European Central Bank Lowered Interest Rates – Market Info

Since April 11, 2025, the cryptocurrency market capitalization has increased by 14%. At the time of writing, the market capitalization stands at 2.55 trillion euros. Bitcoin’s dominance continues to rise, having increased by another percentage point. However, market sentiment is improving, evidenced by the jump in the Fear and Greed index from 25 to 52, bringing us into a neutral market sentiment.

European Central Bank Lowered Interest Rates

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday a reduction of its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.25%. This move comes at a time of ongoing global tensions, particularly visible through trade disputes and uncertainty in global markets. According to the ECB, this is a response to worsening economic prospects caused by international conflicts and geopolitical risks.

ECB President Christine Lagarde emphasized that rising uncertainty is affecting the behavior of both businesses and consumers. Companies are postponing investments, and consumers are spending more cautiously, slowing economic growth. The interest rate cut is a tool the ECB is using to encourage lending, boost consumption, and stabilize the eurozone economy.

Interestingly, this marks the seventh rate cut in the past twelve months. This trend reflects the ECB’s long-term efforts to respond to global economic challenges through monetary policy easing.

While the ECB continues to lower rates, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has decided to keep rates unchanged. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed concerns about the negative impacts of trade disputes on the U.S. economy and emphasized the need to maintain monetary policy independence. The ECB shares this view, as evidenced by its public support for central bank independence.

Lowering interest rates has a significant impact on investment decisions. In a low-interest environment, traditional savings products become less attractive, which may encourage investors to seek alternatives. In this context, cryptocurrencies have previously proven to be interesting assets for portfolio diversification during periods of low interest rates.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are sometimes referred to as “digital gold”—assets that can serve as a hedge against inflation or a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty. Source

What Happened to the OM Token and What Are the Next Steps?

Back on April 13, 2025, the OM token from the crypto project Mantra crashed from a price of $6.32 to around $0.49—all within a matter of minutes. This dramatic drop shocked investors and caused significant losses. The collapse was mainly driven by so-called forced liquidations on exchanges, which were triggered automatically when the token’s price began to plummet.

Source: Cointelegraph

The issue also arose from the fact that many traders held OM tokens through leveraged trading, meaning they borrowed money to trade. Such trades work well when prices are rising. But when prices start to fall, exchanges automatically close their positions if traders don’t have enough collateral to cover their trades. This led to massive sell-offs within a short period of time.

The most liquidations occurred on the Bybit exchange, where OM tokens worth up to $71 million were sold within minutes. These sales happened during the so-called “dead hours”—that is, over the weekend, when there were few traders in the market. The massive sell-off of tokens at a time when there were few buyers on the other side caused a sharp price drop.

The situation was further complicated by large token movements shortly before the crash. Blockchain evidence shows that 17 crypto wallets transferred a total of 43.6 million OM tokens to the Binance and OKX exchanges just before the sell-off. This raised questions about whether some investors had prior knowledge of what was coming.

Another problem was low liquidity. This means that OM tokens were being traded infrequently—there weren’t enough people willing to buy them. When too many tokens hit the market at once, the price couldn’t hold. It’s like trying to sell luxury watches in a village where no one is interested—you have to keep lowering the price until someone is willing to buy.

In response to the crisis, Mantra founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin announced the burning of 150 million OM tokens owned by the team, which were originally locked until 2027. The unstaking of the tokens began on April 21 and is set to be completed by April 29, after which the tokens will be burned and permanently removed from circulation. This move will reduce the supply of OM tokens, which is expected to help revive its price. Mullin called it the “first step in restoring trust.”

Mantra is also negotiating with other partners to burn an additional 150 million tokens, which would bring the total number of permanently burned OM tokens to 300 million. The total supply would thus fall to 1.67 billion, and the number of staked tokens would be reduced by more than 26%. Mantra also claims that the burning will increase yields for investors staking their OM tokens, as it will reduce the so-called bonded ratio, which will result in higher staking rewards. Source 1 / Source 2

Coinbase Considering Obtaining a U.S. Banking License

Crypto giant Coinbase has confirmed that it is actively considering obtaining a banking license in the United States. The reason is the growing regulatory changes that are pushing companies in the cryptocurrency sector to move closer to traditional financial institutions. If Coinbase were to obtain the license, it would rank among the 25 largest banks in the U.S. based on assets under management.

Coinbase is not the only one thinking in this direction. According to the Wall Street Journal, other major crypto companies such as Circle (issuer of the USDC stablecoin) and BitGo (a crypto custody firm) are considering the same move. Obtaining a banking license would allow these companies to offer services such as accepting deposits, lending, and deposit insurance, similar to traditional banks.

The license would also open the door to deposit protection through the Federal Reserve, potentially raising safety standards for clients. However, obtaining such a license is challenging, as demonstrated by the example of Anchorage Digital, which had to invest tens of millions of dollars to meet regulatory requirements.

This entire trend is taking place at a time when the political climate in the U.S. is more favorable toward cryptocurrencies. Under President Trump’s administration, regulatory agencies like the SEC have been more lenient toward crypto, and Congress is reviewing new legislation that could bring more clarity to the sector. Even traditional banks, such as Bank of America, are beginning to talk about launching their own stablecoins and integrating cryptocurrencies into their services. Source

Tesla Did Not Sell Any Bitcoin in Q1 2025

Tesla announced that during the first quarter of 2025, it did not sell any of its Bitcoin holdings. The company continues to hold cryptocurrencies valued at over $1 billion. Since the last major Bitcoin movement in Q3 2024, the company has not actively traded the cryptocurrency—only a technical transfer between wallets took place.

Despite Bitcoin’s price fluctuations in recent months, Tesla has chosen to continue holding its crypto assets. The last significant sale occurred in 2022, when the company offloaded about 75% of its portfolio. Interestingly, after the most recent transfer in 2024, Bitcoin’s price briefly surged to $67,000. Today, Bitcoin is trading around $90,000, having risen by approximately 7% in the last month alone.

Although Tesla is not currently acquiring more Bitcoin, its increasing value is positively affecting the company’s financial results. New accounting rules allow firms to report gains from the rising value of cryptocurrencies, which is reflected in Tesla’s figures. Additionally, investor interest in Bitcoin ETFs—investment funds tied to Bitcoin’s price—is growing, further increasing market activity.

However, it’s not just about Tesla. Another Musk-owned company, SpaceX, also holds Bitcoin. Together, these companies hold approximately 20,000 Bitcoins, which, at the current price, represents a value of over $1.8 billion.

The fact that large companies like Tesla and SpaceX continue to hold Bitcoin may signal that they view cryptocurrencies as a long-term component of their portfolios. This doesn’t guarantee that prices will keep rising, but it does suggest that major players see potential in Bitcoin. For the average investor, it’s a reminder that cryptocurrencies can be an interesting part of a diversified portfolio. Source

Bitcoin Is Rising Again. What’s Behind Its Latest Surge?

On Tuesday afternoon, Bitcoin climbed above the $93,000 level, marking an increase of nearly 7% from Tuesday to Wednesday. Investors responded positively to reports suggesting that tensions in trade relations between the U.S. and China might soon ease. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that the current situation is unsustainable and referred to it as a “trade embargo,” while expressing optimism about a near-term resolution.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the current trade tensions between the two economies as “unsustainable” and even used the term “trade embargo.” However, he voiced hope that an agreement could be reached soon. At the same time, President Donald Trump announced plans to significantly reduce tariffs on Chinese products, which currently reach as high as 145%. He also reassured the public that he does not intend to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, further calming nerves in financial markets. The reaction to these announcements was almost immediate—Bitcoin’s price shot up to $93,400, reaching its highest levels since March 2025.

Bitcoin wasn’t the only asset benefiting from the positive news. Ethereum surged by more than 10%, surpassing the $1,800 mark. Cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and SUI posted similar gains. Alongside the crypto market, stocks also rose—the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices closed the day with gains of over 2.5%. In contrast, the price of gold slightly declined as some investors shifted their funds into riskier but more profitable assets.

Even though the numbers look promising, analysts remain cautious. According to data from CryptoQuant, demand for Bitcoin is not yet stable. Over the past month, the volume of BTC held on exchanges has decreased by approximately 146,000 coins. While this indicates a lower interest in trading, it may also suggest that investors are moving their BTC for long-term holding purposes. Source

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