The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

I hope you had a good weekend, folks. While some analysts suggest there has been a "decisive shift" in crypto sentiment in recent days, thanks to improving macro conditions, others warn Trump's unpredictability is still a risk and sudden strategy shifts could quickly pour cold water on any rekindling market.

In today's newsletter, crypto prices gain as Trump tariff concerns ease, Strategy's holdings surpass half a million bitcoin, Berachain rolls out "proof-of-liquidity" and more.

Meanwhile, Wall Street created Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Now crypto is going after equities like Tesla and Nvidia, RT Watson writes in The Block's latest feature story.

Let's get started.

Bitcoin gains as Trump tariff concerns ease (for now)

Bitcoin rose back above $88,000 on Monday, compounding weekend gains alongside the broader cryptocurrency market as reports of the White House taking a more moderate approach toward tariffs provided some relief for investors.

• "The crypto markets are surging as investors respond positively to Trump's more cooperative stance on tariffs, set to take effect on April 2, alongside the Fed's focus on long-term inflation trends," Kronos Research CIO Vincent Liu said.
• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have experienced increased volatility and substantial declines in recent weeks following President Trump's stringent tariff measures on both allies and foes — injecting uncertainty into the market and tying crypto closer to equities.
• The White House is now seeking a more "targeted" approach rather than a broad one in rolling out Trump's reciprocal tariffs, potentially giving investors a break from tariff worries, Bloomberg reported, citing Trump's aides.
• However, despite some strong economic data, Trump's tariffs may continue to cause volatility in both stocks and crypto, BTC Markets Crypto Analyst Rachael Lucas warned.
• "Markets generally don't like uncertainty, and with the potential for unpredictable outcomes, we're likely to see some choppiness as traders adjust their positions," Lucas said.
• Meanwhile, bitcoin is still currently on track for its worst Q1 since 2020, though analysts predict a rebound in Q2.

Strategy's holdings surpass 500,000 BTC

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) announced it had purchased another 6,911 BTC for $584.1 million between March 17 and March 23 to surpass half a million bitcoin in total holdings.

• The latest acquisitions were made using proceeds from the sale of its class A common stock, MSTR, and perpetual strike preferred stock, STRK.
• The company now holds 506,137 BTC, valued at over $44 billion, bought at an average price of $66,608 per bitcoin for a total cost of around $33.7 billion, according to the company's co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor.
• To put that in perspective, Strategy holds around 2.4% of bitcoin's total 21 million supply.
• Meanwhile, Japanese investment firm Metaplanet bought another $12.6 million worth of bitcoin following its appointment of Eric Trump to its advisory board last week.

Berachain rolls out 'proof-of-liquidity'

EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain Berachain has launched its "proof-of-liquidity" system — a move that kicks off the first phase of its onchain governance.

• Berachain uses two native tokens: Bera, the gas token for transaction fees and staking, and BGT, a non-transferable soulbound token earned through liquidity provision for governance and rewards.
• The PoL system aims to decentralize the supply of BGT, starting with certain DeFi liquidity pools.
• Instead of locking tokens in a vacuum, like in traditional proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, Berachain encourages users to stake assets in pools to earn BGT, which validators rely on to increase their influence in consensus, linking network security to ecosystem liquidity.

Crypto Visa card startup Rain raises $24.5M

Crypto Visa card startup Rain has raised $24.5 million, led by Norwest Venture Partners, to expand its stablecoin payment services.

• Galaxy Digital, Coinbase Ventures and Lightspeed also participated in the funding round, among others.
• "As stablecoin adoption continues to grow — powering diverse use cases such as cross-border payments, remittances and dollar-based savings — so too does the demand for frictionless spending of stablecoins in everyday transactions," the company said.
• "Powered by our Visa Principal Membership and our unique blockchain infrastructure, we're accelerating the global rollout of stablecoin-enabled card issuance, unlocking faster, more efficient payments," Rain added.

dYdX allocates 25% of net protocol fees to first token buyback program

Decentralized derivatives exchange dYdX has begun deploying 25% of its net monthly protocol fees to a token buyback program, staking the assets to contribute to network security via its Treasury SubDAO.

• Ongoing community discussions could increase the buyback allocation to 100% of protocol fees over time, increasing the Treasury SubDAO's budget and reducing the circulating token supply.
• The DYDX token surged over 8% following the announcement to around $0.72, reaching a $547 million fully diluted valuation.

In the next 24 hours

• It's quiet on the economic calendar front.
• U.S. FOMC members Adriana Kugler and John Williams are scheduled to speak at 8:40 a.m. ET and 9:05 a.m. ET, respectively, on Tuesday.
• Venom and EigenLayer are set for token unlocks.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.