Richard Kim, the founder of the crypto casino Zero Edge, has been arrested on allegations of using investors’ funds for gambling. The FBI complaint filed in the Southern District of New...
Read moreRichard Kim, the founder of the crypto casino Zero Edge, has been arrested on allegations of using investors’ funds for gambling. The FBI complaint filed in the Southern District of New York accused Kim of deceiving investors into investing in Zero Edge, then misappropriating millions of dollars of their funds. It was reported that Kim lost almost all of the $7 million raised from investors, leading to charges of securities fraud and wire fraud.
Reports from last year by CoinDesk revealed that Kim’s gambling struggles caused substantial financial losses at Zero Edge. Kim admitted to CoinDesk that he had gambled away over $3.67 million of investors’ funds through risky leveraged crypto trades. He confessed that it all started with an $80,000 phishing scam, which triggered a chain of high-risk trading activities to recover the lost money.
Despite losing a significant portion of the raised funds, Kim eventually reported himself to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, the FBI complaint stated that Kim’s accounts of where the funds went were misleading, failing to disclose that some were transferred to Shuffle.com, a gambling website.
Kim’s fall from grace is evident, considering his previous roles at Galaxy, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs. Investors, including Galaxy, suffered losses due to Kim’s actions at Zero Edge. Galaxy’s head of communications confirmed their minimal investment in Zero Edge and their immediate reporting of Kim’s activities to the authorities.
Zero Edge was intended to be a revolutionary crypto casino that aimed to provide transparency and fairness to gamblers. Although the platform never launched, Kim’s past struggles with gambling addiction fueled his motivation to create a gambling platform that eliminated the house’s unfair advantage.
As the investigation into Kim continues, his arrest serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of misusing investors’ funds in the crypto industry.
VanEck recently obtained approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track digital asset stocks. The VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE)...
Read moreVanEck recently obtained approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track digital asset stocks.
The VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) is set to hold between 30-60 stocks, with a management fee of 0.69%, according to Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital asset research. The included stocks will cover a range of sectors including crypto exchanges, miners, data centers, energy infrastructure, semiconductors, hardware, TradFi rails, consumer/gaming, asset managers, and “balance sheet HOLDERS.” Additionally, up to 25% of NODE’s exposure will be in crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs).
Sigel stated, “The global economy is shifting to a digital foundation. NODE offers active equity exposure to the real businesses building that future.”
The ETF is scheduled to start trading on May 14th and will utilize an offshore subsidiary in the Cayman Islands to indirectly access products like commodity futures, swaps, and pooled investment vehicles while adhering to U.S. federal tax regulations.
With an increasing number of crypto-related stocks hitting the market and various companies exploring going public this year, there is a growing demand among investors for exposure to crypto-related stocks. A survey conducted among financial advisors at an ETF conference in March revealed that crypto equity ETFs are a top interest for investment.
A federal judge decided to halt a lawsuit involving 18 state attorneys general and a decentralized finance lobbyist group against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, in light...
Read moreA federal judge decided to halt a lawsuit involving 18 state attorneys general and a decentralized finance lobbyist group against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, in light of the SEC’s new leadership.
The state attorneys general, who are all Republicans, filed the lawsuit alongside the DeFi Education Fund in November following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. They claimed that the SEC had overstepped its authority by suing crypto exchanges. In a recent filing, the SEC hinted that the new agency chair, Paul Atkins, could bring an end to the legal action.
The judge instructed the parties to submit a joint status report within 30 days and paused all deadlines for 60 days.
Initially, the lawsuit argued that the SEC’s enforcement actions were encroaching on the jurisdiction of state regulators over digital asset firms in their respective states. The lawsuit highlighted the different regulatory approaches taken by states to oversee digital assets, emphasizing the need for clear and manageable regulatory frameworks.
Congress is anticipated to address market structure legislation pertaining to federal regulators’ oversight of crypto this year, with key committees already conducting hearings on the matter.
Meanwhile, the SEC has dropped investigations and lawsuits against more than a dozen companies and put lawsuits against others on hold.
In a separate development, a lawsuit filed by the DeFi Education Fund, the Texas Blockchain Council, and the Blockchain Association against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was also withdrawn. This lawsuit contested the IRS’ DeFi broker rule as exceeding the agency’s authority.
Last week, President Trump signed a resolution nullifying the IRS’ DeFi broker rule under the Congressional Review Act, marking his first legislative action related to crypto as president. Following this development, the parties involved in the lawsuit stated that the legal action had become “moot” and no longer necessary.
Janover (JNVR), a fintech commercial real estate platform, is making waves in the crypto world by building a substantial SOL stack worth around $21 million. The company’s share price has soared...
Read moreJanover (JNVR), a fintech commercial real estate platform, is making waves in the crypto world by building a substantial SOL stack worth around $21 million. The company’s share price has soared nearly 20 times in less than a month, following a strategy similar to Strategy’s bitcoin playbook, but with a focus on Solana (SOL).
In a recent move, Janover purchased an additional 80,567 SOL tokens valued at approximately $10.5 million, bringing its total holdings to 163,651. This makes Janover the first publicly-traded U.S. company with a treasury strategy centered around Solana’s SOL. The shift to crypto came after a team of former executives from crypto exchange Kraken, including Joseph Onorati and Parker White, acquired majority ownership of the firm. Onorati is now the Chairman and CEO, White serves as the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer, and Marco Santori, the former Chief Legal Officer of Kraken, has joined Janover’s board.
To fund its Solana acquisition plans, Janover raised $42 million through convertible notes and warrants and plans to run one or more validators to participate in Solana’s proof-of-stake network. Since announcing its crypto pivot, Janover’s stock has experienced a meteoric rise, with prices surging over 1,700% in early April and further increasing by 12% after the latest SOL acquisition.
Onorati expressed his excitement about introducing a digital asset treasury strategy focused on Solana in the U.S. public markets, citing the growing adoption of DeFi. Despite its focus on crypto, Janover remains committed to its real estate roots, with its AI-powered commercial real estate platform continuing operations under the leadership of founder Blake Janover and CFO Bruce Rosenbloom.
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By [Your Name] (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Bitcoin (BTC) continues to defy global economic uncertainty, inching closer to reclaiming $86,000. It is now less than 3% away from its...
Read moreBy [Your Name] (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Bitcoin (BTC) continues to defy global economic uncertainty, inching closer to reclaiming $86,000. It is now less than 3% away from its “Liberation Day” high. To put the move into perspective, bitcoin dominance — which measures BTC’s share of the total cryptocurrency market cap — is approaching 64%, a level not seen since January 2021.
In contrast, the Nasdaq 100 is still 5% away from its own Liberation Day high, underscoring bitcoin’s relative strength versus U.S. equities.
According to X account Cheddar Flow, the S&P 500 has just formed a “death cross” — a traditionally bearish signal that occurs when the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day moving average. The last time this happened was March 15, 2022, when S&P 500 initially rose by 11% in the following week, only to be followed by a 20% decline. Bearish sentiment is also reflected in the options market, where investors are reportedly buying large volumes of NVDA puts, signaling expectations of lower prices.
In a Bloomberg interview on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirmed confidence in the U.S. bond market, dismissing concerns that foreign nations are dumping Treasuries.
“I am not seeing a dumping of U.S. Treasuries,” Bessent said. “The Treasury has lots of tools, but we’re a long way from needing them.” He also emphasized the enduring status of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, despite the DXY index — which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of major trading partners — falling below 100 and dropping over 10% in recent weeks.
Bessent also confirmed that the Trump administration is seeking a new Federal Reserve Chair to replace Jerome Powell, with interviews set to begin later in the year. He concluded the interview by suggesting that the VIX (S&P 500 volatility index) may have peaked after the largest one-day percentage drop in its history last week. Stay alert!
What to Watch:
Crypto:
April 15: The first SmarDEX (SDEX) halving means the SDEX token’s distribution will be cut by 50% for the next 12 months.
April 16: HashKey Chain (HSK) mainnet upgrade enhances network stability and fee control capabilities.
April 17: EigenLayer (EIGEN) activates slashing on Ethereum mainnet, enforcing penalties for operator misconduct.
April 18: Pepecoin (PEP), a layer-1, proof-of-work blockchain, undergoes its second halving, reducing block rewards to 15,625 PEP per block.
April 20, 11 p.m.: BNB Chain (BNB) — opBNB mainnet hardfork.
April 21: Coinbase Derivatives will list XRP futures pending approval by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Macro:
April 15, 8:30 a.m.: Statistics Canada releases March consumer price inflation data.
Core Inflation Rate MoM Prev. 0.7%
Core Inflation Rate YoY Prev. 2.7%
Inflation Rate MoM Est. 0.6% vs. Prev. 1.1%
Inflation Rate YoY Est. 2.6% vs. Prev. 2.6%
April 16, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Census Bureau releases March retail sales data.
Retail Sales MoM Est. 1.4% vs. Prev. 0.2%
Retail Sales YoY Prev. 3.1%
April 16, 9:45 a.m.: Bank of Canada releases its latest interest rate decision, followed by a press conference 45 minutes later.
Policy Interest Rate Est. 2.75% vs. Prev. 2.75%
April 16, 1:30 p.m.: Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell will deliver an “Economic Outlook” speech. Livestream link.
April 17, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. Census Bureau releases March new residential construction data.
Housing Starts Est. 1.42M vs. Prev. 1.501M
Housing Starts MoM Prev. 11.2%
April 17, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Department of Labor releases unemployment insurance data for the week ended April 12.
Initial Jobless Claims Est. 226K vs. Prev. 223K
April 17, 7:30 p.m.: Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications releases March consumer price index (CPI) data.
Core Inflation Rate YoY Est. 3.2% vs. Prev. 3%
Inflation Rate MoM Prev. -0.1%
Inflation Rate YoY Prev. 3.7%
Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
April 22: Tesla (TSLA), post-market
April 30: Robinhood Markets (HOOD), post-market
Token Events:
Governance votes & calls
Venus DAO is discussing the forced liquidation of the remaining debt owed by a BNB bridge exploiter account that “supplied extraneously minted BNB to Venus and generated an over-collateralized debt position.”
Aave DAO is discussing taking further steps to deprecate Synthetix’s sUSD on Aave V3 Optimism over technical developments that have “compromised its ability to consistently maintain its peg.”
GMX DAO is discussing the establishment of a GMX reserve on Solana, which would involve bridging $500,000 in GMX to the blockchain and transferring the funds to the GMX-Solana Treasury.
Treasure DAO is discussing handing the core contributor team the authority to wind down and close the Treasure Chain infrastructure on ZKsync and manage the primary MAGIC-ETH protocol-owned liquidity pool given the “crucial financial situation” of the protocol.
April 15, 10 a.m.: Injective to hold an X Spaces session with Guardian.
April 16, 7 a.m.: Aergo to host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the future of decentralized artificial intelligence and the project.
April 16, 3 p.m.: Zcash to host a Town Hall on LockBox Distribution & Governance.
Unlocks
April 15: Sei (SEI) to unlock 1.09% of its circulating supply worth $10.08 million.
April 16: Arbitrum (ARB) to unlock 2.01% of its circulating supply worth $27.17 million.
April 18: Official Trump (TRUMP) to unlock 20.25% of its circulating supply worth $325.97 million.
April 18: Fasttoken (FTN) to unlock 4.65% of its circulating supply worth $82.60 million.
April 18: UXLINK (UXLINK) to unlock 11.09% of its circulating supply worth $18.29 million.
April 18: Immutable (IMX) to unlock 1.37% of its circulating supply worth $10.07 million.
Token Launches
April 15: WalletConnect Token (WCT) to be listed on Binance, Bitget, AscendEX, BingX, BYDFi, LBank, Coinlist and others.
April 16: Badger (BADGER), Balacner (BAL), Beta Finance (BETA), Cortex (CTXC), Cream Finance (CREAM), Firo (FIRO), Kava Lend (KAVA), NULS (NULS), Prosper (PROS), Status (SNT), TROY (TROY), UniLend Finance (UFT), VIDT DAO (VIDT) and aelf (ELF) to be delisted from Binance.
April 22: Hyperlane to airdrop its HYPER tokens.
Conferences:
Day 2 of 3: Morocco WEB3FEST GITEX Edition (Marrakech)
April 15: Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Summit (online)
Day 1 of 2: BUIDL Asia 2025 (Seoul)
Day 1 of 2: World Financial Innovation Series 2025 (Hanoi, Vietnam)
Day 1 of 3: NexTech Week Tokyo
April 22-24: Money20/20 Asia (Bangkok)
April 23: Crypto Horizons 2025 (Dubai)
April 23-24: Blockchain Forum 2025 (Moscow)
Token Talk
Story Protocol’s IP tokens experienced a 20% drop and recovery within hours during an unusual trading session on Monday.
Trading volume surged on exchanges including Binance and OKX Spot, with $138 million recorded after the price rebound.
The sudden price movement was isolated from broader market trends, sparking speculation about insider activity or coordinated selling.
Also on Monday, MANTRA’s OM token plummeted over 90% in hours, dropping from around $6.30 to as low as 37 cents and wiping out over $5 billion in market capitalization.
The token has since rebounded slightly to trade around 63 cents.
Laser Digital, a Nomura-backed investor, was initially flagged for depositing $41 million in OM to OKX, but the company denied selling, clarifying it was collateral return from a financing trade. Shorooq Investors also denied selling.
Derivatives Positioning
BTC shorts have been liquidated on most exchanges in the past 24 hours, excluding BitMEX and Gate.io, according to Coinglass. The opposite is the case in ETH.
XRP’s perpetual futures open interest has dropped from 544.7 million XRP to 480 million XRP, diverging from the price recovery seen since Monday last week.
SUI, ONDO, ADA and APT have seen a notable increase in futures open interest in the past 24 hours. Of those, XMR is the only one with the positive OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta, representing net buying pressure.
On Deribit, short-dated BTC and ETH options continue to show a bias for protective puts, suggesting cautious sentiment.
Flows on OTC desk Paradigm have been mixed with both calls and puts bought in the April expiry.
Market Movements:
BTC is up 1.19% from 4 p.m. ET Monday at $85,877.18 (24hrs: +1.35%)
ETH is up 0.59% at $1,645.30 (24hrs: -1.97%)
CoinDesk 20 is up 0.99% at 2,519.69 (24hrs: +0.19%)
Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 18 bps at 3.18%
BTC funding rate is at 0.0184% (6.7003% annualized) on Binance
DXY is unchanged at 99.70
Gold is up 1.26% at $3,245.30/oz
Silver is up 0.81% at $32.35/oz
Nikkei 225 closed +0.84% at 34,267.54
Hang Seng closed +0.23% at 21,466.27
FTSE is up 0.92% at 8,209.04
Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.82% at 4,951.51
DJIA closed on Tuesday +0.78% at 40,524.79
S&P 500 closed +0.79% at 5,405.97
Nasdaq closed +0.64% at 16,831.48
S&P/TSX Composite Index closed +1.18% at 23,866.50
S&P 40 Latin America closed +1.8% at 2,340.02
U.S. 10-year Treasury rate is up 1 bp at 4.39%
E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.12% at 5,447.25
E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.26% at 18,983.25
E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are unchanged at 40,750.00
Bitcoin Stats:
BTC Dominance: 63.80 (0.16%)
Ethereum to bitcoin ratio: 0.01913 (-0.31%)
Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 896 EH/s
Hashprice (spot): $44.1 PH/s
Total Fees: 6.33 BTC / $536,017
CME Futures Open Interest: 134,730
BTC priced in gold: 26.6 oz
BTC vs gold market cap: 7.56%
Technical Analysis
On Monday, the bitcoin cash-bitcoin (BCH/BTC) ratio failed to penetrate the trendline characterizing the 12-month bear market.
A potential move above the trendline could see breakout traders join the market, lifting BCH higher.
Crypto Equities
Strategy (MSTR): closed on Monday at $311.45 (+3.82%), up 0.62% at $313.38 in pre-market
Coinbase Global (COIN): closed at $176.58 (+0.62%), up 1.28% at $178.84
Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY): closed at C$15.81 (+3.47%)
MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $12.95 (+3.52%), up 1.24% at $13.11
Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $7.01 (-0.71%), up 0.71% at $7.06
Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $7.06 (-0.14%)
CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $7.78 (+3.73%), up 1.29% at $7.88
CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $12.70 (+1.44%), up 1.44% at $12.90
Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $34.26 (+1.48%)
Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $39.43 (-10.55%), unchanged in pre-market
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs:
Daily net flow: $1.5 million
Cumulative net flows: $35.46 billion
Total BTC holdings ~1.11 million
Spot ETH ETFs
Daily net flow: -$6 million
Cumulative net flows: $2.28 billion
Total ETH holdings ~3.36 million
Source: Farside Investors
Overnight Flows
Chart of the Day Personalized: Disney’s Bob Iger to exit Apple’s board
In the Ether
**Insert interesting content about current events, stories, etc. in the crypto world**
That’s all for now, stay in-the-know with The Parrot Press for the latest updates and insights on the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies and finance!
Story Protocol’s IP tokens experienced a significant drop of 20% and quickly recovered within hours during a unique trading session on Monday. The price of IP fell from nearly $4 to...
Read moreStory Protocol’s IP tokens experienced a significant drop of 20% and quickly recovered within hours during a unique trading session on Monday. The price of IP fell from nearly $4 to $3.27 in just four hours, only to bounce back to over $4 shortly after hitting the daily low. Most of the trading volume during this event took place on major exchanges Binance and OKX Spot, with trading volumes exceeding $40 million before the drop and reaching $138 million after the recovery.
Despite the IP token’s volatility, the broader crypto market remained relatively stable at the time, with bitcoin trading around $84,000 and no distinct trend affecting altcoins. This made the sudden slump and subsequent recovery of the IP token a notable occurrence in an otherwise quiet market.
There were rumors circulating about large volumes of IP tokens, as well as other tokens like MOVE and LAYER, being sold at discounted prices through OTC deals. This sparked speculation about potential insider activity or coordinated selling among crypto communities on X.
In spite of the price fluctuations, IP-tracked futures only showed $1.4 million in cumulative losses, indicating that the majority of trading activity involved actual spot sales and purchases.
The swift movement of the IP token initially raised concerns of a Mantra (OM)-like selloff, which saw a 90% drop in value within hours the day before for unclear reasons that are still being investigated.
Story Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain platform that focuses on tokenizing intellectual property (IP), providing creators with the ability to register, license, and monetize their work on the blockchain.
Crypto companies dealing with tokens that could be considered securities must provide thorough disclosures, as stated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday. The SEC released its most...
Read moreCrypto companies dealing with tokens that could be considered securities must provide thorough disclosures, as stated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.
The SEC released its most recent staff statement on disclosures in anticipation of its upcoming second roundtable discussion, focusing on trading, in an effort to offer more clarity on the application of federal securities laws to crypto assets.
This nonbinding guidance advises companies to be clear and precise in their disclosures regarding their business activities and the role their tokens play in those activities. The recommendations are based on observations of past company disclosures, without delving deep into categorizing which cryptocurrencies are securities.
The statement highlights that offerings and registrations involving equity or debt securities related to networks, applications, and/or crypto assets, emphasizing the importance of detailed disclosures regarding the nature of the offerings. The SEC noted that existing companies have made disclosures regarding the development of crypto or blockchain networks, development milestones, the purpose of the network, and the underlying technology used.
Additionally, disclosures have included information about token holder rights, technical specifications, and other relevant details. The Division of Corporation Finance is offering these views to clarify its jurisdiction within the digital asset sector before the SEC’s crypto task force defines its scope. It is important to note that this staff statement does not carry legal weight or serve as an official rule.
Previous staff statements under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda have addressed stablecoins and memecoins.
For more information, you can visit the SEC website.
Umoja, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has launched a new product that allows holders of Coinbase wrapped BTC (cbBTC) tokens to earn a 6% yield on the layer-2 network Base. This...
Read moreUmoja, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has launched a new product that allows holders of Coinbase wrapped BTC (cbBTC) tokens to earn a 6% yield on the layer-2 network Base. This yield is achieved through various exchange strategies, both centralized and decentralized, such as covered calls and arbitrage.
It’s important to note that cbBTC is a wrapped token backed 1:1 by bitcoin held at Coinbase, and not bitcoin itself. The Umoja protocol also supports Yield Vault Tokens (YVTs) collateralized by cryptocurrencies, including real world asset tokens. One example of these YVTs is yBTC, which users can mint by depositing cbBTC on the protocol.
Although the concept of earning a yield on BTC using DeFi strategies may be controversial among bitcoin maximalists, the increasing demand for investors to mitigate spot value losses as BTC prices fluctuate is evident. As the price of BTC dropped from above $100K to a low of $74.8K on April 7, more investors are seeking ways to earn a yield.
Recently, Japanese firm Metaplanet has started earning a yield on bitcoin by utilizing a strategy involving the purchase of spot assets and put options, and then selling premium on put options during price slumps.
The evolving landscape of online prediction markets is challenging the traditional American legal framework of federalism, which seeks to balance state and federal authority. Kalshi, a key player in this new...
Read moreThe evolving landscape of online prediction markets is challenging the traditional American legal framework of federalism, which seeks to balance state and federal authority. Kalshi, a key player in this new frontier, has faced cease-and-desist orders from both Nevada and New Jersey for allegedly violating state gambling laws with its sports contracts. However, Kalshi argues that it operates as a prediction market, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Commodities Exchange Act, not as a gambling venue.
Legal experts like Aaron Brogan believe that Kalshi has a strong case, citing the exclusive jurisdiction granted to the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act. Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket act as neutral intermediaries, matching orders without betting against users and have seen significant growth in the sports category.
Kalshi has self-certified its event contracts with the CFTC, following a process that allows federally regulated derivatives exchanges to list new products without pre-approval. The CFTC seems open to considering sports outcomes as commodities, rather than pure betting activities, endorsing the legitimacy of prediction markets.
Brogan acknowledges Nevada’s concerns about Kalshi’s operations but points out that their actions could inadvertently question the legitimacy of their own state-approved gambling markets. The outcome of Kalshi’s legal battles could have far-reaching implications for the future of American sports betting culture, potentially shifting towards prediction markets over traditional gambling companies.
As the litigation unfolds, it raises important questions about the balance of state and federal authority in the regulation of gambling in the digital age. Brogan sees the impending legal battles as crucial in determining who will prevail in this complex regulatory landscape.
By: The Parrot Press Major coins reversed early gains after Beijing stepped up trade tensions by announcing retaliatory tariffs following President Donald Trump’s Wednesday decision to impose additional levies on China...
Read moreBy: The Parrot Press
Major coins reversed early gains after Beijing stepped up trade tensions by announcing retaliatory tariffs following President Donald Trump’s Wednesday decision to impose additional levies on China and other nations. Bitcoin dropped to $83,000 from $84,600, though the downside appeared limited, probably because the market’s worst fears have finally come true. Markets dislike uncertainty, and the anticipation of a looming threat often creates more anxiety and fear than the actual realization of that threat.
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20, markets have been wrestling with the threat of tariffs and a global trade war. That damped investor risk appetite, causing the BTC price to tumble from a record high over $109,000 to below $80,000 last month.
This week, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on 180 nations, with higher levies on China, the European Union and Southeast Asia. The effective U.S. tariff rate is now above the level of around 20% set by the 1930’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
This so-called tariffagedon moment marks the end of lingering uncertainty and could be liberating for markets, mainly because bond yields have dropped across the advanced world in the aftermath, pricing in disinflation. That’s contrary to the popular narrative that tariffs would lead to stagflation — high inflation plus low growth — forcing the Fed to keep interest rates elevated.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year bond yield has dropped below 4% for the first time since October and yields have fallen sharply in the U.K., Germany and Japan. Plus, oil has declined sharply this week on prospects of higher supply from OPEC countries.
All this bodes well for Fed rate cut bets and risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. The same can be said for Friday’s March jobs report, which, if it beats estimates, will likely be seen as backward-looking, failing to account for this week’s Trump tariffs, while a weak print will only add to Fed rate cuts.
With the major macro uncertainty behind us, the crypto market could return to focusing on positive developments, such as USDC issuer Circle’s IPO filing and technological advancements.
On Thursday, Coinbase Derivatives submitted documentation to the CFTC to self-certify futures for XRP. In addition, Ethereum developers chose May 7 as the date for the Pectra upgrade to go live on the mainnet.
Elsewhere, the SEC acknowledged Fidelity’s filing for a spot exchange-traded fund tied to SOL, which takes it closer to approval. A lot is happening within the industry, so stay alert!
