The head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s digital assets unit, Trish Turner, is leaving her post for the private sector just as new tax policies are set to potentially bring in a wave of crypto work for the agency.

As she departs, it’s unclear who will be running the office that’s been leading the tax agency’s crypto work as a major shift in U.S. digital assets taxation is on the horizon. Turner’s exit comes after the IRS set several new rules and forms in motion to direct taxation requirements for individual crypto investors and their brokers. And the departure comes after two other top officials on crypto work, Seth Wilks and Raj Mukherjee, already left through the Trump administration’s budget-slashing campaign earlier this year.

The tax arm of the Treasury Department is poised to experience a massive influx of crypto-sector filings while it’s also weathering deep budget and staffing cuts in excess of 20,000 employees. IRS staffing — long a target of Republican lawmakers — has experienced a long-term decline from about 113,000 three decades ago to about 76,000 at a recent count.

One of the major crypto changes at the IRS was the new 1099-DA form that millions of investors will be receiving from their crypto brokers. About 3 million taxpayers have previously disclosed they had crypto transactions — a number that’s likely much higher in reality, setting up a potential glut of newly disclosed crypto taxpayers as the policies come online. The IRS didn’t respond to questions about Turner’s departure and who will take over.

“Digital assets have shifted from a niche issue to a core focus for global regulators, and I am proud to have helped lay the foundation for oversight in this fast-changing space,” Turner said in a statement to CoinDesk. “Now, I’m excited to be moving to the other side of the table to help taxpayers, businesses, and institutions understand their obligations and navigate those same rules with confidence.”

Among the private-sector roles she’s taking on, Turner will be tax director at the firm CryptoTaxGirl, a tax business that specializes in crypto transactions, and will also do work with the UK firm Asset Reality, she said.

Laura Walter, CTG’s founder, said in a statement that Turner’s arrival will help “ensure our clients receive the highest level of guidance, protection, and confidence in their filings.”

For years, crypto investors and businesses have struggled through U.S. tax uncertainties, with no third-party documentation to make their tax-filing requirements clear. So a large segment of digital assets holders have skipped their crypto tax calculations in past years, further muddying the water for the IRS.

Because the new 1099-DA forms will be flowing from crypto investors’ accounts at such firms as Coinbase and Kraken early next year, those recipients will be under increased pressure to work out and disclose their tax positions. But one IRS rule that sought to treat certain decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms as brokers was overturned by Congress in April, leaving treatment of that corner of the crypto sector on less certain ground.Read More: The Coming Crypto Tax Bomb

According to a Reuters market wrap, world stocks ended the week little‑changed as investors weighed a fresh U.S.–U.K. tariff deal and this weekend’s high‑stakes meeting between Washington and Beijing trade officials.

Stocks tread water on tariff suspense

MSCI’s all‑country equity index inched up just 0.11% to 846.80, trimming a 0.3% weekly loss. Europe’s STOXX 600 added 0.44%, while Germany’s DAX notched another record close.

On Wall Street, the Dow fell 0.29%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.07% and the Nasdaq eked out a fractional gain. Weekly tallies were negative across the board, mirroring broader caution highlighted by the Wall Street Journal as traders braced for new tariff headlines.

Dollar eases while Treasury yields hover

The U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.28% to 100.37, even as it preserved a weekly advance versus the yen, euro and Swiss franc. Benchmark 10‑year Treasury yields crept up to 4.386%, while the 2‑year note eased to 3.887%.

For additional context on how rising yields ripple through crypto markets, see CryptoSlate’s recent analysis on Treasury yield volatility.

Bitcoin and Ethereum extend gains

Risk appetite rotated toward digital assets, with Bitcoin climbing 0.58% to $103,224—its highest since January—marking a fourth‑straight daily advance. Ether rallied 6.7% to $2,493. Traders cited lingering uncertainty in traditional assets and optimism about eventual rate cuts.

For longer‑term perspectives, CryptoSlate’s feature on Bitcoin price projections through 2025 offers added insight.

Oil and gold catch a bid

• WTI crude settled at $61.02 (+1.85%)
• Brent closed at $63.91 (+1.7%)
• Spot gold firmed 0.67% to $3,327.53 per oz

Both commodities benefited from a softer dollar and hopes that any thaw in trade tensions could bolster demand.

Outlook

All eyes now turn to Saturday’s Geneva summit between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s Vice‑Premier. While analysts doubt a breakthrough, even incremental signs of progress could set the tone for global risk assets—and by extension, crypto—into next week’s U.S. CPI release and the mid‑May Federal Reserve minutes.

Stripe is preparing to test new Stablecoin Payments products for businesses outside the US, UK and the European Union.

The company’s CEO, Patrick Collison, confirmed on social media that Stripe has been planning the service for nearly a decade and is open to pilot users.

The announcement comes after Stripe received regulatory approval to acquire Bridge, a payment platform founded by former Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu. Bridge’s infrastructure provides an alternative to traditional systems such as Swift for cross-border transactions.

Stripe’s Stablecoin Pilot Project comes as companies ranging from crypto companies to Tradfi Bank are piled up into the industry and trying to grab a part of the red-hot sector. In fact, Citi said that stubcoin could be a “chat” moment of blockchain adoption, and that markets, which are primarily locked in the US dollar, could grow to as much as $3.7 trillion by 2030 with regulatory support.

Stripes have a long history with cryptography. It was the first major payment processor to support Bitcoin payments in 2014, but later removed the features more than BTC’s slow transaction speed and fees.

Read more: Stablecoins is a “Whatsapp Moment” for remittances, says A16z