Tariff block blocked?

Daily Updates:

• President Trump’s onslaught of tariffs since February this year was called into question on Wednesday evening as the US Court of International Trade declared the Trump administration wrongly invoked a 1977 law in imposing his Liberation Day tariffs and earlier levies, making them illegal. Yesterday evening however, a federal appeals court granted an order that temporarily pauses the International Trade Court’s ruling, meaning the block on Trump’s tariffs is now on hold – the court did not announce however how long that order will last.

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• The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA’s) second estimate for Q1 2025 GDP showed the US economy decreased at a pace of 0.2% annualised, a slower pace than the initial 0.3% decline that was reported – reflecting stronger than expected business investment and private inventory investment (companies accumulating more inventory than previously expected). Consumer spending however, which has over the past few years accounted for ⅔ of GDP, rose at a pace of 1.2% (a downward revision from the initial estimate of 1.8%), while net exports subtracted 4.9 percentage points from the final GDP calculation. 

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• Wall Street pared back most of its gains over yesterday’s trading session, with the S&P 500 ending the day +0.4%. 
• US treasuries gained, and the 2Y treasury yield dropped to 3.92% as traders currently price in 55 basis points of rate cuts by January 2026. 

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• Both BTC and ETH trade close to the lower bounds of the respective price range they have traded within over the past week. For BTC that means a spot price in the low $105K region, and for ETH, a spot price closer to $2,500. 
• That range bound spot activity means short-dated volatility expectations continue to remain in the low 40%, resulting in a steepening of the term structure of volatility. 
• That is in contrast to ETH’s still inverted term structure, which has yet to return to BTC’s “normal” and steep shape. 
• Short-tenor volatility smile skews remain tilted towards OTM calls for ETH, however for BTC, 7-day and 14-day options currently assign a slight implied volatility premium for OTM puts, relative to calls.
  
  
• Banco Santander, one of Europe's largest banks by market capitalization and Spain's largest bank, is considering expanding its digital asset business.
• According to Bloomberg, the bank is actively exploring the issuance of its own stablecoin and the provision of cryptocurrency to retail investors. 

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• The Ethereum Foundation borrowed $2M in Aave’s GHO stablecoins using ETH as collateral, marking a strategic shift toward DeFi-based funding. This move allows Ethereum Foundation to preserve its ETH holdings and avoid market disruptions from asset sales, aligning with community calls for more sustainable treasury practices.

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• Alchemy Pay has partnered with Trump-backed World Liberty Financial Inc. to increase the availability of the USD1 stablecoin through its global fiat-crypto payment network. The integration enables users in 173 countries to purchase the USD1 stablecoin.

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• SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ:SBET) surged 1,067% in a week after announcing a $425 million private placement to acquire ETH, making it the first company to use Ethereum as a primary treasury reserve asset. Previous to this move, the company’s core business struggled, with annual revenues falling 31% and quarterly revenues down 24% year-over-year.

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• Binance and the SEC have filed a joint stipulation of dismissal to dismiss previous claims against Binance, its U.S. arm (BAM entities), and founder CZ with them including operating and selling unregistered securities, securities exchanges, broker-dealer and clearing agencies.

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