This past week saw a downturn in both cryptocurrency and traditional markets, with bitcoin dropping below $80K on March 10 and ETH declining to $1,821 on the same day. So much for any potential “Trump Bump.” With the new administration aggressively implementing tariffs, market fears of a recession intensified, and the cryptocurrency sector felt the impact.
Nevertheless, significant advancements in digital assets were still evident, and our reporters were quick to capture all the details. BlackRock’s leading BUIDL fund surpassed $1 billion, and tokenized treasuries reached $4.2 billion, as noted by Kris Sandor. MoonPay, an aggregator for payments, made a significant acquisition concerning stablecoins, according to Will Canny. Ripple secured a payments license in the UAE (report by Shaurya Malwa), while OKX gained a license to operate across Europe, as reported by Camomile Shumba. Meanwhile, Coinbase unveiled plans for 24/7 futures trading in the U.S., detailed by Helene Braun.
There were also notable regulatory developments. The U.S. House voted to overturn the IRS’s contentious “broker rule,” marking a considerable victory for DeFi operators. A Senate committee also voted to advance the GENIUS stablecoin bill for potential approval on the Senate floor.
The Trump family remained central to crypto headlines, as World Liberty Financial successfully conducted a $590 million token sale (currently limited to accredited investors), aided by Justin Sun, the founder of TRON and an adviser/investor. Reports surfaced indicating that a representative of the Trump family also investigated acquiring a stake in Binance.US through World Liberty Financial.
From our Asia team, Sam Reynolds delved into how the latest draft of the GENIUS act proposes a division of stablecoin regulation between state and federal jurisdictions.
Parikshit Mishra covered Coinbase’s return to India after a two-year absence, sparking discussions on the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency in the country.
Shaurya Malwa continued his thorough reporting on XRP, releasing several updates on Ripple. He also examined the risks of excessive leverage within the crypto market, citing that Hyperliquid incurred a $4 million loss due to a substantial leveraged ETH trade.
Market analyst Omkar Godbole published a timely article discussing bitcoin’s bullish indicators ahead of the U.S. CPI report and was also among the first to highlight how Eric Trump’s tweet regarding crypto could lead to short-term trader disappointment.
Meanwhile, Tom Carreras showcased an insightful piece about how Bitdeer, a miner based in Singapore, aims to disrupt the mining machine market.
We hope the upcoming week brings more favorable news for the markets. Regardless, our reporters will continue to provide coverage of what matters most.