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Argentina’s lower house of Congress has approved a series of measures aimed at probing the LIBRA cryptocurrency that rocked the country after being promoted by President Javier Milei earlier this year.

In a special session called by the “Democracy Forever” bloc, deputies passed three resolutions: the formation of an investigative commission, the summons of top government officials, and a formal request for information from the executive branch.

Among those summoned are Chief of Cabinet Guillermo Francos, Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona and the head of the National Securities Commission, Roberto Silva, according to the official release from the Chamber of Deputies in Argentina. The resolutions passed with a comfortable majority but faced strong opposition, revealing a split across party lines.

“The time has come for Congress to audit whether there is any harm to Argentina: we have a commitment to the truth,” said Deputy Pablo Juliano, one of the initiative’s backers. Others, like Deputy Nicolás Mayoraz of the ruling La Libertad Avanza (LLA), pushed back, accusing lawmakers of assuming “powers that belong solely to the Judiciary” and politicizing the issue.

From the Civic Coalition, Deputy Maximiliano Ferraro said that society “has the right to know the truth” and that Congress’ duty was to “demand and investigate it.” Ruling party bloc leader Gabriel Bornoroni, at the close of the debate, suggested opposition lawmakers were “putting on a show.”

“I think it bothers them that we had a fiscal surplus throughout 2024 and that we’ll have one this year too — and that inflation continues to fall every month,” Bornoroni said. The LIBRA memecoin fiasco, research shows, destroyed over $250 million in investor wealth.

The token’s price surged shortly after being launched in early February after Milei promoted the project on X, saying it would “focus on encouraging the growth of the Argentine economy, funding small businesses, and Argentine ventures.”

Milei’s promotion saw various crypto addresses move in, allowing insiders to offload massive amounts of tokens on these investors to the point the token’s market capitalization then endured a 90% drop.

Disclaimer: Information gathered for this article was translated with the use of artificial intelligence.

The American legal tradition of federalism, balancing state authority with federal control, is being tested by a new frontier: online prediction markets.

At the center of everything is Donald Trump Jr., advised Kalshi. Nevada and New Jersey have issued cease-and-desist orders against Kalshi over the prediction market’s sports contracts, claiming they violate state gambling laws.

But Kalshi has hit back, arguing that what it offers isn’t gambling and that it’s regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Commodities Exchange Act as it is a prediction market, not a gambling venue – an argument that crypto attorney Aaron Brogan says should be an easy win in court.

“I think clearly Kalshi is going to win these cases,” Brogan said in an interview with CoinDesk. “If you look at the language of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), it says that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over any contracts that fall within its regulatory purview, which derivative contracts and event contracts clearly do.”

Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket operate as neutral intermediaries, matching orders just like any other exchange under CFTC purview. There’s no sportsbook with a prediction market; the operator of the market doesn’t bet against its users.

For prediction market operators, sports has been a significant growth area. Data from Polymarket Analytics shows the category has surpassed the 2024 election for volume.

“[Kalshi is] not taking a side of the bet as the market in that case, which fundamentally changes the incentives involved and makes the product different in a holistic way,” Brogan explained.

Kalshi has self-certified these event contracts with the CFTC, a process allowing federally regulated derivatives exchanges to list new products by attesting their compliance with regulatory requirements without needing explicit pre-approval from the agency.

For its part, the CFTC seems to be receptive to the argument that the outcomes of sports games are commodities, with President Donald Trump’s pick to run the commission, Brian Quintenz, arguing in 2021 that they can serve a legitimate economic purpose as hedging instruments, distinct from pure betting activities, and thus should not automatically be prohibited under the CEA.

Brogan recognizes the reasoning behind Nevada’s concerns, given the state’s historical reliance on gambling revenues.

However, he points out that Nevada’s actions against Kalshi could inadvertently raise serious questions about the legitimacy of Nevada’s own gambling markets.

By categorizing Kalshi’s federally regulated event contracts as gambling, Nevada regulators have unintentionally highlighted that their own state-approved gambling operations, such as sports betting markets and other event-based wagering, might themselves technically qualify as derivative contracts.

“In that case, federal preemption could theoretically crowd out state authority to oversee those gambling markets at all,” said Brogan.

A victory for Kalshi, said Brogan, could transform American sports betting culture entirely if it’s done through prediction markets instead of traditional gambling companies.

Brogan notes that if Kalshi prevails, states could respond politically or legally, possibly lobbying Congress or filing an Administrative Procedure Act claim against the CFTC, although he doubts such challenges would succeed.

Ultimately, Kalshi’s litigation against state regulators presents a landmark federalism dilemma: Can states retain traditional authority over gambling regulation, or will federal regulatory frameworks dominate in the digital age?

“This is incredibly complicated,” Brogan concluded, “and we’re right on the cusp of litigation that could definitively define who will predominate. It’s complex, but it’s going to be really important.”

Majors XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) are each seeing a roughly 6% price slump in the past 24 hours amid broader macroeconomic pressures.

Recent market narratives show uncertainty around U.S. policies, including tariffs and a hawkish Federal Reserve stance with fewer expected rate cuts in 2025, providing the fundamental backdrop for a move further lower in crypto majors.

Here’s what technical analysis and price-action indicate for these tokens in the near term.

XRP Price Analysis

XRP, the token closely related to payments firm Ripple Labs, is below critical support levels with the next support threshold around the $1.60 mark. High leverage in XRP trading positions, as Coinglass data shows, hints at potential for more downward pressure before any recovery.

A potential double bottom pattern has formed near $1.80; the overall market structure remains bearish despite modest recovery attempts from the $1.60-$1.70 range.

Technical indicators show deeply oversold conditions with RSI at 22.41, while the MACD and Chaikin Money Flow (-0.17) signal strong bearish momentum as money flows out of the asset.

The 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $1.91 is currently acting as a pivotal point for a potential trend reversal in the near term.

Price action shows a series of lower highs from the $2 support zone. A bullish divergence has formed on lower timeframes, suggesting stabilization. This will now act as a resistance level after previously being a critical support level.

Momentum indicators have shifted from bearish to neutral in recent trading. RSI indicates oversold conditions, suggesting potential for a reversal if bullish momentum builds. The MACD shows a bearish crossover, reinforcing a downward bias unless a reversal signal emerges.

SOL Price Analysis

SOL is down over 8% in a week and in a crucial support zone between $100 and $110. The current slump suggests it may be revisiting these levels or even lower, with thin liquidity below $100 potentially leading to a sharper fall toward as low as $50.

SOL experienced a dramatic 22% drop from $122.75 to $95.72 between April 5-7, with partial recovery establishing a new trading range between $103-$112.

Major Solana whales unstaked and dumped significant holdings, with one transaction worth approximately $30 million coinciding with a $200 million token unlock event.

Needs to reclaim $112 to target $120; failure could see a drop to $96. The RSI is consistently below 40, indicating strong bearish momentum and oversold conditions.

MACD shows bearish crossovers, aligning with a downward trend. Price is below key moving averages ($130.5 and $184.2), reinforcing bearish bias.

Technical structure suggests more downside risk unless $112 is reclaimed.

ADA Price Analysis

ADA has similarly declined by about 6% in the past 24 hours and down over 23% in the past two weeks.

Daily RSI is at 32, suggesting ADA is nearing oversold territory (typically below 30) but still has room for further downside before a potential reversal. This indicates bearish momentum persists, though exhaustion may be nearing.

ADA is trading below its 21-day moving averages on a daily timeframe, confirming a bearish trend.

However, ADA is currently within a falling wedge pattern on the daily timeframe. This is typically a bullish reversal pattern, with a dip to 60 cents– 61 cents expected before a potential sharp upward reversal, possibly forming a bear trap.

Outlook

For XRP, watch $1.62 as a pivotal support; a break below could see it target $1 or lower, while a bounce might signal a short-term relief rally. SOL’s fate hinges on holding $100—failure here could accelerate losses, but oversold conditions might spark a rebound if macro pressures ease. ADA bulls needs to defend its current range to avoid a slide toward 55 cents.

The worst fears for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, are coming true, and that has raised the risk of bitcoin (BTC) falling below $74,000 in a move that could shake out leveraged long bets.

On Sunday, CoinDesk discussed the possibility of pronounced downside volatility in risk assets due to a potential unwinding of the Treasury market arbitrage bets, a dynamic that catalyzed the 2020 crash.

Per observers, the unwinding of the so-called carry trades, involving hedge funds exploiting minor price discrepancies between Treasury futures and securities, has begun. That’s evident from the nearly 70 basis points rise in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield to 4.5%. The 30-year yield has seen a similar rise. Note that yields move in the opposite direction of prices and typically drop during risk aversion as investors seek refuge in government bonds.

“It’s all running vertical now with 30-year Treasury yields on the cusp of hitting the 5% mark. For some context, 10-year yields in the US were at a low of 3.88% on Monday. This points to further liquidation in Treasuries and that’s a sign that we are seeing distress in the parts of the market that we should not normally talk about i.e. funding, credit, repo,” ForexLive’s analyst Justin Low said in a market update discussing the implosion of the basis trade.

Low added that it’s “all going sideways at the moment” as a sharp rise in yields itself can have a far-reaching impact on markets, housing and the economy.

Stocks drop, BTC under pressure

Futures tied to the S&P 500, Wall Street’s benchmark equity index, fell 2% amid increased volatility in the Treasury market. Bitcoin fell briefly below $75,000 early today and has since recovered to trade near $76,000, CoinDesk data showed.

The MOVE index, which represents the options-implied 30-day price turbulence in the Treasury market, jumped to 140, the highest since October 2023, according to data source TradingView.

The worsening of the risk sentiment has raised the risk of BTC falling to the $73.8K-$74.4K range, where holders of bullish long positions in the perpetual futures listed on major exchanges face liquidation risks, according to data tracked by analytics firm Hyblock Capital.

Liquidation represents the forced closure of positions by exchanges due to margin shortages. Large long liquidations often add to downside price volatility.

“We see long liquidation clusters (where we estimate liquidations to get triggered) at 73800-74400, 69800-70000, 66100-67700. In particular, if we hit 70k, we likely go down at least $200 more, taking the retail stop losses right below 70k and the liquidation levels liquidity,” Hyblock told CoinDesk.

On the higher side, Hyblock identified $80,900-$81,000, $85,500-$86,700, and $89,500-$92,600 as prominent zones for potential short liquidations.

Bitcoin (BTC) dipped to nearly $75,000 early Wednesday, before slightly recovering, as Trump’s sweeping global tariffs went into effect on Wednesday.

Ether (ETH) dived 10%, leading losses among major tokens, with xrp (XRP), dogecoin (DOGE), BNB Chain’s BNB, Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA down more than 5%. Overall market capitalization decreased 6%, extending a 7-day slide to nearly 15%.

Smaller tokens showed even deeper losses, with trendy upstart Berachain’s BERA down 20% and memecoins bonk (BONK), pepe (PEPE) and floki (FLOKI) down more than 9%.

Traders’ retreat from crypto majors continued, reversing all gains from Tuesday’s relief rally as Trump pushes forward efforts to drastically reorder global trade. Tariffs on any Chinese goods were hiked to 104%, along with import taxes on over 60 trading partners.

U.S. treasuries extended their selloff, with 30-year yields soaring more than 20 basis points to 4.98%. That’s a U-turn from the usual safe haven status that bond investors enjoy and a deeply worrying sign for traders.

Some market watchers speculated the sell-off may have been caused by a forced liquidation of a large player.

“Since Friday’s close to now the 30-year yield is up 56 bps, in three trading days,” Jim Bianco, the well-followed founder of Bianco Research, said in an X post. “The last time this yield rose this much in 3 days (close to close) was January 7, 1982, when the yield was 14%.”

“This kind of historic move is caused by a forced liquidation, not human managers make decisions about the outlook for rates at midnight ET,” he added.

Rising yields mean bond prices are falling and increase the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government, which could exacerbate the federal deficit, already strained by heavy debt levels.

Investors worry that a prolonged trade war could weaken global trade, disrupt supply chains, and slow U.S. economic growth. This could further pressure U.S equity markets and bitcoin, which tends to mirror the ebbs and flows of U.S. markets.

The current selloff suggests the market is pricing in inflation now, but prolonged uncertainty could flip this dynamic.

Bears take charge

Meanwhile, some traders are eyeing a bitcoin drop to as low as $70,000 in the near term amid the tariff escalations, a move that could further pressure crypto majors.

“For investors, the short-term outlook calls for caution, while a further drop to $70,000–$75,000 for Bitcoin is possible if trade tensions escalate, yet this dip presents a buying opportunity for the long haul,” Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

“Dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin is a prudent move now, with an eye on altcoins like Solana for higher-risk upside later.” Lee remained upbeat for recovery to peak prices if the situation lightens in the coming months.

“If macro conditions stabilize or pro-crypto policies emerge, we could see Bitcoin hit $95,000–$100,000 by late 2025, lifting the market cap past $3 trillion again. While tariff pressures and a risk-off sentiment have hit altcoins hard, Bitcoin’s resilience and rising dominance near 60% suggest the ecosystem’s fundamentals remain solid, supported by institutional adoption and long-term tailwinds like the halving cycle,” he added.

The latest price moves and insights with Jennifer Sanasie and The Crypto Trader author Glen Goodman.

To get the show every day, follow the podcast here.

The Crypto Trader author Glen Goodman joins CoinDesk to discuss whether investors should buy the dip in crypto following the recent market crash. Plus, long-term outlook on bitcoin’s price and the correlation between BTC and the stocks market.

This content should not be construed or relied upon as investment advice. It is for entertainment and general information purposes.

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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “Markets Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The latest price moves and insights with Jennifer Sanasie and veteran trader Bill Noble.

To get the show every day, follow the podcast here.

Veteran trader and YouTube creator Bill Noble joins CoinDesk to discuss the “Black Monday” market crash that took place in 1987 and its similarities to the recent volatility across major cryptocurrencies. Plus, insights into the macroeconomic conditions and the future of digital assets.

This content should not be construed or relied upon as investment advice. It is for entertainment and general information purposes.

–

This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “Markets Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bitcoin investors may not exactly feel it, but BTC has been a relatively good bet since President Trump’s tariff plans last week resulted in historic losses in traditional markets. While stocks and other mainstream investments have been falling off a cliff since the “Liberation Day” announcement April 2, bitcoin has remained relatively steady losing “only” 8% of its value.

“I think this is the most bullish 8% drawdown I’ve ever seen in bitcoin,” said Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, a leading crypto investment manager.

Based on historical data, you would expect bitcoin to have three times the volatility of the Nasdaq, Pandl said. And yet while the Nasdaq was down 15% at the beginning of trading April 8 (compared to April 2), bitcoin was nowhere near 45% down.

In other words, an 8% decline is a positive as historical patterns predicted a far steeper tumble.

“I think crypto investors should be extremely pleased with the modest pullback in bitcoin,” Pandl, a former analyst at Goldman Sachs, told CoinDesk.

“It reflects that tariffs — while they are a short term risk-off event for markets — are probably to be something that’s supportive for bitcoin adoption in the longer run. I think the relatively moderate drawdown reflects that,” he added.

Pandl is bullish on bitcoin in an environment where the dollar is potentially losing its place as a global reserve currency.

“Stagflation is going to be negative for stocks and bonds, and, historically, that has been positive for scarce commodities. Investors who are concerned by stagflation are looking for alternative assets that can drive returns. In traditional markets that might be gold or copper, and bitcoin,” he said.

Pandl says bitcoin’s relatively good performance reflects a rotation away from large-cap tech stocks towards commodity assets like bitcoin. You can see this in the performance of bitcoin against Roundhill “Magnificent 7 ETF.” You can now buy more of that ETF with one bitcoin compared to a week ago.

To those who subscribe to Bitcoin’s long-term investment thesis as a safe haven in uncertain times, the last few days have been a test case where bitcoin is winning. In theory, say these advocates, bitcoin should benefit as investors seek alternatives to dollars in times of stress.

“If you believe that the erosion of the dollar’s position is part of the bitcoin thesis, then your conviction in that thesis in the last week should have gone up,” Pandl says.

He expects bitcoin’s price to rise in the medium-term, reaching new all-time-highs this year.

“The price of bitcoin is down but conviction is up and there’s no need to change the medium term price outlook,” he said.

The crypto market’s relief rally fizzled out on Tuesday as stocks gave up big early gains and turned lower alongside the Trump administration’s plan to imminently enforce punitive tariffs against China .

After staging a brief rally to the $80,000 mark, bitcoin (BTC) had slumped back to $76,500 before stabilizing below $78,000. Recently, the top cryptocurrency was down 1.2% in the last 24 hours, while ether (ETH) lost nearly 4% over the same period and fell below $1,500. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, except for stablecoins, memecoins and exchange coins — was down 2.2%.

Crypto equities have also taken a hit, with bitcoin miner Bitdeer (BTDR) leading the way with a 8.7% loss. Strategy (MSTR) is down 5.3% and Coinbase (COIN) 2.3%. One outlier is DeFi Technologies (DEFTF), which is up 10.27%, potentially due to an expectation from some of its shareholders that the Toronto-based company could soon follow in Galaxy Digital’s (GLXY) footsteps and get listed on the U.S. Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively — modest losses, but sharply reversed from roughly 4% advances earlier in the session.

The price action happened as the White House announced during the day that 104% additional tariffs on Chinese goods would take effect at midnight on Tuesday. The tariff news put additional pressure on the Chinese currency, with the offshore yuan (CNH) rapidly depreciating against the U.S. dollar during the day to 7.4, its weakest levels in years.

Some have suggested that Beijing could respond to the tariffs by allowing a sizable weakening in the yuan, thus making China’s exports more competitive than otherwise. Bitcoin bulls have seized on that idea, noting a devaluation in the yuan would surely lead to capital flight from China, with at least some of that money potentially looking to hide out in bitcoin.

“If not the Fed then the PBOC will give us the yahtzee ingredients,” wrote Arthur Hayes. “It worked in 2013 , 2015, and can work in 2025,” he continued. “Ignore China at your own peril.”

Read more: Bitcoin Analysts Optimistic as China Surprisingly Fixes Yuan Beyond 7.2 Level

“We are currently in a phase of heightened uncertainty, with persistent trade disputes, geopolitical friction, active conflicts and growing fears of a global slowdown,” Kirill Kretov of cryptocurrency trading automation platform CoinPanel told CoinDesk in a Telegram note.

The choppy market conditions will likely remain, Kretov noted, with shallow liquidity on crypto and traditional markets exacerbating volatility. “Until more participants adjust to and capitalize on this environment, we’re unlikely to see a strong directional trend,” he added.

Borrowing demand across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols plunged sharply in the wake of the recent crypto market turmoil, a sign of widespread deleveraging as crypto investors unwound risky positions.

The average U.S. dollar stablecoin yield — what protocols pay out to lenders for lending out their assets — fell to 2.8% on Tuesday to its lowest level in a year, measured by DeFi yield-earning application vaults.fyi’s benchmark. That’s well below the average U.S. dollar money market rates on traditional markets (4.3%), and a hefty decline from mid-December’s crypto market peak, when DeFi rates topped 18%.

“This is largely due to the market moving towards a risk-off environment where borrowing across protocols has decreased significantly,” said Ryan Rodenbaugh, CEO of Wallfacer Labs, the team behind vaults.fyi.

The move reflects risk-off sentiment spreading across crypto markets, with investors pulling back leverage amid volatile price swings. As users repay loans and liquidations clear out under-collateralized positions, demand for borrowing dips. Meanwhile, deposits available for lending on protocols remained stable, per vaults.fyi data, meaning that declining revenue from borrowers are spread among the same amount of lenders, exerting downward pressure on yields.

That’s a “negative double-whammy” for the rates that the remaining lenders are getting paid, Rodenbaugh said.

The sharp decline in yields and deleveraging was exacerbated by this weekend’s carnage in crypto markets, as major DeFi lending protocols reported a wave of liquidations amid rapidly plunging asset prices. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum’s ETH, two assets predominantly used as collateral for crypto loans, suffered 10%-15% declines below $75,000 and $1,500, respectively.

Aave, the largest decentralized lending market by total value locked (TVL), processed over $110 million in forced liquidations during the Sunday-Monday market decline, Omer Goldberg, CEO of DeFi analytics firm Chaos Labs, noted citing on-chain data.

Sky (formerly MakerDAO), issuer of the $7 billion USDS stablecoin and one of DeFi’s largest lending platforms, also liquidated an ether whale’s $74 million DAI loan collateralized by 67,570 ETH, worth $106 million at the time, on-chain data shows. Another large lender with 65,000 ETH in collateral scrambled to pay off portions of their $66 million loan to avoid a similar fate, bringing down the outstanding debt to $28 million.

The total value of borrowed assets on Aave dropped to $10 billion on Tuesday, a sharp drop from over $15 billion in mid-December, DefiLlama data shows. Morpho, another key lending protocol, saw a similar drop to $1.7 billion from $2.4 billion during the same period, per DefiLlama.