The White House announced that talks between the United States and China 
regarding a trade deal have made &#8220;substantial progress,&#8221; yet no official deal 
has been announced at this time, leaving investors in doubt.
According to a May 11 announcement from the White House, more details on the 
trade talks and the proposed &#8220;agreement&#8221; will be revealed on May 12.
&#8220;I am happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United 
States and China in the very important trade talks,&#8221; Treasury Secretary Scott 
Bessent said in a joint statement with US trade representative Jamieson Greer.
_US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tells the media that the US-China trade 
walks were productive. Source:__Fox News_
&#8220;We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were 
productive,&#8221; Bessent continued, without mentioning the word &#8220;deal&#8221; once in his 
statement.
Greer made mention of the deal but did not give any details on the talks, 
leaving investors in doubt about the substance of the announcement, as market 
participants continue to monitor the ongoing trade tensions for signs of 
relief for financial markets.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin nears $100K as Trump set to reveal trade deal with 
UK**_
## Trump&#8217;s tariffs cause chaos in markets and draw widespread criticism
Although traditional financial and digital asset markets have recovered and 
retraced some of the value lost following the initial price shock brought on 
by US President Donald Trump&#8217;s sweeping trade tariffs, investor uncertainty 
still looms over asset markets.
The Trump administration has flip-flopped on its tariff policies, reversing 
course on trade proposals or softening its rhetoric several times, leaving 
investors on edge and uncertain about investing in riskier assets like tech 
stocks and crypto.
In April 2024, the US Customs and Border Protection, at the behest of the 
Trump administration, announced that select tech products would be exempt from 
tariffs including, smartphones, processing chips, computers, and other 
electronics.
However, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick walked back the electronic 
tariff exemptions one day following the announcement.
Lutnick said that the tariff exemptions would only be temporary until 
administration officials decided on a comprehensive tariff regime that 
featured different tariff rates for economic sectors.
The lack of a comprehensive, decisive trade policy has called the Trump 
administration&#8217;s plans into question, with many observers saying that the 
trade tariffs will only create more discord in financial markets and the 
broader economy.
_**Magazine:**__**Elon Musk &#8216;s plan to run government on blockchain faces 
uphill battle**_

White House claims 'substantial progress' on China trade deal

XRP investors are keeping an eye on a crucial price level this week. Bitcoin 
has managed to reclaim above $100,000 and Ethereum is over $2,300. XRP has 
recorded a modest increase as well but still hovers at the lower part of the 
$2 price range. From a chart of a market observer who goes by the name of &#8220;Guy 
on the Earth,&#8221; XRP has held above a persistent horizontal trendline at $2. 
Historical Price Rollercoaster Back in March 2017, XRP burst in price, rising 
from $0.0055 to a high of $3.80. After peaking at that all-time high in 
January 2018, it fell hard. XRP initially broke through $2 on December 30, 
2017. By January 13, 2018—two weeks later—it dipped below again. That initial 
test revealed the $2 level was more resistance than support for new buyers. 
Related Reading: Taiwan Official Proposes Bitcoin As Part Of National Reserve 
Strategy Failed Breaks After Rally XRP attempted to break past that level once 
more in April 2021. It peaked at $1.96 but could not make further progress. 
From January 2018 all the way up to December 2024, the $2 line acted as a 
ceiling. Traders watched it cap price action for almost seven years. Every 
time XRP hit against that wall, it fell back into the $1 zone. $XRP Thats 
about as clean as it gets. This time it is different. This time it&#8217;s XRP. 
pic.twitter.com/9mK8QVuQVX — Guy on the Earth (@guyontheearth) May 9, 2025 
Recent Break Above Two Based on reports, XRP finally cleared the $2 trendline 
in December 2024, when broader markets jumped on a bullish wave. Since then, 
the coin has stayed above this line for almost five months. That’s a first in 
XRP’s history. While its bounce hasn’t been as fast as Bitcoin’s or 
Ethereum’s, holding this level longer than ever feels different. Analyst 
Predictions And Warnings As per &#8220;Guy on the Earth,&#8221; remaining above $2 would 
pave the way for greater prices. He previously predicted an increase to $3.30, 
which already occurred. His next goal rests at $5.30, where he advises traders 
to take profit. He said &#8220;this time is different&#8221; for the altcoin. Related 
Reading: Bitcoin’s Grip Loosens: Market Expert Says Dominance Has Hit Its 
Ceiling Wider Risks And Outlook This trend in prices is just half the story. 
Ripple&#8217;s legal battle against the SEC and regulatory updates for crypto would 
do the trick. On-chain metrics such as active accounts or large transfers 
would put some perspective behind that $2 hold. Traders should pay attention 
to sudden spikes in daily volume around this line. If XRP drops below $1.80 on 
a daily chart, some analysts will declare the setup invalid. For the moment, 
however, many view this extension above $2 as a signal that XRP&#8217;s next act 
could be better than its previous one. Featured image from Unsplash, chart 
from TradingView

New XRP Rally Incoming? Analyst Believes This Cycle Is Unique

Over the past 24 hours, bitcoin has drifted between $103,133 and $104,841, 
while South Korea’s notorious premium quietly inverted, dipping into discount 
territory for several days this month. Bitcoin’s Comeback Inverts South Korea 
Premium to 0.76% Below Global Average Bitcoin has experienced an eventful 
week, buoyed by renewed appetite and reclaiming the $100,000 milestone for […]

Six-Figure Bitcoin Rally Triggers Rare Price Inversion in South Korea

Tech company Microsoft and artificial intelligence firm OpenAI are reportedly 
in talks to renegotiate the investment deal between the AI firm and Microsoft, 
which is OpenAI&#8217;s biggest financial backer.
According to a report from the Financial Times, Microsoft may give up a 
portion of its equity in OpenAI for continued access to the AI company&#8217;s 
products and models beyond 2030, when some of the original terms of a deal 
signed between the two companies expire.
Microsoft has invested over $13 billion into OpenAI since 2019, when it first 
acquired an interest in the artificial intelligence firm.
_OpenAI CEO Sam Altman takes the podium at the White House in January 2025 to 
discuss AI infrastructure investment in the United States. Source:__The White 
House_
OpenAI is attempting to restructure the company to shift its focus to profit- 
making. However, those plans have met with pushback from co-founders like Elon 
Musk and early investors.
The deal between OpenAI and Microsoft is critical to OpenAI&#8217;s restructuring 
and the future of the US-based AI startup company. Advancing artificial 
intelligence has also become a key policy objective for global leaders as the 
AI arms race heats up.
_**Related:**__**OpenAI to stay nonprofit, scrap proposed overhaul**_
## OpenAI faces staunch pushback against for-profit shift
OpenAI was founded as a non-profit entity in 2015 by businessman Elon Musk, 
tech entrepreneur Sam Altman, and AI researcher Ilya Sutskever.
However, in 2024, the company began mulling a corporate restructuring that 
would convert the company from a non-profit entity to a for-profit 
corporation.
Elon Musk has been one of the biggest critics of the plan, calling into 
question the legality of the proposed shift in a November 2024 legal filing.
_Elon Musk and others file litigation against OpenAI to block its conversion 
to a for-profit company. Source:__Court Listener_
The tech billionaire also blasted the company&#8217;s focus on closed-source 
software development, which he said was not the original objective of OpenAI.
&#8220;OpenAI was actually started and was meant to be open source. I named it 
&#8216;OpenAI&#8217; after open source, now it is, in fact, closed source. It should be 
renamed super closed source AI for maximum profit AI,&#8221; Musk told an audience 
at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
In February 2025, a group of investors led by Musk submitted a $97.4 billion 
bid to take over OpenAI. However, the deal was flatly rejected by OpenAI CEO 
Sam Altman.
More recently, on May 5, OpenAI announced it was abandoning its shift to a 
purely for-profit model and is choosing to shift to a public benefit 
corporation &#8212; a profit-driven structure with legal obligations to fulfill 
social or public goods objectives &#8212; controlled by a non-profit entity.
_**Magazine:**__**Crypto AI tokens surge 34%, why ChatGPT is such a kiss-ass: 
AI Eye**_

Microsoft and OpenAI renegotiate investment deal: Report

XRP prices moved by almost 3% in the past day as the crypto market bounce 
continues. However, the prominent altcoin remains in danger of significant 
market downside. According to renowned X market expert Crypto Egrag, XRP must 
close above certain price levels to invalidate this bearish pattern and 
validate its bullish trajectory. Related Reading: Major XRP Accumulation 
Alert: Wallets Holding Over 10,000 Coins Cross 300,000 XRP Faces Critical 
Resistance At $2.41-$2.45, But $2.96 Represents Ultimate Challenge In a recent 
series of X posts, Egrag Crypto has previously stated that XRP was at a major 
crossroads facing a pivotal breakout or a potential retest. In line with the 
crypto market, XRP has seen a sustained price rebound since mid-April, gaining 
by 35.95%. However, Egrag Crypto warns that the altcoin is facing major 
resistance at the price range between $2.41-$2.45, which aligns with the 
descending trend line of the market correction that had dominated the first 
quarter of 2025. To strengthen the bullish case of its recent breakout, the 
analyst explains that XRP must move and stay above this price resistance, 
thereby neutralizing the bearish outlook. If XRP fails to make a convincing 
breakout above $2.41-$2.45 and slips into consolidation, the altcoin faces the 
potential of a retest to around $1.2-$1.3, representing a potential 46.05% 
decline from today’s price. However, the analyst explains that such a retest 
would only provide a massive accumulation opportunity as the long-term outlook 
for XRP still remains bullish. In a following post on May 10, Egrag Crypto 
states XRP must also reclaim the $2.96 price zone to confirm a sustainable 
uptrend. Notably, the $2.96 price level represents the next major price 
resistance after the descending trendline and is the closest to the current 
local market top. Related Reading: Bitcoin Advanced NVT Sits Above This 
Critical Threshold — What It Means For Price Action XRP Market Overview At 
press time, XRP is trading at $2.41, reflecting a 2.77% gain in the past day. 
On larger time frames, the altcoin holders are in significant profits as 
indicated by gains of 10.17% and 23.37% on the weekly and monthly charts, 
respectively. Generally, the market sentiment among XRP investors remains 
bullish, especially following recent developments in the legal case between 
Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On May 8, the SEC 
announced a settlement that includes the return of $75 million held in escrow 
to Ripple, which comes months after the Commission signaled its intentions to 
terminate its appeal case against the blockchain company. With a market cap of 
$241.95 billion, XRP remains the fourth-largest cryptocurrency and third- 
largest altcoin in the digital asset space. Featured image from Pexels, chart 
from Tradingview

Cryptocurrency price in ILS