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Top Stories of The Week
Arthur Hayes loves tariffs as printed money pain is good for Bitcoin
BitMEX co-founder and former CEO 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.
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 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.”
SpaceX flight bankrolled by crypto investor launches first manned polar orbit
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sent a crew of four private astronauts on the first manned space flight to orbit the Earth’s poles, in a mission bankrolled and led by a wealthy crypto investor.
Chun Wang, the Chinese-born Maltese entrepreneur who founded the Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, paid for and is leading SpaceX’s “Fram2” mission, which is named after a 19th-century Norwegian Arctic exploration ship.
Wang and three others blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:46 am UTC on April 1, on a three-to-five-day orbit that will be the first human space mission to fly over the North and South poles.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao to advise Kyrgyzstan on blockchain tech
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 had signed a memorandum with CZ to provide technical expertise and consulting services for the Central Asian country.
Fortnite doubles down on crypto joke with another secret ‘Dill Bits’ location
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.
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.
US lawmakers press SEC for info about Trump family-backed crypto firm
Two Democratic lawmakers in the US Senate and House of Representatives have called on acting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mark Uyeda to preserve information regarding World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm backed by President Donald Trump’s family.
In an April 2 letter, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Maxine Waters — ranking members of the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee, respectively — asked Uyeda to provide information to Congress based on Trump’s ties to World Liberty Financial.
The two lawmakers suggested the SEC may be being influenced by the firm, and “this conflict of interest may be interfering with its mission to protect investors and maintain fair and orderly markets.”
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $83,767, Ether (ETH) at $1,810 and XRP at $2.12. The total market cap is at $2.68 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are EOS (EOS) at 38.10%, Pendle (PENDLE) at 17.97% and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at 9.13%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pi (PI) at 36.96%, Berachain (BERA) at 31.63% and Story (IP) at 25.72%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cryptox’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“If my analysis of the Fed’s major pivot from QT to QE for treasuries is correct, then Bitcoin hit a local low of $76,500 last month, and now we begin the ascent to $250,000 by year-end.”
Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX
“If we don’t unlock onchain interest, the U.S. misses out on billions more USD users and trillions in potential cash flows.”
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase
“The speculative phase focused on collectibles and trading is over, but NFTs are now entering their next growth era as core infrastructure enabling massive opportunities in gaming, AI, fan engagement and content authentication.”
Charu Sethi, president of Unique Network
“When analyzing top collections, CryptoPunks remains a staple — its prestige remains intact even as price fluctuations make it largely inaccessible for the average user.”
DappRadar, crypto analytics firm
“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.”
Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision
“People want decentralized currency. They want freedom.”
Chris Rose, West Virginia State Senator
Top Prediction of The Week
Bitcoin crash risk to $70K in 10 days increasing — Analyst says it’s BTC’s ‘practical bottom’
Analysts say Bitcoin price could drop to $70,000 within the next ten days as one BTC pricing model suggests that the US-led trade war could upend investors’ risk-asset sentiment.
In his latest X analysis, network economist Timothy Peterson warned that Bitcoin may return to its 2021-era all-time high.
Bitcoin price expectations continue to deteriorate as the impact of “higher than expected” US trade tariffs hits home.
For Peterson, the outlook now includes an uncomfortable trip down memory lane. “Bitcoin to $70k in 10 days?” he queried.
Top FUD of The Week
US court fines UAE crypto firm CLS Global $428K for wash trading
Authorities in the US state of Massachusetts continue targeting unlawful cryptocurrency market practices, with a local court fining crypto financial services firm CLS Global.
A federal court in Boston on April 2 sentenced CLS Global on criminal charges related to fraudulent manipulation of crypto trading volume, according to an announcement from the Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office.
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In addition to a $428,059 fine, the court prohibited CLS Global from offering services in the US for a probation period of three years.
EU could fine Elon Musk’s X $1B over illicit content, disinformation
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.
Hackers are selling counterfeit phones with crypto-stealing malware
Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky says it has uncovered thousands of counterfeit Android smartphones sold online with preinstalled malware designed to steal crypto and other sensitive data.
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The Android devices are sold at reduced prices, Kaspersky said in an April 1 statement, but are riddled with a version of the Triada Trojan that infects every process and gives the attackers “almost unlimited control” over the device.
Dmitry Kalinin, a cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky, said that once the trojan grants the attackers access to devices, they can steal crypto by replacing wallet addresses.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set
Ripple’s win in court will be influential but won’t set a legal precedent, and legal experts say that’s a missed opportunity for the industry.
New ‘MemeStrategy’ Bitcoin firm by 9GAG, jailed CEO’s $3.5M bonus: Asia Express
9GAG dives into Bitcoin, ex-crypto boss bags $3.5M bonus check behind bars, and China jails 34 in $63.5M WeChat fraud.
Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again
Crypto has lost its way, and the industry needs to get back to fixing the broken financial system.
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Editorial Staff
Cryptox Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.
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Take Bitcoin profits at $110K, CME tops Binance in BTC futures open interest: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 5-11
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange surpasses Binance by one metric, OneCoin legal officer pleads guilty, Bitcoin’s cycle high could be $110K.
CZ walks free, Caroline Ellison receives prison sentence, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 22 – 28
Binance founder CZ walks free, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years, and more: Hodlers Digest
