Crypto’s big moment

President Donald Trump and his advisers on March 7 explained details for a proposed U.S. stockpile of digital currencies. Flanked by about 30 CEOs, investors, and a federal working group on digital asset markets, Trump championed a “virtual Fort Knox for digital gold” to store a reserve of bitcoin and stockpile of other digital currencies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the initiative would help the United States become the world leader in digital assets.

The administration plans to seed the stockpile with about 200,000 bitcoins, worth about $17 billion as of March 7, obtained from criminal seizures. The Treasury Department will also inventory digital currencies held by the government and seek to obtain other digital assets at no cost to taxpayers.

Trump said his administration is “working to end the federal bureaucracy’s war on crypto.” In late February, the Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed a Biden-era investigation into Coinbase, one of the largest online crypto exchanges, and said that “meme coins”—crypto assets traded like collectibles—are not subject to federal securities laws.

Still, cryptocurrencies are a niche market: Just 17% of Americans have ever used them.

Student loan delinquency hits credit scores

Almost half of the 22 million Americans whose government-funded student loans were paused under the Biden administration haven’t yet resumed making payments, according to Department of Education data. Loan holders’ grace period ended in October, and educational debt began reappearing in their credit reports in February. Student borrowers often say they are confused about their loan status—or say they’ve missed notices to begin payments or to reverify their income.

The standard federal student loan repayment schedule is 10 years, with unpaid interest added to the loan balance. Delinquent borrowers could see credit scores drop by up to 129 points (on an 850-point scale) according to VantageScore, a credit score modeling company. Another 8 million borrowers will likely be behind in payments by December. A federal court in February ruled against a Biden administration plan to accelerate debt relief or forgiveness for millions of people. —T.V.

Associated Press / Photo by Charles Krupa

Homebuyers with cold feet

U.S. homebuyers wary of stubbornly high prices and economic uncertainty canceled purchase contracts at record levels to start the year. One in every 7 home sales in January fell through, at 14.3% the highest level since 2017, according to analysis of National Association of Realtors data by Redfin released Feb. 28. Atlanta led home cancellations at a rate of about 20%, with Orlando, Las Vegas, Houston, and Jacksonville, Fla., following close behind. Buyers in limited-­supply areas like San Francisco, Nassau County, N.Y., and Seattle canceled least often. —T.V.