Olivia Capozzalo & Camila Russo
March 16, 2026

Happy Monday, Defiers!

Bitcoin soared above $75,000 on Monday, boosted by Strategy’s largest purchase of the year so far. Layer 1 tokens led the charge, with ETH surging 10% and SOL, DOT, ADA, and XRP also posting solid gains.

In other news:

Sky TVL surges almost 40% this month
SEC, CFTC officially promise to coordinate
BlockFills files for bankruptcy
WhiteBIT and 10 Other Firms Enter Ghana's First Crypto Regulatory Sandbox [MEDIA PARTNER]

Read more below! But first, please give our sponsors some love; they make this newsletter possible.

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Aligned: The Infrastructure Making Ethereum Inevitable

Less than 1% of the world’s assets are onchain.

The gap is immense, but it is accelerating and it is surmountable. To be equipped for the remaining 99% of global assets, Ethereum must prepare for the next phase of capital migration: business.

But today, building an onchain business means compiling a patchwork of solutions from a variety of vendors.

Aligned is the Ethereum migration stack helping businesses run real financial products onchain, without stitching together disparate vendors. It bundles the core infrastructure businesses need to launch, operate, and scale on Ethereum: wallets, rollups, interoperability, liquidity, and ZK.

Businesses want to run on Ethereum. Aligned makes it inevitable.

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We’re back! Here’s what you need to know in web3 today

📈 Markets in the Past 24 Hours

TICKER	VALUE	24H
Bitcoin	$73,467	2.90 %
Ethereum	$2,282.19	9.12 %
XRP	$1.5	6.16 %
BNB	$673.17	2.10 %
Solana	$93.28	6.41 %

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🎬WATCH

Will Aave’s New Plan Change DeFi Forever? | Stani Kulechov Explains

In this episode of The Defiant Podcast, Cami sits down with Aave founder Stani Kulechov.

Aave is navigating a pivotal moment with the recent "Aave Will Win" proposal. This initiative aims to redirect 100% of protocol revenue back to the Aave DAO, a move that many in the community have embraced. But with any major change comes scrutiny.

Watch the full interview:

Top News Since Friday

Sky TVL Surges 38% in March

Sky, the successor to MakerDAO, is off to a strong start this month, with its total value locked (TVL) climbing to $7.52 billion, a 38% increase since March 1, according to DefiLlama.

Why it matters: As DeFi yields have dried up in the wake of the market downturn, Sky’s fixed 3.75% savings rate is higher than stablecoin supply rates on major protocols like Aave and Morpho.

SEC and CFTC Sign Memorandum to Coordinate Crypto Regulation: Agencies

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at improving their combined regulatory approach to the digital asset sector.

Why it matters: The historic move for crypto follows months of joint efforts between the agencies to harmonize crypto regulation and align their oversight frameworks

Crypto Lender BlockFills Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: BlockFills

BlockFills, an embattled crypto lender, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The filing comes weeks after the platform suspended all deposits and withdrawals, citing difficult crypto market conditions. The bankruptcy marks a major failure in the centralized lending sector.

Why it matters: Last month, BlockFills suspended customer access to funds after sustaining a $75 million loss.