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BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes says US President Donald Trump’s tariffs may rattle the global economy in some ways, but that same disruption could be exactly what Bitcoin needs to rally.

“Global imbalances will be corrected, and the pain papered over with printed money, which is good for BTC,” Hayes said in an April 3 X post.

Several factors contribute to Bitcoin’s potential pump

“Some of y’all are running scurred, but I LOVE TARIFFS,” Hayes said. 

His comments come just a day after it was announced that the Trump administration will hit all countries with a 10% tariff starting April 5, with some countries facing even larger rates, such as China facing a 34% tariff, the European Union 20%, and Japan 24%. 

Hayes explained that tariffs positively impact Bitcoin’s (BTC) price for several reasons. 

One of them, he said, is the “weakening” of the US Dollar Index (DXY), as overseas investors continue to sell off US stocks and “bring money home.” 

April 3 marked “the largest single-day point loss for the Nasdaq 100 in history,” according to the trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter.

“The index lost a total of -1060 points and came just 1.5% away from triggering the first circuit breaker since March 2020,” The Kobeissi Letter said.

“This is good for BTC and gold over the medium term.”

Hayes also said that the stringent tariff placed on China may weaken the yuan (CNY). “With a 65% effective tariff levied, China could respond by allowing CNY to weaken past 8.00,” Hayes said. 

A weakening yuan may force the hand of Chinese investors to look at riskier assets such as Bitcoin to preserve their wealth.

Meanwhile, Hayes said that “we need Fed easing,” noting that the two-year Treasury yield “dumped” following the tariff announcement. 

Related: Bitcoin sales at $109K all-time high ‘significantly below’ cycle tops — Glassnode

He explained this as a signal that markets expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates and potentially restart quantitative easing (QE) to offset the negative economic impact. 

Fed rate cuts increase liquidity, also making riskier assets like crypto more attractive to investors.

Meanwhile, Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise Invest, has long argued that Trump’s tariffs will ultimately benefit Bitcoin.

He said on Feb. 3 that in a “world of weaker dollar and weaker US rates…risk assets in the US will fly through the roof beyond your wildest imagination.”

“Bookmark this and revisit as the financial war unravels, sending Bitcoin violently higher,” Parks said on Feb. 3.

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

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.

Online battle royale shooter Fortnite has just added a new secret “Dill Bits” server mine location to its latest map update — prompting a small spike in an otherwise obscure memecoin.

Videos on social media show a new “Dill Bit” server farm location in the game — made to look like a cryptocurrency mining operation. There are other locations on the map where it has appeared.

Fortnite added a Bitcoin mine to the new map pic.twitter.com/z8ABokLG2b

— Documenting ₿itcoin (@DocumentingBTC) April 3, 2025

Players in the game can collect Dill Bits by destroying the equipment. It’s a unique resource that is typically hard to obtain.

Dill Bits memecoin spikes

Solana-based memecoin Dill Bits, inspired by the Fortnite in-game currency, spiked 200% to $0.0005 on April 4 as the crypto community also took notice of the latest addition.

Fortnite introduced Dill Bits as an in-game currency in February as a jest toward crypto. However, these can only be used to buy in-game items. 

At the time, the announcement of the in-game currency prompted an anonymous crypto user to create their own version of the token on Solana.

The recent spike is nowhere near previous surges, however. When the memecoin first launched in February, it surged 4,500% in price to reach a market cap of $4.8 million.

Another huge spike for the memecoin occurred on March 9, after Fortnite released a video promoting its latest “Rugpull” storyline, which saw the token pump over 4,000% in just a few minutes again.

The underground Bitcoin mine shows banks of green servers with the Dill Bit logo, which looks very similar to Bitcoin’s.

Another player posted a YouTube video on April 1 showing all of the secret locations on the map, explaining that if the servers are destroyed in the game, they may drop Dill Bits. 

“Wow. Bitcoin really becoming mainstream for a game like Fortnite to add this little easter egg,” commented one player on Reddit after becoming aware of the secret location on April 3.

The gimmick is not likely new for Fortnite players, as other hidden server mines have been discovered in other parts of the map since the in-game currency was introduced. 

According to the official Fortnite Wiki, the new Dill Bits Mining Server is an “Unnamed Location in Fortnite: Battle Royale, that was added in Chapter 6: Season 2 to the island Oninoshima near Outlaw Oasis.” It is a “small cave containing servers mining the cryptocurrency called Dill Bits,” it states. 

The online battle royale platform developed by Epic Games released its most recent update on April 1, which included a new Mortal Kombat collaboration, quests, skins and map updates. 

Related: Epic wants Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox to become interoperable metaverse

Fortnite’s in-game cryptocurrency

Dill Bits, Fortnite’s in-game currency, can be spent “at one of three Black Markets around the map, offering a selection of Mythic and Legendary items,” and “Boons” that grant extra abilities, the Fortnite team explained at the time. 

An in-game description calls Dill Bits “a bulky and confusing crypto coin you never knew you needed. These coins are ideal for shady black-market trades.”

Magazine: Web3 gaming activity surges 386% — Wen bull run? Web3 Gamer

European Union regulators are reportedly mulling a $1 billion fine against Elon Musk’s X, taking into account revenue from his other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, according to The New York Times.

EU regulators allege that X has violated the Digital Services Act and will use a section of the act to calculate a fine based on revenue that includes other companies Musk controls, according to an April 3 report by the newspaper, which cited four people with knowledge of the plan.

Under the Digital Services Act, which came into law in October 2022 to police social media companies and “prevent illegal and harmful activities online,” companies can be fined up to 6% of global revenue for violations.

A spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, declined to comment on this case to The New York Times but did say it would “continue to enforce our laws fairly and without discrimination toward all companies operating in the EU.”

In a statement, X’s Global Government Affairs team said that if the reports about the EU’s plans are accurate, it “represents an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech.”

“X has gone above and beyond to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act, and we will use every option at our disposal to defend our business, keep our users safe, and protect freedom of speech in Europe,” X’s global government affairs team said.

Along with the fine, the EU regulators could reportedly demand product changes at X, with the full scope of any penalties to be announced in the coming months. 

Still, a settlement could be reached if the social media platform agrees to changes that satisfy regulators, according to the Times. 

One of the officials who spoke to the Times also said that X is facing a second investigation alleging the platform’s approach to policing user-generated content has made it a hub of illegal hate speech and disinformation, which could result in more penalties.

X EU investigation ongoing since 2023

The EU investigation began in 2023. A preliminary ruling in July 2024 found X had violated the Digital Services Act by refusing to provide data to outside researchers, provide adequate transparency about advertisers, or verify the authenticity of users who have a verified account.

Related: Musk says he found ‘magic money computers’ printing money ‘out of thin air’

X responded to the ruling with hundreds of points of dispute, and Musk said at the time he was offered a deal, alleging that EU regulators told him if he secretly suppressed certain content, X would escape fines. 

Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner for internal market, said in a July 12 X post in 2024 that there was no secret deal and that X’s team had asked for the “Commission to explain the process for settlement and to clarify our concerns,” and its response was in line with “established regulatory procedures.” 

Musk replied he was looking “forward to a very public battle in court so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

US crypto exchange Coinbase has filed with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch futures contracts for Ripple’s XRP token.

“We’re excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify XRP futures — bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets,” stated Coinbase Institutional on April 3. 

The firm added that it anticipates the contract going live on April 21.

According to the certification filing, the XRP (XRP) futures contract will be a monthly cash-settled and margined contract trading under the symbol XRL.

The contract tracks XRP’s price and is settled in US dollars. Each contract represents 10,000 XRP, currently worth about $20,000 at $2 per token.

Contracts can be traded for the current month and two months ahead, and trading will be paused as a safety measure if spot XRP prices move more than 10% in an hour. 

“The exchange has spoken with FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) and market participants who support the decision to launch a XRP contract,” the firm stated. 

Coinbase is not the first to launch XRP futures in the United States. In March, Chicago-based crypto exchange Bitnomial announced the launch of the “first-ever CFTC-regulated XRP futures in the US.” 

XRP futures trading is available on many of the world’s leading centralized crypto exchanges, such as Binance, OKX, Bybit and BitMEX. 

Funding rates remain negative

In late March, Cointelegraph reported that XRP derivatives’ funding rates had flipped negative as investor sentiment turned bearish. 

Related: XRP funding rate flips negative — Will smart traders flip long or short?

Funding rates are periodic payments between traders in perpetual futures markets that help keep the futures price aligned with the spot price. Positive funding rates mean that long traders (buyers) pay short traders, while negative funding rates mean short traders (sellers) pay long traders. 

When funding rates go negative, it means short traders are willing to pay a premium to maintain their positions, indicating strong conviction from bearish derivatives traders. 

XRP funding rates remained negative on major derivatives exchanges as of April 4, according to CoinGlass. 

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

Altcoins may have just one last rally this cycle, but only those with real utility and strong network activity will see price gains, according to an analyst. 

“I think there will be one more breadth thrust from altcoins. The question is, is it a sustained rally that we will see for six to twelve months,” Real Vision chief crypto analyst Jamie Coutts told Real Vision co-founder Raoul Pal on an April 3 X livestream.

Network activity will be the ‘north star’ for how to trade crypto

“At this stage, I am not too sure, but I do believe that quality altcoins where activity returns, activity drives prices …we will definitely see a recovery in some of these more high-quality names,” Coutts said.

Cointelegraph reported in January that there were over 36 million altcoins in existence. However, Ethereum still holds the majority share of total value locked (TVL) with 55.56%, followed by Solana (6.89%), Bitcoin (5.77%), BNB Smart Chain (5.68%), and Tron (5.54%), according to CoinGecko data.

Coutts said traders should watch where the network activity “is gravitating” and use that as their “north star” for how to trade in crypto, adding he sees an altcoin market upswing within the next two months. 

“I’m expecting by June to see altcoins really start to pick up again. Predicated on the fact that Bitcoin is back at all-time highs by that point.”

On March 28, Coutts told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin could reach all-time highs before the end of Q2 regardless of whether there is more clarity on US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and potential recession concerns.

Blockchain network activity across the board has recently experienced sharp declines amid a broader crypto market downturn. On Feb. 21, Cointelegraph reported that the number of active addresses on the Solana (SOL) network fell to a weekly average of 9.5 million in February, down nearly 40% from the 15.6 million active addresses in November 2024.

Altcoin indicators are flashing red

Meanwhile, several key indicators the crypto industry uses to determine an incoming altcoin season suggest it’s still nowhere in sight.

Capriole Investments’ Altcoin Speculation Index has dropped to 12%, down 53% since Dec. 25, the same period during which Ether fell 49% from $3,490, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Related: When will altseason arrive? Experts reveal what’s holding back altcoins

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index, which measures the top 100 cryptocurrencies against Bitcoin’s performance over the past 90 days, is reading a score of 14 out of 100, leaning toward a more Bitcoin-dominated market, referring to it as “Bitcoin Season.”

However, while Bitcoin dominance — a level often watched for retracements that signal an altcoin season — sits at 62.84%, some analysts argue it’s no longer as relevant as a signal for altcoin season.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Yu recently said that Bitcoin Dominance “no longer defines altseason — trading volume does.”

Magazine: New ‘MemeStrategy’ Bitcoin firm by 9GAG, jailed CEO’s $3.5M bonus: Asia Express

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.

Singapore-based artificial intelligence firm Genius Group says it’s temporarily barred from expanding its Bitcoin treasury after a US court order has banned it from selling shares, raising funds and using investor funds to buy more Bitcoin.

A New York District court issued the preliminary injunction (PI) and temporary restraining order (TRO) on March 13 in connection with a broader dispute surrounding its merger with Fatbrain AI, the Genius Group said in an April 3 statement.

Fatbrain AI and Genius Group completed a merger and purchase agreement in March 2024, but by Oct. 30, Genius initiated arbitration procedures to terminate, alleging fraud by Fatbrain AI executives connected to the deal.

In February, Fatbrain AI executives Michael Moe and Peter Ritz filed for the TRO and permanent injunction, blocking Genius Group from selling its shares, raising funds and buying more Bitcoin pending the arbitration outcome. 

The injunction has forced Genius Group to close divisions, halt marketing activities and sell 10 Bitcoin (BTC) from its stash of 440, worth over $23 million at current prices, to continue funding its operations. The firm hasn’t ruled out more sales in the future.

“Genius is taking all necessary measures to minimize Bitcoin sales but anticipates that it will need to downsize its Bitcoin Treasury in the coming months in the event the PI remains in place,” the firm said.

Fatbrain AI shareholders also filed two lawsuits against Fatbrain AI executives, including Moe and Ritz, and Genius Group, in April 2024, alleging violation of federal securities laws in connection with the merger, ASX law said in an October statement. 

Genius Group was subsequently voluntarily dismissed from the suits on Feb. 14. 

Genius Group claims it’s breaking Singapore law by following order 

Genius Group says the US court injunction has also forced it to break Singapore law by halting share compensation to employees as part of its employment agreements.

“We never dreamed that it was possible that a US court could block the company from being able to issue shares, raise funds or buy Bitcoin — all actions that would normally be decided by a public company’s shareholders or Board rather than a court,” said Genius Group CEO Roger James Hamilton.

Related: Rumble embraces Trump-era crypto strategy with $17M BTC purchase

He said the firm will “continue to fly the flag for Bitcoin,” even when legally banned from building out its treasury.

Fatbrain AI didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Artificial intelligence firm Genius Group first announced in November 2024 that it had taken the first steps to build a Bitcoin treasury by purchasing 110 Bitcoin for $10 million.

The firm had earlier announced its overall goal of committing 90% or more of its current and future reserves to be held in Bitcoin, with an initial target of $120 million, which saw the stock price surge by 66%. 

Genius Group’s share price is down 9.80% in the last trading session to $0.23, with a further 3.74% drop after the bell to $0.22, Google Finance data shows.

The stock hit an all-time high of over $96 in June 2022 but has since lost over 99% of its value. 

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao will begin advising the Kyrgyz Republic on blockchain and crypto-related regulation and tech after signing a memorandum of understanding with the country’s foreign investment agency.

“I officially and unofficially advise a few governments on their crypto regulatory frameworks and blockchain solutions for gov efficiency, expanding blockchain to more than trading,” the crypto entrepreneur said in an April 3 X post, adding that he finds this work “extremely meaningful.”

His comments came in response to an earlier X post from Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov announcing that Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency (NIA) had signed a memorandum with CZ to provide technical expertise and consulting services for the Central Asian country.

The NIA is responsible for promoting foreign investments and assisting international companies in identifying business opportunities within the country.

“This cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening technological infrastructure, implementing innovative solutions, and preparing highly qualified specialists in blockchain technologies, virtual asset management, and cybersecurity,” Zhaparov said.

The Kyrgyzstan president added: “such initiatives are crucial for the sustainable growth of the economy and the security of virtual assets, ultimately generating new opportunities for businesses and society as a whole.”

Kyrgyzstan, which officially changed its name from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Kyrgyz Republic in 1993, is a mountainous, land-locked country.

It is considered well-suited for crypto mining operations due to its abundant renewable energy resources, much of which is underutilized.

Over 30% of Kyrgyzstan’s total energy supply comes from hydroelectric power plants, but only 10% of the country’s potential hydropower has been developed, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

CZ has met with several other state officials in Asia

Malaysia also recently tapped CZ for guidance on crypto-related matters, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meeting him personally in January.

CZ has also met with officials in the UAE and Bitcoin-stacking country Bhutan — however, it isn’t clear what those meetings entailed.

Related: Is Bitcoin’s future in circular economies or national reserves?

CZ’s latest pursuits come a little over six months after he was released from a four-month prison sentence in the US for violating several anti-money laundering laws.

Since being released, CZ has made investments in blockchain tech, artificial intelligence and biotechnology companies.

CZ also recently donated 1,000 BNB (BNB) — worth almost $600,000 — to support earthquake relief efforts in Thailand and Myanmar after the natural disaster in late April.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Between Oct. 25, 2024, and Jan. 16, 2025, XRP (XRP) had one of the best rallies of the current bull market, gaining 600% as investors piled in with the hope that a pro-crypto presidency would benefit Ripple and its cryptocurrency.

During this time, the quarterly average of daily active addresses jumped by 490% and XRP price hit a 7-year high.

Fast forward to the present, and data shows that the speculative interest surrounding XRP is declining. Holders are increasingly facing losses rather than gains, which is dampening their risk appetite.

“Retail confidence in XRP may be slipping”

Since bottoming in 2022, Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP have gained 500% to 600%, but the bulk of XRP’s gains came from a parabolic price increase. Data from Glassnode shows that XRP daily active addresses jumped by 490%, whereas the same metric for Bitcoin increased by 10% over the past four months.

This retail-driven surge pushed XRP’s realized cap from $30.1 billion to $64.2 billion, with $30 billion of that inflow coming from investors in the last six months. The share of XRP’s realized cap held by new investors (less than six months) jumped from 23% to 62.8%, signaling a rapid wealth shift. However, since late February 2025, capital inflows have dipped significantly.

The primary reason is that investors are currently locking in fewer profits and staring at higher losses. This can be identified by the realized loss/profit ratio, which has constantly declined since 2025. Glassnode analysts said,

“Given the retail-dominated inflows and largely concentrated wealth in relatively new hands, this alludes to a condition where retail investor confidence in XRP may be slipping, and this may also be extended across the broader market.”

Besides weakening confidence among newer investors, the distribution of XRP among whale addresses reflects a similar trend. Data shows a steady increase in whale outflows since the start of 2025, suggesting that large holders have been consistently trimming their positions. Over the past 14 days, over $1 billion in positions were offloaded at an average price of $2.10.

Related: How many US dollars does XRP transfer per day?

Can XRP hold the $2 support?

XRP has found support at $2 multiple times over the past few weeks, but the chance of the altcoin dropping below this level increases with each retest.

However, on the lower time frame (LTF) of the 1-hour and 4-hour charts, a bullish divergence can be observed for XRP. A bullish divergence occurs when the price forms a lower low and the relative strength index (RSI) forms a lower high.

With a fair value gap between $2.08 and $2.13, XRP might see a relief rally into this range, especially if the wider crypto market undergoes an oversold bounce. On the higher time frame chart, XRP appears bearish due to the formation of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, with a measured target near $1.07.

There is a chance that the altcoin finds support from the 200-day moving average (orange line) around the $1.70 to $1.80 mark, but XRP price has not tested this level since Nov. 5, 2024.

Related: Bitcoin drops 8%, US markets shed $2T in value — Should traders expect an oversold bounce?

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.

Economic uncertainty and a major crypto exchange hack pushed down the total value locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to $156 billion in the first quarter of 2025, but AI and social apps gained ground with a rise in network users, according to a crypto analytics firm.

“Broader economic uncertainty and lingering aftershocks from the Bybit exploit” were the main contributing factors to the DeFi sector’s 27% quarter-on-quarter fall in TVL, according to an April 3 report from DappRadar, which noted that Ether (ETH) fell 45% to $1,820 over the same period.

The largest blockchain by TVL, Ethereum, fell 37% to $96 billion, while Sui was the hardest hit of the top 10 blockchains by TVL, falling 44% to $2 billion.

Solana, Tron and the Arbitrum blockchains also had their TVLs slashed over 30%.

Meanwhile, blockchains that experienced a larger volume of DeFi withdrawals and had a smaller share of stablecoins locked in their protocols faced extra pressure on top of the falling token prices.

The newly launched Berachain was the only top-10 blockchain by TVL to rise, accumulating $5.17 billion between Feb. 6 and March 31, DappRadar noted.

Market fall didn’t stunt AI and social app user growth

However, the number of daily unique active wallets (DUAW) interacting with AI protocols and social apps increased 29% and 10%, respectively, in Q1, while non-fungible token and GameFi protocols regressed, DappRadar’s data shows.

The monthly average of DUAWs interacting on the AI and social protocols rose to 2.6 million and 2.8 million, while DeFi and GameFi protocols fell double-digits. 

DappRadar said there was “explosive growth” in AI agent protocols, stating that they’re “no longer a concept.”

“They’re here, and they’re shaping new user behaviors,” said the firm. 

Related: Avalanche stablecoins up 70% to $2.5B, AVAX demand lacks DeFi deployment

Meanwhile, NFT trading volume fell 25% to $1.5 billion, with OKX’s NFT marketplace taking in the most sales at $606 million, while OpenSea and Blur saw $599 million and $565 million, respectively.

Pudgy Penguins NFTs were the most sold collectibles at $177 million, while CryptoPunks NFTs netted $63.6 million from just 477 sales, DappRadar noted.

“When analyzing top collections, CryptoPunks remains a staple — its prestige remains intact even as price fluctuations make it largely inaccessible for the average user.”

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set