Crypto News
Bitcoin price recovery could be capped at $90K — Here’s why
After consecutive drawdowns of 17.39% and 2.3% in February and March, Bitcoin’s (BTC) Q2 is shaping up nicely, with a return of 3.77% in April. While fresh yearly lows were formed at $74,500, BTC is currently closer to $90,000 than its new range bottom. Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewBitcoin’s higher time frame (HTF) market structure has achieved its first breakout of 2025, fueling optimism among bulls for significant upward momentum. However, the following factors could limit BTC’s gains over the next two weeks, likely capping its price at around $90,000.Related: Can 3-month Bitcoin RSI highs counter bearish BTC price 'seasonality?'Bitcoin needs spot volume, not just leverage-drivenCointelegraph identified a cooldown period in the futures market as the BTC-USDT futures leverage ratio dropped by 50%. De-leveraging in the futures market is a positive development over the long term, but derivatives traders have taken control of the market at the time as well. Bitcoin cumulative net take volume. Source: X.comBitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. pointed out that Bitcoin’s cumulative net taker volume spiked to $800 million on April 11, hinting at a surge in aggressive buying. BTC price also jumped from $78,000 to $85,000 within three days, confirming previous historical patterns where high net take volume triggers price rallies. Likewise, Maartunn, a community analyst at CryptoQuant, confirmed that the current rally is a “leverage-driven pump.” The discrepancy arises because retail or spot traders are still not as relevant.Bitcoin 30-day apparent demand. Source: CryptoQuantAs illustrated in the chart, Bitcoin apparent demand is on a recovery path, but it is not net positive yet. Historically, 30-day apparent demand can move sideways for a prolonged period after BTC reaches a local bottom, leading to a sideways chop for the crypto. Thus, it is less likely that Bitcoin could breach $90,000 in the first attempt after dropping close to 20% until there is collective buying pressure from both spot and futures markets.Large liquidation clusters between $80-$90K may bait tradersWith futures traders positioning in either direction, data from CoinGlass highlighted significant cumulative long and short liquidation leverage between $80,000 and $90,000. Taking $85,100 at the base price, total cumulative short positions at risk of liquidation are at $6.5 billion if BTC price hits $90,035. Bitcoin exchange liquidation map. Source: CoinGlassOn the other hand, $4.86 billion in long orders will be wiped out if BTC drops to $80,071. While liquidation clusters do not determine directional bias, they can create long or short squeezes, baiting traders on either side of respective trades. With such high capital at risk under $90,000, it is possible that Bitcoin may target each cluster before moving toward the dominant side. Related: Bitcoin traders target $90K as apparent tariff exemptions ease US Treasury yieldsThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Published Date: 2025-04-15 17:31:42Creator: Cointelegraph by Biraajmaan Tamuly
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Bitdeer turns to self-mining Bitcoin, US operations amid tariff tumult — Report
Bitcoin miner Bitdeer is reportedly expanding its self-mining operations and investing in United States-based production as looming trade wars rock global supply chains and cryptocurrency markets. Bitdeer has begun prioritizing mining Bitcoin (BTC) itself in response to cooling demand for its mining hardware from other miners, Bloomberg reported on April 15.“Our plan going forward is to prioritize our own self-mining,” Jeff LaBerge, Bitdeer’s head of capital markets and strategic initiatives, reportedly said. Additionally, Bitdeer plans to scale US hardware manufacturing in the second half of the year as US President Donald Trump touts plans to penalize foreign imports and promote domestic manufacturing, Bloomberg said.“This is something we’ve been planning for a long time,” LaBerge said about the manufacturing plans. “We want to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America.”In April, Trump tipped plans for sweeping tariffs on US imports. The Bitcoin network is especially vulnerable to trade barriers since mining hardware involves complex global supply chains.Bitcoin’s hash price is near all-time lows. Source: Hashrate IndexRelated: Tariffs, capital controls could fragment blockchain networks — ExecsSector-wide strugglesBitcoin miners — including Bitdeer — have struggled in 2025 as volatile crypto markets worsen the impact of the Bitcoin network’s April 2024 halving. In February, Bitdeer’s stock dropped by roughly 28% after the Bitcoin miner announced lower-than-expected earnings and revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024. Bitdeer’s “lower performance compared to Q4 2023 was primarily driven by the impact of the April 2024 halving,” among other factors, Harris Bassett, Bitdeer’s chief strategy officer, said during Bitdeer’s earnings call. Every four years, the amount of BTC mined per “block” — a bundle of transaction data stored on the blockchain — is cut in half. The April 2024 halving reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block.Bitcoin price versus stocks. Source: 21SharesSince then, mining revenues and gross profits have dropped by an average of 46% and 57%, respectively, JPMorgan said previously in a research note shared with Cointelegraph. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s hash price — a measure of miner profitability — has sunk to nearly all-time lows, according to data from the Hashrate Index. In 2024, Bitdeer tried to offset declining mining revenues by selling its own energy-efficient Bitcoin mining rigs. However, sales growth has been limited and did not offset weakness in other business lines in Q4. The market turbulence comes as Bitcoin Trump family-backed crypto mining operation American Bitcoin reportedly is considering an initial public offering. Magazine: Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research
Published Date: 2025-04-15 17:15:00Creator: Cointelegraph by Alex O’Donnell
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Ethena Labs exits German market following agreement with BaFin
Synthetic stablecoin developer Ethena Labs is winding down its German operations less than a month after regulators identified “deficiencies” in its dollar-pegged USDe (USDE) stablecoin, signaling heightened scrutiny around crypto assets in Europe’s largest economy.Ethena Labs reached an agreement with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as BaFin, to cease all operations of its local subsidiary, Ethena GmbH, according to an April 15 announcement.Source: Ethena LabsAs such, Ethena Labs “will no longer be pursuing MiCAR authorization in Germany,” the company said, referring to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.The company reiterated that Ethena’s German subsidiary has not conducted any mint or redeem activity for USDe since March 21, the day BaFin halted the stablecoin’s activities. As Cointelegraph reported at the time, the German regulator identified compliance failures and potential securities law violations tied to USDe.“All whitelisted mint and redeem users previously interacting with Ethena GmbH have at their request been onboarded with Ethena (BVI) Limited instead and have no ongoing relationship with Ethena GmbH whatsoever,” the company said. Unlike popular stablecoins USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC), Ethena’s USDe maintains its dollar peg through an automated delta-hedging strategy that includes a combination of spot holdings, onchain custody and liquidity buffers. USDe is the fourth-largest stablecoin with a total circulating value of $4.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.The $233-billion stablecoin market is dominated by USDT and USDC. Source: CoinMarketCapRelated: Northern Marianas vetoes bill for Tinian to launch its own USD stablecoinMiCA tightens the noose around stablecoin usageMiCA is a comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency usage across the European Union, enforcing strict compliance standards and consumer protections.To meet the new requirements, stablecoin issuers must have adequate reserves backing their tokens, ensure reserve assets are segregated from users’ assets and fulfill regular reporting obligations.As of February, 10 stablecoin issuers have been approved under MiCA, including Circle, Crypto.com, Societe Generale and Membrane Finance.Patrick Hansen, Circle’s senior director of EU strategy and policy, told Cointelegraph that a total of 10 euro-pegged stablecoins and five US dollar-pegged stablecoins have been approved so far.However, notably absent from the list is USDt issuer Tether, which has decided not to pursue MiCA registration at this time.Magazine: Bitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6-12
Published Date: 2025-04-15 16:28:18Creator: Cointelegraph by Sam Bourgi
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Crypto podcasters should always assume their audience knows nothing
Opinion by: Blake Cassidy, CEO of BambooCrypto podcasts have been newcomers’ go-to source of information, helping bring crypto into the mainstream. Podcasters must remember, however, that fresh faces are constantly tuning in as they grow.While you may say, “FOMO, buy the dip, ignore the FUD because WAGMI,” your poor listener — tuning in for the first time just trying to learn crypto — might decide learning Spanish is easier.Podcasters are more vital to crypto’s adoption rate than everKeeping regular listeners engaged is important, but so is making sure newbies, who are only listening because they’re sick of hearing their mates brag about crypto at work, can follow along, too.You can see this balance pulled off well in some of the biggest crypto podcasts out there. Crypto podcasts that cater to the hodler and the novice enjoy dedicated followings and high view counts, whether the market is feeling bullish or bearish. Some worry that making things newbie-friendly will turn off industry professionals, but that’s not the case. Even the experts appreciate simplified content — it helps them stay on top of the week without digging through all the noise themselves.How do you get that balance right? Work in the week’s biggest news, and it’ll appeal to everyone — whether they’re new to crypto or industry veterans. Even if it’s just a segment of your podcast, crypto enthusiasts at any level love having a go-to podcast that sums up the week before they’ve even had their morning coffee.Crypto’s accessibility problemAccessibility has always been one of crypto’s biggest hurdles. The tech, the endless list of coins, even Web3-powered video games — many see it all as too complicated, unnecessary or just another scam. Some of these views represent a misunderstanding at best and outright ignorance at worst.On the flip side, podcasters talk about quantum-resistant blockchains, unlimited transactions per second or Ethereum’s dreaded Surge, Verge, Purge and Splurge malarky. There is a delicate balancePodcasters can play a key role in moving blockchain solutions further into the mainstream by helping to overcome the high knowledge entry requirements we’ve seen previously.There is a balance, however, as nobody wants to listen to an explainer podcast that feels like a weekly dictionary of crypto-bro jargon. The key is for podcasters to imagine they are in a room with a friend who knows nothing about crypto and someone who’s already clued in. Create content that works for both. If jargon is a must, which is often in this niche, a “here’s what we mean when we say this” now and then can go a long way to avoid alienating newcomers.Non-technical terms like “WAGMI” and “NGMI” should be spelled out instead of gatekeeping if we want to see retail swarm exchanges. Make it as easy as possible for the audienceSeveral successful podcasts do a great job of providing timestamps in their podcast episodes, which often run longer than an hour. If an audience member can quickly understand what is included in the podcast and navigate to the sections most interesting to them, this will only strengthen engagement and loyalty.Additionally, similes, analogies, metaphors and outright storytelling can help demystify some harder-to-grasp crypto concepts. There are so many ways that podcasters can help rather than hinder the mainstream adoption of crypto. In any discipline, providing clear and concise information so that audiences can make more informed decisions is a responsibility — why should crypto podcasts be any different?Opinion by: Blake Cassidy, CEO of Bamboo. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Published Date: 2025-04-15 15:00:00Creator: Cointelegraph by Blake Cassidy
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Bitcoin trader doubts breakout 'significance' as BTC price nears $87K
Bitcoin (BTC) eyed new April highs at the April 15 Wall Street open amid skepticism over BTC price strength.BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewBitcoin price faces multiple resistance hurdlesData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD seeking to break through $86,000.Continued strength through the weekend had set up the pair for an attack on levels closer to $90,000, these absent since early March.Concerns over macroeconomic volatility, with the US trade war at its center, nonetheless kept market participants from calling an end to the Bitcoin bull market correction.“It's funny watching sentiment shift so quickly - just days ago everyone was calling for 50k, now they're rushing to flip bullish at the first green candle. This emotional rollercoaster is exactly why most traders lose money,” trading resource Stockmoney Lizards wrote in part of its latest analysis on X.“While short-term momentum appears bullish, we still face multiple resistance hurdles before confirming the correction is complete.”BTC/USDT perpetual contract 2-day chart. Source: Stockmoney Lizards/XStockmoney Lizards saw rangebound BTC price action continuing prior to a retest of the most significant longer-term resistance nearer $100,000.“My outlook remains cautiously optimistic - expect continued ranging between 78-88k for several weeks as Bitcoin builds energy for its next move,” they forecast. “Once we clear the 97k zone, the path to 110k+ becomes much more viable by late summer.”Brandt: BTC trendline break is not “transition of trend”A key topic of conversation among traders was a BTC price breakthrough attempt focusing on a multimonth downward trend line.Related: Can 3-month Bitcoin RSI highs counter bearish BTC price 'seasonality?'As Cointelegraph reported, this has been in place since BTC/USD set its current all-time highs in January. Now, its status as resistance appears to be waning.It didn't break a multimonth downtrend just for $86K, it wants to challenge for a higher high near the 200 MA,” popular trader SuperBro summarized in part of a recent X update.SuperBro referred to the 200-day simple moving average (SMA), a classic bull market support trend line, currently at $87,566.“If the HH is successful, which is likely imo, then it can retrace for a HL anywhere above the low before it runs for the wedge target above $100K,” he added.BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: SuperBro/XNot everyone, however, was convinced that breaking the downtrend would mark a watershed moment for Bitcoin bulls.For veteran trader Peter Brandt, nothing could be gained from observing price behavior around the trend line.“Of all chart construction, trendlines are the LEAST significant,” he told X followers on the day. “A trendline violation does NOT signify a transition of trend $BTC.”BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Peter Brandt/XThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Published Date: 2025-04-15 14:45:00Creator: Cointelegraph by William Suberg
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Ethereum market share nears historic lows as ETH price risks falling to $1,100
Ether’s (ETH) market is very close to hitting all-time lows as a classic bearish chart pattern hints at a deeper correction toward $1,100.Ethereum’s market dominance keeps fallingOn April 9, Ethereum’s market dominance, or the measure of Ether’s share of crypto’s overall market capitalization, hit a new multiyear low of 7.18%, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data. This value was merely a hair’s breadth above the all-time low of 7.09% reached in September 2019.“Ethereum dominance is so very close to registering new all-time lows,” said popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital in an April 13 post on X, adding:“Ethereum Dominance needs to hold this green area to position itself to become more market-dominant over the coming months.”ETH market dominance %. Source: Rekt CapitalEther’s market share is now at its lowest value since 2019-2020. Meanwhile, Ether’s closest competitor in terms of market capitalization, XRP (XRP), has seen its dominance rise by over 200% over the same timeframe. Its top layer-1 rival tokens, BNB Chain’s (BNB) and Solana’s (SOL), have also seen 40% and 344% increases in their market dominance since 2023. Several reasons for this underwhelming performance include weak institutional demand evidenced by negative ETF flows, a sluggish derivatives market, and increasing competition from other layer-1 blockchains.More trouble for Ethereum could also be found when analyzing the total value locked (TVL) of competing blockchains. Although Ethereum remains the leader with a market dominance of 51.7%, this metric has decreased from 61.2% in February 2024. In comparison, Solana’s dominance in terms of TVL has increased by 172% over the same period. Total value locked market share (%). Source: DefiLlamaETH price “bear flag” targets $1,100Ether price, or the ETH/USD trading pair, is expected to resume its prevailing bearish momentum despite recovering from recent lows as a classic (bearish) chart pattern emerges.Related: Ethereum could be AI’s key to decentralization, says former core devEther’s price action over the past three weeks is painting a possible bear flag pattern on the daily chart, as shown in the figure below. A daily candlestick close below the flag’s lower boundary at $1,600 would signal the start of a massive move downward.The flagpole’s height sets the target, putting Ether’s potential price drop target at $1,100, or a 33% drop from the current price.ETH/USD daily chart with potential bear flag. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewMeanwhile, one key indicator to keep an eye on remains the relative strength index, or RSI, which is still below the 50 mark, suggesting that the market trend still favors the downside.As Cointelegraph reported, ETH's price may ultimately bottom out at around $1,000 based on several other factors. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Published Date: 2025-04-15 14:28:46Creator: Cointelegraph by Nancy Lubale
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Mantra and Terra Luna: Nothing in common but a token crash
The recent collapse of the Mantra (OM) token triggered comparisons to the infamous Terra ecosystem crash in May 2022, with some commentators referring to Mantra as the “next Terra.” Still, many in the community argue that the two projects share nothing in common besides visual similarities in price charts.“While it’s tempting to draw parallels between OM’s recent crash and the Terra Luna collapse, they’re fundamentally very different events,” said Ben Yorke, vice president of ecosystem at the decentralized finance (DeFi) project Woo, in a statement to Cointelegraph.Alexis Sirkia, chairman of the DeFi infrastructure project Yellow Network, agreed. “There are no real similarities apart from the visual of the price dropping,” he said.Visual similarity — different numbersMantra’s OM token dropped 92% on April 13, dropping from over $6 to around $0.52 within hours. According to data from CoinGecko, OM lost $5.4 billion in market capitalization in less than four hours.By contrast, TerraClassicUSD (formerly UST) took five days to lose a similar percentage, shedding $17.2 billion.Mantra’s OM crash in April 2025 versus USTC (formerly UST) crash in May 2022 (seven-day chart). Source: CoinGeckoThe LUNA crash was more gradual than both the OM token and USTC. It started plummeting some time before the UST token depegged on May 9, 2022.Still, the visual resemblance of the price charts has prompted comparisons among observers, despite significant structural differences between the projects.Terra collapse was systemic in contrast to MantraWoo’s Yorke and Yellow Network’s Sirkia agreed that Terra’s collapse was systemic and occurred due to the failure of its algorithmic stablecoin, while Mantra was not proven to be subject to any systemic flaws.“OM appears to be more of a case of mismanagement or negligence,” Yorke said, adding that the Mantra crash involved a “large number of insider-held tokens” moved to exchanges, which sparked cascading liquidations.Source: ZachXBT“The issue wasn’t a structural flaw in the protocol, but rather a breakdown in token handling and trust,” he noted.Related: Mantra CEO says OM token recovery ‘primary concern’ but in early stages“Mantra is not broken. There was no peg to fail. This is a market structure issue, not a protocol failure,” Sirkia stated, stressing that only an event like a smart contract failure could indicate a serious issue in the protocol. He added:“Terra collapsed because of how it was built. Mantra went through a market-driven correction. The team remained transparent throughout. After the drop, OM bounced over 200%, showing real demand and community belief. That kind of recovery never happened with Luna.”Yorke and Sirkia’s Mantra comments mark the second day after the OM crash, with the token slightly recovering to $0.80 by publishing time after a brutal sell-off from above $6 to $0.50 per token on April 13.According to the latest update by Mantra CEO John Mullin, Mantra expects to share a post-mortem report detailing the events leading to the crash of the OM token in the next 24 hours.Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express
Published Date: 2025-04-15 14:06:18Creator: Cointelegraph by Helen Partz
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Pump.Fun’s PumpSwap DEX processed $2.5B of trades last week, up 40%
Market data shows PumpSwap, the decentralized exchange of memecoin launch platform Pump.Fun, processed $2.5 billion of trades last week.DefiLlama data shows that in the week of April 6, PumpSwap saw a trading volume increase of nearly 40% over the previous week starting on March 30, with its trading volume of $1.8 billion. Since its launch in late March, the decentralized exchange (DEX) has processed $98.4 million of trades.The news follows Pump.Fun launching PumpSwap on March 19, as a dedicated “frictionless environment” for trading memecoins. The DEX attracted considerable trading activity, exceeding $1 billion of volume in its first week of activity.Related: Pump.fun memecoins are dying at record rates, less than 1% surviveAccording to Dune data, PumpSwap’s trades reached a new record high daily count of over 6.1 million on April 12, and on April 14 the platform saw over 5.7 million swaps. It also saw its highest daily active wallets, reaching nearly 264,500 — over 163,000 recurring and 101,000 new.PumpSwap daily active wallets. Source: DuneOn April 15, PumpSwap broke its daily volume record, reaching $417.8 million at the time of publication. The previous record was reported on Monday, April 14, when the volume reached $412.7 million.PumpSwap’s trading volume shows a clear uptrend. Source: DefiLlamaRelated: Memecoins, markets and Trump: Cointelegraph’s Q1 editorial roundtableRevenues are growing alongside volumePumpSwap’s income is growing alongside its trading volume, with Dune data showing that daily fees reached a record of over $1.05 million on April 14. That day, $840,000 were liquidity provider fees and $210,000 protocol fees.PumpSwap daily fees. Source: DuneParaSwap features a 0.25% fee, with 0.2% going to liquidity providers and 0.05% to the protocol itself. The total lifetime fees generated by the DEX stand at $14.2 million at the time of publication, out of which $3.56 million were destined for the protocol.Pump.Fun making millionairesThe developers behind the platform are not the only ones who managed to make money on Pump.Fun. Dune data shows that 506 wallets managed to earn over $1 million on the platform, while over 9,000 made over $100,000.Top five 30-day active Pump.Fun wallets. Source: DuneThe most profitable wallet over the past 30 days has realized gains of nearly $40.6 million, the data shows.Magazine: Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research
Published Date: 2025-04-15 13:35:09Creator: Cointelegraph by Adrian Zmudzinski
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DeFi platform KiloEx offers $750K bounty to hacker
Decentralized exchange (DEX) KiloEx has offered the hacker who exploited $7.5 million in crypto from its platform a 10% white hat bounty. On April 15, KiloEx posted an offer directed to the hacker who stole millions from the DEX. KiloEx said it had worked with law enforcement, cybersecurity agencies and exchanges to uncover information about the hacker’s activities. The DEX also shared wallet addresses linked to the hackers that the DeFi platform and other organizations are actively monitoring. KiloEx said they were prepared to freeze the stolen funds. However, the DEX offered the hacker $750,000 in exchange for returning 90% of the stolen assets. KiloEx said that it would treat the incident as a white hat exploit if the hacker returned the funds.Hacker stole $7.5 million from KiloExOn April 14, cybersecurity companies reported that an exploiter looted the platform through a price oracle vulnerability. A report from PeckShield said that about $3.3 million in Base, $3.1 million opBNB and $1 million BSC tokens were taken. The blockchain security company said that the information used by a smart contract to determine price assets was manipulated, which led to the exploit. In response to the attack, the platform suspended its DEX. The platform also said the exploit had been contained. Related: Ethical hacker intercepts $2.6M in Morpho Labs exploitKiloEx to pursue legal action if the hacker doesn’t return the fundsThe DEX added that it would drop the matter and publicly acknowledge that the incident is settled if the hacker agrees to return the funds. KiloEx wrote: “We will tweet about this resolution, acknowledging your cooperation and closing the case without further action.”The DEX informed the hacker to contact its email or send an onchain message if they accepted the offer. If the hacker doesn’t accept the offer, the DEX said it would escalate the matter with the relevant law enforcement and pursue the investigation with its cybersecurity partners. “Your identity and activities will be exposed to relevant authorities. We will pursue legal action relentlessly. The choice is yours. Act now to avoid irreversible consequences,” KiloEx wrote. Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express
Published Date: 2025-04-15 13:17:40Creator: Cointelegraph by Ezra Reguerra
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Crypto’s debanking problem persists despite new regulations
The crypto industry’s inability to access banking services still concerns many industry observers despite recent policy victories.In past years, financial services firms and banks concerned about fiduciary risk, reporting liabilities and reputational risk often would refuse to offer service to crypto firms — i.e., “debanking” them. Legislative efforts in the United States and Australia are attempting to remove these barriers for the crypto industry. In the former, legislators repealed guidelines that made it difficult for banks to custody crypto assets, as well as those stating that crypto carried “reputational risk” for banks. In the latter, the Labor Party has introduced a bill to create a legal framework for crypto, giving banks the clarity they need to interact with the crypto industry.Despite these tangible efforts, some crypto industry observers say that the crypto’s debanking problem is far from over. US crypto execs say debanking is still an issue The crypto industry has long decried “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” its nickname for a suite of policies that they claim constrained the crypto industry from growing under the administration of former President Joe Biden. Among these were measures making it more difficult for crypto firms to access banking services. The early days of the second administration of President Donald Trump have seen many of these repealed or changed. One of the first was the repeal of Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which required banks offering custody for customers’ cryptocurrencies to list them as liabilities on their balance sheets — this made it very difficult for banks to justify offering such services. The administration also appointed a new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Rodney Hood. Dennis Porter, CEO of the Bitcoin-focused policy organization Satoshi Action, told Cointelegraph that under Hood’s tenure, the OCC has already said banks can offer crypto-related services like custody, stablecoin reserves and blockchain participation.Related: Atkins becomes next SEC chair: What’s next for the crypto industry“This opens the door for broader adoption of digital asset technology and custodial services by traditional financial institutions, signaling a major shift in how banks engage with crypto,” he said.Despite these victories, Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, said on March 21 that debanking is likely to remain a problem for crypto firms into 2026. Long said the non-partisan board of governors of the Federal Reserve is “still controlled by Democrats,” alluding to Democrats’ more skeptical stance on crypto. Long claimed that “there are two crypto-friendly banks under examination by the Fed right now, and an army of examiners was sent into these banks, including the examiners from Washington, a literal army just smothering the banks.”Long noted that Trump won’t be able to appoint a new Fed governor until January, meaning that, while other agencies may be more crypto-friendly, there are still roadblocks. Australia’s Labor Party to create crypto frameworkStand With Crypto, the “grassroots” crypto advocacy organization started by Coinbase that has spread to the US, UK, Canada and Australia, said that “in Australia, debanking is quietly shutting out innovators and entrepreneurs — particularly in the crypto and blockchain space.”In a post on X, the organization claimed that debanking results in “reputational damage, loss of revenue, increased operational costs, and inability to launch or sustain services.” It also claimed that it forces some companies to move offshore. In response to these concerns, the ruling center-left Labor Party in Australia has proposed a new set of laws for the cryptocurrency industry. The changes to current financial services law seek to tackle the issue of debanking in the country’s cryptocurrency industry.Australia’s Treasury says its new crypto regulations have four priorities. Source: Australian Department of the TreasuryEdward Carroll, head of global markets and corporate finance at MHC Digital Group — an Australian crypto platform — told Cointelegraph that in Australia, debanking decisions were “not the result of regulatory directives.”“Rather, they appear to stem from a more general sense of risk aversion due to the current lack of a clear regulatory framework.”Related: US gov’t actions give clue about upcoming crypto regulationCarroll was optimistic about the Labor Party’s proactive stance. The major political parties were “showing a shift in sentiment and a shared commitment to establishing formal crypto regulation.” “We are hopeful that this will give banks the confidence to reengage with crypto businesses that meet compliance standards,” he said.Canada unlikely to relieve crypto firmsIn Canada, “debanking remains a serious and ongoing challenge for the Canadian crypto industry,” according to Morva Rohani, executive director of the Canadian Web3 Council.“While some firms have successfully established relationships with banking partners, many continue to face account closures or denials with little explanation or recourse,” she told Cointelegraph. While debanking actions aren’t explicit, financial institutions’ interpretation of Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations “creates a risk-averse environment where banks weigh compliance and reputational concerns against the relatively low revenue potential of crypto clients.”The end result, per Rohani, is a systemic debanking problem for the digital assets industry.But unlike in the US and Australia, the Canadian crypto industry may not find relief anytime soon. Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose more crypto-skeptic Liberal Party is surging in the polls ahead of the April 28 snap elections, is himself a crypto-skeptic.Polls show Carney firmly in the lead. Source: IpsosCarney has stated that the future of money lies more in a “central bank stablecoin,” otherwise referred to as a central bank digital currency.Rohani said that “no comprehensive legislative solution has been implemented” with regard to debanking. “A more structured approach, including mandated disclosure of reasons for account termination and regulatory oversight, is needed,” she said.Critics claim crypto is “hijacking” the debanking issueThere is another side to the debanking debate, which claims that crypto’s debanking “problem” is a non-issue or a vehicle for crypto firms to get what they want in terms of regulation. Molly White, the author of Web3 Is Going Just Great and the “Citation Needed” newsletter, has noted that, in the US at least, crypto firms have claimed to be victims of debanking while lauding Trump’s efforts to end protections for debanking at the same time.In a Feb. 14 post, White stated that the crypto industry had “hijacked” the discussion around debanking, which contains legitimate concerns regarding access to financial services — particularly regarding discrimination due to race, religious identity or industry affiliation. She claims the crypto industry has used debanking as a means to deflect legitimate regulatory inquiries into crypto companies’ compliance efforts. Further of note is the fact that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has applauded the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Elon Musk at the helm, to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). One of the CFPB’s responsibilities is to investigate claims of debanking. But when DOGE instructed the agency to halt all work, Armstrong said it was “100% the right call,” in addition to making dubious claims about the agency’s constitutionality. In the meantimeWhether the industry’s debanking concerns stem from legitimate discrimination or an attempt at regulatory capture, crypto firms are developing solutions in the interim. Porter said that, as an alternative to banking services, “many crypto companies have leaned on stablecoins as a primary tool for managing finances,” while others have worked with “smaller regional banks or specialized trust companies open to digital assets.”Rohani said that this kind of “patchwork of relationships” can increase operational costs and risks and are “not sustainable long-term solutions for growth or to build a competitive, regulated industry.”Porter concluded that the banking workarounds could actually strengthen the industry’s position, stating that they may “continue evolving into fully integrated relationships with traditional financial institutions, further cementing crypto’s place in mainstream finance.”Magazine: UK’s Orwellian AI murder prediction system, will AI take your job? AI Eye
Published Date: 2025-04-15 13:13:18Creator: Cointelegraph by Aaron Wood
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