26 May 2025, 03:11

Exploring How to Buy XRP with Credit or Debit Cards Following Ripple’s Legal Resolutions and Market Surge

XRP continues to capture the attention of investors following the conclusion of Ripple’s prolonged legal clash with the SEC, which has bolstered institutional demand. As the cryptocurrency market matures, understanding

26 May 2025, 02:23

Bitcoin Surges Above $109,600 as Trade Tensions Ease Following Trump’s Tariff Delay

Bitcoin has surged past $109,600, buoyed by President Trump’s decision to delay EU tariffs, signaling renewed optimism in the crypto market. This decision is pivotal as it alleviates some trade

26 May 2025, 00:56

Economic volatility is pushing people to buy more gold

Economic volatility has pushed more people to buy gold. Both big investors and regular savers are rushing to stockpile gold as a safe haven for troubled times. Marc Faber, a veteran investor known as “Dr. Doom,” has long made gold a key part of his own holdings and urged others to do the same. Faber often appears in video interviews, praising gold as a safe haven while warning of a possible economic collapse. He warns about a debt crisis, a sharp drop in asset prices, and surging inflation. “My sense is that a debt crisis is inevitable,” he said. According to Business Insider , Faber holds 25% of gold in his portfolio, and his clients follow his example, keeping a significant share of their wealth in the metal. There has been a steady move toward gold among his clients. But the rush to buy the metal has also spread to more ordinary investors. Many blame the economic uncertainty in 2025. Some of the fears voiced by Faber’s clients, from runaway inflation to even a full-scale war, may seem far-fetched. Yet analysts do not expect this wave of buying to fade soon. Global demand for gold bars rose to 257 metric tons in the first quarter of 2025, a 13% gain over the same period last year, according to the World Gold Council . Joe Cavatoni, a market strategist at the World Gold Council, said worries about the US dollar, weakness in the US economy, and the nation’s debt and deficit have helped drive demand higher. Interest in the search term “gold bars” on Google increased during significant market events, such as the announcement of tariffs on Canada and Mexico and Moody’s downgrade of US debt. Genesis Gold Group, a firm that often serves clients it calls “homesteaders” or “preppers,” says it has seen intense demand in recent quarters. Sales grew so fast that the company introduced a “prepper bar,” designed to be broken into smaller pieces for easier trade during a crisis. Jonathan Rose, the firm’s CEO, said sales of that bar jumped 20% in the first quarter of 2025, around the time President Donald Trump began laying out his tariff plans. More of Genesis’s customers are also asking to take their gold home. Rose estimates that about 70% of his clients now insist on holding physical gold, up from just 20% in past years. On the subreddit r/preppers, which has grown its membership by about 354% since 2020, by one count, users frequently ask whether to keep cash in the market or pile into gold. “It helps when a currency collapses,” one user wrote. “Cash is always king, until it collapses, then that’s where gold and silver step in.” Gold buyers to stay cautious until tariff impact on growth is clear The gold price has climbed about 25% in 2025, easily outpacing the S&P 500, which is down roughly 1% year-to-date. That rally has led some to wonder if the buying spree may have gone too far. Recently, Trump agreed to delay tariffs on Europe until 9 July. This pullback reduced some panic, resulting in a Gold dip of 0.3% to $3,346.89 on Monday from a Friday surge of 1.9%. However, experts warn that people are still uneasy about the U.S. fiscal outlook. Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone, noted that President Trump’s recent tax bill reignited worries over the US debt and deficit. But he said those fears may ease if lawmakers make changes to the bill to reassure bond investors. Moreover, Goldman Sachs cut its odds of a downturn this year from 45% to 35%, and Barclays dropped its mild-recession forecast altogether. Meanwhile, Michael Boutros, senior technical strategist at StoneX, said there is plenty of fearmongering in markets right now, though he expects gold demand to stay strong as long as people feel uneasy about the economy. Even after trade disputes get settled, Boutros believes gold buyers will remain cautious until they see how tariffs affect growth. “The rockier things get, the more this is going to find footing,” he said of gold’s momentum. Joe Cavatoni of the World Gold Council added that he sees solid price support and a continued upward path for gold through 2025. KEY Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast

26 May 2025, 00:54

XRP ETF approval chances soar to 83% despite SEC Roadblocks

Investor optimism surrounding an XRP Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is reaching new heights, with analysts now placing the probability of approval at 83% despite ongoing regulatory hurdles posed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That growth has come despite James Seyffart’s speculation that the SEC’s early decisions would be an action that’s out of the norm. Seyffart anticipates that October is when decisions would likely be made. In addition, the ETF community pointed out that such delays were typical in the review process. Following XRP ETF approval odds rising , asset managers, including Bitwise, CoinShares, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale, await what the SEC will do with their applications. XRP ETF approval surges to 83% amid growing institutional investors’ interest The prediction market platform Polymarket shows a strong expectation boost for an XRP spot ETF approval. Following this, Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, spoke about the subject in the latest episode of the company’s podcast, Crypto in One Minute . He called ETFs a way for institutional investors to enter the cryptocurrency market easily. Garlinghouse highlighted that earlier, Wall Street and other institutional investors had struggled to access the crypto markets directly. However, according to him, that has changed as ETFs enable them to access the market through regulated financial products in place of crypto exchanges or self-custody wallets. He also noted the rapid expansion of Bitcoin ETFs. Based on his argument, the Bitcoin ETF was the quickest to reach $1 billion in assets. He stated that it reached $10 billion faster than any other ETF and believes institutional interest will continue to drive additional product launches, including those pegged to XRP. Notably, despite the US SEC having postponed decisions on spot ETFs, the market experienced an important change late last week. Volatility Shares introduced the first-ever XRP futures ETF on the Nasdaq exchange, using the ticker XRPI. This came after the launch of an XRP futures product on CME Group’s platform on May 19. XRP futures now allow investors to trade contracts based on the expected future price of the asset in a regulated setting. While similar products have been available for Bitcoin and Ethereum for a long time, XRP just recently joined the list. Additionally, Tectrium launched its 2x Long Daily XRP ETF, which was leveraged to provide even more choices for those interested in trading XRP-related instruments. These new offerings demonstrate a rising interest in XRP from institutional traders, which is also seen in the increasing chances of XRP ETF approvals. James Seyffart anticipates that Litecoin has a higher likelihood of getting approved first On May 21, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart shared his speculations that the SEC was more likely to approve a Litecoin ETF before any other cryptocurrency funding applications under review. His speculation came after the SEC postponed its decision on Bitwise’s request to include staking in its Ether ETF and Grayscale’s application for an XRP ETF, which analysts had anticipated. Based on the SEC’s explanation for the delay, the commission announced on May 20 that it needed an extra 45 days to decide on Bitwise’s request to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised. The agency had to either make a decision or delay it further by May 22. Furthermore, the SEC postponed its decision on Grayscale’s XRP tracking ETF and Bitwise’s Solana tracking fund while it collected public comments and started proceedings for further analysis of these proposals to ensure they met regulatory requirements. James Seyffart mentioned on X that these delays were expected because the SEC usually takes the full time to respond to a 19b-4 filing. According to Seyffart, almost all of these filings have final due dates in October, and an early decision would be out of the norm. He added, “No matter how Crypto-friendly this SEC is. There’s no conspiracy here.” Seyffart also revealed that delays on other spot crypto ETF bids were expected, and the SEC was likely to delay deciding on Litecoin ETFs, too. However, despite all this, his stand that Litecoin had a higher likelihood of getting approved first compared to others still remains. KEY Difference Wire : the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage

26 May 2025, 00:37

Adam Back leads $2.2M raise for Swedish health firm’s Bitcoin buys

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has led a 21 million Swedish krona ($2.2 million) funding round in the Swedish health tech company H100 Group AB, which last week said it would start buying Bitcoin. H100 said on May 25 that the funds, secured through 0% interest convertible loans, will be used to purchase Bitcoin ( BTC ) in line with its Bitcoin-buying pivot announced on May 22. Back, a longtime Bitcoin cypherpunk, contributed around $1.4 million, while the remaining $800,000 came from investment firms Morten Klein, Alundo Invest AS, Race Venture Scandinavia AB and Crafoord Capital Partners. The raise would allow H100 to buy around 20.18 Bitcoin at current market prices, which would add to the 4.39 Bitcoin that it purchased on May 22 and bring its total stash to roughly 24.57 Bitcoin. Source: H100 H100 said the convertible loans bear no interest and will mature on June 15, 2028. The loan may be converted into shares at any time at a conversion rate of 1.3 Swedish krona (11 US cents) per share. If H100’s share price maintains a volume-weighted average price of more than 33% above the conversion price for a cumulative total of 60 trading days, H100 has the right to mandate a conversion of the loan into equity. A full conversion would result in the issuance of roughly 16,153,900 new shares, corresponding to a dilution of approximately 12%. H100 shares bounced on Bitcoin buy Shares in H100 jumped 37% on the firm’s May 22 announcement and rose another 5.33% the following day to 1.29 SEK (14 US cents), Bloomberg data shows. Related: Cardone Capital launches 10X Miami River Bitcoin Fund H100 sells health tools for individuals who don’t want to rely on the “reactive health system,” the company’s CEO, Sander Andersen, said in a May 22 X post. Andersen believes “the values of individual sovereignty highly present in the Bitcoin community aligns well with, and will appeal to, the customers and communities we are building the H100 platform for.” According to H100, the move makes it the first public company in Sweden to adopt a Bitcoin treasury policy and one of the first in Europe. The number of companies buying Bitcoin as a treasury asset is on the rise, with 112 public firms now holding the cryptocurrency , according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data. Ten of those corporate Bitcoin holding companies are based in Europe, making H100 one of the first in the region to adopt the trend. Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee

26 May 2025, 00:16

US and Japanese stocks surge as gold and dollar plunge after Trump agrees to postpone Europe tariffs

Stocks in both the United States and Japan climbed hard on Monday after President Donald Trump said he would delay the 50% tariffs he previously threatened on goods from the European Union. He made the announcement late Sunday, pushing the original June 1 deadline to July 9. Data from Bloomberg shows that this delay instantly lifted US equity-index futures, reversing some of the damage done Friday when Trump had first dropped the threat. S&P 500 futures jumped 0.9% and Nasdaq 100 futures went up about 1% after the announcement. That bounce followed a rough close to last week when those same contracts dropped sharply in response to Trump’s tariff warning. Before the extension, futures for Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong had already been trading lower in early Asia sessions, echoing the Friday mood on Wall Street. Trump threats drag gold down, lift the dollar Trump’s Friday move wasn’t just about the EU. He also said he’d slap a 25% tariff on smartphones if companies like Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. didn’t start producing inside the US. That aggressive talk didn’t go unnoticed. The dollar, which had just sunk to its lowest point since December 2023, climbed early Monday. At the same time, the yen and Swiss franc, which had surged on Friday’s uncertainty, both retreated. Gold didn’t hold up either. The metal had gained 1.9% on Friday from traders looking for safety, touching $3,357 per ounce, but by Monday, spot gold was down 0.3% at $3,346.89/oz. Analysts said that even though the delay lowered short-term panic, concerns are still high over the US fiscal position. Those fears got worse after Moody’s Ratings took away the US’s top-tier credit grade this month, citing Trump’s latest tax bill that passed the House of Representatives last week and is now with the Senate. Meanwhile, the Treasury market showed little movement Friday. Yields had shot up earlier in the week as traders tried to figure out how much damage Trump’s new tax breaks might do to the national debt. Treasuries were closed Monday for a US holiday, giving investors a brief pause ahead of more data. The next big report comes Friday when the Federal Reserve releases its preferred inflation metric, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (excluding food and energy). Economists are looking for a 0.1% rise for April. US Steel deal, Japan negotiations, and shipping worries Friday also brought a curveball: Trump announced a deal between United States Steel Corp. and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp.. The move stunned traders. Trump said the agreement would help keep US Steel in America, but gave no further details. Still, it was enough to send US Steel shares up 21.2%. Meanwhile, Nippon Steel’s ADRs rose 1.7%. Japanese stocks may stay volatile. After Trump’s comments, the yen weakened, which tends to support local exporters. But anxiety over Europe and Apple’s exposure remains. Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Lab, said Monday, “Japanese stocks are likely to start lower today due to concerns over tariffs on Europe and Apple, but the decline is expected to gradually narrow.” The Nikkei 225 futures touched 37,210 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, slightly higher than the last close of 37,160.47. Behind the scenes, Japan’s top trade officials are trying to close out negotiations before Trump sits down with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in June. Hirakawa also said, “Given that tariffs negotiations between Japan and the US are ongoing, it’s clear that compared to two months ago, the situation is moving toward a resolution. Stocks could turn positive.” Capital Economics thinks Trump might be bluffing. “At this stage, we are not inclined to change our working assumption that tariffs on the EU will ultimately settle around 10%, but this underlines that there are risks and that the road to an agreement could be rocky.” Back in Europe, there are signs that the ongoing trade drama is already starting to jam up major shipping ports. Some northern European hubs are facing rising congestion, which could push global shipping costs higher if the tariff threats continue into the summer. On the data front, Asia is set to release several numbers this week: Singapore’s industrial production, Hong Kong’s trade figures, and South Korea’s retail sales—all expected between now and Saturday. Traders are watching those closely as they gauge how the region is holding up under the weight of ongoing US policy moves. Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot