JOE PriceJOE

Dragonchain’s DRGN rallied over 97% after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it plans to dismiss its long-running lawsuit against the project over alleged unregistered securities sales. According to a joint filing on April 24, the SEC and Dragonchain have agreed the case should be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. The SEC cited the work of its newly established Crypto Task Force and said dropping the suit was the appropriate step. The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2022 , accused Dragonchain, its foundation, and founder Joseph Roets of raising $16.5 million through an unregistered token sale. The commission’s case centred on a 2017 presale and ICO that raised $14 million through DRGN tokens, with an additional $2.5 million sold between 2019 and 2022 to fund business operations and tech development. At the time, the regulator argued DRGN qualified as an investment contract and should have been registered under securities laws. The case, however, was paused in October 2024 after Dragonchain submitted a settlement offer and was later extended in January, following a major executive order from President Trump that called for the U.S. to take a leading role in digital assets. The order prompted a broader reassessment of how cryptocurrency is regulated in the U.S., and the SEC cited this shift in approach when deciding to withdraw from the Dragonchain lawsuit. In fact, the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force, established the day after Trump returned to office, met with Dragonchain representatives on March 24. According to an internal agency memo , the discussion centred on how the SEC should approach crypto regulation, with a focus on blockchain’s non-financial applications. Dragonchain’s team, led by founder Joe Roets, argued that blockchain should be seen as foundational software, used for transparency, identity management, and automation, rather than purely as a financial instrument. For Dragonchain, the turnaround marked a sharp reversal for DRGN, which has been in a downtrend since 2021. As of press time, DRGN is still down heavily from its 2018 peak, but the token formed two God candles after the news broke, shooting up nearly 100% in the past 24 hours. Since the start of the year, the SEC has been steadily walking back from some of its biggest crypto battles. It pulled out of long-running lawsuits against Coinbase , Ripple , and Gemini , cases that once defined the agency’s hardline stance on digital assets under former chair Gary Gensler. As previously reported by crypto.news, it recently dropped its fraud case against HEX founder Richard Heart, after a federal judge tossed the complaint and the SEC chose not to amend it.

CZ: Web3 education platform Giggle Academy will provide a job market CZ said in a speech at the Carlton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur: "The United States went from cracking down on the digital asset industry during the administration of former President Joe Biden to embracing the digital asset industry during the administration of Trump, which in turn triggered a 180-degree change in the mindset of global regulators. Given that the United States is so supportive of cryptocurrencies now, all other governments actually have to improve their competitiveness a little bit in order to retain talent, attract funds and investment, so I do encourage most governments to be more progressive than the United States." In addition, Zhao Changpeng said that his Web3 education platform Giggle Academy does not currently provide a job market, but plans to launch it in the future. The Giggle platform can help children aged 14 and above in emerging markets (including Africa) find jobs. (Bloomberg)

Is Bitcoin decoupling from risk assets like equities and morphing into a “safe haven” like gold? The largest cryptocurrency by market value is behaving differently these days, but it may still be too early to tell whether the new trend will hold, several analysts say. The price of Bitcoin was recently trading near $93,000 on Tuesday, an almost 7% jump over the past day, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. The asset’s price swelled after U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said that Washington’s tariff showdown with Beijing is “unsustainable,” and expected to de-escalate, per Bloomberg. The uptick follows a bumpy trading session on Monday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 3%, while Bitcoin moved higher alongside gold. Before the selloff in equities began, the dollar weakened on Sunday after U.S. President Donald Trump applied pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. The divergence between equities and Bitcoin may be short-lived if it’s simply tied to a swoon in the greenback, Jake Ostrovskis, an OTC trader at Wintermute, wrote in a Tuesday note. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures shifts in the dollar’s value relative to a basket of other currencies, will be a key measure to watch, he added. “I think the move is primarily being driven by USD weakness,” he wrote. “If that’s the case, the decoupling from equities may not hold once the DXY stabilizes.” Over the past month, Trump’s efforts to reshape global trade have hammered risk assets, as economists fear tariffs will lead to slower growth and higher costs for business and consumers. Compared to sell-offs in the past, Bitcoin has behaved differently, Compass Point analysts Ed Engel and Joe Flynn wrote in a Tuesday note. Bitcoin has historically been highly correlated with equities during selloffs that are based on macroeconomic events, but the analysts wrote that the asset’s 30-day correlation with the S&P 500 recently stood at 0.65. A correlation of 1 signals a perfect, positive correlation between two variables; -1 would mean a perfect, negative correlation. With Bitcoin’s performance since April 2–when Trump imposed harsh global tariffs on nearly all trading partners worldwide–somewhere between that of gold and the S&P 500, it’s clear that investors are rethinking how the leading cryptocurrency fits within broader markets, David Duong, head of research at Coinbase Institutional, told Decrypt.$BTC

$BTC Whales are preparing a huge trap for the retail traders, and you probably already know that the trap is this massive falling wedge! Falling wedge patterns are usually bullish, right? But not if they occur at the end of a trend. You probably want to trade wedges that are at the start of a trend. What's more, everyone is watching and buying into this wedge, which brings so much questions - will all retail traders get REKT again? Most likely yes, as usual. You want to do pretty much the opposite of what the majority of retail traders do to be a profitable trader. You probably already know that Bitcoin is manipulated and controlled by the banks and huge institutions. They control the price and development. Do not be fooled that some average Joe geek from Florida eating McDonald's controls the development. Whales need liquidity to buy because their orders are so huge; they need time to buy as much Bitcoin as possible. That's why they need to push the price down to take all stop losses from retail traders. The price is below the 20, 50, 100 and 200 daily moving averages - that's a huge downtrend! Also, on the chart we can see a huge previous rectangular range between 108k and 91k. It does make sense if the price will test this range before continuing to the downside. To me, this is indeed a risky speculation. I definitely don't want to speculate on that, because sooner or later Bitcoin will crash to 67k! I don't trust this falling wedge at all! Please tell me, what about you? Write a comment with your altcoin, hit the like button, and I will make an analysis for you in response. Beyond Technical Analysis

Japan is ready to relax some of its own car‑safety rules for American vehicles as a bargaining chip in talks over U.S. tariffs, Nikkei Asia reported on Sunday. Tokyo faces a 24% levy on most exports to the United States, though that rate, like many of President Donald Trump’s duties, has been paused for 90 days. The temporary freeze is due to expire in early July, and economists warn that a snap‑back could jolt trade in both directions. A 10% universal tariff still applies, and finished cars—one of Japan’s biggest money earners—carry a separate 25% charge. Because the two countries follow different crash‑test systems, officials in Tokyo believe they can narrow the gap. Letting U.S. models meet American standards instead of Japan’s would be offered in exchange for lighter tariffs, unnamed sources told Nikkei . The tariff dispute has shaken markets and stirred fears of a deeper slowdown. Japan is trying to roll back what Trump calls “reciprocal” duties that he has imposed on dozens of trading partners. After one of the first round‑table sessions since the trade offensive began, Trump said Wednesday that the two sides had made “big progress.” Industry analysts say the wider fight over car tariffs could steer the future of electric vehicles in the United States. Many lower‑priced electric cars sold in America are imported. The 25% duty Trump placed on them is expected to raise sticker prices and curb demand. Higher costs and slower sales would squeeze profit margins and leave less money for research and development. “If they are having to spend more money to either pay for tariffs or move production to the U.S., that’s significant capex for most of the companies,” said Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry. “That’s funding not going to R&D, which means they’re not going to be able to innovate and not bring new technologies to market. That will make them less competitive in the global marketplace at a time they’re already getting shut out of China.” Dealer data company Cox Automotive Inc. says the average transaction price of a new electric vehicle tops $55,000. Buyers also worry about driving range, public chargers, charging speed, grid stability, and a political debate over the cars’ role in cutting emissions. Trump has ordered a review of the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 that helps consumers. Analysts warn that adding a 25% tariff to imported models—one tool automakers have used to keep prices down—could lift costs by $4,000 to $20,000 per vehicle. Trump is acting under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, saying the country needs a strong manufacturing base and secure supply chain. He argues that the duties will bring jobs home, raise tax revenue, and help reduce the federal debt. The same 25% rate will hit imported auto parts starting May 3. Parts that meet the rules of the United States‑Mexico‑Canada Agreement, which Trump signed in 2020, are exempt until the non‑U.S. share can be measured. There may be one bright spot for battery cars. The battery pack is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, offers subsidies for battery plants in the United States, and billions of dollars are flowing into new factories. Officials say that, once a tracking system is in place, the auto tariffs will cover only the content made outside the country. A car assembled in Mexico but fitted with U.S.‑made batteries could avoid most of the duty. The administration has not said when that accounting will begin. For now, negotiators hope that a shift in Japan’s crash‑test rules will be enough to ease tensions and soften tariffs that have upended trade flows across the Pacific. Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot