Today in crypto: Sweden considers national Bitcoin stash

White House eyes tariffs to fund Bitcoin

The Trump administration is considering using tariff revenues to grow its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, according to Bo Hines, Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisers on Digital Assets.

Speaking in a White House interview with Anthony Pompliano, Hines said the government is exploring “budget-neutral” ways to accumulate more Bitcoin without taxpayer money. That could include proceeds from import duties, he said, or mechanisms outlined in Senator Cynthia Lummis’s Bitcoin Act of 2025.

The U.S. currently holds over 192,000 BTC – worth $16.5 billion – according to Arkham. All federal agencies were recently ordered to disclose their digital asset holdings to the Treasury Secretary, marking the first coordinated audit of government crypto reserves.

Hines said a roadmap for future accumulation is due within 180 days. Treasury Secretary Besson and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among the senior officials driving the initiative.

“We want to be the Bitcoin superpower of the globe,” Hines said.

Sweden mulls adding BTC to reserves

Sweden could become the next nation to add Bitcoin to its national reserves, as two members of parliament submitted formal inquiries to the finance ministry this month.

Dennis Dioukarev and Rickard Nordin each asked whether Sweden plans to follow the U.S. in accumulating Bitcoin through seized assets or other means. Nordin highlighted Bitcoin’s use as both a hedge and a tool for freedom fighters under authoritarian regimes.

The proposals reflect growing European interest in digital asset accumulation. Czech central bank chief Aleš Michl has floated a similar idea, and Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, purchased 11 BTC in January.

However, the European Central Bank remains skeptical. In January, ECB President Christine Lagarde said she was “confident that Bitcoins will not enter the reserves of any of the central banks.”

Canada approves Solana staking ETFs

Canada is again ahead of the curve on crypto ETFs, with four asset managers receiving approval to launch the world’s first spot Solana ETFs that include staking.

According to a Toronto-Dominion circular shared by Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, the Ontario Securities Commission gave the green light to Purpose, Evolve, CI, and 3iQ to begin trading the new funds on Wednesday.

These ETFs will hold Solana directly and engage in staking – allowing holders to earn rewards. It's a significant leap over existing products, especially as U.S. regulators continue to delay decisions on similar proposals.

Solana, the fifth-largest crypto by market cap, is currently trading at $129.97. The blockchain is seen as a fast, low-fee alternative to Ethereum.

The SEC is still reviewing whether to allow staking within U.S.-based Ethereum ETFs. A final decision on Grayscale’s request is due by June 1.

Phantom sued over token theft

Crypto wallet provider Phantom is facing a major class-action lawsuit alleging security flaws allowed a hacker to steal over $500,000 worth of WIENER tokens from a developer’s account.

Filed in New York by Murphy's Law LLP, the complaint says Phantom left users exposed by storing unencrypted private keys in browser memory. A hacker allegedly extracted those keys from Thomas Liam Murphy’s computer and used Phantom’s built-in swap tool to liquidate the tokens – collapsing the Wiener Doge project in the process.

The suit also names OKX, Phantom’s integration partner, citing its 2024 guilty plea to federal money laundering charges and claiming users were misled about the nature of that partnership.

Phantom denies wrongdoing and says it cannot prevent scams initiated by users clicking malicious links. The firm is valued at $3 billion and supports more than 10 million users on the Solana network.

The plaintiffs are seeking at least $3.1 million in damages.

The bigger picture

As governments race to accumulate Bitcoin and launch compliant investment products like staking-enabled ETFs, the risks borne by individual users remain high. The Phantom lawsuit underscores the persistent vulnerability of crypto infrastructure – even as institutions and nation-states move to embrace digital assets.

At the same time, the rising tide of government-led Bitcoin accumulation marks a turning point in crypto’s evolution. Once a decentralized hedge against state overreach, Bitcoin is increasingly being absorbed into state monetary strategies.

Whether that signals long-term validation or a quiet dilution of its founding ideals is still up for debate.