There's never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here's what you need to know this week

Crypto markets seesawed amid a flurry of headlines. Plans for a strategic crypto reserve and tariff announcements saw bitcoin swing higher and lower.

Plans for a strategic crypto reserve and tariff announcements saw bitcoin swing higher and lower.

The crypto industry reacts to Trump’s “Crypto Strategic Reserve” announcement. A closer look at what some experts are saying.

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet bought more BTC. And other key stats and figures from around the cryptoverse.

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MARKET BYTES

Crypto prices surge and fall following Trump’s crypto, tariff plans

After February saw bitcoin close out with its worst monthly performance since 2022, markets received a boost on Sunday.

President Trump announced plans for a strategic crypto reserve that would hold bitcoin, ether, Solana, XRP, and Cardano, sparking immediate price rallies. BTC rose from below $80,000 to more than $95,000.

However, as the Trump administration’s new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China went into effect on Tuesday, bitcoin returned nearly all of its gains.

ETH fell to its lowest level since November 2023, and Solana slid back to pre-election prices. By Wednesday morning, all three had regained some ground on hopes that the U.S. could reach a tariff compromise with Canada and Mexico.

What’s new today:

As of 7:30 AM CET, bitcoin was trading at $89,686, showing a 0.46% increase over the last 24 hours.

After a turbulent week, bitcoin is still set to post another weekly gain.

ETH was down 0.88%, trading at $2,017. SOL traded at $26.76, indicating a 0.47% decline.

One factor that analysts pointed to was uncertainty around how the crypto reserve would be funded and how it would function — questions that could potentially get some answers on Friday at the first meeting of the new White House Crypto Summit.

The SEC ruled that most memecoins aren’t securities

After years of the crypto industry seeking greater regulatory clarity from the U.S. government, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided an important piece of guidance on Thursday.

The agency’s Division of Corporation Finance stated in an email that memecoins like Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB), or Official Trump Fan Token are not securities.

A meme coin does not constitute any of the common financial instruments specifically enumerated in the definition of “security” because, among other things, it does not generate a yield or convey rights to future income, profits, or assets of a business.

Instead, they are “more akin to collectibles.”

The decision could offer additional insight for how U.S. exchanges list memecoins, while also providing clarity to consumers, said SEC commissioner Hester Peirce.

“It’s also useful for Congress, as Congress is thinking about what legislation should look like,” Peirce noted.

Crypto investment products saw record outflows

The biggest single-week decline of crypto investment products saw outflows totalling $2.9 billion last week. BTC ETFs made up $2.6 billion of that number, according to CoinShares’ latest report.

After 19 straight weeks of inflows, outflows have been increasing over the last three weeks to reach $3.8 billion.

According to CoinShares’ Head of Research, James Butterfill, major factors include fallout from the recent $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange, a more hawkish Federal Reserve, and traders selling for profit after the long period of inflows boosted prices.

However, State Street Capital predicts that crypto ETFs as a category will soon surpass precious metals, with ETFs for new tokens emerging and crypto ETFs becoming more popular with investment advisors.

“Such a move would install digital token ETFs as the third-largest asset class in the rapidly growing $15 trillion ETF industry,” notes the Financial Times, “behind only equities and bonds and ahead of real estate, alternative, and multi-asset funds.”

TAKES

How the crypto industry is reacting to Trump’s “Crypto Strategic Reserve” announcement

In a series of social posts on Sunday, President Trump announced that he was planning to create a “Crypto Strategic Reserve” for the U.S. government that would hold bitcoin, ether, Solana, XRP, and Cardano.

After the announcement, prices for a range of tokens spiked.

Immediately following the president’s statements on Sunday evening, there was a noticeable surge in prices. From lows of $79,000 for bitcoin and $1,500 for ether, the coins rallied to reach highs of $95,000 and