Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Senate Banking Committee he “would not be surprised” if China was building digital assets potentially backed by gold rather than the yuan, given China’s large sandbox in Hong Kong.

The Gold-Backed Digital Asset Rumors

Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) asked Bessent directly whether China is using digital assets and blockchain to build an alternative to American financial dominance.

Bessent responded, saying, “We don’t know that for sure. There are lots of rumors that China may be developing digital assets backed by something other than the RMB, perhaps gold-based. We haven’t seen that.”

He added a caveat: “But they have a very large sandbox in…

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Michael Burry’s latest two-word post — “$BTC Patterns” — came with a simple annotated chart and ignited a debate: was he flashing a warning, or quietly handing Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) bulls a roadmap?

The famed bubble-watcher has been bearish before, but the chart highlights near-identical boom-bust-base sequences in Bitcoin’s history, the kind that sometimes end with a sustained rebound.

Burry’s ‘Pattern’ — Warning Or Roadmap?

On its face, the image reads like a history lesson: rapid run-ups, violent selloffs, then a base that precedes a fresh surge. That’s not a call to buy; it’s pattern recognition.

But in a market where consensus is leaning bearish, a reminder that Bitcoin…

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Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) on Thursday said the Senate Banking Committee pulled the crypto bill the day before a scheduled vote due to bank concerns about losing deposits, pushing the legislation into spring.

Why The Vote Was Canceled

Lummis told Maria Bartiromo on Fox that the committee had scheduled a markup but pulled it the day before “not because just of what Coinbase had said about it, but because there was other concern.”

The primary concern: banks and credit unions have committee members worried they will lose deposits if crypto firms can pay interest on stablecoins. 

This fear overrode Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong’s public opposition.

Senate Majority Leader…

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Despite a sharp pullback in crypto prices, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETF investors have largely held their positions, signaling stronger conviction than many expected.

‘ETF Buyers Are Just HODLing’

In a post on X on Wednesday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that even after Bitcoin’s roughly 40% drawdown, about 94% of assets in spot Bitcoin ETFs remain invested.

The comment followed a discussion suggesting that recent selling pressure has come primarily from long-term OG whales rather than ETF holders, who appear to be “just HODLing.”

Jim Bianco of Bianco Research added context, pointing out that the average Bitcoin ETF investor is now roughly 24% underwater, with unrealized…

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Crypto venture capital firms are struggling to raise new funds, with major firms pivoting away entirely and half of Paradigm’s team departing in two months.

The VC Fundraising Crisis

Commitments to crypto VC funds remain at historic lows and didn’t recover during Bitcoin‘s (CRYPTO: BTC) generational bull run, according to crypto founder Miya.

Miya, who runs crypto hedge fund operations, spoke to numerous VCs—both traditional finance and crypto-focused—in the past month.

Close to nobody was optimistic about raising for another crypto fund. “Crypto as we know it is over,” Miya wrote.

While risk appetite inside venture capital has been off the charts for other sectors over the…

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