Trump kills DeFi broker rule in major crypto win: Finance Redefined, April 4–11
In a significant win for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, US President Donald Trump overturned the Internal Revenue Service’s DeFi broker rule, which would have expanded existing reporting requirements to include DeFi platforms.
Increasing US crypto regulatory clarity will attract more tech giants to the space, requiring existing crypto projects to focus on more collaborative tokenomics to survive, according to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.
Trump signed a joint congressional resolution overturning a Biden administration-era rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the Internal Revenue Service.
Set to take effect in 2027, the IRS DeFi broker rule would have expanded the tax authority’s existing reporting requirements to include DeFi platforms, requiring them to disclose gross proceeds from crypto sales, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.
Trump formally killed the measure by signing off on the resolution on April 10, marking the first time a crypto bill has been signed into US law, Representative Mike Carey, who backed the bill, said in a statement.
“The DeFi Broker Rule needlessly hindered American innovation, infringed on the privacy of everyday Americans, and was set to overwhelm the IRS with an overflow of new filings that it doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle during tax season,” he said.
Crypto needs collaborative tokenomics against tech giants — Hoskinson
The next generation of cryptocurrency projects must embrace a more collaborative approach to compete with major centralized tech companies entering the Web3 space, according to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.
Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week 2025, Hoskinson said one of the main criticisms of the crypto and DeFi space is its “circular economy,” which often means that the rally of a specific cryptocurrency is bolstered by funds exiting another token, limiting the growth of the whole industry.
Hoskinsin said that to have a chance against the centralized technology giants joining the Web3 industry, cryptocurrency projects need more collaborative tokenomics and market structure.
Hoskinson on stage at Paris Blockchain Week. Source: Cointelegraph
“The problem right now, with the way we’ve done things in the cryptocurrency space, is the tokenomics and the market structure are intrinsically adversarial. It’s sum 0,” said Hoskinson. “Instead of picking a fight, what you have to do is you have to find tokenomics and market structure that allows you to be in a cooperative equilibrium.”
He argued that the current environment often sees one crypto project’s growth come at the expense of another rather than contributing to the sector’s overall health. He added that this is not sustainable in the face of trillion-dollar firms like Apple, Google and Microsoft, which may soon join the Web3 race amid clearer US regulations.
Bitcoin’s 24/7 liquidity: Double-edged sword during global market turmoil
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are often praised for offering around-the-clock trading access, but that constant availability may have contributed to a steep sell-off over the weekend following the latest US trade tariff announcement.
Unlike stocks and traditional financial instruments, Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies enable payments and trading opportunities 24/7 thanks to the accessibility of blockchain technology.
After a record-breaking $5 trillion was wiped from the S&P 500 over two days — the worst drop on record — Bitcoin remained above the $82,000 support level. But by Sunday, the asset had plummeted to under $75,000.
Sunday’s correction may have occurred due to Bitcoin being the only large tradable asset over the weekend, according to Lucas Outumuro, head of research at crypto intelligence platform IntoTheBlock.
“There was a bit of optimism last week that Bitcoin might be uncorrelating and fairing better than traditional stocks, but the [correction] did accelerate over the weekend,” Outumuro said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:
“There’s very little people can sell on a Sunday because most markets are closed. That also enables the correlation because people are panicking and Bitcoin is the largest asset they can sell over the weekend.”
Outumuro noted that Bitcoin’s weekend trading can also have upside effects, as prices often rally in calmer conditions.
Bybit recovers market share to 7% after $1.4 billion hack
Bybit’s market share rebounded to pre-hack levels following a $1.4 billion exploit in February, as the crypto exchange implemented tighter security and improved liquidity options for retail traders.
Despite the scale of the exploit, Bybit has steadily regained market share, according to an April 9 report by crypto analytics firm Block Scholes.
“Since this initial decline, Bybit has steadily regained market share as it works to repair sentiment and as volumes return to the exchange,” the report stated.
Block Scholes said Bybit’s proportional share rose from a post-hack low of 4% to about 7%, reflecting a strong and stable recovery in spot market activity and trading volumes.
Bybit’s spot volume market share as a proportion of the market share of the top 20 CEXs. Source: Block Scholes
The hack occurred amid a “broader trend of macro de-risking that began prior to the event,” which signaled that Bybit’s initial decline in trading volume was not solely due to the exploit.
Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments
Almost 400,000 creditors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX risk missing out on $2.5 billion in repayments after failing to begin the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.
About 392,000 FTX creditors have failed to complete or at least take the first steps of the mandatory Know Your Customer verification, according to an April 2 court filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
FTX users originally had until March 3 to begin the verification process to collect their claims.
“If a holder of a claim listed on Schedule 1 attached thereto did not commence the KYC submission process with respect to such claim on or prior to March 3, 2025, at 4:00 pm (ET) (the “KYC Commencing Deadline”), 2 such claim shall be disallowed and expunged in its entirety,” the filing states.
The KYC deadline has since been extended to June 1, giving users another chance to verify their identity and claim eligibility. Those who fail to meet the new deadline may have their claims permanently disqualified.
According to the court documents, claims under $50,000 may account for about $655 million in disallowed repayments, while claims over $50,000 could amount to $1.9 billion, bringing the total at-risk funds to more than $2.5 billion.
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.
The EOS (EOS) token fell over 23%, marking the week’s biggest decline in the top 100, followed by the Near Protocol (NEAR) token, down over 19% on the weekly chart.
Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
United States President Donald Trump has exempted an array of tech products including, smartphones, chips, computers, and select electronics from tariffs, giving the tech industry a much-needed respite from trade pressures.
According to the US Customs and Border Protection, storage cards, modems, diodes, semiconductors, and other electronics were also excluded from the ongoing trade tariffs.
“Large-cap technology companies will ultimately come out ahead when this is all said and done,” The Kobeissi letter wrote in an April 12 X post.
The tariff relief will take the pressure off of tech stocks, which were one of the biggest casualties of the trade war. Crypto markets are correlated with tech stocks and could also rally as risk appetite increases on positive trade war headlines.
Following news of the tariff exemptions, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) broke past $85,000 on April 12, a signal that crypto markets are already responding to the latest macroeconomic development.
Markets hinge on Trump’s every word during macroeconomic uncertainty
President Trump walked back the sweeping tariff policies on April 9 by initiating a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs and lowering tariff rates to 10% for countries that did not respond with counter-tariffs on US goods.
Bitcoin surged by 9% and the S&P 500 surged by over 10% on the same day that Trump issued the tariff pause.
Macroeconomic trader Raoul Pal said the tariff policies were a negotiation tool to establish a US-China trade deal and characterized the US administration’s trade rhetoric as “posturing.”
Bitcoin advocate Max Keiser argued that exempting select tech products from import tariffs would not reduce bond yields or further the Trump administration’s goal of lowering interest rates.
Yield on the 10-year US government bond spikes following sweeping trade policies from the Trump administration. Source: TradingView
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury Bond shot up to a local high of approximately 4.5% on April 11 as bond investors reacted to the macroeconomic uncertainty of a protracted trade war.
“The concession just given to China for tech exports won’t reverse the trend of rates going higher. Confidence in US bonds and the US Dollar has been eroding for years and won’t stop now,” Keiser wrote on April 12.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Bitcoin remains on track to surpass $1.8 million by 2035 despite recent price corrections and waning investor appetite caused by ongoing global trade tensions, according to Joe Burnett, director of market research at Unchained.
Speaking during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, Burnett said that Bitcoin is still in a long-term bullish cycle and could potentially rival or surpass gold’s $21 trillion market capitalization within the next decade.
Despite tariff uncertainty limiting risk appetite among investors, research analysts remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s (BTC) long-term prospects for the next decade.
“When I think about where Bitcoin will be in 10 years, there are two models I admire,” Burnett said. “One is the parallel model, which suggests that Bitcoin will be about $1.8 million in 2035.” “The other is Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin 24 model, which suggests Bitcoin will be $2.1 million by 2035.”
Burnett emphasized that both are “good base cases,” adding that Bitcoin’s trajectory could exceed these predictions depending on broader macroeconomic factors.
🎙Could Bitcoin really hit $10m by Q1 2035? Perhaps.
“The automobile industry is significantly more valuable than the horse and buggy industry,” Burnett said, adding that Bitcoin’s more advanced technological properties will make it surpass the $21 trillion market capitalization of gold. He added:
“The gold market is an estimated $21 trillion market. If Bitcoin just hit $21 trillion and had Bitcoin-gold parity, Bitcoin would be $1 million per coin today.”
Since US President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, global markets have been under pressure due to heightened trade war fears. Hours after taking office, Trump threatened to impose sweeping import tariffs aimed at reducing the country’s trade deficit, weighing on risk sentiment across both equities and crypto.
While Bitcoin’s role as a safe-haven asset may reemerge amid ongoing trade war concerns, physical gold and tokenized gold remain the current winners.
Top tokenized gold assets, trading volume. Source: CoinGecko, Cex.io
Tariff fears led tokenized gold trading volume to surge to a two-year high this week, topping $1 billion for the first time since the US banking crisis in 2023, Cointelegraph reported on April 10.
Bitcoin’s volatility is falling during both bear and bull markets, signaling its growing maturity as an asset class.
While another 80% drawdown during future bear markets is still possible, this will act as a robust acquisition period for the “strongest” holders, Burnett said, adding:
“The highs bring [Bitcoin] attention, and the deep, dark bear markets move coins into the hands of the strongest, most convicted holders, as fast as possible.”
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at Maelstrom, predicted Bitcoin could climb to $250,000 by the end of 2025 if the US Federal Reserve formally enters a quantitative easing cycle.
Despite the optimistic predictions, investors remain cautious and continue “rebalancing their portfolios” but are unlikely to take on significant positions in the next 90 days before markets gain more clarity on global tariff negotiations, Enmanuel Cardozo, market analyst at real-world asset tokenization platform Brickken, told Cointelegraph.
“With money flowing out of Bitcoin ETFs, investors are looking for safer spots to hold their cash right now, including strong currencies. Gold’s a traditional vehicle in these cases and a go-to when markets are uncertain,” he added.
Since the beginning of 2025, the price of gold has risen over 23%, outperforming Bitcoin, which has fallen by more than 10% year-to-date, TradingView data shows.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and crypto exchange Binance have asked a US federal judge for an additional two-month pause in their nearly two-year legal battle.
“Since the Court stayed this case, the Parties have been in productive discussions, including discussions concerning how the efforts of the crypto task force may impact the SEC’s claims,” both parties said in an April 11 joint status report with the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
SEC requests Binance to agree to the extension
According to the filing, the SEC requested and Binance agreed to another 60-day extension as the regulator continues to seek permission to “approve any resolution or changes to the scope of this litigation.”
“The Defendants agreed that continuing the stay is appropriate and in the interest of judicial economy,” the filing said.
The request comes not long after the SEC dropped a string of crypto-related lawsuits against crypto exchanges Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini, as well as Robinhood and Consenys.
At the end of the 60-day period, the SEC and Binance plan to submit another joint status report. This marks the second 60-day pause the SEC and Binance have requested this year, following a previous extension granted by the judge on Feb. 11.
The recently launched crypto task force was a key reason behind the request for the second extension. Source: CourtListener
Formed just a day after Gensler resigned on Jan. 21, the task force said it aims to “help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.”
The SEC’s legal battle with Binance has dragged on for almost two years. It began in June 2023 when the agency filed a lawsuit against Binance, its US platform, and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
The US regulator pressed 13 charges against Binance, including unregistered offers and sales of the BNB and Binance USD tokens, the Simple Earn and BNB Vault products, and its staking program.