Bitcoin Surges as Trump Establishes Strategic Reserve, Kraken IPO in Sight

In a significant move, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. The reserve will be funded using Bitcoin seized through federal criminal and civil asset forfeiture proceedings, ensuring no additional cost to taxpayers. This initiative was announced just before a White House crypto summit, which attracted various prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry. However, not everyone is on board with the idea. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko expressed skepticism, preferring a "no reserve" approach and warning about potential impacts on decentralization from government involvement.

Meanwhile, regulatory developments have been favorable for several cryptocurrency companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to withdraw its lawsuit against the crypto exchange Kraken, paving the way for the company to consider an initial public offering (IPO). Additionally, a three-year investigation into NFT company Yuga Labs concluded with the declaration that "NFTs are not securities." Cumberland DRW, the crypto trading arm of DRW, also secured the dismissal of SEC charges that had alleged the company acted as an unregistered securities dealer.

In international news, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced that the country will continue acquiring Bitcoin despite restrictions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a $3.5 billion loan agreement. The IMF had included a prohibition on the "voluntary accumulation of Bitcoin by the public sector" in the financing package, but El Salvador remains committed to its Bitcoin strategy.

In the realm of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Bitwise submitted an S-1 registration to the SEC for a spot Aptos (APT) ETF, advancing beyond its initial Delaware registration filing. This move comes as the crypto asset manager continues to explore various ETF opportunities. Additionally, Canary has registered "Canary Sui ETF" in Delaware, indicating preparation for an SEC S-1 registration filing. Canary has also submitted an S-1 for an AXL ETF and is pursuing ETFs tracking Hedera (HBAR), Litecoin (LTC), XRP (XRP), and Solana.

In other developments, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox transferred approximately 11,834 BTC (worth about $1.07 billion) from its "1PuQB" wallet to an unmarked