KEYTAKEAWAYS
- Federal Reserve Chair Powell warns Trump's tariffs are "larger than expected" and will cause higher inflation and slower growth, creating challenging conditions that could delay rate cuts.
- Bitcoin shows surprising resilience amid market turmoil, decoupling from plunging tech stocks as it holds around $83,000 while Nasdaq dropped 11% over two days, enhancing its appeal as a macro hedge.
- Stablecoin developments continue with Tether planning US-compliant stablecoin while maintaining USDT for emerging markets, as Circle reportedly delays IPO plans amid market volatility.
CONTENT
Welcome to the CoinRank Crypto News Roundup. CoinRank will provide daily important crypto news in this column series, allowing readers to quickly obtain the latest crucial updates from the cryptocurrency market.
1. Coinbase Officially Files to Self-Certify XRP Futures for April 21 Launch
Coinbase Derivatives has officially filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to self-certify futures contracts for XRP, with the new contracts expected to be available to institutional and retail traders on April 21, 2025.
Self-certification enables Coinbase to launch these contracts without direct CFTC approval as long as they align with existing regulatory frameworks, providing a regulated option for investors seeking exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets.
This development comes as Kraken has incorporated Ripple USD (RLUSD) among cryptocurrencies traded on its platform, further increasing XRP’s accessibility across major exchanges.
2. Fed Chair Powell: Trump Tariffs “Larger Than Expected” with Significant Economic Impact
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that President Trump’s new tariffs are “larger than expected,” with economic consequences including higher inflation and slower growth likely to follow suit.
Powell cautioned it was too soon to know the appropriate Fed response, noting, “We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation,” potentially undermining both of the Fed’s mandates.
Despite Trump calling for rate cuts on social media, Powell indicated the Fed would wait for more data before deciding on monetary policy adjustments, emphasizing the need to ensure that inflation expectations remain anchored if tariffs trigger a persistent rise in prices.
3. Tether CEO: No Issue if USDT Banned in US, Plans Compliant Stablecoin
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated the company has no real issue with its flagship stablecoin, USDT, being banned in the United States by new regulatory legislation.
To circumvent this potential restriction, Tether is considering creating a new U.S.-domiciled stablecoin that will comply with pending American stablecoin laws, with Ardoino noting, “We believe that our main stablecoin is perfected for emerging markets, but we can craft a payment stablecoin that works for the U.S.”
Ardoino dismissed theories that Tether would avoid the U.S. due to new stablecoin laws as showing “the smell of desperation” from competitors, while expressing confidence that USDT will remain listed on U.S. secondary markets.
4. Circle Reportedly Delays IPO Plans Amid Market Instability
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has reportedly delayed its plans to go public due to growing financial market instability triggered by Trump’s sweeping import tariffs and China’s retaliation.
The company joins a list of high-profile firms—including Klarna and StubHub—that have shelved initial public offering plans as financial markets experience steep declines, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their steepest drops in over a year.
For Circle, the delay carries broader implications as its strategy hinges on securing global regulatory approval and institutional trust, with its push for transparency and compliance seen as a pathway to cement USDC’s status as a preferred stablecoin.
5. US Adds 228,000 Jobs in March, Exceeding Expectations
U.S. employers added a surprising 228,000 jobs in March, nearly double the 130,000 that economists had expected, showing that the American labor market was in solid shape as President Trump embarked on a trade war.
The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.2% for what economists consider a good reason: 232,000 people entered the labor force, though not all found jobs immediately.
Workers’ average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from February and were up 3.8% year-over-year, approaching the 3.5% gains considered consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target.
6. Crypto Market Overview: Bitcoin at $83.7K, Fear & Greed Index at 30
Bitcoin experienced a 1.4% increase during the last day and currently trades at $83.7K, while Ethereum saw a 1.5% price boost to $1.81K.
Market sentiment shows signs of caution with the Fear & Greed Index at 30, signaling fear. The total crypto market value holds at $2.78 trillion after experiencing a 0.7% decrease, while trading volume rose by 1% to reach $120 billion.
In the DeFi sector, total value locked (TVL) grew 1.1% to exceed $132 billion, with Cosmos Hub achieving a 17% boost to its market value. Meanwhile, Solana achieved Q1 transaction fee earnings of $370 million, surpassing Ethereum, TRON, and BNB Chain.
7. Pump.fun Reintroduces Limited, Moderated Live Streaming
Pump.fun founder Alon Cohen announced the platform will bring back its live streaming feature, but with significant changes—streams will be limited to 5% of power users and will be moderated.
Previously unmoderated content led to violent content, self-harm, and animal abuse, resulting in a temporary ban on live streaming since November 2024. The new policy will prohibit streams featuring violence, harassment, explicit content, child abuse, doxing, copyright violations, and incitement of violence.
Despite the moderation, the first new live stream after removing the ban ended in a rug pull just minutes after launch. Nevertheless, creators have returned to the platform, with over 4,000 accounts daily generating new tokens, and Pump.fun is recovering a baseline level of daily fees between $1M and $2M.
8. Paradigm CTO Questions Future of Solidity Programming Language
Paradigm’s Chief Technology Officer Georgios Konstantopoulos posted on X questioning the current state of Solidity, suggesting options including continuing to improve it, switching to Vyper, or developing a new language, possibly a Rust-based RISCV runtime.
Sui co-founder expressed curiosity about why Konstantopoulos’ perspective has changed after long-term involvement in the Solidity ecosystem and tool development, noting he has believed since 2018 that there are issues with Solidity and EVM.
9. BitGo CEO: Only Three Viable Global Currencies Exist
BitGo CEO Mike Belshe posted that when the market mentions “monopoly abuse” in terms of currency, it refers to the sanctions control imposed by the United States, distinguishing this from tariffs, which all countries can implement.
Belshe identified only three viable currencies in global trade: the U.S. dollar, gold, and Bitcoin, noting that due to sanctions threats, the U.S. dollar may become unviable, gold is difficult to physically transfer, and Bitcoin, while easier to understand, has not yet gained enough trust for widespread adoption.
10. Bitcoin ETFs See $99.86M Net Outflows Following Tariff Announcement
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $99.86 million in net outflows on Thursday as the U.S. stock market tumbled following Trump’s tariff announcement.
Grayscale’s GBTC led the outflows with $60.2 million, followed by Bitwise BITB’s $44.19 million and Fidelity FBTC’s $23.27 million. However, BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest spot Bitcoin ETF by net assets, attracted $65.25 million, making it the only fund to register net inflows.
The outflows reversed the previous day’s $220.76 million inflow amid a sharp market downturn, as investors reacted to Trump’s announcement of a baseline 10% tariff on imports, with some countries facing tariffs exceeding 50%.
11. BitMEX Co-Founder: April Will Be Tough Month for Bitcoin
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes warned that Bitcoin faces a “wall of worry” in April amid US market uncertainty following Trump’s tariff announcements.
Hayes suggested Bitcoin may diverge from its correlation with the Nasdaq, saying, “I think Bitcoin is going to perform more like gold, but it’s going to take a while for the market to sort of ditch this correlation.”
Additional factors that could impact Bitcoin this month include US tax day on April 15 (a “liquidity negative event” as people sell assets to pay taxes) and uncertainty around Treasury monetary policy, though Hayes believes Bitcoin may start rallying again if it holds $76,500 as support.
12. Bitcoin Surpasses Silver in Global Asset Rankings
According to data from 8marketcap, due to the continuous decline in silver prices, Bitcoin has surpassed silver in the global asset rankings.
Currently, the market value of silver is approximately $1.662 trillion, with a 24-hour decline of 7.65%, ranking 10th in global asset market value, while Bitcoin has risen to 9th place.
13. World Liberty Finance Token Shows Zero Value on Coinbase
According to the Coinbase page, as of 13:25 on April 5, 2025, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) cannot be traded on the Coinbase platform, and its USD exchange rate is displayed as 0 USD.
The platform notes that the data comes from a third party and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
14. Bitcoin Decouples from Plunging Stock Market
After weeks of moving in sync with the Nasdaq, Bitcoin is showing signs of going its own way as stock prices plunge. While the Nasdaq tumbled 6% on Thursday and another 5% by midday Friday, Bitcoin held steady around $83,000, rising 1% over 24 hours and declining just 3.5% since Trump’s tariff announcement.
Bitcoin is significantly outperforming crypto-related stocks like Coinbase, MicroStrategy, and miners, all of which are down double-digit percentages. The broader crypto market is also showing strength, with the CoinDesk 20 Index climbing higher on 4%-5% gains from XRP, Solana, and Cardano.
David Hernandez of 21Shares noted, “Bitcoin has shown impressive resilience… reinforcing its status as a macro hedge in times of macroeconomic stress,” while Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick suggested Bitcoin might now serve as a “U.S. isolation” hedge.
15. Binance to Launch BABY Token Perpetual Futures
According to the official announcement, Binance Futures Platform will launch BABYUSDT perpetual contract pre-market trading at 21:30 (ET8) on April 5, 2025, with a maximum leverage of 5 times.
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