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Managing expectations in the crypto industry is a mammoth task. US President Donald Trump was on the receiving end of scrutiny from the crypto industry this week, despite signing an executive order for his highly anticipated crypto reserve.
Although not promised during his election campaign, Donny had hinted at the idea back in November at Bitcoin 2024, much to the fanfare of crypto fanatics.
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More specifically, crypto fans were excited by the idea of the US taking on a Bitcoin reserve, finally cementing the digital asset as a true, legitimate, recognised, government-backed store of value.
Kicking off this week on a high, Trump announced the crypto reserve, slightly over one month after his inauguration. But to his surprise, the crypto industry's reaction wasn't exactly warm. Although the market rose, voices in the crypto industry were expressing their frustration at why Trump decided to include other cryptocurrencies in the reserve as well as Bitcoin.
Much to the industry's dismay, Trump revealed the reserve would feature Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano. Predictably, this didn't go down to well with Bitcoin maxis.
Samson Mow, who (in)famously predicted Bitcoin would hit $1 million last year, described Trump's announcement as a "sad day" due to its inclusion of "shitcoins."
"#Bitcoin might be up but it’s a sad day for America if they actually shitcoin at a nation-state level. I can’t really say I’m surprised though, with Trump having launched a memecoin," he tweeted. "Hypershitcoinization awaits."
Realising the error in his ways, Trump signed another executive order days later for a Bitcoin-only reserve. The US government owns 200,000 BTC and has pledged to not sell any of the BTC deposited in the reserve, which is funded by seized assets.
"The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime," explained White House Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks.
Just a few minutes ago, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
— David Sacks (@davidsacks47) March 7, 2025
The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it…
But while the reserve won't see any of its Bitcoin being sold, the market was disappointed to learn that the US government has no intention of adding to its stash. “The government will not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings,” Sacks said.
However, in another twist in the tale, Sacks also revealed that the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are "authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies have no incremental costs on American taxpayers."
This essentially means that while the government intends on not adding to the stockpile, it certainly could through the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce. BRN analyst, Valentin Fournier, highlighted how Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has a history of being bullish on Bitcoin.
"Given Lutnick’s strong ties to Bitcoin through his involvement with MicroStrategy, this could signal a hidden accumulation strategy by the U.S. government, potentially igniting a parabolic rally," Fournier explained.
Speaking of BRN, the almighty research house released its survey on retail crypto sentiment in Singapore. Titled Understanding Retail Investor Sentiment Toward Cryptocurrency in Singapore 2025, the survey polled 1,000 retail investors in Singapore, uncovering a complex and cautious outlook toward cryptocurrency.
According to the survey, only 16% of non-investors plan to enter in 2025, with 57% of investors allocating just 1-10% of their portfolios to crypto. Knowledge gaps are a key barrier—72% lack crypto knowledge, and 40% feel unqualified to comment on key market events.
Bitcoin dominates holdings (46%), while altcoin adoption remains low. Major events like ETF approvals had limited immediate impact, with most retail investors staying neutral or inactive. Security (39%) and volatility (40%) are top concerns, while regulatory uncertainty is less pressing.
Crypto is largely seen as a financial tool rather than a cultural movement, with limited engagement in crypto communities (9%). Future price expectations remain conservative, with only 4% anticipating Bitcoin above $200K by 2025.
Check out the full report here:
Meanwhile in the markets, both Bitcoin and Ethereum have taken quite the tumble this week with the former dropping 6.55% and the latter falling 13.23%.
Alternative.me's Crypto Fear and Greed Index has risen from last week's 16, Extreme Fear," to 34, "Fear." The Fear & Greed Index uses 5-6 measurements to assess the current sentiment of the market and then rates that level of emotion on a scale of 1-100 – 1 is extreme fear and 100 is extreme greed.
Top Stories (In No Particular Order)
Trump's Crypto Reserve Slammed By Bitcoiners But BTC, XRP, SOL, ADA Surge Anyway
US President Donald Trump has shown his support for a crypto reserve that would feature Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano. However, while the market has responded positively, the wider crypto community isn't wholly convinced.
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Trump Signs Bitcoin Executive Order But There's a Catch... Or is There?
Donald Trump's Bitcoin reserve will be funded with seized assets, with the government not intending on adding to the stockpile, despite the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce being authorised to do so.
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BRN Survey Reveals Retail Crypto Sentiment in Singapore: Cautious Interest, Limited Action
A new survey by BRN, which polled 1,000 retail investors in Singapore, has uncovered a complex and cautious outlook toward cryptocurrency.
Despite widespread awareness of the sector, many investors remain hesitant to convert interest into action, with significant barriers such as volatility, security concerns, and a lack of knowledge hindering deeper engagement.
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Sam Bankman-Fried Praises Diddy in Second Interview, Crisis Manager Quits
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has engaged in his second interview behind bars, doing himself no favours, as well as his crisis manager.
Mark Botnick, who had been handling Bankman-Fried’s public relations since the collapse of FTX in November 2022, told Business Insider that he had no prior knowledge of SBF's interview with host Tucker Carlson. As a result, Botnick has since resigned from his post.
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Bitwise Makes First Foray into DeFi With Allocation via Maple Finance
In a move signaling increasing institutional acceptance of decentralized finance (DeFi), crypto asset management giant Bitwise has announced its first allocation to the sector through a partnership with Maple Finance, a platform specializing in on-chain lending.
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Argentine Prosecutor Applies to Freeze $100M in LIBRA Scandal, Recover Milei's Tweets
The lead prosecutor investigating Argentine President Javier Milei’s alleged involvement in the LIBRA scandal has requested the freezing of $100 million in assets.
In addition, prosecutor Eduardo Taiano has requested the recovery of deleted social media posts—including a tweet from Milei promoting the Solana-based meme token, as well as detailed records of LIBRA transactions.
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Nasdaq Files For Grayscale's Hedera ETF, HBAR Pumps
Nasdaq has filed a 19b-4 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade Grayscale’s spot Hedera (HBAR) ETF.
The move follows Canary HBAR's ETF filing, marking the second ETF-related milestone for Hedera within a week.
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Reddit Co-Founder Wants to Acquire TikTok to Bring it On-chain
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has announced plans to acquire TikTok's US operations.
"Exciting news for the digital world. I'm officially now one of the people trying to buy TikTok U.S. — and bring it on-chain," Ohanian tweeted. “TikTok has been a game-changer for creators, and its future should be built by them. Users should own their data. Creators should own their audience. Period.”
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Vietnam Races to Regulate Cryptocurrency Market as Government Orders Legal Framework Draft
Vietnam Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has issued a directive instructing the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam to collaborate and produce a draft legal framework for cryptocurrencies within this month, marking a significant step towards bringing the burgeoning sector under official oversight, Viet Nam News reported on Monday.
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SEC Drops Yuga Labs, Kraken Cases, Offers Employees $50K to Resign or Retire
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its investigation into Yuga Labs and Kraken while offering its employees an incentive to leave the regulator.
Yuga Labs revealed that the SEC had dropped its long-running case against the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks NFT collections.
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DigiFT Secures Custodial License in Singapore
DigiFT has successfully obtained a custodial license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under its existing Capital Markets Services (CMS) license.
Previously, DigiFT held a CMS license for dealing in capital market products and was recognized as a Recognized Market Operator (RMO) by MAS in 2023. The firm was the first regulatory-compliant exchange for on-chain real-world assets (RWAs) to be licensed by the MAS as a Recognized Market Operator and Capital Markets Services provider.
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Blockcast
Host Takatoshi Shibayama (ex-Copper, now Ledger APAC Head) chats with Samar Sen (APAC Head at Talos) about Talos's institutional-grade crypto trading infrastructure.
Sen details his transition from traditional finance (Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank) to Talos and explains how the firm provides SaaS solutions connecting clients to diverse liquidity sources with tools for execution, risk management, and connectivity, catering to buy-side and sell-side.
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Previous episodes of Blockcast can be found on Podpage, with guests like Jason Choi (Tangent), Lasanka Perera (Independent Reserve), Mark Rydon (Aethir), Peter Hui (Moongate), Luca Prosperi (M^0), Charles Hoskinson (Cardano), Aneirin Flynn (Failsafe), and Yat Siu (Animoca Brands) on our most recent shows.
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