Crypto Reporter

Shalini Nagarajan

Crypto Reporter

Shalini Nagarajan

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Shalini is a crypto reporter who provides in-depth reports on daily developments and regulatory shifts in the cryptocurrency sector.

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September 2, 2025

The Trump family’s cryptocurrency token, World Liberty Financial, stumbled on its first day of trading, erasing early gains and showing the immediate losses faced by investors.

WLFI, the governance token of the decentralized finance platform launched last year, began trading above $0.30 on Monday before sliding to $0.24, according to CoinGecko. That represented a more than 15% drop from intraday peaks.

The decline left WLFI with a market capitalization just below $7b, ranking it as the 31st largest cryptocurrency in circulation. Several of the world’s biggest exchanges, including Binance, OKX and Bybit, listed the token at launch, drawing immediate attention from traders.

Early Investors Allowed To Sell Up To 20% Of Holdings

The launch followed a July vote by investors to make WLFI tradable. Until then, the tokens functioned only as governance instruments, giving holders the right to weigh in on code changes and business adjustments. Early investors are permitted to sell up to 20% of their holdings, the company said.

That first 20% unlock, estimated at 3b to 5b tokens sold at presale prices of $0.015 and $0.05, triggered a wave of selling. The pressure tempered excitement from the debut and weighed on prices despite strong speculative demand.

According to the project’s official blog, 24.6b tokens were made available at the time of launch.

The Trump Factor: Driving Investor Interest

Trading activity was robust. Spot volumes hit $2.25b while derivatives turnover surged to between $3b and $8b, reflecting heavy positioning across futures platforms. Pre-market trading on venues such as Hyperliquid and Binance Futures had already signalled turbulence, with WLFI changing hands between $0.30 and $0.56.

Since its inception last year, World Liberty Financial has reportedly generated around $500m for the Trump family. The platform also issues a stablecoin and has been marketed as a gateway for retail investors into decentralized finance.

For early backers, the main attraction was the Trump name. Many said they believed the token’s value would rise on the strength of that connection rather than its technical design. The tradable launch gave them the first real chance to test that assumption in open markets.

World Liberty’s debut drew political scrutiny as well. Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts have warned that the Trump family’s crypto ventures raise conflicts of interest, given the president’s influence over digital asset regulation.

Influencer Trades Add To Speculative Frenzy Around WLFI

Traders also followed the token’s celebrity exposure. Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported
that influencer Andrew Tate’s WLFI long was liquidated for a $67,500 loss Tuesday. Soon after, he re-entered the market with a new long. This move shows the highly speculative mood surrounding the token.

WLFI’s circulating supply at launch was limited to about 4% to 6.8% of the total, intensifying volatility. The combination of a constrained float, political ties and future unlocks has left market sentiment cautious despite heavy trading volumes.

The launch marked one of the most closely watched token debuts of the year. Its rocky first session showed the Trump brand’s drawing power and the risks of tying political capital to a speculative market.

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Despite being considered extremely expensive, the Ethereum blockchain has remained one of the top networks in the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies. However, the leading blockchain has undergone a major shift as its overall transaction fees plummeted significantly to levels not seen in years.

Total Transaction Fees At The Lowest Level In Years

While the crypto sector is shaken by volatility, Ethereum has taken a hit due to the recent developments regarding the network’s overall transaction fees. Over time, ETH’s gas fees have hindered users’ activity because of the high cost, making it difficult to use.

Recent reports from Crypto Miners, an affiliate of Binance, reveal that Ethereum network usage has slowed down, indicating subdued demand for block space. While the lower fees reflect diminishing demand, it also implies slowing momentum across the ETH ecosystem.

Crypto Miners stated that ETH’s transaction fees have dropped to their lowest level since 2020, marking a four-year low. This drop in transaction fees coincides with a decrease in on-chain activity and indications that ecosystem-wide congestion is abating. The development could impact user engagement, DeFi activity, and NFT transactions, especially validators relying on the blockchain.

Using data from IntoTheBlock, a market intelligence and on-chain platform, Crypto Miners highlighted that the fees decreased by around 60% in the first quarter of 2025, dropping to just $208 million by April 4. 

According to the platform, a notable factor in the sharp drop is the emergence of Layer-2 solutions, particularly Base, and the Dencun update, which massively lowered the cost of scaling layers. Presently, the Layer 2 pack is now being led by Base alone, which processes 80+ Transaction Per Second (TPS), cementing its position in the space.

During this period of weak network demand, Ethereum’s price has also plummeted drastically to previous support levels. As reported by Crypto Miners, the altcoin‘s price fell by about 45% in Q1 of 2025, marking its worst-ever first-quarter performance since 2022. 

The ETH/BTC pair further displays the weak performance, dropping to a 5-year low. However, large investors, often referred to as whales, are not deterred and have gathered ETH below the $1,800 level in a resounding show of support.

Next Major For ETH’s Price Pullback

As volatility intensifies, an on-chain analyst named MAC_D has identified crucial price levels for ETH. In the quick-take post on the CrytoQuant platform, the expert highlighted that Ethereum holders’ average cost basis (realized price) is positioned at $2,200. From this, it would appear that most ETH holders are currently losing money.

Meanwhile, the average cost basis of whales holding more than 100,000 ETH is $1,290, which is the next major support level for the altcoin. Should Ethereum drop below this level, MAC_D believes it might not fall below $870. During the Luna crisis in June 2022, this level held firm, forming a low for ETH and signaling a rebound.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

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Bitcoin is starting the week around $81,800, marking a 1.98% decrease over the past 24 hours and continuing a weeklong downtrend that has seen the asset fall over 7% from its March 25 local peak of $88,400.

The sustained decline has triggered roughly $220 million in liquidated crypto positions, extending Bitcoin’s streak of lower lows to a seventh consecutive day.

The pullback coincides with widespread losses across the broader digital asset market. The global crypto market capitalization has dropped to $2.65 trillion, a 1.77% decrease over the same 24-hour period, and daily trading volume has fallen by 1.4% to $57 billion.

Macroeconomic Stress and Tariff Uncertainty Erode Market Confidence

Mounting anxiety ahead of former President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” on April 2, during which he is expected to unveil sweeping “reciprocal tariffs,” has added pressure to crypto and traditional financial markets. The anticipation of aggressive trade measures has triggered a derisking trend across spot markets, reducing demand and increasing investor hesitation.

Multiple negative macroeconomic signals are contributing to the unease. Core PCE data released last week pointed to higher-than-expected inflation, while consumer confidence has declined to its lowest level in over a decade. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs raised its recession forecast from 20 percent to 35 percent, citing elevated geopolitical and economic risk.

Bitcoin’s decline has mirrored losses across equity markets, reinforcing its correlation with traditional risk assets. The S&P 500 has declined by over 6% this month, while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 9% and 4.7%, respectively.

Bitcoin has now declined 13% in the first quarter of 2025, the asset’s worst quarterly performance in two cycles. The correction comes as gold climbs to all-time highs, surpassing $3,087, indicating a complete decoupling of assets.

‘Liberation Day’ Set to Test Market Resilience

The upcoming tariff announcement will likely be a key inflection point for crypto and broader financial markets. Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” promises tariff hikes designed to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign goods, with targets including the European Union, South Korea, Brazil, and India, as CNBC reported.

Goldman Sachs projects these duties could raise inflation and unemployment while stalling economic growth. Their forecast includes a potential increase in tariff rates by 15 percentage points, though carveouts for certain products and countries could reduce the effective increase to 9 percentage points. According to Reuters, the immediate market impact will depend on the breadth and timeline of tariff implementation, particularly whether other nations respond in kind.

If retaliation occurs, it could initiate a feedback loop of escalating trade restrictions, likely increasing market volatility. Analysts view the coming days as critical for assessing resilient investor sentiment in the face of potential policy shocks and persistent macro headwinds.

Bitcoin Faces Technical and Sentiment-Driven Headwinds

Technical patterns for Bitcoin suggest further downside risk, with price action nearing a key support level. The asset is testing levels that, if broken, could accelerate the pace of liquidation and open the door for short-term bearish continuation.

Bitcoin has repeatedly failed to maintain the purple price channel, falling back into the green channel, the last historical channel before the potential bottom channel for the cycle at $73,000.

While some analysts anticipate that Bitcoin could benefit from long-term inflationary pressures triggered by tariffs, that narrative remains speculative and disconnected from the immediate sell-off. For now, traders appear more focused on capital preservation amid unclear macro signals and escalating geopolitical risk.

Crypto firm Bakkt’s share price has closed March 18 trading down over 27% after it disclosed that two of it biggest clients, the Bank of America and Webull, won’t renew commercial agreements. 

In a March 17 regulatory filing, Bakkt said it had received notice of Bank of America not renewing its commercial agreement when the deal expires on April 22. It also disclosed that the brokerage platform Webull had also decided not to renew its agreement when it ends on June 14. 

Bank of America represented 17% of Bakkt’s loyalty services revenue in the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2024, according to the filing. Webull represented 74% of the company’s crypto services revenue across the same period. 

Stocks in Bakkt (BKKT) tumbled on March 18 after the filing, and its share price closed the day down 27.28% at $9.33. BKKT saw a further decline of 2.25% to $9.12 after the bell, according to Google Finance. 

Overall, the stock is down over 96% from its all-time high of $1063, which it hit on Oct. 29, 2021. 

Bakkt has also postponed its previously announced earnings conference twice, with the latest rescheduling slating the call for March 19. 

Bakkt was founded in 2018 by the Intercontinental Exchange, which holds a 55% stake and also owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Related: Bakkt declares $780M full-year revenue in 2023 earnings report

At least one law firm, the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, announced a possible class action against Bakkt, alleging federal securities violations. The potential lawsuit claims that the terminated agreements with Bank of America and Webull, combined with the rescheduled earnings call, caused Bakkt’s stock price to fall, “thereby injuring investors.” 

Bakkt, Bank of America and Webull didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

In November last year, Bakkt’s share price jumped over 162% to $29.71 and continued to climb 16.4% to $34.59 after a report claimed Donald Trump’s media company was in advanced talks to acquire the firm. 

Before that, Bakkt’s parent company considered selling it or breaking the firm into smaller entities in June, according to a Bloomberg report. 

It also received a notification from the NYSE in March that it wasn’t in compliance with the stock exchange’s listing rules after its stock spent 30 days closing below $1 on average.

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]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bakkt-stock-tumbles-nearly-30-after-losing-bank-of-america-and-webull/feed/ 0 25959 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/futures-hold-steady-while-spot-bitcoin-trading-volume-tumbles/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/futures-hold-steady-while-spot-bitcoin-trading-volume-tumbles/#respond Tue, 11 Mar 2025 02:26:43 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/futures-hold-steady-while-spot-bitcoin-trading-volume-tumbles/ Bitcoin saw a drop in trading volume across both the spot and futures markets over the past five days. The decline, which followed a sharp drop in Bitcoin’s price after a week of extreme volatility, was likely driven by a combination of disappointing political developments, macroeconomic tensions, and weekend trading patterns.

Data from Checkonchain shows a stark contrast in the magnitude of the volume declines between spot and futures markets. Spot trading volume, representing the direct buying and selling of Bitcoin on centralized exchanges, fell from $12.07 billion on March 6 to $8.93 billion on March 10, a decline of just over 26%.

In contrast, futures trading volume dropped from $110.95 billion to $103.48 billion—a decrease of 6.73%. The spot market’s decline outpaced the derivatives market by 19.28 percentage points, showing greater sensitivity to market conditions.

This disparity shows the structural differences between the two markets. Spot trading is usually driven by retail investors seeking direct exposure, which is why the spot market reacts quickly and more aggressively to shifts in sentiment.

Meanwhile, Futures trading, involving leveraged positions and hedging, tends to maintain activity even during uncertainty, as traders adjust their positions to speculate on price movements regardless of direction. Between March 6 and March 10, the derivatives market showed much more resilience, while spot volumes bore the brunt of the downturn.

The weekend of March 8 was pivotal in driving the overall volume decline, with both markets seeing significant drops. Unlike traditional financial markets, crypto markets operate continuously, but weekends consistently exhibit lower trading activity due to multiple factors. Institutional traders, who account for a growing share of crypto volume, often scale back operations outside regular business hours, particularly over weekends when traditional markets are closed.

One of the largest derivatives exchanges, CME, operates during regular business hours, which means the large percentage of futures volume it accounts for during the weekday drops. Retail traders, too, tend to reduce activity due to personal schedules or a perception that major market-moving events are less likely to occur.

Additionally, the absence of overlapping trading sessions with equity and forex markets limits arbitrage opportunities, further dampening volumes. This natural weekend slowdown creates a baseline of reduced liquidity, making the market more susceptible to external shocks.

In this case, the usual weekend lull was amplified by specific events. On March 8, President Trump unveiled his much-anticipated strategic Bitcoin reserve plan. Many investors had anticipated a bold move — such as large-scale Bitcoin purchases by the U.S. government — to signal institutional adoption and drive prices higher.

Instead, the plan utilized seized Bitcoin and a “budget-neutral” acquisition strategy, offering no fresh demand. While many Bitcoin advocates celebrated the plan, some of the market seemed disappointed.

This disappointment triggered a cautious response, with traders adopting a wait-and-see approach rather than engaging actively. Concurrently, escalating US-China trade tensions added pressure. New tariffs on Chinese goods heightened fears of economic fallout, fostering a risk-off sentiment that spilled into the crypto market.

The market’s reaction was swift and clearly visible in price action. On March 9, Bitcoin’s price fell from $86,170 to $80,640, a 6.4% drop in 24 hours. This volatility likely deterred trading further as participants hesitated amid uncertainty.

Interestingly, derivatives volumes briefly spiked on March 8, rising from $110.78 billion on March 7 to $115.68 billion, suggesting some traders used futures to hedge or capitalize on the anticipated drop. However, by March 9, derivatives volumes fell to $106.66 billion, aligning with the broader trend of reduced activity.

Total sell volume also declined, from $6.10 billion on March 6 to $4.47 billion on March 10, a drop of 26.72%. This indicates the price decline was not fueled by aggressive selling but by a lack of buying interest. With traders stepping back, the absence of demand allowed prices to slide, even with relatively low sell pressure.

The crypto market’s sensitivity to news remains pronounced, as seen in the rapid response to Trump’s announcement and the trade tensions. This shows how different it is from traditional markets, where responses are often more measured.

The sharp drop in spot volumes also exposed liquidity risks. With trading activity thinning, price movements became exaggerated — evident in the 6.4% plunge on March 9 — posing challenges for market stability. Meanwhile, the smaller decline in derivatives volumes suggests traders relied on futures to navigate uncertainty, reflecting a growing sophistication in risk management.

The post Futures hold steady while spot Bitcoin trading volume tumbles appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin price started a fresh decline below the $95,000 support. BTC must stay above the $90,000 zone to avoid more losses in the near term.

• Bitcoin started a fresh decline from the $98,500 zone.
• The price is trading below $95,500 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average.
• There is a short-term triangle forming with resistance at $92,200 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair could start another decline if it fails to stay above the $90,000 zone.

Bitcoin Price Dips Further

Bitcoin price failed to stay above the $96,500 level and started a fresh decline. BTC declined heavily below the $95,000 and $94,200 support levels.

The price even dived below the $92,500 level. It tested the $90,800 zone. A low was formed at $90,888 and the price is now consolidating losses. It is back above the $91,500 level and now faces hurdles near the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $96,483 swing high to the $90,888 low.

Bitcoin price is now trading below $94,200 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. On the upside, immediate resistance is near the $92,200 level. There is also a short-term triangle forming with resistance at $92,200 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

The first key resistance is near the $93,200 level. The next key resistance could be $93,650 or the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $96,483 swing high to the $90,888 low.

A close above the $93,650 resistance might send the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $94,500 resistance level. Any more gains might send the price toward the $95,500 level or even $96,400.

Another Decline In BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $92,200 resistance zone, it could start a fresh decline. Immediate support on the downside is near the $9`,500 level. The first major support is near the $90,850 level.

The next support is now near the $90,000 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $88,500 support in the near term. The main support sits at $86,400.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $91,500, followed by $90,850.

Major Resistance Levels – $92,200 and $93,200.

XRP price pulled back on Monday, shedding some of the gains made in the previous trading sessions amid a dip in crypto prices. At the time of writing, XRP was trading 5.75% lower at $0.6230. The asset’s total market cap crashed by more than 5% over the last day to $33.7 billion, ranking it 5^th after Binance Coin. On the other hand, the total volume of the XRP token traded over the same period climbed 18% higher, suggesting either an increase in selling or buying pressure.

Fundamentals

XRP price plummeted on Monday, hitting an intraday low at the crucial support level of $0.600, leaving the XRP community in suspense about whether to panic or seize the opportunity. Data by CoinGlass has revealed that the recent downturn in the XRP price has resulted in a staggering $5.55 million in liquidations for long XRP positions. This constitutes 97.7% of both long and short liquidations over the past 12 hours.

The recent weakness in the crypto market outlook has been among the key factors in XRP’s decline. Data by Coinmarketcap shows that the global crypto market cap has decreased by 3.20% over the last day, while the total crypto market volume jumped by more than 45% over the same period. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which measures the crypto sentiment by market participants, has slightly declined from an extreme greed level of 83 to 80, suggesting that the risk appetite among investors is slowly declining.

All eyes remain fixated on the upcoming key inflation data and the US Federal Reserve’s last monetary policy meeting for the year. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are anticipating a 98.4% chance that the Fed will keep interest rates on hold at its meeting later this week. Beyond the Fed, interest rate decisions by the Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, and the European Central Bank are slated for this week, with all three banks likely to signal higher-for-longer interest rates.

XRP Price Analysis

The daily chart shows that the XRP price has been struggling to maintain its position above the critical support level of $0.600. The altcoin briefly dropped below the 50-day exponential moving average before moving slightly higher. XRP remains above the 100-day and 200-day simple moving averages. Its Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dipped below the signal line and the neutral zone, revealing an increase in selling pressure.

As such, the XRP price is likely to continue struggling to find direction in the ensuing sessions as bears eye the support of $0.600. A decline below this level might push the XRP price lower to the next support at $5,535. Conversely, we cannot rule out a breakout above the immediate resistance at $0.700 which will invalidate the bearish thesis.

XRP Price Chart