Gold shines as all else fails.

TLDR

Crypto slides—BTC, ETH, SOL down—as $30.9B options expire and STABLE Act bans yield. S. Carolina, GameStop stack BTC, BlackRock holds $47M, China and Panama eye legalization. NASDAQ dips, gold hits ATH, Trump pushes tariffs, EU bites back—degens ride Ghibli, WAL, and Wizards higher.

Main Crypto News

Crypto’s taking a beating today, dragged down by macro tremors—Bitcoin’s slipped 2% to $85,000, Ethereum’s tanked 6% to $1,895, and Solana’s off 5% at $131. It’s a big day though—$16.5B in BTC options and $14.4B in ETH options expire, the kind of volume that could spark chaos or calm, depending on how the whales play it. BTC ETFs still pulled $89M, but ETH ETFs lost $4M—sentiment’s wobbly. The STABLE Act’s details are out, banning yield-bearing stablecoins—tough luck for DeFi yield chasers. No “top indicators” have flashed for BTC this cycle, and whale accumulation’s the highest since August 2024—big fish are stacking. South Carolina’s eyeing up to 10% of its treasury in BTC, while GameStop’s down 25% after issuing debt to buy BTC—bold move, rough landing.

BlackRock’s Global Allocation funds hold $47M in BTC, and whispers say China might unban crypto this year—Panama’s already legalizing it. ETH’s “Wallets 2.0” drop next month, promising slicker UX, and Bera’s raked $500M in seven days—altcoin juice is flowing. DeFi LPs are suddenly out-earning protocols, Worldcoin’s hooked Visa functionality, and SEI Foundation might snag 23andMe—wild pivot. SBF’s shipped to an Oklahoma prison, SEC’s dropped cases against Kraken, Consensys, and Cumberland, but Galaxy’s hit with a $200M fine for LUNA’s collapse. U.S. moved $8.5M in confiscated BTC, BPI France launched a €25M token fund, and 90%+ of tokenized Treasuries come from six players—crypto’s shifting gears.

Macro Trad-Fi

The macro scene’s feeling the heat—NASDAQ’s down 1% to 17,800, while gold’s up 1% to a fresh all-time high of $3,089, shining as stocks stumble. Auto tariffs are weighing on equities, and today’s PCE inflation drop could sway the Fed’s next call—everyone’s watching. Trump’s floating more tariffs on the EU and Canada, and the EU’s gearing up to slap U.S. services in retaliation—trade war’s heating up.

Companies are front-running tariffs, stockpiling now, while Xi’s charming global CEOs to keep China in the game—property loan cleanups are ramping up too. U.S. debt-to-GDP’s forecast at 107% by 2029, and 67% of Americans smell a recession this year—vibes are grim. Trump wants DOGE to claw back $2B in grants, and he’s targeting pharma and lumber with tariffs—supply chains brace. OpenAI’s capped its model after a Ghibli frenzy, a big earthquake rocked Thailand and Myanmar, and Putin’s calling the U.S. grab for Greenland “serious”—geopolitics is a circus.

Chad-Fi

Degen land’s got some spark amid the dip—Ghibli and WAL are the hot coins, with Taproot Wizards leading NFTs. Ghibli’s at $35M after a White House post sparked Kraken’s listing—memes meet power. WAL’s up 85% on launch, hitting $3B—fast cash for the fearless. Binance is listing Mubarak, Broccoli, Tutorial, and Banana—degen buffet’s open. NFTs might counter AI abuse like the Ghibli craze, and Doodles’ DreamNet protocol is live—new sandbox for creators. Taproot Wizards sold out at 0.31 BTC, NBA Top Shot’s nudging holders to OpenSea, and Gunzllia Games is set to drop the GUNZ network—left curve’s cooking, even if the big boys bleed.