The idea of the U.S. government holding XRP as part of a national reserve might sound far-fetched—but it’s a conversation that’s actually gaining traction in parts of the finance and crypto world.
The concept gained traction earlier this year following a private meeting involving Ripple executives, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse. At the time, speculation soared, with some industry watchers estimating a 50% chance that XRP could be added to a federal reserve strategy. That probability has since dipped to around 22%, but the conversation remains active.
“If it’s just an investment allocation, that’s one thing,” McLaughlin said. “But a higher-level partnership between Ripple and the U.S. government, driven by real liquidity use cases—that’s where the value really lies.”
He added that while Bitcoin has already begun finding its place in institutional portfolios, expanding federal interest into other crypto assets like XRP has been met with mixed reactions.
“It looked like there was some momentum,” he added, “but internal disagreements may have stalled any serious effort. It’s unclear if the government simply paused to avoid controversy, or if the idea was abandoned altogether.”
McLaughlin said that regardless of current government hesitation, long-term adoption trends may eventually force a reconsideration.
“Over time, these technologies will prove themselves. If the U.S. misses the boat now, we could see a repeat of what happened with Bitcoin—ignored early, then reluctantly accepted.”
Some have floated creative ideas for how the government could accumulate XRP. One theory involves the U.S. Treasury redirecting penalties or fines related to Ripple’s ongoing legal proceedings into XRP holdings for a strategic reserve. According to McLaughlin, while plausible, a more compelling future would be XRP being used in the financial system’s underlying infrastructure, not just held passively.
“The real excitement comes if tier-one banks start using XRP for real-time settlement and financial plumbing,” he said. “That’s what would truly move the needle for the ecosystem.”
American crypto exchange platform Kraken has revealed its first Quarter (Q1) performance report as it recorded another big breakthrough start to the year. According to the update, the firm generated a total of $472 million in gross revenue, and its adjusted EBITDA is $187 million. As the firm noted, Kraken said it had a strong topline performance amid disciplined executions.
Kraken Q1 Highlights
According to the company’s update, Q1 revenue marked a 19% year-over-year increase. The crypto exchange said its performance comes despite the slowdown in trading activity after its breakout record in Q4, 2024.
Despite the growth quoted, revenue declined by 7% for the quarter. However, the overall crypto exchange trading volume jumped 29% year over year. Kraken also saw an increase in funded accounts by 26% year over year amid massive adoption.
The outpacing of the broader crypto market benchmarks complemented these performance metrics. As the American trading platform noted, this boosts its overall market share and deeper client engagement trends.
Over the past few months, the exchange has expanded into new markets to boost its overall presence. As reported, it secured restricted dealer registration in Canada to expand its North American reach.
Ambitious Crypto Exchange M&A Record
To further boost its market relevance, Kraken completed the acquisition of NinjaTrader, a cloud, multi-tech trading platform. As the bigger exchange noted in its financial update, NinjaTrader’s infrastructure and community align with its vision.
Through NinjaTrader, Kraken can now expand its reach to serve institutional clients in the mainstream TradFi market. Beyond NinjaTrader, the trading platform has robust activity, with platforms like PumpFun consistently liquidating their Solana stash through the trading platform.
The exchange also launched Kraken Pay, a new consumer app and staking product to offer users new value. Despite the visibility of core rivals like Coinbase and Binance, Kraken has maintained an impressive stance as a top market leader.
The Incoming Kraken IPO
For a few years now, the idea of a potential Kraken public listing through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been a possibility. Although details were not disclosed in the current financial report, the exchange is considered a forerunner among top crypto firms and is billed for public listing this year.
Kraken’s businesses and operations do not currently face regulatory hurdles. The platform’s staking lawsuit has been closed under the new US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) leadership.
With this, the platform remains on the radar amid growing clamor for a new crypto regulation landscape.
Cardano (ADA) price has gradually followed the ongoing Bitcoin (BTC) bullish sentiment, catalyzed by Gold’s meteoric growth. In the past seven days, ADA price gained over 10 percent to trade at about $0.645 on Tuesday, April 15, during the mid-London session.
Similarly, Cardano’s Futures Open Interest (OI) has experienced growth, whereby it increased by around 3.13 percent in the past 24 hours to hover about $632 million.
Cardano Whales Capitulate
According to on-chain data from Santiment, Cardano whales, with a balance of between 1 million and 10 million ADA coins, offloaded more than 100 million coins during the past weeks.
As a result, the specific ADA whale group now holds 5.65 billion coins, currently worth about $3.64 billion.
From a technical analysis perspective, ADA price, against the U.S. dollar, has been following a similar fractal pattern to the 2021 bull cycle, but with the exception of the tariff and COVID-19 extremities. As a result, the large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of about $29 billion and a 24-hour average trading volume of about $668 million, has potentially entered the final consolidation before kickstarting the much anticipated parabolic rally toward price discovery.
For the market reversal, ADA price could consolidate between 74 cents and 55 cents in the coming weeks. From a different perspective, ADA price could continue with bullish sentiment and surge toward $1.38 in the near future, all without further consolidation.
Market Picture
The Cardano network has gradually grown to a vibrant web3 ecosystem, with a total value locked (TVL) of about $298 million and a stablecoins market cap of $31 million. The mention of the Cardano network by the U.S. SEC as a strategic crypto asset likely to revolutionize government contracts, including the education system, has played a crucial role in the mainstream adoption of ADA.
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Cardano (ADA) price has gradually followed the ongoing Bitcoin (BTC) bullish sentiment, catalyzed by Gold’s meteoric growth. In the past seven days, ADA price gained over 10 percent to trade at about $0.645 on Tuesday, April 15, during the mid-London session. Similarly, Cardano’s Futures Open Interest (OI) has experienced growth, whereby it increased by around …
New SEC Chair:- There is so much happening in crypto and web3 as of now. The biggest gala of crypto leaders and champions is gathering at Token 2049 in Abu Dhabi.
Crypto market is turning bullish with BTC crossing $96,000 as of writing. XRP ETFs have been launched in Canada. Trade Fi and DeFi are integrating and innovating at an unprecedented pace.
Another such important happening is the sworn-in of new SEC Chair Paul Atlkins on April 21. Considered as the pro-crypto ally, he already has connections with the industry – holding around $6 million in crypto-related investments.
Atkins is serving out the remainder of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s term, which is set to expire on June 5, 2026.
From now, his over 1-year tenure as the chairman of the US’s top regulatory body – Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – will be pivotal for the crypto market and web3 industry.
Bitget CLO critically explains the impact of new SEC Chair on hottest trends of Web3, viz., Stablecoins, RWA Tokeniations, ETFs, regulatory clarity and expected legislations.
New SEC Chair to Led Path Towards Regulatory Clarity
Paul Atkins made his first public appearance as the new SEC Chair on April 25. In the first crypto roundtable, he sought for more clear crypto regulations for the web3 industry.
Bitget CLO Hon N. who has worked previously for Binance says, “Atkins is someone who has actively worked in the crypto industry. In the latest crypto roundtable, his message was regulatory clarity — and that’s what industry players really need.
Businesses are not asking for an open pass to do anything they want. Rather, we want clear guidance and no more confusion on what compliance looks like. Under Atkins’ leadership, we believe that the SEC will provide that clarity.
That clarity alone removes huge legal uncertainty and keeps innovation onshore.
He has called on the previous SEC administration for stifling innovation in the crypto industy from the last several years due to market and regulatory uncertainty.
During the roundtable speech, he has hinted changes to custody rules under the Exchange Act, Advisers Act, or Investment Company Act to accommodate crypto assets and blockchain technology. He is also working for a new crypto asset broker-dealer framework if needed.
As founder and CEO of Patomak Global Partners, new SEC Chair Atkins has advised numerous cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain startups on regulatory strategy and compliance.
Since 2017, he is also serving as the co-chair of the Token Alliance which is a leading industry advocacy group that works to shape sensible crypto regulation. However, after taking office, he has resigned from both of these roles.
New SEC Chair Stakes in Securitize | Official Filings
With the increasing interest in crypto, there is a notable surge in ETF filings. There are a growing number of pending ETF applications with the SEC.
Nasdaq filed a Form S-1 today to list and trade shares of the 21Shares Dogecoin ETF. Bitwise’s proposal for a spot XRP ETF has entered its initial 90-day review window.
VanEck has also formally submitted a registration for a spot Avalanche (AVAX) ETF. Bitget CLO Hon N. seems bullish action likely for these applications with the new SEC Chair.
So, the SEC currently has over 70 altcoin ETF applications pending approval. And they are continuously delaying the decisions. It tells me that the Commission is likely working on a new framework for approval, says Bitget CLO Hon. from his over 18 years of experience in the legal and business fields, Paul Atkins might empower staff to grant “conditional approvals” for pending altcoin funds. He can set straightforward guardrails — like capital requirements and liquidity tests — so issuers know exactly which box to check.
However, these are assumptions — and while they might materialize, the new SEC chair has a lot on his plate, and not every single decision will be immediate.
Global ETF net sales totaled roughly $314.5 billion in Q1 2025. This was driven largely by the Big Three promoters—iShares (+$109.6 billion), Vanguard (+$104.0 billion), and Invesco (+$20.4 billion).
In 2024, the SEC initiated 33 crypto-related enforcement actions against major crypto companies including Ripple, Kraken. It imposed $4.98 billion in penalties for fraud and unregistered offerings.
Whatever rules the regulatory body makes under the new SEC chair will ultimately set the course for the web3 industry.
Bitget CLO believes, “Ideally Atkins should push Congress and his staff to tackle three core areas first. Stablecoin legislation tops the list: defining covered, fully-backed dollar tokens as payment instruments will secure consumer trust and let banking regulators step in.
Also, the tokenization framework needs clear, safe harbors for digital shares, bonds, and funds — aligning Investment Company Act requirements with modern platforms.
On stablecoins, he could deploy a dedicated Safe Harbor Pilot, allowing issuers to operate under transparent reserve‐audit and redemption rules for, say, 12–18 months while the SEC collects real‐world data.
Third, the SEC must finalize custody rules and a “special purpose broker-dealer” structure so exchanges and wallets can hold assets without jumping through hoops.
On the rule side, guidance on DeFi lending and staking will help protocols design compliant products. The Commission should also revisit crowdfunding limits to allow more projects to raise capital through transparent disclosures.
Can the new SEC Chair Solve the Hottest Debate of Disgreement
Classifying crypto assets as ‘security vs. commodity’ debate has been the most pressing debate for the US crypto market in the past five years. It has become the root cause of almost every major lawsuit the industy has witnessed.
Bitget CLO believes the new SEC Chair can extinguish this long-burning fire.
Atkins is uniquely positioned to draw a clearer line between securities and commodities. The recent guidance from the Commission’s crypto task force already treats fully-backed dollar stablecoins as non-securities and carves out other niche segments from SEC’s jurisdiction.
Building on that, I think he’ll lean on the Howey test’s focus on “investment contracts,” ensuring only tokens sold with profit-expectation marketing face securities rules. He has promised to work closely with the CFTC, banking agencies, and Congress to prevent overlap and confusion.
Ultimately, Atkins’ approach should leave true payment and commodity tokens in the CFTC’s scope, while investment-style tokens land squarely under SEC authority.
Can SEC turn from an Aversary to Friend for Web3
The new SEC chair can chart a new course of regulatory history by pionerring pro-crypto legislations in the country. His over 1-year tenure leaves the web3 companies and leaders hoping for better prospects and favourable landscape.
Bitget CLO concludes, eyeing “Atkins’ future industry roundtables on tokenization and DeFi. We’ll finally get targeted rules instead of broad fears.
While he won’t let fraud go unchecked, his focus on cost-benefit analysis and legislative fixes means the SEC will likely act more like a partner than an adversary.
In the long term, I expect him to propose joint roundtables with the FCA and EU authorities and to support global bodies like the Financial Stability Board in drafting voluntary guidelines. That collaborative stance will nudge national regimes toward a more interoperable, globally coherent rulebook.
My last advice for him would be to establish clear pilot programs. Instead of decades-long rulemakings, he could set short-term Safe Harbor Pilots with defined metrics for stablecoins, tokenized securities, and ETFs.
