Trump: There will be problems during the transition period, but ultimately it will be an incredible thing

On April 18th, according to Financefeeds, the prime brokerage platform Hidden Road, which is backed by Ripple, has obtained a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the United States. This took place after Ripple announced its acquisition of the company for $1.25 billion. The license was granted to Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, allowing it to offer full fixed-income prime brokerage services to institutional clients, encompassing regulatory clearance, financing, and trade execution.

April 18: The Swiss bank Sygnum declared that with the continuous improvement of the regulation of digital assets, altcoins may experience a revival in the second quarter of 2025. In its investment outlook for the second quarter of 2025, Sygnum mentioned that the regulatory environment for cryptocurrency use cases has "significantly enhanced", laying the groundwork for a strong rebound of the altcoin industry in the second quarter. Nevertheless, the company added that "all positive developments have not yet been reflected in prices yet". The report predicts that "protocols that successfully win the favor of users will perform well, and Bitcoin's dominance will decline". (Cointelegraph)

On April 18th, according to Glassnode data, whales that hold more than 10,000 bitcoins are still accumulating in a significant manner, demonstrating a strong trend of holding. Meanwhile, investors who hold a small amount of bitcoin (ranging from less than 1 BTC to 100 BTC) have decreased their selling. The group holding 10 to 100 bitcoins may potentially start to shift towards buying. This suggests that medium-sized holders may be changing their perspectives on the market.

On April 18th, the latest Matrix on Target weekly report indicated that since the launch of the Ethereum spot ETF in the US, Ethereum's dominance has decreased by nearly 50%. The report stated that in the past year, various meme coins have taken turns in the limelight only to quickly fade away, all showing a "rapid rise followed by a crash" pyramidal price structure. The analysis believes that Bitcoin may remain within the range of $80,000 to $90,000 in the short term, and the possibility of a significant increase in meme coins is low unless three liquidity catalysts occur: the Federal Reserve sends a dovish signal, stablecoin growth, or an increase in macro liquidity. The report also points out that unlike in past bear markets, Bitcoin's regulatory risk has significantly decreased, which explains why its current correction period performance is better than in the past.

On April 18th, considering President Trump's recent frequent and dangerous signals towards Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, with threats to fire him if interest rates are not lowered, Goldman Sachs analysts issued a warning. They stated that once the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the market will be faced with extreme volatility. Goldman Sachs anticipates that in an extremely unlikely tail risk scenario. If the market becomes worried about the Fed's subordination or changes in U.S. reserve policy risk, which leads to the continuous rise of central bank demand to 110 tons per month, the U.S. recession causing ETF holdings to rebound to epidemic levels and speculative positions reaching the tops of historical ranges, the gold price may approach $4500 per ounce by the end of 2025. (Wall Street News)

On April 18th, as per the official website, the reserve assets of Falcon Finance, a synthetic USD stablecoin protocol established by DWF Labs, have surpassed $130 million and currently stand at $133 million. Its stablecoin USDf currently has a combined supply of $126.44 million.