A1 Abraaj Restaurants Group has become the first publicly traded company in the Middle East to adopt bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, signaling a major shift in regional finance. Bahrain’s A1 Abraaj Embraces Bitcoin for Crypto Treasury In a regional first, Bahrain-based A1 Abraaj Restaurants Group (Bahrain Bourse: ABRAAJ) has officially adopted bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. The move positions A1 Abraaj as the Middle East’s first publicly traded company to integrate BTC into its corporate treasury, joining global pioneers like Strategy and Metaplanet. According to the company’s announcement on X, A1 Abraaj disclosed an initial acquisition of 5 BTC and announced plans to scale its BTC holdings significantly. A1 Abraaj, which reported $12.5 million in EBITDA for 2024, aims to offer countries in the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) access to bitcoin, reflecting growing institutional demand and digital asset adoption. “Our initiative towards becoming a bitcoin treasury company reflects our forward-thinking approach and dedication to maximizing shareholder value,” said Abdulla Isa, Chairman of the bitcoin treasury committee of A1 Abraaj Restaurants Group. Partnering with IOX Capital, a U.S.-based firm known for advising bitcoin treasury companies, A1 Abraaj intends to raise additional capital to expand its BTC portfolio. The company has a dedicated bitcoin committee to manage governance, risk, and custody protocols for its digital holdings. “I’d like to congratulate A1 Abraaj for adopting bitcoin at the corporate treasury level, finally enabling anyone in the GCC with a brokerage account to gain bitcoin exposure,” said Hans Thomas, CEO of IOX Capital. This strategic pivot highlights A1 Abraaj’s commitment to innovation and financial diversification, aligning itself with emerging global trends while contributing to Bahrain’s growing digital economy.

JPMorgan sees bitcoin dominating gold in 2025 as surging ETF inflows, corporate adoption, and state-level crypto reserves ignite a powerful wave of institutional momentum. JPMorgan Spots a Massive Rotation—Bitcoin Gaining, Gold Draining Global investment bank JPMorgan expects bitcoin to significantly outperform gold through the remainder of 2025, driven by a wave of crypto-specific catalysts that are reshaping investment flows. Analysts led by managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou outlined this bullish view in a note published Wednesday and shared with The Block. “Between mid-February and mid-April, gold was rising at the expense of bitcoin, while of the past three weeks we have been observing the opposite, i.e. bitcoin rising at the expense of gold,” they wrote. Anticipating that this shift will continue, JPMorgan stated: This view is underpinned by recent market dynamics and structural changes that favor BTC. Since April 22, gold has dropped nearly 8%, pressured by waning expectations for aggressive Fed rate cuts and rising equity markets, leading to substantial outflows from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like SPDR Gold Trust. Meanwhile, bitcoin has surged substantially, topping $100,000 for the first time in months, fueled by significant inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs over three weeks. Futures markets reflect the same trend, with shrinking gold positions and rising bitcoin exposure, signaling a broader investor pivot toward digital assets. JPMorgan attributes bitcoin’s rising momentum to more than just gold’s decline, citing increased adoption by corporations and governments. An expanding group of companies is acquiring bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. Microstrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), now rebranded as Strategy, continues to grow its bitcoin holdings aggressively. Japan’s Metaplanet has also added bitcoin to its corporate treasury. On the public sector front, U.S. states are taking steps that could institutionalize bitcoin within government financial systems. New Hampshire passed a law allowing up to 5% of state reserves to be held in bitcoin and gold, marking a historic move toward crypto in public finance. Arizona is creating a digital asset reserve using staking rewards and airdrops, avoiding taxpayer funding. These initiatives reflect a growing trend among U.S. states to institutionalize digital assets responsibly. The JPMorgan team highlighted this potential, stating: Institutionalization of crypto markets is accelerating through major acquisitions and regulatory wins aimed at strengthening infrastructure and credibility. In recent developments, Coinbase is buying Deribit for $2.9B to lead in crypto derivatives, while Kraken’s $1.5B acquisition of Ninjatrader deepens its futures exposure. Gemini secured EU-wide derivatives licensing, Robinhood acquired Wonderfi for $179M to expand in Canada, and Ripple is integrating traditional finance with crypto via its $1.25B purchase of credit network Hidden Road. These moves are primed to attract a fresh wave of institutional capital into bitcoin and broader crypto markets.

"Ongoing global economic uncertainty and persistently high interest rates in the U.S. may act as headwinds" for crypto, an analyst told Decrypt. Top cryptocurrencies experienced a pullback on Thursday, amid signs investors are taking profits off the table after a recent rally. Bitcoin touched lows of $101,500 at one point, indicating a return to all-time highs might not be as imminent as some bulls hoped. Sell-offs were more pronounced among major altcoins. Ethereum has fallen by 3% over the past 24 hours—with XRP, Solana and Dogecoin all shedding about 5%. Risk appetite also appears to be cooling in the stock market too, with the Federal Reserve set to cut interest rates less frequently in 2025 than first thought.BRN's lead research analyst Valentin Fournier argues healthy inflows into BTC and ETH ETFs "provides a solid foundation for long-term support." Describing Thursday's declines as a "modest pullback," he wrote: "While this appears to be a healthy correction, altcoins, after leading the rally, are showing more volatility. "We believe Bitcoin's $100k level will serve as a critical support zone for an extended accumulation phase," Fournier wrote. YouHodler's chief of markets Ruslan Lienkha told Decrypt that upward momentum is moderating now that tariff negotiations have concluded, with short-term traders deciding to lock in profits across the equity markets."This shift in sentiment has spilled over into riskier assets, including Bitcoin. As a result, the current pullback appears to be a correction within a broader medium-term uptrend," he added. Going forward, Lienkha believes "ongoing global economic uncertainty and persistently high interest rates in the U.S. may act as headwinds" for crypto, and could limit upside potential. Newhedge measures Bitcoin's correlation with the S&P 500 on a scale of -1 to 1. While -1 indicates there's no connection between these markets, a score closer to 1 suggests they rise and fall in tandem with one another. With a current reading of 0.86, continued strength for BTC may hinge upon how things unfold on Wall Street.

10 years ago, a meme-based cryptocurrency known as dogecoin was introduced to the world. at the time, many people viewed it as a joke or a fad that wouldn’t last long in the ever-evolving world of digital currencies. fast forward to today, and not only has dogecoin stood the test of time, but it’s also thriving and gaining more traction than ever before. one of the reasons for this enduring popularity is its strong community backing. the dogecoin community has been instrumental in pushing for its adoption across various platforms. from tiktok campaigns to reddit posts urging users to buy into doge shoots its value up 857% from january 2021 until april! recently elon musk made headlines when he specifically requested his employees at tesla pay them their quarterly bonuses with doge instead of fiat cash?! while some say this move was planned all along to increase demand &market cap others are excited transactions on dogechain will be accepted soon bringing prices higher. a major factor driving growth? its lightning-fast processing times compared other cryptos like ethereum which takes forever confirm each block transaction! that means customers can conduct fast premium service payments without getting ripped off by miners’ fees! plus low inflation rate keeps supply decrease rate lower than bitcoin leading more investors flocking towards us remaining steady partners throughout these past nights days…and maybe months between rotting riches altogether!) but hey.. are we done here? makes sense because my fingers too tired typing “just keep buying” over&over 😏💪🏽😂👀 🔥🚀🔋 💎🙌🏽 ⛸️🚢🔥😱

🧾TYO-listed firm just dropped another $3.4M on Bitcoin 🚗It's that same auto & energy player who sold BITPoint to SBI in 2023 💰Snagged 32.83 $BTC at ~¥15.23M ($104.5K) per coin 📈Now holds a fat 648.82 $BTC—worth ~$68M market value 🧠Book value sits at ¥8.19B, but price action already pushed it up ¥1.7B 👀Old school corp with laser eyes? We like that.

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Attorneys for World Liberty Financial pushed back against what they described as a “fundamentally flawed” probe by Senate Democrat Richard Blumenthal, investigating its USD1 stablecoin and potential conflicts of interest related to President Trump’s crypto activities. Blumenthal, the ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, recently sent letters to World Liberty Financial and Fight Fight Fight LLC — the company behind the Official Trump memecoin — alleging the firms may have violated federal law by enabling ethics breaches or facilitating transactions with foreign nationals under prosecution. He requested detailed records on ownership structures, financial relationships, and conflict-of-interest safeguards, claiming Trump financially benefited from WLFI and TRUMP. World Liberty Financial is backed by several members of the Trump family, including the president and his three sons, each of which have taken on ambassadorial or advocate roles for the DeFi project, according to its website. Stablecoin concerns The senator's letter to World Liberty Financial, addressed to co-founder Zach Witkoff, claimed that the Trump family "reaped substantial financial benefits" from WLFI and raised concerns about its stablecoin, USD1 — used to close Binance's record $2 billion investment from MGX. The letter further stated that Trump's ties to WLFI created threats to national security, as the project invites foreign governments and "unscrupulous" individuals to join as investors. Writing on behalf of World Liberty Financial on Thursday, law firm BakerHostetler said that although the company is under no legal obligation to respond, it welcomed the opportunity to address several of Blumenthal's "inaccuracies," without addressing them in full. The DeFi project's mission is to strengthen, not undermine, the role of the U.S. dollar, the letter stated. "The company's flagship product, USD1, is a fully reserved stablecoin backed exclusively by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents," the lawyers wrote. "It is designed to increase global demand for U.S. government debt and expand access to dollar-denominated financial tools at a time when adversarial regimes and emerging monetary blocs are challenging America’s monetary leadership." The firm added that USD1 is intended to broaden access to the U.S. dollar, particularly in underserved regions, bypassing outdated banking systems and offering financial inclusion to unbanked and underbanked communities around the world. RELATED INDICES DETAILS GMUSA Top U.S. tokens 188.60 0.57% DETAILS GMETHEX Top Ethereum tokens ex Me 101.16 1.93% See Crypto Indices WLFI launched its USD1 stablecoin in March and announced on Thursday that a recent governance proposal to airdrop the stablecoin to eligible holders had officially passed. However, Sen. Blumenthal is not the only one with concerns. "I'm deeply concerned that the President launched his own stablecoin," top House Democrat Maxine Waters said amid a boycott of a planned hearing on the crypto industry following tensions over Trump's potential conflicts of interest and the Genius Act stablecoin bill earlier this month. "I negotiated with my colleagues across the aisle for the past three years to create a safe regulatory framework for stablecoins. Now, we are pushing legislation through as quickly as possible without considering some of the key issues that will impact American investors and consumers." Not 'operating in the shadows' The attorneys' letter continued that World Liberty Financial is not "operating in the shadows. " They argue that it is building a transparent, compliant financial system rooted in U.S. trust, law, and leadership, with values like accountability and dollar dominance guiding every step. "The company rejects the false choice between innovation and oversight. What it opposes is the misuse of regulatory authority and uncertainty to suppress lawful innovation. The future of finance must be shaped in Washington, D.C. — not in Beijing, Moscow, or behind the closed doors of legacy institutions resistant to evolve to serve the needs of customers around the world. It aims to ensure that the U.S. dollar — not a foreign alternative — remains the foundation of global commerce in the digital era. WLFI is a movement to safeguard American monetary leadership in a rapidly transforming financial landscape," the BakerHostetler partners concluded. In his separate letter to Fight Fight Fight LLC CEO Bill Zanker, the company behind the Official Trump memecoin, Blumenthal speculated that a small group of insiders profited significantly from its launch. He also took issue with the "Dinner with Trump" promotion. Fight Fight Fight LLC has yet to publicly respond to the allegations. World Liberty Financial's attorneys said the project has no affiliation with Fight Fight Fight, LLC, or Zanker, and the "unfounded assertion" of a "non-existent relationship" was also among the errors in Blumenthal's letter. "America — and the rest of the world — needs solutions like USD1," Witkoff posted to X late Thursday. "We will not be intimidated by politicians with an axe to grind: we're too busy building." The Block reached out to Sen. Blumenthal's office for comment.

Lawmakers in the US will conduct a cloture vote on the GENIUS Act this coming Monday, setting the stablecoin bill on a crucial path

🏦 The Central Bank of Russia just called Bitcoin the top-performing asset. The chart says it all. When even central banks admit what they once called a bubble, it means the denial phase is over. A new chapter begins?

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Europol has announced the arrest of 17 individuals involved in a criminal parallel banking organization that provided money laundering services across Europe, including the exchange of cryptocurrencies for cash. The operation, conducted on January 14, 2025, in Austria, Belgium, and Spain, followed previous successful actions against migrant smugglers. The arrested individuals, primarily of Chinese and Syrian nationality, are suspected of facilitating illegal banking services, including hawala banking and cash courier services, to various criminal networks. Law enforcement seized assets worth over €4.5 million, including €183,000 in cryptocurrency, cash, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, and firearms. This dismantling of the criminal network is considered significant, as it was linked to the laundering of over €21 million in illicit proceeds, serving a diverse clientele through social media advertising. Europol’s involvement included deploying experts to assist national investigators in tracking down the network’s operations.