A16z Raises $15B, Powell Blames Trump, and Crypto Stays Flat

Crypto’s heading into Monday pretty much where it started. BTC’s stuck at $90,600. ETH inched up 1% to $3,110. SOL added 2% at $140. XRP dropped 2% to $2.04.

The real movers? IP jumped 20%. XMR hit a new all-time high at $590 — up 15%.

Jerome Powell released a video saying the criminal charges he’s facing are because he didn’t cut rates the way Trump wanted. Bold strategy. We’ll see how that plays out.

X (Twitter) announced “smart cashtags” — live crypto and stock prices next to tickers. Could be handy. Could also be noise.

VanEck published a projection that bitcoin could hit $53 million by 2050. That’s based on 29% annual growth driven by adoption, trade settlement, and store-of-value demand. Take it with a grain of salt — that’s a 24-year forecast.

A16z raised $15 billion for “American Dynamism.” AI and crypto are front and center. That’s a lot of dry powder.

Ripple got FCA approval to expand crypto payments in the UK. BNY Mellon launched tokenized deposits for institutional clients. A new House bill would ban lawmakers and federal officials from using prediction markets.

Tether froze $182 million in USDT linked to Venezuela oil trades.

Busy Monday.