Pi Network co-founder Dr. Nicolas Kokkalis has detailed recent progress on the project's in-house KYC solution and its planned evolution into a standalone service for Web3 and traditional businesses. He highlighted the system's global coverage, integrated sanctions and compliance checks, and hybrid AI-plus-human verification model. Kokkalis added that upcoming enhancements like fingerprint verification aim to strengthen security while enabling wider onboarding into the Pi Network ecosystem, though community reactions remain mixed.

The European Central Bank, in a new working paper titled "Stablecoins and Monetary Policy Transmission" released on Tuesday, warns that rising stablecoin adoption is associated with declining retail bank deposits and weaker lending to firms. The study finds that as households and companies move funds from bank deposits into stablecoins, banks may face higher funding costs and monetary policy transmission to the real economy could be disrupted, especially given the dominance of US dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Bitcoin is consolidating near $67,000 while spot Bitcoin ETFs led by BlackRock's IBIT register $263.2 million in inflows, with additional contributions from Fidelity, Bitwise and Ark. Major altcoins including Ethereum, BNB and Solana also post weekly gains as total crypto market capitalization hovers around $2.3 trillion and sentiment remains in the Fear zone.

Core Scientific plans to sell substantially all of its bitcoin holdings in 2026, with most sales expected in the first quarter, to support its expansion into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure. The company held 2,537 BTC valued at $222 million at the end of 2025 and had already liquidated just over 1,900 BTC for about $175 million in January, leaving fewer than 1,000 BTC on its balance sheet.

Core Scientific plans to liquidate around 2,500 BTC from its treasury, with most of the sales expected in the first quarter of 2026, to fund capital expenditures for AI data centers. The miner, which reported a 57% drop in BTC production and lower revenue in Q4 2025, will also sell current block rewards and does not intend to rebuild its Bitcoin reserve.

American Airlines Group Inc.'s AAL shares traded lower in premarket on March 3, 2026, after closing down 4.21% at $12.52 the prior session. The stock slipped to $12.06 before the open as military action in the Middle East triggered widespread flight disruptions and pushed Brent crude about 8% higher to $78.77 per barrel, pressuring airline margins and sentiment across the sector.

The Aave Chan Initiative, a key delegate and service provider for the Aave DAO founded by Marc Zeller, plans to end its engagement with the DAO by July and wind down operations over four months. The decision follows BGD Labs' February 20 announcement that it will stop contributing in April, deepening concerns over Aave's governance, revenue sharing and voting power distribution. ACI is also proposing to convert its existing GHO funding stream into a lump-sum payment to support an orderly transition while it exits.

After the strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Iranians rushed into Nobitex and other domestic exchanges, driving a 700% jump in crypto outflows as they tried to shield savings from a weakening rial and potential banking curbs. Subsequent internet restrictions reportedly cut national connectivity by about 99%, freezing access to major platforms, slowing withdrawals, and forcing some venues to batch transfers. The episode underscored how cryptocurrencies can offer an escape from a fragile financial system while blockchain transparency simultaneously exposes money flows to authorities and global monitors.