Latest news with #StrategicBitcoinReserve
Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Is ‘Crypto Week' what crypto's inventors had in mind?
With help from Anthony Adragna and Daniella Cheslow 'Crypto Week' on Capitol Hill, as Republicans are calling it, was supposed to help usher in 'the golden age of digital assets' — finally creating a legal foundation for the online markets of tomorrow, a dream of the tech world and very online investors. It hasn't been smooth, though. The marquee GENIUS Act to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to an asset like the dollar – finally did end up passing on Thursday afternoon, but not before the crypto debate triggered enough GOP infighting to snarl the whole House's agenda for the week. For anyone following the long arc of bitcoin, however, the bigger question isn't about the Hill logistics, but whether this has anything to do with the original goals of cryptocurrency. Crypto was born as a revolution — a way to put value into the hands of the people who use it, rather than have it be controlled by banks, or tycoons, or (ahem) Congress. What's perhaps most ironic about Crypto Week is that the digital currency was designed so that it wouldn't need the imprimatur of politicians and regulators in the first place. Crypto's roots lie in the 2007-8 financial crisis, which sowed a profound distrust in the institutions that were supposed to have kept the global system stable. 'This idea that you could be your own bank resonated with a lot of people,' said Oxford University's Vili Lehdonvirta, one of the first socio-economists to study cryptocurrency. A key feature of cryptocurrencies is that they're decentralized, allowing people to exchange funds without intermediaries like banks. The now-hallowed 2008 white paper that first sketched out a blueprint for bitcoin begins by describing 'A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash' that would work 'without going through a financial institution.' The paper's mysterious author, who went by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and has been subject to fervent speculation regarding his identity, was skeptical of state power as well as bank power. In emails to a mailing list around 2008, Nakamoto said that his invention was 'very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint' and warned that 'governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks [sic].' Cryptocurrency would free users from government-controlled fiat currencies. 'The root problem with conventional currency is … the central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust,' wrote Nakamoto. The current state of the cryptocurrency landscape, though, seems to be a far cry from Nakamoto's original vision. The powerful institutions he eschewed are lining up to be major players in the sector. So is the federal government: President Donald Trump — whose family runs a cryptocurrency firm — issued a March executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve funded by the Treasury. Bank of America and Citibank said this week that they're working on launching stablecoins. What's more, powerful intermediary institutions have sprouted from the cryptocurrency craze. So individual users, rather than managing their own interactions with a transparent blockchain ledger, rely on major exchanges like Binance as an entry point into the market, and store their tokens with popular digital wallet services. 'Bitcoin became everything that it was trying to make obsolete,' said Lehdonvirta. Lehdonvirta first learned about bitcoin in 2009, from an early developer who was working for his brother. (He gained some fame in the space when the New Yorker suggested he could be Nakamoto, which he denied to the New Yorker in 2011, and to DFD on Thursday.) Initially, he thought that bitcoin's design was 'extremely clever' and a 'huge innovation,' but eventually that enthusiasm waned. 'It was trying to get rid of opaque middlemen who rigged markets at the expense of the little person,' Lehdonvirta told DFD. 'Step by step, it recreated those very same structures and the institutions that it was originally intended to circumvent.' He added that egalitarian ideals were thwarted from the early days by moneyed cryptocurrency miners, who use the power of expensive GPUs to amass more bitcoin than a small-time user could. 'This technology has been largely co-opted by all kinds of actors and certain incumbents,' said David Chaum, a cryptographer who's commonly known as the 'godfather of crypto.' He added that 'pressure from the powers that be isn't what we had envisioned.' Yet even for idealists, some departures from the original promise of cryptocurrency might not be all that bad. 'The ideals are very much, for many people, still the same,' said Dan Elitzer, a cryptocurrency venture capitalist. In 2014, he co-led a Massachusetts Institute of Technology group that gave $100 worth of bitcoin to more than 3,000 students. Elitzer wasn't drawn to bitcoin by a radical libertarian bent, but rather saw it as a mechanism to augment access to financial systems, especially in other countries with less stable monetary policies. 'The bet was that it was going to introduce the ability to access digital financial services to billions of people who don't have access otherwise,' he told DFD. Although Elitzer said the 'Crypto Week' frenzy might not have been what early developers envisioned — its focus on stablecoins, for instance, ties crypto closely to the fiat currencies it was designed to replace — he argued that it would also make the U.S. dollar more widely available on a global scale. 'The majority of the world would love to have access to the ability to save and spend in dollars,' he said. Chaum also mentioned that AI might help consumers interact more directly with cryptocurrency trading, without the need for intermediaries. He told DFD, 'One should be optimistic.' House wants to ban TikTok ads in D.C. The House Appropriations Committee is trying to prevent a redux of TikTok's March PR blitz in Washington, when it flooded metro stations with ads to forestall a ban. POLITICO's Anthony Adragna reports that the committee passed an amendment to the pending appropriations bill on Thursday that would prohibit ByteDance, TikTok's Beijing-based parent company, from advertising in public transportation and airports in the D.C. area. Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who sponsored the amendment, said at a hearing that it 'cracks down on the exploitation of advertising space by Chinese adversaries in transit systems and airports in our Capitol region.' Congress passed a law in 2024 forcing ByteDance to either shut down TikTok's operations in the U.S. or sell the app to buyers not controlled by foreign adversaries, like China. President Donald Trump has delayed the deadline for the ban three times, and said two weeks ago that he was resuming talks with China to keep the app online. TikTok has been fighting for its life in the meantime. Beyond bombarding the metro with ads about how important it is to the economy, it's also run a Super Bowl commercial, rented out billboards and bought an ad in POLITICO's print newspaper. Call for more global tech cops Lawmakers from the House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a bill Thursday to nearly double the ranks of export control officers at the Bureau of Industry and Security, which they said would help catch diversion of advanced technologies like semiconductors. The bipartisan bill would increase the number of the officers from 11 to 20. It was sponsored by HFAC ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) the chair of HFAC's subcommittee on South and Central Asia Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), subcommittee ranking member Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), and Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.). The global semiconductor trade is a vast industry worth more than $600 billion, according to one estimate. But the bill noted that in fiscal year 2024, fewer than a dozen overseas officers conducted more than 1,400 'end-use checks' that verify whether U.S. tech is being legally used overseas. 'Without strong enforcement, our export controls are toothless,' Meeks said in a statement. post of the day THE FUTURE IN 5 LINKS Stay in touch with the whole team: Aaron Mak (amak@ Mohar Chatterjee (mchatterjee@ Steve Heuser (sheuser@ Nate Robson (nrobson@ and Daniella Cheslow (dcheslow@
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is the Trump-Fueled Crypto Mania Dying Down?
The Trump administration is affecting the crypto sector in quite a few ways. The president's official token has hurt the sector. The newly proposed policies and newly appointed leaders could be positives. 10 stocks we like better than Official Trump › President Donald Trump didn't invent speculative exuberance, but he has a knack for bottling it. In mid-January, the Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) meme coin debuted with fireworks on Solana, very briefly driving the entire meme coin complex higher and padding early buyers' wallets before collapsing and inflicting dramatic losses. Even sober observers had to concede that the president knows how to move markets. Yet euphoria can often wither quickly in crypto. To some, today the cup feels half empty, and it's natural for investors to be wondering whether the Trump-powered party is winding down or just taking a breather. Let's take a look at the evidence here. With the Official Trump meme coin, enthusiasm met gravity in record time, and there was plenty of fallout as a result. By Feb. 3, the token had surrendered roughly 75% of its peak value amid significant insider selling despite the president's cheerleading on social media. A broader February slide wiped almost $1 trillion off aggregate crypto market caps, erasing most of the post-election bump. Some seasoned crypto investors attributed this dip to the lost capital that the president's coin extracted from the ecosystem, since it also may have discouraged new investors from participating immediately after their entry to buy the president's token. Even now, the Trump coin still has a $1.9 billion market cap, with 80% of its circulating supply controlled by accounts linked to the Trump family and a single allied firm. Concentration that steep limits the token's natural public float and makes every incremental seller more painful for newcomers. Volume tells the same story. Spikes align with promotional events featuring the token, like the president's dinner raffles, but fall off quickly, signaling speculative rather than sticky demand. If you arrived late, you're effectively wagering that fresh money will underwrite insiders' paper gains. That is possible, but not exactly a margin of safety or the basis for a sound investment thesis. Before writing the post-mortem on the crypto market run, recall that presidents wield policy levers, not just Twitter flair. On March 6, Trump signed an executive order mandating the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) as well as a Digital Asset Repository, instructing the U.S. Treasury to hang on to seized crypto rather than auction it. Though these two stockpiles have not yet been implemented, the order theoretically turns the government into a structural non-seller, tightening supply for Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies. Regulatory tone is changing as well thanks to the administration's appointments of senior leaders. Paul Atkins, a longtime critic of financial regulation enforcement, now chairs the Securities and Exchange Commission and has already reassigned several enforcement lawyers away from crypto probes while floating various exemptions for decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. A friendlier set of rules tends to invite bigger pools of capital to the markets. On that note, Bitcoin notched a fresh all-time high of $123,000 on July 14. That move has more than a few causes, but recent regulatory changes are doubtlessly part of the story. Meanwhile, Trump-controlled enterprises keep inventing fresh crypto on-ramps. For example, World Liberty Financial's dollar-pegged stablecoin and forthcoming governance token have already raised more than $550 million. During the week of July 11, a company from the United Arab Emirates injected another $100 million into the platform, elevating a project entwined with presidential branding, and raising numerous unanswered questions regarding the high likelihood of conflicts of interest. Regardless of one's view on the propriety of foreign businesses investing in ventures that the president has a direct financial interest in, those funds are real bids that lift valuations across adjacent tokens. Add in the White House's June 30 crypto summit and appointment of a dedicated crypto czar, and it's hard to argue the administration is backing away from the sector. So, is the crypto mania dying? Nope. It's actually picking up after a lull. Price charts of Trump-related coins say enthusiasm cooled, but policy and capital flows suggest the broader Trump-crypto axis still has horsepower, and that the president's impact on the market is far wider than his impact on his branded tokens. Long-term investors should separate the noise of meme token gyrations from the signal of structural supply constraints and increasingly dovish regulators. Assuming Washington follows through on developing sound custody rules and with its reserve accumulation plans, crypto's rise will persist well beyond this news cycle -- though it is unlikely that the Official Trump tokens will ever keep pace with the sector's flagship assets. Before you buy stock in Official Trump, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Official Trump wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $680,559!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,005,670!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,053% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is the Trump-Fueled Crypto Mania Dying Down? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Mint
13-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Crypto is booming again. Trump's return explains both the rise and the risk
Bitcoin is currently trading above $117,000, setting a new record for the cryptocurrency. The recent rally coincided with US President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements, which resolved near-term uncertainty for markets. The jump in Bitcoin prices is part of a broader upward trend. Since Trump's re-election in November, Bitcoin has continued to climb steadily, its market capitalisation now surpassing even that of Google. It is not just Bitcoin. Total crypto market capitalisation has grown from under $2.5 trillion in June 2024 to $3.7 trillion now. These developments follow a significant shift in US crypto policy. Trump reversed his earlier anti-crypto stance and appointed several pro-crypto figures in key regulatory roles: David Sacks as the White House crypto czar, Paul Atkins to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Brian Quintenz to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The SEC has dropped multiple enforcement actions and narrowed its interpretation of securities laws. The Justice Department shut its crypto enforcement unit on 4 April. There were other policy signals, including an executive order prohibiting any US central bank digital currency and the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve using government-seized assets. Trump has also announced plans for a broader 'Crypto Strategic Reserve" to include assets like Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Together, these actions signalled regulatory clarity and long-term policy alignment with the crypto sector, leading to higher investor confidence. Capital moves The regulatory clarity has boosted institutional interest in crypto. In the first quarter of 2025, venture capital investment in crypto startups reached $6 billion, according to PitchBook, compared with about $10 billion each in 2024 and 2023, when regulatory uncertainty and enforcement actions deterred large investors. Asset managers have upped their exposure. Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen strong adoption, with cumulative net inflows surpassing $50 billion by mid-2025. Total ETF assets stood near $140 billion, making them among the fastest-growing financial products this year. The SEC's rollback of SAB 121, an accounting rule, has removed key custodial barriers for banks. The US Department of Labor has also eased restrictions on crypto allocations in retirement accounts. These moves have helped integrate crypto into mainstream financial products, bringing back banks, pension funds, and institutional allocators. Token stability Another area that has seen action under Trump is stablecoins—digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar. According to Forbes, the total market capitalisation of the world's top five stablecoins is $230 billion. Business-to-business stablecoin payments increased from under $100 million to over $3 billion per month over the past year. This expansion, again, was driven by regulatory action. In June, the US Senate passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. It provided a clear legal framework, mandated strict customer protection standards, and imposed know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance. Adoption has grown across financial services, as companies use stablecoins for payroll, treasury management, and cross-border payments. PayPal and Visa are integrating stablecoins for payments. Stripe launched stablecoin financial accounts in 101 countries. BNY Mellon, a major custody bank, has moved to hold reserves for Ripple's stablecoin, a sign of stablecoins' integration into mainstream financial infrastructure. Ripple, which issues the XRP cryptocurrency, launched the RLUSD stablecoin in July. Risk layer Recent developments related to cryptocurrencies, however, have renewed concerns over volatility, regulatory gaps, and illicit activity. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain sensitive to political signals. The GENIUS Act has raised questions about unintended consequences, including financial instability and consumer harm. Market participants cite 'random policy shocks" and 'instant dumps" linked to presidential remarks. Illicit use remains significant. In 2024, hacks caused $2.2 billion in losses, with stablecoins accounting for 63% of illicit crypto transaction volume. Ransomware payments reached $75 million. In the first half of 2025, crypto phishing attacks in the Web3 ecosystem led to $39.7 million in losses across 43,000 addresses, using tactics such as wallet-level bulk approvals, impersonation via social media, deepfake-led social engineering, and malicious browser tools. Additional concerns relate to conflicts of interest. Trump has launched the $TRUMP meme coin, followed by a separate digital token from US First Lady Melania Trump. The family also holds stakes in World Liberty Financial, issuer of the USD1 stablecoin and WLFI token. While regulatory clarity has boosted adoption, the close alignment between policy and personal financial interest has raised questions about transparency and governance. is a database and search engine for public data.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prediction: Bitcoin Will Be Worth $1 Million in 10 Years
Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed, as it becomes a legitimate financial asset viewed favorably by large institutions and governments. Bitcoin's fixed supply cap of 21 million units is what makes it special. If Bitcoin simply gets to gold's market cap in a decade, it will reach $1 million. 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin › When viewed as a separate asset, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is hands down the best-performing one in the past decade. As of July 7, its price had skyrocketed 40,550% since the same date in 2015. That gain is significantly higher than what the stock market, U.S. Treasuries, or gold did during the same time. Although the returns of the past surely won't repeat, I believe the good times will continue. I predict that this leading cryptocurrency will be worth $1 million per coin in 10 years. Bitcoin has come a long way. What was once a funny internet money that sparked interest among cypherpunks has now become a global financial asset. Bitcoin can now be taken seriously, with its market cap of almost $2.2 trillion. One key risk, which is that governments would get involved and ban Bitcoin, is now fading into irrelevance. The U.S. government plans to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last year. These are signs pointing to Bitcoin not going away anytime soon. Companies are starting to invest in and hold Bitcoin directly on their own balance sheets. Financial institutions can hold Bitcoin in custody on behalf of clients without the requirement to hold extra risk capital against it. And it was also just announced that Bitcoin would be recognized as collateral for mortgages. It's impressive seeing Bitcoin's rise from a grassroots movement driven by individuals to a global asset that's embraced by big and powerful institutions. It's best not overthink this. The historical trend points to Bitcoin's rise continuing for the foreseeable future. Bitcoin's price has soared during the past decade because the world is starting to understand how valuable it is to own a scarce asset. Bitcoin has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins, enforced by a halving cycle that occurs roughly every four years. The last one happened in April 2024, with the next halving expected in April 2028. Governments, especially the U.S., continue to run huge fiscal deficits. At the same time, the money supply keeps expanding at a rapid pace. This backdrop of growing liquidity in the financial system results in constantly debased fiat currency. However, it also leads to a risk asset like Bitcoin benefiting as more money seeks higher returns. The Trump administration just passed the "big, beautiful bill," which will extend tax cuts, reduce Medicare and food benefits, and increase defense spending. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will increase the fiscal deficit by $3.3 trillion during the next decade. It doesn't matter what politicians say about balancing the budget. Debt and spending will continue to be the main macro theme, which plays to Bitcoin's benefit as a fixed-supply asset. Bitcoin's present situation shows that it has cemented itself as a legitimate financial asset. Its scarcity, with a hard supply cap of 21 million units, stands impressively against fiat currency debasement. This favorable setup gives me confidence that Bitcoin's price will rise roughly 900% to reach $1 million in 10 years. Gold is often compared to Bitcoin because they are both neutral, global, and scarce assets. The precious metal has a market value of $22.2 trillion, about 10 times higher than Bitcoin. It's not a stretch to expect the crypto to match gold's value in 2035. It's worth highlighting that Bitcoin has much better qualities than gold. Bitcoin is portable, divisible, and verifiable. And it can be used in transactions. Plus, Bitcoin looks likely to be a key financial instrument in a world that is only becoming increasingly digital. Therefore, maybe a $1 million price target will prove to be conservative in the grand scheme of things, as Bitcoin should eventually be worth much more than gold. Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $687,764!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $980,723!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Prediction: Bitcoin Will Be Worth $1 Million in 10 Years was originally published by The Motley Fool
India Today
10-07-2025
- Business
- India Today
3 key reasons behind Bitcoin's record high today
Bitcoin surprised everyone on Wednesday by hitting a new record high of $111,988.90, only a whisker away from the $112,000 mark. Just a few weeks ago, the world's biggest cryptocurrency was struggling to gain ground after market jitters sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff policy shook investor the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $111,019.74, rising by 2.27% over the past day. The last record was set on May 22 when it briefly touched $111,970. Since then, Bitcoin has had a bumpy ride, but it seems to be back with a what's behind this fresh jump? A mix of reasons seems to have given Bitcoin the boost it INVESTORS AND ETFSFirst, big investors and institutions have been putting more money into Bitcoin. There's also been a steady flow of funds into new Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), making it easier for people to buy into the crypto Donald Trump's win, these funds have pulled in loads of new money. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust alone has attracted over $40 billion so far, more than any other ETF in the last ten years, as per to Pakaj Balani, CEO & Co-Founder, Delta Exchange, "Over $1 billion has flowed into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs since late June. BlackRock's IBIT has accumulated over 700,000 BTC, representing 3.33% of Bitcoin's total supply. Companies are steadily adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets, following the path set by MicroStrategy, signaling deeper corporate alignment with crypto."POSITIVE REGULATORY OUTLOOKThere's also fresh hope on the regulation front. The Trump administration's friendly stand on crypto has lifted spirits. Back in March, President Trump signed an order for a 'Strategic Bitcoin Reserve' to make Bitcoin part of US addition, the Senate recently made progress on new stablecoin rules, and Coinbase, a big crypto exchange, has now joined the S&P 500 index, adding more trust in the sector. All this has made investors feel more confident about putting money into ECONOMIC TRENDS Broader factors are helping too. Easing tensions between the US and China and a fresh Moody's downgrade of US debt have pushed some investors to see Bitcoin as a safer place for their put, while crypto markets are always unpredictable, this record high has once again put Bitcoin in the spotlight. Traders and investors will now be watching closely to see if this rally can hold steady or if the price will slip back again, as it often has in the now, Bitcoin holders are enjoying the ride, and hoping this is just the beginning of another big bull run.- EndsMust Watch
