Summary
gm, Bitcoin rebounded above $105,000 following President Trump's announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Anthony Pompliano's ProCap made waves by purchasing 3,724 Bitcoin (approximately $386 million) after raising $750 million for its SPAC merger, highlighting the growing trend of corporate Bitcoin treasuries. Institutional adoption accelerated as Mastercard partnered with Chainlink to enable its three billion cardholders to purchase cryptocurrency on-chain, while Digital Asset secured $135 million from major institutions like Goldman Sachs and Citadel for its privacy-focused Canton blockchain. On the regulatory front, the US Senate Banking Committee introduced principles for comprehensive crypto market legislation, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed support for ongoing crypto bills in Congress, suggesting a more favorable regulatory environment is developing.

News Headlines
🌐 Bitcoin Gets Native, Dollar-Backed Stablecoin in USDB

  • Flashnet and Brale are launching USDB, the first dollar-backed stablecoin native to Bitcoin, backed 1:1 by Treasury bills and powered by the Bitcoin layer-2 network Spark.
  • Unlike previous solutions that relied on wrapped assets or synthetic structures, USDB will enable direct transactions between Bitcoin and stable dollar value, improving liquidity within the Bitcoin ecosystem and potentially elevating Bitcoin's role in DeFi.

📈 Semiconductor firm Sequans to raise $384M for Bitcoin treasury

  • Sequans Communications, an IoT semiconductor developer, plans to raise $384 million to establish a Bitcoin treasury, issuing approximately $195 million in equity and $189 million in convertible debentures.
  • This move continues the growing corporate Bitcoin treasury trend, with 240 companies now holding around 4% of Bitcoin's total supply, though MicroStrategy remains the largest holder with 592,345 BTC valued at around $60.2 billion.

🔄 Mastercard Taps Fiserv Stablecoin for 'New Era' of Payments

  • Mastercard has partnered with Fiserv to integrate FIUSD stablecoin into its payment network, enabling seamless transactions between fiat and stablecoins for more than 150 million merchants worldwide.
  • The partnership will explore using FIUSD for global settlement, enhancing payment efficiency and experience, while Mastercard plans to issue stablecoin-powered cards utilizing FIUSD, marking a significant step in mainstream stablecoin adoption.

🔐 Ledger Launches New Offline Recovery Tool For Private Keys

  • Ledger has unveiled an offline tool called Ledger Recovery Key for private key recovery, allowing users of Ledger Flex or Ledger Stax wallets to store recovery keys on a smart card with NFC technology.
  • Unlike its controversial predecessor Ledger Recover, this solution is entirely offline, requires no personal data, is protected by PIN, and has undergone both internal security testing and external audits by cybersecurity firm Synacktiv.

🌊 Trump Media Reaffirms $2.3 Billion Bitcoin Treasury Plan Amid Share Buyback

  • Trump Media and Technology Group has announced a share buyback of up to $400 million while still committing to its $2.3 billion Bitcoin treasury plan, with CEO Devin Nunes emphasizing that the repurchases won't affect funds allocated for Bitcoin purchases.
  • The company, which holds approximately $3 billion in assets, is also pursuing financial products linked to cryptocurrency, having filed for two ETFs focusing on Bitcoin and Ethereum, despite scrutiny from lawmakers over potential foreign interference.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Canton Network (Undisclosed, $135M) - Layer‑1 blockchain
2. YieldClub (Pre-seed, $2.5M) - High yield crypto savings mobile app

Regulatory
🏦 Japan Proposes Crypto Reclassification to Enable ETFs and Lower Taxes

  • Japan's Financial Services Agency has proposed reclassifying cryptocurrencies as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, potentially paving the way for crypto ETFs.
  • The proposal would replace the current progressive tax system (up to 55%) with a flat 20% capital gains tax on digital asset income, making Japan more competitive for crypto investors.

📱 Turkish Finance Ministry Imposes Strict Crypto Transfer Rules

  • Turkey's Finance Ministry will require detailed source and purpose information (at least 20 characters) for every crypto transaction to combat money laundering and financial crime.
  • The regulations include withdrawal delays (48-72 hours), daily limits of $3,000 and monthly limits of $50,000 on stablecoin transfers, with exceptions for liquidity provision and arbitrage activities.

🏠 US Housing Regulator to Consider Crypto in Mortgage Applications

  • The Federal Housing Finance Agency is exploring whether cryptocurrency holdings can be considered in mortgage qualification assessments, potentially allowing borrowers to use their crypto assets when applying for home loans.
  • Currently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require that crypto holdings be converted to U.S. dollars and held in regulated financial institutions to be considered in a loan application.

🌏 South Korea's Central Bank Wants Banks to Lead Stablecoin Issuance

  • The Bank of Korea has proposed that stablecoin issuance should initially be restricted to banks to minimize risks, as stablecoin transfers abroad surged to $19.5 billion in Q1 2025.
  • The proposal is part of a broader push under President Lee Jae-myung's administration, which has introduced a Digital Asset Basic Act enabling local firms to issue won-backed stablecoins.

🏛️ Fed Cuts Reputational Risk Scrutiny Used to Deny Crypto Banking

  • The US Federal Reserve has announced it will no longer consider "reputational risk" in banking supervision, a factor allegedly used to deny banking services to over 30 crypto companies under "Operation Chokepoint 2.0."
  • The Fed will replace references to reputational risk with discussions focused on financial risk, a move praised by Senator Cynthia Lummis as a win for digital asset businesses.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin is within an approximate horizontal trend channel in the short term. This indicates that investors are uncertain and waiting for signals of further direction. A break upwards will be a positive signal, while a break downwards will be a negative signal. The currency is moving within a rectangle formation between support at 101081 and resistance at 108394. A decisive break through one of these levels indicates the new direction for the currency. The currency has support at points 102000 and resistance at points 110000. The RSI curve shows a falling trend, which is an early signal of a possible trend reversal downwards for the price as well. The currency is overall assessed as technically neutral for the short term.

Ethereum - An approximate horizontal trend channel in the short term is broken down. A continued weak development is indicated, and the currency now meets resistance on possible reactions up towards the trend lines. The currency is testing resistance at points 2490. This could give a negative reaction, but an upward breakthrough of points 2490 means a positive signal. Volume tops and volume bottoms correspond well with tops and bottoms in the price. This weakens the trend break. The currency is overall assessed as technically negative for the short term.