WTI and Brent Prices Rise, Brent Crude Up 3.5% Intraday

March 18 — President Trump announced Wednesday he’s temporarily waiving the century-old Jones Act for 60 days to cut domestic transport costs for oil, natural gas and other commodities, his latest move to address energy price spikes driven by the Iran War. The Jones Act mandates goods moving between U.S. ports must travel on U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built and U.S.-owned vessels. The waiver exempts certain products — including coal, crude oil, refined fuels, natural gas, LNG, fertilizers, refined oil-derived goods and other energy derivatives — from those rules, allowing foreign-flagged ships to temporarily haul them between U.S. ports. Some analysts, though, say the waiver’s expected impact is limited due to massive supply chain disruptions. The war has already sparked what the International Energy Agency (IEA) calls the “largest supply disruption in global oil market history.” Trump has also vowed to deploy U.S. Navy ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and roll

On March 18, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis—sponsor of the "Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Act"—stated the "Cryptocurrency Market Structure Clarity Act" (aka the CLARITY Act) will be finalized by year’s end, no matter what. The bill is expected to face review by the Senate Banking Committee in late April, following the Easter holiday.

On March 18th, Polymarket announced it has acquired Brahma—a crypto infrastructure startup—to expand its crypto and DeFi infrastructure.

March 18 – The Bank of Korea (BOK) officially kicked off the second phase of its digital won pilot project. It’s partnering with nine commercial banks to test deposit tokens in real-world scenarios, including government subsidy distribution, nationwide consumer payments, and fund transfers. Dubbed Project Hangang, this phase adds Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank to the seven existing banks. Together, they’re testing won-anchored deposit tokens built on a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) architecture. A core goal is to cut payment costs, offering a low-cost alternative for large businesses and small/micro-merchants burdened by high credit card fees.

**Crude Prices Surge Post-Iran Targets; Analyst Flags Structural Oil Dislocation** U.S. and Brent crude jumped Wednesday after Iran designated three Gulf oil facilities as legitimate targets, per Bitget market data. Brent crude rose over 5% intraday to $105.7 a barrel, while WTI was last at $98.7 a barrel—up 3.06% in the past 24 hours. Earlier, Garrett Jin (associated with the “BTC OG Insider Whale” group) shared key oil market takes: - On March 15, he noted oil prices had surged 45% and recommended going long on crude while cutting stock exposure. - In a March 18 post, he argued widely watched prices are misleading: Brent at $106 and WTI at $95 create the illusion of controlled prices, but this only applies to the Atlantic Basin. Real pressure lies in Dubai and Oman, where actual trading prices approach $155. Flows from the Hormuz region are heading to Asia (not the West), and the dislocation is structural—not temporary.

March 18: Eric Trump, son of former U.S. President Donald Trump, announced on X that American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC) — the Trump family’s mining company — has surpassed Galaxy Digital in Bitcoin holdings, becoming the world’s 16th-largest publicly traded Bitcoin company. Prior to the news, ABTC added 399 Bitcoins to its stash, bringing its total holdings to 6,899.