Crypto Daybook Americas: BTC Price Slips as Tariff Ruling Reversal Rattles Markets

By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Cryptocurrency markets fell Friday as renewed concerns over U.S. trade policy unsettled traditional markets and outweighed news that otherwise might be seen as positive for the industry.

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The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index, a measure of the broad crypto market, fell 4.4% to 3,129 in the past 24 hours. And while bitcoin (BTC) slipped 2.8% to around $105,300, it's worth keeping in mind the largest cryptocurrency has held above $100,000 for more than 20 consecutive days in a sign of persistent investor demand.

The sell-off came as a U.S. appeals court reinstated trade tariffs blocked by a lower court, which had ruled them illegal. The reversal reignited concerns of an extended trade war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview, noted that negotiations with China were “a bit stalled,” compounding the uncertainty.

“When it comes to global trade right now, the only certainty is uncertainty,” said Darren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown in an emailed statement. Adding to the macroeconomic maelstrom, Trump reportedly pushed Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates during an in-person meeting at the White House.

Bitcoin’s attraction has been clear during the uncertainty. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is at record-low volatility and drawing in billions from investors. Spot bitcoin ETFs have seen $5.85 billion in total net flows this month, up from $2.97 billion in April, according to SoSoVale data.

Adding to the momentum, Spanish banking giant Santander is reportedly considering offering retail clients access to cryptocurrencies, while Panama proposed that ships pay transit fees in its canal in BTC.

All eyes now turn to core PCE inflation data, a key gauge for Fed policy. A hot reading later this morning could dash hopes for rate cuts, potentially weighing on risk assets further.

“Any sign of worsening inflationary pressure is likely to weigh on expectations for further interest cuts by the Fed this year, which would be a worry given the inertia building in the economy,” Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of equity research wrote. Still, "the numbers need to be taken with a large pinch of salt, given that they’re yet to feel the full impact of tariffs."

For now, bitcoin’s ability to hold the psychological $100,000 line remains a key landmark amid the uncertainty. Stay alert!

What to Watch

Crypto May 30: The second round of FTX repayments starts. May 31 (TBC): Mezo mainnet launch. June 4, 10 a.m.: U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on “American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: From Blueprint to a Functional Framework.” Livestream link. June 6, 1-5 p.m.: U.S. SEC Crypto Task Force roundtable on "DeFi and the American Spirit"

Macro May 30, 8 a.m.: The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) releases Q1 GDP data. GDP Growth Rate QoQ Est. 1.4% vs. Prev. 0.2% GDP Growth Rate YoY Est. 3.2% vs. Prev. 3.6% May 30, 8 a.m.: Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography releases April unemployment rate data. Unemployment Rate Est. 2.5% vs. Prev. 2.2% May 30, 8:30 a.m.: Statistics Canada releases Q1 GDP data. GDP Growth Rate Annualized Est. 1.7% vs. Prev. 2.6% GDP Growth Rate QoQ Prev. 0.6% May 30, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases April consumer income and expenditure data. Core PCE Price Index MoM Est. 0.1% vs. Prev. 0% Core PCE Price Index YoY Est. 2.5% vs. Prev. 2.6% PCE Price Index MoM Est. 0.1% vs. Prev. 0% PCE Price Index YoY Est. 2.2% vs. Prev. 2.3% Personal Income MoM Est. 0.3% vs. Prev. 0.5% Personal Spending MoM Est. 0.2% vs. Prev. 0.7% May 30, 10 a.m.: The University of Michigan releases (final) May U.S. consumer sentiment data. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Est. 51 vs. Prev. 52.2

Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data) None in the near future.

(Estimates based on FactSet data)

Token Events

Governance votes & calls Sui DAO is voting on moving to recover approximately $220 million in funds stolen from the Cetus Protocol hack via a protocol upgrade. Voting ends June 3. May 30: Arkham CEO Miguel Morel to participate in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session. June 4, 6:30 p.m.: Synthetic to host a community call. June 10, 10 a.m.: Ether.fi to host an analyst call followed by a Q&A session.

Unlocks May 31: Optimism (OP) to unlock 1.89% of its circulating supply worth $21.68 million. June 1: Sui (SUI) to unlock 1.32% of its circulating supply worth $150.46 million. June 1: ZetaChain (ZETA) to unlock 5.34% of its circulating supply worth $10.14 million. June 12: Ethena (ENA) to unlock 0.7% of its circulating supply worth $14.18 million. June 12: Aptos (APT) to unlock 1.79% of its circulating supply worth $57.11 million.

Token Launches June 1: Rewards for staking ERC-20 OM on MANTRA Finance end. June 16: Advised deadline to unstake stMATIC as part of Lido on Polygon’s sunsetting process ends. June 26: Coinbase to delist Helium Mobile (MOBILE), Render (RNDR), Ribbon Finance (RBN), & Synapse (SYN)



Conferences

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa

Starting in June, the Central African Republic will tokenize over 1,700 hectares of land near Bangui using the government's official CAR token on the Solana blockchain.



🇨🇫 I have signed a presidential decree to tokenize over 1,700 hectares of land in the Central African Republic.



Starting June, land concessions will be accessible online using $CAR, directly on @solana.



A new era of access and transparency begins.https://t.co/d04OcRJIB7 pic.twitter.com/fzSEANEt6w — Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) May 29, 2025

A presidential decree references the nation’s mining code and recent tokenization laws, suggesting the land could be allocated for gold or diamond extraction.

The CAR token is up 10% in the past 24 hours and has gained 127% this week, with prices starting to climb even before the official announcement.

President Touadéra announced the plan on X, framing it as a step toward transparency and easier access to national resources.

The land — about the size of 2,500 football fields— lies west of Bossongo village, 45 km from the capital.

CAR, which has a market capitalization of $56.63 million and over 18,400 holders, remains down nearly 93% from its all-time high.

Derivatives Positioning

Premium in ether ETH $ 2,620.28

XLM and AVAX see negative funding rates in a sign of bias for bearish, short positions.

The one-year put-call skew on IBIT flipped positive Thursday, indicating renewed bias for put options, offering downside protection.

BTC call skews have weakened across the board on Deribit.

Block flows on Paradigm featured risk reversals and a large short strangle, involving $100K and $170K strike options, both expiring in December.

Market Movements

BTC is down 0.47% from 4 p.m. ET Thursday at $105,705.74 (24hrs: -3.08%)

ETH is down 1.01% at $2,618.44 (24hrs: -4.43%)

CoinDesk 20 is down 1.85% at 3,133.82 (24hrs: -4.59%)

Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 2 bps at 3.08%

BTC funding rate is at 0.0077% (8.388% annualized) on Binance

CoinDesk 20 Index performance (CoinDesk Indices)

DXY is up 0.31% at 99.58

Gold is down 0.74% at $3,296.9 /oz

Silver is down 0.55% at $33.13/oz

Nikkei 225 closed -1.22% at 37,965.1

Hang Seng closed -1.2% at 23,289.77

FTSE is up 0.79% at 8,785.29

Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.44% at 5,401.87

DJIA closed on Thursday +0.28% at 42,215.73

S&P 500 closed +0.4% at 5,912.17

Nasdaq closed +0.39% at 19,175.87

S&P/TSX Composite Index closed -0.28% at 26,210.6

S&P 40 Latin America closed unchanged at 2,600,63

U.S. 10-year Treasury rate is down 5 bps at 4.42%

E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.15% at 5,913.75

E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 0.17% at 21,372.75

E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are down 0.1% at 42,235

Bitcoin Stats

BTC Dominance: 63.99 (0.42%)

Ethereum to bitcoin ratio: 0.02486 (-0.28%)

Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 917 EH/s

Hashprice (spot): $54.94

Total Fees: 5.27 BTC / $566,744

CME Futures Open Interest: 153,800

BTC priced in gold: 31.7 oz

BTC vs gold market cap: 8.97%

Technical Analysis

BTC's hourly chart. (TradingView/CoinDesk)

The chart shows BTC has dropped below a trendline that represents the sharp recovery from early-April lows near $75,000.

The breakdown coincides with the bearish crossover of the 50- and 200-hour simple moving averages.

The bearish shift points to test of supports at $102K and $100K.

Crypto Equities

Strategy (MSTR): closed on Thursday at $370.63 (1.75%), down 0.48% at $368.86 in pre-market

Coinbase Global (COIN): closed at $248.84 (-2.14%), down 0.42% at $247.8

Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY): closed at C$27.05 (-3.39%)

MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $14.61 (-1.68%), down 0.82% at $14.49

Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $8.18 (-2.39%), down 0.86% at $8.11

Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $10.69 (-0.83%), unchanged

CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $8.78 (-3.62%), down 1.14% at $8.68

CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $16.9 (-2.14%)

Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $40.08 (-3%), down 0.2% at $40

Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $30.31 (16.85%), up 2.18% at $30.97

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

Daily net flow: -$346.8 million

Cumulative net flows: $44.97 billion

Total BTC holdings ~ 1.21 million

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily net flow: $91.9 million

Cumulative net flows: $2.99 billion

Total ETH holdings ~ 3.60 million

Source: Farside Investors

Overnight Flows

Chart of the Day

B2B stablecoin payment volumes. (Artemis' X handle)

The chart shows stablecoin usage in business-to-business payments has exploded from near zero two years ago to nearly $3 billion.

The data is evidence of stablecoins' growing adoption in the real economy.

While You Were Sleeping

In the Ether