Today in crypto, Trump exempts select electronics from trade tariffs, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao denied reports that he agreed to testify against Justin Sun, calling them baseless and politically motivated, and acting Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mark Uyeda, proposed a temporary crypto framework in the US.

Select electronics spared from reciprocal tariffs

Select electronic products, including smartphones, processing chips, and computers are exempt from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs under President Trump’s sweeping tariff order, a relief to US tech companies and shareholders.

According to a release from the US Customs and Border Protection, other consumer electronics such as internet modems, storage devices, and components such as semiconductors are also exempt from the additional reciprocal tariffs.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) surged by approximately 2.5% on the same day of the announcement and broke the $85,000 level.

Bitcoin's price reaction could signal that at least some investors are entering the market again as risk appetite rebounds on positive macro headlines.

CZ claps back against “baseless” US plea deal allegations

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, former CEO of Binance, has denied claims that he agreed to provide evidence against Tron founder Justin Sun as part of a plea deal with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

In an April 11 report, The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources alleging that CZ had agreed to testify against Sun under the terms of his settlement with US prosecutors.

“As part of Zhao’s plea deal, he agreed to give evidence on Sun to prosecutors,” an “arrangement” that “hasn’t previously been reported,” the WSJ report stated, citing sources familiar with the matter.

“WSJ is really TRYING here. They seem to have forgotten who went to prison and who didn't,” Zhao wrote in an April 12 X post. “People who become gov witnesses don’t go to prison. They are protected. I heard someone paid WSJ employees to smear me.”

CZ was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations. He walked free from federal prison on Sept. 27 as the wealthiest person to ever serve a US prison sentence, with a $60 billion net worth at the time.

In a separate April 11 post, CZ claimed multiple individuals had warned him about the Journal’s intentions to publish what he described as a “hit piece.”

US crypto industry needs band-aid now, “long-term solution” later — Uyeda

A fast-tracked temporary crypto regulatory framework could bolster innovation within the US crypto industry while permanent regulations are still in the works, says acting US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Mark Uyeda.

“A time-limited, conditional exemptive relief framework for registrants and non-registrants could allow for greater innovation with blockchain technology within the United States in the near term,” Uyeda said at the SEC’s April 11 Crypto Task Force roundtable titled “Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading.”

Uyeda said this might be the short-term answer as the SEC works toward a “long-term solution,” at the roundtable with SEC members and crypto industry executives, including Uniswap Labs’ Katherine Minarik, Cumberland DRW’s Chelsea Pizzola, and Coinbase’s Gregory Tusar.

> >

> > >

参议员蒂姆·斯科特（Tim Scott）是美国参议院银行，住房和城市事务委员会主席蒂姆·斯科特（Tim Scott）最近表示，他最近表示，他希望他希望一项加密货币的委员

> > >

> >

>

美国社会保障局（SSA ）将把所有公共交流转移到政府效益部门的全面劳动力 do ceply fy d do ）的全面劳动力中的X社交媒体平台上的X社交媒体平台。

根据匿名来源，他们与 <有线 ，政府机构将不再发布其习惯信件并新闻稿以向公众传达更改，而是依靠X作为其面向公共沟通的主要形式。

转变作为ssa 将其劳动力从57,000名员工降低到大约50,000，以降低成本并提高运营效率。该机构发布了此 语句 在2025年2月：

> > ＆ldquo ＆ldquo ; ssa已与10个区域结构保持了10个封口，不再可进行。该机构将将所有代理组件的区域结构降低到四个地区。总部的组织结构也过时且效率低下。 href u003d ' data-ct-non-breakable u003d “ null ” href u003d ' title u003d “ null ” >被指控 社会保险系统分配数十亿美元的不法付款，索赔 echoed >麝香

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）免除了一系列技术产品，包括，智能手机，芯片，计算机和精选的电子产品，给予了技术工业，从而使技术工业从贸易工业中获得了很多贸易，< data-ct-non-breakable u003d ' text u003d “ null ” title u003d “ null ” >根据美国的习俗和边境保护，储藏卡，模量，二极管，半导体和其他电子设备也被排除在正在进行的交易中。 kobeissi字母 写作 在4月12日x帖子中。 src u003d “ https：//s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01962AF4-1ECB-7616-B81B-B3C0B73E8DD ” Center ; “ >

我们的海关和边境保护宣布对某些技术产品的关税豁免。来源：

税率的减免将减轻技术股票的压力，这是最大的 btc ）在4月12日损坏了过去 $ 85,000开发。

> 相关： > 亿万富翁投资者将＆lsquo ;不要感到惊讶＆rsquo ;如果特朗普推迟关税 >

市场上的铰链

Opinion by: Jack Lu, CEO of BounceBit

For years, crypto has promised a more open and efficient financial system. A fundamental inefficiency remains: the disconnect between US capital markets and Asia’s liquidity hubs.

The United States dominates capital formation, and its recent embrace of tokenized treasuries and real-world assets signals a significant step toward blockchain-based finance. Meanwhile, Asia has historically been a global crypto trading and liquidity hub despite evolving regulatory shifts. These two economies operate, however, in silos, limiting how capital can move seamlessly into digital assets.

This isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a structural weakness preventing crypto from becoming a true institutional asset class. Solving it will cause a new era of structured liquidity, making digital assets more efficient and attractive to institutional investors.

The capital bottleneck holding crypto back

Inefficiency between US capital markets and Asian crypto hubs stems from regulatory fragmentation and a lack of institutional-grade financial instruments.

US firms hesitate to bring tokenized treasuries onchain because of evolving regulations and compliance burdens. Meanwhile, Asian trading platforms operate in a different regulatory paradigm, with fewer barriers to trading but limited access to US-based capital. Without a unified framework, cross-border capital flow remains inefficient.

Stablecoins bridge traditional finance and crypto by providing a blockchain-based alternative to fiat. They are not enough. Markets require more than just fiat equivalents. To function efficiently, they need yield-bearing, institutionally trusted assets like US Treasurys and bonds. Without these, institutional capital remains largely absent from crypto markets.

Crypto needs a universal collateral standard

Crypto must evolve beyond simple tokenized dollars and develop structured, yield-bearing instruments that institutions can trust. Crypto needs a global collateral standard that links traditional finance with digital assets. This standard must meet three core criteria.

First, it must offer stability. Institutions will not allocate meaningful capital to an asset class that lacks a robust foundation. Therefore, collateral must be backed by real-world financial instruments that provide consistent yield and security.

Recent: Hong Kong crypto payment firm RedotPay wraps $40M Series A funding round

Second, it must be widely adopted. Just as Tether’s USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC) became de facto standards for fiat-backed stablecoins, widely accepted yield-bearing assets are necessary for institutional liquidity. Market fragmentation will persist without standardization, limiting crypto’s ability to integrate with broader financial systems.

Third, it must be DeFi-native. These assets must be composable and interoperable across blockchains and exchanges, allowing capital to move freely. Digital assets will remain locked in separate liquidity pools without onchain integration, preventing efficient market growth.

Without this infrastructure, crypto will continue to operate as a fragmented financial system. To ensure that both US and Asian investors can access tokenized financial instruments under the same security and governance standard, institutions require a seamless, compliant pathway for capital deployment. 

Establishing a structured framework that aligns crypto liquidity with institutional financial principles will determine whether digital assets can truly scale beyond their current limitations.

The rise of institutional-grade crypto liquidity

A new generation of financial products is beginning to solve this issue. Tokenized treasuries, like BUIDL and USYC, function as stable-value, yield-generating assets, offering investors an onchain version of traditional fixed-income products. These instruments provide an alternative to traditional stablecoins, enabling a more capital-efficient system that mimics traditional money markets.

Asian exchanges are beginning to incorporate these tokens, providing users access to yields from US capital markets. Beyond mere access, however, a more significant opportunity lies in packaging crypto exposure alongside tokenized US capital market assets in a way that meets institutional standards while remaining accessible in Asia. This will allow for a more robust, compliant and scalable system that connects traditional and digital finance.

Bitcoin is also evolving beyond its role as a passive store of value. Bitcoin-backed financial instruments enable Bitcoin (BTC) to be restaked as collateral, unlocking liquidity while generating rewards. For Bitcoin to function effectively within institutional markets, however, it must be integrated into a structured financial system that aligns with regulatory standards, making it accessible and compliant for investors across regions.

Centralized decentralized finance (DeFi), or “CeDeFi,” is the hybrid model that integrates centralized liquidity with DeFi’s transparency and composability, and is another key piece of this transition. For this to be widely adopted by institutional players, it must offer standardized risk management, clear regulatory compliance and deep integration with traditional financial markets. Ensuring that CeDeFi-based instruments — e.g., tokenized treasuries, BTC restaking or structured lending — operate within recognized institutional frameworks will be critical for unlocking large-scale liquidity.

The key shift is not just about tokenizing assets. It’s about creating a system where digital assets can serve as effective financial instruments that institutions recognize and trust.

Why this matters now

The next phase of crypto’s evolution depends on its ability to attract institutional capital. The industry is at a turning point: Unless crypto establishes a foundation for seamless capital movement between traditional markets and digital assets, it will struggle to gain long-term institutional adoption.

Bridging US capital with Asian liquidity is not just an opportunity — it is a necessity. The winners in this next phase of digital asset growth will be the projects that solve the fundamental flaws in liquidity and collateral efficiency, laying the groundwork for a truly global, interoperable financial system.

Crypto was designed to be borderless. Now, it’s time to make its liquidity borderless, too.

Opinion by: Jack Lu, CEO of BounceBit.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.