Hey Alphafellaz,
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news, you might not have noticed — but Wall Street money is making big moves, and it’s shaking up crypto’s playing field in a major way. You won’t see the full impact overnight, but from a long-term perspective, this could be a game-changer.
BlackRock isn’t just dipping its toes in Bitcoin — it’s diving in headfirst with a billion-dollar splash. Meanwhile, central banks and governments are no longer just watching from the sidelines; they’re suiting up and getting in the game.
On top of that, Eric Trump has allegedly confirmed that U.S.-based crypto projects could be exempt from capital gains tax. Feels like we’ve entered a new era, doesn’t it?
At the same time, Ripple finally caught a break, exchanges are juggling legal battles and global expansion, and Trump’s executive order on digital assets might just disrupt the four-year cycle as we know it. Oh, and institutions? They’re eyeing “1000x” returns— which means we might just be getting started.
Strap in — it’s another wild week in crypto. Let’s break it all down.
P.S. For those of you who love attending crypto and Web3 conferences, we’ve been working on Side Event calendars for NFT Paris, ETH Denver, and SXSW. You can access them at sheeets.xyz — see you in Paris?
— 🩸💀 AMERICAN RADASS
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📰 Institutional Players Double Down on Crypto
Institutions and governments are showing interest toward upping their Bitcoin and crypto involvement. BlackRock dropped $1 billion into BTC, and now holds around 2.7% of the total supply.
Meanwhile, Arizona is continuing with their crypto investment strategy, and Czech Central Bank Governor Aleš Michl proposed a €7 billion Bitcoin reserve. More from the US, pro-crypto Scott Bessent is now Treasury secretary, Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave the greenlight for banks to work with crypto clients, and the SEC has approved a combined Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF from Bitwise.
Beyond that, Coinbase reports institutions seem to be eyeing “1000x” gains, and Russian power grid operators are toying with Bitcoin mining. All this comes as Trump’s crypto executive order promotes a US “digital asset stockpile” that could potentially disrupt the four-year cycle as we know it. It’s clear from central banks to governments that Bitcoin’s mainstream rise isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
📰 Ripple Finally Catches a Break
At long last, Ripple is getting some much needed legal wins. In a surprise move, the SEC removed civil litigation records against the company, giving XRP a nice price bump. Meanwhile, Ripple also secured Money Transmitter Licenses in both New York and Texas, boosting its legitimacy in two crucial U.S. markets.
Altogether, these milestones point to a brighter outlook for XRP, suggesting that regulatory hurdles may finally be easing up.
📰 Crypto Exchanges: Legal Battles & Global Moves
Crypto exchanges are riding a rollercoaster of wins and losses this week. On one hand, Binance is under the microscope in France for alleged money laundering, and KuCoin just coughed up $300 million after pleading guilty to U.S. charges.
In the meantime, Crypto.com has to comply with Europe’s new MiCA rules by delisting USDT and nine other tokens, while Kraken is back in action with staking in 39 U.S. states after settling with the SEC. Over at Coinbase, global expansion is going full steam ahead as they’ve nabbed a VASP license in Argentina and are also looking to self-certify Solana futures.
So while the regulatory hammer is coming down in some places, others are throwing open the doors to digital assets.
📰 OTHER NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEKS
Burnt Toast Becomes New CEO of Doodles, Succeeding Julian Holguin
LTC, HYPE, and Aethir jump up to 25% as Fed rate pause fuels crypto rally
Solana dominates DEX activity with 50% market share driven by retail adoption
Solana’s market structure mirrors Bitcoin and Ether, strengthening its bid for US ETF approval
Tesla’s Bitcoin Holdings Boost Q4 Earnings by $600 Million With New Accounting Rule
Gemini survey finds Gen Z leads crypto adoption, over half of respondents own digital assets
Arkansas Senate rejects bill to ban crypto mining near military facilities: report
El Salvador Lawmakers Fast-Track Bitcoin Reform After IMF Deal
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev advocates for updated SEC investor rules to foster tokenization
✨ NEW IN THE SPACE
Phantom wallet adds support for Layer 1 Sui in latest multi-chain push
Elon Musk’s father plans to raise up to $200 million with ‘Musk It’ meme coin to fund new think tank
Trump’s media company launches Truth.Fi, a fintech with crypto ambitions
Tether’s USDT stablecoin returns to Bitcoin with Lightning Labs partnership
Pudgy Penguins-linked Ethereum Layer 2 Abstract launches on mainnet
Cardano plans transition to ‘full decentralized governance’ after Wednesday’s Plomin hard fork
Venmo Co-Founder Releases Fair-Launch Token for New Platform, JellyJelly
Elon Musk’s dream of digital payments for X users takes shape with Visa partnership
Sui blockchain’s SMS feature promises wider adoption in underserved areas
Odin.fun Launches Fast-Transaction Platform for Bitcoin Meme Coins
💀 RUG PULLS & LEGAL UPDATES
Crypto Taxation in 2025: Navigating Complex Tax Laws for Digital Assets
Ross Ulbricht Loses $12 Million on Pump.fun Due to Liquidity Error
Pump.fun sued for $500M: Is the memecoin market at legal risk?
Scammers Get Scammed as DogWifTools Gets Exploited for $10 Million
Scammers hijack Visa, Dean Norris social media accounts to promote fake Solana tokens
Bitcoin's Ordinals Plummet to Lowest Levels Since February 2024
Crypto Hacks Total $74M in January and CeFi Accounts for 93% of Losses
US investigates DeepSeek over possible use of banned AI chips: report
Coinbase CEO calls for crypto listing reform as 1 million tokens flood market weekly
Tether and Tron’s T3 Unit Freeze $26.4 Million in Money Laundering Scheme
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🤓 DISCLAIMER: NFA & DYOR
This newsletter is a curated overview of the most exciting things I’ve read the past week, the projects I’ve researched, and the Coins or NFTs I’ll be trying to buy.
This means I’m - per definition - biased, so don’t consider this as financial advice, and keep doing your own research if you see something you like.