Institutional crypto investment firm Bitwise has doubled down on its big Bitcoin price prediction for this year despite escalating global trade tensions.

“In December, Bitwise predicted that Bitcoin would end the year at $200,000. I still think that’s in play,” Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said in an April 9 blog post. 

He suggested that the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s global tariff push could be beneficial for Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto because his administration “wants a weaker dollar, even if it means ending its role as the world’s reserve currency.”

Hougan cited an April 7 speech by Steve Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which criticized the dollar’s reserve status as causing “persistent currency distortions” and “unsustainable trade deficits” that have “decimated” US manufacturing.

Hougan said a weaker greenback could have both short-term and long-term implications for Bitcoin. 

In the short term, dollar weakness historically correlates with Bitcoin strength, he added, citing the US Dollar Index (DXY). 

“Dollar down equals Bitcoin up,” Hougan said. “I expect this pattern will continue.”

BTC prices have generally been historically high when DXY has been historically low. Source: MacroMicro 

The DXY, which compares the value of the US dollar to a basket of six major currencies, has fallen more than 7% since the beginning of 2025, according to TradingView. 

In the long term, Hougan said disruption to the global reserve currency system creates opportunities for alternative reserve assets, including Bitcoin and gold. 

“Governments and companies turn to the dollar for international trade precisely because of its stability. When that stability comes into question, they have to look elsewhere.”

The Bitwise executive concluded that the world will move from a single reserve currency to a “more fractured reserve system, with hard money like Bitcoin and gold playing a bigger role than it does today.”

Earlier this week, VanEck said that China and Russia were reportedly settling some energy trades in Bitcoin as Trump’s trade war ramps up.

On April 9, Trump issued a 90-day pause on nearly all of his earlier announced “reciprocal tariffs,” keeping a baseline 10% tariff on all countries besides China, which he lumped with a 125% tariff.

Bitcoin will be the fastest horse 

Crypto trader and analyst Will Clemente said on X that “Bitcoin will be the fastest horse” coming out of this drawdown. 

Related: Most opportune time to buy Bitcoin? Now — Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan explains why

“It’s a pure reflection of liquidity and no earnings, if anything, economic uncertainty/deglobalization are positive for Bitcoin,” he added. 

BTC is up 7.5% over the past 24 hours to $81,700. It has seen a correction of around 32% from its Jan. 20 all-time high, in line with pullbacks in previous bull market cycles.

Magazine: 3 reasons Ethereum could turn a corner: Kain Warwick, X Hall of Flame

XRP has struggled to find sustained bullish momentum since reaching its cycle peak at $3.40 on Jan. 16, 2025. XRP (XRP) dropped as much as 46% over the past three months, but despite its recent drawdown, Glassnode data indicates that 81.6% of XRP’s current circulating supply remains in profit.

While the profit supply percentage is down from its year-to-date high of 92%, the data set highlighted the retention value for holders despite the recent corrections.

Percentage Supply in Profit for XRP, BTC, SOL ETH, TRX. Source: X.com

Currently, only Tron (TRX) has a higher profitable supply with 84.6%, while Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) exhibited 76.8%, 44.9% and 31.6%, respectively.

Analyst says Korean XRP traders are bearish

Data shows traders in Korea played a significant role in buying the first XRP dip below $2 on Feb. 3. Investors on Upbit and Bybit exchange filled their bids below $2, pushing the altcoin’s value back to $2.89 on Feb. 13.

However, the sentiment has flipped over the past few days. Anonymous market analyst Dom pointed out that Korean traders executed 1.4 million trades on the XRP/KRW pair, with 62% being sell orders, resulting in a net sale of $120 million in XRP between April 6-7.

XRP selling on Korean markets. Source: X.com

The data follows a trend of heavy selling from long-term whales and new investors as “retail confidence” in XRP continues to slip. Last week, Cointelegraph reported over $1 billion in positions being offloaded at an average price of $2.10

Related: XRP price gains 13% after Trump 90-day tariff pause and XXRP ETF launch

XRP’s higher time frame (HTF) chart lost its $2 support, dropping to a new yearly low of $1.61 on April 7, but the altcoin managed to reclaim this critical level on April 9. Even if XRP holds the $2 level, the price reflects a bearish market structure on multiple time frames.

XRP 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

As illustrated in the chart, XRP will potentially close a daily candle below its 200-day moving average (orange line), leading to a prolonged correction period over the next few weeks. The key demand zone remains between $1.63 and $1.27 (blue box), where a period of accumulation might unfold for the altcoin.

Related: Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission to exclude NFT marketplaces from regulation under federal securities laws.

The SEC needs to “clearly state that NFT marketplaces like OpenSea do not qualify as exchanges under federal securities laws,” OpenSea general counsel Adele Faure and deputy general counsel Laura Brookover said in an April 9 letter to Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the agency’s Crypto Task Force.

Faure and Brookover argued that NFT marketplaces don’t meet the legal definition of an exchange under US securities laws as they don’t execute transactions, act as intermediaries or bring together multiple sellers for the same asset.

“The Commission’s past enforcement agenda has created uncertainty. We therefore urge the Commission to remove this uncertainty and protect the ability of US technology companies to lead in this space,” Faure and Brookover wrote.

OpenSea’s legal team has asked the SEC to issue informal guidance on NFT Marketplaces. Source: SEC

“In preparing this guidance, the Crypto Task Force should specifically address the application of exchange regulations to marketplaces for non-fungible assets, similar to the recent staff statements on memecoins and stablecoins,” Faure and Brookover added. 

Under a notice published on April 4, the SEC said stablecoins that meet specific criteria are considered “non-securities” and are exempt from transaction reporting requirements.

Meanwhile, the SEC’s division of corporation finance said in a Feb. 27 staff statement that memecoins are not securities under the federal securities laws but are more akin to collectibles.

NFT marketplaces don’t fit broker definition, says OpenSea

Faure and Brookover argued the Crypto Task Force should also exempt NFT marketplaces like OpenSea from having to register as a broker, arguing they don’t give investment advice, execute transactions, or custody customer assets.

“We ask the SEC to clear the existing industry confusion on this issue by publishing informal guidance. In the longer term, we invite the Commission to exempt NFT marketplaces like OpenSea from proposed broker regulation,” they said.

Related: OpenSea pauses airdrop reward system after user backlash

Under the Trump administration, the SEC has slowly been walking back its hardline stance toward crypto forged under former Chair Gary Gensler.

The regulator has dismissed a number of enforcement actions it previously launched against crypto firms and has dropped probes into crypto companies over alleged securities law violations, including one into OpenSea.

Magazine: Trump-Biden bet led to obsession with ‘idiotic’ NFTs —Batsoupyum, NFT Collector