STEPN launched a payment network in partnership with MasterCard, to enable users to spend their earnings anywhere.

STEPN creator FSL launches GMT Pay, letting users spend crypto anywhere

With Donald Trump trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, and announcing 
a pause on tariffs, the traditional market showed some reversal and naturally 
gold also started to drop. With a drop already reaching 2000 points, will it 
continue to…

Weekly XAUUSD gold price prediction: $3500 triggers a big pullback, $3200 next?

U.S. stocks were little changed Monday as Wall Street braced for a wave of 
major earnings reports and key economic data releases. The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq 
Composite hovered near the flatline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average 
gained 114…

Wall Street starts the week flat ahead of tech earnings and economic data

Gold-backed cryptocurrencies have spiked in value amid the global trade war 
unleashed by US President Donald Trump&#8217;s April 2 tariffs.
Tether Gold (XAUT) and Paxos Gold (PAXG) reached all-time highs on April 22, 
with Tether Gold touching $3,529 and Paxos Gold recording a peak of $3,520, 
according to data from CoinMarketCap. Two other gold-backed cryptocurrencies 
&#8212; Quorium (QGOLD) and Kinesis Gold (KAU) &#8212; have seen rises of 8.5% and 7.6%, 
respectively, in the past 30 days. All four tokens are up 40% or more in the 
past 12 months, CoinGecko data shows.
_**Related:**__**Tether clocks $13B in 2024 profits, US bond holdings hit all- 
time highs**_
According to a report by Tether, the increased demand for XAUT is due to 
macroeconomic factors, such as escalating global economic uncertainty, 
geopolitical conflicts, and a rising demand for inflation-resistant assets.
Since US President Trump&#8217;s renewed trade war, gold has increased significantly 
in value. On April 2, Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day,&#8221; when the tariffs were 
announced, the price of one ounce of gold was $3,115. At the time of this 
writing, on April 28, the ounce price is at $3,335, representing a 7% jump in 
less than 30 days.
_Gold price in USD over one month. Source:__GoldPrice.org_
Gold, often seen as a hedge against inflation, usually attracts investors 
during times of economic uncertainty. In similar lines, Bitcoin (BTC), often 
referred to as &#8220;digital gold,&#8221; has soared 14% during the same period.
## Growing RWA market
Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization &#8212; products that bring assets like 
precious metals, bonds, and real estate onto the blockchain &#8212; is a growing 
market. According to RWA.xyz, the tokenized RWA market capitalization 
(excluding stablecoins) stands at $21.6 billion, up 8.6% over the past 30 
days.
Tether Gold and Paxos Gold are examples of RWA tokenization. Each coin in both 
products is reportedly backed by one troy ounce of actual gold. Tether is said 
to store its gold reserves in Switzerland, while Paxos keeps its gold in 
London. Tokenized gold has been a strong crypto use case in 2025, reaching a 
two-year high in trading volume on April 10.
Tokenizing gold has a few advantages over more common investment instruments 
that provide exposure to gold. For instance, settlements through these funds 
are instant, enabling quick trading. In addition, some tokenized gold tokens 
can be used to purchase goods and services, while traditional instruments can 
usually be redeemed only for fiat currency.
_**Related:**__**Tether launches gold-backed, US dollar stablecoin Alloy**_

Gold-backed cryptocurrencies spike amid global trade uncertainty

Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, made it clear in a recent 
interview that Bitcoin has a powerful future in America — and the federal 
government is now fully behind it. &#8220;What is Bitcoin like? It&#8217;s like gold, 
right?&#8221; Lutnick…

Howard Lutnick: Bitcoin is America’s new gold under Trump

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on government officials to 
address questions related to US President Donald Trump&#8217;s memecoin and his 
media company.
In an April 25 letter to Jamieson Greer, acting director of the US Office of 
Government Ethics (OGE), Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and California 
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff requested that officials address concerns about 
Trump&#8217;s memecoin after the president announced a dinner and White House tour 
for some of the individuals who held the most TRUMP tokens. The two senators 
requested that Greer provide information on safeguards and guidelines related 
to whether foreign actors and others could buy political influence with the 
president, potentially impacting his policy positions and federal pardons.
&#8220;President Trump&#8217;s announcement promises exclusive access to the presidency in 
exchange for significant investment in one of the President&#8217;s business 
ventures,&#8221; wrote the two senators.
&#8220;In promising such access, this proposition may implicate several federal 
ethics laws and constitutional prohibitions, including the federal bribery 
statute and emoluments clauses of the US Constitution. It also raises the 
troubling prospect that foreign actors are using the memecoin as a vector to 
buy influence with President Trump and his associates without needing to 
disclose their identities publicly.&#8221;
_April 25 letter from Sens. Warren and Schiff to OGE. Source:__Sen. Schiff_
The letter was sent the same day Warren reportedly expressed similar concerns 
about Trump&#8217;s potential conflicts of interest with the US Securities and 
Exchange Commission (SEC). According to an April 25 Reuters report, the 
Massachusetts senator urged SEC Chair Paul Atkins to ensure that oversight of 
Trump&#8217;s media company was &#8220;free from undue political interference and 
influence from the President and his administration.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Trump &#8216;s WLFI crypto investments aren&#8217;t paying off**_
Though ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, Warren does not have 
the authority to direct Congress&#8217;s agenda with Democrats in the minority. Two 
Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have already called for 
Trump&#8217;s impeachment over his memecoin dinner.
Warren added:
&gt; &#8220;The American people deserve the unwavering assurance that access to the 
&gt; presidency is not being offered for sale to the highest bidder in exchange 
&gt; for the President&#8217;s own financial gain.&#8221;
At the time of publication, it was unclear who among the top TRUMP memecoin 
holders would attend the dinner, scheduled to be held on May 22 at Trump&#8217;s 
golf club in Washington, DC. Speculation and analysis of users suggested that 
Trump supporters, including Tron founder Justin Sun, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and 
others, could attend, though none had been confirmed as of April 28.
_**Magazine:**__**Trump &#8216;**__**s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, 
insider trading questions**_