The Decoupling Dilemma 📊
Happy Thursday, Dispatchers! Welcome to the first edition of News Rollups.
A weekly direct line connecting our readers with us to get your pressing questions on the latest crypto trends and news answered, every Thursday.
Submit your crypto queries through our form and our experts might take a shot at them in our upcoming editions.
Global and crypto markets dumped and pumped in the last 72 hours as Trump's tariff showdown with China intensified just as he hit a 90-day pause on tariffs against other negotiating nations.
In the inaugural edition of News Rollups, we answer the top questions on our readers’ mind:
Has Bitcoin really decoupled from traditional markets?
Why Justin Sun feels First Digital Trust is a worse scandal than FTX?
What to make of the Nigeria’s $81 billion court battle against Binance?
How amid all the market chaos $30 million were dumped in $MELANIA memecoin?
How Pump.Fun secretly restarted one of its most controversial features?
Let's dive into what matters and why.
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Q: Has Bitcoin truly decoupled from traditional markets yet?
Bitcoin as "digital gold" and an uncorrelated asset sounds compelling, but recent price action shows there’s room for a nuanced understanding.
While Bitcoin appeared to move independently during US President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariff announcements, it subsequently followed the broader market's trajectory with each fall and rise, albeit with a slight delay.
Bitcoin held its range longer than Wall Street amid the announcements, leading to the narrative of it decoupling from the broader markets. But when it did crash, it slumped all the way below $75,000 - the level last seen only before Trump’s re-election.
Bitcoin did retrace back to above $82,000 temporarily, but when China retaliated with 84% tariffs on US goods on Tuesday, Bitcoin dropped again.
When Treasury yields spiked to 4.5% on April 8, suggesting a potential unwinding of the basis trade, Bitcoin suffered alongside other risk assets.
Bitcoin's correlation with traditional markets remains strong during crisis periods but shows increasing independence during calmer intervals - like it outperformed broader markets (+21% vs +1%) between November 6, 2024, and February 28, 2025.
The verdict - claims of decoupling are premature, despite occasional divergence, and maturation of an asset such as Bitcoin takes time.
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Q: Should you worry about Justin Sun's battle with First Digital Trust?
Tron founder Justin Sun last week accused First Digital Trust (FDT) of misappropriating $456 million from TUSD's custodial funds without client authorisation or knowledge. This rapidly devolved into a high-stakes battle with Sun declaring the case "ten times worse" than FTX and launching a $50 million bounty for whistleblowers.
FDT has denied these allegations. Calling them a "smear campaign" designed to damage a competing stablecoin issuer. The company announced plans to sue Sun for defamation and has filed an injunction with the Hong Kong High Court to prevent further statements.
First Digital CEO Vincent Chok defended his firm's actions, stating they acted purely as a custodian following client instructions, not as a fiduciary with independent decision-making power. "We're not asset managers and we don't claim to be," said Chok.
After Sun urged users to secure their assets from FDT, the company's FDUSD stablecoin briefly lost its dollar peg, falling to as low as $0.95. Meanwhile, TrueUSD's peg was only maintained after Sun provided a $500 million loan to Techteryx, TUSD's operator.
Why worry? If a dispute between business partners can threaten the stability of multiple stablecoins representing hundreds of millions in market value, how secure is the broader stablecoin ecosystem? As Congress advances legislation to regulate this critical market, this calls for clear standards for custody, reserves, and transparency.
The Crypto Comic 🎭
Dispatch Decoder: What is Basis Trade? 👨🏽🏫
The basis trade is a sophisticated arbitrage strategy used by hedge funds to profit from tiny price differences between Treasury bonds and futures contracts. Traders buy Treasury securities and simultaneously sell corresponding futures contracts, locking in a small profit from the price discrepancy.
Because the profit margins are minimal, funds typically use significant leverage, borrowing heavily to multiply their returns. This strategy is normally low-risk, but when many participants try to exit simultaneously — as happened this week when the 10-year Treasury yield spiked above 4.5% — it can create a cascading effect.
As yields rise (meaning bond prices fall), traders face margin calls, forcing them to sell their Treasury holdings. This additional selling drives yields even higher, triggering more margin calls in a dangerous feedback loop. A similar unwinding occurred in March 2020, requiring Federal Reserve intervention to stabilise markets.
This week's basis trade unwinding signals severe market stress as investors reassess risk amid escalating trade tensions.
Q: Why did Nigeria's $81-Bn legal battle with Binance get postponed?
Nigeria's tax evasion case against Binance hit a procedural roadblock last week for a comical reason. The exchange's attorney challenged the government's method of serving legal documents via email to Binance, which is headquartered abroad.
The Abuja federal high court adjourned the trial until April 30. Chukwuka Ikwuazom, a Binance attorney, argued that authorities must obtain formal permission to serve official documents abroad.
The government alleges the exchange owes $79 billion in damages and $2 billion in back taxes for operating without proper registration.
Why is Nigeria determined to recover the sum? The amount is roughly 20% of Nigeria's entire GDP.
When Binance dispatched executives Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan to negotiate crypto deals in the country last year, Nigerian authorities detained both men at Kuje prison, a maximum security facility typically reserved for terrorism and money laundering suspects. While Gambaryan was eventually released after nine months when his health deteriorated, Anjarwalla managed to escape the country and remains wanted by Nigerian authorities.
Under the Radar 🔎
Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.Fun quietly reintroduced its controversial livestreaming feature after pet threats and on-air chaos forced it to shut down last November.
Read: When Pump.fun Is No Longer Fun 🥵
The situation reached a tragic climax in February when a trader known as "MistaFuccYou" fatally shot himself during a livestream on X after losing money to a rug pull involving a Pump.Fun token. Now, the platform has reinstated the feature with a new moderation policy prohibiting content involving violence, harassment, and illegal activity.
Pump.Fun co-founder Alon Cohen announced the feature is being rolled out to just 5% of users with "industry standard moderation systems."
The platform’s attempt to reignite engagement through the feature that caused its greatest controversies at a time when the memecoin space and overall crypto market are going through a relative cool-down suggests a desperate play for survival.
That’s it for this week’s News Rollups.
Until next Thursday, stay curious.
PS: Got some questions about the world of crypto from this week? Fill this form here and get a chance to have your question featured and answered by our experts in the next edition.
Disclaimer: This newsletter contains analysis and opinions, not financial advice. Trading crypto involves substantial risk - your capital is at risk. Do your own research.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter contains analysis and opinions, not financial advice. Trading crypto involves substantial risk - your capital is at risk. Do your own research.