News | February 5, 2025

Crypto recovers over Trump’s tariffs delay

by the Crystal Marketing Team

Over the last week several significant developments affected the crypto markets.  

US President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone trade tariffs with Canada and Mexico saw the crypto markets bounce back after a previous decline driven by fear of a trade war.

Meanwhile India signaled the possibility of revamping their position on crypto and the UK considered selling confiscated Bitcoin to reduce a budget shortfall. Additionally, crypto exchange Kraken set up shop in the EU following the implementation of  MiCA, and Crypto.com appointed a new President of Operations for the UAE. 

To find out more about these stories, read on. 

US President Trump’s decision to postpone trade tariffs sees crypto recover after dip 

The cryptocurrency market showed signs of recovery on February 4, 2025, after US President Trump’s decision to postpone his executive order of February 1, which imposed trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month. The postponement did not include China. 

Following the announcement of the order, the appetite for cryptocurrencies had diminished. The order was imposed to combat the ‘extraordinary threat’ of illicit drug smuggling and passage of illegal immigrants into the US and sparked fears of a trade war.  

Bitcoin, which had dropped to a three-week low of $92K in the wake of the order, recovered to $101,731 after Trump granted the reprieve. Ethereum also crawled back to $2,880 after dropping to $2,451. 

Meanwhile, the so-called crypto Fear and Greed Index recovered from 44 on February 3, indicating ‘fear’, to 72 on February 4, which indicated ‘greed’. 

The executive order included 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. After discussions with their respective leaders, President Trump opted to postpone the tariffs on Mexico and Canada.  

Find out more about this story at Cointelegraph

Indian authorities to reconsider the country’s crypto policies 

India is poised to re-evaluate its policy position on cryptocurrencies in response to worldwide changes in attitudes to crypto. The most notable changes are those in the US, where President Trump ordered the establishment of a digital assets working group on crypto adoption on January 23, 2025. 

India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth noted that “more than one or two jurisdictions have changed their stance towards cryptocurrency in terms of the usage, their acceptance, where do they see the importance of crypto assets.”  

He added that authorities will review their discussion paper on cryptocurrencies, referring to the document that was due to be published in September 2024 but was delayed. The discussion paper will not be published until the review takes place. 

Despite India’s large crypto market, the government maintains a tough regulatory position and taxes crypto trading heavily.  

However, the country’s market watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has previously suggested that a number of regulators should govern crypto trading, signaling that some authority figures are in favor of adopting cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India continues to view them as a threat to economic stability. 

Find out more about this article at Reuters

UK Government could sell billions in confiscated Bitcoin to offset budget deficit 

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, could use £5.2B ($6.47B) in confiscated Bitcoin to shore up the Labor government’s budget shortfalls in its public finances.  

The Bitcoin was seized during an anti-money laundering operation related to investment fraud linked to China, conducted by the Metropolitan Police, which concluded in March 2024. 

It was seized from Chinese national Jian Wen, who came to the attention of authorities after attempting to purchase luxury London properties, including a £23.5 million mansion in Hampstead with a swimming pool and a £12.5 million home featuring a cinema and gym. She had previously made £6,000 ($7,460) per year working at a Leeds takeaway before embarking on her financial crime career and was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison on May 24, 2024. 

The recovered sum surpasses the combined annual revenue anticipated from other recent government measures, including cuts to winter fuel payments, the imposition of VAT on private schools, and new farming taxes. The legal standing to sell crypto assets in this way stems from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which stipulates that the sold crypto be transferred to the Bank of England’s Consolidated Fund, from which it will be dispersed as required. 

Find out more on this story at Bitcourier

Kraken gets EU license in post-MiCA era 

Kraken continued its growth in the European Union (EU) when it obtained a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFId) license one month into the MiCA implementation. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission granted the MiFId license to Kraken’s Cyprus-based Cypriot Investment Firm. 

The license means that Kraken can offer derivative products to select crypto traders in the EU market. In 2024, Kraken also acquired a crypto broker license in the Netherlands and several blockchain partners in Germany. 

Shannon Kurtas, Kraken Co-General Manager of Professional Exchange, said of the development that “this acquisition reflects our confidence in the EU and underscores our commitment to providing a trusted, regulated environment for advanced crypto traders and investors.” 

Although the US has dominated the crypto conversation, particularly since Trump re-took office, the EU’s universal crypto regulations throughout the economic region has made Europe attractive to some institutions. However, others have struggled with the MiCA rules, and Kraken itself delisted several crypto tokens for European Economic Area users. 

Find out more about this story at cryptonews

Crypto.com’s UAE office gets new President of Operations 

Crypto exchange, Crypto.com, has appointed Mohamed Al Hakim as its President of UAE Operations.  

Al Hakim is both the first Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) member and Emirati to take on the role. Al Hakam studied in Australia and also at the Canadian University Dubai, and then enjoyed a fruitful career in business development, strategic planning, and revenue growth, working with leading government-owned developers. 

Commenting on the crypto industry’s progress in the region, Al Hakim said that “we have UAE nationals that have gone into the blockchain world, and we have good Emirati talent that has started to trade in cryptocurrency. Once we are fully operational out of Dubai, I would like to make sure that at least 90% of my staff in compliance, legal, and trading is Emirati.” 

The UAE has been steadily developing its crypto industry in recent years, and in December 2024 it launched a Mastercard with Crypto.com while regulators approved a dirham-backed stablecoin in December 2024. 

Find out more about this story at Zawya

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