What Happened in Crypto This Week? BTC Drop To $98K, USDT Exit Europe, XRP Shines

It was another roller-coaster week for the crypto market as the new AI player began to dominant the US market. With the Trump administration pushed pro-crypto policies and laid out some regulatory updates. The global crypto market cap fell 5% to $3.39 trillion, while the fear and greed index stayed neutral at 47.

Bitcoin Drop To $98K: DeepSeek

The week began with crash of crypto market pushing Bitcoin price below $98K and wiping out nearly $900 million in day. The drop was linked to the success of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI app that became the top free app on Apple’s App Store. It was built for under $10 million, much less than ChatGPT $157 billion valuation.

MicroStrategy Continue To Buy BTC

Despite the market drop MicroStrategy continue to add bitcoin into its portfolio. It recently bought 10,107 BTC for $1.1 billion at an $105,596 per bitcoin. As of now MicroStrategy holds 461,000 BTC, worth about $29.3 billion. 

Bank of Japan To Raise Interest by 1.5%

A survey of 45 experts shows 56% expect the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates to 0.75% by July. 18% think it will happen in September, while 9% predict June. Some believe rates could reach 1.5% in two years.

Ripple’s XRP Major Achivements

Ripple’s XRP saw $2.1M in weekly inflows, beating Bitcoin and Ethereum during market drop. Meanwhile CEO Brad Garlinghouse pushed for XRP to be part of national crypto reserves, upsetting Bitcoin supporters who want it Bitcoin-only.

However, Ondo Finance plans to offer tokenized treasuries on Ripple’s XRP Ledger. Ripple also added clawback features to the ledger, boosting liquidity for its stablecoin, RLUSD.

Stablecoin Cap Hits $200M: USDT Out From Europe

Stablecoins, the top traded crypto, surpassed a $200 million market cap. Meanwhile Tether, the leading stablecoin issuer, reported $13 billion in profit for 2024. Interestingly Kraken will delist USDT and four other stablecoins in Europe due to MiCA rules. Earlier, Coinbase and Crypto.com also announced plans to delist Tether in Europe.

SBF’s Parent Seek Presidential Pardon

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried parents seek a presidential pardon for him, inspired by Trump’s pardon of Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht.

Kiyosaki Predicts Bitcoin Dip

Financial expert Robert Kiyosaki warns that Bitcoin price may drop sharply due to Trump’s upcoming new tariffs policies. Alinging with the Kiyosaki prediction another  analyst Arthur Hayes also predicts a short-term fall, possibly to $70,000.

Top Weekly Gainers:

• Mantra (OM): +8.5%, now priced at $5.3.
• Jasmy Coin (JASMY): +7%, reaching $0.0290.
• Jito (JTO): +6.37%, trading at $3.07.

Top Weekly Losers:

• Pudge Penguins (PENGU): -42%, priced at $0.014.
• Virtual Protocol (Virtual): -35.6%, down to $1.61.
• Official Trump (TRUMP): -33%, now at $20.83.