Hi. Ed here.

They’re calling it Orange Monday. 

Few expected that Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed crypto president, would trigger the worst selloff to hit Bitcoin and its ilk since May 2022. 

The crypto market has plunged 30% since his inauguration, which matches the drop three years ago when Terra melted down. 

The drop demonstrates  just how vulnerable cryptocurrencies are to the radical trade programme Trump unleashed last week.

It’s hard to recall a head of state single-handedly crashing global markets with one policy. 

Then again, Trump did telegraph quite clearly during the 2024 campaign that tariffs would be the centrepiece of his economic agenda. 

For all the regulatory relief Trump has provided to the crypto industry — ending Gary Gensler’s crackdown, starting a Bitcoin strategic reserve — his sweeping tariffs has eclipsed his administration’s policies for digital assets. 

Now crypto has been swept up in the maelstrom along with most other markets — the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which has lost more than a quarter of its value in the last 11 weeks, is in a bear market. 

The S&P 500 Index, the prime bellwether for US households, skidded into a bear market within minutes of its open on Monday. 

No surprise, Trump’s Wall Street supporters are aghast at the carnage and are imploring the administration to reverse course or at least hit the pause button. 

Even Elon Musk expressed hope for a “zero-tariff” situation between the US and the European Union. 

Yet crypto voices say something deeper is at work here. 

The Trump who promised to bring much desired regulatory clarity to the industry has given way to the president who pounces on opportunities to make easy money. 

When Trump rolled out his own memecoin back in January, that was a clear sign that he may not help an industry long synonymous with rugpulls mature into a mainstream asset class.

“Trump appeals to the worst sides of the crypto market,” said Gus van Rijckevorsel, the CEO of Ultra, a platform for gaming publishers, devs, and players.

“He has been perpetuating market immaturity by saturating it with tokens that hold no inherent utility, all in the name of a quick buck,” he told DL News.

“There needs to be an understanding in the markets that a real currency should provide: utility to buy goods and services, and the potential to offer profitability to generate a return.”

In other words, business, ideally done in a free market environment. 

On Monday, such a notion seems quaint as investors white knuckled a rollicking ride into the unknown.

— with reporting by Liam Kelly

ICYMI

• Why Ripple says UK banks don’t want to trade with it

  UK banks won’t trade with Ripple. The company laments that a perceived lack of regulatory clarity in Britain discourages the country’s banks from tapping into Ripple’s crypto offerings.

• BlackRock wins nod to become crypto asset firm in the UK

  BlackRock has just been approved by the UK’s top financial markets regulator as a crypto asset firm. That means that the investment giant can operate its new European Bitcoin exchange-traded product as a UK entity.

• Democrats pounce on Trump’s crypto ventures during marathon stablecoin hearing

  Democrats assailed one of President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures at a marathon Congressional hearing on Wednesday. They said the Republicans’ stablecoin bill would be a massive giveaway to the president.

Story of the Week

Tornado Cash’s ‘incredible victory’ in sanctions case thrown into doubt, crypto lawyers say

It was an “incredible win” for privacy, for software developers, and freedom of speech. Or was it?

The crypto industry celebrated when the US Treasury Department removed privacy protocol Tornado Cash from its list of sanctioned entities on March 21. But now crypto lawyers tell DL News that a careful analysis of the Treasury Department’s actions raises some vexing questions.

“They lost, but they don’t want to say, ‘Yes, we lost,‘” Nathan Postillion, general counsel at Hadron Labs, told DL News.

Comment of the Week

House Democrats lambasted their Republican counterparts for supporting a stablecoin bill even as President Trump’ and his family business prepares to issue its own dollar-backed token.

DL News is an independent news organisation that provides original, in-depth reporting on the largely misunderstood world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance. From original stories to investigations, our journalism is accurate, honest and responsible.

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