Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: Ross Ulbricht to make first public appearance at upcoming Bitcoin conference, Binance and SEC try to move forward with 60 day pause on trial, Pump.fun gets made fun of in Black Mirror episode, Sweden officials want to join race for bitcoin reserve, an NFT trader was hiding $13M from the IRS, and so much more below.

This is a big one so lock in

Happy Monday and let’s dive in

Market Snapshot

As of 4/13/2025. Data per CoinMarketCap.

  • Bitcoin rose over 1.5% to $84,900, aiming to break a three-month downtrend following new U.S. tariff exemptions

    • The U.S. Customs and Border Protection excluded big tech from Trump's tariffs, signaling a potential concession in the trade war

    • Major alt coins like ETH, XRP, and ADA surged by +6% on the day

    • The cumulative market cap of the top two stablecoins, USDT and USDC, held steady above $200B, just shy of record highs

  • The Producer Price Index (PPI) report released Friday showed another sign of easing inflation in the first quarter of 2025

    • PPI for March fell 0.4% month-over-month, while core PPI dropped 0.1%, significantly undercutting forecasts for increases of 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively

      • Last month’s Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped by 0.4% month-over-month, the largest decline since October 2023

Headline Roundup
The major headlines driving crypto markets

  • Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht to speak in public after his release from jail (TB)

  • Binance and SEC file joint motion for 60 day pause, here’s why

  • Creator of Helium Network reaches $200,000 settlement with SEC (BW)

  • Unocoin, India’s largest crypto exchange, integrates Bitcoin Lightning Network (BM)

  • Someone sold their crypto punk for a $10M loss (BL)

  • Michael Saylor hints at more bitcoin purchases for Strategy following $7.7B cumulative Q1 investment (CD)

  • A school in Scotland will allow tuition payments through Bitcoin and may even consider a bitcoin reserve (DT)

  • 21Shares joins Bitwise and Grayscale in attempt for Dogecoin ETF (CD)

  • Blackrock discloses 4,126 ETH purchase for $6.4M (DF)

  • World Liberty Fi continues altcoin spree with $775k SEI buy (CT)

  • ETH whale scores 18,000% return after 9 year hold (DT)

  • Ethereum’s rough patch has led to the highest SOL-to-ETH ratio in history (TB)

  • Ethereum developers plan for Fusaka fork as they finalize May 7 Pectra upgrade (BW)

  • Chronicle, the maker of first blockchain oracle, tapped as main backer for winners of $1B SparkDAO tokenization grand prix (TB)

  • TRUMP memecoin preps for 40M token unlock as memecoin decline continues (BL)

  • Janover stock surges 1,100%+ after pivot to include Solana treasury (TB)

  • Latest Black Mirror episode seems to parody Pump.fun live-stream debacle (BL)

  • Vitalik Buterin breaks down plans for improved privacy on Ethereum (CS)

Venture Capital

  • Bitcoin life insurance firm Meanwhile raised a $40M Series A led by Framework and Fulgur Ventures (CD)

  • Solix, a German developer of decentralized physical infrastructure networks, raised $29.5M in funding led by Eclip Foundation (FN)

  • Octane secures $6.75M seed round co-led by Winklevoss Capital and Archetype for AI x crypto security (P2)

  • YCombinator announces it backed Theya, a bitcoin custody solution for businesses (BM)

  • Jets Capital announces investment into NFT platform LiveArt (X)

  • Wunder.Social, a blockchain-based startup ‘reinventing social media,' raised a $50M round led by Rollmann Management (CD)

  • Node Capital makes bullish move with new liquid token fund (TB)

Launches

  • Babylon, which has $4B+ BTC locked, launches new L1 ‘Genesis’ to improve bitcoin yield (CD)

  • Truth Arts launches driver license NFTs  (BW)

Regulation

  • Swedish MP Nordin proposes including Bitcoin in their national foreign exchange reserves (DF)

  • HashKey receives approval in Hong Kong to offer staking services for spot ETH ETFs (CT)

  • Tax payments via crypto might exist soon from new bill proposed in North Carolina (TB)

  • Senate democrats introduce bill that will require crypto miners and AI facilities to reduce emissions or face fines (TB)

Cybersecurity

  • Hash Asset Management sues ICHI crypto protocol over alleged $16M pump-and-dump (LW)

  • 45 year old NFT trader possibly faces 6 year sentence for hiding $13M profits from IRS (TB)

  • AI crypto scam that took over $21M from investors stopped by Spanish Police (DT)

  • Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash abandons X platform after account compromised by Solana memecoin hack (DT)

  • Gwangju crypto mining farm turned out to be a front for illicit gambling (DT)

Extra Reads

  • Why the bond market matters more than ever for U.S. foreign policy

Experts unpack why the 10-year Treasury yield is central to Donald Trump’s policy ambitions and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s economic strategy

Chart of the Day

Here’s a look at the significant candle breaking through resistance on Saturday

The chart shows that BTC is looking to establish a foothold above the descending trendline, characterizing the steep sell-off from record highs above $109K

Meme Dump

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