Gold declined 6% this week following a 30% rally since August, lifting the BTC/gold ratio by 8%. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan suggests Bitcoin could replicate gold's 2025 price pattern once long-term holder selling exhausts. The analysis points to potential ETF inflow shifts favoring BTC if gold's pullback continues.

Overseas renminbi lending by Chinese banks reached a record RMB3.4 trillion ($480 billion), marking a 35% increase from the previous high, according to China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The renminbi's share in global trade finance rose from under 2% to 7.6% over three years, Swift data showed. China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System now processes over RMB40 trillion quarterly, reflecting Beijing's push to reduce dollar dependence in global finance.

An independent Bitcoin miner validated block 920,440 on Thursday and earned $347,455 in total rewards. The miner operated solo mining infrastructure on an Umbrel server through Public Pool, receiving 3.125 BTC as the block subsidy plus 0.016 BTC in transaction fees. The achievement demonstrates that independent miners can still successfully validate blocks despite Bitcoin's rising global hash rate.

Stable, a Layer 1 blockchain for stablecoin transactions, reached its $825 million Phase 1 pre-deposit hard cap shortly after launch on Thursday. Community members flagged that large wallets deposited the majority of funds before the public announcement. Onchain data indicated 600 million USDT came from ten addresses prior to the campaign going live, according to crypto researcher @0xastronomica.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said Bitcoin reaching $250,000 by year-end would require "a heck of a lot of crazy stuff." He projected a more realistic range of $100,000 to $125,000 under normal market conditions. Bitcoin was trading around $107,000 at the time, meaning a move to $250,000 would require approximately a 130% surge within weeks.

Bitcoin rose 2.7% to $110,700 on Thursday following a presidential pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. BNB surged over 5% on the news. The rally extended to major cryptocurrencies including Ether, DOGE, and ADA, which gained 2-3%.

Standard Chartered's head of digital asset research Geoff Kendrick said Bitcoin could temporarily fall below $100,000 due to escalating U.S.–China trade risks. Despite the near-term correction forecast, Kendrick characterized the potential drop as a buying opportunity. The bank maintains long-term targets of $200,000 by year-end and $500,000 by 2028, citing expanding global M2 money supply.

Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized President Donald Trump's decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on Thursday. Warren called the pardon political corruption requiring Congressional action. Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls at Binance, according to court records.