Bitcoin (BTC) faced mixed forces on March 27 as a combination of fresh US trade tariffs and macroeconomic data weighed on risk assets.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Gold leaves Bitcoin in the dust amid tariff woes

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price volatility returning at the Wall Street open.

BTC/USD displayed uncertain trading behavior in line with US stocks as the second revision of US Q4 GDP came in above the median forecast of 2.3%. 

At the same time, initial jobless claims fell short of estimates, potentially emboldening more hawkish financial policy from the Federal Reserve in the form of higher interest rates.

However, the main talking point among market commentators was tariffs on non-US-made cars imposed by President Donald Trump. These added to existing concerns over a round of tariffs due to commence on April 2.

“These tariffs are going to have MASSIVE implications,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of its response on X, noting the UK’s $10 billion auto export market to the US.

Already sensitive to tariff surprises, risk assets thus failed to climb, with the clear winner from the latest news being gold.

XAU/USD hit new all-time highs of $3,059 per ounce on the day, repeating an existing trend of gaining while Bitcoin treads water.

“Gold has now added +$7 trillion of market cap over the last 12 months. It’s also nearing $21 trillion in market cap for the first time in history,” Kobeissi added. 

“Gold is telling us something.”

XAU/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

BTC price gets $91,000 short-term target

Some positive BTC price perspectives nonetheless remained on the day.

Related: Bitcoin price prediction markets bet BTC won’t go higher than $138K in 2025

Popular trader Titan of Crypto eyed a potential climb to $91,000 as part of an upside breakout from a “bullish pennant” on the 4-hour BTC/USD chart.

BTC/USDT perpetual swaps 4-hour chart. Source: Titan of Crypto/X

This week, Titan of Crypto revealed a breakout on daily timeframes, ending a multimonth downtrend.

Continuing on the latter theme, fellow trader Mikybull Crypto gave a BTC price target of $112,000.

“Market structure is shifting – is the pump finally here?” another popular trading account, Merlijn The Trader, queried about the breakout.

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Mikybull Crypto/X

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Lawmakers in the US Senate Banking Committee questioned prospective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins on his ties to the crypto industry and how he might regulate digital assets if confirmed.

Questioning Atkins at his nomination hearing on March 27, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the committee’s ranking member, said the former SEC commissioner had had “staggeringly bad judgment” in his role leading up to the 2008 financial crisis — Atkins served at the agency from 2002 to 2008.

Sen. Warren also asked Atkins to disclose the buyers of his consulting firm Patomak Global Partners — which advised crypto exchange FTX before its collapse in 2022 — for transparency about potential conflicts of interest with the digital asset industry.

“Your clients pay you north of $1,200 an hour for advice on how to influence regulators like the SEC, and if you’re confirmed, you will be in a prime spot to deliver for all those clients who’ve been paying you millions of dollars for years,” said Sen. Warren, suggesting Atkins’ judgment “will be influenced by more than an objective assessment of the data.”

Paul Atkins addressing lawmakers at March 27 nomination hearing. Source: US Senate Banking Committee

The Massachusetts senator sent a letter to Donald Trump’s SEC pick on March 23, calling on him to be prepared to answer questions related to his potential role at the agency based on his ties to the crypto industry through Patomak.

At the March 27 hearing, Sen. Warren asked Atkins to disclose the consulting firm’s potential buyers — he said he planned to sell the company if confirmed — who might be “buying access to the future chair of the SEC.” 

Atkins said he would “abide by the process” but did not directly answer Sen. Warren’s question. She suggested that the sale of Patomak could be a “pre-bribe” for the former SEC commissioner’s services.

Related: Hester Peirce calls for SEC rulemaking to ‘bake in’ crypto regulation

Sen. Warren’s questions on conflicts of interest over digital assets contrasted with statements from Republican lawmakers like Committee Chair Tim Scott, who criticized the direction of the SEC under former Chair Gary Gensler. In his opening statement at the hearing, Senator Scott claimed Atkins would provide “long overdue clarity for digital assets.” 

“A top priority of my chairmanship will be to work with my fellow Commissioners and Congress to provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent, and principled approach,” Atkins said in a prepared statement released before the hearing. 

Since Trump nominated Atkins as his pick to replace Gensler as SEC chair in December, many executives in the crypto industry have offered their support. Though members of the Senate Banking Committee had not voted on Atkins’ nomination as of March 27, the SEC seems to have adopted a friendlier approach to crypto firms since Trump took office and appointed Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair of the agency. 

Under Uyeda, the commission has dropped several investigations or enforcement actions against major crypto firms, including Coinbase and Ripple — both of which contributed to political action committees supporting candidates in the 2024 election cycle. Atkins has also disclosed millions of dollars in assets through stakes in Securitize, Pontoro and Patomak.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Lawmakers in the US Senate Banking Committee questioned prospective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins on his ties to the crypto industry and how he might regulate digital assets if confirmed.

Questioning Atkins at his nomination hearing on March 27, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said the former SEC commissioner had had “staggeringly bad judgment” in his role leading up to the 2008 financial crisis — Atkins served at the agency from 2002 to 2008. Sen. Warren also asked Atkins to disclose the buyers of his consulting firm Patomak Global Partners — which advised crypto exchange FTX before its collapse in 2022 — for transparency about potential conflicts of interest with the digital asset industry.

“Your clients pay you north of $1,200 an hour for advice on how to influence regulators like the SEC, and if you’re confirmed, you will be in a prime spot to deliver for all those clients who’ve been paying you millions of dollars for years,” said Sen. Warren, suggesting Atkins’ judgment “will be influenced by more than an objective assessment of the data.”

Paul Atkins addressing lawmakers at March 27 nomination hearing. Source: US Senate Banking Committee

The Massachusetts senator sent a letter to Donald Trump’s SEC pick on March 23, calling on him to be prepared to answer questions related to his potential role at the agency based on his ties to the crypto industry through Patomak. At the March 27 hearing, Sen. Warren asked Atkins to disclose the consulting firm’s potential buyers — he said he planned to sell the company if confirmed — who might be “buying access to the future chair of the SEC.” 

Atkins said he would “abide by the process” but did not directly answer Sen. Warren’s question. She suggested that the sale of Patomak could be a “pre-bribe” for the former SEC commissioner’s services.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Lawmakers in the US Senate Banking Committee questioned prospective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins on his ties to the crypto industry and how he might regulate digital assets if confirmed.

Questioning Atkins at his nomination hearing on March 27, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said the former SEC commissioner had had “staggeringly bad judgment” in his role leading up to the 2008 financial crisis — Atkins served at the agency from 2002 to 2008. Sen. Warren also asked Atkins to disclose the buyers of his consulting firm Patomak Global Partners — which advised crypto exchange FTX before its collapse in 2022 — for transparency about potential conflicts of interest with the digital asset industry.

“Your clients pay you north of $1,200 an hour for advice on how to influence regulators like the SEC, and if you’re confirmed, you will be in a prime spot to deliver for all those clients who’ve been paying you millions of dollars for years,” said Sen. Warren, suggesting Atkins’ judgment “will be influenced by more than an objective assessment of the data.”

Paul Atkins addressing lawmakers at March 27 nomination hearing. Source: US Senate Banking Committee

The Massachusetts senator sent a letter to Donald Trump’s SEC pick on March 23, calling on him to be prepared to answer questions related to his potential role at the agency based on his ties to the crypto industry through Patomak. At the March 27 hearing, Sen. Warren asked Atkins to disclose the consulting firm’s potential buyers — he said he planned to sell the company if confirmed — who might be “buying access to the future chair of the SEC.” 

Atkins said he would “abide by the process” but did not directly answer Sen. Warren’s question. She suggested that the sale of Patomak could be a “pre-bribe” for the former SEC commissioner’s services.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Lawmakers in the US Senate Banking Committee questioned prospective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins on his ties to the crypto industry and how he might regulate digital assets if confirmed.

Questioning Atkins at his nomination hearing on March 27, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said the former SEC commissioner had had “staggeringly bad judgment” in his role leading up to the 2008 financial crisis — Atkins served at the agency from 2002 to 2008. Sen. Warren also asked Atkins to disclose the buyers of his consulting firm Patomak Global Partners — which advised crypto exchange FTX before its collapse in 2022 — for transparency about potential conflicts of interest with the digital asset industry.

“Your clients pay you north of $1,200 an hour for advice on how to influence regulators like the SEC, and if you’re confirmed, you will be in a prime spot to deliver for all those clients who’ve been paying you millions of dollars for years,” said Sen. Warren, suggesting Atkins’ judgment “will be influenced by more than an objective assessment of the data.”

Paul Atkins addressing lawmakers at March 27 nomination hearing. Source: US Senate Banking Committee

The Massachusetts senator sent a letter to Donald Trump’s SEC pick on March 23, calling on him to be prepared to answer questions related to his potential role at the agency based on his ties to the crypto industry through Patomak. At the March 27 hearing, Sen. Warren asked Atkins to disclose the consulting firm’s potential buyers — he said he planned to sell the company if confirmed — who might be “buying access to the future chair of the SEC.” 

Atkins said he would “abide by the process” but did not directly answer Sen. Warren’s question. She suggested that the sale of Patomak could be a “pre-bribe” for the former SEC commissioner’s services.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Tether’s crosschain US-dollar stablecoin, USDT0, has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.

On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.

USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT) designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.

Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. One month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.

Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.

Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard

In February, Optimism’s chief growth officer, Ryan Wyatt, told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value — a figure that has since grown to $4.2 billion.

Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain

Stablecoin adoption heats up

Superchain said that deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.

The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.

Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.

In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz

Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.

With President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.

The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.

Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally

Tether’s crosschain US-dollar stablecoin, USDT0, has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.

On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.

USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT), designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.

Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. A month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.

Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.

Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard

In February, Optimism Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value, which has since grown to $4.2 billion.

Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain

Stablecoin adoption heats up

Superchain said deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.

The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.

Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.

In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz

Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.

With US President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.

The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.

Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally

Tether’s crosschain US-dollar stablecoin, USDT0, has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.

On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.

USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT), designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.

Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. A month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.

Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.

Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard

In February, Optimism Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value, which has since grown to $4.2 billion.

Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain

Stablecoin adoption heats up

Superchain said deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.

The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.

Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.

In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz

Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.

With US President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.

The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.

Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally

Tether’s crosschain US-dollar stablecoin, USDT0, has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.

On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.

USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT), designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.

Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. A month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.

Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.

Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard

In February, Optimism Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value, which has since grown to $4.2 billion.

Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain

Stablecoin adoption heats up

Superchain said deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.

The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.

Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.

In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz

Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.

With US President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.

The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.

Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally

Crosschain US-dollar stablecoin USDT0 has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem.

On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2.

USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT), designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains.

Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. A month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the main infrastructure provider for USDT0.

Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains designed to scale Ethereum through Optimism’s OP Stack. The collective currently accounts for 52% of Ethereum layer-2 transactions, according to data tracked by Superchain.

Since September, Superchain’s L2 dominance has grown from 36.6% of all transactions to 51.9%. Source: Superchain Health Dashboard

In February, Optimism Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt told Cointelegraph that Superchain will likely account for 80% of Ethereum L2 transactions this year. At the time, Superchain secured more than $4 billion in total value, which has since grown to $4.2 billion.

Related: Celo, Chainlink, Hyperlane launch crosschain UDT on OP Superchain

Stablecoin adoption heats up

Superchain said deploying USDT0 is expected to attract “more top-tier assets, applications and partners” to the collective, which highlights the role stablecoins play in fueling DeFi adoption.

The total value of all stablecoins in circulation has reached nearly $228 billion, having increased 3.3% over the past 30 days. According to RWA.xyz, there are more than 155 million stablecoin holders worldwide.

Ethereum accounts for 58% of the total stablecoin supply.

In terms of market cap, Ethereum is by far the largest network for stablecoins. Tether’s USDt is the most widely used stable asset. Source: RWA.xyz

Tether has long had a first-mover advantage in the stablecoin market. The company has emerged as one of the world’s largest holders of US Treasury assets, which has helped fuel its record-breaking profits in recent years.

With US President Donald Trump in the White House, dollar-pegged stablecoins have become a major policy driver in the United States.

The head of Trump’s council on digital assets, Bo Hines, recently told a conference in New York that comprehensive stablecoin regulations could arrive on the president’s desk within two months.

Related: Tether’s US Treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally