This week, the crypto markets remained largely unchanged. Bitcoin traded within a narrow range of $83,000 to $84,000, while the index that tracks around 80% of the market held steady at approximately 2,600. Crypto prices have been increasingly in sync with broader financial markets, which have been under pressure from concerns about tariffs and declining corporate profits. Some analysts have even suggested that the bullish trend for bitcoin might have come to an end.
However, market movements provide just one perspective on the crypto landscape. Many significant developments occurred, and many of them bode well for the industry’s future.
On the regulatory side, U.S. agencies are preparing for a landmark market structure bill in Congress. Someone with deep knowledge of crypto, Paul Atkins, is on the verge of being confirmed as SEC Chair, along with Jonathan Gould for the OCC position. Meanwhile, Congress is continuing its discussions regarding a stablecoin bill, highlighting Tether’s critical role in the market. European officials are expressing concerns over the dominance of USD in stablecoins and are preparing initiatives for a digital euro or central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Notably, Eric Trump has joined Metaplanet, illustrating the Trump family’s ongoing support for the crypto sector, both privately and publicly.
Our investigative team delved into various protocol projects. One reporter explored the recent price surge of Cardano, which followed ADA’s (somewhat) inclusion in a proposed national crypto reserve. Uniquely, this project measures success through real-world applications rather than the conventional total value locked (TVL) metric.
Another piece examined Pump.fun’s ambitions to become a leader in DeFi trading on the Solana platform, following its successful stint in the memecoin space.
On the other hand, bitcoin miners are feeling the strain from reduced hashrates and falling transaction fees, which have wiped out gains made post-election.
In another highlight, our team took a look into the efforts by bitcoin developers to implement zero-knowledge proofs into the blockchain, a challenging task given bitcoin’s decentralized nature.
Our Asia team excelled in market coverage, with one analyst accurately reporting the Fed’s end of quantitative tightening and another highlighting the Turkish lira’s sudden devaluation, which resulted in a spike in bitcoin trading in Turkey.
One of our reporters continued his thorough coverage on XRP, detailing remarks from Ripple’s CEO regarding the potential inclusion of XRP in the strategic reserve and the company’s plans for an IPO. Additionally, there was news on Raydium’s plans to compete with Pump.fun.
Another correspondent, based in Hong Kong, reported on North Dakota’s approval of a crypto ATM bill and covered the story of an individual who attacked the CEO of Haru Invest, facing a lengthy prison sentence as a result.
Finally, swift reporting on Kraken’s acquisition of NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion gave us an edge over competitors.
This week showcased a lot of behind-the-scenes action. While the prices may have reached a plateau, the industry is still advancing on multiple fronts.