Must-Watch Next Week｜Seven Central Banks to Deliver Interest Rate Bombshells in Succession; NVIDIA GTC Conference Kicks Off (3.16-3.22)

marsbitPublished on 2026-03-15Last updated on 2026-03-15

Abstract

Next week (March 16-22) is packed with major financial and tech events. Key highlights include interest rate decisions from seven central banks: the Reserve Bank of Australia (March 17, 11:30), the Bank of Canada (March 18, 21:45), the Bank of Japan (March 19, time TBD), the Swiss National Bank (March 19, 16:30), the US Federal Reserve (March 19, 02:00, followed by a press conference), the Bank of England (March 19, 20:00), and the European Central Bank (March 19, 21:15). The NVIDIA GTC 2026 conference opens on March 16 in San Jose, featuring a keynote by CEO Jensen Huang. Other significant events include the US releasing February PPI data (March 18, 20:30), the launch of Noble's new EVM Layer 1 mainnet (March 18), and the Bitcoin ecosystem BTCS launching its mining ecosystem (March 20). Additional developments include the Hong Kong Monetary Authority potentially releasing its first stablecoin license shortlist, featuring institutions like Standard Chartered and HSBC; the Trump administration beginning a release of US strategic oil reserves; and Microsoft internally testing OpenClaw for potential integration into Teams.

Seven Central Banks to Announce Interest Rate Decisions in Succession

  • Tuesday 11:30, Reserve Bank of Australia announces interest rate decision;
  • Wednesday 21:45, Bank of Canada announces interest rate decision;
  • Thursday (specific time TBD), Bank of Japan announces interest rate decision;
  • Thursday 16:30, Swiss National Bank announces interest rate decision;
  • Thursday 02:00, US Federal Reserve FOMC releases interest rate decision and Summary of Economic Projections; Thursday 02:30, Fed Chair Powell holds monetary policy press conference.
  • Thursday 20:00, Bank of England announces interest rate decision and meeting minutes;
  • Thursday 21:15, European Central Bank announces interest rate decision.

Key Events for the Coming Week

March 16

NVIDIA GTC Conference opens next week, with 30,000 attendees from 190 countries and over a thousand sessions;

March 18

The US will release February PPI data on March 18;

Noble will officially launch its EVM Layer 1 mainnet on March 18;

Others (Specific time TBD)

Hong Kong Monetary Authority may release the stablecoin license shortlist as early as next week, with Standard Chartered, HSBC, and OSL rumored to be included

From March 16 to March 22, more noteworthy industry event previews are as follows.

March 16

NVIDIA GTC Conference Opens Next Week, 30,000 Attendees from 190 Countries, Over a Thousand Sessions

Odaily Planet Daily News NVIDIA GTC 2026 will be held from March 16 to 19 in San Jose, expected to attract over 30,000 developers, researchers, and corporate representatives from more than 190 countries, featuring over 1000 sessions. CEO Jensen Huang will deliver a keynote speech at the SAP Center on March 16 at 11:00 AM (Pacific Time), covering accelerated computing, AI factories, open models, agent systems, and physical AI. The speech will be livestreamed for free.

Upbit to Delist LRC on March 16

Odaily Planet Daily News Upbit will terminate trading support for Loopring (LRC) on March 16 at 14:00.

POAP Platform to Enter Maintenance Mode from March 16, Badge Issuance Function Unavailable, Existing Badge Collections Unaffected

Odaily Planet Daily News POAP, the on-chain badge protocol, co-founder Isabel stated on platform X that due to limited platform growth, the team has decided to transition POAP into maintenance mode starting March 16, 2026. This means:

1. For new issuers: After March 16, new issuers will not be able to access the issuer interface.

2. For existing issuers: Can continue to use existing tools; created POAPs will remain intact.

3. For collectors: The collector interface is unaffected.

4. Technical support: APIs and existing integrations will continue to function.

5. Core change: The platform will no longer undergo active development. As we reduce resources allocated to this service, some operations may run slower.

Additionally, the team plans to develop a new set of more fundamental, open, truly permissionless standards for digital collectibles. POAP may potentially be integrated into the new system in the future (pending).

March 17

Binance to Delist Multiple Perpetual Contracts on March 17 and 18

Odaily Planet Daily News Binance Futures will delist the USDS-MVFYUSDT, 1000WHYUSDT, and BDXNUSDT perpetual contracts on March 17, 2026, at 09:00 (UTC), and the COIN-MALGOUSD, SANDUSD, ENSUSD, and ATOMUSD perpetual contracts on March 18, 2026, at 09:00 (UTC). Contracts will be delisted after settlement is completed. Users should note that the Insurance Fund will not be used to support the liquidation process of these contracts during the 1 hour preceding their scheduled settlement time.

March 18

US to Release February PPI Data on March 18

Odaily Planet Daily News On March 18 (Wednesday) at 20:30, the US will release the February PPI Year-over-Year rate and the February PPI Month-over-Month rate.

Noble to Officially Launch EVM Layer 1 Mainnet Based on Commonware Architecture on March 18

Odaily Planet Daily News The stablecoin infrastructure project Noble will officially launch its EVM Layer 1 mainnet based on the Commonware architecture on March 18, 2026, moving away from the existing Cosmos SDK chain. The new chain supports sub-second transaction finality, open contract deployment, and dedicated payment channels, and will center around its native yield-bearing stablecoin USDN, expanding into scenarios such as FX trading, DeFi yield strategies, and payment clearing. The existing Cosmos chain will gradually transition to maintenance mode, IBC connections will remain unchanged, and the team will provide asset migration paths.

March 19

Federal Reserve to Announce New Interest Rate Decision on March 19

Odaily Planet Daily News On March 19 (Thursday) at 02:00, the US Federal Reserve FOMC will release the interest rate decision and Summary of Economic Projections; followed at 02:30 by a monetary policy press conference with Fed Chair Powell.

March 20

USDai Whitelist Sale Refund Users on CoinList Must Apply Before March 20

Odaily Planet Daily News USDai whitelist sale refund users on CoinList must apply for a refund before March 20, 2026.

Bitcoin Ecosystem BTCS Mining Ecology to Launch on March 20

Odaily Planet Daily News The Bitcoin ecosystem BTCS mining ecology will launch on March 20, 2026. BTCS's technical foundation is built on the BTC Rollup Layer 2 network, aiming to make Bitcoin not just a store of value but also the underlying operating system for monetary economic operations.

BTCS also stated that it will successively launch multiple core applications including: the OpenClaw wealth management ecology, Web3 short videos, and a metaverse museum, gradually building a complete BTC Layer 2 ecosystem.

March 21

None

March 22

None

Others (Specific time TBD)

Hong Kong Monetary Authority May Release Stablecoin License Shortlist as Early as Next Week, Standard Chartered, HSBC, and OSL Rumored to Be Included

Odaily Planet Daily News Insiders revealed that the first batch of stablecoin issuer license shortlists in Hong Kong is expected to be released within this month, with shortlisted institutions including Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Bank, and licensed virtual asset trading platform OSL. Sources indicated that the HKMA could announce the results as early as next week, but the final list is still subject to change. Yuanben Technology and LianLian DigiTech (2598) ), previously rumored to be on the candidate list, are not included in the latest rumored list, and Chinese-funded institutions are also absent from the first batch of shortlisted entities. An HKMA spokesperson declined to comment on market rumors. Industry analysts believe the first batch of licenses will prioritize stability, expecting banks with strict regulatory backgrounds to dominate to ensure market confidence and system stability. (Sing Tao Headline)

Trump Administration Has Initiated US Oil Reserve Release Process, Expected to Flow to Market Before End of Next Week

Odaily Planet Daily News The Trump administration has initiated the process for a large-scale drawdown of the US emergency oil reserve, issuing a request to exchange 86 million barrels of crude oil. The Energy Department said in a statement on Friday that oil drawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as part of the 172 million barrel large-scale release plan announced on Wednesday is expected to begin flowing to the market before the end of next week.

This oil reserve release is expected to take four months to complete and is part of a coordinated 400 million barrel action plan with other countries. Under the exchange terms, companies will return the borrowed oil to the Energy Department in the future and pay an additional quantity of oil as a premium.

The Energy Department stated earlier this week that the Trump administration has arranged to replenish the SPR with approximately 200 million barrels of oil over the next year, which is 20% more than the amount drawn down this time. (Jin10)

Microsoft is Internally Testing OpenClaw, May Integrate into Teams App, Roadmap Expected to Be Released Next Week

Odaily Planet Daily News OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger reposted a tweet by Digital Meld CEO Brad Groux, stating that OpenClaw for Microsoft Teams will see major improvements, with a roadmap expected to be released next week. They have already communicated with over a dozen Microsoft employees and formed a six-person team currently internally testing OpenClaw. Improvements are expected for Microsoft Teams as well as other extensions and plugins.

Claude: Message Limits to Automatically Double During Off-Peak Hours and Weekends for the Next Two Weeks

Odaily Planet Daily News Claude posted on platform X that for the next two weeks, Claude's message/query limits will automatically double the original limit during the following specific periods:

1. Weekday off-peak hours: Before 5:00 AM PT / After 11:00 AM PT (i.e., Before 8:00 PM Beijing Time / After 2:00 AM Beijing Time the next day)

2. Weekends all day: 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday

3. Peak hours (8:00 PM – 2:00 AM Beijing Time) limits remain unchanged.

This adjustment applies to all plans: Free, Pro, Max, and Team users, covering all Claude usage scenarios including Claude Code.

Related Questions

QWhat is the date and time of the Fed's interest rate decision and press conference?

AThe Fed FOMC will announce its interest rate decision and economic projections at 02:00 on Thursday (March 19th), followed by a monetary policy press conference with Chairman Powell at 02:30.

QWhen does the GTC 2026 conference begin and what is a key highlight?

ANVIDIA GTC 2026 begins on March 16th and runs until March 19th in San Jose. A key highlight is CEO Jensen Huang's keynote speech on March 16th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time, which will be livestreamed for free.

QWhich major banks are rumored to be on the shortlist for Hong Kong's first stablecoin licenses?

AAccording to rumors, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, and the licensed virtual asset trading platform OSL are on the shortlist for Hong Kong's first stablecoin issuer licenses, which could be announced as soon as next week.

QWhat significant change is happening to the POAP platform starting March 16th?

AStarting March 16th, the POAP platform will enter maintenance mode. This means new issuers will lose access to the issuer interface and the platform will no longer undergo active development, though existing badges and the collector interface will remain.

QWhat is the scheduled release date for the U.S. February PPI data?

AThe U.S. February Producer Price Index (PPI) data, including the monthly and annual rates, is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 18th, at 20:30 (UTC).

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