On March 01, 2026, President Donald Trump ordered new military strikes against Iran, prompting intense debate over whether he bypassed Congress' constitutional authority to declare war. Legal experts say the large-scale, sustained nature of the operation undermines previous justifications for unilateral executive action and could invite court challenges while reshaping U.S. policy and political dynamics.

On March 1, 2026, Iranian state media confirmed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Tehran. Iran responded with missile attacks on U.S. bases and Israel, while Strait of Hormuz restrictions and over 1,400 flight cancellations raised fears of oil supply disruption and market volatility. An interim council under Ayatollah Alireza Arafi and President Pezeshkian now manages a fraught political transition amid internet controls and renewed regional tensions.

On March 1, 2026, Bitcoin rebounded above $67,000 after dropping toward $63,000 following coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Iran and the confirmed death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Major altcoins including Ethereum and XRP also recovered, though traders remain focused on whether escalating regional tensions and Iran's retaliatory strikes will unsettle crypto markets again.

On February 27, 2026, U.S. equity futures fell after January producer prices beat forecasts, reviving concern about the timing of Fed rate cuts. S&P 500 futures slid 1%, Nasdaq 100 lost 1.1%, and Dow Jones futures dropped 1.2%, while Nvidia fell over 5% on Thursday and Netflix rose more than 6% in premarket trade.

On February 27, 2026, Progmat, Japan's largest tokenised securities platform backed by MUFG, announced plans to move more than $2 billion in digital assets from R3's Corda to Avalanche. The migration includes all active security token projects, such as tokenised real estate and corporate bonds worth 439.6 billion yen, and is expected to be completed by June 2026. The move aims to leverage Avalanche's EVM compatibility, public-chain features and cross-chain settlement capabilities for regulated securities and stablecoins.

On February 27, 2026 in New York, MoonPay and M0 introduced PYUSDx, a platform that lets developers create branded stablecoins fully backed by PayPal USD. The service is designed to cut custom stablecoin deployment from months to days and debuts with USD.ai as its first project, targeting AI-driven and machine-to-machine payments. PYUSDx integrates token infrastructure from M0 with MoonPay's payment rails and offers multi-chain support, reserve reporting, and pricing tools for Web3 and fintech builders.

On February 25, 2026, Thrive Capital committed roughly $1 billion to OpenAI. In December, the firm agreed to a deal at a $285 billion valuation, and OpenAI is now raising up to $800 billion, implying Thrive's position could approach triple its entry. Thrive also closed its Thrive X fund at over $10 billion, nearly twice its prior vehicle.

On February 25, 2026, Ethereum rose 10% in a single session, pushing its price to $2,046.23 and lifting its market capitalization to $245 billion. Bitcoin advanced 6% to $68,170 at the same time, while Ethereum's 24-hour trading volume reached $21.19 billion and its market share climbed to 10.46% of the total crypto market.

On February 23, 2026, Chinese AI lab DeepSeek prepared to roll out its V4 model, raising concerns for U.S. tech and semiconductor stocks. The move came as markets were already unsettled by tariffs, geopolitical risks, and Nvidia's upcoming earnings. Some investors fear that if DeepSeek can deliver powerful models at lower cost, large-scale AI spending in the U.S. could be questioned, while others see cheaper AI as a catalyst for broader adoption and infrastructure demand.