Executive brief
The digital asset market is currently navigating a highly volatile macro environment as US President Donald Trump announced a worldwide tariff hike to 15 per cent, following a Supreme Court decision that invalidated previous trade actions. While Bitcoin prices dipped initially on the news, the asset has remained relatively resilient around the $68,000 mark. This price stability occurs despite “extreme fear” dominating retail sentiment and a significant 15% jump in Bitcoin mining difficulty, the largest absolute increase in the network’s history. The directional cue remains cautiously neutral, as the market balances these macro headwinds against positive regulatory developments, such as the SEC’s new guidance allowing broker-dealers to apply a 2% haircut to certain stablecoin holdings.
Institutional adoption continues to serve as a key driver, highlighted by BNP Paribas piloting money market fund tokenisation on Ethereum and ProShares launching a stablecoin-ready ETF that saw $17 billion in day-one volume. Furthermore, the CME Group’s decision to launch 24/7 crypto trading in May marks a structural shift that could permanently alter weekend liquidity patterns. A major risk cue has emerged in the form of a 20% “Quantum Discount” being applied to Bitcoin’s fair value by researchers, who warn of potential cryptographic vulnerabilities. Conversely, the opportunity lies in the expected passage of the CLARITY Act, which Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse estimates has a 90% chance of approval by April, potentially providing the long-awaited legal framework for the industry.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- Bitcoin price slips after Trump hikes worldwide tariff to 15%; the move follows a Supreme Court decision invalidating previous 10% trade actions;.
- Bitcoin mining difficulty jumps 15% in record absolute increase; difficulty reached 144.4T as the network hashrate recovered to 1 ZH/s;.
- CME to launch 24/7 crypto trading in May; the exchange aims to address weekend liquidity gaps after seeing $3 trillion in notional volume during 2025;.
- SEC issues guidance on brokers’ capital stablecoin requirements; broker-dealers can now apply a 2% haircut to proprietary positions in eligible stablecoins;.
- ProShares stablecoin-ready ETF generates $17 billion in volume; the money market ETF set a day-one record for its specific asset class;.
- Ripple CEO sees 90% chance of CLARITY bill passing by April; the legislation aims to clarify oversight between the SEC and the CFTC;.
- IoTeX hit by private key exploit draining $2 million; losses were confirmed by the co-founder after initial estimates ranged up to $4.3m;.
- Japan’s SBI to issue 10 billion yen onchain bond; the retail offering includes XRP rewards for investors registered on the firm’s exchange;.
- Blue Owl Capital forced to liquidate $1.4 billion in assets; the private equity firm faced a 15% price tumble following a liquidity crisis in its credit fund;.
- BNP Paribas taps Ethereum for money market fund pilot; shares were issued via the AssetFoundry platform using a permissioned model on Ethereum;.
- Dubai unveils secondary market for $16 billion tokenisation plan; the project allows for property token resale via the XRP Ledger;.
- South Korean listings send AZTEC surging 82%; Upbit and Bithumb added local currency pairs for the privacy-focused layer-2 token;.
- South Korean authorities probe $43 billion Bithumb error; lawmakers are criticising the FSC after the exchange mistakenly credited 620,000 BTC to users;.
- Bitcoin faces 20% Quantum Discount in fair value; research warns the discount could rise to 60% by 2028 without network upgrades;.
- Metaplanet reports $680 million net loss on Bitcoin holdings; the loss reflects mark-to-market accounting despite generating 8.9 billion yen in revenue;.
- Ethereum Foundation releases 2026 roadmap updates; priorities include increasing the gas limit to 100 million and implementing enshrined ePBS;.
- BlackRock purchase of UNI signals institutional DeFi shift; analysts suggest the move marks a turning point for institutional adoption of Uniswap;.
- AI bot nets $150,000 from prediction market arbitrage; the automated system captured micro-arbitrage opportunities on crypto prediction platforms;.
- France imposes strict rules on energy cloud sale to US miner; the government retained a 10% stake in the data center unit sold to MARA;.
- Small wallets increase Bitcoin holdings by 2.5%; retail accumulation persists while whale wallets trimmed holdings by 0.8% since October;.
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | $88,042,243.60 | $17,211.38 |
| Value traded | $3,699,449,398.97 | $766,910,749.30 |
| Net assets | $85,313,411,547.10 | $11,141,305,755.91 |
| Cumulative net inflow | $54,012,884,153.41 | $11,524,489,201.49 |
3) X trending news
- Trump raises global tariff to 15%; the President increased the new worldwide rate from 10% shortly after a Supreme Court ruling;.
- Japan insurance paper losses hit $86 billion; unrealised losses for Japan’s 4 largest life insurers jumped 125% year-on-year in the fourth quarter;.
- Institutional investors sell $8.3 billion in equities; this marks the second-largest weekly net sale on record for institutions;.
- Cantor Fitzgerald buys tariff refund rights; the firm has been purchasing potential refund claims at 20% to 30% of their total value;.
- Gold reclaims $5,100 level; the precious metal surged following the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down emergency tariffs;.
- US goods trade deficit widens to $70.3 billion; the December deficit reached its highest level since mid-2025 as imports jumped by $12.3 billion;.
- Elon Musk’s America PAC reprimanded; the Georgia State Election Board issued a letter regarding prefilled absentee ballot applications from 2024;.