Crypto

Riot Platforms (RIOT) reported strong operational performance in March 2025, highlighted by continued expansion into the artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) sector.

The company’s bitcoin (BTC) production last month rose to 533 BTC, the most since the reward halving almost a year ago. The figure represents a month-on-month increase of 13% and 25% more than a year before. Bitcoin holdings grew to 19,223 BTC.

Riot said it plans to “aggressively pursue” development of its Corsicana facility to capitalize on rising demand for compute infrastructure used in AI and HPC.

A recently completed feasibility study by industry consultant Altman Solon confirmed the significant potential of the site to support up to 600 megawatts of additional capacity for AI/HPC applications. Key advantages include 1.0 gigawatt of secured power, 400 MW of which is already operational, 265 acres of land with substantial development potential and close proximity to Dallas — a major hub ..

Crypto markets declined in March due to concerns over the ongoing trade war and monetary policy. Still, traders have not given up on Bitcoin, according to a new report from Binance.

Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, monetary policy, and fears over the trade war are stirring the markets, according to Binance. On April 4, Binance published a report on the state of the crypto market last month, delineating key trends.

The overall crypto market declined by 4.4% in March. The primary drivers of this volatility were tariff tensions, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening a trade war with most of the U.S.’s major trading partners. This was enough to drag down both crypto and stock prices, despite several positive developments.

Crypto market cap declined 4.4% in March | Source: Binance.com

For one, the Federal Reserve signalled a pause to its tightening policy. This was good news for risk assets like crypto, which saw prices drop due to reduced liquidity. At the same time, the Bitcoin strategi..

In 2008, an anonymous person or group of people known only as “Satoshi Nakamoto” released a now-seminal document, the Bitcoin White paper, introducing a peer-to-peer system for value of exchange without intermediaries.

With this revolutionary concept, the idea of a “digital asset” was born. Soon after, developers and entrepreneurs expanded on this concept, developing systems where value was exchanged not just for its own sake, but for services and digital products.

Over the past decade, innovators have built permissionless, decentralized networks for computing services, file storage, asset exchange, cellular coverage, Wi-Fi connectivity, mapping tools, lending services, and more. Because digital assets can be used for services that anyone can offer and anyone can access, the use-cases – both financial and non-financial – are potentially endless.

Despite this promise, these networks have courted criticism. The Biden-Harris Administration attempted to block this innovative advance thr..

A South Korean man in his 30s has been sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding a crypto investor of 2.93 billion won (approximately $2.04 million).

The Changwon District Court convicted the man, identified only as Person A, of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

He had posed as a wealthy investment expert and lured his victim, met through an online chatroom, by promising to guarantee the principal and provide annual returns of 30 to 50%, according to The Kookje Daily News.

Between December 2021 and August 2023, Person A received funds from the investor on 324 occasions. He claimed the money would be used for cryptocurrency investments, but in reality, he had no assets or employment and had already lost billions of won in previous crypto ventures.

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‘Interest’ payments
To gain the victim’s trust, Person A repaid a portion of the funds as “int..

FED Chairman Jerome Powell began his highly anticipated speech in the market, which was confused by Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.

Powell’s speech, which was delivered at a conference organized by the Association for the Advancement of Business Regulation and Writing in Arlington, Virginia, was critical to the economic outlook and interest rate cuts, but Powell began his speech by saying Trump’s tariffs were larger than expected and risked higher inflation and slower growth.

“The Fed will wait for more clarity before considering policy adjustments. The outlook is highly uncertain. Therefore, it is ‘too early’ to determine the appropriate policy path.

Tariffs are likely to increase inflation in coming quarters; more persistent effects are possible.

Potential tariffs may have a permanent inflationary effect.

The economic impact of the tariffs is likely to be greater than expected.

We must ensure that price increases do not lead to continued inflation.”

Bitcoin’s price action ..

SUI has surpassed TRON to become the third-largest blockchain by daily active addresses, growing to 2.46 million users. The cryptocurrency market as a whole continues to decline, and Sui (SUI) is among the tokens that have been hit the hardest. At the time of writing, SUI is trading at $2.17, reflecting a 9.73% drop in the last 24 hours. The token has seen a 19.97% decline over the past week.

While price indicators are showing a decline, network activity on the Sui blockchain paints a different picture. According to the latest blockchain activity data, Sui has risen to third place by active addresses, surpassing Tron. Daily active addresses on Sui have grown from 1.38 million to 2.46 million, representing an increase of 1.08 million users. The shift dropped Tron to fourth place after its activity dropped slightly to 2.45 million from 2.77 million.

Address data from IntoTheBlock confirms the decline in user activity on Tron. The number of new addresses dropped by 3.06%, indicating a s..

VeBetterDAO has announced a new rewards program for its Visa card aimed at encouraging the use of the VeBetterDao Visa Card while strengthening the VeChain ecosystem. Available now, the program offers users the opportunity to earn VET and VTHO rewards for their spending with the VeBetter Visa Card.

The initiative is part of VeBetterDAO’s strategy to normalize the use of cryptocurrency in everyday life and strengthen the connection between traditional financial systems and blockchain technology. To participate in the program, users must use their VeBetter Visa Card to make purchases and track their transactions in the VeBetter app. Rewards are calculated based on transaction volume and are paid out in VET and VTHO.

VeBetterDAO has allocated a rewards pool of 1 million VET and 25 million VTHO for the program. Rewards are paid at different levels, with higher spend resulting in higher reward rates. The program is open to all VeBetter Visa cardholders, regardless of their location or VET..

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Even before the tariffs, it was clear that risk assets — like bitcoin and crypto — were going out of style for a lot of investors.

And now, with the tariffs on the table, it wouldn’t be surprising if we continued to see folks move away from these riskier assets. Which leaves us with one big question: Does this mean we’re out of luck for an altcoin season?

A Kaiko Research and BRN report noted that altcoins just haven’t been able to break — or, in some cases, even come close to — their 2021-2022 peaks.

On the bright side, though, we are seeing altcoin dominance levels rise relative to bitcoin, but the distribution there has been uneven.

Source: Kaiko Research and BRN Report

“Altcoin trade volume has returned to pre-FTX levels, but it is more concentrated than ever. The top 10 altcoins account for 64% of the total volume, indicating that investors are focusing capital on a select group. Market depth mi..

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It’s been three weeks since Solana’s validators failed to pass SIMD-0228, a governance proposal that aimed to shift Solana’s issuance to a market-based mechanism and reduce inflation in the process. But while validators — who earn their keep partly from Solana inflation — voted the measure down, issuance still doesn’t feel like a settled question.

With the implementation of SIMD-0096, which got rid of Solana’s priority fee “burn,” the network also lost a disinflationary mechanism, and many ecosystem participants feel that the network is “overpaying” for economic security by way of inflation. While there’s no looming fix for this in the short term, the Solana Foundation’s former head of strategy has made a counterproposal.

Austin Federa’s “left curve 228” pitch says Solana should accelerate the network’s disinflation curve and “see if anything breaks.”

Solana’s inflation curve sets a current issuan..

Raydium’s dominance in Solana-based memecoin trading has increased to 83% over the past three months, even as overall memecoin market activity declined.

According to Memecoins in Q1 2025 report by CEX.io, Raydium has seen its memecoin trading volume surge to 83% despite the contraction in the overall memecoin market activity and market cap.

Memecoins were riding high on speculative momentum in January following high-profile political launches like the Trump (TRUMP) and Melania (MELANIA) tokens. At their peak, memecoins accounted for 11% of total crypto trading volume on Jan. 20, the CEX.io report noted. However, by April 1, the memecoin market cap had plummeted by 58% from its January high, with their share of trading volume falling to just 4%.

Source: Memecoins in Q1 2025 report by CEX.io

Despite the decline in the overall memecoin market activity, Raydium’s share of memecoin trading volume has increased from 77% to 83% in the first quarter of 2025. This is the direct result of th..