TL;DR

• Iran-related geopolitical tensions are posing substantial risks to global trade, potentially causing supply chain disruptions, rising commodity prices, and shifts in global capital allocation.

• Key macroeconomic data this week include ISM manufacturing and services PMI, trade balance, export and import price indices, and the US employment report.

• Last week, BTC (-1.73%) and ETH (-0.91%) experienced slight declines, but spot ETF fund flows remained strong, with BTC recording a record $787 million in net inflows and ETH $80 million.

• Among the top 30 tokens by market cap, the average gain was about 2.1%, with HYPE (+16.9%) leading, driven by Hyperliquid oil perpetual contracts surge due to Iran supply risks and gaining mainstream exposure via Bloomberg.

• Fabric Foundation (ROBO) tokens officially launched, focusing on human-machine collaboration governance and coordination infrastructure. The initial price was $0.022, now around $0.039, listed on Gate, Bybit, and Bitget.

• Morgan Stanley applied for an OCC trust license to offer crypto custody services; Barclays explores blockchain payment/deposit solutions; major banks are actively developing regulated, 24/7 on-chain financial services.

• Based on Hyperliquid, the “super app” Based completed a $11.5 million Series A funding round led by Pantera Capital.

Macro Overview

The Iran situation highlights significant disruptions to global trade, including supply chain disturbances, price hikes, and reorientation of global capital flows.

The escalation not only directly impacts oil supply, boosts gold prices, and drives demand in the military-industrial complex but also causes notable disruptions in commodities, chemicals, and shipping capacity worldwide. Iran, located at the geopolitical crossroads of Eurasia and Africa, possesses abundant energy and mineral resources. By 2024, Iran accounts for 4.5% of global oil and 6.4% of natural gas production, while the MENA region accounts for 33.6% and 21.3%, respectively. Iran’s industry is mainly oil and petrochemicals, being a major exporter of methanol, urea, and propane, with global capacities of about 9%, 5%, and 6–7%. Attacks on Iran’s industrial facilities by the US and Israel could significantly raise global prices of related chemicals. Additionally, a prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would severely impact global energy trade.

Since the start of the year, the US Trump administration has further advanced “Donroeism,” focusing on resource competition, immigration responses, and potential territorial expansion, adding more uncertainty to the global order. Increasingly, countries, including NATO allies, are emphasizing domestic resource utilization to strengthen defense and reindustrialize, potentially shifting global capital from USD assets to domestic investments.

This week, data releases include ISM manufacturing and services PMI, trade figures, export and import prices, and employment reports. The manufacturing and services PMI will provide the latest insights into February’s economic conditions. On Friday, the US non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate will be announced. January’s non-farm employment unexpectedly rose by 130,000, the highest in over a year, with the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%. This data has tempered expectations for Fed rate cuts and reinforced the consensus that the FOMC will remain on hold, waiting for new data in the coming months.

DXY

Last week, the US dollar index remained in the 97.4–97.9 range, showing resilience against other major currencies. (2)

US 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields

US Treasury yields nearly hit six-month lows last week, with the 10-year yield dropping below 4% amid ongoing US-Israel-Iran tensions. (3)

Gold

Last week, gold prices surged significantly amid Middle East geopolitical tensions, as investors sought safe-haven assets during volatile times. (4)

Crypto Market Overview

Mainstream Assets

BTC价格

ETH价格

ETH/BTC Ratio

Last week, BTC declined 1.73%, ETH fell 0.91%. Spot ETF funds saw a record $787 million inflow into BTC and $80.46 million into ETH, both hitting new highs. (5)

Market sentiment remains fragile, with the Fear & Greed Index at 10, indicating extreme fear. Meanwhile, the ETH/BTC ratio rebounded slightly, up 1.9% to 0.029. (6)

Due to US-Israel strikes on Iran, BTC experienced high volatility, briefly dropping to around $63,000 before quickly rebounding near $67,000.

Total Market Cap

Cryptocurrency total market cap

Total market cap excluding BTC and ETH

Total market cap excluding the top 10 dominant assets

Last week, total crypto market cap declined 1.87%. Excluding BTC and ETH, it fell 0.55%, with altcoins down 1.09%.

Top 30 Crypto Assets Performance

Data sources: Coinmarketcap and Gate Ventures, as of March 2, 2026

The top 30 assets averaged a 2.1% increase, led by HYPE, LEO, and XMR.

HYPE surged 16.9%. The main driver was a 5% rise in Hyperliquid oil perpetual contracts following US-Israel strikes on Iran, raising supply concerns and Strait of Hormuz risks, prompting flows into gold/silver perpetuals. This rally gained mainstream attention, with Bloomberg citing Hyperliquid oil prices in Iran risk reports. (7)

New Token Listings

Fabric Foundation (ROBO) is a nonprofit formed in partnership with OpenMind, a smart machine infrastructure company, dedicated to building governance, economic, and coordination infrastructure for human-machine collaboration. OpenMind is developing the OM1 operating system and FABRIC collaboration network. (8)

ROBO’s initial price was $0.022, now around $0.039, with steady performance post-listing. It is listed on Gate, Bybit, Bitget, among others.

Major Crypto Developments

Morgan Stanley Applies for OCC Bank License to Offer Crypto Custody

Morgan Stanley has applied for a national trust bank license with the OCC, named “Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association,” to custody digital assets and execute crypto transactions including trading, exchanges, transfers, and pledges. This marks its official expansion into digital asset infrastructure, following recent applications and approvals for crypto trust licenses by firms like Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, Bridge, and Crypto.com. (9)

Barclays Explores Blockchain Payment and Deposit Solutions

Barclays is evaluating blockchain infrastructure for core banking functions, including payments, deposits, and crypto-related applications (e.g., stablecoins, tokenized deposits). It has issued RFPs to potential tech partners, aiming to select vendors by April. This follows its investment in Ubyx stablecoin, reflecting a broader trend among banks and tech giants to develop on-chain settlement systems for faster, cheaper, 24/7 payments. (10)

PayPal, MoonPay, and M0 Launch PYUSDx Application-Specific Stablecoin

PayPal, MoonPay, and M0 announced PYUSDx, a tokenization and issuance framework enabling developers to quickly deploy application-specific USD-pegged stablecoins backed by PayPal USD. It supports cross-chain, brand customization, transparent reserves, and flexible economic models, expected to launch next month. PYUSDx aims to serve as “application layer” stablecoin infrastructure, integrating M0’s stablecoin platform with MoonPay’s issuance channels to simplify tech and operations. As fintech and big tech accelerate stablecoin payments, competition intensifies. The first developer, USD.ai, plans to issue a stablecoin for AI infrastructure applications. (11)

Major VC Activity

Ripple and Franklin Templeton Lead $5M Seed Round for AI Trust Startup t54 Labs

t54 Labs completed a $5 million seed round led by Anagram, PL Capital, and Franklin Templeton, with participation from Ripple, Virtuals Ventures, and Blockchain Coinvestors. The startup aims to build a trust layer for autonomous AI agents for users and institutions. Based in San Francisco, it develops identity verification (“know your agent”), real-time risk monitoring, native credit scoring, and integrated settlement tools. It is chain-agnostic but leverages blockchain for programmable settlement and accountability, with deployments on XRP Ledger, Solana, and Base networks, and has developed x402-secure for Coinbase’s x402 agent payment protocol. (12)

Hyperliquid-based “Super App” Based Completes $11.5M Series A, Led by Pantera

Based is a consumer-facing web3 trading and payments app built on Hyperliquid infrastructure, raising $11.5 million Series A led by Pantera, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, and Karatage. It combines wallet, fiat on/off ramps, crypto Visa card, perpetual contracts, and prediction markets, claiming over 100,000 registered users, 30,000 monthly active users, $40 billion in trading volume, and $14 million in revenue, mainly from developer fees and card charges. (13)

STS Digital Completes $30M Strategic Round to Expand Institutional Crypto Options Market-Making

STS Digital raised $30 million in a strategic round led by CMT Digital, with Payward, Strobe Ventures, Arrington Capital, F-Prime, and BitRock Capital participating. Funds will expand regulated institutional crypto options market-making and strengthen its role as a high-end liquidity provider. As a licensed principal trader, STS offers a unified trading interface (UI, API, voice) for spot, vanilla, and structured options on over 400 tokens, with quality execution, risk management, and balance sheet strength as core advantages for serving banks, asset managers, and intermediaries. (14)

VC Market Data

Last week, 13 deals closed, with 6 in DeFi (46%), 5 in Infrastructure (38%), 1 in Social (8%), and 1 in Data (8%).

Weekly VC deal summary, sources: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of March 2, 2026

Total disclosed funding was $76.15 million, with 3 undisclosed. Infrastructure received the most funding at $42.25 million. Largest deal: STS Digital ($30 million).

Weekly VC deal summary, sources: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of March 2, 2026

Total funding in the first week of March 2026 was $76.15 million, down 27% from the previous week.

About Gate Ventures

Gate Ventures is the venture capital arm of Gate.com, focusing on decentralized infrastructure, middleware, and application investments to promote Web 3.0 social and financial transformation. Collaborating with industry leaders worldwide, Gate Ventures supports innovative teams and startups redefining societal and financial relationships.

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