Tekedia Crypto and Blockchain Weekend Roundup

Mantra’s OM token crashed ~90% on April 13, 2025, dropping from ~$6.30 to below $0.50, wiping out over $5 billion in market cap. MANTRA attributes the collapse to “reckless forced liquidations” by centralized exchanges during low-liquidity hours, denying insider selling. Co-founder John Mullin suggested one exchange’s sudden closure of positions without warning triggered the cascade. However, community skepticism persists, with some alleging insider dumps due to large pre-crash token deposits (e.g., 3.9M OM to OKX). No conclusive evidence confirms either narrative, and investigations are ongoing.

Michael Saylor, a prominent Bitcoin advocate and Strategy chairman, has predicted Bitcoin could reach a $500 trillion market cap, implying a per-coin price of roughly $23.8 million to $25.2 million, given its 21 million total supply or 19.84 million circulating supply. His reasoning hinges on Bitcoin absorbing value from traditional assets like gold, real estate, and other stores of value, which he argues will be demonetized as capital shifts to digital assets. He sees Bitcoin as the next evolution of money, driven by its fixed supply and growing institutional adoption, potentially causing a supply shock.

This prediction assumes a 29,000%+ increase from Bitcoin’s current $1.67 trillion market cap, a scenario many view as speculative. Critics argue it would require an unrealistic reallocation of global wealth, dwarfing world GDP. Saylor’s track record shows bold forecasts—he previously predicted $13 million per coin by 2045—but skeptics note his heavy Bitcoin investments may bias his outlook. While some see his vision as plausible in a hyper-digital future, others call it exaggerated, citing practical limits to adoption and valuation.

Binance executives reportedly met with U.S. Treasury officials to discuss easing regulatory oversight, particularly around anti-money laundering compliance, while also exploring a deal with the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. The talks involved potentially listing a new dollar-pegged stablecoin, USD1, which could leverage Binance’s massive user base and trading volume for adoption, potentially generating significant profits for the Trump family. Discussions about a Trump family stake in Binance.US have also surfaced, though details remain unclear.

These moves align with Binance’s efforts to re-enter the U.S. market after a $4.3 billion settlement in 2023 for violating anti-money laundering laws. Meanwhile, Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, has been linked to seeking a pardon, though he denied involvement in specific deal talks. The Treasury meeting reflects Binance’s broader push to navigate a shifting regulatory landscape under a crypto-friendly administration.

Oklahoma’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, House Bill 1203, failed to advance in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on April 14, 2025, with a 6-5 vote against it. The bill, introduced by Rep. Cody Maynard, aimed to allow the state treasurer to invest up to 10% of public funds, including the State General Fund, Revenue Stabilization Fund, and Constitutional Reserve Fund, in Bitcoin and other digital assets with a market capitalization over $500 billion, as well as stablecoins. It had previously passed the House Government Oversight Committee (12-2) on February 25 and the full House (77-15) on March 24.

Opposition came from a bipartisan group of senators: Todd Gollihare (R), Chuck Hall (R), Brent Howard (R), Dave Rader (R), Julia Kirt (D), and Mark Mann (D). Despite a last-minute vote switch by Sen. Christi Gillespie, who was swayed by constituent outreach, the bill fell short. Critics likely raised concerns about Bitcoin’s volatility and the risks of investing taxpayer funds, as seen in other states like Montana, where similar bills were rejected.

Brazilian fintech Méliuz has taken steps toward adopting Bitcoin as a primary treasury asset. In March 2025, the company allocated 10% of its cash reserves, about $4.1 million, to purchase 45.72 bitcoins at an average price of $90,926 per coin, becoming the first publicly traded Brazilian firm to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy. The move, approved by its board, aims for long-term returns, with Méliuz viewing Bitcoin as a store of value to counter Brazil’s high inflation and interest rates (13.75% benchmark). A Bitcoin Strategic Committee was formed to explore further expansion, potentially making Bitcoin the main treasury asset.

Binance completed its 31st quarterly BNB token burn on April 16, 2025, destroying 1.57 million BNB tokens valued at approximately $916 million. This event, executed on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC), reduced the total BNB supply to 139.3 million tokens. The burn included 1.46 million BNB via the Auto-Burn mechanism, calculated based on BNB’s price and BSC block production, plus 110,000 BNB through the Pioneer Burn Program, which compensates users for lost tokens.

Binance aims to halve the initial 200 million BNB supply to 100 million, enhancing scarcity and potentially supporting long-term value. Despite the significant burn, BNB’s price remained stable, reflecting a focus on gradual supply reduction rather than immediate market impact.

Ru Haiyang, co-CEO of HashKey, Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange, suggested that China could follow the U.S. strategy by retaining forfeited Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, with the central government consolidating asset disposals. This idea aligns with discussions in China about managing its growing pile of seized cryptocurrencies, estimated to involve 430.7 billion yuan ($59 billion) in crypto-related crimes in 2023.

While China currently bans crypto trading and does not recognize digital tokens as legal assets, local governments have been selling seized coins through private companies to bolster public funds, a practice some experts argue conflicts with the trading ban.

The Trump family is reportedly launching a blockchain-based real estate game inspired by Monopoly GO!, set for release in late April 2025. Led by longtime Trump associate Bill Zanker, the game features mechanics where players earn in-game currency and build digital properties on a virtual board, integrating crypto elements like NFTs and possibly meme coins. While sources compare it to Monopoly, Hasbro, the owner of the Monopoly franchise, has denied licensing its IP for this project. Zanker also attempted to reacquire rights to “Trump: The Game,” a 1989 Monopoly-style board game, but Hasbro no longer holds those rights.

This venture is part of the Trump family’s broader crypto portfolio, including NFTs, a stablecoin USD1, decentralized finance World Liberty Financial, and Bitcoin mining. The crypto community has expressed skepticism, citing unclear tokenomics and potential legal issues with Hasbro over gameplay similarities.

Solana has surpassed all other blockchain chains in 7-day decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume, achieving a total of $15.7 billion, as reported on April 16, 2025. This milestone highlights Solana’s dominance in on-chain activity and liquidity, driven by its high transaction throughput and low fees, which make it a preferred platform for DeFi and memecoin trading. Solana’s DEX volume accounted for a 39.6% market share in Q1 2025, growing from $217.0 billion in Q4 2024 to $293.7 billion.

Key DEXs like Raydium and Orca have fueled this surge, with memecoins such as Dogwifhat and Bonk attracting significant trading activity. While Solana has previously outpaced Ethereum in specific metrics like monthly DEX volume ($55.8 billion vs. Ethereum’s $53.8 billion in July 2024), Ethereum still leads in longer-term metrics like 30-day transaction fees. Solana’s recent performance underscores its growing adoption, though its lead can fluctuate as seen with BNB Chain briefly overtaking it in daily fees earlier in 2025.