TLDR CRYPTO 2025-03-04

any equity.

Here's what you can expect:

APPLY BEFORE THE MARCH 19 DEADLINE

STANDARD CHARTERED SAYS TRUMP CRYPTO RESERVE PLAN PUTS BITCOIN $500,000 TARGET BACK IN FOCUS

Trump's plan to establish a Crypto Strategic Reserve including Bitcoin and other assets could improve long-term stability and refocus investor attention on a $500K Bitcoin target. This initiative may prompt U.S. states to create their own Bitcoin reserves, reducing downside risk and paving the way for sustained market growth.

MAJOR U-TURN IN CRYPTO MARKETS SENDS BITCOIN BACK BELOW $87K

President Trump's Sunday announcement of a US crypto reserve initially boosted prices, but by Monday, Bitcoin fell to $86,700, nearly erasing all gains, while ETH dropped below its pre-announcement level and the ETH/BTC ratio hit a five-year low of 0.025. The stock market declined ahead of tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, amplifying uncertainty across risk assets and suggesting a cautious near-term outlook for crypto.

AAVE DEPLOYS LENDING MARKETS ON SONIC IN ITS FIRST LAYER 1 EXPANSION OF THE YEAR

Aave has deployed its lending markets on the Sonic blockchain. The move has been backed by significant liquidity commitments from the Sonic Foundation and Aave, highlighting Aave's strategic focus on risk management and cross-chain expansion.

DISPERSE.APP NOW SUPPORTS ALL CHAINS

Disperse has been fully revamped, now supporting deployment to any blockchain network directly from its UI using CreateX for deterministic deployments. The app, rewritten from scratch with a modern stack, now works with most wallets and includes a chain selector for seamless network switching.

ETHDENVER AI TAKEAWAYS

Traditional AI engineering talent is increasingly flowing into crypto infrastructure teams, specifically with Nous Research and Prime Intellect pioneering decentralized training. Agent platforms are evolving beyond simple token launches toward comprehensive “App Store for agents” models where AI can access various tools and cross-chain capabilities. The market shows strong demand for “alpha agents” offering investment advice without the noise of Crypto Twitter. There has been an excessive focus on DeFi + AI applications, limited differentiation, prioritization of tokenomics over product development, and a noticeable innovation gap between web3 and web2 AI ventures.

AI AS THE ENGINE, HUMANS AS THE STEERING WHEEL

Vitalik Buterin has proposed a governance mechanism where AI serves as the computational engine while humans provide high-quality directional input as the “steering wheel.” Rather than enshrining a single AI model in governance systems (which lacks credible neutrality), Buterin advocates for creating open markets where multiple AI systems compete with simple, unchanging rule frameworks. In this post, he explores several implementation approaches, including Futarchy (AI traders predict outcomes while humans vote on metrics), Distilled Human Judgement (human juries evaluate small samples while AIs extrapolate to millions of similar cases, and Deep Funding (using these principles to attribute value across contribution networks). This framework maintains human control over organizational direction while preventing voter overwhelm.

PARADIGM'S APPROACH TO POLICY

Paradigm has released its Policy Anchors, a set of guiding principles aimed at promoting crypto as neutral, egalitarian technology and shaping pro-crypto policy in Washington, DC, and globally. The initiative includes the addition of six bipartisan members to its Policy Council and emphasizes Paradigm's commitment to advocating for crypto's future, ensuring regulations foster competition and avoid favoring incumbents, while seeking community feedback to refine its approach.

CRITIQUE OF TRUMP'S STRATEGIC RESERVE

This critique by prominent investor Jason Calacanis expresses frustration with the strategic reserve's choices, timing, and political implications. Trump should not be spending taxpayer money buying arbitrary cryptocurrencies, and should at the very least have a transparent reasoning process. He believes that crypto will be the issue that derails [Trump's] second term.

RABBY REINSTATES SAFE CONNECTION

Rabby has now restored user access to its Safe wallets on Ethereum by launching an updated Extension (Rabby v0.93.17).

NO MORE TOKEN APPROVALS

Ethereum's upcoming Pectra upgrade will eliminate traditional token approvals by enabling wallets to become smart wallets that combine multiple operations into one transaction.

RONALDINHO LAUNCHES STAR10 MEMECOIN, DEVELOPERS REMOVE ABILITY TO BURN EVERYONE'S TOKENS

Brazilian football/soccer star Ronaldinho launched the STAR10 memecoin on BNB Chain, but concerns were raised when the token's smart contract initially allowed developers to burn holders' tokens - this issue has now been resolved.

YUGA LABS SAYS SEC HAS CLOSED ITS INVESTIGATION INTO THE COMPANY: 'NFTS ARE NOT SECURITIES'

Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cyberpunk NFTs, announced that the SEC has closed its investigation into the company, declaring that NFTs are not securities.