Trump’s new tariffs raise global trade tensions
This week, US tariffs took center stage as the latest measures rattled through the stock markets and even the digital asset space. As expected, Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs, promising to reshape global trade and fuel U.S. manufacturing. Set to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports starting April 5, the U.S. aims to pressure other nations to reduce trade barriers.
The market is now speculating how far the impact of the new tariffs can go. Trump’s latest policies have ignited global trade wars and pushed inflation higher, complicating the already volatile economic landscape. Trump’s tariff plan is far-reaching, targeting countries that run trade surpluses with the U.S., including China, the European Union, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
LIBERATION DAY RECIPROCAL TARIFFS 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ODckbUWKvO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 2, 2025
Making matters worse, the stock market and digital assets dropped even further on Friday after China announced a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods, escalating tensions in the ongoing trade war. Amid the sweeping tariffs, the impact has been felt across all sectors, including the US auto industry.
According to CNN, five plants across the Midwest and South, three owned by Stellantis and two by suppliers, have already announced layoffs tied directly to the new tariffs. Around 4,000 workers will reportedly be affected, many of whom just survived the last round of supply chain chaos.
Italians save but invest less
Away from the tariff chaos, in our second series highlighting Italy and the potential of her financial markets, we delve deeper to find out why, despite being a nation of savers, Italians remain largely absent from the financial markets. The findings: the average Italian investor would prefer a low-risk, low-return investment with a short- to medium-term holding period.
BlackRock surveyed nearly 5,000 investors and identified nine key barriers preventing potential Italian investors from entering the market. The survey revealed that 72% of respondents do not have enough money to invest, while 24% are worried about losing money.
Source: CONSOB survey
In neighboring Germany, the online investing market has rebounded with a 3% increase in investor numbers, reaching 1.79 million participants after experiencing a decline in 2024. The growth occurs as investors return to the market with a renewed focus on long-term financial goals and retirement planning.
This week in numbers: MultiBank Group, Axi UK
The UK subsidiary of retail CFD brokerage Axi reported a substantial increase in both revenue and profit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 (FY2024). The company, which specializes in foreign exchange and contracts for difference trading, saw its turnover surge to $39 million in FY2024, representing a 42% increase from $27.50 million in the previous year.
The numbers also look good for MultiBank Group, a financial derivatives institution based in Dubai, which reported a strong financial performance for 2024. According to its latest audited financial statements, MultiBank achieved a revenue of $361.87 million, an 18% increase from the previous year’s $306.64 million.
MultiBank Group Records Exceptional Financial Results with Revenue of $361.8 Million and EBITDA of $284.9 Million in 2024 https://t.co/GKuDZmxQHy pic.twitter.com/8rpgl4yXdX
— Latest News from Business Wire (@NewsFromBW) March 31, 2025
Spotware opens Malaysia office
Meanwhile, the APAC region is once again attracting companies seeking new opportunities in the financial space. This week, trading technology provider Spotware opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, expanding its operations in the Asian financial markets.
The developer of the popular cTrader trading platforms has also established a team focused on business development, sales, and marketing to service brokers, proprietary trading firms, and traders throughout the region.
Also expanding its services through new acquisitions, TipRanks, the Israeli market research aggregator, bought Main Street Data, a visual-first equity research platform, for an undisclosed sum to meet the dataset needs of its “enterprise clients” and traders. This is the Israeli company’s second acquisition but the first since it was acquired by Prytek for $200 million last year.
Vanuatu passes crypto legislation
And in the latest developments in the crypto space, Vanuatu became the latest country with a proper legal framework for cryptocurrencies after its Parliament passed a new law for the industry last week. However, the island nation’s legislation does not cover digital representations of fiat currencies, securities, and national digital currencies, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
“The VFSC, however, acknowledges that, albeit reliant upon market demand and supply, virtual assets and cryptocurrencies have ‘value’ since they are exchangeable for other assets having value,” the press release noted.
Vanuatu finalized the legal framework for crypto years after the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) initiated its efforts in this specific area. The VFSC will be the agency that regulates the local crypto industry.
Japan to reclassify crypto as financial products
Meanwhile, Japan is taking a significant step toward reshaping its approach to cryptocurrency regulation. By 2026, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to reclassify crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
This shift will bring cryptocurrencies under the same regulatory framework as stocks and bonds, subjecting them to insider trading rules and stricter oversight.
Japan has a history of regulating cryptocurrencies. In 2016, it recognized Bitcoin as a legal form of payment under the Payment Services Act.
A sigh of relief for FTX EU customers
Backpack, the crypto exchange that acquired FTX’s European unit, reportedly started distributing claims to affected FTX EU customers. The new owner has asked former FTX EU customers to create an account on the exchange, submit Know Your Customer (KYC) information, and link it to their FTX EU claim account.
Former FTX EU customers may now begin the two-step process to claim their Euro funds via Backpack EU.
Step 1, identity verification, is live.
Get Verified: https://t.co/qvUDpbsEdQ pic.twitter.com/ECcHFumG18
— Backpack 🎒 (@Backpack) April 1, 2025
The distribution of claims will be a two-step process: KYC and fund distribution. Although Backpack has initiated the KYC step, it has yet to announce any dates for the actual fund payouts. Additionally, former FTX customers will need to pay a withdrawal fee of €5 ($5.39) for claims under €2,000 ($2,158) and 0.25% of the total claim for amounts above €2,000.
Binance finally delists Tether USDT
As crypto regulations take shape in Europe under the MiCA policies, Binance delisted Tether’s USDT from spot trading pairs in the European Economic Area (EEA) following an announcement early this month.
Binance announced that it will delist all non-MiCA compliant stablecoin trading pairs in the European Economic Area starting March 31, including USDT, FDUSD, TUSD, USDP, DAI, AEUR, UST, USTC, and PAXG. Binance recommends that users convert these assets to MiCA compliant…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 3, 2025
This move is part of the exchange’s efforts to align with the newly enforced Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). As of March 31, the exchange has removed non-MiCA-compliant tokens, including USDT, from its spot trading pairs.
Stablecoin issuer Circle files for US IPO
Lastly, stablecoin issuer Circle filed for a US IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirming its intention to list its shares publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. If listed, Circle shares will trade under the ticker “CRCL.”
Circle tried to take the company public in 2022 through a blank-cheque company merger at a valuation of $9 billion, but those efforts did not materialize.
The latest SEC filing also revealed that Circle paid nearly $908 million to Coinbase, its main distribution partner, for circulating USDC.
Trump’s new tariffs raise global trade tensions
This week, US tariffs took center stage as the latest measures rattled through the stock markets and even the digital asset space. As expected, Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs, promising to reshape global trade and fuel U.S. manufacturing. Set to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports starting April 5, the U.S. aims to pressure other nations to reduce trade barriers.
The market is now speculating how far the impact of the new tariffs can go. Trump’s latest policies have ignited global trade wars and pushed inflation higher, complicating the already volatile economic landscape. Trump’s tariff plan is far-reaching, targeting countries that run trade surpluses with the U.S., including China, the European Union, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
LIBERATION DAY RECIPROCAL TARIFFS 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ODckbUWKvO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 2, 2025
Making matters worse, the stock market and digital assets dropped even further on Friday after China announced a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods, escalating tensions in the ongoing trade war. Amid the sweeping tariffs, the impact has been felt across all sectors, including the US auto industry.
According to CNN, five plants across the Midwest and South, three owned by Stellantis and two by suppliers, have already announced layoffs tied directly to the new tariffs. Around 4,000 workers will reportedly be affected, many of whom just survived the last round of supply chain chaos.
Italians save but invest less
Away from the tariff chaos, in our second series highlighting Italy and the potential of her financial markets, we delve deeper to find out why, despite being a nation of savers, Italians remain largely absent from the financial markets. The findings: the average Italian investor would prefer a low-risk, low-return investment with a short- to medium-term holding period.
BlackRock surveyed nearly 5,000 investors and identified nine key barriers preventing potential Italian investors from entering the market. The survey revealed that 72% of respondents do not have enough money to invest, while 24% are worried about losing money.
Source: CONSOB survey
In neighboring Germany, the online investing market has rebounded with a 3% increase in investor numbers, reaching 1.79 million participants after experiencing a decline in 2024. The growth occurs as investors return to the market with a renewed focus on long-term financial goals and retirement planning.
This week in numbers: MultiBank Group, Axi UK
The UK subsidiary of retail CFD brokerage Axi reported a substantial increase in both revenue and profit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 (FY2024). The company, which specializes in foreign exchange and contracts for difference trading, saw its turnover surge to $39 million in FY2024, representing a 42% increase from $27.50 million in the previous year.
The numbers also look good for MultiBank Group, a financial derivatives institution based in Dubai, which reported a strong financial performance for 2024. According to its latest audited financial statements, MultiBank achieved a revenue of $361.87 million, an 18% increase from the previous year’s $306.64 million.
MultiBank Group Records Exceptional Financial Results with Revenue of $361.8 Million and EBITDA of $284.9 Million in 2024 https://t.co/GKuDZmxQHy pic.twitter.com/8rpgl4yXdX
— Latest News from Business Wire (@NewsFromBW) March 31, 2025
Spotware opens Malaysia office
Meanwhile, the APAC region is once again attracting companies seeking new opportunities in the financial space. This week, trading technology provider Spotware opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, expanding its operations in the Asian financial markets.
The developer of the popular cTrader trading platforms has also established a team focused on business development, sales, and marketing to service brokers, proprietary trading firms, and traders throughout the region.
Also expanding its services through new acquisitions, TipRanks, the Israeli market research aggregator, bought Main Street Data, a visual-first equity research platform, for an undisclosed sum to meet the dataset needs of its “enterprise clients” and traders. This is the Israeli company’s second acquisition but the first since it was acquired by Prytek for $200 million last year.
Vanuatu passes crypto legislation
And in the latest developments in the crypto space, Vanuatu became the latest country with a proper legal framework for cryptocurrencies after its Parliament passed a new law for the industry last week. However, the island nation’s legislation does not cover digital representations of fiat currencies, securities, and national digital currencies, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
“The VFSC, however, acknowledges that, albeit reliant upon market demand and supply, virtual assets and cryptocurrencies have ‘value’ since they are exchangeable for other assets having value,” the press release noted.
Vanuatu finalized the legal framework for crypto years after the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) initiated its efforts in this specific area. The VFSC will be the agency that regulates the local crypto industry.
Japan to reclassify crypto as financial products
Meanwhile, Japan is taking a significant step toward reshaping its approach to cryptocurrency regulation. By 2026, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to reclassify crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
This shift will bring cryptocurrencies under the same regulatory framework as stocks and bonds, subjecting them to insider trading rules and stricter oversight.
Japan has a history of regulating cryptocurrencies. In 2016, it recognized Bitcoin as a legal form of payment under the Payment Services Act.
A sigh of relief for FTX EU customers
Backpack, the crypto exchange that acquired FTX’s European unit, reportedly started distributing claims to affected FTX EU customers. The new owner has asked former FTX EU customers to create an account on the exchange, submit Know Your Customer (KYC) information, and link it to their FTX EU claim account.
Former FTX EU customers may now begin the two-step process to claim their Euro funds via Backpack EU.
Step 1, identity verification, is live.
Get Verified: https://t.co/qvUDpbsEdQ pic.twitter.com/ECcHFumG18
— Backpack 🎒 (@Backpack) April 1, 2025
The distribution of claims will be a two-step process: KYC and fund distribution. Although Backpack has initiated the KYC step, it has yet to announce any dates for the actual fund payouts. Additionally, former FTX customers will need to pay a withdrawal fee of €5 ($5.39) for claims under €2,000 ($2,158) and 0.25% of the total claim for amounts above €2,000.
Binance finally delists Tether USDT
As crypto regulations take shape in Europe under the MiCA policies, Binance delisted Tether’s USDT from spot trading pairs in the European Economic Area (EEA) following an announcement early this month.
Binance announced that it will delist all non-MiCA compliant stablecoin trading pairs in the European Economic Area starting March 31, including USDT, FDUSD, TUSD, USDP, DAI, AEUR, UST, USTC, and PAXG. Binance recommends that users convert these assets to MiCA compliant…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 3, 2025
This move is part of the exchange’s efforts to align with the newly enforced Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). As of March 31, the exchange has removed non-MiCA-compliant tokens, including USDT, from its spot trading pairs.
Stablecoin issuer Circle files for US IPO
Lastly, stablecoin issuer Circle filed for a US IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirming its intention to list its shares publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. If listed, Circle shares will trade under the ticker “CRCL.”
Circle tried to take the company public in 2022 through a blank-cheque company merger at a valuation of $9 billion, but those efforts did not materialize.
The latest SEC filing also revealed that Circle paid nearly $908 million to Coinbase, its main distribution partner, for circulating USDC.
