Coinbase shares popped as much as 4% early on Tuesday morning after the flagship US crypto exchange announced it was slashing about 14% of its global workforce in a sweeping restructuring that refocuses the company around artificial intelligence.

CEO Brian Armstrong broke the news in an email to employees, citing two punishing forces: a reeling market still down about $1.5 trillion from its peak, and AI.

"Over the past year, I've watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks," Armstrong wrote in the email, which he reposted on X. "Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated."

“We’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it,” he added.

As of December 31, Coinbase had 4,951 employees, according to its 2025 financial report. Based on that figure, the exchange's 14% job cut impacts 693 employees.

The move puts Coinbase in company with Meta, which is cutting roughly 10% of its workforce, and Microsoft, which is trimming headcount through a voluntary retirement programme. Across many high-flying tech companies, the logic has been the same.

The exchange expects to incur $50 million to $60 million in restructuring charges, mostly recognised in the second quarter. The market's reaction in early hours trading suggests investors view the cuts as a long-overdue reset.

Armstrong said he wants no more than five management layers below the CEO, leaders with up to 15 direct reports, and what he bills as "AI-native pods" — small, focused teams where a single person can combine the roles of engineer, designer, and product manager.

“The future is small, high context teams that can move quickly,” he said.

A familiar story

This is not Coinbase's first encounter with the axe.

The exchange has cut staff in every major crypto downturn since its launch in 2012, underscoring just how tightly its fortunes remain leashed to the price of Bitcoin and the mood of crypto markets.

The current downturn has been particularly bruising. Bitcoin is still down 35% from its October 2025 peak of $126,000, even as the S&P 500 reached an all-time high in April.

“We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean,” Armstrong said.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

The decentralised finance exchange processing $6 billion in daily derivatives volume launched its first outcome contracts over the weekend — and the early numbers turned heads, according to Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperion DeFi.

Its first Bitcoin outcome market did roughly three times the volume of equivalent markets on Polymarket and Kalshi combined, Jung told DL News.

“This proves that having a shared liquidity layer is effective in converting users,” he said. "Binary markets is an obvious next step in building the full financial stack on Hyperliquid, which is meaningfully dominating crypto perpetuals and in the first half of 2026 has demonstrated the possibilities of 24/7 real-world asset trading.”

Hyperion DeFi is a US publicly-traded company that accumulates Hyperliquid's HYPE token.

The launch puts Hyperliquid in direct competiton with Polymarket and Kalshi — and, according to a note shared with DL News by Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and his colleagues on Monday, the timing could hardly be more significant.

Bernstein has just extended its digital assets research coverage to include prediction markets as one of three trends it is tracking alongside tokenisation and stablecoins, a signal of how seriously Wall Street is taking the sector.

Fund managers circling

The Bernstein memo frames Hyperliquid's launch against a broader shift that is just beginning to register on institutional radar screens.

Prediction market contracts, Bernstein argues, give macro-focused funds a cleaner way to hedge event risk than traditional instruments. A foreign exchange option or commodity exposure introduces basis risk — the asset price may partially move before the event resolves.

But a binary contract defined as "Will the US impose tariffs above 25% on EU goods in 2026?" settles solely on the outcome, with the premium, maximum loss, and payoff known in advance, the analysts said.

Kalshi moved first on the institutional front. Last week it executed its first bespoke block trade, brokered by Greenlight Commodities, between a Houston-based environmental hedge fund and Jump Trading Group, tied to the clearing price at California's May carbon allowance auction. Clear Street, an institutional broker, has also partnered with Kalshi to become the first institutional futures commission merchant providing regulated clearing access to prediction markets for hedge funds.

Meanwhile, HIP-4, Hyperliquid's prediction product, inherits the platform’s institutional credentials directly.

FalconX launched prime brokerage margin financing for Hyperliquid in February, with cross-venue margining across Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Deribit against a single collateral pool. Ripple Prime, which clears over $3 trillion annually, added Hyperliquid as its first DeFi venue in the same month. Anchorage Digital, the only federally chartered US crypto bank, supports HYPE custody and staking.

What to watch

Jung says the milestones to track are volume and open interest growth, and which markets get added next. HIP-4 launched with Bitcoin price outcomes but is expected to expand to HYPE and Ether contracts, and to move beyond its current 15-minute timeframes.

Combined monthly volumes across Polymarket and Kalshi hit nearly $24 billion in April, according to Bernstein data. Kalshi now commands a 62% market share, up from 55% in January, driven by its dominance in sports betting, which accounts for roughly 72% of its volume.

Full permissionless deployment for third-party teams is expected around mid-June — timed to coincide with the FIFA World Cup, historically one of the highest-volume events in prediction market history. The 2026 World Cup is already Polymarket's second-largest market by all-time volume at $884 million.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Shares of the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder have surged more than 50% over the past month, riding the top crypto’s climb past $80,000 as short sellers scramble for the exits and institutional money pours back in.

On Monday, MSTR jumped another 4% to nearly $184 per share, adding to a 7% surge on Friday. After-hours trading suggests the stock’s price has inched up at least another 2% ahead of Strategy’s first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

The rally comes amid renewed institutional demand. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds drew $827 million in the first two trading days of May alone, extending a two-month winning streak, DefiLlama data shows. Over $200 million in short positions were liquidated in a single day as the rally gathered pace.

Strategy shares are seen as a leveraged bet on Bitcoin, and the firm's stock price closely tracks the top crypto.

Bitcoin's rally above $80,000 is sound, according to Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen. He told DL News that the funding rate — a key measure of market temperature — sits at a healthy 0.00045% hourly, well below the overheated readings that typically precede a sharp correction.

"With $2.4 billion in open interest and daily perpetual volume of $3.4 billion outpacing spot turnover, derivatives are clearly playing a significant role in price discovery around this level," Kennis said. "The moderate funding rate and balanced buy/sell ratio don't indicate extreme leverage build-up that would suggest a major pullback."

Q1 earnings call

All eyes now turn to Strategy's first quarter financial results.

Consensus voices expect revenue of around $125 million, up from $115 million a year earlier, alongside an accounting loss tied to Bitcoin's price swings and financing costs. But investors are paying less attention to the income statement than to the capital markets machine Saylor has built underneath it.

Strategy has quietly transformed from a software company with a Bitcoin position into a financing vehicle built to convert market demand into Bitcoin exposure. The engine driving that machine is STRC — Strategy's Bitcoin-backed preferred stock, paying a variable dividend of around 11.5% annually — which has grown to $8.5 billion in notional value in under nine months.

"The world's $300 trillion credit market is a much bigger opportunity than the world's roughly $2 trillion Bitcoin market, and Strategy has built the first product to bridge the two," Michael Saylor, Strategy's founder and Executive Chairman, told the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas last week.

BlackRock's iShares Preferred & Income Securities ETF has already taken a $210 million position in STRC. Saylor says the instrument has financed the acquisition of roughly 77,000 Bitcoin so far this year — ten times the net inflow of all US spot Bitcoin ETFs combined over the same period.

“STRC is a battery that stores Bitcoin gains and distributes them over time,” said Strategy CEO Phong Le.

Strategy did pause its Bitcoin buying streak ahead of Tuesday's earnings — only the second such break this year, according to Saylor. Its most recent purchase added 3,273 Bitcoin at an average price of around $77,900.

Strategy is scheduled to release its first quarter financial results at 10 pm London time or 5 pm US Eastern time on Tuesday. Saylor has promised a live question-and-answer session, with notable guests to be announced.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin is up 0.7% over the past 24 hours at $80,886.
• Ethereum is down 0.5% over the past few hours at $2,381.

What we’re reading

• Aave secures emergency hearing to void ‘catastrophic’ restraining order — DL News
• Clarity Act odds surge on stablecoin compromise, Coinbase support — DL News
• World Liberty Financial Quietly Sold Billions in Tokens as Early Investors Remained Locked Out — Unchained
• $80K: we got there. Now what? — Milk Road
• Ethereum devs huddled in the Arctic Circle to fix the network. Here’s what to know — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Last week, just over 100 core contributors gathered in Longyearbyen, on Norway's Svalbard archipelago — some 78 degrees north, where the sun never sets — for the Soldøgn interop, a week of intensive work on the Glamsterdam network upgrade.

By Friday, the team had locked in a post-Glamsterdam gas limit floor of 200 million, stabilised external block builder implementations, and finalised gas repricing numbers for EIP-8037.

"At their best, interop weeks can compress a month of asynchronous progress into each day," Ethereum Foundation researcher Tim Beiko wrote in a recap shared with developers on Friday.

The breakthrough lands as Ether trades at $2,377, still more than 50% below its August peak of $4,946. However, signs of hope are emerging. Ethereum has jumped 14% over the past month, CoinGecko data shows.

The 200 million gas limit target is notable because it determines how many transactions Ethereum can process per block. The higher the limit, the more activity the network can handle without congestion — and the stronger the case for Ethereum as the backbone of a global financial system.

Beiko billed it as one of the most productive weeks in recent memory for the Ethereum team.

Foundation sells, Bitmine buys

The Ethereum Foundation wasted no time translating its technical progress into operational runway.

On Friday, the Foundation completed a third over-the-counter sale of 10,000 Ether tokens to Bitmine Immersion Technologies — the largest Ethereum treasury company — at an average price of $2,292 per coin, bringing the total transaction value to roughly $23 million.

It is the third such deal between the two parties. In March, the Foundation sold Bitmine 5,000 ETH at around $2,043 per coin. Last Friday, another 10,000 ETH changed hands at $2,387. The Foundation has also conducted a separate 10,000 ETH sale to rival treasury firm Sharplink.

The money goes straight back into funding Ethereum's development, including research, grants, and the kind of work that just happened in Svalbard, the Foundation said.

But despite the price downturn, Bitmine, led by prominent Wall Street bull Tom Lee, is not flinching.

Earlier this week the company disclosed its largest Ethereum purchase of the year — 101,901 ETH worth roughly $235 million — bringing its total holdings above 5 million Ether and cementing its position as the dominant corporate accumulator of the asset.

Bitmine bought most of its Ethereum at much higher prices. At today's levels, the company is sitting on an unrealised loss of more than $6 billion.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

On the first day of May alone, $630 million poured into US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, extending a two-month winning streak that made April the best month since October, DefiLlama data shows.

ETF inflows have become the dominant force behind Bitcoin’s ascent, Max Kahn, CEO of investment adviser Digital Wealth Partners, told DL News. They now act as “an increasingly important source of consistent buying pressure,” helping the asset hold higher levels as long as institutional appetite remains intact.

The institutional surge comes as Washington closes in on a legislative breakthrough. Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott told Fox Business on Friday that the Clarity Act — the landmark digital asset market structure bill — is heading for a bipartisan markup in May and a Senate floor vote soon after.

‘Red zone’

"We're in the red zone," Scott said, signalling the bill is nearing the Senate floor and that each procedural step strips away regulatory fog that has long restrained institutional capital.

“I just want to have thirteen of thirteen Republicans on board,” he said. “That makes it easier for us to have a bipartisan markup – in May is my hope – and we’ll get this thing to the floor of the Senate.”

Meanwhile, Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, is already ahead of the curve. Shares of Strategy surged over 7% on Friday as Bitcoin clawed toward $80,000, rewarding investors who endured a brutal stretch.

At the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas last week, Saylor trained his sights beyond Bitcoin's price. His pitch centred on STRC — Strategy's Bitcoin-backed preferred stock — and a thesis that digital credit is set to reshape global capital markets.

"The world's $300 trillion credit market is a much bigger opportunity than the world's roughly $2 trillion Bitcoin market," Saylor told the audience. BlackRock's iShares Preferred & Income Securities ETF has already taken a $210 million position in STRC, which has grown to $8.5 billion in under nine months.

What comes next

The macro calendar for May is stacked.

Kevin Warsh's confirmation as the next Federal Reserve chair is imminent as Jerome Powell’s official term ends on May 15. Polymarket bettors put the odds of confirmation at 95%.

The US jobs report on Friday is the main event, according to economist Ed Yardeni. Unemployment is expected to tick down to 4.2%, with jobless claims pointing to a healthy labour market, he wrote.

Corporate earnings are also in focus — Palantir, AMD, McDonald's, and Arm all report this week. With 44% of S&P 500 companies already in, analysts now forecast 19.8% earnings growth for 2026, well ahead of recent years.

Meanwhile, Nine Federal Reserve officials are speaking this week, with investors parsing every word for clues on rates.

Inflation expectations are also due Thursday, with the New York Fed forecast to show a jump toward 4%.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is up 2.2% over the past 24 hours at $79,887.
• Ethereum is up 3% over the past few hours at $2,371.

What we’re reading 

• Anthropic’s new Mythos AI will hit crypto. Bitcoin investors don’t care, says Coinbase — DL News
• Crypto industry reels as April sees highest number of hacks ever — DL News
• New Bitcoin Wallet Offers Post-Quantum Protection Without a Fork — Unchained
• The AI margin trap — Milk Road
• DeFi lender Sky hits $124m revenue record. Yet token holders aren’t impressed — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

On Thursday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Congress that Bitcoin projects inside the Pentagon are “classified and ongoing,” while stressing that the top crypto is a tool for American power.

Hegseth delivered the comments in front of the House Armed Services Committee, responding to questions about whether the US is securing a strategic advantage in technology.

“I am a long enthusiast of Bitcoin and crypto potential,” he said. “A lot of the things we are doing, enabling it or defeating it, are classified efforts that are ongoing inside our department, which do provide us a lot of leverage in a lot of different scenarios.”

Hegseth’s endorsement elevates Bitcoin into the realm of geopolitical strategy at a time when Russia and China are expanding their roles in mining and using digital assets to bypass US sanctions.

As rival powers lean on crypto to settle energy trades and reduce dependence on the dollar amid geopolitical turmoil, Washington’s embrace signals that Bitcoin is now part of the global balance-of-power conversation.

Still, Bitcoin’s price has not budged. The top crypto is down some 40% from its October peak of $126,000 even as the S&P 500 and other asset classes blaze record highs amid investor optimism.

Hegseth himself has long been a backer of digital assets. In 2025, his financial filings showed that he was holding Bitcoin.

Last week, Admiral Samuel Paparo Jr., head of US Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed that the military runs a live Bitcoin node and is testing the protocol operationally.

“We’re not mining Bitcoin,” Paparo said. “We’re using it to monitor.”

Crypto x geopolitics 

The geopolitical backdrop sharpens the stakes.

Russia now accounts for roughly 16% of global Bitcoin mining, making it the second-largest mining hub globally, according to an FT analysis from February.

China, despite its 2021 domestic ban, still represents nearly 12% of global mining activity through underground and offshore operations, the study said.

Both countries increasingly explore digital assets to settle energy transactions and soften the blow of US-led financial sanctions.

During the House Armed Services Committee hearing, Texas Republican Lance Gooden said Bitcoin has evolved “from a fringe asset into a matter of national security.”

To back up the point, Gooden pointed to reports of Iran demanding Bitcoin for transit access, North Korea-linked ransomware activity, and China’s accumulation strategies.

Hegseth echoed that framing, positioning Bitcoin as a counterweight to what he described as China’s digital control model.

In 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a US strategic Bitcoin reserve seeded with approximately 200,000 government-held coins from forfeitures.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is up 1.8% over the past 24 hours at $77,413.
• Ethereum is up 1.2% over the past few hours at $2,285.

What we’re reading 

• Anthropic’s new Mythos AI will hit crypto. Bitcoin investors don’t care, says Coinbase — DL News
• Banks are fighting a ‘sideshow’ as Clarity Act stalls. Will it matter? — DL News
• New Bitcoin Wallet Offers Post-Quantum Protection Without a Fork — Unchained
• The AI margin trap — Milk Road
• Democrat Senators question Howard Lutnick over Tether ties — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Anthropic’s new Claude Mythos AI model is able to exploit security vulnerabilities autonomously and therefore threatens crypto markets, according to a second-quarter outlook by Coinbase and Classnode. In theory, it could hammer key weak points across protocols, exchanges, and infrastructure.

But that’s not shaking institutional investors’ confidence in Bitcoin, David Duong, Coinbase’s global head of investment research said in a note shared with DL News.

He highlighted that three‑quarters of institutions “still see Bitcoin as undervalued” despite the short-term fears clouding the market’s sentiment.

Duong’s confidence comes as crypto has struggled to keep up with other asset classes like stocks or gold. Bitcoin is still down nearly 40% from its October peak while the S&P 500 printed a new record in April. It is currently trading at $77,000 after rallying some 13% over the past month.

“Our outlook for the next quarter remains neutral, but there are early signs the market may be finding a floor,” Duong said. “Much of the speculative activity has been flushed out.”

Exchange-traded fund inflow data backs him up. April has been the best month since October as traders poured just under $2 billion into Bitcoin ETFs over the past 30 days, DefiLlama data shows.

How dangerous is Mythos?

Major crypto exchanges including Coinbase and Binance are moving quickly to get access to Mythos, The Information reported on 14 April.

The model has been kept limited to a small group of big tech partners because of concerns about its potential misuse. Anthropic says it has not set a public release date because of how powerful the system is.

The urgency comes from what the model can do, at least theoretically.

Claude Mythos is said to be able to find and exploit “zero-day” bugs — hidden security flaws that developers do not yet know about — across operating systems and web browsers.

While major exchanges look to use the AI to strengthen their defences, much of the crypto industry does not have access.

Deddy Lavid, head of cybersecurity firm Cyvers Alert, told DL News in April that the risks are serious. If AI can find weaknesses across the internet at scale, crypto could be one of the first sectors hit. That is because the industry relies heavily on browsers, wallets, and open-source tools that are directly linked to moving money.

The potential damage could be large. The crypto industry already lost about $3.4 billion to hacks and attacks in 2025, according to Chainalysis.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com.

The cryptocurrency is intimately linked to Ripple, the company whose founders developed it, and the venture’s fortunes.

But despite Ripple having notched several big wins over the past year, XRP is still trading 62% below its $3.65 record high from July.

“XRP is basically being held back by the same two forces that have capped most large-cap alts in this regime: macro noise and flow quality,” Louis De Backer, crypto trading analyst at financial services platform Marex, told DL News.

His comments come as the US’ conflict with Iran weighs on the global market. With talks between Washington and Tehran at a standstill, the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has catapulted the commodity’s price above $114 per barrel.

Elevated energy prices make it increasingly unlikely that the Federal Reserve and other central banks will cut interest rates. High interest rates are seen as a headwind for cryptocurrency prices.

“With energy at four-year highs and the Fed messaging more divided, risk budgets stay tight and investors default to BTC first, then ETH,” De Backer said. “In that tape, XRP tends to behave like beta, it moves with the complex but struggles to attract fresh standalone demand.”

If the macroeconomic environment was to calm down, that would enable traders to move beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum and start to trade with altcoins like XRP, De Backer said.

“The second constraint is positioning versus spot depth,” De Backer said. “When liquidity is thin and derivatives flows dominate, moves in XRP can be sharp but they often fade. You need consistent spot buying to turn a push into a trend, otherwise it remains range-bound and reactive.”

For the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency to rally, it needs to break out of its current level of trading between $1.35 and $1.45 and hold the new, higher level for longer, he added.

“In short, XRP isn’t broken,” De Backer said. “It’s just stuck in a market that is still trading macro first and rewarding the deepest, most liquid exposures. When that pressure eases and spot flows show up, XRP can move quickly.”

Ripple’s successes 

Ripple has been on a tear of late.

The company has ended its long-running legal feud with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, seen President Donald Trump include XRP in a proposed strategic digital reserve, signed a deal with one of South Korea’s biggest insurance companies, and has made a number of acquisitions.

In March, Ripple achieved a $50 billion valuation, according to reports. That’s more than double the market capitalisation of stablecoin giant Circle.

XRP exchange-traded funds launched in November have mostly seen positive inflows, according to Coinglass.

Yet, even despite the prospect of global tension easing the strain on markets, not everyone is bullish that XRP will ever reclaim its former glory.

“I’m just not convinced that in this marketplace, XRP is going to succeed at regaining the stature that it once had, which is sad and unfortunate,” Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines, told DL News in March.

Polymarket punters share that sentiment, at least in the short term. Betters on the prediction market give XRP a 13% chance of hitting $3.60 before the end of the year. Conversely, they give it a 61% chance of hitting $1 before January 1.

Eric Johansson is DL News’ managing editor. Got a tip. Email him at eric@dlnews.com.

At the heart of the forecast is continued expansion in decentralised finance lending via stablecoins, which the British bank views as rails enabling real-world assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and other funds to migrate onchain.

“All assets and infrastructure exist on the same ledger and can therefore interact without barriers,” Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, wrote in a note shared with DL News.

Kendrick’s bullish call comes amid major turbulence in the DeFi space that has shaken investors’ onchain confidence.

DeFi rebound

Earlier in April, a nearly $300 million exploit of the Ethereum liquid restaking protocol KelpDAO triggered a bank run on the decentralised lending platform Aave.

Aave lost $17 billion in deposits and $5.5 billion in active loans as panic spread, in what Kendrick calls “one of the most severe DeFi shocks in recent memory.”

But rather than fracturing, the DeFi community coordinated. A coalition of DeFi protocols and companies raised more than $300 million to stabilise the system and restore backing ratios.

While the hack exposed vulnerabilities and dented confidence, Kendrick argues it does not derail the core growth engine of tokenisation.

Rapid industry stabilisation efforts and structural upgrades reinforce the long-term case for DeFi banking and stablecoin liquidity — the twin pillars supporting a projected $2 trillion real world asset market by 2028.

Onchain banking boom

Kendrick said he expects a DeFi banking bonanza.

Lending in DeFi lowers the cost of capital because everything is built on “composability” and works more seamlessly than in traditional finance.

In simple terms, one asset can do several jobs at once. It can earn returns, be used as collateral for a loan, and still stay available to trade. This can increase overall returns without taking on more risk, according to the report.

In traditional finance, achieving that same multi-use profile requires capital to sit across separate intermediaries such as brokers, banks, and custodians, increasing cost and friction.

Several parts of DeFi make this far more efficient, according to Kendrick. Lending platforms let users earn returns and take out loans. Liquid staking allows assets to stay usable even while they are staked. Decentralised exchanges provide the liquidity needed for trading.

“Lending protocols are the central focus of this activity,” Kendrick said. “Without them, there would be no connection across multi-use activities.”

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Traders digested an unusually divided Fed decision to hold rates and the prospect of policy conflict under incoming chair Kevin Warsh, Kraken’s chief economist Thomas Perfumo said in a note shared with DL News.

“The absence of a clean handoff to Warsh, who is nearing Senate confirmation as chair, suggests the potential for discord over policy at the Fed,” Perfumo said.

Bitcoin’s pullback comes as the market weighs internal Fed discord at a time when traders are pricing roughly 90% odds of rates holding steady through year-end. That dynamic — a messy transition rather than a clean handoff — is emerging as a net negative for crypto and other growth assets.

“The vote itself was a loud crack in the Powell-era consensus, with four dissents, the most on a single decision since October 1992,” Perfumo said.

Three officials dissented over what they viewed as an “easing bias” in the central bank’s policy. Warsh has pledged to cut rates quickly, but Powell emphasised that inflation risks are rising, particularly as Brent crude still trades above $100 per barrel amid stalled US-Iran negotiations.

The tension showed up fast in the crypto exchange-traded fund space. Traders dumped $138 million in spot Bitcoin ETFs following the meeting, reversing part of April’s recovery, DefiLlama data shows.

Still, April has been the best month since October. Traders have poured just under $2 billion into Bitcoin ETFs this month.

Butchered handoff?

The split exposed a Fed no longer marching in lockstep as Powell prepares to step down on May 15.

“Powell's indication that he'll stay on as a board governor past his term as chair, albeit with a low profile, complicates the balance of power,” Perfumo said.

Powell confirmed at his press conference that he intends to remain a voting member of the Fed’s Board of Governors after his term as chair ends.

The decision carries little precedent. Outgoing chairs typically leave the institution.

Meanwhile, Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Powell, cleared the Senate Banking Committee later on Wednesday. A final confirmation vote is expected soon.

Powell insisted he has no desire to act as a “shadow chair.” Yet his continued presence as a voting governor potentially limits Warsh’s freedom to reshape the institution.

Powell, who was also installed by Trump during his first term in the Oval Office, has clashed with the president for months over interest rates. Earlier in April, Trump threatened to fire Powell if he does not go peacefully.

“I had long planned to retire,” Powell said. “The things that have happened in the last three months have left me no choice but to stay.”

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is down 1.6% over the past 24 hours at $75,731.
• Ethereum is down 3.1% over the past few hours at $2,251.

What we’re reading 

• Senators advance Warsh nomination after DOJ drops Fed chair probe — DL News
• Banks are fighting a ‘sideshow’ as Clarity Act stalls. Will it matter? — DL News
• New Bitcoin Wallet Offers Post-Quantum Protection Without a Fork — Unchained
• The AI margin trap — Milk Road
• DeFi lender Sky hits $124m revenue record. Yet token holders aren’t impressed — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

On Wednesday, Bernstein reaffirmed its “outperform” rating on Robinhood and kept a $130 share price target, arguing the stock will nearly double after bottoming — even after a messy Q1 call sent HOOD shares tumbling 8%.

“The top-line weakness was driven by crypto weakness,” analyst Gautam Chhugani and his three Bernstein colleagues said in a note shared with DL News.

Robinhood’s lacklustre performance in crypto comes amid a broader industry downturn that has vapourised $1.5 trillion in value despite the S&P 500 soaring to new highs. Bitcoin is still trading 40% below its peak while many other tokens are down over 75% or more.

But Bernstein says investors are looking in the rear-view mirror, despite shares falling about 8% in post-market afterhours trading after the platform missed revenue and earnings targets.

“Crypto has stabilised in April and HOOD’s own prediction markets exchange — Rothera — is expected to go live mid 2026,” the analysts stressed.

The company has repurchased more than $300 million of stock so far this year, and its board refreshed buyback authorisation to $1.5 billion.

Chief executive Vlad Tenev has repeatedly said he wants to move the narrative away from Bitcoin price cycles and toward infrastructure and long-term financial services.

Mixed Q1

On Tuesday, Robinhood reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.39, missing estimates by nearly 10%.

Overall revenue came in 7% below expectations at about $1.1 billion, while adjusted EBITDA — the key metric for Wall Street — missed by 9% at $534 million.

Yet, the broader business held up.

Total revenue grew 15% compared with a year ago. Transaction-based revenue climbed to $623 million, lifted by a record surge in prediction markets trading.

Robinhood users traded 8.8 billion event contracts in the quarter, pushing “other transaction revenue” up 320% year-on-year to $147 million.

Meanwhile, Robinhood Banking has grown fivefold since the last earnings report, with over $2 billion in net deposits and a 40% direct deposit attach rate. The Gold credit card has surpassed 800,000 users, with annualised purchase volume reaching $15 billion.

Bernstein is forecasting full-year 2026 earnings per share of $2.65, 23% ahead of consensus estimates.

The upside, it says, is driven by a recovery in crypto and a breakout year for prediction markets.

At the same time, the company is leaning into artificial intelligence tools to improve product features and internal efficiency. Management says more than 90% of employees now use AI tooling.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Now, traders’ risk appetite is back, Split Research founder Zaheer Ebtikar said in a note shared with DL News.

“The sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited,” he said. “Bitcoin has found a stable floor and moved away from headline-driven drama and toward a more mature phase of growth.”

Ebtikar’s call comes amid signs of budding optimism in the crypto industry. Bitcoin has rallied nearly 15% over the past month, while the overall cryptocurrency industry has added about $400 billion in value since February, CoinGecko data shows.

To be sure, the top crypto is still down nearly 40% from its October peak despite the S&P 500 hitting a new record in April. Other assets like gold and oil are also near their peaks.

Still, Bitcoin exchange-traded fund inflows paint a bright picture. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds drew in over $2 billion in net inflows in April, marking it as a second month in a row of positive inflows, DefiLlama data shows. The surge adds to March’s $1.3 billion gain.

“Since we’re currently in a quieter trading range, there’s no immediate rush for the exits,” Ebtikar said.

Powell’s last FOMC

The signs of life unfold against a pivotal moment in Washington.

Powell is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at what economist Ed Yardeni calls his “swan song” — the final press conference of his tenure at the central bank’s helm.

Powell is likely to stress that inflation risks have increased, especially with Brent crude climbing back above $100 per barrel as US-Iran peace talks stall, Yardeni wrote. Higher oil prices complicate any immediate case for rate cuts.

Lower interest rates are good for risky assets like Bitcoin because they disincentivise investors to hold bonds by paying out less yield.

Powell’s term as chair ends on May 15, but he will still hold a Fed governor’s seat through January 2028.

The Senate Banking Committee is set to confirm Kevin Warsh as his successor on Wednesday, with a final vote potentially coming soon after.

Warsh has publicly called for lower rates sooner, though he has also promised independence from political pressure.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for faster cuts and has clashed with Powell over policy and the Fed’s renovation project, which triggered a Justice Department probe that was later dropped.

“At 2:30 p.m. [ET], Jerome Powell will sing his swan song,” Yardeni said.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is up 0.5% over the past 24 hours at $77,031.
• Ethereum is up 2.1% over the past few hours at $2,323.

What we’re reading 

• Aave-led 'DeFi United' campaign raises $300m to address Kelp DAO breach — DL News
• Banks are fighting a ‘sideshow’ as Clarity Act stalls. Will it matter? — DL News
• US Military Is Running a Live Bitcoin Node for Cybersecurity Research, Indo-Pacific Commander Tells Congress — Unchained
• The AI margin trap — Milk Road
• Bitcoin mining meltdown? Why IREN’s real future is in AI, according to Bernstein — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

IREN’s future now rests on transforming into a hyperscale AI cloud operator, rather than mining Bitcoin as it had done in the past, according to wealth management firm Bernstein.

Bernstein slashed its price target on IREN to $100 from $125 per share but maintained its “outperform” rating, citing the successful pivot to building its AI cloud business.

“IREN remains our top pick among AI focused Bitcoin miners,” analyst Gautam Chhugani and his three colleagues said in a note shared with DL News.

Bernstein’s positive rating lands as the cryptocurrency industry is still reeling from a $1.5 trillion drawdown since October despite stocks and other assets soaring to historic highs. The S&P 500 printed a new record in April, while gold and commodities also post strong performance.

Bitcoin is trading 40% below its October high of $126,000, meaning that miners’ business model is less lucrative.

AI bonanza

IREN’s repositioning comes as equity investors rotate aggressively into AI plays, despite widespread chatter of a bubble.

Technology companies have driven much of the S&P 500’s gains in recent years. In contrast, crypto-linked equities like Strategy and Bitmine have struggled as digital asset prices retraced from their highs in late 2025.

The Bernstein report says IREN has contracted 150,000 graphic processing units supporting annualised revenue of $3.7 billion once fully deployed, with roughly half already locked into a five-year Microsoft deal.

By 2027, Bernstein expects the AI cloud segment alone to generate $2.1 billion in adjusted EBITDA — a key metric for Wall street — as the company sunsets its Bitcoin mining operations.

Revenue projections illustrate the shift.

Bernstein models IREN’s AI cloud revenue surging from just $16 million in 2025 to $1.4 billion in 2027, overtaking Bitcoin mining as the company’s primary engine of growth.

By 2030, analysts project $6 billion in cloud revenue and nearly $5 billion in adjusted EBITDA, with margins exceeding 80%

The physical backbone of that strategy is IREN’s 4.5 gigawatt power portfolio.

Sites in British Columbia and Texas are being retrofitted for GPU racks, while additional capacity at Sweetwater and Oklahoma provides expansion optionality.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

On Monday, the crypto treasury firm bought up another $294 million worth of Ether in its largest haul since December. It now holds roughly $12 billion worth of the second-largest cryptoasset, alongside significant equity stakes in ventures including Beast Industries and Eightco.

Bitmine Chair Tom Lee said Ethereum is benefiting from “dual tailwinds”: Wall Street tokenising assets and artificial intelligence. Bitmine is one of the few public equities offering exposure to OpenAI via Eightco.

Bitmine’s latest haul comes as Senator Cynthia Lummis said at the Bitcoin 2026 conference on Monday that the Senate will mark up the long-awaited Clarity Act in May — a pivotal step toward establishing a federal framework for digital assets.

Lummis is one of the most prominent voices on Capitol Hill backing the crypto industry and an early Bitcoin buyer.

Ethereum is up 14% over the past month, though still down 54% from its August peak of $4,950. Spot exchange-traded funds tracking the token have drawn $489 million in April, snapping a five month losing streak, DefiLlama data shows.

“In our view, there is a lot of meaning to Ethereum being the best 'war-time store of value' and to Ether being the asset leading since the [Iran] war started," said Lee.

Though its share price is down over 60% since August, Bitmine enjoys backing from ARK's Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, Pantera, Kraken, Galaxy Digital and Bill Miller.

Clarity Act

The Clarity Act is facing delays in Washington as lawmakers struggle to agree on key parts of the bill.

The bill, which has been stuck in Senate procedural limbo after clearing the House back in July 2025, would establish a federal market structure framework for digital assets. Lawmakers have been haggling over friction points including stablecoin yield rules and regulatory jurisdiction.

The Senate Banking Committee failed to schedule an April markup of the Clarity Act, pushing debate into May as sticking points remain.

Last week, Galaxy Digital’s head of research warned in a note shared with DL News that if the Senate does not move forward with the Clarity Act by mid-May, the chances of it passing in 2026 will drop quickly. He estimates the odds are already around 50% or lower.

Lummis pledged swift movement in Washington, saying the Senate will take up the Clarity Act in May and push through digital asset legislation.

“Bitcoin comes with a culture that could’ve written the US Declaration of Independence that we celebrate today,” she said.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is down 1.1% over the past 24 hours at $76,822.
• Ethereum is down 1.6% over the past few hours at $2,283.

What we’re reading 

• Justin Sun announces $20m boost for Aave as he calls on lender to expand to his blockchain — DL News
• Banks are fighting a ‘sideshow’ as Clarity Act stalls. Will it matter? — DL News
• US Military Is Running a Live Bitcoin Node for Cybersecurity Research, Indo-Pacific Commander Tells Congress — Unchained
• S&P 7,100, Oil drought, and a $3T bond bet  — Milk Road
• Bitcoin traders eye $90,000 price after Kevin Warsh’s confirmation chances skyrocket. Here’s why — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

These are just some of the things that Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet has aimed its cash cannon at as it attempts to prop up its ailing share price.

Metaplanet’s stock has fallen some 25% since the start of the year, dragged down by Bitcoin’s 11% drop over the same period.

The firm is also trading at a 36% discount to the value of its Bitcoin holdings. In other words, Metaplanet’s share price values the firm at just $2 billion, despite it holding some $3.1 billion worth of Bitcoin.

For a crypto treasury whose stated goal is to hold 1% of the world’s Bitcoin supply by 2027, advertising is crucially important.

The firm generates revenue by selling options against its existing Bitcoin holdings. The more Bitcoin it holds the more options it can sell, increasing revenues.

Metaplanet funds additional Bitcoin purchases by issuing and selling shares. In December, it bought some $451 million Bitcoin funded through a mixture of issuing and selling shares and taking out loans against its existing Bitcoin holdings.

If the firm’s share price falls, it can’t buy as much Bitcoin, threatening its growth.

Unwinding Bitcoin

Metaplanet’s advertising gambit comes as Bitcoin treasuries face increasing pressure.

Many of the nearly 200 firms to adopt the Bitcoin buying model are flailing now that the top cryptocurrency has retreated from its $126,000 all-time high, leaving dozens of corporate buyers underwater.

In February, Bitcoin treasury firm GD Culture Group, which has since pivoted to artificial intelligence, approved the sale of $503 million worth of Bitcoin to buy back its own shares. The move will cost the firm some $300 million.

At the start of April, Bitcoin treasury Nakamoto sought a reverse stock split after a 99% drop in its share price threatened its position on the Nasdaq exchange.

“The Bitcoin treasury space is unwinding due to lacklustre demand from investors for shares in Bitcoin and altcoin treasury companies,” Dom Kwok, former Goldman Sachs analyst and co-founder of developer app EasyA, previously told DL News.

Metaplanet is the third-biggest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world after Michael Saylor’s Strategy and Jack Mallers’ Twenty One Capital.

Yet the firm, too, is underwater. It is down some 20% on its Bitcoin horde, according to data from Bitcointreasuries.net.

Splashing out

But that hasn’t stopped Metaplanet from splashing out on advertising.

The firm’s annual shareholder meeting, held at the Pia Arena MM just outside of Tokyo on March 25, saw attendees lavished with goody bags containing branded merchandise, and treated to a live set-to-music calligraphy performance called “Beni No Sho.”

Metaplanet combined the event with its Japan Bitcoin Future Forum, a half-day conference organised by the treasury firm designed to promote Bitcoin in Japan.

Then on April 26, Metaplanet’s advertising appeared on the Las Vegas Sphere, a colossal 580,000 square foot exterior display that has previously attracted promotions from Google, Pepsi, and the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The entertainment venue reportedly charges $650,000 to advertise on the sphere for a week or $450,000 for a single day, although these prices can change depending on the time of the year.

Metaplanet is also a high-tier sponsor of Bitcoin for Corporations, a Las Vegas conference taking place on April 27. CEO Simon Gerovich is confirmed to speak at the event.

The firm was also the title sponsor of Bitcoin Asia 2025, the second-largest Bitcoin event globally which took place in Hong Kong in August.

‘Shouldn't we buy more Bitcoin?’

Metaplanet’s glitzy advertising has angered some of its supporters.

Shortly before the firm’s shareholder meeting, Gerovich announced the event would include a performance from Avantgardey, an award-winning Japanese dance troupe.

'Shouldn't we buy more Bitcoin, even if it's just by one satoshi, with the money spent on inviting Avantgardey?'

Metaplanet supporters criticised the move on X, arguing that it was a waste of money and didn’t benefit shareholders.

“Shouldn't we buy more Bitcoin, even if it's just by one satoshi, with the money spent on inviting Avantgardey?” One supporter said.

It’s not clear if Avantgardey did ultimately perform at Metaplanet’s AGM. A schedule of the event on the Metaplanet website makes no mention of the performance.

A Metaplanet spokesperson confirmed to DL News that the group did perform at the firm's shareholder meeting.

Yet despite the critics, the firm’s total advertising spend is likely small compared to its overall revenues.

In Metaplanet’s 2026 guidance, the firm said it planned to spend around $29 million on Selling, General & Administrative expenses, which includes money spent on marketing, advertising, salaries, and events, among other things.

For the full year of 2025, the firm reported revenues of around $58 million.

Yet that did little to impact Metaplanet’s total loss of $605 million last year, driven by a decrease in the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Update, April 28: Added a comment from a Metaplanet spokesperson.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.

Zachary Townsend, CEO of crypto insurance company Meanwhile, says that traditional banks lobbying to block yield-bearing stablecoins are “fighting a sideshow.”

“Every incumbent fights a better financial product,” Townsend said. “Stalling the Clarity Act doesn't change where this ends.

“They lobby, they delay, but they lose the market anyway.”

Townsend’s optimistic take comes as the Senate Banking Committee failed to schedule an April markup of the Clarity Act, pushing debate into May as three sticking points remain: decentralisation provisions, securing Republican votes, and stablecoin yield.

The delay comes even as President Donald Trump told memecoin holders at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend that he wants the bill passed and would sign it immediately.

“The banks are fighting a sideshow while the real deposit displacement is already underway,” Townsend said.

What’s the issue?

At the heart of the standoff lies stablecoin interest.

The Genius Act, signed into law by Trump in July 2025, requires stablecoin issuers to maintain one-to-one reserves backing outstanding tokens. Those reserves can include US dollars, federal reserve notes, insured deposits, short-term Treasuries and money market funds.

Crucially, the law prohibits issuers from offering direct interest or yield to stablecoin holders. It does not explicitly block affiliates or third parties from structuring yield products around them. Some versions of the proposed Clarity Act would close that gap entirely.

Banking groups argue that allowing stablecoins to offer competitive returns could drain deposits from traditional bank accounts. Because stablecoin reserves are fully backed rather than fractionally lent, critics warn this could shrink lending capacity.

But a White House economic analysis published earlier in April paints a different picture.

Using a baseline model, eliminating stablecoin yield increases bank lending by just $2.1 billion — roughly 0.02% of total lending — while imposing a net welfare cost of $800 million. Large banks account for 76% of the modest lending bump, with community banks contributing about $500 million, or a 0.026% increase in their lending.

Even under stacked “worst-case” assumptions — including stablecoins growing sixfold as a share of deposits and reserves locked entirely in non-lendable cash — the model produces a 4.4% increase in aggregate bank loans. Community bank lending rises by 6.7% in that extreme scenario.

Townsend sees the debate as symbolic. In his view, deposit migration is structural.

In January, Standard Chartered forecasted that banks could lose up to $1.5 trillion in deposits to stablecoins by 2028 regardless of yield rules.

Runway ending

The legislative calendar is tightening.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis has requested more time to consult banks on the yield issue and release draft text.

If it is not passed before the midterm elections in November, it could be delayed for years, according to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital.

“If the markup slips past mid-May, the probability of enactment in 2026 will drop sharply,” Thorn warned in a note shared with DL News. “In our view, the odds of Clarity being signed into law in 2026 are roughly 50-50, and possibly lower.”

Polymarket punters give the Clarity Act a 47% chance of being passed in 2026, down from 82% in February.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Iggy Ioppe, former Credit Suisse banker turned CIO at tokenisation platform Theo, told DL News that whether or not Kevin Warsh takes over the Fed smoothly is critical for crypto.

“Markets don't like uncertainty,” Ioppe said. “In the near term, it's a hawkish hold.”

Ioppe’s call comes as the US Department of Justice on Friday dropped its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, removing a major obstacle to the US Senate confirming Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee, as the central bank’s next chief.

Polymarket bettors put his chances to be confirmed by May 15 at 97% — a sharp increase from the 28% assigned on Thursday.

Bitcoin investors have also been optimistic. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has climbed 18% over the past month, buoyed by renewed institutional demand and $2.5 billion in exchange-traded fund inflows in April, DefiLlama data shows. That’s a 90% jump from March.

Analysts told DL News last week that if Fed tailwinds align with the Clarity Act’s passage, Bitcoin could hit $100,000.

Fed drama unfolds

The Trump DOJ probe had cast a long shadow over Warsh's confirmation process.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina had placed an effective hold on the nomination until the probe ended. That roadblock is now gone.

Powell’s term as chair officially ends in mid-May. His tenure has been marked by tension with Trump, who has repeatedly criticised the Fed for not cutting interest rates fast enough. Those clashes intensified as geopolitical shocks such as the US-Israeli conflict pushed energy prices higher and complicated the inflation outlook.

Warsh’s confirmation hearing last week laid bare the political stakes. Lawmakers grilled him on his independence from the White House and pressed him on rate policy. He insisted the president never asked him to predetermine or commit to specific rate decisions.

He also signalled that inflation control remains a priority and suggested reviewing how the Fed measures price pressures and communicates with the public. While he did not promise immediate rate cuts, he framed his approach as disciplined and data-driven.

Senator Elizabeth Warren accused the administration of trying to install a compliant Fed chair, warning against political interference in monetary policy.

The exchanges underscored how central bank leadership has become a flashpoint in broader political battles ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is down 0.5% over the past 24 hours at $77,638.
• Ethereum is down 0.7% over the past few hours at $2,316.

What we’re reading 

• ‘I suspected I was being socially engineered.’ Why crypto’s hacking epidemic is getting even worse — DL News
• Quantum attack breaks crypto key 512x larger than last record. Is Bitcoin ready? — DL News
• Treasury Sanctions Cambodian Senator Kok An Over Pig-Butchering Crypto Scam Network — Unchained
• BTC is still in a bear market, full stop — Milk Road
• AI boom leaves crypto VC fundraising in the dust, founders warn — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Hi. Eric here.

If the professional prognosticators are right, Bitcoin is cooking up a rally.

Their argument for why the top cryptocurrency is about to break out of its six-month funk pretty much follows the same recipe.

Take a splash of institutional buy-in, add a pinch of steadying macroeconomic conditions, marinate it with the expectations of new leadership at the Federal Reserve, season with some regulatory clarity, hold the whales’ sell-off, et voilà, you’ve got yourself a Bitcoin rally.

This week, those voices grew louder as Bitcoin rose almost 4%, within spitting distance of $80,000 — a level the top crypto hasn’t seen since before the US and Israel began their bombing campaign on Iran on February 28.

“The tape is not euphoric. It is stubborn,” Louis De Backer and two of his fellow analysts at MAREX said in a note to investors on Friday. “That matters because stubborn markets tend to break when they refuse to go down on bad news.”

The question is if traders should be bullish.

Let’s break it down.

The extension of the tentative ceasefire between Washington and Tehran this week has eased some of the worries on global markets. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both up this week.

Yet, the Strait of Hormuz, the vital artery for a quarter of the world’s oil, remains effectively shut. This keeps energy prices elevated. Energy prices are a key metric for inflation. With higher inflation, it is less likely that central banks around the world will cut interest rates.

High interest rates are usually bad for the price of Bitcoin because it constrains the liquidity investors have to invest in risk-on assets.

This brings me to Kevin Warsh. US President Donald Trump has picked the American financier — who has a history of backing crypto projects — to lead the Federal Reserve once Jerome Powell’s term as chair is up in May.

This week, Warsh subjected himself to an intense two-hour grilling on Capitol Hill. The Senate confirmation hearing saw him reject the assumption that he’ll simply be Trump’s “sock puppet” at the Fed, saying he’ll maintain the central bank’s independence from political interference.

Even so, he’s highly expected to slash rates once in the role. That is, if he ends up being confirmed.

Polymarket punters don’t like his chances. They put the chances of him being confirmed by May 15 when Powell is set to step down at 25%, down from 92% in March. His chances of being confirmed by June 30 have dropped from 91% in early April to 72%.

Then we’ve got regulatory clarity.

On the one hand, the crypto industry has a lot to be bullish about. They’ve gotten the Genius Act, a landmark stablecoin bill, signed into law; regulators are spewing out pro-industry guidelines; and Trump continues to champion crypto-friendly policies.

On the other hand, the Clarity Act remains stuck in legislative limbo. The massive bill would provide clear rules of the road for the nascent industry. Yet, the window to get it confirmed in 2026 is rapidly closing.

Lawmakers have, despite several bullish overtures in the past few months, been unable to reach a decision on the bill. And with the midterm elections coming up, the time to get the bill approved is running out.

If the Democrats recapture the House this November, which polls suggest they will, it is likely that legislative work will grind to a halt until the 2028 presidential election.

That being said, big Bitcoin investors seem to have stopped unloading their assets after their October sell-off contributed to the market decline.

And institutions seem to have returned to their pre-market-drop buying. Since the beginning of March, investors have piled over $3.7 billion into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, according to DefiLama.

This would likely drive Bitcoin’s price to above $80,000 “within days,” CF Benchmark argued on Friday.

Here are the four craziest details in Justin Sun’s World Liberty lawsuit

Justin Sun, one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, has sued World Liberty Financial. The lawsuit is a doozy, as Aleks Gilbert reports.

Kelp DAO exploit triggers crisis of confidence in DeFi

The decentralised finance community was thrown into a crisis of confidence after Kelp DAO was hacked over the weekend. The criminals stole $293 million worth of assets, as Aleks reports.

Polymarket bettors bag big win betting on the weather. Now the French meteorological agency is investigating 'tampering'

Polymarket has been hounded by accusations that prediction markets on its platform are being manipulated by traders. A bizarre case involving a weather station and, potentially, a hairdryer added another wave of criticism this week, as Liam Kelly reports.

Post of the Week

The Department of Justice has charged a member of the US Army Special Forces for using classified information related to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to make some $400,000 on Polymarket. Crypto Twitter delivered on the memes.

WHAT IS THE CHARGE? FRONT-RUNNING AN OVERSEAS COUP D’ÉTAT? A SUCCULENT VENEZUELAN COUP D’ÉTAT? https://t.co/VOd5WjT2gb pic.twitter.com/uCs66wPkVD

— spor (@sporadica) April 23, 2026

A researcher called Giancarlo Lelli performed the largest known quantum attack on elliptic curve cryptography, the standard that secures Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a vast majority of the $2.6 trillion crypto market. Lelli’s breakthrough is a 512-fold jump from the previous record.

Even though the result doesn’t break Bitcoin, it suggests something pretty unsettling. Progress towards breaking the $1.5 trillion network is accelerating on hardware that anyone can rent.

“The winning submission came from an independent researcher working on cloud-accessible hardware,” said Andy Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, a startup dedicated to addressing Bitcoin’s quantum computing threat.

“The resource requirements for this type of attack keep dropping, and the barrier to running it in practice is dropping with them.”

What was considered a far-fetched threat not too long ago has now taken centre stage. In January, Wall Street behemoths like BlackRock and $5 trillion UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti denounced the quantum threat, while developers turned a blind eye. Not anymore. After Google accelerated its timeline for quantum to 2029, Bitcoin maintainers have begun to think about ways to stave off the threat.

Now there’s a proposal to freeze any quantum-exposed coins — including Satoshi Nakamoto’s purported 1.1 million stash.

6 bits to 15 bits

Lelli’s record shatters its predecessor by seven months.

In September 2025, Steve Tippeconnic broke a 6-bit cryptographic key on quantum hardware in what was considered the first public demonstration of its kind.

By using a cloud-accessible quantum computer, Lelli broke a 15-bit key. Project Eleven awarded him one Bitcoin for the breakthrough.

Bitcoin’s encryption algorithm uses 256-bit keys. That means the gap from 15 to 256 is enormous, but to have a researcher break the previous record by a multiple of 512, in less than a year, only highlights how exposed Bitcoin is.

Researchers at Chaincode Labs estimate up to 60% of Bitcoin's entire supply — roughly $800 billion — could be vulnerable.

Crisis on all fronts

There’s another, bigger, problem.

Every major US miner has begun migrating its infrastructure to AI as the sector got hot at the same time that Bitcoin mining became deeply unprofitable following the 2024 halving event, said Bernstein analysts.

To boot, network activity has plummeted since Bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched in January 2024, draining the very transaction fees that miners are increasingly relying on.

If quantum computing arrives while miners are abandoning the network, Bitcoin’s security could collapse quickly.

“Long story short, it’s not great,” Nick Hansen, CEO of mining outlet Luxor, previously told DL News. “There isn’t a bullish catalyst for continued investment in new mining right now.”

“I’m a six to seven on the worried scale.”

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

That’s because long-time developer Paul Sztorc just announced that he is planning an August hard fork under the name eCash. Even though Bitcoin has lived through its share of hard forks already, this one is different. Embedded in the proposal is Sztorc's intention to reassign up to half of Satoshi Nakamoto’s purported 1.1 million Bitcoin stash. That amounts to nearly $40 billion at current prices.

Why? To fund development on the new blockchain.

“This will no doubt be a controversial decision,” Sztorc wrote on X on April 24. “But I think it is necessary, and in fact, ideal.”

Sztorc’s solution is unprecedented and it breaks one of Bitcoin’s most sacred rules — respect Satoshi’s original distribution of coins no matter how long ago they moved. Indeed, never before has a Bitcoin hard fork dared to touch Satoshi’s stack. Not BitcoinSV, not BitcoinCash, not Bitcoin Gold.

But Sztorc says he has no choice. Hard forks face an impossible funding problem which is how to build infrastructure before launch when there’s no revenue and no tokens to sell.

Paul Sztorc did not immediately reply to a request for comment from DL News. 

What is eCash?

Unlike BitcoinCash’s 2017 fork, which increased the block size, eCash will activate drivechains, Sztorc’s proposal for enabling scalable Layer 2 networks that Bitcoin core developers have refused to merge for years.

In short, drivechains are sidechains secured by Bitcoin miners that enable new features without changing Bitcoin's base layer. Their existence would bring the type of programmability that other blockchains enjoy onto Bitcoin.

Sztorc said that seven Layer 2 networks are already in development, including a privacy-focused chain similar to Zcash, a prediction market, a decentralised exchange, and a quantum-resistant chain.

Bitcoin holders will receive an equal amount of eCash coins in the fork. So if you hold 4.19 Bitcoin, you’ll get 4.19 eCash.

Accredited investors

On its own, reassigning Satoshi’s coins is a hard pill to swallow.

But there’s another layer to Sztorc’s idea that, if swallowed, will make it impossible to keep down. He plans to manually redistribute the coins to “high-quality investors (i.e., accredited).”

Bitcoin's origin story dates from 2009, when anyone with a computer could start mining. There was no presale, venture capital, nor insiders. Satoshi mined alongside everybody else with the same hardware, the same difficulty, and the same opportunity.

Sztorc's proposal flips that idea on its head, and brings to light some uncomfortable questions.

Who are the investors who will be granted preferential access to those coins? What is the deal structure? Over what time period will he reassign the coins? And what happens if investors start to sell those coins en masse?

Hard forking Bitcoin

When a blockchain hard forks, a new chain appears by copying the existing one. Users holding coins on the original chain automatically receive an equal amount on the new chain.

Hard forks tend to be controversial because they fragment the community, split liquidity, and force users to choose between competing visions of what a cryptocurrency should be.

Even so, Sztorc is attempting one. He has spent years pushing Bitcoin core developers to adopt Drivechain, but has had to face severe headwinds from maintainers who argue it introduces security risks.

So, frustrated by years of rejection, Sztorc is now forking Bitcoin to implement Drivechain himself.

“Back in 2017, the Bitcoin tech stack was strong, and expectations for Lightning were strong,” Sztorc wrote. “Today is the reverse.”

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

He said that the recent rise is powered by deep-pocketed investors stepping in with conviction — not retail traders chasing green candles.

“Major institutions are behind the move,” Selby said in a note shared with DL News. “This is more institutional allocator money, such as advisers and major wealth channels, as opposed to short-term retail or hedge fund basis trade flows.”

The call lands as Bitcoin has rallied about 10% over the past month, trading near $78,000. It remains roughly 38% below its October peak near $126,000, even as the US stock market surged to a fresh all-time high in April.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have drawn $2.5 billion in net investment in April, according to DefiLlama data. That builds on March’s $1.3 billion, which snapped a four-month outflow streak.

The standout was a $660 million print on 17 April, the largest daily inflow since late 2025. BlackRock’s IBIT captured roughly 85% of the flow.

This time, there are three bullish signals pushing Bitcoin higher, said Selby.

Strategy buys

Behind the rally sits one dominant buyer: Strategy.

The company recently gobbled up roughly 34,164 Bitcoin worth about $2.5 billion, bringing its stash to over $60 billion. That single accumulation occurred roughly 40% below the top crypto’s peak in October 2025.

Around 85% of that purchase was funded through its STRC preferred equity, a security offering an 11.5% dividend backed entirely by Bitcoin holdings.

STRC has become a magnet for yield-hungry investors. It sits between bonds and common stock in the capital structure, offering high payouts while allowing Strategy to continue accumulating Bitcoin.

Satish Patel, an investment analyst at CoinShares, told DL News on Wednesday that the structure is increasingly behaving like a stable-income instrument anchored around par value rather than a volatile Bitcoin proxy. Dividends are classified as return of capital, offering tax advantages that appeal to higher-bracket investors.

Stress test

Second, Bitcoin weathered a major weekend stress test.

A nearly $300 million exploit in a major decentralised finance protocol triggered withdrawals of around $10 billion across crypto projects.

Selby says that in previous cycles, contagion would have spread rapidly. This time, Bitcoin sentiment remained robust. The damage stayed largely contained to a handful of projects.

Stock market sentiment

Third, strength in equities is once again lifting cryptoassets, Selby says.

Bitcoin’s 90-day rolling correlation with the Nasdaq 100, a tech-heavy global benchmark, has climbed from 0.49 in early October to 0.58 by 21 April.

For Selby, that means risk appetite has returned to the broader market — and Bitcoin is riding that tide.

His take is shared by economist Ed Yardeni, who said in a note on Thursday that “sentiment has turned more positive” despite global instability and elevated oil prices.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is down 0.6% over the past 24 hours at $77,812.
• Ethereum is down 1.6% over the past few hours at $2,314.

What we’re reading 

• Memecoins post 20% rally. But no comeback yet, analysts say — DL News
• Everyone is frothing about Bitcoin treasury company Strategy’s STRC bond. Should they be? — DL News
• US Military Is Running a Live Bitcoin Node for Cybersecurity Research, Indo-Pacific Commander Tells Congress — Unchained
• S&P 7,100, Oil drought, and a $3T bond bet  — Milk Road
• World Liberty founders slam Justin Sun lawsuit alleging extortion, insolvency and of using ‘the Trump brand to profit through fraud’ — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

There’s no shortage of documentaries and articles claiming to have found Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. I finally watched one that’s compelling.

“Finding Satoshi,” which aired on Wednesday after more than four years of research and dozens upon dozens of interviews, argued that Bitcoin wasn’t created by one person, but actually two: Hal Finney and Len Sassaman, both now deceased.

And after watching it, I’m kind of sold. Not because the film found a smoking gun — there isn’t one — but because it stopped playing the “gotcha” card, and started connecting dots that have been hiding in plain sight since 2009.

For years I’ve pored over the BitcoinTalk forum, read all the books, watched all the documentaries like HBO’s Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, interviewed the OGs, and sat around thinking about who Satoshi is. It always seemed like we were never really going to know. Satoshi was a ghost and that was it.

Well, this time feels eerily different.

Here’s why I think “Finding Satoshi” makes the most compelling case yet.

The investigation

The film follows New York Times bestselling author William Cohan and private investigator Tyler Maroney through a four-year investigation that began with the usual suspects.

Six cypherpunks adorned their blackboard. Adam Back, Nick Szabo, Hal Finney, Len Sassaman, Paul Le Roux, and Wei Dai.

Using a combination of data science, linguistic analysis, and expert testimony, Alyssa Blackburn, a data scientist at Baylor College of Medicine, analysed Satoshi’s digital rhythm. She researched when they posted, when they mined, and when they went silent.

Notably, only two fit the bill, says the documentary: Finney and Sassaman.

It was “inconceivable” that Back, Szabo, or Dai could be Satoshi based on that analysis alone, she said.

This is not the first time that Sassaman has been named as the mysterious founder of Bitcoin. Ahead of a 2024 HBO documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” punters on Polymarket were pouring money into bets that he was the person the film would identify as Satoshi.

Meredith Patterson, Sassaman’s widow, rejected those claims, telling DL News that her late husband wasn’t the founder of the crypto industry.

“Money Electric” ended up naming Bitcoin developer Peter Todd as the cryptocurrency's creator, something he denied.

More recently, New York Times investigative reporter John Carreyrou — the man who exposed the fraud at Theranos — published an exposé claiming Back was likely the inventor of Bitcoin. Back has repeatedly refuted such claims.

The coder

"Finding Satoshi" named Finney as the brains behind the code.

Finney was the first person to receive Bitcoin from Satoshi Nakamoto himself, way back in January 2009. A few years earlier, Finney had created Reusable Proof of Work, also known as RPOW, Bitcoin’s closest precursor — yet curiously, it wasn’t credited in the Bitcoin whitepaper.

Maroney suggested that Finney couldn’t have written Bitcoin because he wasn’t known for C++, the programming language that the cryptocurrency was coded in.

Will Price, Finney’s boss at PGP Corp., where Finney worked for around 16 years, laughed. “To an engineer of Hal’s caliber, a different language is like chicken versus steak,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”

Besides, Finney, being a diehard advocate for privacy would program something like Bitcoin in a language he wasn’t known for, said Price.

Then Price noticed something else: a two-month gap from when Bitcoin’s whitepaper dropped in October 2008 to Bitcoin’s genesis block in January 2009 where Finney made no work commits.

“What was he working on?” Price asked. “I think it was Bitcoin.”

Finney died in 2014 from ALS.

The timing

But Finney couldn’t have worked alone.

Jameson Lopp, co-founder and chief security officer at Casa, discovered several instances where Satoshi and Finney were both active at the exact same time — when Finney couldn’t have been at a computer.

Lopp analysed emails between Satoshi and early Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn with timestamps while Finney was provably running a marathon.

“From the very simple fact that it’s not possible to be in two places at the same time, it’s highly unlikely that Satoshi and Hal were the same person,” said Lopp.

Enter Sassaman.

If Finney handled the code and Sassaman handled the communications — posting as Satoshi while Finney was offline — the timing conflicts disappear.

Even Lopp acknowledged the possibility, saying that “one possible explanation is that Satoshi was a group of people.”

The academic

Sassaman was a PhD student who cared deeply about anonymity, privacy, and excelled at writing whitepapers. He used occasional British spelling, and his PhD advisor was David Chaum, the godfather of cryptocurrency, and founder of privacy-focused XX Network.

“He would have really cared about checking every reference, the precision, and correctness of every part of that whitepaper,” Price said. “That’s not Hal.”

More importantly, he was an expert in stylometric anonymisation, making small linguistic alterations to the way someone writes, in an effort to obfuscate their identity.

Plus, according to Sassaman’s former roommate, best friend, and BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, Sassaman was brilliant at inventing pseudonyms for himself.

“He had pseudonyms I didn’t even know of,” said Cohen.

Much like Finney, Sassaman understood the value of disguise. He publicly bashed Bitcoin in 2010 and 2011, calling it “bunk” and “overhyped.”

Odd, thought the documentarians, but Cohen said that was the point. “You don’t make all your pseudonyms agree with each other about everything or everyone’s going to know who your pseudonyms are.”

Sassaman took his own life in July 2011, six months after Satoshi’s last public post.

The family

Some of you might be thinking that a lot of that evidence is highly circumstantial. And while that might be true, what really got me was Finney and Sassaman’s closest friends and family.

Patterson has confirmed the two were friends, had worked together at PGP Corp., and were “definitely” in touch in 2008. When asked if Sassaman would have helped Finney without telling her, she said: “Oh, yes, absolutely.”

Then came Fran Finney, Hal’s widow. She first turned down an interview opportunity, but after seeing the film, Fran changed her mind.

“I didn’t think he wrote the whitepaper,” she said. “But he could have helped. What you present in the film makes sense to me.”

We might never have cryptographic proof of who Satoshi was. But there was something deeply poetic about this film that I can’t stop thinking about. Here were two men, in the twilight of their lives, dealing with their own set of demons, working selflessly on a way to leave the world a better place.

And they succeeded.

Sure, Bitcoin is slow, clunky, and wildly volatile. But it exists and it allows millions around the world to store their wealth, elude oppressive regimes, or send money back home to their families.

Imagining it being built, in private, by a man who was dealing with a disease about to leave him paralysed, and another who would commit suicide barely two years after creation, is simply incredible.

Maybe I want it to be true.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

But market experts warn that fireworks may be premature as memecoins remain down about 75% from their December 2024 peak of almost $140 billion.

“The rise in the memecoin sector appears driven by a mix of improving risk sentiment, rising onchain speculation, and sharp gains in a handful of outsized tokens,” Illia Otychenko, lead analyst at CEX.IO, told DL News.

But the rally may “overstate the sector’s health”, he warned, citing the fact that much of the category’s growth has come from a few fast-rising assets that distort the real picture.

The surge comes as the overall crypto market has swelled by nearly $300 billion, a 15% rise, in April, lifting sentiment across digital assets.

What are memecoins?

Memecoins are joke tokens that trade purely on speculation and have no intrinsic value. They’re usually based on celebrities, online jokes, and odd news items, such as Peanut, the squirrel, that became a MAGA symbol ahead of the 2024 US election.

Dogecoin, the top memecoin by market value and trading volume, is down 87% from its 2021 high. Most tokens categorised as memecoins by CoinMarketCap are down over the past week.

Memecoins in the top 10 by market value posting double-digit gains this week include MemeCore, Pudgy Penguins, and SPX6900.

Memecoin bonanza interrupted

The slight recovery remains a far cry from the memecoin bonanza that erupted in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential victory.

In the months following his election win, memecoins rallied as a flurry of new tokens were launched. The US president and his wife both launched memecoins, as did the pastor who delivered a passionate benediction at Trump’s inauguration as America’s 47th president.

However, after a string of scandals in early 2025, the memecoin market lost momentum. Despite a few flurries of activity over the past year, the overall value of the memecoin market has continued to slide.

Markets cautious

If macroeconomic sentiment and decentralised trading activity remain supportive, memecoins could keep relative strength, Otychenko said.

“But if gains stay concentrated or speculative appetite fades, parts of the sector could face sharp reversals,” he said.

His cautious sentiment is shared by Charles Chong, vice president of strategy at BlockSpaceForce, who told DL News that the spike reflects a tired pattern rather than fresh conviction.

“What you're seeing isn't bullish community energy,” he said. “It's a dead market full of sidelined gamblers desperate for the next game of musical chairs.”

“The problem is, each time the game is played, the music stops faster.”

Recovery signs?

While experts’ sentiment remains muted, there are some seeds of optimism.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission, joined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation laying out a five-part token taxonomy: digital commodities, collectibles, tools, stablecoins and securities. Memecoins fall under collectibles.

That framework provides clearer lines between digital assets used for access, fundraising or pure speculation. It also signals that regulators are building the tools to handle blurred boundaries in the market.

At the same time, new exchange-traded fund filings are bringing memecoins closer to Wall Street.

Earlier in April, Canary Capital — known for its blockbuster XRP ETF launch back in November — filed with the SEC for a Pepe memecoin ETF.

The frog-themed token is more obscure than Bitcoin or Ethereum, yet it has drawn interest from both retail and institutional investors.

Institutional investors may use a Pepe ETF to capture volatility rather than hold it long term, Laurens Fraussen, research analyst at Kaiko, told DL News earlier in April.

Since its 2023 launch, Pepe has delivered repeated large price swings and often trades in step with the broader market, but with higher volatility, according to CoinGecko.

Carlos Guzman, research analyst at GSR, told DL News earlier in April that speculative investors remain the more natural buyers for memecoin ETFs. Yet ETFs broaden access by allowing exposure through regular brokerage accounts, expanding the potential audience.

“The more natural buyer is a speculative investor who wants memecoin exposure through a regular brokerage account,” Guzman said.

Memecoins such as Dogecoin already have multiple spot ETFs from issuers including 21Shares, REX-Osprey, Grayscale and Bitwise. Canary has also filed for ETFs tied to TRUMP and Mog Coin.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com.

On Friday, options representing some $8.6 billion worth of Bitcoin are set to expire. Options are derivative contracts that give the buyer the right to buy or sell the underlying asset, in this case, Bitcoin.

When a large number of options contracts are set to expire it can often move the price of the underlying asset as traders must settle any outstanding balances.

Options positioning going into Friday's expiration suggests that traders aren’t fully convinced by the current range break of $75,000, Nathan Batchelor, a Bitcoin trader and managing partner at crypto trading data platform Biyond, told DL News.

Although options traders are positioned to profit from a potential move higher, they’re also hedging their positions “aggressively,” Batchelor said.

“If Bitcoin holds around the $77,000 to $78,000 area going into Friday I would not be surprised to see an attempt towards $80,000, given that a large amount of options calls are stacked in this area,” he said.

Calls are bullish options bets that pay out when the price of the underlying asset increases. Puts, on the other hand, are bearish bets that pay out when an asset’s price drops.

The crypto market has had a rough start to the year. Bitcoin began 2026 trading at around $88,000. Yet Federal Reserve policy hesitation, and broader macroeconomic fears have weighed on it since.

The US and Israel’s war on Iran, and its impact on global energy markets, have added to the uncertainty.

Now, traders are waiting to see if Bitcoin can get out of its funk and revisit its yearly high.

Path of least resistance

Other traders are also watching for Bitcoin to move up to $80,000.

Antoine Lours, head of options trading at crypto market maker Keyrock, told DL News that the market makers who provide liquidity in the Bitcoin options market are most exposed to options betting on Bitcoin trading around $80,000.

With Bitcoin currently trading in the high-70s, the path of least resistance is for the price to remain anchored near $80,000, rather than drifting lower toward “max pain,” Lours said.

The term max pain comes from maximum pain theory, which posits that the price of an underlying asset will gravitate to the price where the largest number of options contracts will expire worthless.

Lours said he has also noticed traders’ hesitancy towards a sustained Bitcoin rally.

He noted that the slightly higher-than-normal number of Bitcoin call options, and higher prices for soon-to-expire options bets, show that traders are slightly bullish in the near-term.

Yet among Bitcoin options expiring in May, June and December, there is more demand for puts, which Lours says shows traders aren’t confident in a sustained rally.

June is already shaping up a big month for Bitcoin traders. Options representing some $8.2 billion worth of Bitcoin are set to expire then, a figure which will likely increase as the expiry gets closer.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.

He told DL News that two changes in the US could cement the rally: the potential signing of the Clarity Act and new leadership at the Federal Reserve.

“The structural story is where we see the bigger signal,” he said. “Clearer bank access, no CBDC competition, and a chair who treats crypto as embedded rather than exotic is a bigger deal than a quarter or two of marginally more hawkish tone.”

US President Donald Trump has banned the creation of a central bank digital currency in the US through an executive order.

Köymen’s view lands as Bitcoin has rallied about 10% over the past two weeks to trade near $78,000. It remains roughly 38% below its October peak, even as the S&P 500 pushed to a new all-time high in April.

Fed regime change 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to complete his term on May 15.

Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh, who is seen as a crypto bull, to replace Powell. Warsh being confirmed would mark a turning point for Bitcoin, Köymen said.

“He’s the most crypto-literate chair in Fed history,” Köymen said. “He understands the technology and has publicly called Bitcoin a disciplining force on bad policy.”

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Warsh described himself as an “independent actor” and signalled a focus on balance-sheet reduction, stricter inflation measurement and data-driven policy.

Warsh’s near-term stance marginally reduces the probability of immediate rate cuts. Yet Fed Funds futures have not meaningfully repriced since his hearing. Over the medium term, Köymen sees the framework as supportive for risk assets.

But caveats remain. Warsh’s confirmation faces political hurdles, including a hold from Republican Senator Thom Tillis. The politician from North Carolina has raised concerns over market stability if Warsh gets his way.

Polymarket punters don’t like his chances, though. Following the Senate’s Tuesday grilling of Warsh, the prediction market bettors put the chances of Warsh being confirmed by May 15 at 28%, down from 92% in March.

And even if confirmed, Warsh requires consensus with 11 other Fed governors members to meaningfully shift policy direction.

Still, Köymen views the potential regime change as a structural win.

“Over the medium to long term, we view the Warsh appointment as a net positive for Bitcoin and broader crypto assets,” he said.

Potential governance changes at the Fed, alongside adjustments to the Supplementary Leverage Ratio, point toward improving financial conditions, according to Köymen.

Clarity Act

The Clarity Act, the most consequential US crypto market structure bill to date, would also prove a boon to Bitcoin if it was signed into law, Köymen said.

Yet, the window for it getting the piece of legislation finalised is closing fast.

On Monday, Galaxy Digital’s Alex Thorn warned that the bill has roughly 50–50 odds of passage this year, with the Senate juggling Iran debates, Department of Homeland Security funding and a crowded nomination schedule.

“If the markup slips past mid-May, the probability of enactment in 2026 will drop sharply,” Thorn warned.

Polymarket punters give the Clarity Act a 46% chance of being passed in 2026, down from 82% in February.

For Köymen, passage before the midterms would cement regulatory certainty for US crypto markets.

“Passage of the Clarity Act before the midterms would finally provide the market structure framework US crypto markets need.”

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is trading sideways over the past 24 hours at $78,049.
• Ethereum is down 1.9% over the past hours at $2,344.

What we’re reading 

• UK government bets on stablecoins and tokenisation to drive fintech growth — DL News
• Everyone is frothing about Bitcoin treasury company Strategy’s STRC bond. Should they be? — DL News
• Bitcoin Climbs to 11-Week High Over $78,400 After Trump Extends the US-Iran Ceasefire — Unchained
• A new way to ride the AI boom onchain — Milk Road
• Crypto’s biggest selling point is responsible for $8.5bn in losses. But it can be made safe — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com.

But as yield-hungry investors plough in, analysts are warning of some pretty critical risks.

“I expect the market to soon wake up to the fact that backing preferred equity with a highly speculative asset like Bitcoin is an extremely risky game, especially if the bear market continues,” Dom Kwok, former Goldman Sachs analyst and co-founder at EasyApp, told DL News. “I am not bullish on STRC.”

STRC is a security that sits between bonds and common stock in the capital structure. Think of it as a high-yield savings account backed by Bitcoin. You get 11.5% annual returns paid out regularly, which is far higher than most bonds. If the company goes belly-up, you’re first in line to get paid after creditors but before regular shareholders.

But there’s a big risk: the company can suspend dividend payments at any time, or adjust the rate of payments at will.

Last week, Strategy gobbled up around 34,164 Bitcoin worth around $2.5 billion. Roughly 85% of the funds to make that purchase came from STRC.

'Yield-starved'

STRC’s popularity stems from the simple fact that investors are desperate for yield.

“Public market investors are yield-starved and the juicy 11.5% yields are extremely attractive, resulting in high demand,” Kwok said. “This is a temporary phenomenon.”

But yield isn’t the only reason to be interested in STRC, said Satish Patel, investment analyst at CoinShares.

“Tax treatment helps,” Patel told DL News. STRC dividends are classified as return of capital, meaning they’re not treated as ordinary income. That’s enormously attractive especially to high-bracket investors who would otherwise pay some pretty high taxes on bond coupons, he said.

Patel also argued that STRC’s volatility has declined recently, making it behave “more like a stable, high-yield income instrument anchored around par, rather than a volatile proxy for Bitcoin.”

Add in Strategy’s $2.25 billion cash reserves and its overcollateralisation on its Bitcoin holdings, and investors are flocking, said Patel.

Suspension risk

So what’s the problem?

“Strategy can turn off dividends at any time,” said Kwok. “Ultimately, it’s a risky game.”

If STRC dips below $100 — it has traded at $93 in the past three months — Strategy will be forced to stop issuing shares, and the entire thesis collapses.

“Much like Strategy itself, STRC is highly (perhaps too) dependent on bitcoin doing well,” said Kwok.

Patel acknowledges that the suspension risk is real, but “economically self-limiting.”

“If the board ever suspended dividends, the entire capital-raising flywheel would collapse, STRC drops below par, the ATM issuance window closes, no new BTC purchases, and the whole thesis dies,” he said. “Strategy therefore has an overwhelming incentive to keep paying, provided it has the runway to do so.”

To be sure, STRC’s structure is innovative.

It’s a security that pays dividends ad infinitum, resets its price regularly, is backed entirely by Bitcoin, and treats payouts as tax-advantaged returns of capital instead of taxable income.

This “simply doesn’t exist elsewhere,” said Patel.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

Several tailwinds are lining up behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Max Kahn, CEO of investment firm Digital Wealth Partners, told DL News. Those include macroeconomic momentum and steady institutional demand, he said.

Khan flagged $80,000 as a key level to watch “where resistance or profit-taking could occur” before the Fed’s Open Market Committee on April 29.

Kahn’s take comes as investors scrutinise every detail of US senators' Tuesday grilling of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve for when current Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends.

Lawmakers pressed Kevin Warsh, who is seen as a crypto bull, on politics, rates and the central bank’s future direction.

Fed chair Jerome Powell’s term ends on May 15. He has regularly clashed with President Donald Trump over interest rates.

The regime change at the US central bank is the single most important catalyst for risk assets like Bitcoin, which depends on the central bank’s liquidity plans, analysts told DL News last week. Lower rates are usually bullish for risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies.

“Risk assets are positioned for performance into year-end, and Bitcoin as a reserve-adjacent trade fits cleanly into that setup,” Jonathan Yark, head of quant trading at Acheron Trading, said in a note shared with DL News.

What did Warsh say?

On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee subjected Warsh to a comprehensive interrogation on how he would lead the Fed.

The 56-year-old former Fed governor never said whether he agrees with Trump’s view that interest rates are too high. No senator directly asked him if rates should be slashed within a certain timeframe.

Lawmakers did press him on whether Trump had asked him to promise lower rates. Warsh said that never happened.

“The president never asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision,” he said, adding that he would not agree to such a request.

Even so, lawmakers cast doubt over whether Warsh would maintain the central bank’s independence from political interference.

“[Trump] does not want an independent Fed, and in fact he has said, and I quote, ‘anybody that disagrees with me will never be Fed chairman,’” Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, told Warsh on Tuesday.

“And he's made clear that you are his sock puppet, saying last week that interest rates will drop ‘When Kevin gets in.’”

Trump has repeatedly clashed with Powell over the Fed chair’s unwillingness to slash interest rates due to the fragile macroeconomic conditions caused by the president’s chaotic foreign policies.

Most Fed chairs leave the central bank after their term is up. Powell hasn’t said whether he plans to do so when his term as chair ends.

During his hearing, Warsh stressed that he wants serious changes at the Fed. He said he’d look at trimming the central bank’s balance sheet and improving how inflation is measured. He also signalled he may review how often the Fed holds policy meetings and how it communicates with the public. The Fed currently meets eight times a year, though the law requires only four.

For Bitcoin investors, the hearing offered no clear promise of rate cuts in 2026.

Institutions muscle into crypto

Warsh’s potential nomination isn’t the only factor determining the price of Bitcoin.

While the extended ceasefire in the Middle East may alleviate some fears over the price’s volatility, another bullish sign is the fact that institutional investors seem to be piling into crypto.

Investors have poured in nearly $2 billion into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds so far in April, DefiLlama data shows.

Institutional buy-in combined with big Bitcoin investors easing off their sell-off, which triggered the market collapse in October, is likely to send the price up to $80,000 around early May, James Butterfill, CoinShares’ head of research, told DL News in March.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is up 2.2% over the past 24 hours, trading at $77,984.
• Ethereum is up 2.8% over the past hours at $2,386.

What we’re reading 

• Bitcoin surges to $76,000 despite tension rising over Iran negotiations — DL News
• Why privacy tech is immune to quantum threat coming for Bitcoin, says Coinbase — DL News
• Arbitrum Security Council Freezes $71 Million in ETH Tied to Kelp DAO Exploit — Unchained
• The most important DEX nobody talks about — Milk Road
• Crypto’s last shot? This risks sinking the Clarity Act before midterms, warns Galaxy analyst — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

Ripple, the company that created XRP, is racing ahead to make its XRP Ledger quantum-proof by 2028, acknowledging that the threat quantum computers pose to crypto networks has hastily moved “from theoretical to credible.”

On Tuesday, the company put out a statement saying it’s testing quantum-resistant technology alongside its existing systems, while working with partners to accelerate development.

“Recent research from Google Quantum AI is bringing renewed attention to what quantum computing could mean for the crypto industry,” Ripple wrote. “The findings show that the cryptography most blockchains rely on today can be broken by sufficiently advanced quantum computers.”

Ripple now joins the two top crypto networks — Bitcoin and Ethereum — in attempting to stave off quantum computers, a still-theoretical yet fast-advancing technology that has the potential to break blockchains en masse.

Indeed, the issue has become a stormy one for crypto enthusiasts, developers, and investors. Today there aren’t any quantum computers able to break crypto networks, although researchers point to a strategy called “harvest now, decrypt later,” wherein hackers can collect public data from blockchains today and wait for quantum computers to mature enough to crack it.

Researchers at Chaincode Labs said that up to 50% of all Bitcoin is at risk of a future quantum computer. Many Wall Street bigwigs have said that developers maintaining Bitcoin need to take the threat more seriously.

Four-phase plan

Ripple's roadmap consists of four phases.

The company has already begun testing quantum-resistant security methods recommended by NIST, the global standards body for cybersecurity. By late 2026, it plans to run those methods alongside existing security on test networks. And finally, full transition is targeted for 2028.

What if quantum computers break current security before that date? Ripple will roll out an emergency plan in which XRP would stop accepting old-style signatures and force users to move funds to quantum-safe accounts.

Looming threat

Watching another crypto company roll out a quantum-resistant roadmap means one thing: the threat is real, daunting, and imminent.

In fact, developers supervising some of the largest crypto networks have already taken steps to address the issue.

In March, the Ethereum Foundation published its own four-pronged plan to protect the $278 billion network, targeting 2029 for completion. Even though researchers inside the foundation don’t think quantum computing will be “cryptographically relevant” for another eight to 12 years, they said they're erring on the side of caution.

So are Bitcoin developers. A proposal dubbed BIP-360 already exists to address quantum risks before they materialise. Another one, tagged BIP-361, proposes to freeze coins that are exposed and haven’t been moved in over a decade. That would include the 1.1 million Bitcoin stack that has been attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.

Ripple's inclusion to the quantum-computing fearful begs the question: how many other networks are preparing? And how many are just waiting to see if the threat materialises before acting?

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

The incident occurred on April 18 and was part of a broader crime wave where ships awaiting passage through the vital trading lane have received fake messages promising safety — in exchange for cryptocurrency, reported Reuters 

On Monday, shipowners were warned by Greek maritime risk management firm MARISKS that unknown actors, allegedly claiming to be Iranian authorities, had sent some oil tankers messages demanding toll fees in Bitcoin or Tether.

“Those specific messages are a scam,” said MARISKS.

The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment from DL News.

The situation is damning, especially as the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US enters its seventh week.

Bitcoin payments

In early April, Iran announced it would begin collecting a $1-per-barrel toll for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for the world’s oil trade, and that toll would be payable in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin enthusiasts quickly hailed Iran’s new toll system as proof that crypto had arrived as a tool for international commerce — and a neutral settlement layer that could bypass US dollar dominance.

Other analysts were sceptical. Sam Lyman of the Bitcoin Policy Institute wrote in an April 15 report that collecting tolls in Bitcoin is “virtually impossible” with current technology.

Now scammers are exploiting that same narrative, using Iran’s actual Bitcoin toll announcement to trick desperate shipping companies into paying fraudulent fees.

Attacked by Iran

On April 18, Iran briefly opened the Strait of Hormuz subject to checks.

Ships tried to pass, but at least two vessels — including a tanker — reported that Iranian boats fired shots at them, forcing the vessels to turn around,

At least one vessel that tried to exit the Strait on April 18, and was hit by Iranian gunfire, was a victim of the fraud, said MARISKS.

It’s not clear yet which companies have been targeted.

Reuters reported that the fake messages instruct shipping companies to provide documents for assessment by “Iranian Security Services,” then pay cryptocurrency fees for their vessels to “transit the Strait unimpeded at the pre-agreed time.”

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

The top cryptocurrency surged by 2% over the past 24 hours as the war of words between Washington and Tehran escalated ahead of crucial peace talks on Tuesday, ahead of the ceasefire ending on Wednesday.

Traders are now recalibrating for a longer conflict than what was initially expected, crypto trading firm QCP said in a Monday note to investors.

“Markets are beginning to price duration rather than intensity, pointing to a conflict that may be more protracted than initially assumed, but still contained within current bounds,” QCP wrote.

Indeed, Polymarket punters are also lowering the probability that the conflict ends by April 30 to 41%, down from 63% on April 17.

They give the conflict a 70% chance of ending before June 30.

It is not immediately clear why Bitcoin has rallied. The expected peace talks on Tuesday could be one factor. Bitcoin had a similar rally when the ceasefire was first announced.

“This pattern of rallies followed by quick pullbacks has become a defining feature of recent trading, highlighting a market that is capable of upward momentum but struggles to sustain it once key resistance levels come into play,” Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at investment management firm IG, said on Monday.

Another, as QCP noted, is the nomination hearing of Kevin Warsh on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Federal Reserve is seen as a pro-crypto candidate. His confirmation is expected to result in lower interest rates, which are bullish for cryptocurrency prices.

War of words escalates

On Monday, US President Donald Trump signalled that he is unlikely to extend a two-week ceasefire with Iran, which is set to expire on Wednesday.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he is “winning a war by a lot” and said that the US would not remove its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for the world’s oil, “until there is a deal.”

The blockade “is absolutely destroying Iran,” the 79-year-old posted. “They are losing $500 million dollars a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.”

Iran has upped the ante in response. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, criticised Trump for the blockade, which he said breaches the ceasefire agreement in an attempt to turn the peace talks “into a table of surrender or to justify renewed belligerence.”

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threat, and over the past two weeks we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” Ghalibaf tweeted on Monday.

Iran has not officially confirmed that it will send a delegation to join US Vice-President JD Vance at Tuesday’s peace talks in Pakistan.

Iranian state TV has dismissed reports to the contrary.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is up 2% over the past 24 hours, trading at $76,500.
• Ethereum is up 1% to trade at $2,327.

What we’re reading 

• Crypto’s last shot? This risks sinking the Clarity Act before midterms, warns Galaxy analyst — DL News
• Investors pull $15bn from DeFi as latest hack sparks security fears — DL News
• Ben McKenzie Says Crypto Has a Secret Ingredient: Male Loneliness — Wired
• Man, 93, tortured for 28 hours, court hears — Yahoo! News
• Argentine police arrest Chinese ‘$50m crypto scammer’ wanted for fraud in Nigeria — DL News

Update: This story has been updated to reflect that Kevin Warsh's hearing is on April 21.

Eric Johansson is DL News’ managing editor. Got a tip? Email him at eric@dlnews.com.

RaveDAO, which styles itself as a “community-driven global rave powerhouse,” has been active since late 2023. The group organises afterparties at crypto conferences and builds “community-raised local chapters,” according to its website.

At the beginning of April, RaveDAO’s token started shooting up in value without any obvious catalyst. By April 18, the token had gained 7,000%, briefly making it the 20th-largest cryptocurrency.

Less than two days later, the token crashed spectacularly, shedding most of its $5 billion market value in mere hours.

Now, critics are questioning how the previously niche project could soar to such a huge valuation so quickly and what brought about such an extreme crash, even by the standards of the hyper-volatile crypto market.

RaveDAO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pattern of manipulation

RaveDAO's rise and fall come amid mounting scrutiny of alleged crypto market manipulation.

In recent months, dozens of newly-launched tokens have roared to multi-billion dollar valuations, only to fall again just as quickly.

These tokens often follow a similar pattern. They start with only a handful of wallets controlling the vast majority of tokens, meaning only a small fraction of the overall supply can be bought and sold. The rest sits idle, locked up in wallets that are often controlled by the token’s creators.

Before the tokens soar, they are often listed for trading on major centralised crypto exchanges like Binance and Bitget. These exchanges don’t publicly share trading data, so it’s impossible to know who is buying and selling the crypto assets traded on them.

'We will always do our part to investigate all market misconduct' — Richard Teng

According to ZachXBT, a pseudonymous crypto sleuth famous in the industry for uncovering instances of foul play, the alleged Rave token pump-and-dump originated from three exchanges: Bitget, Binance, and Gate.

“We cannot allow this blatant market manipulation by insiders controlling >90% RAVE support to further extract from retail investors,” ZachXBT said on April 18.

The same day, Binance CEO Richard Teng and Bitget CEO Gracy Chen both said they had started investigating the alleged market manipulation on their respective exchanges.

“We will always do our part to investigate all market misconduct,” Teng wrote on X.

Gate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Suspicious transactions

Some 75% of the entire Rave token supply sits in a single wallet controlled by the RaveDAO team, onchain records show.

Two more wallets connected to the main RaveDAO wallet held around 10% of the token’s supply, meaning that potentially 85% of the token’s entire supply couldn’t be bought or sold by traders.

The fewer Rave tokens there are on the market, the more large buys and sells can move the price.

Such a situation is strange for a so-called decentralised autonomous organisation, or DAO. These organisations are supposed to have no central leadership and are governed by distributing tokens to members, who use them to vote on proposals.

Critics say the small circulating supply of tokens is intentional.

They point to suspicious transactions that occurred immediately before the Rave token started to rally as evidence of a coordinated push to manipulate it.

To be sure, these are allegations that have not been proven.

On April 9, two wallets deposited 18 million Rave tokens to Bitget. A third wallet deposited another 12 million tokens on April 12 and 13. That’s about 2.5% of the token’s entire supply, or around a third of the tokens in circulation at the time.

Critics say this was done to bait traders into opening short positions. When wallets send large amounts of a token to a centralised exchange, it’s usually for one reason only: to sell them.

Yet shortly after the deposits, the Rave token began to rise.

As it rallied, a wallet connected to the RaveDAO team withdrew some 32 million tokens from Bitget. Naeven, a pseudonymous onchain investigator who has followed the case, told DL News he believes this was done to reduce the supply of tokens in circulation, making it easier to push the price higher.

The fact that a wallet controlled by the RaveDAO team made the withdrawal suggests they’re directly involved in the alleged manipulation, Naeven said.

RaveDAO has addressed accusations that its team members were behind the extreme price movements.

“We want to be clear: RaveDAO team is not engaged in, nor responsible for, recent price action,” the project said on April 18.

‘Low-quality tokens’

Industry insiders worry that crypto market manipulation and other illegal activities have become more widespread under US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Since Trump took office in January 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission has closed at least a dozen cases against crypto firms, according to a January letter from House Democrats to SEC Chair Paul Atkins.

'Without proper synchronisation between platforms and regulators, the industry will face a new round of market instability' — Tracy Jin

In January, OKX CEO Star Xu publicly accused Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao of launching Ponzi-like schemes, amplifying “get-rich-quick” narratives, and directly or indirectly manipulating the prices of “low-quality tokens.”

Binance did not return a request for comment on Xu’s allegations.

In March 2025, MEXC, a Seychelles-based crypto exchange, said it had uncovered two coordinated groups of traders totalling 182 users engaged in market manipulation.

“Without proper synchronisation between platforms and regulators, the industry will face a new round of market instability,” Tracy Jin, MEXC’s chief operating officer, said of the discovery.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.

The deal will see Ripple work with Kyobo Life Insurance, a firm with recorded total assets worth $89 billion, South Korean newspaper Maeil Kyungjae reported.

South Korea’s bond market, which includes both government and corporate bonds, is currently worth around $2.3 trillion.

Park Jin-ho, vice president of Kyobo Life Insurance, said the deal would let the firm “provide differentiated financial services” through a “close cooperation with Ripple.”

The deal comes as XRP trading volumes continue to boom in South Korea, driven largely by middle-aged traders.

Ripple’s founders developed XRP.

XRP was the most popular coin on the market-leading Upbit exchange on April 20, per CoinGecko data, accounting for over 12% of daily trading volume.

Proof of concept

Kyobo and Ripple have begun work on a proof of concept ahead of the launch of a pilot for a blockchain-powered government bond trading platform.

The firms say the platform, once live, will let traders buy and sell bonds in real-time. Using conventional bond trading solutions, transactions typically take two days to complete.

The companies struck an initial partnership deal in September. This has so far seen the firms explore a range of stablecoin and tokenised asset-related business avenues.

The new pilot will see the firms trial the platform in a testnet environment that uses Ripple’s “institutional blockchain infrastructure,” the companies said.

The companies envisage the platform converting government bonds into digital tokens that can be traded on blockchain networks.

Real-time trading

In South Korea, existing bond trading platforms use a myriad of settlement and transaction cross-referencing solutions. Transactions have to be approved by brokerages, commercial banks, and the Korea Exchange.

Ripple and Kyobo say the immutable nature of blockchain networks will help do away with this to create what they call a “real-time payment structure.”

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.

The sharp drop in futures positioning shows that what's known as the “basis trade,” which weighed on the market for months, is largely finished. Meanwhile, Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy has stockpiled nearly $60 billion in the top crypto.

“When directional capital makes a decision, it moves [the] price,” Blume said in a note shared with DL News. “The combination of one large directional buyer systematically accumulating while hedged yield farmers exit is an unusual market structure.”

Blume’s assessment lands amid a striking divergence between the cryptocurrency industry and other global markets. On Friday, the S&P 500 hit a new record high while Bitcoin still remains roughly 40% below its October peak near $126,000.

What exactly changed?

For much of the past year, sophisticated institutions ran what is known as the basis trade. The trade involves investors buying spot Bitcoin or exchange-traded fund shares and short futures contracts to earn the difference in pricing.

In simple terms, it is a yield play, not a bet that Bitcoin’s price will skyrocket anytime soon. The trade unwinding is one of the key drags on the cryptocurrency market, Blume argued.

"What we’ve been watching is a basis unwind masquerading as a bear market,” Blume said.

Open interest in CME Bitcoin futures has fallen under $10 billion, levels last seen in 2024, Coinglass data shows.

A basis unwind means those hedged positions are being closed. Investors are exiting the futures short and reducing the paired spot exposure. That mechanical selling can weigh on price even if sentiment is not collapsing.

Blume argues that phase is largely complete. Futures open interest is down sharply. Perpetual funding rates — payments between traders in leveraged crypto contracts — have hovered slightly negative. That suggests many traders are leaning short, paying to hold bearish bets.

At the same time, Strategy has accelerated purchases. Between April 6 and April 13, the digital asset treasury acquired roughly 24,761 Bitcoin across two tranches worth about $2.7 billion. Its total holdings now sit just under 781,000 Bitcoin. A $44 billion equity issuance plan supports continued buying.

Blume calls this a “structural bid at scale.” In other words, one large buyer is accumulating tokens consistently while hedge funds step back.

“It has real implications for how the next leg of price discovery develops.”

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is down 1.4% over the past 24 hours, trading at $74,367.
• Ethereum is down 2.4% over the past hours at $2,274.

What we’re reading 

• South Korean forgers trading elite university degrees for $200 worth of crypto — report — DL News
• Illegal Russian crypto exchange operators to face 7 years of hard labour under new laws — DL News
• World Liberty Financial Proposes Burning 4.5 Billion Insider Tokens in 62-Billion Token Vesting Overhaul — Unchained
• The most important DEX nobody talks about — Milk Road
• UK financial regulator asks stablecoin firms to launch in its ‘sandbox’ and help shape regulation — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

World, the controversial project that scans its users’ eyeballs to create a nontransferrable digital identity, unveiled on Friday what it calls its most significant upgrade yet.

The update introduces a redesigned architecture intended to improve privacy, security, and usability. New features include account-based identity, multi-key support, and recovery mechanisms.

World argues that its biometric verification system will become essential as AI-generated bots and deepfakes make it harder to distinguish humans from machines online. To that end, the company is deepening its partnerships with popular consumer platforms like Tinder and Zoom, alongside enterprise tools like Docusign. The idea is to position World ID as the internet’s default “proof-of-humanity” layer.

World’s entire system relies on its custom-built “Orb” device to establish what is calls proof-of-humanity. To obtain a World ID, users must head to a device in person, get their eyeballs scanned and generate a unique cryptographic code. Users would also receive WLD tokens in return for scanning their irises.

Myriad partnerships

On Friday, World detailed partnerships aimed at embedding its identity layer across consumer platforms.

The company is expanding its partnership with Tinder, where users can display a “verified human” badge, and rolled out “Concert Kit,” a tool to help artists reserve tickets for verified individuals to combat scalper bots.

World also said it is working with Zoom on a feature called “Deep Face,” which verifies that a meeting participant is a real human rather than a deepfake, and with Docusign to incorporate proof-of-human checks into digital agreements.

Finally, the company is also rolling out “AgentKit,” which allows verified humans to delegate their credentials to AI agents, enabling services to confirm a real person authorised automated actions like purchases or meeting bookings.

Regulatory headwinds

Notwithstanding its lofty goals, World has faced regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions.

In November 2025, Thai data protection authorities ordered World to delete over 1.2 million iris scan records and suspend all operations in the country.

In December 2024, Germany’s data protection agency declared that World had violated data privacy rules and ordered it to delete iris codes it had collected.

Authorities in Spain and Portugal suspended the company from operating in those countries in 2024 after receiving complaints that minors were being scanned.

And in October 2025, Colombia’s data protection regulator ordered the immediate closure of World’s data processing operations following a seven-month investigation.

Hong Kong and Singapore have taken similar actions.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

By the day, quantum computing is becoming a bigger threat, endangering around 1.7 million Bitcoin that today are exposed to a super computer capable of breaking the protocol’s encryption.

That threat comes just as the undergirders of Bitcoin’s security mechanism, miners, are migrating en masse to artificial intelligence.

To top it all off, network activity is so scant that revenue for miners who remain online isn’t even remotely close to break-even.

“Long story short, it’s not great,” Nick Hansen, CEO of mining outlet Luxor, told DL News. “There isn’t a bullish catalyst for continued investment in new mining right now.”

“I’m a six to seven on the worried scale.”

Indeed, it’s a grim moment for the $1.5 trillion network. Bitcoin miners are the system’s bodyguards, protecting the nearly 20 million circulating coins. If quantum computing becomes reality, and miners are increasingly migrating their infrastructure to AI, it could be kaput — quick.

Quantum computing 

The number one looming threat is quantum computing and its inching closer by the day.

Quantum computers are super powerful devices capable of breaking Bitcoin’s underlying encryption. Up to 60% of the network’s entire supply is at risk of a malicious actor that, if they get their hands on a quantum computer, could drain wallets and get hold of about $800 billion in Bitcoin, according to Chaincode Labs.

Consensus among cybersecurity experts had the appearance of a quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin’s encryption anywhere between two and eight years. That was until March, when a research team at Google said quantum will be here by 2029.

Bitcoin investors, developers, and enthusiasts are now taking the threat seriously. Some of the newer proposals even include freezing quantum-exposed Bitcoin — including assets held by Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto — as a way to quell the threat.

AI pivot

In and of itself, quantum computing is a threat.

But if you tack on that a majority of Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI, things have the potential of spiralling out of control.

For Bitcoin to be secure, especially long-term, it needs to have a robust security system. That means having as many miners as possible online, offering up as much computational power as possible to render an attack futile.

The opposite is happening. Every major US miner has already started their migration to AI as mining became deeply unprofitable following the last halving event which took place in 2024, Bernstein analysts said.

The halving is an event that occurs every four years and chops block rewards in half. The last one cut mining payouts to 3.125 Bitcoin per block.

In December 2024, Hansen told DL News that “resisting the urge to transition to AI” will be Bitcoin miners’ biggest challenge in 2026.

Scant activity

The last slap is network activity.

Since the arrival of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, most of the activity that previously took place on Bitcoin — offering up miners a much-needed revenue stream in the form of transaction fees — has gone elsewhere.

Mostly, they’ve gone into the big institutions like BlackRock and its ilk whose arrival, ironically, was craved most by enthusiasts. Now they are placing an existential pressure on miners.

Hourglass

Hansen offered up a way out called Hourglass.

Right now, there’s around 1.7 million Bitcoin that are at risk, today, of a quantum computer, said Hansen. Hourglass proposes that instead of letting hackers dump all those coins on the open market at once, and crash Bitcoin’s price, create a limit that allows them to only steal 1 Bitcoin per block.

That’s around 144 Bitcoin per day.

Here’s the kicker: If multiple hackers are competing to steal the same coins, they’ll keep outbidding each other on transaction fees to get their loot confirmed first. And those fees go to Bitcoin miners.

By the time a hacker “wins” the auction, they’ve paid almost the entire value of the stolen Bitcoin in fees — meaning miners get the money instead of the hackers.

It would take roughly 32 years to drain all 1.7 million coins this way. During that time, miners get extra income, which helps keep Bitcoin’s network secure long-term.

"If the coins are going to get stolen anyways, maybe we let them flow to miners," Hansen said at the OPNEXT conference on April 16, since they are "the most incentive-aligned holders of Bitcoin.”

Correction, April 17. An earlier version of this story misquoted Nick Hansen's last quote, leaving out the "If."

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

Hey all, Liam here.

If Wall Street’s embrace of crypto has happened in fits and starts, this week that all changed.

Not only are some of the bluest-blooded banks and financial institutions diving into digital assets, but they’re iterating products for their more conservative customers.

Goldman Sachs, the $3.6 trillion asset management firm, finally filed a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Unlike BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, which is officially the largest crypto ETF on the market, Goldman’s product has a unique twist.

Namely, the fund rarely touches any actual Bitcoin.

Instead, the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF is comprised mostly of other spot Bitcoin ETFs. It then sells call options on those funds to offer investors a steady yield.

For an asset that’s plummeted roughly 40% in the last six months, that steady income is attractive for traditional investors.

Goldman's filing hit the wire on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley revealed that its week-old Bitcoin ETF had already hit $100 million in its first week — a feat chalked up to it being the market’s cheapest ETF at just 0.14%.

That same day, Charles Schwab announced it would let its millions of clients trade Bitcoin and Ether within their accounts for the first time.

“What we hear from many of our clients is that they have 98% of their wealth here at Schwab and they might hold a percent or 2% at some digital native firm to hold their crypto,” CEO Rick Wurster told CNBC last summer. "They really want to bring it back to Schwab because they trust us [and] they want it to sit alongside their other assets.”

While some Wall Street CEOs may have waffled about the future or even scoffed at digital assets in the past, calling them a fraud or a Ponzi scheme, these days the answer is unequivocal.

“Wall Street has literally arrived,” Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth Management, said on Friday.

Prediction markets, crypto get bipartisan scrutiny at congressional hearing

Republican lawmakers on Thursday asked Michael Selig, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, for assistance in crafting legislation to onshore certain crypto platforms and to combat insider trading on prediction markets. Aleks Gilbert reports.

AI and Iran are keeping Bitcoin price in ‘no-trade zone’ until Fed wakes up, says Arthur Hayes

Bitcoin is stuck in a “no-trade zone,” and Arthur Hayes isn’t deploying any new capital into the market until the Federal Reserve injects new capital into the economy, he said on Thursday. Pedro Solimano breaks this one down.

A trader made $1.5m buying Anthropic ‘shares’ on Solana. Cashing out the win won’t be easy

A trader who invested in Solana tokens representing exposure to buzzy artificial intelligence developer Anthropic is up almost $1.5 million on their bet. There’s just one snag — there’s no one to sell them to, Tim Craig reports.

Post of the Week

Times, they are a-changin’.

Isn't it crazy that the suits are far more bullish on crypto now than the diehard natives???

What happened man

— Andy (@andyyy) April 17, 2026

Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin correspondent. Contact him at liam@dlnews.com.

Matt Howells-Barby, vice-president of growth at Kraken, told DL News that the path higher depends on two things: how the Middle East conflict evolves and whether US corporate earnings hold up.

“If earnings come in strong and there are signs the geopolitical situation is cooling, I’d expect Bitcoin to push hard toward $80,000,” he said. “The bid is there, but right now it needs a reason to run.”

A surge to $80,000 would mark a dramatic shift in the narrative around Bitcoin, which is still sitting 40% below its October peak of $126,000. The price plunge has been driven by a combination of macroeconomic uncertainty and big Bitcoin investors selling their assets in expectation of the cryptocurrency losing its value as part of a historical four-year cycle.

However, that sell-off may be slowing down. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have seen steady inflows, with investors piling over $2.3 billion into these funds since the beginning of March, according to DefiLlama data.

That reversal combined with continued institutional adoption has seen market watchers say the price is heading to $80,000 before the summer.

Shares surge

Howells-Barby’s call comes as Bitcoin’s price is floating near $75,000 after rallying 12% over the past two weeks amid broader market exuberance. The top crypto has underperformed other assets like high-flying stocks and gold.

On Thursday, the S&P 500, a global benchmark for investor sentiment, reached a new all-time high.

The indicator had fallen roughly 8% in the first weeks of the US-Israeli war on Iran, sliding from the outbreak of fighting on February 28 to a low on March 30. Since then, however, markets have staged a sharp recovery, wiping out all losses recorded after the conflict began.

“The initial panic about central banks hiking again has mostly faded,” Howells-Barby said.

“Crypto's 24/7 nature means any shift in sentiment gets priced in the moment it happens, long before traditional markets can react.”

US economy strong 

Howells-Barby is not the only one flagging the importance of US economic performance.

Economist Ed Yardeni argues that global investors have already shifted their focus away from fears of military escalation in the Middle East and back to the steady resilience of the US economy.

“The stock market is sending a clear signal: the US economy has passed another stress test,” he wrote.

Despite the popular narrative that global investors are pulling back, the data tell a different story, he stressed. The result has been record highs for US equities and a renewed wave of buying from both domestic and foreign investors.

Even hedge fund manager Michael Burry — known for his bearish take on artificial intelligence stocks — is reportedly buying the dip in software stocks after the recent AI-driven sell-off.

According to the Treasury International Capital System, or TICS, net capital inflows into US assets remain strong. Private and official foreign accounts together purchased $1.4 trillion of US assets since February 2025.

Crypto market movers 

• Bitcoin is up 0.7% over the past 24 hours, trading at $75,116.
• Ethereum is trading sideways over the past 24 hours at $2,337.

What we’re reading 

• Trump issues ultimatum to Fed chair as Bitcoin trembles at $75,000. ‘I’ll have to fire him’ — DL News
• One of Trump’s biggest crypto supporters just turned on him — DL News
• World Liberty Financial Proposes Burning 4.5 Billion Insider Tokens in 62-Billion Token Vesting Overhaul — Unchained
• The most important DEX nobody talks about — Milk Road
• Prediction markets, crypto get bipartisan scrutiny at congressional hearing — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

In an April 16 essay, the BitMEX co-founder and crypto hedge fund manager explained that his hedge fund Maelstrom “did fuck all trading in the first quarter” of 2026 as two grisly forces left Bitcoin trying to find a direction.

The first is AI. Agents are replacing knowledge workers at scale, threatening a deflationary collapse, Hayes said. Meanwhile, the Iran war is creating chaos in the commodities market that could compel central banks to print money — but only if conditions worsen.

Until that materialises, prompting the Fed to resume money printing, Hayes reckons the risk-reward of the economy doesn’t justify allocating any more money.

To create new dollars, colloquially known as "money printing," the Fed buys Treasury bonds from banks, injecting fresh cash into the financial system.

AI eats jobs

For some time the refrain was that AI will eat your job.

According to Hayes, it’s already happening. He cited a crypto-gaming entrepreneur who automated his engineering workflow using nothing but Claude AI agents.

Another engineer managed to ship in four days a product that was expected to take six months. Half of the company’s staff will be let go within a few weeks, Hayes wrote.

In and of itself that’s a problem, but Hayes reckons the bigger one resides further downstream, in the consumer credit market.

Let’s say a median US knowledge worker earns between $85,000 to $90,000 annually. If they lose their job, and file for unemployment, their income plunges to around $28,000 per year, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics and the St. Louis Fed. To pay bills and day-to-day living, they’ll have to lean into consumer credit.

What happens if they don’t have enough to pay back that debt?

“There is no other choice but to fall behind on consumer credit payments to banks,” Hayes wrote. “It’s game over for the fugazi fiat fractionalised banking system."

Iran in three

Then there’s the war in Iran.

Hayes outlined three scenarios for the conflict, each of them bringing different implications for Bitcoin.

If the war ends immediately, Bitcoin might bounce as high as $90,000, but Hayes won’t invest until the Fed provides liquidity to plug holes in bank balance sheets.

Bitcoin was trading at around $75,000 on Thursday.

Second, if Iran successfully restricts any shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and starts collecting tolls in yuan or Bitcoin, countries will sell dollar assets to raise yuan. This could trigger a sell-off in dollar assets, forcing the Fed to turn on the money spigot. Bitcoin rallies only after the money printer turns on, Hayes wrote.

Finally, if the US destroys Iran’s ability to interdict shipping, but Iran takes the Persian Gulf’s energy production down with it, commodity prices spike.

Central banks are left without much choice but to print money to subsidise food and energy. This means Bitcoin rallies, but at great cost.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

That’s a solid debut for the first Wall Street bank to offer an in-house Bitcoin product, and it comes just as Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab prepare to offer their own branded crypto products.

“​​It’s an excellent number,” Ric Edelman, renowned financial adviser, told DL News. “It shows the high demand among investors and advisors alike, and will spur all the other wirehouses to do likewise.”

Morgan Stanley’s move — combined with Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab preparing their own crypto products — marks a turning point for an industry that staunchly turned Bitcoin and its ilk away in the past.

Now the largest banks on Wall Street are racing to keep the clients that are interested in crypto under one roof, instead of ceding their assets and millions in management fees to BlackRock or another of the 10 existing ETF providers.

Morgan Stanley manages around $6.2 trillion across 16,000 financial advisers.

Wall Street awakens

Many banks are likely watching Morgan Stanley to see how it fares.

But some aren’t staying put. Goldman Sachs announced this week that it was also launching its own in-house Bitcoin ETF. Charles Schwab announced today that it would begin offering crypto trading to its customers.

Together, they manage over $15 trillion in assets.

Indeed, the Wall Street banking Bitcoin land grab is in full force.

Wall Street’s Bitcoin ETFs have absorbed more than 1.6 million coins since launching in January 2024. Even as war broke out in the Middle East multiple times, Bitcoin ETF investors continued adding to their positions.

They have piled around $2.1 billion into Bitcoin ETFs since the start of the year, according to DefiLlama data.

Starting to spin

Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF is on pace for a blockbuster debut, Edelman recently told DL News. 

At its current rate of accumulation, the new ETF will bring in more than $7 billion in its first year, which would eclipse many of the already-existing ETFs like VanEck and Franklin Templeton.

“The flywheel is just starting to spin,” Edelman previously told DL News.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.

The bank’s 2026 Digital Asset Institutional Investor Survey shared with DL News found that many institutions plan to pile into cryptos next year, “suggesting a preparatory period rather than immediate investment.”

“Clear regulations, better understanding, enhanced security, and risk management frameworks are key to expanding investment,” wrote Nomura and its crypto subsidiary, Laser Digital.

The survey adds to the growing chorus suggesting that institutional players are increasingly exploring how to tap into cryptocurrencies. That marks a dramatic shift.

In the past, they often viewed Bitcoin and altcoins with scepticism, but over the past few years hedge funds, pension funds, superannuation funds have started to invest in the asset class.

Managing over $60 billion

The survey covered institutional investors managing more than $60 billion, along with family offices and public organisations overseeing assets ranging from a few million dollars to several billion.

Some 65% now see crypto as a diversification tool, putting it alongside stocks, bonds, and commodities, Nomura said.

To be sure, the bank warned that challenges still persist, including the lack of clear ways to value assets, ongoing volatility, and uncertainty around regulation.

“At the same time, adoption is accelerating due to the development of a diverse range of investment products, improvements in risk management practices, regulatory reforms, and increased participation,” Nomura wrote.

DeFi yield

Institutional investors are pursuing cryptocurrency yield strategies rather than just token price appreciation, Nomura says.

Its research found that over two-thirds of respondents want exposure to decentralised finance mechanics like staking, while 65% are targeting lending and tokenised assets, and 63% are exploring derivatives and stablecoins.

“This reflects growing demand for income-generating and asset-utilisation strategies,” Nomura said.

“Interest in investment methods is broadening, extending beyond exchange-traded funds to private funds, staking, and lending.”

Stablecoins

Nomura flagged currency-pegged tokens as a key driver of growth, with 63%of respondents seeing real uses for stablecoins, including managing cash, making cross-border payments, trading currencies, and investing in crypto and tokenised assets.

“Stablecoins also show strong demand for practical use, with preference focused on major financial institution issuers, highlighting the importance of issuer trust,” the bank wrote.

Across the yen, dollar and euro, stablecoins issued by major financial institutions are seen as the most trusted.

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com