Uncategorized
Inauguration Edition: A New Reality

The election of Donald Trump promises a new era for digital assets characterized by greater regulatory certainty and a surge in market activity. The question now is whether this shift is sustainable, or a temporary reaction to the political climate.
According to CCData’s latest Exchange Review report, aggregated spot and derivatives volumes, the most common measure evaluated for market participation, recorded a new yearly high in 2024, greatly exceeding the previous record set in 2021 ($75 trillion vs $64 trillion). With the election driving market activity and speculation, November and December were both record-breaking months for volumes, with $10.51 trillion and $11.31 trillion in monthly volumes, respectively. For context, the 2024 average (the biggest year on record) was roughly $6.4 trillion.
You’re reading Crypto Long & Short, our weekly newsletter featuring insights, news and analysis for the professional investor. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Concurrently, stablecoins reached a total market cap of $210.1 billion, its highest ever point, on inauguration day, according to DeFiLlama. This reflects a YTD increase of 3.3% thus far, on the back of improved liquidity conditions across both centralized and decentralized exchanges, supporting the influx of fresh volumes seen in the last few months.
Assets “made in the USA” have been doing particularly well. These have been an outlier since the election, where a permissive regulatory environment, and the promise of more favourable conditions for US-based assets, have generated significant investor interest and speculation. Coins such as XRP, SOL, XLM and ALGO, which have a strong U.S.- affiliation, have seen outsized returns. Per CCData, the basket associated with these coins is up over 360%, outpacing the market by a sizeable margin. This marks an about-turn from the previous administration’s regulatory clampdown, which kept these under scrutiny for many years as they were ultimately deemed securities by the SEC.
Whether this unprecedented growth continues will depend heavily on the new Trump administration’s execution of its promises on a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, incentives for domestic bitcoin mining, and other issues. The broader market may also benefit as we enter into the expansionary phase of the bitcoin four-year historical cycle, which tends to see explosive growth in the final year.
It will be interesting to see whether this new administration will impact the market cycles to which the cryptocurrency sector has grown accustomed, or whether it will mark a significant departure from historical trends.
Uncategorized
Crypto Market Maker Wintermute Snags Bitcoin Credit Line From Cantor Fitzgerald

Wintermute, a digital assets-focused market maker and OTC desk, has attained a bitcoin(BTC)-backed credit line from Cantor Fitzgerald, following similar financing deals announced last month with Maple Finance and FalconX.
Cantor said the newly launched Bitcoin Financing Business is expected to provide up to $2 billion in financing during its initial rollout. The size of Wintermute’s deal with the investment bank was not disclosed.
The lending and borrowing of crypto was taking place on an industrial scale several years back, but many of the firms involved either incurred heavy losses or were forced into bankruptcy as contagion spread through the industry. But Cantor’s debut perhaps signals a new and more institution-friendly phase.
Wintermute is currently expanding its presence in the U.S., where a groundswell of movement is happening in crypto trading under Donald Trump’s pro-innovation administration.
Institutional demand for digital assets such as bitcoin, stablecoins, and select high beta altcoins continues to accelerate, driven by catalysts such as ETF developments and shifts in interest rate environments, said Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy.
“Given the capital intensive nature of our operations, especially OTC trading, which involves managing settlement windows and maintaining capital across multiple venues, the facility enhances our ability to hedge risks effectively across exchanges and maintain broad market coverage,” Gaevoy said in an email.
Read more: Wall Street Giant Cantor Debuts Bitcoin Lending Business With First Tranches to FalconX, Maple
Uncategorized
BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Snaps Four-Week Downtrend in Volumes

BlackRock’s spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on Nasdaq under the ticker IBIT rose 3.49% last week, snapping a four-week downtrend in trading volumes.
A total of 210.02 million shares changed hands in the week ended June 27, registering a 22.2% growth from the preceding week’s volume tally of 171.74 million shares, according to data source TradingView. That’s the first weekly growth since the third week of May.
The renewed upswing in volume comes amid continued demand for the ETF. Last week, IBIT registered a net inflow of $1.31 billion, following the preceding week’s tally of $1.23 billion. The largest publicly listed fund has amassed $3.74 billion in investor money this month, according to data source SoSoValue.
The 11 spot ETFs listed in the U.S. have collectively registered a net inflow of over $4 billion this month, marking the third consecutive monthly inflow.
The chart shows that IBIT has formed a bull flag, mimicking the bullish continuation pattern on the spot BTC price chart.
A breakout, if confirmed, would signal an extension of the bull run from early April lows near $42.98.
Uncategorized
Bhutan Bets on Binance Pay to Power Crypto-Backed Tourism Economy

Bhutan is going full tilt on crypto — not just to modernize its financial rails, but to attract high-value global travelers and build a digitally resilient economy.
At the Digital Bhutan panel, co-hosted by Binance, officials laid out a clear vision: bring crypto out of theory and into everyday life.
“Tourists complain they can’t use SWIFT or pay easily. Binance Pay fixes that,” said Damcho Rinzin, director of the department of tourism. Rinzin added that travelers are already using crypto to buy local goods — in one case, even groceries to cook their own meals.
Bhutan’s ambitions remain modest, just 300,000 visitors a year. But it wants them to stay longer and spend more — with Binance Pay’s 40 million plus user base as a lever. Binance CEO Richard Teng framed it as a shift from speculation to infrastructure.
“This is the first national crypto payments system,” Teng said. “The average crypto tourist spends $1,000 — nearly three times a regular tourist — and merchants receive instant settlements,” he added.
With over 1,000 merchants onboarded, and zero fees on Binance Pay compared to steep charges from other providers, Bhutan hopes to build a community-driven, tech-savvy ecosystem that aligns with its values. DK Bank, which played a pioneering role in Bhutan’s early bitcoin mining efforts, is now spearheading crypto adoption on the ground.
“Mobile and QR payments are already high,” said the bank’s CEO, Ugyen Tenzin said. “Crypto just fits,» he added.
«And this is just the start,» said Hobeng Lim, managing director of finance at Gelephu Mindfulness City. Gelephu Mindfulness City is a planned city in the country which merges technology, like blockchain, with culture, and sustainability.,
Lim added that they are many more blockchain-native projects in the pipeline, with digital assets formally recognized as a future growth engine.
“Crypto is not a side experiment, It’s a core industry,” Lim said.
Read more: Bhutan’s Crypto Reserve Could Pave Way for Economic Growth in Other Countries
-
Business9 месяцев ago
3 Ways to make your business presentation more relatable
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
10 Artists who retired from music and made a comeback
-
Fashion9 месяцев ago
According to Dior Couture, this taboo fashion accessory is back
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
\’Better Call Saul\’ has been renewed for a fourth season
-
Business9 месяцев ago
15 Habits that could be hurting your business relationships
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
Disney\’s live-action Aladdin finally finds its stars
-
Entertainment9 месяцев ago
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
-
Tech9 месяцев ago
5 Crowdfunded products that actually delivered on the hype