Oil moves into DeFi, Bitcoin outruns gold, and money for AI

While Wall Street traders wait for Monday, the crypto market has already lived through a spike in oil prices, Bitcoin has outperformed gold, and Ethereum has laid the groundwork for an economy built for artificial intelligence. Here are the key events from March 9–15:

Macro and Markets: Bitcoin Looks More Reliable Than Gold

U.S. inflation (CPI) held steady at 2.4%. For markets, that is a positive sign — the Fed is unlikely to make any sharp moves on rates. But right now, investor attention is focused on the Middle East.

Arthur Hayes pointed out an important detail: amid the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Bitcoin turned out to be the strongest major asset. While oil and gas prices were rising, the numbers looked like this:

• BTC: +7%
• Gold: -2%
• Nasdaq-100: -0.5%

Bitcoin is handling this stress test extremely well.

At the same time, there is positive news from U.S. regulators: the SEC and CFTC agreed to coordinate their work. Authorities are gradually moving away from chaotic enforcement and toward building clearer rules for the industry.

Oil Is Trading On-Chain

A telling example played out over the weekend. After the strikes on Iran, the risk of oil supply disruptions jumped sharply. Traditional exchanges were closed, so traders rushed into DeFi to hedge that risk.

As a result, trading volume in on-chain oil futures on Hyperliquid surged from $21 million to $1.2 billion. Capital will always find a way through, and 24/7 blockchain markets became a lifeline for large players.

Ethereum Is Launching an AI Economy

A new standard has appeared on Ethereum — ERC-8183. This technology allows AI agents to pay each other. Funds are locked in a smart contract and released only once a task is completed. It is the foundation of a future economy in which programs will independently order computing power or data and settle payments for those services without human involvement.

Thailand Cuts Tax on Crypto Profits to Zero

Thailand’s authorities have officially introduced a 0% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies, which could significantly boost investor interest and accelerate crypto market development in the country.

45 Seconds to Hack a Wallet

The Ledger team found a critical vulnerability in Android smartphones running on MediaTek processors.

If an attacker gets physical access to your phone, all they need is 45 seconds and a USB cable to extract the seed phrase from memory. In the experiment, this made it possible to obtain data from Trust Wallet, Kraken Wallet, and Phantom.

Do not leave your phone unattended. For large amounts, use hardware wallets only.