The Daily Index — Monday, March 17, 2025

MARKETS & BUSINESS

TLDR Crypto

BRICS ADOPTS BITCOIN & CRYPTO FOR OIL TRADE

Russia has begun using Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins like USDT for oil trade, circumventing Western sanctions and embracing crypto as an alternative payment method. This move, by a key BRICS nation, signals a broader shift toward blockchain-based trade solutions, reshaping how sanctioned countries conduct business in the global marketplace.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 3 min

TLDR Crypto

MEET BASE MCP – GIVE YOUR FAVORITE AI APPS ONCHAIN CAPABILITIES

Base MCP is a new product from the Base development team that allows for onchain interactions from Claude Desktop. Powered by Coinbase Developer Platform's AgentKit, it includes a near-comprehensive set of onchain interactions including onramping, price checking, transferring funds, and deploying smart contracts.

threadreaderapp.com · 1 min

TLDR Crypto

BNY DEEPENS RELATIONSHIP WITH STABLECOIN COMPANY CIRCLE

BNY Mellon is expanding its partnership with Circle to enable clients to send funds directly to Circle for buying and selling its stablecoins, further bridging traditional and digital finance. This collaboration is expected to boost institutional adoption and enhance regulatory confidence ahead of Circle's potential IPO.

pymnts.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

REFLECTIONS ON MY FIRST BULL AND BEAR CYCLE: LESSONS LEARNED

From building startups to navigating the highs and lows of crypto, Hitesh Malviya shares his firsthand experience of making and losing millions during the 2017 bull run and 2018 crash. In 2017, while leveraging the ICO boom, his project was transformed into a crypto media outlet generating $1M in revenue as altcoin interest surged. Then, the 2018 bear market erased 95% of his portfolio, highlighting key lessons on the risks of altcoin-heavy investments, greed, and emotional trading.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 6 min

TLDR Crypto

GOVERNANCE, POL, AND INCENTIVES

Berachain's phase one governance launched on February 25, driving TVL into apps and positioning the chain as a rapidly-rising L1 for DeFi. Its upcoming Proof of Liquidity (PoL) mechanism will allow validators to earn rewards through liquidity provision in tokens like BERA and BGT. It aims to foster a “winner-takes-most” dynamic, potentially stabilizing the ecosystem while mitigating risks like vampire attacks.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 5 min

TLDR Crypto

ETHEREUM IS BLEEDING VALUE

Ethereum is losing value to L2 rollups, which extract fees, MEV, and liquidity while paying minimal costs for Ethereum's security. L2s should contribute back to Ethereum through mechanisms like staking ETH, reallocating fees, or redistributing MEV to ensure the network captures its fair share of value and remains sustainable.

threadreaderapp.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

HYPERLIQUID THESIS

Hyperliquid is set to transform onchain finance with its novel perp DEX, integrated HyperCore (handling order book trading, staking, etc.), HyperEVM ecosystems (the execution layer for smart contract deployment), and innovative features like the Assistance Fund (which collects trading fees to buy back the HYPE token) and builder codes. These features together deliver superior liquidity, low fees, and robust security compared to traditional exchanges, while its organic growth, absence of VC interference, and passionate community position it as a dominant force in DeFi.

threadreaderapp.com · 6 min

TLDR Crypto

FUTURE OF AI & CRYPTO

AI and crypto will continue to lower barriers to innovation without fully replacing the need for human expertise, as domain-specific knowledge remains critical to guiding AI outputs (e.g., prompting). While routine tasks may be automated, the unique value of authentic human experience and creativity will become even more important, even as new autonomous AI applications evolve.

threadreaderapp.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

POTENTIAL PITFALLS IF AAVE LAUNCHES A NEW TOKEN

Launching a new token can dilute the fully diluted valuation (FDV) of Aave more than the value of the new token itself over time since much of Aave's current value is built on the expectation of future business growth that benefits the existing token.

threadreaderapp.com · 1 min

TLDR Crypto

WLFI ACCUMULATES AVAX

Trump's World Liberty Financial has begun accumulating $AVAX on-chain, purchasing around $500K worth after bridging nearly $2M in USDC to Avalanche.

threadreaderapp.com · 1 min

TLDR Crypto

IMPORTANCE OF INDEXERS

Indexers are important because performant dapps need efficient ways of reading chain data and listening to relevant events.

threadreaderapp.com · 1 min

TLDR Crypto

ACTIVE LOANS ON BASE

Token Terminal illustrates four different ways to view active loans on Base.

threadreaderapp.com · 1 min

TLDR Crypto

X ACCOUNTS OF KAITO AND FOUNDER YU HU HACKED TO SPREAD UNFOUNDED REPORTS OF TOKEN SUPPLY ISSUES

The X accounts of web3 platform Kaito and its founder Yu Hu were hacked to spread false reports of issues with the KAITO token, causing the token to drop ~10% before recovering.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 2 min