Latest Developments in Cryptocurrency and Financial Markets: Musk's Resignation Plan, Bitcoin Predictions, Stablecoin Bill Progress

1. Elon Musk plans to resign from the Department of U.S. Government Efficiency (DOGE) by the end of May, aiming to reduce the federal deficit by $1 trillion before his departure. He criticized government inefficiency and questioned the wealth of Congress members.

2. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, predicts Bitcoin could reach $250,000 by year-end despite potential U.S. stock market declines. He bases this on the Fed's monetary policy shifts and Bitcoin's market expectations.

3. The U.S. House and Senate are aligning their stablecoin bills, with only 20% text differences. The main differences concern international stablecoin issuers and state regulations.

4. A hacker associated with zkLend lost 2,930 $ETH to a phishing site while using Tornado Cash.

5. Tether purchased 8,888 $BTC worth $735 million in Q1, enhancing its reserves. Tether now holds 92,647 $BTC, making it the sixth-largest $BTC wallet.

6. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warns that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies could undermine the U.S. dollar's international status, though he acknowledges their benefits, particularly in tokenization.

7. Vitalik Buterin donated 274.1 $ETH to a project by @0xisla, supporting Zuitzerland.

8. Nigeria's new law recognizes cryptocurrencies as an asset class, ending previous uncertainties and placing virtual asset service providers under SEC regulation.

9. Ambient, a crypto-AI project, raised $7.2 million in a seed round with participation from a16z, Delphi Digital, and Amber Group.

10. Vitalik Buterin sold DHN and LEDOG for about 110,000 USDC.

11. 0xbow launched "Privacy Pools," a blockchain privacy tool using zero-knowledge proofs, with investment from Vitalik Buterin and others.

12. The Trump family controls 60% of World Liberty Financial, a DeFi platform, after raising $550 million.

13. President Trump to announce reciprocal tariffs on April 2, focusing on reversing unfair trade practices.

14. OpenAI completed a $40 billion financing round, setting a record for private tech companies, with SoftBank as the lead investor.

15. Coinbase to list Doginme (DOGINME) and Keyboard Cat (KEYCAT) on the Base network starting April 1, 2025.

16. Brazil bans large pension funds from investing in cryptocurrencies due to high risk.

17. Binance CEO CZ burned $3.6 million worth of tokens, including Broccoli and Tutorial.

18. Grayscale transferred over $58 million in Bitcoin across its addresses.

19. Circle plans to go public, hiring JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, with an IPO expected by April 2025.

20. U.S. Senator David McCormick disclosed purchasing up to $600,000 in Bitcoin.

21. Binance to launch GUNZ (GUN) with various trading options on March 31, 2025.

22. MicroStrategy purchased 22,048 $BTC, increasing its total holdings to 528,185 BTC.

23. American Bitcoin, co-founded by Eric Trump and Hut 8 Mining, will hold a press conference on April 1, 2025.

24. Archax expands into the U.S. market by acquiring a regulated broker, enhancing its tokenized asset business.

25. A whale address added margin to avoid liquidation of 64,800 ETH.

26. X2Y2 will close its NFT marketplace on April 30, 2025, but smart contracts will remain operational.