On March 19, if the CLARITY Act passes, a certain CEX may face restrictions on stablecoin rewards, affecting its user attraction strategy. Despite the potential ban, analysts believe the impact on the CEX is limited, as its trading and derivatives remain important revenue sources. The CEO emphasized the importance of stablecoin incentives to maintain competitiveness.

The Senate Banking Committee plans to review the Clear Act in the latter half of April to address controversies in digital asset legislation. Stablecoin yield provisions represent the biggest obstacle, with compromise proposals taking shape. The bill needs to pass before May 21 to avoid scheduling pressures from the midterm elections, with the next few weeks determining the legislative progress.

As the convergence of AI and stablecoin payments accelerates, Visa has launched the Visa CLI tool, which enables AI agents to complete payments directly, enhancing automation levels. Meanwhile, Tempo, backed by Stripe, has launched with a machine payment protocol to meet the high-frequency trading needs of AI. AI agents are gradually becoming economic participants with autonomous trading capabilities, and in the future may accelerate the realization of automated procurement and cross-border payments.

Gate News reports that on March 19, U.S. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis posted on Twitter: "Clear rules, regulations, and jurisdiction—that is what the CLARITY Act is all about. It is time for the digital assets market framework to finally take shape."

Gate News, on March 18, according to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett's report, Senator Lummis stated that the Clarity Act (cryptocurrency regulatory bill) will be completed by the end of the year no matter what. She also indicated that the banking committee is expected to review the bill in the second half of April, after the Easter holiday.

Trump clarified on Truth Social that the official name of his new bill is the "Saving America Act," opposing the term "Saving Act." The bill aims to pave the way for midterm elections, with a Senate vote expected this week. Trump stated that he will not sign other legislation before this bill passes.

Gate News: On March 18, Kenya's Ministry of Finance released a draft of the "2026 Virtual Asset Service Provider Regulations" on Wednesday (March 15) and opened a public comment period with a deadline of April 10. The draft was developed based on the "Virtual Asset Service Provider Act" that took effect on November 4, 2025, and was drafted by a multi-agency working group involving the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority.

This article summarizes cryptocurrency news from March 18, 2026, covering the latest Bitcoin updates, Ethereum upgrades, Dogecoin trends, real-time cryptocurrency prices, and price predictions. Today's major Web3 events include: 1. SEC and CFTC release new regulatory framework, challenging the legislative necessity of CLARITY Act; 2. Bitrefill hit by North Korean Lazarus hackers, 18,500 purchase records leaked, operations restored; 3. Federal Reserve's March 2026 interest rate decision coming soon, Powell's remarks will influence Bitcoin and market movements.

The U.S. SEC and CFTC jointly released a cryptocurrency asset regulatory framework proposing five categories of token classifications, clarifying regulatory responsibilities, and reducing market uncertainty. The framework highly overlaps with the CLARITY Act but still has issues with insufficient legal force and missing content in certain areas. The future legislative process remains to be observed.

U.S. Congressional Democratic lawmakers have introduced the "BETS OFF Act," aimed at restricting predictive betting on wars and national security events to prevent speculation using sensitive information. The bill stems from unusual betting activities, with Senators Murphy and Representatives Casar emphasizing the ethical controversies and systemic loopholes in such conduct. If the bill advances, it will impact blockchain-based event trading models.