the zero-knowledge-proof computing company Brevis launched an end-to-end media au