Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary program launched by Golden Finance, covering key news of the week, mining information, project dynamics, technological progress, and other industry updates. This article is part of the news weekly, providing an overview of major events in the blockchain industry this week.
Headline
▌Analysis: Trump's cryptocurrency assets account for approximately 37% of his total assets.
The National Democratic Defender Fund (SDDF) report states that cryptocurrencies could account for 37% of Donald Trump's wealth. Due to limited public information, the report can only speculate on potential income, including transaction fees from TRUMP and World Liberty Financial tokens (WLFI). The meme coin launched by Trump significantly increased his crypto assets, but due to price volatility and unclear holdings, precise wealth is difficult to determine.
▌CZ: Satoshi Nakamoto is an AI from the future.
Binance founder CZ posted on social media stating, "Satoshi Nakamoto is an AI from the future. I was just asked during a live interview in Turkey (still ongoing) who I think Satoshi might be. I always tweet while I'm in meetings."
▌Trump told Musk: You can stay as long as you want.
U.S. President Trump told Musk: "You can stay as long as you want." Trump said Musk had been a great help and had been treated unfairly, and Musk wanted to return to his automotive business. Previously, on April 23, Musk stated that the work of the U.S. Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) was important. In May, he will return to Tesla, significantly reducing the time allocated to the DOGE department. "As long as the president is willing, I will be in the DOGE department for a day or two each week."
▌Crypto industry leaders have written to the Trump administration, calling for an end to lawsuits against software developers.
Led by the DeFi Education Fund, over 70 crypto industry professionals have co-signed a letter to David Sacks, the White House AI and Crypto Affairs Director, urging the Trump administration to end the Justice Department's "over-enforcement" against open-source software developers like Roman Storm, a co-founder of Tornado Cash, to protect U.S. developers and realize the goal of making the U.S. the "global crypto capital."
▌CZ: Providing consulting for multiple countries to establish cryptocurrency reserves.
On April 30, CZ spoke on the TOKEN2049 stage in Dubai about the progress of global strategic reserves in cryptocurrency, providing consulting to multiple countries outside Europe on how to establish cryptocurrency reserves like the U.S. CZ also mentioned his reasons for investing in platform X, saying that his main interest is in free capital, and to have that, you need freedom of speech, which is fundamental.
Policy
▌BlackRock has applied to the SEC to apply blockchain technology to its Treasury Trust Fund.
According to Bloomberg, global asset management giant BlackRock has submitted an application to the SEC to create a blockchain-based stock class for its BLF Treasury Trust Fund, marked as DLT, which stands for Distributed Ledger Technology. DLT aims to utilize blockchain technology to record stock ownership or streamline certain fund operations in money market funds, investing in high-quality short-term U.S. Treasury securities. DLT shares will only be purchasable through BNY Mellon, which plans to use blockchain technology to maintain mirrored records of stock ownership for its clients.
▌Institutions including Solana propose to the SEC to bring U.S. stocks on-chain to promote financial innovation.
The Solana Policy Institute, Superstate Inc., Lowenstein Sandler LLP, and Orca Creative submitted a new framework to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) crypto special task force on Wednesday, aimed at bringing equity securities like stocks on-chain. This pilot project is called "Project Open," and the Solana Policy Institute stated, "Project Open is a reflection of the progress of financial innovation in the U.S.," enhancing the transparency of U.S. financial markets, enabling instant settlement, and lowering costs. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also pointed out: "Every stock, every bond, every fund—every asset—can be tokenized."
▌The SEC has terminated its investigation into PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD and will not take enforcement action.
PayPal disclosed in a filing submitted on Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has closed its investigation into its dollar-pegged stablecoin PYUSD and will not take enforcement action. PayPal stated that the SEC enforcement division had previously issued a subpoena in November 2023, requesting documents related to PYUSD, and notified that the investigation was concluded in February 2025.
▌Bloomberg ETF analysts: The SEC is expected to announce the final approval results for five crypto ETFs in October or later.
The SEC has postponed decisions on applications for five crypto-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including Franklin Templeton's spot Solana (SOL) and XRP ETFs and Grayscale's spot Hedera (HBAR) ETF. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart posted on platform X that this move was anticipated, as most projects have final deadlines in October 2025 or later, but he did not rule out further delays this week. According to the approval schedule, many of the postponed ETF products will still face final approval deadlines between the third and fourth quarters.
▌The Nigerian government has legally recognized Bitcoin as a security.
Nigerian President Tinubu signed the Investment and Securities Act 2025 last month, officially classifying Bitcoin and other digital assets as securities. This marks the first official acknowledgment of Bitcoin's legal status by Nigerian regulators. The new law will empower the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate virtual asset service providers (VASPs), digital asset operators (DAOPs), and digital asset exchanges (DAEs). The law will also crack down on Ponzi schemes, with violators facing fines of at least 20 million Naira (approximately $12,430) and up to 10 years in prison.
Blockchain Applications
▌The crypto project World has launched in the U.S., planning to introduce a Visa card and a Tinder pilot program.
The human verification crypto project World has launched in the U.S., allowing users to obtain WLD tokens by verifying their identity and establishing a World ID. The project will launch in six cities: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. Additionally, World plans to launch a Visa card, allowing users to make payments using WLD tokens and other digital assets. Moreover, World is collaborating with Match Group to launch a pilot among Tinder users in Japan, aiming to help users verify their real identities. World will also provide access to the prediction market Kalshi through its application.
▌Baanx has partnered with Visa to launch a USDC stablecoin payment card.
Baanx has partnered with Visa to launch a stablecoin payment card linked to self-custody wallets, initially supporting USDC issued by Circle. The card "allows holders to spend USDC directly from their crypto wallets," transferring the USDC balance to Baanx in real-time via smart contracts for payment in fiat. Baanx is also collaborating with Mastercard to develop a wallet card linked to MetaMask. Baanx stated: "We are empowering people to hold and spend dollar-pegged stablecoins in a self-custodied, real-time manner—this is the future of finance."
▌Trump Media Group plans to launch a utility token for Truth Social.
Trump Media & Technology Group stated in a letter to shareholders: "As part of our reward program, we are exploring the introduction of a utility token within the Truth digital wallet, which may initially be used to pay for Truth+ subscription fees and could eventually be applicable to other products and services in the Truth ecosystem." This January, the company launched the fintech brand Truth.Fi and previously filed for trademarks covering "downloadable computer software for use as a digital wallet" services.
▌European digital bank Bunq has launched cryptocurrency services, supported by Kraken's technology.
European digital bank Bunq announced on April 29 the launch of Bunq Crypto, allowing users to invest in over 300 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The service will initially launch in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and Belgium, supported by technology from Kraken. Bunq stated: "Our global users have long been looking for a simple, safe, and direct way to invest in digital assets." Bunq's research indicated that "about 65% of European consumers want to manage banking, savings, and cryptocurrency investments through a unified platform," with more than 50% of respondents wishing to access cryptocurrencies but finding existing platforms inadequate in terms of simplicity and security.
▌The Interchain Foundation strategically invested in Stride to launch the DEX Stride Swap.
According to official news, the Interchain Foundation announced an investment in the liquid staking protocol Stride to support the development of the decentralized trading platform Stride Swap based on IBC Eureka on the Cosmos Hub. This DEX will serve as the DeFi infrastructure for Cosmos, supporting instant cross-chain exchanges of ETH, SOL, USDT with Cosmos native assets like ATOM and USDC.
Cryptocurrency
▌Kraken's first quarter revenue reached $472 million, driven by volatility during Trump's early administration.
Kraken stated in a blog post that its revenue for the first quarter of 2025 was $472 million, a 19% year-on-year increase, primarily driven by market volatility in the first 100 days of Trump's second term. The exchange plans to go public in the first quarter of 2026. Adjusted EBITDA rose 17% year-on-year to $187.4 million, with trading volume up 29% year-on-year. Kraken said: "We have also outperformed broader industry benchmarks, indicating an expansion in market share and deeper customer engagement." Despite an overall market downturn, platform assets continued to grow during the quarter.
▌Blockchain Group plans to increase its Bitcoin holdings to 260,000 by 2033.
On May 2, according to Cointelegraph, European Bitcoin financial company Blockchain Group plans to increase its Bitcoin holdings to 260,000 (valued at $24 billion) by 2033.
▌The market value of USDT reached $149 billion, hitting a new high, surpassing Qualcomm and Charles Schwab.
Stablecoin issuer Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino released data on platform X showing that the market value of USDT reached $149 billion, setting a new historical high, surpassing technology giant Qualcomm and financial giant Charles Schwab to rise to 119th in global market value rankings. Notably, USDT's market value reached $146 billion on April 24 and $147 billion on April 25, indicating an increase of over $3 billion in approximately one week.
▌U.S. Senator Lummis: BTC is the only way for the U.S. to escape the $36 trillion debt vortex.
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis delivered a speech in Congress, stating that the U.S. has no time left and no traditional options; it must either default and face collapse into hyperinflation or use Bitcoin and technology to escape the predicament. (The Bitcoin Act) will be the only solution to the $36 trillion debt of the U.S., and related initiatives have already gained Trump's support. If (the Bitcoin Act) is enacted into law, the U.S. will purchase 200,000 Bitcoins annually over the next five years, creating a reserve of at least 1 million Bitcoins that could last over twenty years. According to previous estimates by VanEck, if the U.S. follows this roadmap, the Bitcoin reserve could offset up to $21 trillion of national debt by 2049.
▌Goldman Sachs: Will increase investment in digital assets and focus on tokenization business.
Mathew McDermott, Goldman Sachs' global head of digital assets, stated at TOKEN2049 that the firm will expand its digital asset trading activities, explore crypto lending, and heavily invest in tokenization. McDermott indicated that more and more Goldman Sachs clients are eager to engage more actively in digital asset trading, and the firm will focus on business implementation, hoping to obtain various regulatory approvals. Previously, Goldman was mainly active in secondary market trades like private equity but will now promote tokenization and collateral liquidity.
Important Economic Dynamics
▌U.S. core PCE hits new low since June last year.
In March, the U.S. core PCE price index recorded a year-on-year rate of 2.6%, the lowest since June 2024, in line with expectations. The month-on-month rate for March was 0%, the lowest since April 2020, below the expected 0.1%.
▌Interest rate futures predict a 100 basis point rate cut by the Bank of England for the remainder of 2025.
Interest rate futures predict a 100 basis point rate cut by the Bank of England for the remainder of 2025, with Wednesday's figure at 94 basis points. (Jinshi)
▌In April, the U.S. adjusted non-farm payrolls saw an increase of 177,000, exceeding expectations of 130,000.
According to Jinshi reports, U.S. adjusted non-farm payrolls in April increased by 177,000, exceeding the expected 130,000, with the previous value revised from 228,000 to 185,000.
▌Reuters survey finds that for the first time, analysts expect gold's average annual price to exceed $3,000.
According to a Reuters survey, the average gold price is expected to reach $3,065 per ounce in 2025 and $3,000 per ounce in 2026, marking the first time analysts have forecasted an average annual price above $3,000. The average silver price is anticipated to be $33.10 per ounce in 2025 and $34.58 per ounce in 2026. (Jinshi)
▌Traders fully price in that the Federal Reserve will cut rates four times by 25 basis points before the end of 2025.
Traders fully price in that the Federal Reserve will cut rates four times by 25 basis points before the end of 2025. (Jinshi)
