Coindesk

By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)As the trade war between the U.S. and China escalates, with the latter raising tariffs on the former from 84% to 125% this morning, bitcoin (BTC) and the wider cryptocurrency market appear relatively unfazed.Bitcoin is down a mere 0.15% over the last 24 hours, and China’s recent escalation hasn’t stopped its ongoing recovery. The cryptocurrency is now trading above $82,000. The wider crypto market, measured by the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, is stable with similar performance.The same can’t be said about other assets. Gold rose to a new $3,227.5 record making Tether’s XAUT — a gold-backed cryptocurrency — the top-performing digital asset. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) dropped below 100 after...

The Dollar index (DXY), which measures the strength of the U.S. dollar against a basket of other currencies, has dropped below the 100 mark for the first time since April 2022. In January, research from CoinDesk noted that the DXY index was mirroring the pattern seen during President Trump’s first term — and it now appears to have done just that. The index has fallen over 10% from its recent high of 110 and is now at its lowest level in three years.Investor sentiment continues to shift away from U.S. assets, putting further downward pressure on the dollar, as trade tensions between the U.S. and China intensify. Just before press time, China announced an increase in tariffs on U.S. goods,...

Activity in PowerTrade's options market for alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) picked pace this week as heightened market volatility prompted traders to seek derivatives for hedging and speculative opportunities.Trading volume in XRP options has soared to over $5 million this week, with most activity concentrated in short-dated expirations, data shared by PowerTrade shows. Flows have been balanced between put options at strikes ranging from $1.80 to $1.98 and calls at strikes $1.80 to $1.93."This activity suggests traders are positioning for significant short-term price movement—either from regulatory developments or a breakout pattern—with a nearly even balance between bullish and bearish structures," Bernd Sischka, head of institutional sales at PowerTrade, told CoinDesk.The two-way flow is consistent with the volatile market action, characterized by XRP...

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) has fallen below 100 and gold has surged to new all-time highs as escalating tariffs have heightened global economic uncertainty. Consequently, asset prices have taken a hit—most notably in the tech sector and cryptocurrencies. Since reaching its all-time high of $109,000 in January, bitcoin (BTC) has declined approximately 26%. When compared to the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, bitcoin’s drawdown sits right in the middle, signaling its growing maturity as an asset. Tesla (TSLA) is currently the worst performer, down nearly 50% from its peak. NVIDIA (NVDA) follows with a 31% drop. Apple (AAPL), Bitcoin, Meta (META), Google (GOOG), and Amazon (AMZN) have all declined around 26%, while Microsoft (MSFT) stands out with a relatively modest...

World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project backed by U.S. President Donald Trump's family, has denied reports that it sold ether (ETH) earlier this week.It was reported on Wednesday that a wallet closely linked to World Liberty Financial, which is tagged by blockchain data firm Arkham as potentially belonging to the project, sold $8 million worth of ether after surpassing $125 million in unrealized losses.In a statement to CoinDesk, a World Liberty Financial spokesperson said: "The claims that World Liberty Financial has sold any of its holdings are wholly inaccurate. WLFI has not sold any positions as currently reported. Speculation to the contrary is false."Ether has since rebounded since that sale at $1,465, currently trading at $1,553 after the crypto markets...