Genius Group, an AI-driven education company, announced it must sell its Bitcoin holdings after a U.S. court order blocked the company from selling shares, raising funds, or purchasing Bitcoin. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York…

“We will not bend to fraudsters”: Genius Group forced to sell Bitcoin after court order

The new trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump may place added 
pressure on the Bitcoin mining ecosystem both domestically and globally, 
according to one industry executive.
While the US is home to Bitcoin (BTC) mining manufacturing firms such as 
Auradine, it&#8217;s still &#8220;not possible to make the whole supply chain, including 
materials, US-based,&#8221; Kristian Csepcsar, chief marketing officer at BTC mining 
tech provider Braiins, told Cointelegraph.
On April 2, Trump announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a 10% tariff on all 
countries that export to the US and introducing &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; levies targeting 
America&#8217;s key trading partners.
Community members have debated the potential effects of the tariffs on 
Bitcoin, with some saying their impact has been overstated, while others see 
them as a significant threat.
## Tariffs compound existing mining challenges
Csepcsar said the mining industry is already experiencing tough times, 
pointing to key indicators like the BTC hashprice.
Hashprice &#8212; a measure of a miner&#8217;s daily revenue per unit of hash power spent 
to mine BTC blocks &#8212; has been on the decline since 2022 and dropped to all- 
time lows of $50 for the first time in 2024.
According to data from Bitbo, the BTC hashprice was still hovering around all- 
time low levels of $53 on March 30.
_Bitcoin hashprice since late 2013. Source: Bitbo_
&#8220;Hashprice is the key metric miners follow to understand their bottom line. It 
is how many dollars one terahash makes a day. A key profitability metric, and 
it is at all-time lows, ever,&#8221; Csepcsar said.
He added that mining equipment tariffs were already increasing under the Biden 
administration in 2024, and cited comments from Summer Meng, general manager 
at Chinese crypto mining supplier Bitmars.
_Source:__Summer Meng_
&#8220;But they keep getting stricter under Trump,&#8221; Csepcsar added, referring to 
companies such as the China-based Bitmain &#8212; the world&#8217;s largest ASIC 
manufacturer &#8212; which is subject to the new tariffs.
Trump&#8217;s latest measures include a 34% additional tariff on top of an existing 
20% levy for Chinese mining imports. In response, China reportedly imposed its 
own retaliatory tariffs on April 4.
## BTC mining firms to &#8220;lose in the short term&#8221;
Csepcsar also noted that cutting-edge chips for crypto mining are currently 
massively produced in countries like Taiwan and South Korea, which were hit by 
new 32% and 25% tariffs, respectively.
&#8220;It will take a decade for the US to catch up with cutting-edge chip 
manufacturing. So again, companies, including American ones, lose in the short 
term,&#8221; he said.
_Source:__jmhorp_
Csepcsar also observed that some countries in the Commonwealth of Independent 
States region, including Russia and Kazakhstan, have been beefing up mining 
efforts and could potentially overtake the US in hashrate dominance.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin mining using coal energy down 43% since 2011 &#8212; 
Report**_
&#8220;If we continue to see trade war, these regions with low tariffs and more 
favorable mining conditions can see a major boom,&#8221; Csepcsar warned.
As the newly announced tariffs potentially hurt Bitcoin mining both globally 
and in the US, it may become more difficult for Trump to keep his promise of 
making the US the global mining leader.
Trump&#8217;s stance on crypto has shifted multiple times over the years. As his 
administration embraces a more pro-crypto agenda, it remains to be seen how 
the latest economic policies will impact his long-term strategy for digital 
assets.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and 
more: Hodler &#8216;s Digest, March 23 &#8211; 29**_

Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

This content is provided by a sponsor. PRESS RELEASE. April 4, 2025 – Curacao 
The crypto world is buzzing with excitement as Whale.io prepares to take its 
groundbreaking Whale NFT collection on an epic journey from the TON blockchain 
to the Solana blockchain. This monumental bridge marks a seismic shift for one 
very successful NFT […]

Whale NFT Collection Set to Make Waves With Historic TON-to-Solana Bridge

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is under renewed regulatory scrutiny in Europe 
after Maltese authorities issued a major fine for violations of Anti-Money 
Laundering (AML) laws.
Malta&#8217;s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has fined Okcoin Europe &#8212; 
OKX&#8217;s Europe-based subsidiary &#8212; 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) after 
detecting multiple AML failures on the platform in the past, the authority 
announced on April 3.
While admitting that OKX has significantly improved its AML policies in the 
past 18 months, the authority &#8220;could not ignore&#8221; its past compliance failures 
from 2023, &#8220;some of which were deemed to be serious and systematic,&#8221; the FIAU 
notice said.
OKX was among the first crypto exchanges to receive a license under Europe&#8217;s 
new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation via its Malta hub in January 
2025.
The news on the $1.2 million penalty in Malta came soon after Bloomberg in 
March reported that European Union regulators were probing OKX for laundering 
$100 million in funds from the Bybit hack.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou previously claimed that OKX&#8217;s Web3 proxy allowed hackers to 
launder roughly $100 million, or 40,233 Ether (ETH), from the $1.5 billion 
hack that occurred in February 2025.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it 
becomes available.
_**Magazine:**__**Stablecoin for cyber-scammers launches, Sony L2 drama: Asia 
Express**_

Malta regulator fines OKX crypto exchange $1.2M for past AML breaches

Solana&#8217;s price has fallen to $116, marking a 12% decrease over the past week 
amid growing concerns about large investors selling their holdings. According 
to reports, several major cryptocurrency holders, known as &#8220;whales,&#8221; unstaked 
and moved approximately $46 million worth of SOL tokens to exchanges, fueling 
the downward trend. Related Reading: XRP Breakout Alert! Could This Surge Send 
The Altcoin To $3? Four Major Wallets Lead Selling Wave According to 
cryptocurrency monitor Lookonchain, four wallet addresses accounted for the 
massive exchange of funds. The largest seller, &#8216;HUJBzd,&#8217; transferred $30 
million worth of SOL to exchanges. Three other wallets also did the same, with 
&#8216;BnwZvG&#8217; selling $9.47 million, &#8216;8rWuQ5&#8217; transferring $3.53 million, and 
&#8216;2UhUo1&#8217; transferring $3 million worth of tokens. These mass transfers usually 
presage bearish sentiment in the market since they add selling pressure to 
exchanges. The recent price movement bears this trend out, with SOL falling by 
more than 3% within the past 24 hours alone. Many whales unstaked and dumped 
$SOL today! HUJBzd dumped 258,646 $SOL($30.3M). BnwZvG dumped 80,000 
$SOL($9.47M). 8rWuQ5 dumped 30,000 $SOL($3.53M). 2UhUo1 dumped 25,501 
$SOL($3M). 
Address:https://t.co/mCaB45W6pVhttps://t.co/wjhEwyZgFHhttps://t.co/Waqe4cxvbP… 
pic.twitter.com/kc1Q5GEKIX — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 4, 2025 Market 
Uncertainty Tied To Tariff Announcements The wider cryptocurrency market has 
been buffeted by economic policy shifts. Reports indicate that Bitcoin price 
fluctuations have been influenced by the announcement by US President Donald 
Trump of reciprocal tariffs. This uncertainty in the economy has spread to the 
altcoin market, with Solana being one of the cryptocurrencies under pressure. 
Based on recent data, the price of Bitcoin might still move according to stock 
market trends in reaction to these fresh tariffs. Analysts have cautioned that 
the entire cryptocurrency market might witness short-term volatility as 
Bitcoin emulates stock market trends. Some Analysts Remain Optimistic Despite 
Declines Though the present figures indicate a declining trend, not everyone 
in the market is pessimistic. Cryptocurrency expert Brandon Hong recently 
expressed an opposing view on social media platform X and wrote: &#8220;SOL is about 
to have its biggest breakout ever.&#8221; Hong&#8217;s forecast is focused on Solana 
possibly breaking out of its 400-day trading range. The analyst encouraged 
investors to &#8220;Buy now or regret later,&#8221; providing a rare optimistic view 
amidst the overall market uncertainty. Related Reading: XRP’s Rise To Rarity: 
Only 1% May Afford It, Expert Says Traders Keep An Eye On SOL This divergence 
in market opinion reflects the volatile nature of cryptocurrency investments 
in times of economic transition. Traders remain closely monitoring Solana as 
it navigates these tough market conditions. The 30-day performance for Solana 
investors is even worse, with figures indicating an 15% drop in the past 
month. This longer decline fits with wider market trends among the 
cryptocurrencies that have also been depreciating over the recent era of 
economic instability. While markets adapt to possible policy shifts and big 
holders keep shifting their assets, SOL price actions are still a major 
reflection of investor sentiment within the cryptocurrency market. Whether the 
token follows the bearish direction implied by whale action or breaks out as 
some analysts anticipate is to be seen within the next few weeks. Featured 
image from Gemini Imagen, chart from TradingView

Solana Slammed By Whale Dump—Can It Recover Or Is More Pain Ahead?

To unlock the full potential of AI in web3, we must address the payment 
problem head-on with intelligent stablecoins and dedicated financial 
infrastructure.