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Cyclical Gold

As of April 25, 2025, the 30-day Pearson correlation between Bitcoin and gold has climbed to 0.54, rebounding sharply from a -0.67 low in February when the two assets briefly decoupled—Bitcoin fell by 17% while gold rose 2%. This renewed alignment comes as U.S. tariffs under President Trump triggered broader macroeconomic uncertainty, reviving Bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative as both assets rallied in response. Historically, such correlation breaks are fleeting; in 17 of 18 past instances since 2020 where correlation dipped below -0.50, it rebounded swiftly—indicating the current recoupling is part of a well-established cyclical pattern.

Source: The Block

Bitcoin Mining Surpasses Musk’s Sustainability Threshold, but Tesla Still Silent

A new Cambridge University study reveals that 52.4% of Bitcoin mining now relies on sustainable energy sources, surpassing Elon Musk’s 50% benchmark for Tesla to potentially resume BTC payments. This marks a major shift from 2022, when only 37.6% of mining was deemed sustainable. The report, which surveyed 49 mining firms across 23 countries and covered nearly half of the global hashrate, also found natural gas (38.2%) has overtaken coal (8.9%) as the dominant energy source, with renewables at 42.6% and nuclear at 9.8%. Despite meeting Musk's publicly stated requirement, Tesla has yet to announce whether it will reinstate Bitcoin payments for its vehicles.

Bitcoin Leads April 22 Liquidation Spike as Shorts Get Squeezed

On April 22, 2025, Bitcoin saw its largest daily short liquidation of the year, with $297 million in shorts wiped out following a sharp 7% price jump from $87,400 to $93,400. This figure surpassed the previous 2025 high of $241 million set in March by 23%. While total crypto short liquidations for the day reached $450.8 million—primarily on Bybit (51%) and Binance (18%)—it wasn’t the year's highest overall, falling short of March’s $483.6 million. However, the April spike was notably more Bitcoin-centric, with BTC accounting for 66% of liquidations compared to just 50% in March, potentially suggesting altcoin markets had already been heavily cleared out earlier in the year.

Source: The Block

Worldcoin Surpasses Privacy Fears With U.S. Launch Amid Regulatory Tailwinds

Worldcoin, the crypto project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is rolling out in six U.S. cities—Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco—marking a key milestone in its mission to distinguish humans from bots using eyeball-scanning Orbs. Despite privacy concerns raised in other countries over biometric data, the project claims it does not store such data, using it solely to verify personhood and issue World IDs and WLD tokens. The Trump administration’s openness to crypto is helping accelerate the launch, which will also include a Visa card for digital asset spending and a pilot with Match Group’s Tinder in Japan to verify real users.

Regulation

Strategy Doubles Down on Bitcoin With Bold $84B "42/42 Plan" Despite $4.2B Q1 Loss

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) unveiled its aggressive new "42/42 Plan" — a bold extension of its previous $42B capital-raising initiative, now aiming to raise $84 billion by 2027 to further expand its bitcoin holdings. The updated plan includes an additional $21 billion each in equity and convertible notes on top of the remaining $15 billion from the original program. Despite a $4.2 billion Q1 loss, mostly from unrealized BTC depreciation, analysts remain bullish on MSTR due to its 553,555 BTC treasury and new FASB rules that let it mark crypto gains as income.

Source: X (Formerly Twitter)

Coinbase Backs Supreme Court Showdown Over IRS Crypto Surveillance

Coinbase has joined Elon Musk’s X and multiple states in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Harper v. O'Donnell, a case that could redefine digital privacy. At issue is the IRS’s use of John Doe summonses to monitor crypto users—without naming individuals—on platforms Kraken, and Circle. The brief challenges the decades-old third-party doctrine, arguing it gives the government sweeping power to surveil financial activity without a warrant. Coinbase compares this to a “financial ankle monitor,” highlighting the blockchain’s transparency and the risk of intrusive future tracking. A ruling could reshape Fourth Amendment protections in the digital age, potentially curbing the IRS’s ability to conduct broad, warrantless surveillance of crypto users. See similar: Crypto Industry Pushes SEC for Clarity on Staking Rules

Apple Loosens NFT and Crypto Rules for iOS Apps After Antitrust Ruling

Following a federal antitrust ruling, Apple has eased restrictions on iOS developers, allowing U.S. apps to direct users to external websites for NFT and digital asset purchases—marking a major win for the crypto industry. Developers can now include external links and buttons to view and buy NFTs, bypassing Apple’s long-standing 27% cut. The changes stem from Apple’s loss to Epic Games, with a judge finding Apple had willfully violated a 2021 injunction. While crypto mining, task-based rewards, and ICOs remain restricted, the ruling opens the door for greater experimentation with crypto-native mobile apps.

Phishing Scam Drives $364M in April Crypto Losses

Crypto users lost a staggering $364 million in April 2025 to scams, hacks, and exploits, with a single phishing attack accounting for $330 million of that total, according to CertiK. The attack—targeting an elderly U.S. victim—resulted in 3,520 BTC being laundered into Monero, fueling a 50% surge in XMR’s price. April's losses represent a 1,097% increase over March, underscoring the growing threat of social engineering scams. Despite some $18.2 million being recovered by whitehat hackers, CertiK warns that phishing remains one of the most damaging vectors in crypto today.

Other Domestic Regulation Updates

• Class Action Lawsuit Calls Nike’s Shutdown of RTFKT NFT Studio a ‘Soft Rug Pull’
• BlackRock files to offer tokenized shares of $150 billion fund
• JPMorgan's blockchain unit expands into MENA with 8 major bank deals
• Nasdaq-listed Fr8Tech plots $20 million TRUMP memecoin treasury
• Arizona Lawmakers Approve Complementary Bitcoin, Crypto Bills

Other International Regulation Updates

• Ethena brings its synthetic stablecoins to TON
• Crypto Lender Nexo Returns to U.S. Citing Crypto-Friendly Trump Policies
• Coinbase Introduces Bitcoin Yield Fund Seeking 4% to 8% Returns
• Ledger Live Integrates DeFi for Stablecoin Yields
• Sanctioned Russian Exchange Garantex Suspected of Rebrand as Grinex

Pain & Gain

Pain

• Suspicious bitcoin transaction sparks Monero price spike
• ZachXBT says $330 million bitcoin theft victim is an 'elderly' person in US

Gain

• Ethereum researcher proposes 100-fold gas limit boost to help scale the base layer
• Ethereum Set for UX Overhaul With New Interoperable Address Standards
• Arthur Hayes' $1 million bitcoin price prediction
• FIFA plans to launch EVM-compatible blockchain