Bitcoin's safe haven era begins

April 23, 2025

Reading time: 5 minutes

Tesla still holds $1B in Bitcoin despite missing Q1 revenue expectations

Key points:

  • Tesla reported $951M in BTC holdings for Q1, with no sales recorded.

  • New FASB rules require firms to mark digital assets to market each quarter.

News - Tesla’s Q1 2025 earnings report revealed that the company still holds 11,509 BTC—worth roughly $951 million as of March 31. This came despite Tesla missing its Q1 revenue target by over $2 billion, reporting $19.34 billion against analyst expectations of $21.37 billion.

Data from Arkham and BitcoinTreasuries.net confirmed Tesla made no BTC transactions during the quarter. The decline in its crypto valuation stemmed solely from Bitcoin’s 12% Q1 price dip. But with Bitcoin’s recent bounce to $93,000, Tesla’s BTC stack is now worth over $1 billion again.

HODL strategy holds firm - Tesla's steadfast grip on its Bitcoin holdings comes amid new Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rules that now require digital assets to be marked-to-market quarterly—reflecting real-time valuations instead of historic cost. This shift previously enabled Tesla to report a $600 million profit from BTC in Q4 2024.

Despite a 41% YTD stock slump and underperformance in EV deliveries, Tesla’s no-sale stance on Bitcoin suggests the company views BTC as a long-term strategic asset—similar to peers like Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Japan’s Metaplanet.

What’s next? - With Elon Musk hinting at a renewed focus on Tesla over DOGE, analysts are watching whether the company will double down on—or reconsider—its crypto strategy amid mounting financial pressure.

Bitcoin breaks out: ETFs, whales, and weak dollar fuel rally

Key points:

  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $912 million in net inflows on April 22 — the highest in over three months.

  • Bitcoin surged past $94K, briefly overtaking Google in market cap to become the world’s fifth-largest asset.

News - Investor optimism returned in dramatic fashion as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs registered over $912 million in net inflows on April 22 — their strongest single-day performance since January 21, according to Farside Investors.

CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill described the move as a “dramatic improvement in sentiment,” signaling renewed faith in Bitcoin amid macro volatility and easing U.S.–China trade tensions.

ETF momentum drives market surge - Bitcoin’s price soared past $94,000, its highest level in over seven weeks, on the back of these inflows. The rally also propelled Bitcoin’s market capitalization to $1.86 trillion, allowing it to overtake Google and become the world’s fifth-largest asset.

Analysts attribute the bullish momentum to a combination of ETF demand, institutional inflows, and softening rhetoric from President Trump on Chinese import tariffs.

Macro trends reinforce Bitcoin’s appeal - The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has declined nearly 9% year-to-date, reaching a three-year low of 98.8. This dollar weakness, alongside record gold prices, has amplified Bitcoin’s appeal as a hedge against inflation and financial instability.

Nexo’s Iliya Kalchev described the current market as a “recalibration of what safety looks like,” while Bitget’s Ryan Lee noted rising correlation between Bitcoin and gold as macro uncertainty deepens.

Whale activity and political optics - Simultaneously, whale activity has surged on Coinbase and Binance. A previous wall of resistance at $90K—believed to be from a large trader dubbed “Spoofy the Whale”—has now disappeared, indicating a shift in sentiment.

Meanwhile, reassurance from Trump that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will not be fired also helped calm markets. Arthur Hayes noted, “Dollar dips, BTC rips… dollar recovers, BTC rips again,” underscoring Bitcoin’s growing independence from traditional risk-on cycles.

What’s next? - With ETF momentum returning and macro conditions favoring crypto assets, analysts believe Bitcoin could be poised for a pre-halving breakout. Arthur Hayes even hinted that this may be “the last chance” to buy BTC under $100K.

XRP Ledger library breach fixed: 'Catastrophic' supply chain hack averted

Key points:

  • Hackers compromised Ripple’s xrpl.js NPM package, exposing DeFi wallets to backdoor risk.

  • The XRP Ledger Foundation patched the issue swiftly; no major thefts have been reported.

  • Projects like Xaman Wallet and XRPScan confirmed they were not affected.

News - A critical security flaw in the XRP Ledger’s JavaScript development library has been patched after a sophisticated supply chain attack targeted its official Node Package Manager (NPM) package — xrpl.js. The vulnerability could have enabled malicious actors to steal users' private keys from DeFi wallets built using the library.

Backdoor targeted developers, not users - The incident, first flagged by cybersecurity firm Aikido, stemmed from a compromised developer access token. Hackers quietly pushed five backdoored versions of xrpl.js — the XRP Ledger’s official SDK — which sees over 140,000 weekly downloads. If integrated, the malicious versions could have allowed attackers to siphon funds from unsuspecting applications.

“This package is used by hundreds of thousands of apps and websites, making it a potentially catastrophic supply chain attack,” Aikido’s Charlie Eriksen warned.

However, the XRP Ledger Foundation acted swiftly, deprecating the affected versions (v4.2.1–4.2.4 and v2.14.2) and urging developers to upgrade to v4.2.5 immediately. Importantly, the vulnerability didn’t affect the XRP Ledger itself — only third-party apps using the compromised versions.

No major wallets compromised - Key projects including Xaman Wallet, XRPScan, and Gen3 Games confirmed that they were not impacted. Ripple CTO David Schwartz and other developers reassured users, emphasizing that the core ledger remains unaffected.

Market reaction and institutional context - Despite the scare, XRP rose over 8% in the past 24 hours, buoyed by broader market momentum and growing institutional adoption. This week also saw XRP futures launch on Coinbase’s derivatives platform and continued ETF interest, solidifying the token’s standing in the evolving regulatory climate.

SEC drops HEX case: Richard Heart declares complete victory

Key points:

  • SEC formally ends fraud case against HEX founder Richard Heart.

  • Federal judge had earlier dismissed the complaint citing lack of jurisdiction.

  • Heart says the ruling protects open-source software and free speech.

News - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its fraud lawsuit against HEX founder Richard Schueler, better known as Richard Heart. In an April 21 letter to Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York, the SEC confirmed it would not amend its original complaint—bringing the case to a formal close.

Judge Amon had previously dismissed the SEC’s complaint in February, citing a lack of jurisdiction. She ruled that Heart’s activities involving HEX, PulseChain (PLS), and PulseX (PSLX) were not specifically aimed at U.S. investors, undercutting the regulator’s argument.

The SEC had until April 21 to refile, but chose not to do so.

A rare win against the SEC - “This is the only SEC enforcement action against a crypto participant that was dismissed entirely by a federal judge,” said Heart’s attorney David Kirk. Heart called it a landmark moment, posting on X:

“The SEC lost and crypto won across the board… This is a victory for open-source software, cryptocurrency, and free speech.”

Heart emphasized that the case had, at one point, effectively attempted to “sue software code,” a move he claimed could have set a dangerous precedent for the entire open-source ecosystem.

The SEC had initially accused Heart of raising over $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings. In December 2024, Interpol issued a Red Notice for Heart in Finland, where he was also under tax investigation.

Despite HEX hitting a high of $0.031 last year, the token has since dropped over 75%, mirroring broader altcoin declines.

Did you know?

  • Bitcoin ETFs now hold over 850,000 BTC: As of April 2025, global spot Bitcoin ETFs—including those by BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale—collectively hold over 850,000 BTC, reflecting strong institutional demand and the growing appeal of regulated Bitcoin exposure.

  • Polygon processed over 400 million transactions in March 2025: Fueled by booming activity in DeFi, gaming, and memecoins, the Polygon network handled over 400 million transactions last month—well ahead of Ethereum mainnet, showcasing its growing dominance as a scaling solution.

  • Crypto tax software demand is surging globally: Platforms like Koinly, CoinTracker, and Accointing reported record growth in Q1 2025 as crypto tax enforcement ramped up across the U.S., India, and the UK, driving more users toward automated reporting tools.

Top 3 coins of the day

Sui (SUI)

Key points:

  • At press time, SUI was trading at $2.93, up 10.17% over the last 24 hours.

  • It was one of the top gainers and trending cryptocurrencies according to CoinMarketCap.

What you should know:

Sui posted another strong daily candle amid a market-wide risk-on wave led by memecoin mania. The price jumped over 10%, building on a broader 30%+ rally this week. Volume remained robust, highlighting bullish conviction. The rally was sparked by spillover interest from memecoin surges, with traders rotating into newer ecosystem tokens like SUI. The 9-day SMA acted as dynamic support during the uptrend, while the DMI indicator confirmed increasing bullish pressure with the +DI line crossing above the -DI. Meanwhile, the ADX trending above 25 hinted at a strengthening trend. Analysts now eye the $3.00–$3.10 zone as an immediate resistance barrier, while $2.70 serves as a key short-term support. If the meme-fueled hype continues, SUI could test the psychological $3.50–$4.00 region, as noted in recent technical projections.

Bonk (BONK)

Key points:

  • At press time, BONK was trading at $0.0000154, up 1.51% over the last 24 hours.

  • It was one of the trending memecoins as trading volumes spiked.

What you should know:

Bonk continued its steady ascent following a sharp volume surge and renewed memecoin interest across the market. While the daily gain was modest, BONK’s recent price action hinted at a brewing breakout, especially as it crossed above the $0.000015 level. The Awesome Oscillator printed rising green bars, confirming building bullish momentum. Simultaneously, the Parabolic SAR dots flipped below the price for the first time since early April, supporting a short-term bullish bias. Trading volumes climbed to 1.29 trillion BONK, reinforcing speculative interest. News catalysts included comparisons to Dogecoin and other trending meme tokens, along with mentions in viral investment spotlights. Analysts now view $0.0000168–$0.000018 as the immediate resistance zone to monitor. If flipped, BONK could reattempt its late-February highs. Support rests near $0.0000135, which served as a previous accumulation floor.

Tron (TRX)

Key points:

  • At press time, TRX was trading at $0.246, down 0.81% over the last 24 hours.

  • Despite ETF speculation, price action remained rangebound amid large sell-wall concerns.

What you should know:

Tron posted a mild decline on the daily chart, despite receiving bullish attention in the media due to recent ETF-related developments. News that Canary Capital had filed for a Tron ETF with staking capabilities initially boosted sentiment, as did speculation around founder Justin Sun’s strategic Web3 push. However, the emergence of a $10.45 billion on-chain sell wall appears to have tempered momentum. From a technical lens, the Parabolic SAR dots remained below the price, signaling short-term bullish control. However, the MACD showed a weakening histogram with a flat crossover line, suggesting waning momentum. Volume also plateaued, indicating consolidation. The $0.255–$0.260 range continues to act as resistance, with $0.240 and $0.232 as key support levels below. A clean break above $0.260 could reignite a rally, but for now, TRX appears stuck in a cautious consolidation zone.

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