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BlockBeats News, March 9, according to Bloomberg, Oracle Corp. plans to cut thousands of jobs as one of the measures to address financial pressures brought about by the large-scale construction of artificial intelligence data centers. According to sources familiar with the matter, the layoffs will affect multiple departments within the company and could begin as early as this month. As the plans are still internal, these individuals requested anonymity. Two of the sources indicated that some of the layoffs will focus on job categories where the company expects future demand to decrease, with one of the reasons being that the application of artificial intelligence will replace certain positions.

According to Golden Ten Data on March 9, due to the continuous escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, which has worsened the supply outlook in the region, aluminum prices have risen to their highest level in nearly four years. Meanwhile, copper and other industrial metal prices have declined due to decreased risk appetite. On Monday, LME aluminum futures once rose by 1.6% to $3,499.5 per ton, the highest since April 2022. In the previous week, aluminum prices had already increased by nearly 10% as the war disrupted shipping in the Persian Gulf. The region accounts for about 9% of global supply, and traders are preparing for further supply disruptions. After at least two major smelters in the Middle East—located in Qatar and Bahrain—were forced to suspend deliveries, U.S. buyers are urgently seeking alternative supplies from Asia.

BlockBeats News, March 9, according to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency market has once again become the only public window for traders to price the ongoing conflict risk in the Middle East. As the Iran war continues, contracts tracking crude oil, gold, and silver on the Hyperliquid platform have experienced significant volatility. These contracts are Hyperliquid's perpetual futures—this trading platform has become one of the world's largest 24-hour derivatives trading venues. Perpetual contracts track asset prices but never expire, allowing traders to hold leveraged positions without clearinghouse delays. The contracts are settled in stablecoins (such as USDC, which is pegged to the US dollar). Although trading volume remains far below that of traditional commodity markets, trading activity has clearly picked up since the outbreak of the conflict. The weekend commodity price fluctuations on Hyperliquid are mainly driven by retail and crypto-native traders—serving as a real-time indicator of market sentiment, though their reference value is limited. However, observers focused on the crypto market note that these platforms also provide a reference model for "round-the-clock trading" that could be adopted by traditional markets. Some traditional trading platforms are also exploring the possibility of offering uninterrupted trading.