Welcome to the Beluga Brief, where we deliver data-driven insights to your inbox every week, spending our time in the crypto trenches and combing through thousands of crypto news feeds so you don’t have to.

As the Beluga Brief grows we’ll try out new content sections and schedules to find what is best for our readers — if you have other suggestions for things you’d like us to cover, feel free to leave a reply on our Twitter!

What happened today?

I feel like a broken record at this point, but more trade-related conflict stemming from Trump’s tariffs have led to lackluster price action for crypto and the stock market. Both industries have retraced the “election pump” as investors move towards risk-off assets, leading to altcoins getting hammered and the ETH/BTC ratio hitting a 5-year low. On the other end of the spectrum, Gold has once again hit a new all-time-high... unfortunately for us it seems people aren’t taking the Bitcoin as ‘digital gold’ label seriously yet.

One thing to look forward to in the (hopefully) near future is the upcoming STABLE bill, expected to pass this spring. A proper regulatory framework for stablecoins is the first, albeit large, step towards one for the industry as a whole. I do believe the new administration’s strong pro-crypto stance has helped this along, however House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill says it has also hindered their progress: with Trump now tied to a memecoin, multiple NFT projects, a DeFi protocol and apparently now a stablecoin, conflicts of interest are obviously a huge concern.

Trading Talk

The long-awaited launch of the Gunzilla Games $GUN token happened today, which brought with it the highest participation in a Binance launchpool in months with $15.8B in BNB staked to earn an airdrop. Unfortunately for the stakers, such high participation means the earnings per person were pretty low which has caused some disappointment. So much capital allocated to farm an airdrop can’t be ignored, however. Speaking from personal experience, Gunzilla’s flagship game Off the Grid is the most fun crypto game we’ve had yet — it plays like a top-notch FPS Battle Royale with movement and ability mechanics that put many competitors to shame.

The blockchain element comes in to play for the marketplace, where players can buy and sell in-game items similar to weapon skins in Counterstrike. As this model is infinitely better for players vs. how ownership works in CSGO, I think this just might be what gets gamers to finally accept blockchain into their lives. With the GUN token trading at a billion dollar FDV, they have a LOT of liquidity to throw at user acquisition and incentivization. I’m super excited to see what they have cooked up for the next few months and of course we’ll keep our readers updated as things progress. If you want to hop into the game yourself, it’s available on console as well as PC.

Tweet of the Day

It truly is beautiful seeing the scammers get scammed while trying to launder their stolen funds.

Biggest Headlines

The Beluga intern has been hard at work gathering all the most important crypto news stories so you have them in one place!

The Majors

• Bitcoin headed below $60k says hot-handed crypto hedge fund manager

Alt Coins and Stocks

• Metaplanet accelerates Bitcoin buying strategy, issues $13.3 million in new bonds

Regulatory

• Trump’s crypto dealings are making regulation ‘more complicated’: House Financial Services Chair

• Trump family now controls at least 60% stake over World Liberty Financial through new holding company: Reuters

New Launches

• Gunzilla launches GUN token on Binance

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Recent Beluga Content

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. While Beluga strives to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of information, there may be discrepancies when comparing our data to that of financial institutions, service providers, or specific product websites. Always consult with a professional before making any financial decisions.

Will McKinnon is the Head of Content for Beluga and has spent every day for many years trading coins. For that reason there are too many to name, however his largest holdings by a significant margin are Ethereum and Bitcoin. NFA DYOR