Crypto experts say political pressure on the US Federal Reserve could drive volatility, but also shift flows toward Bitcoin and gold in the long run. Global central bank leaders have rallied behind US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, warning that political pressure on the Fed risks undermining financial and economic stability worldwide. In a joint statement released Tuesday, governors from 11 major central banks said they “stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell,” stressing the importance of central bank independence. The statement comes after US authorities opened a criminal investigation into Powell over a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters, a move that has intensified tensions between the central bank and the Trump administration. Read more
ZKsync’s 2026 plan shifts focus from experimentation to production-ready infrastructure designed for banks, enterprises and regulated financial systems. Layer-2 network ZKsync released a 2026 roadmap that puts privacy, deterministic control and native interoperability at the center of its strategy for institutional digital asset adoption. Its plan, published by Matter Labs co-founder and CEO Alex Gluchowski, frames zero-knowledge technology as a foundational infrastructure for regulated finance. The roadmap follows a year of infrastructure delivery. In 2025, the network rolled out core components including Atlas, Prividium and Airbender. According to Gluchowski, these systems were designed to meet operational realities faced by banks, enterprises and governments, where confidentiality and performance are critical requirements. Read more
US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ramping up pressure as a crackdown on protests continues. Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said in a social media post on Monday that the new levies would “immediately” hit the Islamic republic’s trading partners who also do business with the United States. “This Order is final and conclusive,” he wrote, without specifying who they will affect. Iran’s main trading partners are China, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to economic database Trading Economics. Trump has been mulling his options on Iran, which has been roiled by more than two weeks of demonstrations that have defied a near-total internet blackout and lethal force. Sparked by economic grievances, the nationwide protests have grown into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah. Iranian authorities have blamed f...