Today: Trump taps crypto for White House funds

Bitcoin dominance slipped 0.09% to 59.46%, while the Altcoin Index collapsed to 27.

 

Stablecoins saw net outflows of $113.89M on October 17, led by a $102.18M withdrawal from USDC, leaving total stablecoin supply at roughly $263.72B. 

On October 16, in the absence of BlackRock data, Bitcoin ETFs posted a $501.4M outflow and Ethereum ETFs recorded a $103.7M outflow.

Macro backdrop

US equities fell, with the Dow down 0.65%, the Nasdaq down 0.47%, and the S&P 500 down 0.63%.

 

The 10-year Treasury yield eased 1.47% and the dollar index slipped 0.46% to 98.21%.

 

Gold rallied 3.39% to $4,351.89.

 

Political risk is elevated. The Senate again failed to pass a Republican funding bill by a 51 to 45 vote, and without a path to 60 votes, the government shutdown continues. That standoff increases short-term tail risk for markets and risks delaying key economic releases.

 

Trump’s $250M White House expansion draws crypto leaders

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted a fundraising dinner at the White House for a $250M banquet hall construction project. Attendees included executives from many major crypto companies.

 

The dinner, held on the 15th day of the government shutdown, aimed to raise funds for a planned 9,000-square-meter White House expansion first proposed by Trump in July.

 

Industry highlights

BitMine’s chairman warned that the vault-style digital asset treasury model may be under stress, suggesting some treasury companies could trade below net asset value.

 

BitMine itself is shifting toward an Ethereum-heavy holding strategy, currently reporting over 3M ETH and aiming to grow that stake while staking to generate yield and pursue index inclusion.

 

Investment bank Citizens initiated coverage on a listed Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink Gaming (SBET), assigning an outperform rating and a $50 price target, citing long-term bullish views on ETH that include price scenarios above $7,000 by 2026 and as high as $20,000 by 2030.

 

SharpLink also announced that it successfully raised $76.5M by issuing shares at $17 each, representing a 12% premium over the market price.

 

In addition, through an innovative 90-day premium purchase agreement priced at $17.50 per share, or a 19% premium, the company expects to raise approximately another $79M.

 

A16z announced that its crypto division has invested $50M in Jito, a Solana ecosystem staking protocol. In return for the investment, the firm received a portion of Jito’s token allocation.

 

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Airdrop news

Solana-based liquidity protocol Meteora announced that its MET airdrop query page is now live. The registration deadline for the Liquidity Distributor NFT is October 19, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. UTC.

 

The LGE claim date is set for October 23, 2025, with the exact time to be announced. Starting from the claim date, users will have about six months, until April 23, 2026, to claim their airdrop or NFT.

 

A token called ZEROBASE will open its first airdrop claim window starting October 17 at 12:00 UTC and closing December 31 at 23:59:59 UTC, with wallet-based booster program distributions handled via the wallet provider’s official rewards system.

 

Project teams continue to clarify vesting and anti-sybil measures for multi-stage airdrops.

 

With Q4 momentum fragile, stay selective, size positions conservatively, and treat intraday moves as potential catalysts rather than confirmations.