Markets opened under pressure after a shock policy move from Washington: President Trump announced 15% global tariffs following a Supreme Court setback that limited earlier trade measures. The expanded tariff program targets major partners including China and Europe, injecting fresh geopolitical friction into risk assets. Equities sold off first as investors repriced global growth exposure. The headline moves: US 30 slipped 0.55% to 49,354.5, US 500 fell 0.66% to 6,863.9, US Tech 100 dropped 0.89% to 24,790.9 and Small Cap 2000 lost 0.95% to 2,638.5, according to posts on X. That initial wave of selling began to exhaust near key demand zones, creating room for selective crypto recovery. Bitcoin led the rebound, climbing back above $66,000 and testing toward $68,000 with swings around $67,500. Traders framed this move more as a flight to relative safety than fresh speculative inflows: capital rotated from high-beta crypto into Bitcoin. Ethereum lagged, sliding 1.72% as de-risking hit higher-volatility assets. The result: BTC dominance rose to roughly 58–60%. Macro linkages remain meaningful. Bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq sat between 0.62 and 0.80, while realized volatility for BTC was about 45.83% versus Ethereum’s 50–60% range—data points that underscore Bitcoin’s evolving role as a macro hedge relative to altcoins. A major regulatory development also eased institutional frictions around stablecoins. After years of restrictive capital treatment—where some firms applied 100% haircuts and effectively excluded USD-pegged stablecoins from net capital—SEC staff issued guidance allowing qualifying USD stablecoins to be treated as cash equivalents with a standardized 2% haircut. Practically, a $100 million position in an eligible stablecoin could now count as $98 million toward a broker-dealer’s net capital. This change reduces balance-sheet strain and unlocks wider stablecoin use in settlement and collateral operations. The implications are significant: faster funding mobility, more efficient tokenized asset flows, lower holding costs, and a path for stablecoin yields to align with money-market benchmarks. Compliant issuers stand to gain institutional trust, which should bolster stablecoins’ competitiveness in short-duration liquidity markets. Infrastructure upgrades continued in parallel. XRPL’s permissioned DEX rollout is nudging liquidity toward regulated environments: compliance-gated pools and tokenized-fiat rails are attracting bank-grade participants. Société Générale’s euro-denominated stablecoin issuance is another signal of institutional adoption. Still, market prices haven’t yet fully reflected these structural gains—XRP fell nearly 4% to $1.37 amid the broader retracement as holders realized losses and trimmed exposure. Liquidity remains tight while institutions finish operational integration. History suggests this ordering is normal: infrastructure and regulatory scaffolding are often deployed before the capital flows that visibly deepen markets. As these pieces fall into place, demand formation can mature and measurable liquidity expansion may follow. Disclaimer: This piece is informational and not investment advice. Trading cryptocurrencies carries high risk; do your own research before making decisions. © 2026 AMBCrypto Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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