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Tether seeks Big Four firm for its first full financial audit: Report

Stablecoin issuer Tether is reportedly engaging with a Big Four accounting firm to audit its assets reserve and verify that its USDT (USDT) stablecoin is backed at a 1:1 ratio.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reportedly said the audit process would be more straightforward under pro-crypto US President Donald Trump. It comes after rising industry concerns over a potential FTX-style liquidity crisis for Tether due to its lack of third-party audits.

Tether to produce first full audit after scrutiny

“If the President of the United States says this is top priority for the US, Big Four auditing firms will have to listen, so we are very happy with that,” Ardoino told Reuters on March 21.

“It’s our top priority,” Ardoino said. It was reported that Tether is currently subject to quarterly reports but not a full independent annual audit,

Crypto VC giant targets $1B for new funds, expects oversubscription — Report

Venture capital firm Haun Ventures is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion for two new crypto-related investment funds within the next three months.

If successful, $500 million will be allocated to early-stage crypto investments, while the remaining $500 million will go toward late-stage crypto investments, people familiar with the matter told Fortune Crypto on March 21.

Different market conditions to 2022 led to lowered expectations

The VC firm, founded by former Coinbase board member and federal prosecutor Katie Haun in 2022, reportedly did not aim for the $1.5 billion it raised in its highly praised funding round in 2022. It cited different market conditions as the reason for the lower target.

However, Haun reportedly expects the two new funds will be “oversubscribed.” In March 2022, Haun secured $1.5 billion in the company’s first funding round, shortly after its launch. Haun had also recruited former executives from Airbnb, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null"

John Reed Stark opposes regulatory reform at SEC crypto roundtable

John Reed Stark, the former director of the Office of Internet Enforcement at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pushed back against the idea of regulatory reform at the first SEC crypto roundtable.

The former regulator said the Securities Act of 1933 and 1934 should not be changed to accommodate digital assets and urged that digital assets do not escape the definition of securities under the current laws.

The first-ever SEC crypto roundtable. Source: SEC

“The people buying crypto are not collectors. We all know that they are investors, and the mission of the SEC is to protect investors,” Stark said. The former official added:

“The volume of case law has developed so quickly because of all these crypto firms. They went for this sort of delay, delay, delay, idea, and they hired the best law firms in the world, and these law firms all fought

Crypto super PAC network to back GOP House candidates in Florida

A Super PAC network funded by the crypto industry is poised to back two Republican candidates for the United States House of Representatives in Florida’s April 1 special elections, according to a March 21 report by Politico. The network includes Fairshake, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress.

Defend American Jobs will start the spending by airing a $1.2 million ad for Florida State Senator Randy Fine, who aims to replace former representative Michael Waltz, who resigned his House seat to become US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. “Floridians want crypto innovation!” Fine posted on X on Jan. 14, while also highlighting the need for “clear rules of the road.”

Defend American Jobs is also spending $345,000 to support Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in his quest to replace former representative <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-nominates-bitcoin-supporter-matt-gaetz-us-attorney-general" rel="" target="_self"

Crypto Biz: As crypto booms, recession looms

America’s pro-crypto policy shift has become a bipartisan commitment as Democrats and Republicans look to secure the US dollar’s influence as a global reserve currency. According to US Representative and California Democrat Ro Khanna, at least 70 of his fellow party members now understand the importance of stablecoin regulation.

According to Khanna, Americans can expect sensible crypto market structure and stablecoin bills this year. Under normal circumstances, this news would send crypto prices soaring, but that’s not been the case as President Donald Trump’s trade policies stoke recession fears.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is the latest crypto industry executive to sound the recession alarm. While a recession is rarely a good thing, Wood said it could provide Trump and the Federal Reserve with leeway to enact pro-growth policies.

“We are worried about a recession” — Cathie Wood

Although US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Nigeria still open to crypto business despite rocky past: Report

The government of Nigeria is still open to crypto businesses operating in the country despite the ongoing lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance and the high-profile detention of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan.

Nigerian Information Minister Mohammed Idris told Semafor that many crypto businesses operate inside the country that are not facing litigation or criminal prosecution.

“This is part of the effort to strengthen our laws, not to cripple anybody. We are ensuring that no one comes and operates without regulation,” Idris told the outlet.

Nigeria filed an $81.5 billion lawsuit against Binance in February, claiming the exchange crashed Nigeria’s local currency, the naira, and said that Binance owed $2 billion in back taxes as the Nigerian government continues to grapple with sensible crypto policy.

The naira M2 money supply has been rapidly increasing since March 2024. Source: Trading Economics

Coinbase in talks to buy derivatives exchange Deribit: Report

Coinbase is in advanced talks to buy Deribit, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, according to a March 21 report by Bloomberg.

Acquiring Deribit — the world’s largest venue for trading Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) options — would bolster Coinbase’s existing derivatives platform, which currently focuses on futures.

Coinbase and Deribit have reportedly alerted regulators in Dubai to the deal talks. Deribit holds a license in Dubai, which would need to be transferred to Coinbase if a deal goes through, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources.

In January, Bloomberg reported that a deal with Coinbase could value Deribit at between $4 billion and $5 billion.

Deribit lists options, futures and spot cryptocurrencies. Its total trading volumes last year were around $1.2 trillion, Bloomberg said.

On March 20, Kraken, a rival crypto exchange, announced plans to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/kraken-reportedly-nears-billion-dollar-deal-allowing-futures-trading-us-report" rel="null"

Ethereum open interest hits new all-time high — Will ETH price follow?

Ether (ETH) price dropped 6% between March 19 and March 21 after failing to break the $2,050 resistance level. More notably, ETH has fallen 28% since Feb. 21, underperforming the broader crypto market, which declined 14% over the same period.

Despite ETH’s price struggles, Ether futures open interest hit a record high on March 21. This has led traders to question whether large investors are positioning for a potential rally toward $2,400 while also raising concerns about the risks of cascading liquidations due to heightened leverage.

Ether futures aggregate open interest, ETH. Source: CoinGlass

The aggregate open interest in Ether futures rose 15% over two weeks, hitting a record 10.23 million ETH on March 21. Binance, Gate.io, and Bitget collectively dominate 51% of the market, while the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) holds 9% of ETH open interest, according to CoinGlass data. This contrasts with Bitcoin futures, where CME

SEC’s XRP reversal marks crypto industry victory ahead of SOL futures ETF launch: Finance Redefined

Crypto investors rejoiced this week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed one of the crypto industry’s most controversial lawsuits — one that resulted in an over four-year legal battle with Ripple Labs.

In another significant regulatory development, Solana-based futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have debuted in the US, a move that may signal the approval of spot Solana (SOL) ETFs as the “next logical step” for lawmakers.

SEC’s XRP reversal a “victory for the industry”: Ripple CEO

The SEC’s dismissal of its years-long lawsuit against Ripple Labs, the developer of the XRP Ledger blockchain network, is a “victory for the industry,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said at Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York.

On March 19, Garlinghouse revealed that the SEC would dismiss its legal action against Ripple, ending four years of litigation against the blockchain developer for an alleged $1.3-billion unregistered securities offering in 2020.

“It

Price analysis 3/21: BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, ADA, DOGE, TON, LINK, LEO

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery continues to face selling at higher levels, indicating that the bears have not given up. Trading resource Material Indicators said in a post on X that “Spoofy the Whale” has been suppressing Bitcoin’s price below $87,500.

Although the upside is currently restricted, select analysts believe that the downside is limited. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said in a post on X that Bitcoin may have bottomed out at $77,000, considering that the Federal Reserve announced a slowdown in its quantitative tightening from April.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Another bullish catalyst for Bitcoin could be the recession, according to BlackRock head of digital assets, Robbie Mitchnick. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Mitchnick said that the firm’s “sophisticated long-term Bitcoin accumulator” clients are not concerned by the current economic