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The International Monetary Fund said it has reached an agreement with El Salvador to pay the country $120 million following an initial review of its $1.4 billion loan agreement struck last year.
The IMF said on May 27 that as part of the deal, El Salvador will need to fulfill its prior obligations around limiting further government involvement in Bitcoin (BTC), and it will have to cease its involvement in the Chivo wallet by the end of July.
“On Bitcoin, efforts will continue to ensure that the total amount of Bitcoin held across all government-owned wallets remains unchanged,” the global lender said.
The planned payout, subject to IMF executive board approval, is part of a larger $1.4 billion, 40-month loan deal struck in December, which saw El Salvador agree to confine its Bitcoin ambitions.
On March 3, the IMF reiterated its stance that El Salvador should stop accumulating Bitcoin and not pursue other Bitcoin-related activities.
Despite the IMF’s request, El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, has stated that his government will continue to acquire one BTC per day as part of the nation’s Bitcoin treasury strategy.
El Salvador again defies IMF
Shortly after the IMF’s May 27 announcement, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office posted to X that the country had once again purchased more Bitcoin.
The country’s official Bitcoin tracker shows that El Salvador is continuing with Bitcoin-buying through the Bitcoin Office, which has accumulated 30 BTC in the past 30 days.
Currently, El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserve stands at 6,190.18 BTC.
Related: How can Bukele still stack Bitcoin after IMF loan agreement?
Last week, Bukele took to the social media platform X to reveal that the nation’s Bitcoin treasury is sitting at an unrealized profit of $386 million, a 132% gain on its total Bitcoin investment.
In April, Rodrigo Valdes, director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the IMF, said that the country is complying with the IMF’s performance criteria.
Author and intergovernmental blockchain adviser Anndy Lian suggested that the country could maintain technical compliance by purchasing Bitcoin through non-government entities.
Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF ‘fixer’ rumors
Bitcoin's BTC upward trend continued to show signs of weakness early Wednesday, even as Wall Street tech stocks surged overnight in anticipation of upbeat earnings from AI giant Nvidia (NVDA).
The leading cryptocurrency by market value traded near $108,900 at press time, teasing a downside break of a trendline characterizing the uptrend from early April lows, according to data source Coingecko.
Bullish trendlines indicate areas of strong demand, thus a move below one is generally seen as a sign of a potential reversal and a possible start of a downward move.
Prices have not been able to make significant gains this week despite a flurry of positive news, including stablecoin issuer Circle's plans to file for an IPO and Trump Media's plans to raise $2.5 billion to purchase bitcoin.
On-chain activity suggests that large investors have recently begun distributing coins, contributing to the market's selling pressure. "As of May 26, the >10K BTC cohort has pivoted to net distribution (~0.3), signaling a notable shift in positioning among the largest holders," Glassnode said on X. The firm, however, added that overall, the market remains in an accumulation mode.
Focus on Fed minutes and NVDA earnings
Later Wednesday, the spotlight will be on minutes of the Federal Reserve's May meeting, which will offer detailed insights into the committee’s stance on monetary policy and potential clues about future interest rate decisions.
The central bank left the benchmark interest rate unchanged early this month, with Chairman Jerome Powell pointing squarely to President Donald Trump's tariff war as a source of inflation and uncertainty. Powell also “stagflation” aloud.
The minutes are likely to reiterate the same, although the recent tariff delay by Trump means the market may not pay much attention to hawkish messaging.
Meanwhile, AI major Nvidia's earnings announcement could move markets, particularly digital assets, given the historical positive correlation between BTC and NVDA.
The firm is expected to report strong earnings and revenue growth, driving benefits from investments in AI infrastructure. The focus will be on the company's outlook on AI demand and China amid restrictions on Chip exports to China.
XRP holds key support
Payments-focused XRP held the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) during overnight trading amid growing social media chatter about XRPFi, or decentralized finance on the XRP Ledger.
Strobe Finance, which leverages the smart contract capabilities of Ripple's EVM sidechain to create a DeFi platform on the XRP Ledger, stated that large amounts of XRO are currently idle and can be deployed in DeFi for additional yield.
"Ripple’s community research reveals a significant dormant user base: over 4 million inactive XRPL wallets hold an estimated US$2.15 billion in XRP, compared to 1.7 million active wallets. This dormant capital represents a large, addressable market waiting to be unlocked through compelling DeFi opportunities," Strobe said in a blog post.
The chart shows XRP trading in bullish territory, above the Ichimoku cloud and the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). The average has acted as strong support or area of interest for buyers since early April.
Outgoing US Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero says the exodus of the agency’s top brass is “not a great situation” for crypto regulations.
The CFTC could be headed by just one commissioner once the other four depart later this year, which Goldsmith Romero said in a May 27 interview at the Brookings Institution will make creating regulations harder because it leaves a less diverse pool of opinions.
“I think it’s not a great situation if you have one person who’s determining what the rules should be; you lose the benefit of this back-and-forth, this push-and-pull as to what’s the right thing to do,” she said.
“I’ve always wanted to hear from my fellow commissioners about what makes sense to them, and there are many things that they’ve convinced me of and many things that I’ve convinced them of, so I think it does a disservice to regulation.”
Goldsmith Romero’s last day will be May 31, leaving Commissioner Kristin Johnson as the CFTC’s sole Democrat, who has also announced plans to depart the agency before 2026.
Republican Commissioner Summer Mersinger is also leaving on May 30 to join the crypto advocacy organization the Blockchain Association as CEO and Republican acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said on May 15 that she plans to move “to the private sector” if Brian Quintenz were to be confirmed head of the agency.
If Quintenz is confirmed, and Pham follows through on leaving, it would leave him solely in charge of the agency. Five commissioners are supposed to make up the CFTC, and no more than three can be from the same political party.
Goldsmith Romero said that during her tenure, all the commissioners had different perspectives and experiences that, when brought together, were “really helpful.”
“So what happens if the CFTC gets down to one and gets new authority for crypto? It’s going to be really, really hard; you’re not going to have the same push and pull,” she said.
The Trump administration has floated the idea of handing the reins of crypto regulation to the CFTC in the past. Congressional Republicans have also been drafting bills to give the CFTC greater oversight over the industry,
Retail customer Definition should be CFTC priority
In the future, Goldsmith Romero thinks the CFTC should work on defining a retail customer to ensure the influx of fresh investments in “crypto and some other products” has a similar retail customer protection regime to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Related: Crypto perp futures coming ‘very soon,’ says CFTC’s Mersinger
“I came from the SEC with an investor protection regime, you want people to know their rights and risk if they take a risk and they lose that’s on them,” she said.
“But you want to have some basic things like exchanges that are registered that have some basic requirements and have to follow the law and this is, I think, the main thing that needs to happen.”
Goldsmith Romero said other “extremely basic” rules could include a ban against co-mingling a company’s assets with customer funds, and brokers, exchanges and clearing houses being required to register with the SEC, the CFTC or in some cases, both.
Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF ‘fixer’ rumors: Hodler’s Digest, May 18 – 24
US President Donald Trump’s pick to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has disclosed millions of dollars worth of assets, along with his various ties to crypto-related organizations.
In paperwork released by the US Office of Government Ethics on May 25, Brian Quintenz disclosed his key positions in crypto and market firms that would directly relate to the CFTC’s regulatory priorities and disclosed assets worth at least $3.4 million, according to a May 27 Bloomberg report.
Quintenz was a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021 and is currently the global head of crypto policy at Andreessen Horowitz, a position he said he will step down from if the Senate confirms him as CFTC chair.
He holds an interest in three AH Capital Management investment funds, CNK Fund III, CNK Seed 1 Fund, and CNK IV Fund, plus capital commitments to related general partners.
He is also a board member of the prediction markets platform Kalshi and owns stock and unvested stock options in the firm, along with stock and vested stock options in the finance and lending brokerage Next Level Derivatives.
His portfolio intersects directly with two major CFTC policy areas, crypto asset regulation and prediction markets. Kalashi settled a major legal battle with the CFTC over election betting earlier this month.
Quintenz outlined the steps he will take to avoid conflicts of interest if confirmed as CFTC chairman in an agreement letter to John Einstman, the CFTC’s Designated Agency Ethics Official, dated May 21.
“I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter,” he stated.
An excerpt of Brian Quintenz's letter. Source: US Office of Government Ethics
He added that he will resign from all positions and divest conflicting assets within 90 days of confirmation. This includes recusing himself from a16z-related matters for two years, recusing from Kalashi matters for one year, and forfeiting unvested stock options at multiple companies.
Related: Crypto perp futures coming ‘very soon,’ says CFTC’s Mersinger
Quintenz also said he would comply with standard conflict of interest laws and obtain ethics briefings, but will retain unpaid trustee positions for two family trusts.
Trump nominated Quintenz to head the financial regulator in February and is currently awaiting Senate confirmation.
CFTC commissioner exodus continues
The CFTC has seen an exodus of commissioners recently amid concern over the Trump administration’s crypto embrace, with potentially all four remaining positions being up for grabs this year.
On May 21, Democrat Commissioner Kristin Johnson announced that she plans to depart the agency later this year.
Meanwhile, Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero previously said they would respectively step down on May 30 and May 31.
Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF ‘fixer’ rumors: Hodler’s Digest
US Representative Bryan Steil wants lawmakers to stop adding “non-germane items” into two key crypto bills, claiming that doing so is slowing the implementation of a regulatory framework for the industry.
“Individuals, when they see legislation that’s going to move forward, want to attach non-germane items to any bill that’s going to move through and be signed into law,” Steil, a Republican from Wisconsin who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on crypto, told Cointelegraph at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 27.
“We have to restrain ourselves from that instinct and attempt by our colleagues — both sides of the aisle,” he added.
Congress’s biggest crypto backers hope to pass the stablecoin-regulating Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act, and a crypto market structure bill before a month-long August recess.
Democratic lawmakers had pulled support for the GENIUS Act on May 8, citing concerns about US President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures potentially conflicting with his presidential duties
Stable Coin and Market Structure legislation will unlock the golden age of digital assets. pic.twitter.com/lSbX5p2Wqt
— Bryan Steil (@RepBryanSteil) May 27, 2025
While the GENIUS Act eventually moved forward in the Senate with a May 20 procedural vote, Steil said the concerns related to Trump aren’t relevant to the bills themselves.
“They’re not germane to the legislative text. The legislative text is focused on putting forward a regulatory framework in which we can enforce actions to strengthen this broader market, in particular to the benefit of American consumers and innovation and development here.”
Democratic Senator Marker Warner voiced a similar sentiment before the GENIUS Act passed on May 19, stating that the US couldn’t “afford to keep standing on the sidelines” while the crypto industry evolves.
“We cannot allow that corruption to blind us to the broader reality: blockchain technology is here to stay,” Warner said. “If American lawmakers don’t shape it, others will — and not in ways that serve our interests or democratic values.”
Steil credits Democrats
Steil acknowledged that Democratic lawmakers have made an effort to better understand the crypto industry’s gripes with how the Biden administration handled regulation and enforcement of the sector.
He said the political landscape and nature of crypto-related negotiations “looked a little different,” but over 70 Democrats in the last Congress signaled the need for clear crypto rules when the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) passed the House in May 2024.
Related: Trump supports bill to buy 1 million BTC — Senator Lummis
“I think that was a great practice run,” said Steil.
The FIT21 Act wasn’t enacted before the end of the last Congress However, House Agricultural and Financial Services Committee chairs Glenn Thompson and French Hill introduced a new crypto market structure bill on May 5 that aims to build on FIT21.
If lawmakers pass those bills, they will have the opportunity to explore a lot of other “interesting, creative ideas” in the space, Steil said.
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Additional reporting by Turner Wright
Jack Dorsey’s financial services firm Block, Inc. will launch Bitcoin payments on Square, its payments processing arm, with a rollout to begin later this year before a full launch in 2026.
The company announced the plan at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 27, where Block demonstrated the feature at the BTC Inc. merchandise store.
Merchants will be able to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments through existing Square hardware using the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s faster, lower-cost layer-2 scaling network.
“Merchants can choose to hold the Bitcoin, or auto-convert it to fiat in real-time,” Dorsey said on X.
The company said it expects to start rolling out in the second half of 2025, reaching all eligible Square sellers by 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The move builds on Square’s existing Bitcoin Conversions feature that allows merchants to automatically convert sales to BTC. For consumers, payment is as simple as scanning a QR code, with Square handling the technicalities behind the scenes and Lightning enabling near-instant settlement.
“This is about economic empowerment for merchants who like to have options when it comes to accepting payments,” said Block’s Bitcoin Product Lead Miles Suter.
Related: Jack Dorsey’s Block is ‘DCA’ing’ into Bitcoin every month
The company added that, starting in May, it’s adding new privacy and security features to its self-custody BTC wallet Bitkey that it launched in late 2023, which are designed to make self-custody more accessible without traditional seed phrases.
Stake n’ Shake slashes fees on BTC adoption
Meanwhile, Dan Edwards, the operating chief of American fast food chain Stake n’ Shake, said on stage at Bitcoin 2025 that the firm has cut its payment processing fees in half by adopting Bitcoin payments.
STEAK ‘N SHAKE CEO SAYS PEOPLE CAN NOW “PAY FOR YOUR FRANCHISE USING #BITCOIN”
— The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) May 27, 2025
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE 🚀 pic.twitter.com/kTqHCazQDy
“Our experience so far with Bitcoin has been that it is faster than credit cards, and when customers choose to pay in Bitcoin instead of credit cards, we are saving about 50% in our processing fees,” Edwards said.
“This means that Bitcoin is a win for the customer, a win for us, the merchant, and a win for you in the Bitcoin community.”
On May 9, Stake n’ Shake announced that it will begin accepting Bitcoin as payment at all restaurant locations globally starting on May 16.
Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF ‘fixer’ rumors: Hodler’s Digest
Bitcoin’s recent all-time high of $111,970 has sparked optimism among crypto market participants, but whether that carries through into the third quarter of this year remains uncertain, analysts say.
“The coming weeks will likely determine whether Bitcoinʼs latest breakout was a local high or the prelude to a more aggressive leg higher in Q3,” Bitfinex analysts said in a May 28 markets note.
Consolidation or mild retracement may “be healthy”
Bitcoin (BTC) reached new all-time highs of $111,970 on May 22, however, Bitfinex analysts say a continued price increase alone won’t necessarily confirm the uptrend heading into the next quarter.
“A period of consolidation or mild retracement would not only be healthy but also provide a more sustainable foundation for the next leg higher,” the analysts said.
It isn’t unusual for Bitcoin to consolidate for an extended time after reaching all-time highs. After Bitcoin reached a high of $73,679 in March 2024, it swung within about a $20,000 range until Donald Trump was elected US president that November.
The third quarter of the year has, on average, been Bitcoin’s worst-performing quarter since 2013, with an average return of just 6.03% over the past 11 years, according to CoinGlass data. The next worst quarter on average is Q2, which has historically posted a stronger average return of 27.25%.
The analysts said that Bitcoin had entered a “short-term range-bound phase,” with a significant amount of short-term holders — those holding Bitcoin for under 155 days — selling off their positions over the past 30 days.
“With over $11.4 billion in short-term holder profits realized in the past month, the near-term supply overhang is expected — but so is structural demand. According to Bitbo data, the short-term holder realized price for Bitcoin was $95,781, while Bitcoin was trading at $108,929 at the time of publication.
This represents an average profit of 13.72% for short-term holders.
Related: Bitcoin profit taking lingers, but rally to $115K will liquidate $7B shorts
Bitfinex’s analysts said that Bitcoin’s ETF “bid strength,” low volatility and Bitcoin’s spot premium all signal a maturing market “poised for eventual continuation once macro clarity improves.”
The trading week ending May 23 saw around $2.75 billion flow into spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Crypto investors will be watching the US Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision on June 18 for more clarity on the macro environment. The Fed kept rates steady at 4.25% to 4.50% in May.
Bitcoin reaching new highs earlier this month was an event several crypto pundits predicted would happen earlier this year. On March 7, Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten said there was a 50% chance Bitcoin would reach new highs before June.
Similarly, Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts said Bitcoin may hit “new all-time highs before Q2 is out.”
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Real-world assets linking up with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is one of a few key catalysts that could reignite the waning NFT lending sector, which is suffering from a collapse in volumes and user activity, says blockchain analytics platform DappRadar.
Volumes in the NFT lending market, which allows NFT holders to take out a loan against their token, have dropped 97% from a peak of around $1 billion in January 2024 to $50 million in May, DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas said in a May 27 report.
Gherghelas said for NFT lending to “move beyond survival mode,” it needs “new catalysts” to reignite the sector, such as real-world asset NFTs, like tokenized real estate or yield-bearing assets that could unlock more stable, trusted collateral sources.
“So far, 2025 has not delivered a compelling reason for NFT lending to bounce back,” she said. “While the infrastructure is still here and the platforms remain active, activity has slowed across the board.”
“For now, the sector seems to be in a holding pattern, waiting either for market recovery or a new use case to reignite interest.”
Gherghelas added that other catalysts that could rekindle NFT lending were tools that make it easier for NFT holders to borrow against their tokens, and that protocols should create “smart infrastructure” such as undercollateralized loans, credit scores and artificial intelligence risk matching.
The report adds that since January last year, borrower activity has declined by 90% and those willing to lend have shrunk by 78%.
The average NFT loan size has also taken a hit from a peak of $22,000 in 2022 to $4,000 in May, a 71% year-over-year drop.
Gherghelas said this shift “shows that either users are borrowing against lower-value assets or simply becoming more conservative with leverage.”
The average loan duration is also lower; after hitting an average of roughly 40 days in 2023, it’s been down to 31 days and has held steady throughout 2024 and into 2025.
Gherghelas said this could indicate that “loans are being taken more frequently but for shorter periods, perhaps a sign of more tactical liquidity plays.”
NFT market downturn also hurts lending
Part of the slowdown in NFT lending is connected to the overall NFT market decline, which has seen volumes drop 61% in the first quarter to $1.5 billion compared to $4.1 billion a year ago.
“With collateral value collapsing, the lending activity naturally followed,” Gherghelas said. “There are a few exceptions that managed to hold or regain traction, but they’ve been outliers, not enough to lift the sector.”
Related: AI decentralized apps are coming for the Web3 throne: DappRadar
The protocol landscape has also narrowed, and the number of active NFT lending apps is limited, with only eight protocols holding any meaningful share.
“The flip-for-liquidity model that worked during bull markets isn’t built for a quieter, more risk-averse environment. But that doesn’t mean NFT lending is finished; it’s simply shifting focus,” Gherghelas said.
“Platforms are diversifying, use cases are shifting, and collateral preferences are changing. If the next wave builds on utility, culture, and better design, NFT lending might just find its second wind — one built to last.”
Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF ‘fixer’ rumors: Hodler’s Digest, May 18 – 24
Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.
Ethereum surged past $2,600 in early Asia hours, up 3.7%, breaking decisively above its previous resistance level of around $2,500 following a prolonged consolidation period, according to CoinDesk Research's AI-assisted technical analysis model.
The rally is supported by robust trading volume and significant institutional confidence, underscored by $248 million in net inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs last week, led prominently by BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust. DeFi activity is also strengthening, with Ethereum's total value locked (TVL) rising 3.59% over the last 24 hours to $64.37 billion, according to DeFi Llama.
However, the rally faces potential headwinds. Ethereum’s active addresses currently sit at 406,180, nearly flat compared to approximately 430,000 addresses one year ago, indicating muted user growth.
Additionally, stablecoin flows reveal mixed signals; traditional stalwarts USDT and USDC remain relatively flat, while emerging stablecoins such as Ethena's USDe and BUIDL demonstrate stronger growth trends, signaling shifts within Ethereum’s broader stablecoin ecosystem. Despite bullish momentum and strong institutional backing, subdued retail investor participation and tepid user growth suggest this rally could face near-term constraints.
Bitcoin Soars While Luxury Watches Stall: A Pandemic-Era Correlation Breaks Down
Bitcoin (BTC) and luxury watches, once pandemic-era companions buoyed by stimulus and speculative exuberance, have sharply diverged over the past year, market data shows, with BTC surging 56.9%, according to CoinDesk market data, while WatchCharts.com luxury watch index fell by 4%.
As recently as mid-2023, prices for bitcoin and luxury watches moved closely in tandem, buoyed by central banks and governments injecting substantial liquidity into global markets. However, the two have since taken distinctly different paths.
OKX Global Chief Commercial Officer Lennix Lai attributes Bitcoin’s sustained upward trajectory to increased institutional adoption and maturation as a credible asset.
In contrast, the secondary market for luxury watches has cooled significantly from its pandemic peak. “The real collectors stayed in watches while speculators moved on, and bitcoin has matured to take its place in many investors’ portfolios,” Lai said. “Watches make great heirlooms, but I'll take Bitcoin any day as a generational asset. You can't lose it, scratch it during a move, or have it stolen, as long as you keep your seed phrase secure.”
Yet, in recent months, the luxury watch market has shown early signs of a modest recovery, posting a 0.3% gain over the last three months.
Jake Plonskier, founder of Watches.io, credits this rebound to external economic pressures rather than renewed crypto-driven speculation. He notes rising tariffs and surging gold prices as key catalysts.
“Gold and silver are decent proxies for the watch market,” Plonskier explained, highlighting Rolex’s January decision to raise MSRP by 14% for its gold models.
He added that crypto's lasting impact on luxury watches is primarily demographic: "Crypto wealth introduced a whole new market that can afford watches. Now men under 30 can afford Pateks and APs, which traditionally never would have been purchased by this type of clientele.”
Circle Prepares for IPO Filing
Circle Internet Group, the issuer of stablecoin USDC, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "CRCL," aiming to sell 24 million class A shares priced between $24 and $26 each, CoinDesk previously reported.
The company itself will offer 9.6 million shares, potentially raising nearly $250 million, while selling stakeholders are providing an additional 14.4 million shares, possibly earning close to $375 million.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment has indicated interest in purchasing $150 million worth of shares during the IPO, which is being managed by joint lead active bookrunners J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs.
The IPO filing follows previous unsuccessful attempts, including a failed SPAC deal in 2021 and a brief consideration of a $5 billion sale to firms such as Coinbase or Ripple.
Marathon Digital CEO Says U.S. Government Should Mine BTC
Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel urged the U.S. government to start actively mining bitcoin to fulfill President Trump's directive for a strategic bitcoin reserve, suggesting excess hydroelectricity could support domestic mining operations, CoinDesk previously reported.
Speaking at Bitcoin 2025, Thiel emphasized the necessity of tangible steps beyond the current plan of using approximately 200,000 seized bitcoins from government forfeitures. Senator Cynthia Lummis supports this broader vision through her proposed BITCOIN Act, advocating for converting underperforming government gold certificates into bitcoin to expand the reserve substantially.
However, Lummis acknowledges significant legislative hurdles remain, citing a general lack of congressional understanding about bitcoin and competing priorities such as stablecoin and market structure regulations.
Market Movements:
- BTC: Bitcoin bounced back strongly from a correction to $107,604, stabilizing just below key resistance at $110,000, supported by easing EU trade tensions and continued accumulation from long-term investors, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model.
- ETH: Ethereum broke decisively above $2,600 on strong institutional ETF inflows and rising DeFi activity, though flat active address growth could limit further upside.
- Gold: Gold currently trades at $3,315.30 per ounce, down 0.77%, as Citi upgrades its near-term forecast to between $3,100 and $3,500 due to ongoing trade uncertainties, while remaining cautious longer term amid expectations of economic improvement and Fed rate cuts.
- Nikkei 225: Japan's Nikkei 225, which opened at 38,003.67 on Wednesday, is forecasted to rise approximately 5% to 39,600 by year-end, according to a Reuters poll, as U.S. trade uncertainties eased, though near-term volatility remained likely, with analysts predicting further gains to 42,000 by the end of 2026.
- S&P 500: The benchmark S&P 500 closed about 2.1% higher Tuesday, boosted by optimism over a delayed implementation of U.S.-EU tariffs and improved prospects for a trade agreement.
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- ‘Crypto king of Kentucky’ arrested for allegedly torturing man with saw and electricity in bid to steal his Bitcoin (Fortune)
- As bitcoin treasury strategies proliferate, one company eyes big ETH buys (Blockworks)
- Cracking Bitcoin-Like Encryption Through Quantum Computing Could be 20x Easier Than Thought (CoinDesk)
- 10x Research Recommends Bearish Bet on Bitcoin-Holder MicroStrategy as MSTR Diverges from BTC's Bull Run (CoinDesk)
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, said he and his younger brother Eric Trump “orange-pilled” their father after the family and its organization experienced pervasive de-banking in the wake of Trump’s first presidential term.
Speaking at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Don Jr. said he wasn’t an early adopter of bitcoin or crypto, only finding his way to blockchain technology after realizing the “fragile” nature of the traditional financial system.
“We were real estate guys, we were hard assets, we built buildings — [bitcoin] was a bit nebulous,” he said during a fireside chat with Rumble CEO and founder Chris Pavlovski. “But once we got into that political sector…we were getting de-banked, we were getting de-insured, we were getting de-everything. It was brutal.”
Don Jr. said he and Eric “definitely” had a hand in helping their father, who called bitcoin a scam in 2021, understand the potential of crypto and blockchain technology.
“We were the ones who were getting subpoenaed in nonsense lawsuits, we were the ones who are dealing with getting de-banked … we’re the guys who probably saw that first-hand,” he said of him and his brother. “We probably, maybe got there a little bit before him. Once we started explaining the potential, he’s a quick study … he got there pretty quickly.”
Once Trump embraced crypto on the campaign trail, Don Jr. said he got a laugh out of other candidates, including Democratic nominee and former Vice President Kamala Harris, jumping on the bitcoin bandwagon.
“I would pay money, a lot of money, maybe my entire crypto wallet, to have Kamala Harris explain blockchain technology,” Don Jr. said. “That would be the greatest word salad in the history of Kamala Harris word salad.”
Don Jr. added that his father “cares about doing what’s right for America,” saying the democratization of finance “is a fundamental tenant after, like, world peace, of what he wants to accomplish in this administration.”
The Trump family’s crypto ventures, including the TRUMP memecoin and World Liberty Financial, have been heavily criticized in both the industry and the government for being opaque and allegedly presenting conflicts of interest. However, since Trump took office, there has been a renewed push for new regulations and the passage of crypto legislation, as well as the apparent end to the so-called regulation-by-enforcement practiced by regulators during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
With stablecoin legislation seemingly around the corner, potentially followed by a comprehensive market structure bill and strategic bitcoin reserve legislation, Don Jr. said the improved regulatory clarity for the industry will be a boon for bitcoin.
“I think you have the perfect storm for this thing just going to the moon, as they say,” he said.