Major events in the industry are planned for the first month of spring, including blockchain project launches, network updates, conferences and economic decisions that could affect the digital asset market, writes RBC Crypto.
March 5
Ethereum to Test Pectra Upgrade on Testnet
The Pectra update is the next major change to Ethereum, aimed at improving scalability, usability, and staking efficiency. It brings together 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7702 and EIP-7251.
EIP-7702, proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, would expand the capabilities of wallets by allowing them to temporarily function as smart contracts. It's part of a strategy to introduce account abstraction, which would make it easier for users to interact with the network.
EIP-7251 will increase the staking limit for validators from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH. This will allow operators to stake more coins on a single validator, reducing the number of nodes required and lowering technical costs.
Pectra testing began on February 24, 2025, on the Holesky network, but has encountered finalization issues. The next stage is scheduled for March 5 on the Sepolia testnet. If the tests are successful, the upgrade will be deployed to the Ethereum mainnet, expected in April 2025.
March 7
US Labor Market Data and Fed Chairman's Speech
The U.S. Labor Department is set to release its February nonfarm payrolls report, a key macroeconomic indicator that could impact the Fed's rate decisions as well as investor appetite for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
That same day, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and several FOMC members will make statements on monetary policy. Market participants expect Powell to give further signals about the regulator's further actions.
If the data shows employment growth and continued high economic activity, this will increase the likelihood of monetary tightening, which traditionally puts pressure on the stock market and cryptocurrencies. Conversely, signs of an economic slowdown could increase expectations of policy easing, which will support the market.
Cryptocurrencies often follow the NASDAQ and other tech indices. Tough comments from the Fed could lead to a sell-off in stocks, which would also impact cryptocurrencies.
March 7
First Crypto Summit to Be Held at White House
US President Donald Trump will host the first cryptocurrency summit at the White House on March 7. According to “crypto czar” David Sachs, the event will provide more details about the US strategic crypto reserve, which Trump announced on March 2. The meeting will be hosted by Bo Hines, the head of the Trump-appointed Digital Asset Task Force.
No other official topics were revealed at the summit, but based on previous statements by Sachs, legislation on stablecoins could be a key one. He has previously emphasized that stable tokens could strengthen the dollar’s dominance in the global economy. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire also called the legislation “a top priority for the administration.”
The list of participants for the summit has not been officially announced, but it will likely overlap with the guests of the January 17 “crypto ball” in Washington, which took place before Trump’s inauguration. Its sponsors included Coinbase, Kraken, MicroStrategy, Solana, Robinhood, the largest mining company in the US MARA, Mysten Labs (the developer of Sui), Galaxy Digital, Uniswap Labs and other major crypto projects. Representatives of these companies were present at the meeting.
March 12
Hemi to Launch Mainnet on March 12
Hemi is a modular blockchain network that unites the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems into a single “supernet.” The mainnet is scheduled to launch on March 12, 2025.
The project was founded by Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik and blockchain security expert Max Sanchez. In September 2024, Hemi raised $15 million in a seed round led by Binance Labs, Breyer Capital, and Big Brain Holdings.
At launch, Hemi will host over 50 protocols, including decentralized exchanges (Sushi, DODO, Izumi), lending protocols (LayerBank, ZeroLend), vaults (Nucleus, Concrete, VaultCraft), liquid staking and restaking tokens (Kelp, pumpBTC, StakeStone), oracles (RedStone, Pyth, Stork), and infrastructure applications (LayerZero, Pell, BitFi).
The key feature of the network is the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM), which allows a full Bitcoin node to be integrated into the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This allows developers to use the functionality of both networks using familiar tools.
March 13
Nym to Launch Commercial Version of NymVPN
The Nym team announced that the commercial version of their VPN service NymVPN will be launched on March 13, 2025. In anticipation of the launch, the company conducted a $1 million NYM token buyback to strengthen the project's coffers and use the funds to improve the network. The buyback began on December 12, 2024, and continues depending on demand for the application.
Nym is a decentralized platform that provides anonymity for Internet traffic. NymVPN allows users to hide their online activity from surveillance and analysis. As part of the network expansion, the company plans to introduce a high-speed mode based on the WireGuard protocol. Once launched, the network gateways will operate in more than 30 countries, which will increase the service's performance and its resistance to censorship.
March 18-20
Digital Asset Summit 2025 will be held in New York on March 18-20
One of the largest institutional conferences on digital assets, Digital Asset Summit (DAS) 2025, organized by Blockworks, will be held from March 18 to 20 in New York. The event will feature over 150 speakers, including leading representatives of the crypto industry and traditional finance.
The conference will discuss the macroeconomic context for digital assets, the role of ETFs in institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies, market regulation, and the development of stablecoins and payment systems. Confirmed speakers include Michael Saylor (MicroStrategy), Richard Teng (Binance), Brad Garlinghouse (Ripple), Anatoly Yakovenko (Solana Labs), Cathie Wood (ARK Invest), and Mike Novogratz (Galaxy Digital).
The program includes three main sections: Main Stage, Institutional Stage and Investor Stage, and participants are expected to include hedge fund managers, banks, sovereign wealth funds and brokerage firms. Tickets are available on the official conference website.
Major Token Unlocks in March
In March, the market is expected to unlock significant volumes of tokens from a number of crypto projects, which may affect their liquidity and price.
Among the major events:
March 8: Berachain (BERA) – 10 million tokens
March 9: Movement (MOVE) – 50 million tokens
March 12: Aptos (APT) — 11.31 million tokens
March 15: Sei (SEI) – 55.56 million tokens, Starknet (STRK) – 64 million tokens
March 16: Arbitrum (ARB) — 92.65 million tokens
March 17: ApeCoin (APE) — 15.60 million tokens
March 21: Immutable (IMX) — 24.52 million tokens
Token unlocking is the process of releasing previously frozen assets into circulation, as provided for by the project's tokenomics. Such tokens may be intended for the team, early investors, ecosystem funds, or users as part of reward programs.
The unlock schedule is usually fixed at the project launch stage and regulates the supply of tokens on the market. Depending on the model, unlocked assets may become available for trading immediately or remain distributed among their owners without immediate entry into exchanges.
Источник: cryptocurrency.tech
