Bitcoin at $96K, Trump’s tariffs, and CZ reveals his dog's name — This week in crypto

Bitcoin has been consolidating between $92,000 and $106,000, mostly maintaining a price of around $96,000. However, volatility is expected due to recent major announcements that could impact the market.

Donald Trump announced new reciprocal tariffs, stating that the U.S. will impose the same import tax rates that other countries charge on U.S. goods. A similar tariff announcement in January caused significant market fluctuations and led to some of the largest crypto liquidations in history.

In politics, the Senate confirmed RFK Jr. as the head of the Health and Human Services Department. RFK Jr. has been known for his pro-crypto stance, and his appointment is seen as a win for the industry.

Trump also nominated Jonathan Gould, a former Bitfury legal officer, to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Gould, who previously worked at the OCC as senior deputy comptroller, is seen as a pro-crypto regulator and supports fair banking access for crypto firms.

Ether saw a major development as the Cboe BZX Exchange filed a proposal to amend its listing rules to allow staking in the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF. If approved, this would be the first ETF to incorporate staking, a significant milestone for Ethereum investors.

The BNB memecoin market is surging, with PancakeSwap surpassing Uniswap in daily and weekly trading volume. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as CZ indirectly fueled this trend by sharing a photo of his dog, leading to multiple new memecoin launches.

Meanwhile, Pump.fun trading volume has plummeted , averaging $560 million per day—an 82% drop from its $3.13 billion peak. Token migrations to Raydium have also slowed, with only 1.04% of tokens graduating.

Finally, OpenSea launched OS2 in open beta, introducing a cross-chain NFT and token marketplace supporting 14 blockchains. OpenSea also confirmed an upcoming SEA token airdrop, with U.S. users eligible, though details remain undisclosed.