A senior official from Russia’s Finance Ministry has called for the development of stablecoins linked to foreign currencies after wallets connected to Russian users and holding USDT were frozen last month.
The move comes as US-backed stablecoins dominate global liquidity and Washington moves closer to introducing new regulations for the sector.
Russia Might Enter the Stablecoin Market
The ongoing pro-regulatory shift is drawing in new projects targeting the US market. Russia, facing growing financial restrictions, sees a digital alternative as increasingly necessary.
A ruble-backed token could reduce the region’s reliance on USDT and USDC, which both track the US dollar. Such a shift would support Russia’s long-term effort to move away from dollar-based trade.
Elvira Nabiullina, head of Russia’s central bank, remains against using crypto for domestic payments. However, she confirmed that several Russian firms are testing international crypto transfers as part of a government-led trial.
Russia has explored stablecoin initiatives before. In 2023, its central bank reportedly discussed a gold-backed digital currency with Iran, intended for cross-border use and positioned as an alternative to the dollar.
The urgency of Russia’s stablecoin push increased after Tether blocked wallets on the Garantex exchange, freezing assets worth more than 2.5 billion rubles ($30 million). The incident occurred shortly after Garantex was hit with European Union sanctions.
Welcome to the US Morning Crypto News Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to see what analysts say about Bitcoin amid the showdown between BTC behemoth Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Jack Mallers’ investment firm, 21 Capital. With their Bitcoin models coming into question, is there a specific definition of what winning means in Bitcoin?
Strategy Grows Bitcoin Stockpile, Buys $1.42 Billion in BTC
Strategy announced that it recently purchased another 15,355 BTC worth approximately $1.42 billion at an average price of $92,737 last week.
The firm currently holds 553,555 BTC, valued at approximately $52.7 billion. The average buying price is $68,459, and the unrealized profit is $14.8 billion.
“By continuing to grow its Bitcoin holdings, the company maintains its status as a major force in the cryptocurrency market, drawing interest from investors and industry analysts. Strategy is the largest Bitcoin Treasury Company, an independent, publicly traded business intelligence company, and a Nasdaq 100 stock,” Phoenix reported.
A recent US Crypto News publication highlighted the advent of 21 Capital. The Bitcoin investment firm sprouted after Cantor Fitzgerald, SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex pooled $3 billion in capital.
Based on sentiment, this new venture could inadvertently challenge Strategy’s position at the helm of corporate Bitcoin ownership in a model sense. According to 21 Capital, Strategy size could make increasing its Bitcoin per share difficult, a metric investors tend to consider.
Amid chatter that 21 Capital could threaten the Michael Saylor-led firm, BitStrategy, a shareholder at Strategy, challenged the prospective market rival’s business model.
Tension Grows in Bitcoin Treasury Space
In a detailed post on X (Twitter), BitStrategy acknowledged the brewing tension in the Bitcoin treasury arena. However, it holds that Strategy is way ahead of the competition.
“Their company is in direct competition with ours, and they seek to exploit a perceived vulnerability in our structure, openly highlighting their strengths relative to ours to win investment,” BitStrategy challenged in a recent post.
Beyond BTC Yield, also reported in a recent US Crypto News publication, the firm initiated key performance indicators months ago- BTC Gain and BTC $ Gain.
Bitcoin Gain multiplies the BTC Yield by Strategy’s aggregate balance, reflecting the scale of the firm’s operations.
Bitcoin $ Gain takes this further, converting the BTC Gain into dollar terms, for added transparency.
This proactivity by Strategy suggests a commitment to defend its position as a leading Bitcoin-holding corporation amidst rising rivals.
“You can fake an impressive BTC Yield. You cannot fake an impressive BTC Gain,” BitStrategy chimed.
However, analyst KenjiKoshu argues that while Strategy may show substantial Bitcoin gains, smaller companies like 21 Capital could achieve higher Bitcoin per share.
“As someone who has done deep thinking about why MSTR is undervalued, it might be true BTC gain can still be substantial if not higher for MSTR. On a per-share basis, however, which would be what supports the stock; it will be hard to deny a smaller, similarly reputable company is going to make more Bitcoin per share when on the same strategy,” the analyst wrote.
This outlook aligns with sentiment from 21 Capital that Strategy’s large size impedes increasing its Bitcoin per share.
However, BitStrategy articulated that the point of BTC Gain and BTC $ Gain signals the importance of a whole-of-company view of performance relative to a per-share view.
Per the shareholder, there is no agreed-upon conventional valuation methodology for Bitcoin companies. This means any metric is somewhat arbitrary.
Investors increasingly turn to digital assets as a safe haven, with Bitcoin becoming a hedge against the US dollar’s volatility as crypto inflows surge to $3.4 billion.
The global M2 money supply has surged to an all-time high of $108.4 trillion, raising fresh questions about Bitcoin’s next move.
The milestone comes amid escalating economic uncertainty following former President Donald Trump’s new “Liberation Day” tariffs and China’s swift retaliatory measures, which together have roiled global markets.
What is M2 and Why Does It Matter for Bitcoin?
Despite the extreme volatility over the past two weeks, Bitcoin’s average value has remained almost unchanged.
Analysts claim that Bitcoin’s latest volatility reflects macroeconomic fears and fluctuating long/short ratios – but the largest cryptocurrency is nowhere near a bear market.
This is largely due to the historical correlation between rising M2 levels and significant Bitcoin rallies.
M2 is a broad measure of a country or region’s money supply. It includes physical cash, checking and savings deposits, and other liquid assets that can be quickly converted to cash.
Bitcoin and M2 Money Supply Chart In the Past Year. Source: BGeometrics
When M2 increases, it typically signals greater liquidity in the financial system. It simply means more money that often seeks returns in riskier assets such as equities, real estate, or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Past surges in the M2 money supply have preceded major Bitcoin rallies. Following the COVID-era stimulus programs in 2020-2021, the US M2 supply jumped by over 25%.
This correlated with Bitcoin’s rise from under $10,000 in mid-2020 to an all-time high of over $69,000 by November 2021. Analysts point to a similar pattern today, albeit with a lag.
“Market proponents say that Trump’s tariffs are primarily a negotiation strategy, and their effect on businesses and consumers will remain manageable. Adding to the uncertainty are the inflationary pressures that could challenge the US Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting outlook. Also, resolving the debt ceiling remains a pressing issue, as the Treasury currently relies upon ‘extraordinary measures’ to meet US financial obligations. The exact timeline for when these measures will be exhausted is unclear, but analysts anticipate they may run out after the first quarter,” said Maksym Sakharov, Co-Founder of WeFi Deobank.
Also, Bitcoin’s price often trails global M2 growth by roughly two months.
With M2 accelerating since late February and the current spike taking it to its highest level ever, market watchers suggest that Bitcoin could see a delayed but strong upside if liquidity continues to expand.
$BTC hodlers need to learn to love tariffs, maybe we finally broke the correlation with Nasdaq, and can move onto the purest form of a fiat liquidity smoke alarm. pic.twitter.com/BrmcNpOuGr
Still, with M2 surging and Bitcoin supply capped, the setup for a renewed bullish move remains in place. That is if historical patterns hold and markets regain confidence.
Leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) broke above the $95,000 psychological barrier on Thursday, driven by renewed confidence among long-term holders.
With key on-chain metrics pointing to a slowdown in exchange-bound inflows, the coin may soon reclaim the $100,000 price mark.
BTC Poised for Further Gains Amid Low Sell-Offs and Rising Demand
According to on-chain data from CryptoQuant, the number of unique wallet addresses sending BTC to exchanges has dropped to its lowest level since 2017. This currently sits at 19,282 addresses, falling by over 60% over the past month.
This metric, commonly interpreted as a measure of sell-side pressure, suggests that fewer investors are looking to offload their holdings, reinforcing the current bullish sentiment in the BTC market.
Historically, low exchange inflows like this have aligned with periods of strong price performance. Reduced selling activity tightens the coin’s supply on trading platforms, driving up BTC’s value.
Moreover, the spike in BTC’s Taker Buy Sell Ratio on leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance adds to this bullish narrative. In a new report, CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha noted, “the most recent data point shows a sharp increase to 1.142, the highest level in this range.”
This metric measures the ratio of buy orders executed against sell orders in the futures market. A taker buy-sell ratio below one indicates that more sell orders are being executed, suggesting a shift in market sentiment from bullish to bearish.
When this ratio is above one, there are more buy orders than sell orders. This indicates that more market participants are aggressively buying BTC rather than selling it, suggesting a demand-driven market.
The rising ratio on Binance is particularly significant, as it signals growing demand for the coin on the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. If this trend holds, BTC’s price could continue to climb.
Bitcoin Eyes $100,000 as Bull Power Gains Momentum
On the technical side, readings from BTC’s Elder-Ray Index confirm the strengthening demand for the coin. On the daily chart, the histogram bars of this indicator have expanded in size over the past few days, highlighting an increasing buildup of buying pressure in the market.
The Elder Ray Index measures the strength of buying and selling pressure in the market, using two key components: Bull Power and Bear Power. When the size of its bars increases and its value is positive, it indicates growing buying pressure. It suggests the market is in an uptrend with increasing strength behind the bullish movement.
If this continues, BTC could smash through the resistance at $98,983, reclaim the $100,000 price mark, and charge toward $101,070.
However, if profit-taking activity resumes, this bullish projection will be invalidated. In that scenario, BTC could resume its downward trend, break below $95,971, and trend to $91,851.
