WuBlockchain Weekly: US CPI Hits Four - Year Low, US Disbands Crypto Enforcement Dept. and 90 - Day Tariff Exemption, etc

Apr 11, 2025

1. The Annual Rate of the Unadjusted Core CPI in the US in March Is 2.8%, with an Expectation of 3.00% and a Previous Value of 3.10% link

The core CPI in the United States is lower than expected, reaching a four — year low. The annual rate of the unadjusted core CPI in the United States was 2.8% in March, falling for the second consecutive month. It hit the lowest level since March 2021, lower than the market expectation of 3.0%. The monthly rate of the seasonally adjusted core CPI in the United States was 0.1% in March, reaching a new low since June 2024, and falling short of the market expectation of 0.3%.

2. The US Department of Justice Disbands the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) link

The US Department of Justice notified its employees on Monday evening that it would disband the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a department dedicated to cryptocurrency — related investigations. The NCET was established in 2021 under the leadership of President Biden. It is a joint task force composed of prosecutors from the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Cybercrime Division and lawyers from other regional offices. The US Attorney General has instructed the Department of Justice employees to focus on “prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset investors” and not to prosecute cryptocurrency exchanges, coin — mixing traders such as Tornado Cash, and offline wallets.

3. The US Announces a Temporary Reduction of Tariffs on Other Countries to 10% link

Trump said on his social media that, in view of the fact that more than 75 countries have communicated with the United States on issues such as trade, tariffs, and exchange rate manipulation, and have not retaliated against the United States under the advice of the United States, the United States has authorized a 90 — day suspension measure for these countries. During this period, the reciprocal tariff will be reduced to 10%, which also takes effect immediately.

4. Paul Atkins Confirmed as the Chairman of the US SEC link

The US Senate has confirmed Paul Atkins, nominated by President Donald Trump, as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with 52 votes in favor and 44 votes against. Atkins said that establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets will be his “top priority”. The consulting firm he founded has provided services to clients including cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi platforms.

5. Wall Street’s Confidence in Trump’s Economic Policies Plummets link

A latest Forbes survey shows that the support rate of Wall Street elites for the economic policies of the Trump administration has declined significantly. 72% of the top financial leaders believe that Trump’s economic plan is ineffective, and 66% express their non — support for his economic policies. On the issue of tariffs, Trump scored 1.86 points (out of 5 points), with 27 respondents giving the lowest score. In terms of the stock market, his score is equally bad, at 1.96 points. The scores for cryptocurrency (2.0 points) and inflation (2.16 points) are also disappointing.

6. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platforms Are Allowed to Provide Staking Services link

The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) has officially issued guidelines related to staking for licensed virtual asset trading platforms and recognized virtual asset funds. For licensed virtual asset trading platforms, they are allowed to provide staking services, but they must take measures to reduce risks, protect customer assets, and fully disclose the risks of staking. For SFC — recognized virtual asset funds, they are allowed to participate in staking activities, but only through licensed trading platforms and authorized institutions, and they need to comply with the limitations of liquidity risk management.

7. Ukraine Plans to Impose an 18% Income Tax on the Earnings of Individuals’ Virtual Assets link

The National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (NSSMC) has released a proposal on taxing crypto — assets. It plans to levy an 18% income tax and a 5% military surtax on individuals’ virtual asset earnings, with preferential tax rates of 5% — 9% applicable to specific categories. Transactions between crypto — assets are temporarily not subject to tax. Miner rewards, staking earnings, airdrops, etc. are included in the taxable scope, while storage and casting are exempt from value — added tax. The proposal has been submitted to parliament and is intended to further solicit industry opinions.

8. Pakistan Appoints CZ as a Cryptocurrency Strategic Advisor link

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Pakistan has appointed CZ, the former CEO of Binance, as a cryptocurrency strategic advisor.

CZ has also met with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan respectively. As an official strategic advisor to the Pakistan Cryptocurrency Committee, CZ will provide guidance on regulation, infrastructure, education, and adoption. He will work closely with the Pakistani government and the private sector to create a compliant, inclusive, and globally competitive crypto — ecosystem. In the announcement, Changpeng Zhao said, “Pakistan is a country with a population of 240 million, and more than 60% of the population is under the age of 30. The potential here is limitless.”

9. Vitalik: Achieving 12-second-level Native Asynchronous Communication between L2 and L1 link

At the 3rd Web3 Scholars Summit held in Hong Kong, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, elaborated on the long — term goals, including achieving 12 — second — level native asynchronous communication between L2 and L1. Users can still perform various operations through the intent mode (such as obtaining a latency of less than 12 seconds or a better cost), but the liquidity cost will become extremely low. The coupling between L2 and L1 will be significantly strengthened to promote more applications to deploy components on both layers simultaneously.

10. The Claim That Strategy Was Forced to Sell Bitcoin Is a Rumor: Regular Risk Disclosures That Have Always Existed link

A piece of news about Strategy’s possible forced sale of Bitcoin has attracted widespread attention. It is said that in the 8 — K form submitted by Strategy to the SEC on April 7th, if the price of Bitcoin continues to fall, the company may be forced to sell its Bitcoin holdings to pay off debts, breaking the commitment of never selling Bitcoin. However, after inquiry, it can be known that this statement is a routine standardized risk disclosure, which also appeared in the 10 — Q report of the first quarter of 2024 (Q1 2024) and the reports of 2023 and earlier, and it is not a special case.

Fundraising

The Bitcoin life insurance startup Meanwhile has completed a $40 million Series A financing round. link
The blockchain startup Wunder.Social has announced the completion of a $50 million financing. link
The cryptocurrency dining app Blackbird has completed a $50 million Series B financing round. link
Plastic Labs has announced the completion of a $5.35 million Pre-Seed financing round. link
The decentralized communication protocol Towns has announced the completion of a $10 million Series B financing round. link
The Web3 AI project DecentralGPT has completed a $3 million angel round and Series A strategic financing. link
The yield-generating stablecoin protocol Cap has completed a $11 million financing. link
P2P me has completed a $2 million seed financing round. link
Codex has raised $15.8 million in a seed financing round led by Dragonfly Capital. link
The blockchain gaming platform Ultra has announced the completion of a new $12 million financing round. link

Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.

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