Trump signs tariff executive order; Circle files for IPO

Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary column launched by Golden Finance, covering the week's key news, mining information, project dynamics, technological progress and other industry dynamics. This article is one of the news weekly, taking you to a glance at the major events in the blockchain industry this week.

Headline

▌Coinbase asks to restart the lawsuit against the FDIC, accusing the regulator of continuing to conceal key documents

According to reporter Eleanor Terrett, the US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase filed a motion with the District Court for the District of Columbia to lift the suspension of the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The exchange accused the FDIC of refusing to provide key regulatory documents and failing to fully cooperate with information disclosure requests. In early February of this year, after Trump appointed Travis Hill as acting chairman of the FDIC, presiding judge Neomi Rao suspended the proceedings, hoping that the two sides could reach a settlement out of court.  

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said: "Although the new FDIC leadership has demonstrated a commitment to greater transparency than legal requirements, core information remains blocked. We will not stop pushing the process until we get the regulatory transparency that the American public deserves." According to court procedures, the FDIC is expected to make a formal response to the request to restart the lawsuit within two weeks.  

The lawsuit dates back to 2023, and Coinbase accused the FDIC of secretly asking several banks to cut off cooperation with crypto companies. Although the exchange has obtained some communication records through the Freedom of Information Act, 27 key documents involving the FDIC's internal decision-making process are still refused to be disclosed on the grounds of "deliberative process privilege." Industry observers pointed out that the progress of this case may affect the collaboration model between crypto institutions and the traditional financial system.

▌GameStop has completed the issuance of $1.3 billion convertible notes and is about to purchase Bitcoin

American video game retailer GameStop (stock code: GME) may be about to or has begun to allocate Bitcoin assets. The company's regulatory filing after the U.S. stock market closed on Monday showed that its $1.3 billion five-year convertible notes had been fully subscribed, with a total fundraising amount of $1.5 billion, including over-allotment options, and net proceeds of $1.48 billion after deducting expenses.  

Previously, when announcing the fourth-quarter earnings report, the GameStop board of directors, led by CEO Ryan Cohen, had passed a resolution to update the company's investment policy and include Bitcoin in the balance sheet allocation range.

▌Circle submits IPO application and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange

According to market news, stablecoin issuer Circle has submitted an S-1 document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), officially launching the initial public offering (IPO) process. The company plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the stock code CRCL.

▌U.S. President Trump signed an executive order on tariffs

Previously reported, the specific tariff rates of U.S. tariffs on many countries have been released. US President Trump said that a 10% tariff will be imposed across the board, and some countries will have higher rates. A 46% tariff will be imposed on Vietnam. A 10% tariff will be imposed on the UK. A 31% tariff will be imposed on Switzerland. A 49% tariff will be imposed on Cambodia. A 36% tariff will be imposed on Thailand. A 30% tariff will be imposed on South Africa. A 32% tariff will be imposed on Indonesia. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Brazil. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Singapore. A 25% tariff will be imposed on South Korea. A 26% tariff will be imposed on India. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Saudi Arabia, and a 10% tariff will be imposed on New Zealand. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Australia. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Türkiye. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Ukraine.

Policy

▌Chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee: Trump family's crypto business activities make regulation "more complicated"

French Hill, chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, made a rare criticism of President Trump and his family's cryptocurrency business activities on Monday, saying that these actions have made the work of formulating laws for the emerging digital asset industry "more complicated." Hill specifically pointed out the meme coin and stablecoin projects launched by Trump, saying that they have a negative impact on the work of lawmakers. Hill: "These projects make our work more complicated."

Hill said on Monday that the House Financial Services Committee will review the draft of the Stablecoin Act on Wednesday and will soon discuss the new version of the Market Structure Act. In the Senate, the GENIUS Act, which received bipartisan support with a vote of 18 to 6, has been submitted to the full house for a vote. But Trump's business activities have provided Democrats with reasons to oppose. Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin as a "scam" and tried to link the project to the legislative process. She said that "Congress should amend the stablecoin bill under consideration to prevent Trump and Musk from controlling people's money."

▌U.S. Congressman: The stablecoin-related "STABLE Act" is close to the Senate's "GENIUS Act"

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett wrote, "Bryan Steil, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Digital Assets Subcommittee, told me that after Wednesday's deliberations, the "STABLE Act" will be well consistent with the Senate's "GENIUS Act", which was achieved after several rounds of draft revisions in the House and Senate and technical assistance from the SEC and CFTC.

Bryan Steil believes that there are 20% differences between the bill and the "GENIUS Act", which are only textual, not significant or substantive. At present, the biggest difference between the two is the requirements for international stablecoin issuers, state supervision of issuers, and some minor technical differences between the two texts. Steil 'At the end of the day, I think everyone recognizes that we want to work with our colleagues in the Senate to get this bill passed. ' ▌ European regulators: US deregulation of cryptocurrencies could increase risks for traditional finance The European Securities and Markets Authority said the United States' cryptocurrency-friendly stance could increase the level of risk in financial markets by deepening the connection between traditional finance (TradFi) and the digital asset economy. In a joint report, ESMA, the European Banking Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority pointed out that "volatility in crypto asset valuations, driven by expectations of a deregulatory policy agenda in the United States and increasing connectivity with traditional financial markets," is a key driver of financial markets.  

A spokesperson for the European Union's financial market regulator said in an interview: "This crypto-friendly stance has the potential to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies, including by institutional investors. This will in turn increase connectivity, and without relevant safeguards, there could be negative spillovers between cryptocurrencies and traditional markets."

▌The specific tariff rates of the United States on multiple countries are released

The specific tariff rates of the United States on multiple countries are released. US President Trump said that a 46% tariff will be imposed on Vietnam. A 10% tariff will be imposed on the United Kingdom. A 31% tariff will be imposed on Switzerland. A 49% tariff will be imposed on Cambodia. A 36% tariff will be imposed on Thailand. A 30% tariff will be imposed on South Africa. A 32% tariff will be imposed on Indonesia. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Brazil. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Singapore. A 25% tariff will be imposed on South Korea. A 26% tariff will be imposed on India. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Saudi Arabia and a 10% tariff will be imposed on New Zealand. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Australia. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Turkey. A 10% tariff will be imposed on Ukraine.

▌The US SEC has accepted the Solana ETF application submitted by Fidelity

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially accepted the Solana ETF application submitted by Fidelity.

▌Illinois will drop its pledge lawsuit against Coinbase

A spokesperson for Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias told CoinDesk that Illinois will soon drop its pledge lawsuit against Coinbase, joining three other US states that recently dropped their lawsuits against the exchange, but the spokesperson declined to comment when asked when the case might be dropped. Illinois is one of 10 US states that filed charges against Coinbase in 2023, alleging that it violated state securities laws through a pledge scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also accused Coinbase of violating federal securities laws with its collateral products, but dropped the case in February. Since the SEC dropped its case, state securities regulators in Kentucky, Vermont and South Carolina have also dropped their lawsuits against the exchange.

Blockchain Applications

▌0xbow draws on Vitalik's research results to launch a new blockchain privacy tool "Privacy Pool"

0xbow, a team of cryptographers including Ethereum senior developers Ameen Soleimani and Zak Cole, recently launched a new tool to enhance on-chain privacy. According to an announcement released by the X platform, the technology, called "Privacy Pools", was officially launched on the mainnet on Monday. Privacy Pools is a hybrid network system that uses zero-knowledge proofs and "Association Set Providers" to ensure that only "clean" funds can enter the pool. Its goal is to provide privacy protection for ordinary cryptocurrency users while maintaining regulatory compliance.  

0xbow has received institutional investment from Bankless, Number Group, Public Works and other institutions, and angel investors such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin have also participated. 0xbow's protocol originated from a paper co-authored by Buterin in 2023 with Chainalysis researcher Jacob Illum and scholars Matthias Nadler, Fabian Schar and others.

▌Uniswap DAO supports $113 million "treasury delegation" plan to increase governance participation

Uniswap DAO has voted to continue its "treasury delegation plan" and was approved in a preliminary governance vote that ended on Tuesday. The plan may distribute up to 18 million UNI tokens to 12 selected representatives, which is worth about $113.4 million at current prices. The proposal has been preliminarily approved, and subsequent details will be finalized and officially take effect after the on-chain vote.  

Uniswap’s first treasury delegation program, titled “Delegate UNI to Active but Underrepresented Delegates,” launched in December 2023 and is designed to support “active but underrepresented delegates” who vote on behalf of UNI token holders.  

If the new delegate funding program passes, approximately 12 selected delegates will receive 1 million UNI tokens as an incentive to participate in governance. An additional 1 million tokens will be awarded to “top” delegates, who will be determined based on “objective criteria,” including maintaining at least 80% voting participation over the past three months.  

Although the vote passed the “interim check,” the Uniswap community was not entirely unanimous on the plan. Only 60% of the voting power supported the plan, with nearly 30% choosing to abstain.

▌Wall Street giant DTCC launches blockchain collateral platform to accelerate financial tokenization

DTCC, the world's largest securities clearing agency, officially launched a blockchain-based tokenized collateral management platform, which uses smart contracts to automate operations and improve cross-market trading efficiency. The platform will debut at an industry event on April 23 and promote the formulation of global tokenized collateral standards. DTCC executives said that collateral liquidity is the "killer application" of blockchain and can support real-time trading around the clock. This move marks that traditional financial giants are accelerating their embrace of tokenization technology, and institutions such as BlackRock and Fidelity have also laid out this field.

Cryptocurrency

▌GoMining launches $100 million Bitcoin mining fund for institutional investors

Crypto mining company GoMining recently announced the launch of a $100 million Bitcoin mining fund "Alpha Blocks Fund" for institutional investors. The fund, which is custodianed by digital asset custody giant BitGo, will provide investors with mining income distribution through a compound computing power strategy and focus on a value-added model of reinvesting Bitcoin rewards.  

A GoMining spokesperson said: "Unlike passive equity investments, the Alpha Blocks Fund provides investors with the opportunity to mine Bitcoin directly through a fully managed, compound hash rate strategy. Bitcoin rewards will be reinvested to increase the fund's hash rate and improve miner efficiency." While GoMining's Bitcoin Fund is aimed at institutional investors, its flagship product is aimed at retail miners who may lack the funds to build heavy mining equipment.

▌Ethereum's weekly blob fee reached 3.18 ETH, the lowest weekly level since 2025

The "Blob fee", the main source of income for the Ethereum network from the Layer2 expansion chain, has fallen to its lowest weekly level so far this year. Etherscan pointed out in an article on the X platform that Ethereum earned only 3.18 ETH (about $6,000 at April 1 prices) through Blob fees in the week ending March 30. This figure is down 73% from the previous week and more than 95% from the peak of 84 ETH in the week of March 16.

▌Dogwifhat abandons plans to advertise in Las Vegas Sphere

Dogwifhat organizers have abandoned plans to advertise it in the Las Vegas Sphere. The project previously raised nearly $700,000 worth of cryptocurrency for the fundraising campaign, which lasted more than a year and finally failed. In late January this year, the official X account of the token hinted that "the dog in the hat" would appear on the shell of the sphere of the stadium in the first quarter of 2025. Late Monday night, organizer GamesMasterFlex (also known as Edward) announced on the X platform that he would terminate the Dogwifhat advertising plan and refund donors as early as Tuesday. The statement was forwarded by the official X account of the token.

▌Standard Chartered Bank: Bullish on AVAX, target price of $250 in 2029

Standard Chartered Bank's latest research report predicts that the price of Avalanche (AVAX) tokens is expected to reach $250 in 2029, an increase of more than 10 times from the current level of $20. The bank pointed out that the Etna upgrade completed by the end of 2024 will significantly reduce development costs, drive the number of developers to grow by 40%, and attract institutions such as BlackRock to introduce BUIDL, a tokenized fund worth $1.9 billion, to the network. Analyst Geoffrey Kendrick expects AVAX to rise year by year: $55 in 2025, $100 in 2026, and $150 in 2027 (historical high). The Avalanche Foundation simultaneously launched a $55 million incentive plan, focusing on supporting developers and AI projects. The report also reminds that AVAX's volatility is as high as twice that of Bitcoin, and investment should be cautious.

▌US lawmakers accuse Trump of wanting to replace the US dollar with personal stablecoins

On April 2, US Congressman Waters accused former President Trump of using political influence to promote the issuance of stablecoins by family businesses for profit, and warned that if Congress does not resolve its conflicts of interest, it should veto the relevant bills. She said Trump may try to get the government to fully adopt his private stablecoin to replace the US dollar payment system. Members of both parties are worried that Trump's involvement in the crypto industry poses moral risks and complicates legislation. The relevant stablecoin bill is awaiting a vote by the committee.

▌Galaxy Digital obtains derivatives trading license in the UK

Galaxy Digital has obtained a license to trade derivatives in the UK through its London office. Since 2020, companies carrying out certain crypto asset activities in the UK must comply with revised money laundering, terrorist financing and funds transfer regulations and register with the FCA. There are currently 51 companies on the crypto asset register, including Coinbase, Fidelity, Gemini and Kraken. Due to the FCA's strict approval process, only about 14% of applications can be approved.  

Previously reported, BlackRock has been approved by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to operate as a crypto asset company in the country.

▌Yesterday FBTC had a net outflow of US$23.3 million, and BITB had a net outflow of US$44.2 million

According to Farside Investors monitoring, yesterday Fidelity FBTC had a net outflow of US$23.3 million, Bitwise's BITB had a net outflow of US$44.2 million, VanEck's HODL had a net outflow of US$12.2 million, and WTree's BTCW had a net outflow of US$5.2 million.

▌BlackRock meets with the US SEC cryptocurrency working group to discuss physical redemption of crypto ETFs

According to a public agenda, BlackRock met with the US SEC cryptocurrency working group to discuss its existing cryptocurrency ETFs and the possibility of allowing physical redemption and creation in the future.

Important economic dynamics

▌The risk of stagflation in the United States is rising. The two giants of Wall Street have a huge disagreement on the path of the Federal Reserve's interest rate

Around 2 a.m. local time in Zurich, Mark Haefele, chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management, gave his judgment on the new round of large-scale tariff measures by US President Trump. He wrote in a report to clients: The Federal Reserve will be forced to cut interest rates significantly this year, perhaps as many as four times. About 12 hours later, Michael Gapen, chief US economist at Morgan Stanley, came to the opposite conclusion: the Fed will not cut interest rates now. His team withdrew its forecast of a possible rate cut in June and now expects the Fed to have to wait until next year to cut interest rates again. "The Fed will find it difficult to ignore rising inflationary pressures in the short term and will not be able to quickly ease monetary policy," Gapen and his team said in the report. This huge divergence highlights the particularity and complexity of the US economic predicament amid the escalating trade war.

▌Bridgewater Fund founder: Tariff regime could lead to increased global stagflation and significantly reshape Sino-US trade relations

Bridgewater Fund founder Ray Dalio issued a stern warning about the economic impact of US President Donald Trump's recently introduced tariff policy. Dalio said that the tariff regime could lead to increased global stagflation and significantly reshape Sino-US trade relations.

▌Spot gold stood at $3,160, continuing to hit a record high

Spot gold stood at $3,160/ounce in early Asian trading, continuing to hit a record high, up 0.85% on the day.

▌The US dollar index fell below the low when Trump announced the comprehensive tariffs, and is now at 103.24

The US dollar index DXY resumed its decline, falling below the low when Trump announced the comprehensive tariffs, and is now at 103.24. When the reciprocal tariffs were announced, it reached a high of more than 104.

▌The probability of the Fed cutting interest rates for the fourth time this year has risen to 50%

U.S. short-term interest rate futures rose, and traders believed that the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates for the fourth time this year was close to 50%, while the previous forecast was only three rate cuts.