WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.000
<v Speaker 1>Hey, it's Alex with the Token Metrics Daily Pulse for

2
00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:07.719
<v Speaker 1>April twelfth, twenty twenty six got a lot to cover today.

3
00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:11.519
<v Speaker 1>Traders losing their bank accounts, a DeFi project with a

4
00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:15.119
<v Speaker 1>Senate problem, North Korea stealing in plain sight, and a

5
00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.440
<v Speaker 1>crypto law that might actually change things. Let's get into it,

6
00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.760
<v Speaker 1>but first a quick word from our sponsor. Okay, so

7
00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:27.679
<v Speaker 1>here's what's happening. Commodity traders are losing their bank accounts,

8
00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:31.359
<v Speaker 1>not because they did anything wrong, because their business partners

9
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.920
<v Speaker 1>have a RAND exposure. And when the bank shuts the door,

10
00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.280
<v Speaker 1>you find another door. Right now. That door is stable coins.

11
00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:41.640
<v Speaker 1>Stable coins, if you're newer to this, are digital dollars

12
00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:45.320
<v Speaker 1>cryptotokens pegged to the US dollar that you can send

13
00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.479
<v Speaker 1>anywhere in the world without a bank in the middle.

14
00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:51.039
<v Speaker 1>This isn't the theoretical stable coin adoption story. This is

15
00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:54.679
<v Speaker 1>survival adoption. A trader who can't process a payment through

16
00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.679
<v Speaker 1>their bank doesn't sit around waiting for things to improve.

17
00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:00.600
<v Speaker 1>They find a rail that works, which means they find

18
00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.679
<v Speaker 1>a way to move money that doesn't require banks permission,

19
00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:07.879
<v Speaker 1>and stable coins are working. Here's why this matters Beyond

20
00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:11.040
<v Speaker 1>the headline, when stable coins become the go to settlement

21
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:15.040
<v Speaker 1>layer for trade flows that banks won't touch, not by choice,

22
00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.920
<v Speaker 1>but by necessity, regulators are going to face a genuinely

23
00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:23.359
<v Speaker 1>uncomfortable question. What does compliance mean when the compliant option

24
00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.920
<v Speaker 1>isn't available. That's not a rhetorical question, that's the conversation

25
00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.879
<v Speaker 1>that's coming. The adoption that sticks is never the adoption

26
00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:35.000
<v Speaker 1>that was planned. It's the adoption that happened because there

27
00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:39.760
<v Speaker 1>was no other option. This is that moment. So where

28
00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:43.799
<v Speaker 1>does that leave the broader market? Pretty rad honestly, bitcoins

29
00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:47.959
<v Speaker 1>sitting around seventy one thousand, down a couple percent. Ethereum's

30
00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:52.000
<v Speaker 1>just above twenty two hundred, also down, Solana's around eighty

31
00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:56.719
<v Speaker 1>two dollars. Same story. Total market cap, the combined value

32
00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:59.680
<v Speaker 1>of all crypto is around two and a half trillion,

33
00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.640
<v Speaker 1>off about two percent. And here's the thing. Nothing is

34
00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:10.000
<v Speaker 1>holding up Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, everything read and lockstep. That's

35
00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:13.800
<v Speaker 1>not money shifting from one area to another. That's a

36
00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:18.000
<v Speaker 1>sentiment reset, a full risk off flush, which means traders

37
00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.159
<v Speaker 1>are just stepping back from everything at once. Bitcoin dominance

38
00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.960
<v Speaker 1>is holding steady at fifty seven percent. That's Bitcoin's share

39
00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:28.879
<v Speaker 1>of the total crypto market, which tells you all coins

40
00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:32.240
<v Speaker 1>aren't getting hit harder than Bitcoin right now. Small comfort,

41
00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.280
<v Speaker 1>but it's there. Prediction markets are worth a quick look

42
00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:39.000
<v Speaker 1>here too. Money is basically coin flipping on Bitcoin, hitting

43
00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:42.439
<v Speaker 1>seventy five thousand by end of April about fifty five

44
00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.360
<v Speaker 1>percent odds, with the month more than halfway done. Ethereum

45
00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.960
<v Speaker 1>at four thousand this month under half a percent. The

46
00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.400
<v Speaker 1>market has essentially written that one off. And despite all

47
00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:55.919
<v Speaker 1>the noise about FED independence, traders are only putting two

48
00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:00.639
<v Speaker 1>percent odds on Powell being removed by mid May. Headlines are allowed.

49
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:05.000
<v Speaker 1>The money is calm, all right, So what's actually driving

50
00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:07.800
<v Speaker 1>all this? Let me walk you through the five stories

51
00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:13.520
<v Speaker 1>that matter today. First one, WLFI World Liberty Financial, the

52
00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:17.240
<v Speaker 1>Trump backed crypto project, has a seventy five million dollar

53
00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.479
<v Speaker 1>borrow position on chain. A borrow position in plain terms,

54
00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.360
<v Speaker 1>means they've taken out a large loan using crypto as collateral,

55
00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:28.680
<v Speaker 1>and it's all visible on the blockchain for anyone to see.

56
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:33.400
<v Speaker 1>Justin Sun is publicly calling it predatory toward users, saying

57
00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.879
<v Speaker 1>the project is treating its own community like an ATM.

58
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.639
<v Speaker 1>And look Justin Sun criticizing someone else's financial structure is

59
00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.439
<v Speaker 1>a lot. This is a man whose own wallet address

60
00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:49.159
<v Speaker 1>has been flagged by regulators and who reportedly took massive

61
00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:52.680
<v Speaker 1>losses on related positions. That's a bit like a pyromaniac

62
00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:55.800
<v Speaker 1>filing a fire safety complaint. But here's where it gets

63
00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.000
<v Speaker 1>harder to dismiss us. Senators are now asking pointed questions

64
00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:02.639
<v Speaker 1>about the Marlago Gala and how it connects to the

65
00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:07.120
<v Speaker 1>project's loan mechanics. The takeaway is this, when lawmakers start

66
00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.280
<v Speaker 1>linking a crypto loan to a presidential events guest list,

67
00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:13.800
<v Speaker 1>it stops being a crypto story. It becomes a corruption

68
00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:17.439
<v Speaker 1>optic story that happens to involve crypto. The project says

69
00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:21.319
<v Speaker 1>the borrow position is standard. Maybe it is, but standard

70
00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:26.120
<v Speaker 1>doesn't usually trigger a Senate inquiry. Second story, North Korea.

71
00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.839
<v Speaker 1>This one's been building for years, but the channalysis reporting

72
00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:33.600
<v Speaker 1>this week puts it plainly. The Lazarus Group, North Korea's

73
00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:38.160
<v Speaker 1>state back tacking operation isn't hiding. Researchers can trace their

74
00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:41.920
<v Speaker 1>wallets in near real time. They know, they just don't care.

75
00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:46.439
<v Speaker 1>The playbook is move fast, use mixers, which are tools

76
00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.839
<v Speaker 1>that scramble the trail of crypto transactions convert to stable

77
00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:53.639
<v Speaker 1>coins cash out through exchanges with weak identity checks in

78
00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:57.680
<v Speaker 1>countries that won't cooperate with US law enforcement. Why this

79
00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.720
<v Speaker 1>matters is that the transparency that makesrypto traceable is also

80
00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:04.040
<v Speaker 1>the thing that lets you watch the theft happen live

81
00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:07.279
<v Speaker 1>and do almost nothing about it. The problem isn't the tracing,

82
00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:11.000
<v Speaker 1>it's the exit points. Until the weakest link exchanges get

83
00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.560
<v Speaker 1>shut down or forced into compliance, the pipeline stays open.

84
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.920
<v Speaker 1>Third story, the Clarity Act. Coinbase is backing a push

85
00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:23.199
<v Speaker 1>for legislation that would draw cleaner lines between which government agency,

86
00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:28.560
<v Speaker 1>the SEC or the CFTC gets to oversee which crypto assets,

87
00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:32.759
<v Speaker 1>which means, in playing terms, builders would finally know which

88
00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:36.639
<v Speaker 1>rule book they're playing by. That's not a surprise. Coinbase

89
00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.639
<v Speaker 1>has been fighting this in court for years. What's interesting

90
00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:42.920
<v Speaker 1>is the timing Congress is back from recess this week,

91
00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.600
<v Speaker 1>with stable coin rules already in active negotiation. Both of

92
00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:49.000
<v Speaker 1>these moving at the same time is either a genuine

93
00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:52.759
<v Speaker 1>push to get crypto regulated properly or a political photo

94
00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:57.800
<v Speaker 1>op before midterms. The difference is enormous. Real legislation tells

95
00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:01.680
<v Speaker 1>builders which regulator they're dealing with a stalled build just

96
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.000
<v Speaker 1>means more enforcement by ambiguity, which is exactly how we

97
00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:10.319
<v Speaker 1>got here. Fourth AI agents and crypto, the conversation has shifted.

98
00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:13.639
<v Speaker 1>It used to be about AI tokens going up. Now

99
00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:18.040
<v Speaker 1>it's about AI agents actually doing things, writing smart contract code,

100
00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:23.279
<v Speaker 1>running trading strategies, flagging risk in crypto positions before humans notice.

101
00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.279
<v Speaker 1>Think of it like autopilot for parts of the crypto stack.

102
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.639
<v Speaker 1>The Ethereum Foundation and Cambran are both talking about agents

103
00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.879
<v Speaker 1>as a development tool, not a marketing narrative. When the

104
00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:37.720
<v Speaker 1>people building the infrastructures start using the tools themselves, the

105
00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.600
<v Speaker 1>tools tend to get better fast. The risk is real, though.

106
00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.759
<v Speaker 1>A wrong move by an AI agent, a misread market condition,

107
00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:50.360
<v Speaker 1>or a bad transaction doesn't just cost compute time, it

108
00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.720
<v Speaker 1>costs real money. The security question for AI powered crypto

109
00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:59.000
<v Speaker 1>tooling is still almost entirely unanswered, and a few quick

110
00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:02.279
<v Speaker 1>hits before we move on. Morgan Stanley is saying they're

111
00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:05.160
<v Speaker 1>not going to stop at bitcoin. They're looking at tokenization

112
00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:08.680
<v Speaker 1>and tax solutions in their crypto push. That's a big

113
00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:12.600
<v Speaker 1>traditional finance firm expanding beyond just buying bitcoin on behalf

114
00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:17.680
<v Speaker 1>of clients, and it's worth watching. Tether's us CEO is

115
00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.040
<v Speaker 1>tied to a superpack that just made its first political

116
00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:24.920
<v Speaker 1>ad buy with stable coin rules moving through Congress. The

117
00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.600
<v Speaker 1>timing is not subtle, and there's a meme pool based

118
00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.720
<v Speaker 1>space invader's clone that'll pay you real bitcoin for playing.

119
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:35.279
<v Speaker 1>It's a gimmick, but it's a gimmick that shows Bitcoin's

120
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.879
<v Speaker 1>underlying transaction layer can function as a programmable incentive system.

121
00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.199
<v Speaker 1>More interesting than it sounds. All right, before we get

122
00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:47.560
<v Speaker 1>into the risks, quick word from our sponsor. Okay, we're back.

123
00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:51.759
<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about what to watch for. Let's talk about

124
00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:54.680
<v Speaker 1>what could go wrong from here. The broad risk off

125
00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:58.319
<v Speaker 1>flush is the one to watch first. Every major asset

126
00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:01.519
<v Speaker 1>is down in lockstep today, and when nothing is holding up,

127
00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:04.639
<v Speaker 1>it's not a sector story, it's a sentiment story. The

128
00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:07.600
<v Speaker 1>danger is that traders waiting for the dip to bottom

129
00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:11.839
<v Speaker 1>out keep waiting as the dip extends. No divergence anywhere

130
00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.439
<v Speaker 1>is a bad sign for anyone expecting a quick bounce.

131
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.959
<v Speaker 1>Second risk that WLFI borrow position, a large on chain

132
00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:24.199
<v Speaker 1>loan tied to a politically connected project now under Senate

133
00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.519
<v Speaker 1>scrutiny and publicly criticized by a sanctioned counterparty. That's a

134
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:32.440
<v Speaker 1>structural overhang, which means it's a weight hanging over the

135
00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.360
<v Speaker 1>project that could force a sudden move if that position

136
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:38.480
<v Speaker 1>needs to get unwound, meaning the loan gets called in

137
00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:42.399
<v Speaker 1>or closed out under political pressure. The on chain mechanics

138
00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:45.879
<v Speaker 1>could move markets in ways the headlines won't predict. This

139
00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:51.519
<v Speaker 1>one's worth watching closely. Third, stable coin legislation this week

140
00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.320
<v Speaker 1>is described as critical for the bill negotiations. There's an

141
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.799
<v Speaker 1>active dispute over a rewards clause that's been stalling things.

142
00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:02.519
<v Speaker 1>If lawmakers can't resolve it before the recess window closes,

143
00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:07.879
<v Speaker 1>the entire push for regulatory clarity resets. An uncertainty is

144
00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:13.120
<v Speaker 1>the market's least favorite condition. Looking ahead. Two things on

145
00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:16.240
<v Speaker 1>my radar for the next week or so. The WLFI

146
00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:21.279
<v Speaker 1>Senate inquiry response is the first senators have raised formal questions.

147
00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:25.720
<v Speaker 1>Any official response or escalation moves this from political noise

148
00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.639
<v Speaker 1>to a real regulatory event. Watch for that within the

149
00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.480
<v Speaker 1>next seven days. And the polymarket Bitcoin seventy five thousand

150
00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:37.440
<v Speaker 1>April resolution is the second, with Bitcoin at seventy one

151
00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:40.639
<v Speaker 1>thousand and the month more than halfway done. The next

152
00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:44.120
<v Speaker 1>two weeks of price action either validate or collapse. The

153
00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.200
<v Speaker 1>most watched near term bet in prediction markets. Right now

154
00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:50.679
<v Speaker 1>money's nearly fifty to fifty. That's a coin flip on

155
00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:54.759
<v Speaker 1>a four thousand dollars move in two weeks. That's the

156
00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.799
<v Speaker 1>pulse for April twelve. If you want the full written

157
00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:00.679
<v Speaker 1>breakdown with all the sources, head over to the newsletter

158
00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.200
<v Speaker 1>at tokenmetrics dot com. Everything we covered today is there

159
00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.279
<v Speaker 1>in full, and if this was useful, share with someone

160
00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:10.039
<v Speaker 1>who's trying to keep up with crypto without drowning in it.

161
00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:12.840
<v Speaker 1>That's the best way to help the show grow. This

162
00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:17.200
<v Speaker 1>is educational content, not investment advice. Always do your own

163
00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:21.200
<v Speaker 1>research before making any financial decisions. I'm Alex, See you

164
00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:21.679
<v Speaker 1>next time.