Coin Market

Bitcoin Treasury bonds may help US refinance $14T debt — VanEck exec

Published

3 weeks ago

April 16, 2025

VanEck’s head of research has pitched a new type of US Treasury bond partially backed by Bitcoin to help refinance $14 trillion in US debt.

Matthew Sigel pitched the concept of “BitBonds” — US Treasury bonds with exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) — at the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Summit 2025 on April 15.

The new 10-year bonds would be composed of 90% US traditional debt and 10% BTC exposure, Sigel said, appealing to both the US Treasury and global investors.

Even in a scenario where Bitcoin “goes to zero,” BitBonds would allow the US to save money to refinance the estimated $14 trillion of debt that will mature in the next three years and will need to be refinanced, he said.

Bitcoin to boost investor demand for T-bonds

“Interest rates are relatively high versus history. The Treasury must maintain continued investor demand for bonds, so they have to entice buyers,” Sigel said during the virtual event.

Meanwhile, bond investors want protection from the US dollar inflation and asset inflation, which makes Bitcoin a good fit for being a component of the bond, as the cryptocurrency has emerged as an inflation hedge.

An excerpt from Matthew Sigel’s presentation on Bitbonds at the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Summit 2025. Source: Matthew Sigel

With the proposed structure and a 10-year term, a BitBond would return a “$90 premium, along with whatever value that Bitcoin contains,” Sigel stated, adding that investors would receive all the Bitcoin gains up to a maximum annualized yield to maturity of 4.5%.

“If Bitcoin gains are big enough to provide that above a 4.5% annualized yield, the government and the bond buyer split the remaining gains 50 over 50,” the exec said.

Upsides and downsides

Compared to standard bonds, the proposed 10-year BitBonds would offer the investor substantial gains in a scenario where Bitcoin gains exceed the break-even rates, Sigel said.

A downside, however, is that Bitcoin must attain a “relatively high compound annual growth rate” on lower coupon rates in order for the investor to break even, he added.

Source: Matthew Sigel

From the government’s perspective, if they are able to sell the bond at a coupon of 1%, the government will save money “even if Bitcoin goes to zero,” Sigel estimated, adding:

“The same thing if the coupon is sold at 2%, Bitcoin can go to zero, and the government still saves money versus the current market rate of 4%. And it’s in these 3% to 4% coupons where Bitcoin has to work in order for the government to save money.

Previous BitBonds pitches to the government

While the idea of crypto-backed government bonds is not new, Sigel’s BitBond pitch follows a similar proposal by the Bitcoin Policy Institute in March.

The BPI estimates the program could generate potential interest savings of $70 billion annually and $700 billion over a 10-year term.

Treasury bonds are debt securities issued by the government to investors who loan money to the government in exchange for future payouts at a fixed interest rate.

Crypto-enabled bonds are linked to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, allowing investors to gain exposure to potentially more enticing rewards.

Source: Bitcoin Policy Institute

As the US government grows bullish on crypto under President Donald Trump’s administration, the narrative for potential Bitcoin-enhanced Treasury bonds has been on the rise.

Magazine: Bitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6 – 12

Coin Market

FT report suggests advance knowledge of Melania Trump memecoin launch

Published

20 minutes ago

May 6, 2025

A group of crypto traders reportedly purchased millions of dollars worth of Melania Trump’s memecoins minutes before she announced the launch on social media.

According to a May 6 Financial Times report, the crypto traders earned roughly $100 million from buying $2.6 million worth of MELANIA tokens before the public launch on Jan. 19. Shortly after Trump announced the memecoin launch on social media, the price surged from roughly $2.00 to $12.95 — a 550% increase. The traders reportedly sold their holdings within 12 hours.

“In total, the 24 accounts bought up 16.7mn of the 200mn total $MELANIA tokens scheduled for sale during the launch period,” the Financial Times reported. “[…] the run of sales that started pre-launch continued. About $900,000 worth of tokens bought by an additional 22 accounts in the 42 seconds after the launch.”

Price of MELANIA token from Jan. 19 to Jan. 28. Source: CoinMarketCap

The memecoin started trading roughly two days after then-president-elect Donald Trump announced the launch of his own TRUMP coin. Both tokens have come under scrutiny from lawmakers, alleging conflicts of interest and corruption due to the potential for bribery and foreign influence.

Memecoin dinner prompts call for impeachment

Much of the scrutiny and criticism from US lawmakers over the memecoins seems to be directed at the president rather than the first lady. After Trump announced some of the top TRUMP tokenholders would be offeried the chance to get access to him at a private dinner and tour, one senator called for his impeachment.

Both the prices of the MELANIA and TRUMP tokens have dropped significantly since shortly after their launch in January, with the First Lady’s memecoin falling to $0.31 at the time of publication. The TRUMP token price briefly surged after the memecoin dinner announcement in April, but had dropped to $10.90 as of May 6.

Two companies connected to the president control roughly 80% of the TRUMP supply, though many of the tokens were locked and will be released over the next three years. Critics have suggested that the project’s insiders could still rug-pull investors.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Coin Market

Tether adds Chainalysis tokenization platform for compliance, monitoring

Published

20 minutes ago

May 6, 2025

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap USDt (USDT), has announced a partnership with Chainalysis that will integrate the company’s compliance and monitoring tools onto Tether’s tokenization platform. The move comes amid expanding oversight across the crypto industry.

Launched in November 2024, the Hadron by Tether platform is designed for institutions, corporations and governments, entities that may be interested in tokenizing real-world assets ranging from financial instruments and real estate to debt and commodities.

The months following the launch have seen increased adoption of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. According to RWA.xyz, the total RWA market amounts to $22.1 billion, up 10.5% in the past 30 days. There are a total of 100,115 holders of RWA tokens, up 5.6% in the same time frame.

“By integrating Chainalysis directly into the platform, we’re offering institutional-grade transparency, compliance, and risk mitigation without compromising on decentralization or control,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement.

According to the announcement, Hadron by Tether users will now have risk detection, real-time transaction monitoring, and Know-Your-Transaction (KYT) support. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tether raked in $13 billion in profits in 2024, and posted $1 billion in operating profit for Q1 2025.

Chainalysis acquisitions and predictions

Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, is known for its security tools and real-time monitoring. Among its partners include exchanges Crypto.com and Bitfinex, payment processor MoonPay, and bank BBVA.

Chainalysis has recently beefed up its technology stack, acquiring Web3 security firm Hexagate in December 2024 and Alterya, an AI fraud detection startup, in January this year. The company, founded in 2014, predicted that 2025 would be the biggest year ever for crypto scams due to the rise of artificial intelligence.

Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

Coin Market

Bitcoin bulls rush into long positions ahead of May 7 Fed FOMC interest rate decision

Published

1 hour ago

May 6, 2025

Key Takeaways:

Data shows Bitcoin bulls opening margin long positions from $94,400.

A $189 million increase in Bitcoin futures open interest and a 15% increase in trading volume show sustained buying interest.

BTC momentum tends to slow before FOMC meetings and then turns volatile afterward. The same could happen following this week’s Federal Reserve statements.

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls are holding strong around the $94,500 level as the market awaits the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on May 7. Bitcoin analyst Axel Adler Jr. noted BTC’s price strength and pointed out a bullish cluster of long positions forming around $94,400 in the futures market. A similar cluster was observed at the end of April, which pushed BTC prices to $97,500.

Bitcoin futures position dominance data. Source: X.com

Similarly, Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) exhibited a swift increase of 2,000 BTC, i.e., roughly $189 million, over the past few hours. A rise in OI and a 15% increase in aggregated volume imply consistent buying pressure despite the price dip.

The aggregated funding rate remains near neutral, indicating balanced sentiment between longs and shorts over the past eight hours. However, funding rates have fluctuated, with brief spikes to 0.018% on May 6, suggesting periodic optimism among leveraged traders.

Bitcoin open interest, aggregated volume, funding rate and price. Source: Velo. chart

MN Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe also identified Bitcoin’s bounce and said that BTC could continue to recover in the markets. The analyst said,

“I think we’ll continue the grind on Bitcoin upward, the key factor here is whether Gold starts to correct after FOMC tomorrow, indicating that there’s the start of the business cycle.

Bitcoin momentum stalls before FOMC

Swissblock, an investment management firm, revealed that Bitcoin’s momentum typically slowed down before the last five interest rate decisions, followed by a sharp increase in price volatility. In an analysis on X, the firm presented a chart tracking Bitcoin’s 25-day rate of change (ROC) from October 2024 to May 2025.

Bitcoin’s price steadily climbed in the charts whenever the ROC trended up or went positive. It was mainly observed during October-November 2024, and recently in April 2025.

Bitcoin price momentum around FOMC. Source: X.com

Consequently, when the ROC tapers off, BTC corrects, an outcome observed in January-February 2025. Recent data indicates that the ROC remains on an uptrend in May 2025, which increases the possibility of a price gain for Bitcoin.

Swissblock emphasized that the FOMC meeting is a potential catalyst for Bitcoin’s next move, noting that the rate decision and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s tone could spark volatility in financial markets.

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.