This week, bitcoin been climbin’ steady-like to reach almost $100K, with hopes fer a China-U.S. trade deal and better macroeconomic conditions on the horizon. Mastercard and BlackRock, big institutions, made some important announcements ’bout digital assets. There’s also been a bill ’bout stablecoin nearin’ completion in the U.S. Congress, which is somethin’ to keep an eye on. And the Trump Family, they been all up in the crypto news cycle, raisin’ some serious conflict-of-interest questions.
But the biggest story at CoinDesk this week ain’t ’bout Trump – it’s ’bout Movement, a startup that’s been strugglin’ lately. Deputy managing editor Sam Kessler dug up some dirt showin’ that Movement Labs might’ve been tricked into signin’ a market-making agreement that gave some middleman control over 66 million MOVE tokens. This deal reportedly caused a $38 million selloff, hurtin’ retail investors who had faith in the project. What a mess, right?
On top of that, Movement is backed by World Liberty Financial, a company tied closely to the Trump Family. After CoinDesk’s story came out, Coinbase stopped listin’ MOVE tokens and Binance banned the market-maker Web3Port. Movement Labs even had to suspend one of its co-founders, Rushi Manche, durin’ investigations into the project’s “organizational governance.” Looks like things ain’t goin’ too well for them.
In other news, Sam Altman’s blockchain project, World, announced plans to put 7,500 eye-scannin’ orbs in U.S. cities by the end of the year. They’re also addin’ crypto-backed loans, prediction markets, and a Visa debit card for spendin’ WLD tokens. Sounds like they’re tryin’ to shake things up in the crypto world. Meanwhile, Avraham Eisenberg, who got convicted last year on fraud charges related to a $110 million hack, now got himself in trouble for possessin’ child abuse material in 2024. Yikes!
Earnings season brought mixed results for major exchanges and facilitators. Robinhood said they expect a Q1 drop in crypto-related revenue, while Kraken’s revenue went up 29% in the same period. Strategy, though, reported a first-quarter loss of $4.2 billion due to fallin’ bitcoin prices. But they ain’t givin’ up – they still plannin’ to raise over $50 billion for buyin’ bitcoin in the next 32 months. Gotta admire their determination, right?
So, where we go from here? Market signals lookin’ good, especially if tariff fears ease up. But Movement, they got some crisis management to do. It’s gonna be interestin’ to see how they handle all this mess.
Benjamin Schiller, CoinDesk’s managin’ editor for features and opinion, brought us this wild ride of a story. He’s been around the block, workin’ at BREAKER Magazine and Fast Company before. He even holds some ETH, BTC, and LINK. Looks like he’s deep in the crypto game.
So, that’s the scoop for this week. Lots of drama in the crypto world, but what else is new? Not really sure why this matters, but hey, it’s worth keepin’ an eye on. Just when you think things are calmin’ down, somethin’ else pops up. It’s a wild ride, folks, so buckle up and enjoy the show.
