GM!
Today’s top news:
Crypto majors jump 5-7% on Iran 2-week ceasefire deal; BTC at $71,700 ZEC jumps 25% leading top movers; ZRO +18%, HYPE +8% Morgan Stanley’s BTC ETF goes live today with lowest fees FDIC issues guidance on how banks can issue stablecoins DOJ rejects Roman Storm’s motion to drop charges ahead of retrial Bitcoin & Crypto Soar on 2-Week Cease FireHe said he’d suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks, contingent on Iran immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and cited a 10-point Iranian proposal as “a workable basis on which to negotiate.” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council formally accepted. Israel agreed too, per two White House officials who spoke to Reuters.
So where does this leave us? Analysts had flagged a confirmed Hormuz reopening as the one catalyst capable of pushing BTC to $90,000+. Two weeks is not peace; far from it. But if the Strait opens, oil drops, and the Fed gets the breathing room markets have been desperate for since late February. The new clock is running.
Key Details:
Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran Tuesday evening contingent on Iran immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz; said the US has “already met and exceeded all Military objectives” and received a 10-point Iranian proposal he called “a workable basis on which to negotiate” Iran accepted: FM Araghchi confirmed Iranian forces would cease operations and facilitate Hormuz passage; Iran’s Supreme National Security Council formally signed on; Iran declared victory Bitcoin surged from sub-$68,000 to $72,700 on the news (now $71,500); oil fell 20%; US stock futures jumped with S&P 500 +2.6%, Nasdaq +3.5%The FDIC dropped its proposed rulemaking under the GENIUS Act Tuesday, laying out how FDIC-supervised banks can issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries.
The framework covers reserve standards, mandatory redemption at par, liquidity controls, audits, and custody requirements. Notably, stablecoins are explicitly excluded from FDIC deposit insurance.
This is the detail that matters for institutional adoption. Banks can issue stablecoins. Their clients know exactly what the rules are. But a stablecoin run won’t be backstopped by the government the way a bank deposit would be.
Key Details:
The FDIC published proposed rules to implement the GENIUS Act, laying out how FDIC-supervised banks can issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries; the framework opens a 60-day comment period No deposit insurance: stablecoins are explicitly excluded from FDIC protection; issuers must hold 1:1 reserves but if they fail, customers aren’t covered the way bank depositors are The field: the OCC has already proposed its own GENIUS Act implementation rules; the FDIC proposal adds the banking regulator’s layer, building out the full federal frameworkMSBT is launching today.
Even more notable (and relevant for bulls), Morgan Stanley has approximately 16,000 financial advisors on its payroll, and the firm’s Global Investment Committee already recommended allocating up to 4% of portfolios to crypto for “opportunistic growth” last year.
Those advisors now have a Morgan Stanley-branded product to recommend to clients, which Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called a “captive audience.”
Not a bad setup.
Key Details:
Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) launches today on NYSE Arca with a 0.14% expense ratio, the lowest in the Bitcoin ETF market; fee is waived entirely on the first $5B invested for six months The advisor army: Morgan Stanley has ~16,000 financial advisors and $9.3 trillion in AUM The firm’s own recommendation: Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee told advisors to allocate up to 4% of portfolios to crypto last year and now they have MSBT giving those advisors a brand they trustSEC Chair Paul Atkins said Tuesday the Commission is close to releasing what he’s calling “Reg Crypto,” as a formal regulatory framework to address crypto fundraising questions.
The implication here is that the SEC is building a crypto-native offering regime so projects don’t have to squeeze into Reg A, Reg D, or existing securities exemptions that weren’t designed for digital assets.
This is the last major piece of the regulatory stack:
GENIUS Act covers stablecoins The Clarity Act covers market structure Reg Crypto would cover how tokens are issued in the first place.If all three land, the US framework is effectively complete.
Key Details:
SEC Chair Atkins told an audience Tuesday that the SEC is “close to putting out” Reg Crypto, a framework aimed at answering the fundraising questions that have left crypto token issuers in legal limbo since 2017 The gap it fills: current securities exemptions (Reg A, Reg D, Reg S) weren’t designed for token issuances; Reg Crypto would create a crypto-native pathway that gives projects legal clarity from day one The stack: GENIUS Act (stablecoins, signed July 2025) + Clarity Act (market structure, moving through Congress) + Reg Crypto (token issuance) = the full US regulatory frameworkThe SDNY prosecutors aren’t done with Roman Storm.
Clayton rejected it, saying that Storm’s conduct “bears no resemblance” to the Cox case, which was a civil copyright dispute. Calling the legal theory “window dressing at best and outright misdirection at worst,” Clayton argued a civil copyright case “has no relevance here in the first place” - Storm faces criminal charges for money laundering and sanctions evasion, a completely different legal standard.
Key Details:
Federal prosecutors (Trump DOJ’s SDNY) filed an opposition Tuesday to Roman Storm’s acquittal motion, rejecting his attempt to use Cox Communications v. Sony Music as a defense against criminal money laundering and sanctions charges What comes next: oral arguments on Storm’s Rule 29 motion for acquittal are scheduled for tomorrow, April 9; prosecutors want an October retrial on the two deadlocked counts (money laundering and sanctions evasion, each carrying up to 20 years) The backdrop: AG Blanche’s April 2025 memo told prosecutors to stop charging crypto developers with regulatory violations; his DOJ is still trying to retry Storm on two counts carrying a potential 40-year maximum combined sentence
