MiCA’s licensing clarity helped Europe capture crypto flows as US retail activity declined despite a crypto-friendly Trump administration. Europe is pulling ahead in the global crypto race under its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, outpacing even President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly America. According to Konstantins Vasilenko, co-founder and chief business development officer at Paybis, trading volumes from EU customers jumped 70% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2025, right after the MiCA regulation took effect. During the same period, Paybis activity in the US started trending in the opposite direction. Vasilenko told Cointelegraph that while US retail activity was declining, European users have been placing larger, more deliberate trades. Read more
BTC price declines accelerate as the US hits Iran's nuclear facilities, but traders are hopeful that Bitcoin may even gain from geopolitical uncertainty. Key points: Bitcoin sees a snap reaction to news of direct US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, dipping below $102,000. Traders note that war-based headlines have acted as a BTC price springboard in the past. Read more
Texas becomes the first US state to commit public funds to a standalone Bitcoin reserve, aiming to treat BTC as a long-term strategic asset. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed Senate Bill 21 (SB21), officially authorizing the creation of the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a state-managed fund that will hold Bitcoin as part of the state’s long-term financial assets. The newly established reserve operates independently of Texas’ general treasury system and aims to strengthen the state’s financial resilience while serving as a potential hedge against inflation, according to the bill text. Furthermore, only assets with a market capitalization exceeding $500 billion are eligible for inclusion, a threshold currently met only by Bitcoin (BTC). Read more