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The White House has opposed certain elements of a sovereign wealth fund proposal developed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at President Trump’s request, according to a new report from CBS News.

The plan, reportedly delivered by early May, follows Trump’s February executive order directing the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop a framework for a US sovereign wealth fund within 90 days.

The order fueled speculation that the fund might be used to acquire Bitcoin on behalf of the US government.

However, at the time, Bessent and Lutnick said that the fund would indeed focus on warrants, equity, and other non-crypto investments. Still, David Sacks, Trump’s crypto czar, indicated that Bitcoin could be included in the fund’s portfolio.

That no longer appears to be the case after Trump signed a separate executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a digital asset stockpile on March 6, which suggests a standalone approach to crypto holdings.

There were also rumors that the fund might be financed through tariffs and other revenue sources despite ongoing budget deficits. But Lutnick later clarified that tariffs would not be used to support the sovereign wealth fund.

According to the CBS News report, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Treasury and Commerce Departments have developed plans in response to Trump’s directive, but no final decisions have been made.

The administration, Desai added, continues to view the initiative as part of its broader effort to safeguard national and economic security.

Details of the fund’s structure and purpose remain under discussion, with no formal announcement expected in the near term.

Sources say Trump has not yet decided how the fund’s proceeds would be used, though he has previously floated the idea of it taking a stake in TikTok, which faces a potential US ban unless ByteDance divests.

Regarding the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the Digital Asset Stockpile, Bessent and Lutnick are also tasked with outlining operational guidelines, custody frameworks, and acquisition strategies. These plans are expected to remain separate from the sovereign wealth fund initiative and are designed to be budget-neutral.

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The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% as officials continued to assess inflation risks and growing uncertainty sparked by Trump’s trade agenda.

The central bank’s decision was in line with market expectations. According to data from the CME FedWatch tool, markets had priced in a nearly 98% probability that rates would remain unchanged at the Fed’s May meeting.

This marks the third consecutive pause in rate cuts since January. The central bank had previously lowered rates three times in late 2024 in response to softening employment data and easing inflation.

The latest policy stance comes on the heels of cooling price pressures and continued labor market strength. In March, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.1% on a monthly basis, while annual inflation eased to 2.4%, down from 2.8% in February.

Meanwhile, April saw solid job gains, reinforcing the resilience of the economy despite uncertainty about Trump’s tariffs.

The combination of moderate inflation and robust employment supported the Fed’s choice to hold rates steady.

The Fed’s policy statement said that recent indicators suggest economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace, with labor market conditions remaining strong and the unemployment rate stabilizing at low levels. However, it noted that inflation remains somewhat elevated and uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further.

The Committee said the risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen and emphasized that future decisions will depend on incoming data and the evolving balance of risks. It also reaffirmed its commitment to reducing its balance sheet and to achieving its dual mandate of maximum employment and 2% inflation.

President Trump has persistently pressured the Fed to lower interest rates, but recent strong employment data has decreased the chances of a rate cut in June.

The market has shifted its expectation of rate cuts, with participants less confident about reductions going into the third quarter. Investors now anticipate the Fed will begin cutting rates in July, with two to three additional reductions projected by year-end.

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Binance Coin (BNB) could surge to $2,775 by the end of 2028, which represents more than a fourfold increase from its current price of around $600, according to a Standard Chartered research report released today.

The native token of Binance’s BNB Chain has mirrored the performance of Bitcoin and Ethereum combined since May 2021, both in terms of returns and volatility, notes Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.

Kendrick says BNB’s value is still anchored to Binance’s dominance. As long as the exchange stays on top, the analyst doesn’t expect much change in BNB’s fundamentals. He also sees potential for the token to act as a digital asset benchmark.

BNB Chain primarily focuses on decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and liquid staking, making it a “more concentrated and ‘old-fashioned’ smart contract platform than rivals such as Ethereum and Avalanche,” according to Kendrick.

BNB showed resilience during recent market selloffs

BNB maintained a strong position in April despite a broader market downturn that sent many altcoins tumbling.

The asset, currently ranked as the fifth-largest crypto by market cap, is trading less than 25% below its all-time high, but still outperforming other altcoins, some of which have dropped as much as 98%.

BNB Chain continues to lead in decentralized application (dApp) adoption, with 5,686 dApps supported, according to DappRadar. In comparison, Ethereum supports 4,988 dApps and Polygon 2,406.

In terms of DeFi activity, BNB Chain ranks fourth in total value locked (TVL), with approximately $5.8 billion, behind Ethereum, Solana, and Bitcoin, per DefiLlama.

On the institutional front, Wall Street is starting to pay attention to BNB. Major fund manager VanEck recently filed a registration statement with the SEC to launch the VanEck BNB ETF, which would be the first US-registered ETF designed to directly track the spot price of BNB.

Pending SEC and exchange approvals, the ETF may also offer staking features, enabling investors to earn BNB rewards on top of price exposure.

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Bitcoin showed flashes of independence from equities in April, renewing hopes that it’s evolving into a true macro hedge. However, VanEck’s recent data tell a different story.

In a monthly recap published on Monday, analysts at VanEck say that the flagship crypto asset still trades closely with traditional markets, as it quickly re-synced with major indices after a brief divergence.

Bitcoin briefly showed signs of decoupling from US equities during the week ending April 6, when former President Trump announced new tariff measures that rattled global markets. While equities and gold declined, Bitcoin climbed from $81,500 to over $84,500 at week’s end, hinting at a potential shift toward independent price action.

This divergence fueled hopes that Bitcoin might break away from traditional risk asset behavior and push toward new highs. However, the momentum did not last long, and the asset soon resumed trading in line with equity markets.

Offering more context in this area, VanEck—drawing on data from VanEck Research and Artemis XYZ—notes that Bitcoin has not meaningfully decoupled from the stock market.

Although the 30-day moving average correlation between BTC and the S&P 500 briefly dipped below 0.25 in early April, it quickly rebounded to around 0.55 by the end of the month.

Still, Bitcoin outperformed the major stock indices during the month. It gained 13%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1% and the S&P 500 posted only a slight increase.

Perhaps most notably, Bitcoin’s volatility declined by 4% in April, even as volatility in equity markets doubled amid rising geopolitical and trade tensions.

Structural tailwinds are building

According to VanEck, despite the fact that Bitcoin still behaves like a risk asset in the short term, structural tailwinds, including aggressive corporate BTC accumulation, may be setting the stage for long-term divergence.

Analysts suggest that as individuals, corporations, and central banks increasingly view Bitcoin as a sovereign, uncorrelated store-of-value, its long-term behavior could break free from that of traditional risk assets.

Russia and Venezuela, which have already begun embracing Bitcoin’s utility in international trade, are early examples of this transformation, according to analysts.

Corporate-level Bitcoin accumulation was active in April. To recap, Strategy added 25,400 BTC to its holdings, while Metaplanet and Semler Scientific also made significant purchases.

A key highlight of the month was the launch of a new venture, XXI (Twenty One), formed by Softbank, Tether, and Cantor Fitzgerald, with the goal of acquiring over $3 billion worth of Bitcoin.

This signals Bitcoin’s growing role on corporate balance sheets, as institutional exposure shifts from speculative bets to long-term strategic positioning.

Crypto stumbles as Bitcoin holds steady

Bitcoin dodged the tariff fallout, but altcoins were not lucky.

Layer 1 networks led the decline, with Ethereum, Solana, and Sui all posting heavy drawdowns from their January highs, falling between 66% and 68%, according to VanEck. The MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index (MVSCLE) dropped 5% in April and is now down 34% year-to-date.

The slump followed a global equity selloff triggered by new trade tariffs, compounded by unlock fatigue and heavy losses in speculative sectors like DeFi AI, DeSci, and AI Agents. Meme coin trading volume also collapsed by 93% between January and March.

Yet some chains managed to buck the trend, including Sui, Solana, and Stacks, according to VanEck.

Solana rose 16%, lifted by network upgrades and growing institutional treasury interest. Ethereum, meanwhile, slipped another 3%, underperforming its peers as fee erosion and layer 2 competition continued.

Solana’s April was quiet but constructive. The network released SIMD-0207, a compute upgrade that sets the stage for future throughput gains. The Solana Foundation also began phasing out underperforming validators reliant on delegation, aiming to prioritize those offering ecosystem value.

With roughly 18% of staked SOL managed through the Foundation, validator dynamics remain a key part of the chain’s governance. While some question meme coin sustainability, Solana’s unmatched throughput continued to dominate trading activity. In April, meme coins accounted for 95% of all DEX activity on the chain, excluding SOL and stablecoins.

Sui’s strength goes beyond its price. In April, its daily DEX volumes jumped 45%, placing it among the most active chains. It entered the top 10 in smart contract platform revenue and posted the highest stablecoin turnover ratio at 716%. Core developer Mysten Labs earned praise for product velocity and responsiveness in an increasingly crowded layer 1 sector.

Ethereum, by contrast, faces mounting pressure. Its share of layer 1 fee revenue slid to around 14%, down from 74% two years ago. Developers proposed major changes, including a shift to RISC-V architecture for faster zk-proofs, a 100x gas limit increase via EIP-9698, and parallel transaction execution under EIP-9580.

But Ethereum’s layer 2s continued to siphon users and activity. Flashbots’ deployment on Base and Optimism cut confirmation times to 200 milliseconds, while Arbitrum introduced gas payments in non-ETH tokens, further undermining ETH’s role. The core dilemma remains: Layer 2s rely on Ethereum’s security while eroding its fee base.

Meanwhile, Tron and Hyperliquid took the top spots in average daily blockchain revenue, earning more than both Solana and Ethereum.

Tron’s dominance in stablecoin transfers and Hyperliquid’s niche in perpetual trading helped them generate $1.7 million and $1.4 million daily, respectively, according to VanEck.

Speculative energy continued to fade. Meme coins, which once drove volumes across chains, saw trading activity and sentiment plunge. The MarketVector Meme Coin Index has fallen 48% year-to-date, though meme coins still made up 35% of Solana’s DEX activity in April.

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Trump has reinforced his pro-crypto stance, saying crypto assets have remained resilient during market downturns and are now widely embraced. The president has stated that the US must lead in digital asset innovation or risk falling behind countries like China.

“I want crypto,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press this week. The president was asked how he responds to people who express concern about the possibility of him profiting from the presidency.

“I think crypto is important because if we don’t do it, China is going to,” he said. “It’s new. It’s very popular. It’s very hot.” He added that during market downturns, crypto “stayed much stronger than other aspects of the market.”

Trump noted that crypto is too important to ignore, pointing to the sheer scale of adoption as a driving force behind his pro-crypto stance. He also accused the Biden administration of initially cracking down on crypto but later softening its stance for political gain.

Pressed on whether he stands to profit from the Official Trump token (TRUMP), the president said he is “not profiting from anything” and stressed that his backing of crypto began well before the presidential campaign.

“I haven’t even looked,” Trump said, adding that “if I own stock in something, and I do a good job, and the stock market goes up, I guess I’m profiting.”

Trump said he had contributed his entire presidential salary to the government. When asked whether he would contribute any crypto-related earnings, he responded that he had never considered it.

“Should I contribute all of my real estate that I’ve owned for many years if it goes up a little bit because I’m president and doing a good job? I don’t think so,” he said.

The president added that he plans to continue contributing his salary during his current term.

The TRUMP token, which once reached a market capitalization of nearly $15 billion, has experienced a steep decline following President Trump’s inauguration. At press time, its market cap stood at approximately $2 billion, per CoinMarketCap.

Last week, the token surged more than 70% after news broke that President Trump would host an exclusive dinner for the top TRUMP token holders. Scheduled for May 22 at Trump National Golf Club, the event will be limited to the top 220 wallet holders.

The announcement has sparked bipartisan concern.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have called for an ethics investigation, citing potential “pay to play” practices and the risk of personal enrichment through the sale of presidential access.

Even some of Trump’s allies have expressed unease. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a vocal supporter of Trump and a prominent Bitcoin advocate, voiced her discomfort.

“This is my president that we’re talking about, but I am willing to say that this gives me pause,” Lummis said, according to CNBC.

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President Trump on Friday renewed pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates, but the robust April employment data that followed has lowered the odds of a June rate cut, according to Nick Timiraos, often referred to as the “Fed’s mouthpiece” at the Wall Street Journal.

The next Fed policy meeting is scheduled for May 6–7, 2025. Economists broadly expect the central bank to keep the federal funds rate unchanged in its current range of 4.25% to 4.5% during this meeting.

This means that attention is shifting to the following meeting on June 18. According to Timiraos, only one more jobs report will be released before that meeting, leaving limited time for economic conditions to deteriorate enough to warrant a rate cut.

The Fed relies heavily on monthly labor data to gauge whether the economy is weakening. Since April’s report was stronger than expected, it reduces the urgency of any immediate monetary policy easing.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-farm payrolls rose by 177,000 in April, beating market expectations. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, continuing a narrow range that’s been in place since May 2024.

Job gains were most notable in sectors such as health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social assistance, while federal government employment declined.

Fed officials have emphasized that a decision to lower interest rates would likely require clear evidence of rising unemployment or weakening labor demand.

So far, the new data show few signs of declining hiring activity, giving the central bank justification to maintain its wait-and-see stance, despite uncertainties, including the potential economic effects of recently reimposed tariffs.

Following the release of the April jobs report, market expectations for a June rate cut fell from roughly 58% to 40%, according to day-to-day shifts tracked by the CME FedWatch tool. Investors now see about a 60% chance that the Fed will hold rates steady in June.

In his statement urging the Fed to act, Trump claimed there is “no inflation,” arguing that consumers are finally experiencing long-awaited price relief.

He pointed to declining gasoline prices, lower grocery and energy costs, falling mortgage rates, and strong employment figures as signs that the economy is stabilizing.

With inflation no longer a threat, Trump insisted, the Fed should act swiftly to cut interest rates to support continued economic growth.

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Coinbase announced Thursday that it will disable trading of Movement’s MOVE token on May 15, as controversy deepens around the high-profile layer 2 blockchain project.

The exchange said in a statement on X that it has already shifted MOVE order books to limit-only mode.

Coinbase did not explicitly cite a reason for the suspension. However, the company noted that the decision followed a routine listing standards review, which found that MOVE no longer met Coinbase’s requirements.

The token dropped 20% to $0.18 following the announcement—its lowest point since launch—according to Binance data. At press time, MOVE saw a modest rebound to $0.20.

The Movement blockchain, which launched its mainnet beta and native token last December, has faced growing scrutiny since March when Binance identified and froze the profits of a market maker allegedly liquidating large quantities of MOVE tokens.

In response, the Movement Network Foundation cut ties with the market maker and announced a $38 million USDT buyback program to establish the Movement Strategic Reserve.

Movement Labs and the Movement Network later confirmed a third-party investigation into the matter, after Binance removed the market maker for misconduct, Blockworks reported last month.

A new report from CoinDesk this week sheds more light on the controversy. The release revealed that Movement Labs was allegedly misled into signing a market-making agreement that gave a middleman, Rentech, control over 66 million MOVE tokens.

The deal was said to have enabled a $38 million selloff, triggering sharp price drops and accusations of manipulation.

Internal documents showed that Rentech acted on both sides of the deal—as an agent of the Movement Foundation and a subsidiary of Web3Port—raising conflict-of-interest concerns.

The fallout also exposed internal divisions, as Movement’s legal counsel initially objected to the deal but was overruled, according to CoinDesk. Movement is investigating whether co-founder Rushi Manche or advisors like Sam Thapaliya played a deeper role than originally disclosed.

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