Trump pauses some tariffs, boosts China’s

    United States President Donald Trump issued a 90-day pause on “reciprocal tariffs” and lowered the tariff rate to 10% on countries that do not retaliate with counter-tariffs. The president also said he would increase the reciprocal tariff rate on China to 125% due to the country’s counter-tariffs against the US. Trump wrote in an April…

    EU markets regulator says crypto may cause ‘broader stability issues’ as market grows

    The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has warned that crypto will increasingly threaten traditional financial markets’ stability as the industry grows and becomes more entwined with traditional finance players. “We cannot rule out that future sharp drops in crypto prices could have knock-on effects on our financial system,” ESMA’s executive director Natasha Cazenave said in an…

    Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B

    Blockchain-based payments network Ripple announced it has acquired crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road in one of the largest mergers in the cryptocurrency industry to date. Ripple is acquiring Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal, the company officially announced on April 8. The deal will make Ripple the first crypto firm to own and operate a global,…

    Dubai gov’t agencies to link real estate registry with property tokenization

    Dubai’s real estate and crypto regulatory authorities have signed a new agreement aimed at expanding digital asset adoption in the real estate sector. On April 6, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) announced an agreement with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). According to the announcement, the agreement will link Dubai’s real estate registry with property tokenization through…

    Mantra unveils $108M fund to back real-world asset tokenization, DeFi

    The Mantra blockchain network has launched a $108,888,888 ecosystem fund aimed at accelerating the growth of startups focused on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi), amid rising demand for stable, asset-backed digital products. Mantra, a layer-1 (L1) blockchain built for tokenized RWAs, launched the Mantra Ecosystem Fund (MEF) to accelerate the growth and adoption of…

    China’s tariff response may mean more capital flight to crypto: Hayes

    China’s response to America’s sweeping trade tariffs could result in capital flight to Bitcoin and crypto, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. “If not the Fed [Federal Reserve], then the PBOC [People’s Bank of China] will give us the Yahtzee ingredients,” said Hayes on X on April 8 in reference to the catalyst needed to…