The ongoing conflict exacerbates economic pressures and diplomatic challenges, potentially destabilizing regional and global political dynamics.

The post Iran war strains Gulf economies, complicates US-Iran diplomacy appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Dormant markets and ongoing hostilities highlight the fragility of ceasefire agreements, underscoring the need for active diplomatic engagement.

The post Israeli airstrikes hit Burj Qalawayh amid dormant ceasefire markets appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Salam's challenge to Hezbollah may destabilize Lebanon's internal politics, complicating diplomatic efforts and impacting regional stability.

The post Lebanese PM challenges Hezbollah, complicates Israel talks appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Israel's actions in Lebanon suggest prolonged conflict, impacting regional stability and complicating diplomatic resolutions.

The post Israel strikes Lebanese infrastructure, withdrawal by April unlikely appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The Fed's liquidity boost may not quickly elevate Bitcoin, reflecting market skepticism about speculative asset rallies despite increased capital.

The post Fed injects $172B post-QT, Bitcoin $200K odds unchanged appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

VanEck Flags Dual Bullish Signals for Bitcoin as Funding Turns Negative, Hash Rate Slips

Bitcoin’s latest onchain and derivatives data point to a constructive setup, with VanEck highlighting negative funding rates and a clustered hash rate drawdown alongside softer volatility and cautious positioning. 

The firm notes in their latest report that realized volatility fell from about 56% to 41% as US‑Iran tensions eased, while the 7‑day average funding rate dropped to roughly -1.8%, its lowest level since 2023 and in the 10th percentile of readings since late 2020.

Since 2020, bitcoin’s average 30‑day return during periods of negative funding has been 11.5%, compared with 4.5% across all periods, with a 77% hit rate for positive performance. When annualized funding sank below -5%, subsequent 30‑day returns averaged 19.4%, and 180‑day returns reached 70%, making negative funding a recurrent contrarian buy signal. VanEck also reports that 19 of the top 50 180‑day return windows since 2020 began on days with negative funding, despite such periods representing only about 13.6% of the sample.

The Bitcoin hash rate is falling

On the mining side, the 30‑day moving average hash rate has fallen to the 16th percentile over 30 days and 9th percentile over 90 days, while difficulty has slid to the 5th and 6th percentiles on those horizons. 

Three sustained hash rate decline episodes have appeared since December 2025, the densest cluster since China’s 2021 mining ban, with the latest drawdown of about 6.7% ending on April 15, 2026. Across seven completed historical drawdowns, bitcoin was higher 90 days later in six cases, with a median gain of 37.7% and a 63.1% median gain over 180 days.

Derivatives and onchain activity reflect guarded sentiment rather than capitulation. Put premiums relative to spot volume are more than six times their April 2024 level, while active supply over the last 180 days slipped to 28.4%, signaling greater holder dormancy. 

Long‑tenured cohorts, particularly 7‑10 year and 10+ year holders, increased spent volume to the 85th and 90th percentiles of the past four years, but VanEck stresses that such movements do not always represent outright selling. 

Taken together, the firm concludes that negative funding and hash rate stress form a reinforced bullish backdrop for bitcoin.

“Both mining rate drawdowns and negative funding rates have been associated with strong forward BTC returns. As such, we have become increasingly bullish on bitcoin,” the analysts wrote. 

Editorial Disclaimer: We leverage AI as part of our editorial workflow, including to support research, image generation, and quality assurance processes. All content is directed, reviewed, and approved by our editorial team, who are accountable for accuracy and integrity. AI-generated images use only tools trained on properly license material. In Bitcoin, as in media: Don’t trust. Verify.

This post VanEck Flags Dual Bullish Signals for Bitcoin as Funding Turns Negative, Hash Rate Slips first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

DOJ Drops Criminal Probe of Fed Chair Powell, Clearing Path for Warsh

The Department of Justice ended its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, removing the last major obstacle to Senate confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the central bank’s next leader — a development with consequences for monetary policy and Bitcoin.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced the closure of the probe, which had been launched over alleged cost overruns on a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s Washington headquarters. 

Pirro said she was transferring the matter to the Fed’s own inspector general, calling for “a comprehensive report in short order.” She left open the possibility of reopening criminal proceedings if warranted.

The investigation had no legal foundation. A federal judge, James Boasberg, quashed DOJ subpoenas in March after a prosecutor conceded the government had found “essentially zero evidence” of a crime, branding the justification as “thin and unsubstantiated.” Powell himself called the probe a political weapon, stating in January that it was “a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”

A ‘bogus’ probe into Powell

Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, had vowed to block Warsh’s confirmation until the probe ended, describing it as “bogus.” His opposition, combined with unified Democratic resistance, had stalled the nomination. With the investigation now closed, leadership expects a swift committee vote and floor confirmation before Powell’s term expires on May 15.

Warsh, 56, a former Fed governor and Stanford professor, testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and pledged “strict independence” from the White House on rate decisions. “The president never once asked me to commit to any particular interest rate decision, period,” Warsh said. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren called him a “sock puppet” for Trump, while Republicans praised his qualifications.

For Bitcoin, the stakes are significant. The cryptocurrency has traded in the $70,000–$92,000 range this year as the Fed held rates steady at 3.5%–3.75%, with traders watching every signal from the central bank. 

Lower interest rates historically reduce yields on conventional assets, pushing capital toward risk assets like Bitcoin. When the DOJ first launched its probe in January, Bitcoin climbed toward $92,000 as institutional investors read the attack on the Fed as a threat to dollar credibility and a potential catalyst for rate cuts.

Warsh is considered more hawkish than Powell on inflation, having called the Fed’s post-pandemic rate response “the biggest policy error in 40 or 50 years.” 

Should he take the helm on May 15 and maintain a restrictive stance, Bitcoin bulls betting on rate-cut-driven liquidity expansion may find themselves waiting longer than expected.

This post DOJ Drops Criminal Probe of Fed Chair Powell, Clearing Path for Warsh first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

7 Reasons JPX Should Reconsider Its Proposed Digital Asset Exclusion From TOPIX

A closer look at why the consultation’s proposed deferral sits awkwardly inside a rules-based benchmark and what a better path forward might look like.

JPX Market Innovation & Research (JPXI) is considering a new rule that would defer companies whose principal asset is cryptoassets from new inclusion in TOPIX and other periodically reviewed indices. The proposal is measured in tone, and the underlying concern, how to treat a newly emerging category of issuer, is a reasonable one for any index provider to think about.

But the specific rule under consultation raises real questions. It would affect companies like Metaplanet, Remixpoint, and ANAP Holdings, along with a growing set of Japanese issuers whose business models are fully legitimate, fully regulated, and fully aligned with long-standing corporate treasury practices.

Here are seven reasons JPXI should reconsider the proposal before February 2026.

1. The Rule Doesn’t Measure What TOPIX Normally Measures

TOPIX is designed to function as a broad, neutral, investable benchmark of the Japanese equity market. Its methodology already contains objective tools for that purpose: liquidity screens, free-float-adjusted market capitalization criteria, continuation buffers, and established treatment for delistings and other listing-quality events.

A crypto-asset screen is a different kind of test. It doesn’t measure liquidity, free float, turnover cost, market capitalization, or listing quality. It looks instead at the composition of a company’s balance sheet.

That’s a meaningful departure from how TOPIX eligibility has historically worked, and it deserves a clearer justification than the consultation currently provides. If a company satisfies TOPIX’s ordinary eligibility requirements, deferring it because of one category of asset introduces a new kind of judgment into a methodology that has been valued precisely for its objectivity.

2. “Principal Asset Is Cryptoassets” Needs a Clearer Definition

The consultation refers to companies whose “principal asset is cryptoassets,” but leaves several administrative questions open:

• Is the test based on parent-only holdings or consolidated holdings?
• Would exposure through wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliated companies, or strategic equity stakes be captured?
• Would indirect exposure through securities, derivatives, or economically similar instruments count?
• Is the inquiry formal (direct legal title) or substantive (economic exposure)?

These aren’t edge cases. They determine which companies the rule actually applies to. Index methodology gains its credibility from rules that are objective, measurable, and consistently administrable, and a clearer definition would help everyone: issuers, investors, and JPXI itself.

3. The Rule May Be Easier to Work Around Than to Apply

A practical concern follows from the definitional question. If direct Bitcoin holdings by the parent company are disfavored, but equivalent exposure through other structures is not, the rule becomes sensitive to legal form rather than economic substance.

Consider the asymmetry:

• A direct Bitcoin position would trigger the rule
• A position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) likely would not
• A position in a listed Bitcoin miner likely would not
• A stake in a crypto-linked subsidiary likely would not

The economic exposure in these cases can be very similar. The index treatment would be quite different. That creates an incentive for issuers to restructure toward less transparent forms of exposure rather than disclose direct holdings on the balance sheet. A benchmark rule generally works better when it encourages clear disclosure rather than the opposite.

4. The Carve-Out for Existing Constituents Creates an Internal Tension

The consultation contemplates deferring new inclusion while not applying the rule to existing constituents. This is understandable from a stability standpoint, no one wants unnecessary index churn.

But it also creates an internal tension in the rule’s logic. If Bitcoin treasury exposure were genuinely incompatible with TOPIX, it would be difficult to justify exempting current members. And if it isn’t incompatible, it’s worth asking why new entrants meeting the same investability criteria should be treated differently.

Reconciling that asymmetry would strengthen the proposal considerably.

5. “For the Time Being” Leaves the Timeline Open-Ended

The consultation says the deferral would apply “for the time being,” without specifying a review period, exit standard, or sunset mechanism. In practice, that leaves the timeline open-ended.

The timing matters here. October 2026 will be the first periodic review under the next-generation TOPIX framework in which Standard and Growth market companies can become eligible through the new process. A deferral that coincides with that review, without a defined path back to eligibility, could function as a longer-term exclusion even if it isn’t framed that way.

A clearer review cadence, or an explicit sunset, would make the proposal easier to evaluate on its merits.

6. Global Peers Have Taken More Time on the Same Question

JPXI is not the only index provider thinking about this. MSCI recently considered a threshold-based approach to digital-asset treasury companies and ultimately did not adopt a blanket exclusion, acknowledging the need for further work to distinguish operating companies from non-operating or investment-like entities. FTSE Russell has not announced a comparable rule.

The common thread is that the classification question is genuinely unsettled. Operating companies that hold Bitcoin alongside other business lines: media, energy, retail, mining, infrastructure, don’t fit neatly into existing categories, and the global index community is still working out how to think about them.

Given that, there’s a reasonable case for JPXI to engage further with issuers and market participants before codifying a rule, rather than moving ahead of where the broader conversation has landed.

7. An Asset-Neutral Framework Would Be More Durable

If the underlying concern is that some listed companies have become more concentrated or investment-like, that concern is worth addressing, but it isn’t unique to cryptoassets. Concentrated holdings can take many forms: listed equities, private-company stakes, fund interests, real estate, or other non-operating assets.

A framework that applies consistently across these categories would likely be more durable than a single-asset rule. It would also sidestep the definitional and arbitrage concerns above, since the test would focus on the economic characteristic JPXI actually cares about rather than on one particular asset class.

Several paths could accomplish this:

• Enhanced disclosure standards for concentrated treasury positions of any kind, giving investors clarity without changing index composition
• An asset-neutral concentration framework that applies the same test to any non-operating asset held above a defined threshold
• An optional index variant for investors who want exposure to the Japanese market with cryptoasset-heavy companies excluded, offered alongside, not in place of, the flagship benchmark

Where This Leaves the Proposal

None of this is to say JPXI’s instinct to think carefully about a new category of issuer is wrong. It isn’t. Bitcoin treasury companies are relatively new, and their prominence in Japan has grown quickly enough that questions about how to treat them are worth taking seriously.

But the specific rule on consultation is narrower, vaguer, and more open-ended than the questions it’s trying to answer. A clearer definition, a defined review period, and an asset-neutral framing would go a long way toward addressing the underlying concerns while preserving what has made TOPIX a trusted benchmark: objective, rules-based eligibility that reflects the Japanese equity market as it is.

That combination, substance over form, clarity over ambiguity, neutrality across asset classes, seems like the stronger path forward.

Add Your Signature

Bitcoin For Corporations has organized a coalition letter urging JPXI to withdraw the proposed exclusion and preserve TOPIX as a neutral, rules-based benchmark. The public comment period closes May 7, 2026 and every signature strengthens the case that this issue matters to issuers, investors, and market participants worldwide.

If the arguments above resonate, add your name. Individuals and organizations from any jurisdiction can sign.

→ Sign the coalition letter at topix.bitcoinforcorporations.com

You can also review the full position letter, see who has already signed, and share the campaign with your network from the same page. The deadline is firm, and the window to shape JPXI’s final decision is short.

Disclaimer: This content was prepared on behalf of Bitcoin For Corporations for informational purposes only. It reflects the author’s own analysis and opinion and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Nothing in this article constitutes an offer, invitation, or solicitation to purchase, sell, or subscribe for any security or financial product.

This post 7 Reasons JPX Should Reconsider Its Proposed Digital Asset Exclusion From TOPIX first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Nick Ward.

Bitcoin Magazine

Nakamoto (NAKA) Launches Bitcoin Derivatives Program to Capture Volatility Income and Hedge Downside Risk

Nakamoto Inc. has launched an actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program aimed at generating income from market volatility while reducing downside exposure, according to a company statement released Friday.

The program, in operation since the first quarter of 2026, is structured as a complement to Nakamoto’s core strategy of holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset. It uses a portion of the company’s Bitcoin holdings as collateral in a derivatives strategy managed by Bitwise Asset Management through a separately managed account. Custody services are provided by Kraken Institutional.

The initiative centers on two primary components: an income sleeve and a hedging sleeve. The income sleeve involves writing covered calls and call spreads against a defined share of Nakamoto’s Bitcoin holdings. This approach seeks to capture premiums from options markets, where implied volatility in Bitcoin pricing often exceeds realized volatility.

The hedging sleeve focuses on purchasing protective puts and put spreads. These positions are designed to offset potential losses during periods of price decline, providing a buffer against adverse market moves. According to the company, premiums generated from the income sleeve may help fund the cost of these protective positions.

Bitcoin’s volatility as opportunity 

Tyler Evans, chief investment officer of Nakamoto and UTXO Management, said the firm views Bitcoin’s implied volatility as a consistent source of opportunity. He described the program as a structured effort to convert that volatility into shareholder value while maintaining exposure to the underlying asset.

Bitcoin used as collateral within the program remains under Nakamoto’s ownership and continues to be counted toward its reported holdings. The company emphasized that derivatives positions supplement its spot Bitcoin exposure rather than replace it.

Premiums collected through the program may be received in either Bitcoin or U.S. dollars, depending on the structure of each trade. Nakamoto said these proceeds can be allocated toward hedging costs, additional Bitcoin purchases, or general corporate needs in line with its capital allocation strategy.

The program operates under a unified investment mandate that defines limits on notional exposure, eligible instruments, counterparties, and custody requirements. It also accounts for the tradeoff between income generation and potential limits on upside participation due to call option positions.

Nakamoto framed the strategy as part of a broader effort to generate yield from its Bitcoin treasury while maintaining long-term accumulation goals. The company said the hedging component is intended to support balance sheet stability and reduce the risk of forced asset sales during periods of market stress.

Performance details from the program’s first quarter of operation are expected to be disclosed in Nakamoto’s upcoming Form 10-Q filing.

Bitcoin Magazine is published by BTC Inc, a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA)

This post Nakamoto (NAKA) Launches Bitcoin Derivatives Program to Capture Volatility Income and Hedge Downside Risk first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Metaplanet Issues $50M in Zero-Interest Bonds to Buy More Bitcoin 

Metaplanet said it will issue ¥8 billion ($50 million) in zero-interest bonds to expand its Bitcoin holdings, according to a Friday statement, extending a financing strategy that has defined its balance sheet shift toward digital assets.

The issuance marks the firm’s 20th series of ordinary bonds and will mature in April 2027. The bonds are unsecured and carry no interest, giving the company access to capital without added debt servicing costs. Proceeds are earmarked for additional Bitcoin purchases, with repayment due at par upon maturity.

The bonds were allocated to EVO FUND, a Cayman-based investor tied to Evolution Financial Group that has backed several of the company’s prior raises. Under the terms, the fund can request early redemption with five business days’ notice, while Metaplanet retains the option to redeem part or all of the issuance if it completes further financing with the same counterparty.

At current Bitcoin prices near $78,000, the raise could allow Metaplanet to acquire between 640 and 700 BTC. The company holds 40,177 BTC, valued at about $3.1 billion, making it the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in Japan and the third largest among public firms.

Metaplanet has set a target of 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027. The latest raise follows a first quarter in which the firm added 5,075 BTC and reported a BTC Yield of 2.8%.

Metaplanet reported a ¥95 billion net loss for fiscal year 2025, driven by unrealized valuation declines tied to Bitcoin price movements. Its average acquisition cost stands at $104,106 per coin, above current market levels.

Strategy’s massive buy

The strategy mirrors a model seen in the United States, where public firms use capital markets to accumulate Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. The most famous of this type of company is Strategy.

Earlier this week, Strategy disclosed it bought 34,164 bitcoin for about $2.54 billion, one of its largest purchases ever. The acquisition raised its total holdings to 815,061 BTC, surpassing BlackRock and bringing its cumulative spend to roughly $61.56 billion at an average cost near current market prices. 

The purchase was funded through equity sales and its STRC preferred stock offering, which has become a key financing tool. 

Despite its expanding position — now over 3.8% of bitcoin’s supply — shares slipped in pre-market trading as investors weighed the firm’s aggressive capital strategy.

Editorial Disclaimer: We leverage AI as part of our editorial workflow, including to support research, image generation, and quality assurance processes. All content is directed, reviewed, and approved by our editorial team, who are accountable for accuracy and integrity. AI-generated images use only tools trained on properly license material. In Bitcoin, as in media: Don’t trust. Verify.

This post Metaplanet Issues $50M in Zero-Interest Bonds to Buy More Bitcoin  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Gunfire cut short the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25, forcing the evacuation of President Donald Trump after a man armed with multiple weapons charged a security checkpoint at the high-profile gala.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump revealed that US law enforcement agents subdued the suspect, who was later identified as Cole Allen, amid a social media frenzy of controversial claims about the incident.

Trump initially urged organizers to “LET THE SHOW GO ON,” before confirming authorities had ordered an immediate evacuation in line with protocol.

He added that the First Lady, Vice President, and Cabinet members were unharmed, and subsequently shared images and apparent security footage of the suspect after being subdued.

TRUMP token slides to record lows

The security scare capped a day that had already placed Trump at the center of a different kind of volatility in the crypto markets.

Earlier on April 25, the president hosted 297 of the largest holders of his TRUMP memecoin at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Marketed as an elite gathering, the event featured a keynote address from Trump, while a smaller group of 29 top holders attended a private reception and champagne toast with him.

Notably, this is the second of such events that the president has hosted for the token in the past year.

Still, this presidential access has failed to lift the TRUMP token underpinning the events as it has lost more than 97% of its value over the past year.

According to CryptoSlate data, TRUMP's token price fell as low as $2.52, down almost 20% from the 24-hour local high, and a steep drop from the highs above $75 reached during the post-inauguration surge in January 2025. That also moved the market cap down around $100 million to just $590 million.

The value erosion has been stark in aggregate value. CoinMarketCap data shows the token’s market capitalization shrinking from nearly $10 billion early last year to about $618 million as of press time.

Scrutiny builds around President Trump's crypto voyage

The event has intensified criticism of Trump’s expanding crypto footprint, with Democratic lawmakers calling for investigations.

On the other hand, ethics experts have repeatedly pointed to the unusual overlap between the presidential authority and personal financial exposure to speculative digital assets.

Meanwhile, crypto experts have also increasingly criticized the events and the token, with Simon Dedic, the founder of venture capital firm Moonrock Capital, saying:

“The Trump memecoin dinner tonight is one of the most damaging thing that has happened to crypto's reputation in years. Even worse than FTX or Luna. Those at least pretended to be something legitimate before they collapsed. But this is the President of the United States openly extracting from retail, in broad daylight, and calling it a gala.”

Dedic also claimed that the President Trump-linked token has extracted more than $4.3 billion from retail investors, while 45 insider wallets gained $1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, on-chain analysis also showed that most of the addresses that attended the gala event “sold or transferred everything out” immediately after the event.

The post TRUMP loses $100M as memecoin market cap plummets after White House shooting incident appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Demand for US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs has rebounded into its longest positive stretch of 2026, putting fund flows back at the center of Bitcoin’s latest test of the $80,000 area.

SoSoValue data show the products drew net inflows for nine consecutive trading days through April 24, adding about $2.12 billion since April 14.

The run is the strongest since last October’s inflow burst and comes as Bitcoin trades near $78,000 after gaining around 11% over the past month.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust remained the main driver of the move, attracting roughly $1.6 billion during the latest stretch. Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Trust followed with about $115 million, while Grayscale’s BTC product added more than $73 million.

The renewed demand has lifted total net assets across US spot Bitcoin ETFs to about $101 billion, equal to roughly 6.57% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization. That puts the ETF complex back at the center of the market’s next major test, as Bitcoin trades near the top of its recent range.

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Bitcoin has demonstrated surprising resilience by holding near $78,000, following a massive derivatives short squeeze.

Apr 24, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

ETF demand rebuilds after a weaker stretch

The latest inflow streak signals a shift after several months in which Bitcoin ETF demand had cooled from the pace seen during earlier stages of the spot-fund boom.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said rolling flow periods for Bitcoin ETFs have turned positive again after months of weakness, with IBIT’s recent intake ranking among the strongest across the broader ETF market.

Meanwhile, the recovery in ETF demand gives Bitcoin a clearer support base than it had during the prior correction.

Ecoinometrics, a macro research platform, said the current streak showed that capital was returning to the market as the funds' 30-day rolling net inflows have turned higher after nearing outflow territory.

Still, the platform noted that the ETF flow recovery has not yet reached a level that would more firmly validate a sustained breakout. Ecoinometrics said its model points to roughly 50,000 BTC in net inflows over 30 days as the threshold at which the odds shift more decisively toward sustained positive returns.

This means Bitcoin is currently in a stronger position than during the earlier correction. The current rally has fresh demand behind it, though the scale of that demand remains below the level usually associated with a more durable upside move.

Cost-basis data also show why the $80,000 region is important. Bitwise data showed the aggregate cost basis for US spot Bitcoin ETF buyers at about $81,000 as of April 24. IBIT’s cost basis was around $80,200, while Fidelity’s FBTC and Bitwise’s BITB were lower at about $59,300 and $55,400, respectively.

That places many recent ETF buyers close to breakeven as Bitcoin approaches $80,000. A move through that area could strengthen confidence among newer holders, while another rejection may encourage profit-taking and hedging.

The post US Bitcoin ETFs are on their longest inflow streak this year as funds hit near 7% of BTC supply appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Just as investors were trying to steady the 2026 rate outlook, the oil market handed the Federal Reserve a fresh inflation problem.

The Fed meets on April 28 and 29. On April 30, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is scheduled to publish the advance estimate for first quarter GDP alongside March personal income and outlays, the release that includes the Fed's preferred PCE inflation gauge.

Any one of those events can jolt markets on its own. But packed into three days, they become a stress test for the easing narrative that carried risk assets into spring.

Bitcoin is smack dab in the middle of that chain. BTC spent much of this cycle trading alongside the broader path of rates, liquidity, and risk appetite. Once war threatens supply, oil rises. Once oil rises, energy starts pressing on freight, manufacturing, and consumer prices. From there, the pressure lands where markets least wanted to see it again: on the Fed's inflation problem.

Bitcoin heads into the weekend with a bigger question than crypto alone can answer. If oil keeps policy tighter for longer, the market may have to reprice the entire path of relief it had been counting on.

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Bitcoin price surges to $78k even as oil rises again creating new setup – what you need to know

Bitcoin is entering a fresh macro test as higher oil prices feed inflation fears, lift yields, and push Fed cuts further out.

Apr 22, 2026 · Gino Matos

Oil has turned the April Fed meeting into an inflation test

Federal Reserve officials are already describing the inflation risk in direct terms.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said he sees high oil prices keeping core inflation near 3% this year, above the central bank's 2% target, with rates potentially staying unchanged for some time.

A day later, New York Fed President John Williams said developments in the Middle East are already lifting inflation pressures and increasing uncertainty.

Those remarks pull the debate out of the realm of market chatter. Fed officials are treating war-driven energy prices as an active inflation channel.

Investors spent the last few months trying to map the moment when the Fed could begin easing again. That view rested on inflation continuing to cool in a fairly orderly way.

But now oil scrambles that assumption. A sharp rise in energy prices can slow disinflation, revive concerns about second-round effects, and push policymakers toward a more guarded tone even before the data catch up in full.

That's why the April meeting may be more affected by the Fed's tone than by the decision itself.

Markets will be listening for confidence, hesitation, and any sign that the path back to lower rates has narrowed since early April. One oil spike is enough to darken the mood if it forces the Fed through a major meeting with inflation pressure suddenly moving the wrong way.

Oil sits at the center of the problem because the physical disruption still looks severe. On April 20, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had fallen to a standstill after warning shots and the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship. Ship-tracking data showed only a few crossings over 12 hours, far below the usual pace of roughly 130 vessels a day.

Markets tend to sprint toward the diplomatic ending while central banks have to live in the uncomfortable stretch before it arrives.

Oil takes time to normalize after a ceasefire headline appears because all kinds of complex, real-life actions need to take place.

Cargoes need to move, insurers still have to price the new risk, shipowners still have to decide whether they want to send vessels through a dangerous corridor, and refiners and buyers still have to absorb delays, rerouting, and higher costs.

The Fed has to focus on realized inflation pressure, the kind that reaches households and businesses through fuel, freight, and input costs. If those pressures linger, the inflation debate stays uncomfortably warm even as traders search for the next peace headline.

Bitcoin's bullish macro case has leaned heavily on the idea that we'll get easier policy later in the year. A war-driven energy shock weakens that case by making cuts feel later, less certain, and more conditional on a friendlier inflation backdrop than the market now has.

Crypto markets have seen versions of that pressure before during prior FOMC windows and hotter-than-expected inflation prints.

Bitcoin may be about to absorb a repricing of the whole rate path

The next FOMC meeting runs from Monday, April 28, through Tuesday, April 29. The advance estimate of first-quarter GDP and March personal income and outlays both arrive on Wednesday, April 30, at 8:30 a.m. ET.

That's a very narrow window in which markets have to absorb a fresh inflation concern, hear the Fed's language around it, and then run straight into top-tier economic data. First comes the statement and press conference, then the GDP and PCE almost immediately after. There's hardly any time for a comfortable narrative to settle in between.

If GDP shows resilience and PCE shows lingering price pressure, the higher-for-longer case can harden quickly. If the data is cool enough to offset some of the oil anxiety, markets can move back toward the view that cuts later in the year remain plausible.

Markets still want to believe the energy shock will fade with time. That instinct is understandable, as traders are conditioned to fade panic in commodities and to treat geopolitical price spikes as temporary. The Fed has to judge a harder question: whether the shock fades fast enough to keep it from reshaping inflation expectations and the rate path in the meantime.

Bitcoin in 2026 still trades with one eye on liquidity and one eye on policy. If war-driven oil keeps pushing the expected path of rates higher, or simply delays the market's timetable for relief, bitcoin can be repriced alongside equities and the rest of the risk complex. We've already seen the reverse version of that move when cooler inflation data supported Bitcoin.

The market is now facing two possible scenarios.

In one, tensions ease, oil cools materially, shipping conditions improve, and the Fed preserves room for cuts later in the year. Bitcoin would likely benefit as investors move back toward a softer-rate narrative.

In the other, Hormuz disruption lingers, inflation stays sticky, and the Fed turns more guarded heading into GDP and PCE. In that environment, Bitcoin would be facing a repricing of a less forgiving macro regime.

By the time this weekend gives way to next week, markets will be staring at an unresolved oil shock, a Fed meeting days away, and major macro releases arriving on April 30. Bitcoin is heading into a test of whether the market's easing narrative can hold together after war pushed oil and inflation back into the center of policy.

The post The global oil shock has the Fed cornered just days before its next meeting — what that means for Bitcoin appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The world's central banks stopped arguing about whether stablecoins are risky long ago. Their main concern now is about who will control them and how.

On April 20, BIS General Manager Pablo Hernandez de Cos called for global cooperation on stablecoins, describing it as “critically important.”

The Bank for International Settlements, often called the central bankers' central bank, has raised concerns about stablecoins before, but the language they've used is much sharper now. De Cos warned about runs that could trigger market stress, about dollar-pegged tokens accelerating the dollarization of developing economies, and about fragmented regulatory frameworks that private firms can arbitrage across borders.

That's the language of systemic risk, distinct from the investor-protection framing that dominated earlier debates.

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value relative to a fiat currency. Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC are the two largest, together accounting for roughly 85% of the $315 billion in stablecoins currently in circulation.

Unlike a savings account or legal tender, a stablecoin functions as a private IOU worth $1, backed by reserves that include US Treasury bills and built for speed across borders and crypto markets. At that scale, the convenience is exactly what central banks now find alarming.

Central banks are worried about deposits, not pegs

The concern over peg stability is real: if an issuer can't maintain the $1 value during heavy redemptions, the result is a run that forces rapid liquidation of reserve assets, injecting volatility into Treasury markets.

The deeper concern, however, is what stablecoins do to the banking system as they grow. When people hold tokens instead of bank deposits, banks lose the funding base they use to make loans. When payments settle on private token networks rather than bank rails, banks lose fee income, transaction data, and customer relationships.

The ECB has been explicit about this chain: stablecoins could cost European banks all three simultaneously while giving dollar-denominated tokens a foothold in markets where the euro is supposed to be dominant.

CryptoSlate reported on the ECB's modeling in November 2025, when policymakers war-gamed what $2 trillion in stablecoins would mean for European financial stability. Their conclusion was that at that scale, stablecoins become a direct transmission channel for American financial stress into European banks.

Citi's April 2026 research projects stablecoin issuance at $1.9 trillion by 2030 in the base case, with $4 trillion possible under higher-adoption scenarios. These figures are now actively shaping how central banks set their planning horizons.

The deposit question has become urgent for banks. If stablecoins can offer competitive yields, consumers have a clear incentive to shift balances away from insured bank accounts toward digital-dollar wallets, and the US banking lobby has estimated that stablecoins could extract roughly $500 billion in deposits by 2028.

The Federal Reserve, in a March 2026 note on payment stablecoins and cross-border payments, added a further complication: a large enough stablecoin sector outside the banking system can blunt how monetary policy reaches the real economy, because the Fed's tools work through banks, and a parallel network that bypasses them weakens their reach.

The deposit drain plays out primarily in developed economies because the dollarization problem is global. De Cos warned that stablecoins can accelerate the structural dependence of developing economies on the dollar while making it easier to evade capital controls, leading to larger inflows during stable periods and faster capital flight during stress.

We've seen this take place in countries like Nigeria, Argentina, and Turkey, where households are already using dollar-pegged stablecoins to protect savings from devaluing local currencies, bypassing official exchange rates and domestic banking systems entirely.

Standard Chartered has estimated that banks in emerging markets could lose as much as $1 trillion in deposits to stablecoins. The IMF has described stablecoins as the digital edge of the dollar system, a phrase that perfectly captures both the utility and the structural threat.

It implies that stablecoins extend dollar dominance faster and more directly than the eurodollar system ever did, through private companies rather than state institutions, leaving central banks in smaller economies with no practical mechanism to slow the outflow.

The real fight is over who controls stablecoin movements

The debate has reached European political leadership, and the positions aren't aligned.

On April 17, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called the current volume of euro-pegged stablecoins “not satisfactory” and endorsed Qivalis, a consortium of European banks including ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas, building a euro-denominated stablecoin. Lescure also urged European banks to explore tokenized deposits, framing the initiative as a defense of European payment sovereignty against US dominance.

It's hard to miss the tension in that position. European policymakers fear stablecoins and simultaneously fear being excluded from the infrastructure race. If dollar tokens become the default settlement layer for digital payments globally, a Europe that blocked stablecoin development domestically ends up on American rails regardless.

At the same time, the Banque de France's First Deputy Governor, Denis Beau, has been calling for stronger MiCA restrictions on non-euro stablecoins used in everyday payments, even as Lescure endorses the technology.

Europe is running two policy tracks at once without resolving the contradiction: policymakers want the efficiency of tokenized money movement, and they're deeply uncomfortable with private issuers controlling it.

Whether regulators ultimately treat stablecoins as payment utilities, deposit substitutes, or shadow money-market products will determine how much of the monetary system private issuers are permitted to absorb.

That reclassification is happening in real time, and the outcome will shape how money moves for the next decade.

The post The world’s central banks are now treating stablecoins like a real multi-trillion dollar monetary threat appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Crypto market liquidity is increasingly hyper-concentrating within a handful of massive trading venues, creating a market structure that global central bank researchers warn is evolving into a heavily leveraged “shadow crypto financial system.”

Data from CryptoQuant shows that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, cleared over $1 trillion in trading volume during the first 112 days of 2026.

This is significantly higher than the total of rival platforms like MEXC, which stood at about $284.9 billion; Bybit at $242.3 billion; Crypto.com at $219.9 billion; Coinbase at $209.3 billion; and OKX at $195.2 billion.

The gap gives a market anchor to a new Financial Stability Institute paper published by the Bank for International Settlements, which said large crypto platforms have expanded beyond trading and custody into yield products, lending, derivatives, staking, and token-related services.

The paper described many of these trading platforms as “multifunction cryptoasset intermediaries” (MCIs) because they now combine roles that are usually split among banks, brokers, exchanges, and custodians in traditional finance.

Due to this, BIS flagged concerns that the crypto trading venues attracting the deepest liquidity are also becoming the places where users store assets, post collateral, take leverage, and seek yield.

That has turned the current exchange concentration into a wider question for regulators: whether platforms built for crypto trading have become financial intermediaries before the rules around customer assets, leverage, and liquidity risk have caught up.

Liquidity is concentrated where risk is rising

Crypto’s trading base has not spread evenly across hundreds of platforms despite years of exchange failures, enforcement actions, and market drawdowns.

The BIS paper said there were about 200 to 250 active centralized spot exchanges as of 2025, but trading remained dominated by a small group of large platforms.

BIS pointed out that Binance accounted for about 39% of global centralized exchange spot volume, while the top 10 exchanges handled about 90% of global trading activity.

The BIS paper said the largest MCIs often operate through subsidiaries or licensed entities across more than 100 jurisdictions. It also cited estimates that the top five MCIs collectively serve about 200 million to 230 million unique users, with 20 million to 34 million using staking or earn products.

That means the biggest crypto exchanges are no longer just places where buyers meet sellers. They are becoming balance-sheet hubs for a market that still lacks many of the legal protections built into traditional finance.

That structure gives the largest venues power beyond ordinary market share as their order books influence pricing and their derivatives products shape leverage.

At the same time, their custody systems hold the assets customers use to move across spot, margin, staking, and yield products.

Binance’s $1.09 trillion in early-year volume shows the force of that network effect. Traders continue to cluster where liquidity is deepest and execution is most reliable.

In normal conditions, that concentration can reduce friction. During stress, it can make a handful of venues central to the way losses move through the system.

Exchanges are becoming financial supermarkets

The business model that has made large exchanges commercially powerful is the same model now drawing scrutiny.

A major crypto platform can offer spot trading, perpetual futures, custody, staking, lending, secured borrowing, wallet services, and yield products under one roof. Some also operate affiliated token ecosystems or infrastructure tied to their broader platforms.

In traditional finance, those services are usually split among institutions with different capital, liquidity, disclosure, and conduct rules. Banks, brokerages, exchanges, clearinghouses, and custodians each sit inside specific regulatory lanes.

Crypto has moved toward a more integrated model. A user can deposit assets, trade spot tokens, borrow against collateral, open leveraged derivatives positions, and allocate idle balances to yield products without leaving the platform.

That model keeps capital inside the venue. However, it also makes it harder for users and regulators to separate trading risk from credit, custody, and liquidity risks.

The BIS paper said MCIs that accept customer assets through investment programs and use them for lending, market-making, or other activities take on risks similar to those faced by financial intermediaries. Those include credit risk, maturity risk, and liquidity risk.

The difference is that many crypto platforms do not face the same prudential requirements as banks or regulated broker-dealers. They may not be subject to comparable capital buffers, liquidity rules, deposit protection, stress tests, or resolution frameworks.

Yield turns balances into credit exposure

The clearest example is the growth of earn-and-yield products.

These products are often marketed as a way for users to earn passive returns on idle crypto assets.

However, the economic reality can be much less straightforward. Depending on the terms, customers may give the platform control over their assets, allowing those funds to be used for staking, lending, market-making, margin financing, or other activities.

The BIS paper said some arrangements can leave customers with an unsecured claim on the intermediary rather than a protected right to specific assets. In practice, the user may think of the product as a savings account, while the legal exposure resembles a loan to the platform.

That distinction becomes critical in a crisis.

A bank depositor is usually protected by a framework built around capital requirements, liquidity management, deposit insurance, and access to central bank liquidity in extreme cases.

A crypto exchange customer using a yield product may have none of those protections. If the platform cannot meet withdrawals or suffers trading losses, the customer may become an unsecured creditor.

The BIS cited Celsius Network and FTX's bankruptcy as examples of how those weaknesses can surface.

Celsius offered yield products that depended on lending, leverage, and liquidity transformation. When market conditions turned, and customers sought withdrawals, the platform failed.

On the other hand, FTX exposed a different version of the same structural problem, with customer assets, affiliated trading activity, and group-level risk becoming entangled.

Those examples remain important because the largest exchanges today are bigger, more global, and more embedded in crypto market infrastructure than many failed firms were in 2022.

Leverage can transmit stress fast

The BIS warning also extends beyond customer protection into market structure.

Crypto derivatives markets run continuously, use automated liquidation engines, and often rely on collateral whose value can fall sharply within minutes. When leverage is concentrated on the same venues that dominate spot liquidity, price shocks can become liquidation events before human traders have time to respond.

The BIS pointed to the October 2025 flash crash as an example of how fast the system can move. The episode triggered about $19 billion in forced liquidations across crypto derivatives markets and affected more than 1.6 million traders.

The crash showed how tightly connected leverage, collateral, automated risk engines, and venue concentration have become. Notably, some market observers blamed the October 10 incident on Binance's operating practices. 

This is because a sharp macro move hit spot prices, resulting in a price decline that weakened collateral. Then, this weaker collateral triggered margin calls, which forced liquidations and deepened the downward price move.

That loop is not unique to crypto, but the emerging market structure can accelerate it.

Large exchanges sit at the center of that process because they host the liquidity, collateral accounts, and derivatives positions through which deleveraging occurs. A brief outage, pricing gap, or liquidity shortfall at a dominant venue can affect more than that venue’s own users. It can influence market prices across the sector.

Regulators face a business model that outgrew the exchange label

Against this backdrop, the policy challenge is that the largest crypto platforms do not fit neatly into existing categories.

A single firm may operate as an exchange, custodian, broker, lender, staking provider, derivatives venue, and wallet infrastructure provider simultaneously. Each activity may fall under a different regulator, or outside clear oversight altogether, depending on the jurisdiction.

As a result, the BIS paper called for prudential requirements for MCIs engaged in financial intermediation. Those could include capital and liquidity buffers, stronger governance standards, stress testing, risk-management rules, and clearer segregation of customer assets.

It also suggested that regulators may need both entity-based and activity-based rules. Entity-based rules would look at the health and structure of the platform as a whole. Activity-based rules would apply to specific services such as lending, custody, staking, derivatives, or yield products.

That approach would mark a shift from treating large crypto firms mainly as trading platforms to more closely aligning them with their surrounding financial conglomerates.

This would now raise questions about how they manage balance-sheet risk, protect customer assets, handle liquidity stress, and how a failure would be contained.

Meanwhile, this issue is becoming more urgent as traditional finance links to crypto deepen through exchange-traded products, institutional custody, stablecoin reserves, and brokerage integrations.

The BIS paper warned that as MCIs become more connected to traditional finance, disruptions at major platforms could have consequences beyond the crypto ecosystem.

The post Trillions of dollars in crypto liquidity is concentrating inside the venues US regulators fear most appeared first on CryptoSlate.

MemeCore ($M) has surged into the spotlight, but for all the wrong reasons. While the token’s price action on the daily charts looks like a dream for bulls, a series of onchain investigations have pulled back the curtain on a troubling reality: extreme supply concentration.

Recent reports suggest that over 90% of MemeCore’s supply is held by a tight cluster of insider wallets, creating what experts call a "ghost market cap." This structure mimics the architectural flaws seen in RaveDAO (RAVE), which recently suffered a catastrophic 95% wipeout.

What is a "Ghost Market Cap"?

The term "ghost market cap" refers to a project with a multi-billion dollar valuation on paper, but with very little actual liquidity or "free float" (tokens available for the public to trade).

• Valuation: MemeCore currently boasts a market cap north of $5.5 billion.
• The Discrepancy: Despite this massive valuation, its 24-hour trading volume often struggles to stay above $30 million.
• The Risk: When insiders control the vast majority of tokens, they can manipulate the price with relatively small amounts of capital. This allows for artificial "short squeezes" that trap retail traders before the eventual exit.

Will M Price Crash like RaveDAO (RAVE)?

The warning signs for MemeCore are nearly identical to those seen in the RaveDAO (RAVE) collapse. RAVE was touted as a "Live-to-Earn" revolution, surging from $0.25 to nearly $28 in April 2026. However, onchain sleuth ZachXBT revealed that insiders controlled 95% of the supply.

Once the "pump" was exhausted, a single multisig wallet moved millions of tokens to exchanges, causing a liquidity vacuum. RAVE plummeted from its peak to sub-$1 levels in less than 48 hours, wiping out $6 billion in market value. MemeCore’s current structure suggests it is walking the same tightrope.

MemeCore Price Analysis: Is the Rally Sustainable?

Based on the current M/USD price data, the token is showing classic signs of a "low-float" pump.

• Parabolic Growth: Since early March 2026, M has climbed from $1.50 to its current levels around $4.60.
• RSI Divergence: The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently sitting at 81.01, deep in overbought territory. Historically, an RSI this high without significant volume growth is a precursor to a "blow-off top."
• Support Levels: The yellow lines on the chart indicate critical psychological supports at $3.00 and $2.00. A break below $3.00 could trigger a cascade of liquidations similar to the RAVE event.

Should you Sell MemeCore TODAY?

If you are holding or considering M, these are the "red flag" signals to monitor:

1. Wallet Movement: Sudden transfers from top-100 wallets to exchange deposit addresses.
2. Liquidity Depth: If the "buy-side" orders on order books begin to thin out while the price stays high, a "liquidity rug" may be incoming.

Cardano (ADA) continues to test the patience of its community as the price remains tightly bound to the $0.25 level. Despite a flurry of technical milestones in early 2026, including the much-anticipated Van Rossum hard fork and the integration of the Midnight privacy sidechain, the market value of ADA hasn't reflected this progress.

As of April 25, 2026, the Cardano price is hovering around $0.249, showing a minor daily decline of 0.20%. This stagnation comes at a time when other Layer-1 competitors are seeing volatile swings, leaving ADA investors questioning when the "compressed spring" will finally snap.

Cardano Price Analysis: Breaking Down the Technicals

The daily chart for $ADA reveals a period of intense consolidation. Following a sharp decline in early February that saw prices drop from $0.36, Cardano has established a well-defined horizontal range.

Key Support and Resistance Levels

Looking at the technical data, three critical yellow horizontal lines define the current playing field.

• $0.30 Resistance: This is the psychological and technical ceiling. A daily close above this level is required to shift the mid-term bias from neutral to bullish.
• $0.27 Intermediate Barrier: This level has repeatedly capped relief rallies throughout March and April.
• $0.24 Major Support: This is the "line in the sand" for bulls. As long as ADA stays above this floor, the accumulation phase remains intact.

RSI and Momentum Indicators

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently sitting at 49.16, almost exactly at the 50-midpoint. This confirms the lack of a clear trend. The RSI has been oscillating between 40 and 55 for several weeks, suggesting that neither buyers nor sellers have gained the upper hand. Historically, such low volatility in ADA often precedes a massive "god candle," but the direction remains dependent on broader crypto news and Bitcoin's performance.

The "Van Rossum" Hard Fork: Why No Pump?

In April 2026, Cardano successfully implemented Protocol Version 11, known as the Van Rossum hard fork. This upgrade significantly improved Plutus smart contract performance and introduced advanced on-chain governance features.

Despite these fundamental wins, the price has been weighed down by the closure of major ecosystem players like JPG Store, which signaled a cooling-off in the Cardano NFT sector. Furthermore, while the network is technically superior to its 2021 version, the market cap of Cardano currently struggles to attract the same retail speculative mania seen in previous cycles.

Whale Activity: The Hidden Bull Case

While the price action looks "boring," on-chain data tells a different story. Reports indicate that wallets holding 10M+ ADA have reached a 4-month high. This "whale accumulation" often happens during flat price periods where retail investors "capitulate" or lose interest.

Cardano Future: What Will Break the Deadlock?

For ADA to break out of the $0.24 - $0.27 range, two things likely need to happen:

• Bitcoin Stability: A move toward $80,000 for $Bitcoin would provide the necessary "rising tide" to lift ADA.
• DeFi TVL Growth: With the new Plutus upgrades, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in Cardano DeFi needs to surpass the $1.5 billion mark to prove the network's utility.

While $Bitcoin remains in a consolidation phase, a handful of mid-cap and low-cap assets have decoupled from the primary trend. This "rotation of capital" is a classic sign of localized bullishness, where traders seek higher returns in high-beta altcoins.

In the last 24 hours, three specific cryptocurrencies have surged, driven by a mix of leadership changes, exchange listings, and heavy on-chain volume.

Current State of the Altcoin Market

As of late April 2026, the global crypto market cap sits near $2.58 trillion. Despite a slight cooling in major assets, the appetite for risk remains high in specific niches like GameFi and decentralized oracles.

1. ApeCoin (APE): Ecosystem Revitalization

ApeCoin has emerged as a primary leader in the current rally, posting gains of over 68% in a single day.

• The Driver: The momentum is largely attributed to the appointment of Michael Figge as the new CEO of Yuga Labs. This leadership shift has reignited interest in the BAYC ecosystem and the potential for new utility within the "Otherside" metaverse.
• On-Chain Data: Market intelligence from OnchainLens revealed that a major whale opened a $1.03 million leveraged long position shortly before the breakout, suggesting institutional-grade conviction.
• Price Targets: After breaking its long-term downtrend, APE is currently testing resistance. Maintaining a floor above $0.11 is critical for the sustainability of this rally.

2. Katana (KAT): The Exchange Listing Effect

Katana, a DeFi-optimized Layer 2 incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, has seen its price skyrocket by 165% over the past week.

• The Driver: The primary catalyst is the recent listing of KAT on South Korea's largest exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, alongside its inclusion in Coinbase’s perpetual futures. This has provided a massive bridge for both retail and professional liquidity.
• Market Dynamics: Spot trading volume for the token increased by over 1,400%, signaling a "buy-side" imbalance that typically follows high-tier exchange integrations.
• What to Watch: As the project recently launched its private mainnet, traders should watch for the transition to public mainnet in June as a secondary catalyst.

3. API3: Momentum Without a Catalyst

In a classic display of crypto market unpredictability, API3 has surged over 40% without any direct news or protocol upgrades.

• The Analysis: This appears to be a momentum-driven pump fueled by massive volume spikes—up over 2,500% in 24 hours. When a token rallies significantly while the broader market is flat, it often indicates a short squeeze or a coordinated rotation by high-net-worth traders.
• The Risk: Without a fundamental anchor (like a partnership or tech upgrade), these "ghost rallies" are prone to sharp retracements.
• Technical Levels: Monitoring the $0.45 level is key; failure to hold this could see the price revert to its 200-day moving average.

Analysis: Is This a Sustainable Trend?

The surge in these three assets highlights a shift toward "narrative trading." Whether it is the revitalized interest in NFT-adjacent tokens or the liquidity boost from Asian markets, the current bullishness is concentrated rather than market-wide.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently took to his platform to issue a stark warning regarding a surge in violent crimes targeting the crypto community. According to Durov, France has seen 41 kidnappings of crypto holders in the first 3.5 months of 2026 alone.

This alarming statistic comes amidst a backdrop of systemic failures in data protection and a controversial push by the French state for even greater access to private citizen data. As the crypto hub ambitions of France face their toughest test, the intersection of tax transparency and physical safety has become a focal point of industry outrage.

The Rise of "Wrench Attacks" and Kidnappings in 2026

The term "wrench attack"—physical violence used to force a victim to surrender their private keys—has moved from a theoretical threat to a daily reality for many investors. The reported 41 kidnappings represent a significant escalation compared to previous years.

A Pattern of Violence

• Targeted Extortion: Criminals are no longer just hacking hot wallets; they are knocking on doors.
• Brutal Tactics: High-profile cases, such as the 2025 attack on Ledger co-founder David Balland, where victims suffered permanent physical harm to extract ransoms, have set a terrifying precedent.
• Collateral Damage: Recent reports indicate that family members, including children and partners, are increasingly being taken hostage to leverage the release of Bitcoin and other liquid assets.

The "Ghalia C." Scandal: How Tax Data Reached Criminals

Durov’s most explosive claim centers on how criminals are selecting their targets. He pointed directly to a massive breach of trust within the French tax administration (DGFiP).

Investigations have uncovered the activities of Ghalia C., a 32-year-old tax official accused of selling sensitive data from the government's "Mira" software to criminal networks. This software, intended for fiscal oversight, contains the addresses, net worth, and crypto holdings of French citizens.

The breach allegedly allowed organized crime syndicates to build "hit lists" of wealthy investors with surgical precision. This highlights a fundamental flaw in centralized databases: when the state mandates the collection of every crypto transaction, it creates a honey pot that is irresistible to both corrupt insiders and external hackers.

Surveillance vs. Safety: The New Legislative Battle

While the state struggles to secure its existing databases, it is simultaneously pushing for more. Durov noted that the French government is moving toward requiring government IDs and access to private messages for social media users.

The Threat of Decentralized Privacy

France has already taken a hardline stance against privacy-focused platforms. The 2024 arrest of Durov himself at Le Bourget airport was a watershed moment for the industry. Critics argue that by stripping away digital anonymity, the state is inadvertently providing criminals with the roadmap they need for physical attacks.

Under the guise of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and local age-verification mandates, the "de-anonymization" of the internet is accelerating. For a crypto holder, the link between their digital identity and their physical home address is a liability that can lead to life-threatening consequences.

How to Protect Your Assets in a High-Risk Environment

With the crypto market remaining volatile and physical threats rising, investors must rethink their security hygiene. Relying on state protection appears insufficient given the current data leak climate.

• Use Cold Storage: Never keep large amounts on an exchange. See our hardware wallet comparison for the best offline options.
• Multi-Signature (Multi-sig) Wallets: Use setups that require multiple keys stored in different geographic locations. This makes a "wrench attack" on a single person fruitless.
• OPSEC (Operations Security): Avoid discussing your holdings in public or on social media.
• Institutional Security: For high-net-worth individuals, using regulated custodians can add a layer of separation between personal identity and asset access.

As reported by The Guardian, even magistrates have not been immune to these ransom plots, suggesting that the criminal networks involved are becoming increasingly bold.

As tensions in the Middle East reached a boiling point, risk assets—including $Bitcoin and major altcoins—faced a sharp "risk-off" liquidation. However, as diplomatic channels begin to signal a potential de-escalation, savvy investors are looking at the "blood in the streets" as a generational entry point.

Historically, markets overreact to geopolitical shocks. If a resolution is reached in early April, the pent-up liquidity currently sitting in stablecoins is expected to flood back into high-conviction projects that were unfairly hammered during the panic.

Is April a Good Time to Buy Crypto?

Potentially, as April 2026 is shaping up to be a prime recovery month. With many tokens trading at 20-30% discounts from their Q1 highs, the current "oversold" conditions on the RSI (Relative Strength Index) suggest a relief rally is imminent.

1. Ethereum (ETH): The Race Back to $3,000

$Ethereum remains the backbone of the decentralized economy. During the recent March turbulence, ETH slipped below its psychological support, but the fundamentals remain unshaken.

• Recovery Catalyst: The successful implementation of the "Prague" upgrade earlier this year has further reduced Layer-2 costs.
• Price Target: Analysts expect a swift recovery to the $3,000 mark as institutional ETH ETFs see renewed inflows once the global macro outlook stabilizes.

Investors should monitor the ETH price closely, as its recovery usually leads the broader altcoin market.

2. PEPE: The Volatility King

For those with a higher risk appetite, $PEPE remains the go-to memecoin for catching rapid bounces. Memecoins often act as high-beta plays on market sentiment; when the market turns green, PEPE tends to move twice as fast as the majors.

• Current State: PEPE lost significant ground in March but has maintained a strong community floor.
• Why Buy: Its extreme volatility makes it an ideal candidate for a "relief rally" play. As retail investors return to the market in April, the low-unit bias of PEPE often attracts massive speculative volume.

3. XRP: Regulatory Clarity Meets Institutional Adoption

$XRP has faced a double-whammy of geopolitical pressure and a temporary "capital flight" toward safer havens. However, its role in cross-border payments, especially in the Middle East, makes it a unique asset to watch as regional stability returns.

• Market Position: Having secured full regulatory clarity in late 2025, XRP is no longer a "gamble" but a utility-driven asset.
• Outlook: It has lost nearly 15% in the last month, making the XRP price highly attractive for those betting on the continued expansion of RippleNet.

4. Cardano (ADA): The "Deep Value" Opportunity

$Cardano is currently one of the most oversold "blue-chip" altcoins. While critics point to its slower price action, the network's resilience and growing DeFi TVL (Total Value Locked) suggest it is undervalued.

• The Dip: ADA has hit multi-month lows, hovering near critical demand zones.
• The Play: Historically, ADA performs well in the second stage of a market recovery.

5. Solana (SOL): The Ecosystem Powerhouse

No "Top 5" list for 2026 is complete without $Solana. Despite the market-wide dip, Solana continues to lead in retail transaction volume and NFT activity.

• Technical Outlook: SOL has shown incredible strength in bouncing off the $80-$100 support range.
• Why April: With the Firedancer upgrade nearing full optimization, Solana's throughput is unmatched. Any return of "risk-on" sentiment will likely see SOL outperform Bitcoin in percentage gains. You can compare Solana's performance against other majors on our exchange comparison page.

Top 5 Cryptos to Buy in April 2026

Researchers found that xAI's Grok was the riskiest AI model tested, often validating delusions and offering dangerous advice.

Bitcoin hash rate recovery and negative funding rates signal potential gains ahead, according to the ETF provider's latest network analysis.

Brazil’s Finance Ministry cited investor protection concerns and rising gambling addiction as it blocked platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi.

Tennessee has become the second U.S. state to outlaw Bitcoin and crypto ATMs, making it a criminal offense to own or operate the machines.

The Justice Department moved to intervene in xAI’s lawsuit challenging Colorado’s algorithmic discrimination law.

Litecoin took a 13-block reorg with developers issuing an update on the incident.

Hyperliquid's market positioning isn't bad, but the descending volume is certainly makes us worry.

Litecoin's zero-day shock raises questions XRP may already answer, according to the ecosystem's top contributor.

Prominent gold advocate and vocal cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff is sounding the alarm on Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy ($MSTR)..

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been crowned the 2026 Business Leader of the Year by the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California.

The next crypto to explode debate just sharpened after Binance rolled out its new Alpha Page on April 23, tracking early-stage projects before listing with historical user gains reaching $24,787, the cleanest signal yet that wallets entering a token before the Binance listing are the ones walking away with the real returns.

That dashboard explains why investors are hunting early entries right now, and Pepeto is the name catching the flow. Past $9.45 million raised, a full exchange running, and the Binance listing approaching, the presale at $0.0000001866 mirrors the setup that paid the biggest checks of the last cycle.

Binance Alpha Page Opens a Window Into the Listing Playbook That Delivers 41% Average Returns

Binance launched its Alpha Page on April 23, a central hub tracking early-stage tokens from pre-listing activity through exchange debut, with past Alpha events paying users up to $24,787 before public trading opened, according to CryptoNewsZ.

The numbers behind the Binance listing playbook explain the rush. A Ren & Heinrich study found tokens rise +41% on listing day and +73% within 30 days on Binance. Every cycle rewards wallets that entered before the listing alert fired, because once trading goes live the gap closes and never opens again.

Three Tokens Lined Up For the Coming Breakout

Pepeto Price at $0.0000001866 as $9.45M Raised Confirms Where Listed Capital Is Rotating

Bitcoin volume rolled through exchanges this week while capital pulled off into cold storage, and wallets moving with intent are searching for the early entry that vanishes once a token goes live on Binance. Pepeto, viewed as the next crypto to explode, hands traders one platform to swap, bridge, and verify without paying fees, and analyst radars point to 100x from presale pricing.

PepetoSwap clears trades at zero cost, the cross chain bridge carries tokens between Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana without gas, and the AI contract scanner reads every token before a dollar goes into it. These products are already live, verified by a SolidProof audit.

The Pepe cofounder who grew the original to an $11 billion peak designed every tool to run without fees. More than $9.45 million raised during deep fear shows wallets inside are not guessing, 178% APY staking locks supply tighter every day, and the Binance listing is the event every early buyer is positioning for.

BNB Price at $638 as Osaka/Mendel Hard Fork April 28 Targets 20,000 TPS

BNB trades at $638 per CoinMarketCap, down 0.77% in 24 hours with the Osaka/Mendel hard fork scheduled for April 28 implementing nine BEP proposals pushing the chain toward 20,000 transactions per second. Support holds at $610 and resistance sits at $670, with BNB Chain averaging 4.5 million daily active users in Q1 2026, topping all Layer 1 networks.

At an $85 billion market cap, a move to $800 delivers roughly 25% over quarters, steady ground but nowhere near what a presale entry produces from one listing event.

Dogecoin (DOGE) Price at $0.0962 as $330M Whale Buys Set Up $0.1172 Breakout

Dogecoin (DOGE) trades at $0.0962 per CoinMarketCap, up 2.30% in 24 hours after whales absorbed over $330 million of DOGE in the past week while $800 million moved through the network on April 16, the biggest volume spike this year per The Market Periodical. The ascending wedge sets $0.1028 as the breakout trigger with $0.1172 as the first target.

DOGE sits 87% below its $0.73 peak, and even a climb to $0.15 delivers 56% at a $15 billion cap. Presale pricing converts the same capital into outcomes many multiples higher, and that spread is why DOGE bulls are eyeing entries outside the memecoin tier.

Conclusion

Nobody who bought Shiba Inu after its Binance listing turned $600 into millions. The wallets that collected the life-changing returns bought SHIB in late 2020 when it was unknown, with no chart, no exchange pair, and no attention. Early, inside a fearful market, in names the crowd was writing off, is the only pattern that has ever paid outsized returns. Top ten coins on a green day have never minted anyone a seven-figure exit.

The same signal is flashing again. A Pepe cofounder is rebuilding the playbook with real exchange tools, the presale sits at $0.0000001866, and the Binance listing is approaching on its own schedule. Every investor who watched SHIB move from the sidelines repeats one line, I saw it and did nothing.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

What is the next crypto to explode with 100x potential in April 2026?

Pepeto leads with a live exchange suite, SolidProof audit, and a Pepe cofounder running the build. The presale raised $9.45 million at $0.0000001866, with analysts projecting 100x once the Binance listing opens.

Is Dogecoin (DOGE) a strong buy at $0.0962 after $330M in whale accumulation?

Dogecoin (DOGE) at $0.0962 carries a clear breakout setup at $0.1028 with $0.1172 as the first target after $330 million in weekly whale buying. Pepeto through the Pepeto official website offers presale pricing and a listing gap DOGE at its current cap cannot match.

The post Next Crypto to Explode in 2026: Is It Dogecoin Or BNB? While A Presale Might Outperform Both appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Bitcoin is trading near $77,998 as it approaches a low-activity heatmap zone extending to $83,000.

• The STH Cost Basis and True Market Mean Price are both converging around $79,000 to $83,000 resistance.

• Bitcoin has reclaimed the -0.5 MVRV pricing band at $73,700, keeping the bullish trend scenario valid.

• Losing $73,700 support could push Bitcoin toward the Realized Price level near $55,000, analysts warn.

Bitcoin is approaching a critical price zone as multiple on-chain indicators align near the $83,000 level. Traders and analysts are watching closely as the STH Cost Basis, True Market Mean Price, and distribution clusters converge.

The market’s reaction at these levels may determine Bitcoin’s next major directional move. At press time, BTC is trading near $77,998.

Distribution Clusters and Cost Basis Levels Point to $83,000 Resistance

Bitcoin is currently moving through a low-activity price zone on the heatmap. This white zone reflects limited historical exchange activity between current prices and $83,000.

Crypto analyst Darkfost noted that this area extends toward $83,000, where many investors previously reacted.

Both the STH Cost Basis and the True Market Mean Price are hovering near $79,000. These two metrics are trending closely together and continue to act as resistance. Darkfost added that his adjusted STH Cost Basis, accounting for Coinbase-moved BTC, sits closer to $83,000.

The convergence of these three elements creates what analysts call a confluence zone. Such zones tend to attract strong market reactions, either rejection or breakout. Bitcoin’s behavior around $83,000 will therefore be important for traders to watch.

A test of these levels appears likely in the near term, according to Darkfost. How price reacts upon reaching that area could offer clearer signals about Bitcoin’s next trend direction. Market participants are advised to monitor volume and price action carefully at that range.

MVRV Pricing Band Offers Key Support Level Near $73,700

Analyst Ali Charts pointed out that Bitcoin has successfully reclaimed the -0.5 MVRV pricing band. That band currently sits at $73,700 and acts as a pivot point for the current market trend. Holding above this level keeps the bullish scenario intact.

As long as $73,700 holds, the target moves toward the mean MVRV price near $96,000. This return-to-mean scenario is a standard recovery path following periods of market stress. It gives traders a broader upside target if support continues to hold.

However, losing the $73,700 level would shift the outlook considerably. A breakdown below that price would likely invalidate the current bullish bottom scenario. Ali Charts warned that such a move could push Bitcoin back toward the Realized Price near $55,000.

The gap between $73,700 support and $96,000 resistance defines the current trading range for Bitcoin. Price action within this range will shape sentiment over the coming weeks. Both levels are now being closely tracked by on-chain analysts as the market navigates this key zone.

The post Bitcoin Eyes $83,000 Resistance as Key On-Chain Metrics Converge appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• The Ethereum Foundation deposited 811 wstETH into Lido’s withdrawal contract across 271 batched transactions. 
• ETH held steady at $2,319 despite the $48.9M unstaking move, showing no immediate sell pressure on markets. 
• The foundation still retains over 100,000 ETH in liquid form, plus additional staked holdings beyond this withdrawal. 
• Arkham flagged the transaction on X, questioning whether the foundation plans to sell the unlocked ETH after release.

The Ethereum Foundation has initiated the unstaking of approximately $48.9 million worth of ETH through Lido Finance.

The operation used 271 batched transactions to deposit 811 wstETH tokens into Lido’s withdrawal contract. After a standard processing delay, those tokens will convert to liquid ETH.

This move comes shortly after the foundation pushed to stake up to 70,000 ETH for yield. The foundation still holds over 100,000 ETH unstaked, with more remaining staked. ETH prices held steady at $2,319.

How the Ethereum Foundation Structured the Withdrawal

The Ethereum Foundation carried out the transaction using 271 separate, batched on-chain calls. Each call contributed to depositing a combined total of 811 wstETH tokens into Lido’s unstETH withdrawal contract. Once Lido completes the unlock cycle, those tokens will release as liquid ETH to the foundation’s wallet.

Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham was among the first to report the transfer publicly on X. The platform stated that the Ethereum Foundation had deposited WSTETH into the Lido unstETH contract.

It added that the foundation would receive the ETH only once the unlocking process had been completed. Arkham also posed a question that caught community’s attention: “Are they going to sell this ETH as well?”

Notably, the use of 271 batched transactions reflects a measured and organized withdrawal strategy. Large on-chain actors typically use batching to avoid congestion and keep transactions traceable.

Batching also allows oversight of each step within the broader transaction set. This level of structure points to a deliberate treasury operation rather than a spontaneous action.

Market Response and the Foundation’s Broader ETH Position

Despite the withdrawal, the Ethereum Foundation retains a large ETH position across both liquid and staked holdings.

The foundation holds over 100,000 ETH in unstaked form, and additional ETH remains staked through other positions. The 811 wstETH being withdrawn represents only a fraction of its overall reserves.

This unstaking event also follows the foundation’s recent push to stake up to 70,000 ETH for yield generation. Viewed alongside that strategy, the current withdrawal appears consistent with active treasury management.

Rather than signaling an intent to sell, the move suggests ongoing rotation between staked and liquid positions.

Community reaction, however, was divided. Some observers saw the transaction as straightforward rebalancing within a large portfolio. Others worried that the unlocked ETH could eventually reach the open market as sell pressure.

Nevertheless, ETH held its ground at around $2,319 with no major price movement. The Ethereum Foundation has yet to issue any statement clarifying its plans for the retrieved assets.

The post Ethereum Foundation Unstakes $48.9M in ETH Through Lido Finance appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Grayscale filed for a spot TAO ETF via NYSE Arca, targeting an SEC decision by August 2026. 
• Bittensor rewards AI models with TAO tokens, creating a decentralised marketplace for machine intelligence.
• Bitcoin rose from $25K to $73K after its ETF filing and approval cycle — TAO is now at that same stage. 
• Approval is not guaranteed; a denial would sharply reverse the narrative-driven momentum building around TAO.

Grayscale TAO ETF has entered the SEC regulatory process, marking a turning point in how institutions may soon access decentralised artificial intelligence.

Grayscale has submitted a proposed rule change through NYSE Arca to establish the Grayscale Bittensor Trust. The filing follows the same regulatory path used for the firm’s Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETF conversions.

A decision from the SEC is expected by August 2026, though the timeline remains subject to change.

What the Filing Means for Bittensor

The Bittensor network operates as a decentralised marketplace for machine intelligence. Competing AI models participate in the network and earn TAO tokens by producing outputs the system deems valuable.

This model applies the same decentralisation logic that defined Bitcoin’s appeal in 2013, now directed at AI compute and model training.

TAO functions as the token that governs and powers the entire Bittensor system. The network’s architecture creates a mechanism where the most effective AI models receive token-based rewards.

This structure gives TAO a functional role that goes beyond speculative value. It positions the asset within an infrastructure layer for artificial intelligence.

A spot ETF, if approved, would allow pension funds, family offices, and wealth managers to gain TAO exposure through regulated exchange channels.

No wallets or private key management would be required on their end. For institutional capital sitting on the sidelines of the AI token sector, that access changes the nature of the opportunity.

Bittensor is no longer a niche protocol with a limited audience. The Grayscale filing confirms that institutional-grade financial infrastructure is being built around the network. That shift carries weight regardless of the SEC’s final decision.

The ETF Pattern and What It Has Shown Before

BlackRock filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June 2023. At that point, Bitcoin was trading near $25,000. The ETF was approved in January 2024, and Bitcoin crossed $46,000 shortly after.

A new all-time high above $73,000 followed in March 2024. Ethereum’s ETF followed a similar arc after its own filing and approval cycle.

These outcomes were not guaranteed at the time of filing. However, each filing represented a clear signal that institutional capital was preparing to enter the market. The Grayscale TAO filing is now at that same stage.

There are several things to monitor before August. SEC comment period activity can indicate market appetite. Extension notices are common and do not signal denial, but they do affect timelines.

TAO’s price action relative to broader market conditions will reflect how much oxygen the altcoin ETF narrative has through Q2 and Q3. Additionally, other altcoin ETF decisions in the same period will build or weaken regulatory precedent.

The filing does not guarantee approval. A denial or extended review would unwind the narrative-driven price momentum that tends to build ahead of such decisions.

However, the existence of the filing itself confirms that Grayscale sees a viable institutional market for TAO, and that NYSE Arca found the submission sufficient to move forward. Decentralised AI is now part of the regulated financial infrastructure conversation.

The post Grayscale Files for Spot TAO ETF: What It Means for Decentralised AI Investing appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Arbitrum now leads all blockchains with 1,938 tokenized RWA assets and a $874.19M distributed asset value.

• BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree, and Robinhood have all deployed tokenized products on Arbitrum.

• The Arbitrum DAO approved STEP 2, allocating 35 million ARB tokens directly into RWA treasury instruments.

• Arbitrum’s TVL has climbed to roughly $2.5 billion, driven largely by rising real-world asset activity on-chain.

Arbitrum is experiencing a notable resurgence driven by real-world asset tokenization. The Layer 2 network now leads all blockchains with 1,938 tokenized RWA assets.

Its total distributed asset value stands at $874.19 million. With stablecoin supply exceeding $7.24 billion and 30-day transfer volume near $345 million, the network draws renewed attention.

Major traditional finance institutions are actively building on the platform, bringing institutional capital the broader crypto market has long needed.

Major TradFi Players Choose Arbitrum for Tokenized Asset Deployment

BlackRock has integrated its $BUIDL tokenized Treasury yield product on Arbitrum through Securitize. Franklin Templeton also launched its Onchain US Government Money Fund via the Benji platform on Arbitrum.

These moves mark a clear shift toward regulated, yield-bearing instruments on decentralized infrastructure.

WisdomTree is tokenizing 13 investment funds on the network. Spiko leads EU and US T-bill tokenization on Arbitrum, with assets surpassing $467 million.

Robinhood is also tokenizing roughly 2,000 US stocks and ETFs on the platform for European investors. These instruments are accessible 24 hours a day, which traditional markets currently cannot offer.

Projects like Ondo Finance and private credit platforms such as Libre and Centrifuge have also chosen Arbitrum. They point to low transaction fees, high processing speed, and EVM compatibility as primary reasons.

The network’s composability with DeFi protocols for lending and yield farming further strengthens its appeal to builders.

According to crypto analyst @Karamata2_2, Arbitrum’s RWA activity is delivering actual value and sustainable liquidity to the ecosystem.

RWA holders on the network have now reached 6,596, reflecting steady growth across multiple asset classes. The 30-day transfer volume of approximately $345 million adds further evidence of growing on-chain economic activity.

These numbers also show that institutional adoption on Arbitrum is moving beyond early-stage experimentation.

Arbitrum DAO Directs 35 Million ARB Tokens Into RWA Treasury Strategy

The Arbitrum DAO approved the STEP 2 proposal, directing 35 million ARB tokens into RWA treasuries. This governance decision reflects growing confidence in tokenized real-world assets as a long-term growth driver. It also aligns the DAO’s treasury strategy with broader institutional trends in the tokenized asset market.

RWA-driven activity has pushed Arbitrum’s total value locked to approximately $2.5 billion. Higher liquidity on the network directly translates to increased gas fee revenue for the DAO.

That revenue, in turn, funds ongoing ecosystem development and provides structural support for the ARB token.

The network’s fee structure and EVM compatibility continue to attract a wide range of participants. Platforms built around real-world assets benefit from Arbitrum’s integration with existing lending and yield-farming products. This layered composability creates functional utility that other networks have found difficult to replicate.

The emerging cycle on Arbitrum links liquidity growth directly to DAO revenue and token stability. More on-chain activity generates higher fees, which fund further development and attract additional participants.

This structure positions Arbitrum as a growing destination for institutional-grade tokenized assets in the near term.

The post Arbitrum RWA Surge: How Institutional Capital Is Fueling the Network’s Comeback appeared first on Blockonomi.

Bitcoin’s overall dull price moves over the weekend saw a brief uptick earlier today after reports that the US President was evacuated after gunshots were heard during a White House event.

Several altcoins have produced more notable gains over the past 24 hours, including XMR and SKY from the larger- and mid-cap alts, while BNB is down by 1%.

BTC Taps $78K

The primary cryptocurrency began the week on the wrong foot, dipping below $74,000 on Monday after last weekend’s developments on the US-Iran war front. However, it quickly rebounded, and when the ceasefire was extended on Tuesday, it jumped to an 11-week peak of almost $79,600.

Nevertheless, the bulls were exhausted after this impressive run, and BTC quickly retreated to $77,000. It spent the next several days trading sideways between that level, which served as the lower boundary, and $78,500, which was the upper one.

It slipped again to $77,200 yesterday when US President Donald Trump pulled out the delegation from peace talks with the Iranian side, which had also left Pakistan minutes before that.

Another major development took place during the night as the POTUS was evacuated from a White House event after multiple gunshots were heard, and the Secret Service apprehended a 31-year-old Californian resident carrying several guns. BTC jumped by a grand within minutes, touching $78,200 before it retraced slightly to $78,000.

Its market cap remains around $1.560 trillion, while its dominance over the alts on CG is well above 58%.

PI Rebounds

The native token of the Pi Network ecosystem has felt some adverse price moves as of late, but the past 24 hours have been quite beneficial. PI has jumped by over 5% daily and now sits above $0.18. The only coin with a more impressive performance today is STABLE, which has added 7% of value to $0.034.

XMR and SKY have jumped by over 4% daily, while the rest of the larger-cap alts sit a lot calmer. ETH, TRX, and DOGE are slightly in the green, while XRP, BNB, SOL, HYPE, and BCH have posted minor losses. RAIN has dumped the most from this cohort of assets, losing 5% daily.

The total crypto market cap has neared $2.7 trillion on CG again after adding $40 billion from yesterday’s low.

The post Pi Network’s PI Token Stages Notable Recovery as BTC Taps $78K: Weekend Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

After a month of building hype around what was described by the POTUS himself as the “most exclusive” crypto and business conference in the world, in which many big names delivered speeches, the meme coin related to the First Family plunged hard yet again, wiping out over $160 million from its market cap in hours.

Aside from the event hype, there’s another reason why the asset keeps digging new lows.

The Mar-A-Lago Crypto Event

The POTUS and his team launched the TRUMP (and later MELANIA) meme coin days before his inauguration in January 2025. The asset quickly skyrocketed to be one of the largest crypto assets, charting an all-time high of over $73 on CoinGecko within hours.

However, it has been predominantly downhill since then, and Trump’s attempts to revive it have seen short-term gains. Earlier this weekend, he hosted the second large event for the biggest meme coin token holders at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. The 297 top buyers who had registered for the contest attended the gathering, while the largest 29 holders went for a “special VIP reception and champagne toast” with the president.

Trump was the keynote speaker, indicating that he felt an “obligation” to support the crypto industry:

“As a president, I have to be able to make sure that all of our industries do well. Crypto is a big industry; it’s actually become somewhat mainstream,” he added.

Many of his family’s crypto ventures, including the meme coins, have faced intense scrutiny from Democrats and certain regulators. A Reuters report claimed that the First Family has profited more than $1 billion from crypto asset sales, including $336 million from meme coin sell-offs made only in the first half of 2025.

It’s worth noting that this event took place hours before the President returned to Washington and was evacuated from another dinner after multiple gunshots were fired.

TRUMP Plummets

As mentioned above, the TRUMP token has been nosediving for over a year, while the two events managed to boost its price briefly as holders rushed to buy to attend the gatherings or just to take advantage of the expected hype. However, once the event concluded, a familiar scenario occurred: the asset tanked almost instantly.

TRUMP peaked at just over $3.1 yesterday before it plunged by 20% to $2.5. Although it has rebounded slightly to $2.65 as of press time, it remains more than 96% away from its all-time high marked just over a year ago. Moreover, there are several reports that the Trump team has continued to dump tokens as the asset recovered some ground in the past few weeks, which is another reason behind today’s crash.

$TRUMP token has crashed -21.5% and wiped out nearly $161 million from its market cap in the past 24 hours.

This came after investors sold before Trump’s Crypto Conference, a classic “sell the rumour” event.

But that’s not the only reason.

Over the last 3 weeks, the Trump team… pic.twitter.com/22UfiGjreL

— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) April 25, 2026

The post TRUMP Token Crashes 20% After Mar-a-Lago Event and Trump Team Sell-Offs appeared first on CryptoPotato.

“Quite an evening” event took place in the White House hours ago as a shooter fired at least five shots, according to reports, which prompted the US Secret Service to act promptly and evacuate US President Donald Trump, his wife, VP JD Vance, and all other cabinet members.

The POTUS addressed the nation later on, confirming that the shooter was apprehended, while all attendees were unharmed.

Another Attempt on Trump’s Life?

Reports from a few hours after the incident informed that the POTUS and FLOTUS were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after loud gunshots. The suspect “charged” through the security checkpoint and past law enforcement officers stationed at the venue entrance. Security footage shows a man sprinting through the metal detectors and officers running toward him with their guns drawn.

The shooter, identified as Cole Tomas Allen from California, acted alone according to the Secret Service and was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. Interim police chief Jeffery Carroll explained that law enforcement tackled the suspect to the ground and handcuffed him instead of killing him, as some initial reports claimed.

President Trump quickly posted on his social media platform that he, the First Lady, the Vice President, and all Cabinet members are “in perfect condition.” He also promised that the dinner event will be rescheduled to take place within 30 days.

Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, who is among the biggest beneficiaries of Trump’s current presidency, given the pardon he received, noted on X that it was “sickening” to see another attempt at the President’s life after the shooting during the election campaign in 2024.

Sickening to see another attempt on President Trump’s life just now at the White House Correspondends Dinner. I’m relieved that he, the First Lady, the Vice President Vance, and everyone in attendance are safe.

— CZ BNB (@cz_binance) April 26, 2026

BTC Price Reacts

Recall that BTC’s price skyrocketed in the initial hours after the first assassination attempt in mid 2024. This time, the asset also climbed slightly, but in a more modest manner. Bitcoin had dipped to $77,200 after yesterday’s peace talk failures announced by Trump, but surged by a grand to tap $78,200 after the evacuation reports.

It trades around $78,000 as of now, with a market cap of over $1.560 trillion and market dominance of more than 58% on CoinGecko. However, more volatility is expected later today when the legacy spot and futures markets open.

The post Bitcoin Price Reacts After Trump Evacuated Following White House Gunshots appeared first on CryptoPotato.

XRP is one of the most popular and high-volume altcoins in the market, drawing tremendous attention across the board. It’s also oftentimes the subject of interesting price predictions from both macro and technical analysts, some of which raise more than a few eyebrows.

XRP Price Predictions: Technical Analysts

Most recently, Ali Martinez, a frequent commentator and technical analyst, wrote:

A multi-year triangle on XRP points to $0.90 as a potential bottom for the bear market and $13 as a target for the next bull run.

But that would mean an increase just short of a 10x and, even in the next bull run, whenever that may be, it sounds more like wishful thinking. After all, even at current floats, that would put the project’s market cap at around $870 billion.

A more structured approach to XRP’s technical outlook was given by Crypto WZRD, who said that:

A move above the $1.55 resistance will see a rally towards the $2 resistance and beyond.

The analyst also explained that the altcoin needs to print a bullish candle against BTC, which should happen if Bitcoin’s dominance declines.

But What About the Realities?

And while technical analysis paints one side of the story, the realities oftentimes disconnect and present a whole different picture. It’s important to understand that a large part of how Ripple sustains its operations (if not all of it) comes from systematically selling millions of XRP to the public every single month.

The CEO himself has said that the firm relies on these sales for profitability.

Now, it goes without saying that Ripple is taking proactive measures to ensure these sales are spread out as needed to minimize market impact, but the fact remains that they are ongoing and there is no end in sight.

So, while technical analysts continue pointing out points of potential contention or positivity, the fact remains that the underlying fundamentals also have a massive impact – one that is hard to quantify.

The post From a Massive $13 XRP Price Prediction to the Realities of Ripple Markets appeared first on CryptoPotato.

O’Leary, known as Mr. Wonderful, by friends and fans, has come a long way on cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH.

The Shark Tank star has gone from bashing Bitcoin, to investing in it, to saying it will save the world. But now he’s saying it’s the best option for new or inexperienced crypto investors.

Risky Altcoin Investments

In an April interview on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.,” O’Leary said he has exited the frothing altcoin markets. Instead, he’s put all his crypto holdings in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

That is a pivot from this time last year, when the Shark Tank panelist recommended SUI.

Now, O’Leary calls altcoins “pooh-pooh coins.” In addition to the crass name, he warned that thousands of cryptos have failed:“What’s happened to the pooh-poohs is they collapsed last October [ … ] Thousands of them never came back [ … ]  At the end, why don’t you just own those two?”

SUI is down 71% on the 1-year window. That’s a punishing fall from last year’s highs, even compared to Bitcoin’s 17.5% 12-month loss.

Meanwhile, Ethereum’s price is up 71% over the same 12 months.

BTC and ETH began a swift recovery in April, but it’s not the same story for SUI. Many other altcoins have also showed bearish inertia.

Bitcoin, Ethereum Dominance

O’Leary said it’s easier and safer to go with the biggest coins with the most rounded out exposure to the rest of crypto’s volatility.

“Supporting 27 different positions [ … ]  All you need to own is Bitcoin and Ethereum, and you own 97% of the volatility of all the other pooh-pooh coins.”

Moreover, he’s not alone. Michael Saylor’s Strategy, Inc. invests exclusively in Bitcoin out of all cryptocurrencies. Saylor frequently posts “laser eyes” memes to emphasize focus.

Institutional Blockchain Adoption

Kevin O’Leary also pointed to the growing adoption of stablecoin payment rails and the movement of institutional and regulatory power players to support his blue chip thesis.

The Shark Tank mastermind said the movement toward institutional adoption of crypto supports his conviction in Bitcoin and Ethereum, despite the risks.

While most cryptos have failed to justify their place in O’Leary’s portfolio by his standards, he still thinks Bitcoin and Ethereum are smart high-tech plays for investors.

The post Shark Tank Kevin O’Leary Now Says Forget Alts, Hold Bitcoin, Ethereum appeared first on CryptoPotato.