The Daily: What's next for crypto after the Trump tariff tantrum, South Korea's 'kimchi premium' soars to 10-month high and more

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—well, outside of the crypto markets anyway—as the Trump tariff-fueled sell-off over the past few days raises questions about whether the current cycle is already over.

In today's newsletter, we take a look at what's next for crypto after the tariff-driven price plunge, South Korea's "kimchi premium" soars to a 10-month high, THORChain's governance approves a $200 million debt crisis plan and more.

Meanwhile, crypto-friendly Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to take temporary charge of the CFPB. Plus, the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial DeFi project disputes allegations of "selling tokens" to crypto teams.

Let's get started.

What's next for crypto after the Trump tariff tantrum?

Crypto markets crashed after President Trump's weekend tariff announcements , with bitcoin dropping over 10%, ether plunging 36% and leading memecoins falling more than 40% amid broad risk-off sentiment.

• Analysts at Bernstein saw short-term pain from the move but expect strong institutional demand and crypto-friendly U.S. policies to sustain bitcoin's bullish momentum, with a longer-term price target of $200,000 by the end of 2025.
• Bitwise Head of Alpha Strategies Jeff Park argued that Trump's tariffs are a tool to ultimately weaken the dollar and lower U.S. yields, fueling a major bitcoin surge.
• However, crypto analyst Alex Krüger warned that aggressive tariffs could trigger foreign retaliation, hurt the U.S. economy and push the Fed toward a more hawkish stance.
• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and prominent American economist Lawrence Summers criticized Trump's tariffs as economically illogical, but billionaire hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb highlighted that they also serve as a geopolitical tool.
• Industry leaders such as Aave founder Stani Kulechov and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko also viewed the tariffs as a restructuring tool, boosting domestic production, while crypto acts as a hedge during the transformation.
• The market subsequently bounced significantly later on Monday following reports that new tariffs on Mexico will be paused for a month after an agreement between the two governments.
• However, tariffs on Canada and China are still set to go into effect on Tuesday, and Trump is also considering fresh tariffs on the EU.

Bitcoin 'kimchi premium' soars to 10-month high

South Korea's bitcoin "kimchi premium" surged to a 10-month high of 9.7% on Monday as local prices remained steady amid a broader global crypto sell-off, according to data from CryptoQuant.

• The kimchi premium represents the price gap where bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies trade at a higher value on South Korean exchanges — closed off to foreign investors — compared to global markets.
• The premium typically spikes in bull markets when Korean investors bid higher but also rises during periods of panic, such as President Trump's tariff announcements, when local selling pressure is lower, Presto Research analyst Min Jung explained.
• "If selling pressure among U.S. investors persists, the premium could remain elevated," Jung said. "However, historically, the kimchi premium has averaged around 5%. If the market stabilizes and rebounds, we would likely see the premium narrow back toward that level."

THORChain approves $200 million debt crisis plan

THORChain's governance body has approved a plan to convert $200 million in defaulted debt into TCY equity tokens , giving creditors a stake in the protocol.

• TCY holders will receive 10% of THORChain's revenue in perpetuity, replacing direct repayment in bitcoin or ether for affected lenders and savers.
• The protocol will mint 200 million TCY tokens and establish a RUNE/TCY liquidity pool with $500,000 at an initial price of $0.1 per TCY, backed by $5 million from the treasury.
• On Jan. 23, THORChain suspended its THORFi services, including "Savers and Lending" programs, due to financial uncertainties. A 90-day restructuring plan is in place to address and reduce the issues stemming from accumulated unserviceable debt in these programs.

TON Foundation veteran launches $100 million VC fund

Steve Yun, former president and current board member of TON Foundation, has launched TVM Ventures , a $100 million fund focused on TON-based DeFi and PayFi startups, backed by his own capital and an undisclosed Toncoin miner.

• The fund targets seed-stage investments at valuations of $5 million to $10 million, taking a lead position with check sizes between $500,000 and $1 million, as well as providing $5 million in "farming liquidity" for new protocols.
• TVM Ventures has already invested in four TON-based startups, including Factorial, Torch Finance, Fiva and Memes Lab, to support ecosystem growth.
• Yun predicts TON will capture a major stablecoin market share within 24 to 48 months, with Toncoin potentially surpassing a $100 billion market cap in the next bull cycle — a 900% increase.

MicroStrategy ends 12-week bitcoin buying streak

MicroStrategy's 12-week bitcoin buying streak has come to an end after the company confirmed that it did not sell any shares of class A common stock under its at-the-market equity offering program and did not purchase any bitcoin between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2, per an 8-K filing with the SEC on Monday.

• The decision keeps MicroStrategy's total holdings at 471,107 BTC, worth over $46 billion at current prices, bought at an average price of $64,511 per bitcoin, for a total cost of around $30.4 billion, according to the firm's co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor.
• MicroStrategy has acquired around $20 billion worth of bitcoin over the past few months alone and had approximately $4.35 billion worth of shares that remained available for sale as part of its "21/21 plan" as of Jan. 26.

In the next 24 hours

• U.S. FOMC members Raphael Bostic and Mary Daly are scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. ET and 1:15 p.m. ET, respectively, on Tuesday. U.S. Fed Governor Philip Jefferson will speak at 7:30 p.m.
• EigenLayer is set to unlock 1.29 million EIGEN tokens worth $2.5 million, representing 0.55% of the circulating supply.

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