Institutional Bitcoin ETF adoption could significantly boost market liquidity and investor confidence, impacting Bitcoin's long-term valuation.

The post Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs push Bitcoin ETF products amid SEC changes appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Rising geopolitical tensions threaten global economic stability, with potential long-term impacts on energy prices and diplomatic relations.

The post Iran conflict escalates, Strait of Hormuz closure impacts oil markets appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Market volatility highlights Bitcoin's sensitivity to geopolitical tensions, underscoring the need for traders to monitor global events closely.

The post Trump’s Iran comments shake Bitcoin markets as traders brace for volatility appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Adapting anti-drug tactics to military operations may reshape naval strategies, but skepticism remains about their effectiveness against Iran.

The post Pentagon targets Iran’s fast-attack fleet with anti-drug tactics appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Low funding rates and heavy short positions suggest a potential price rebound, possibly attracting institutional interest and impacting market dynamics.

The post Bitcoin funding rates hit lows, signaling potential market bottom appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Citi Says Mixing Bitcoin With Gold Can Boost Your Portfolio Performance 

Citi analysts say holding both gold and bitcoin can improve portfolio performance compared with traditional bond-and-equity mixes. In a new report cited by CNBC, analyst Alex Saunders said a 5% allocation to gold enhances portfolio efficiency, while splitting that exposure between gold and bitcoin produces stronger results. 

The analysis found the mixed allocation improves returns in bond bull markets and provides resilience during bear-steepening cycles tied to fiscal concerns and rising inflation risk.

Citi noted that bitcoin often performs better than gold when bond markets weaken, highlighting recent gains amid geopolitical and equity market stress. Over the past two months, bitcoin has risen 9%, while spot gold has declined 4%. Saunders said the tactical appeal of a combined allocation lies in balancing the relative popularity of gold with bitcoin’s growth characteristics.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin’s move above $75,000 reflects more than a technical breakout; it signals a shift in how markets are valuing the asset amid rising geopolitical tension. After rebounding from a February low near $60,000, bitcoin has climbed roughly 23%, holding firm even as traditional markets face pressure. 

Traders now view the $75,000–$76,000 range as a critical resistance zone, with a breakout potentially opening a path toward $80,000, while failure could send price back toward the low-$70,000s or below.

Underneath the surface, derivatives data suggests a market positioned for a potential squeeze. Funding rates on perpetual futures have remained negative for over six weeks, indicating persistent bearish positioning despite rising prices. Historically, this combination of negative funding, rising open interest, and price stability has preceded upward breakouts, as short sellers are forced to cover.

At the same time, the narrative surrounding bitcoin is evolving. No longer seen purely as a “digital gold” hedge or a high-risk tech proxy, bitcoin is increasingly being priced as a geopolitical instrument. The Iran conflict has accelerated this shift, with bitcoin outperforming both equities and gold during the period. This divergence challenges long-held assumptions about its correlation to broader risk markets.

The most striking development is bitcoin’s emerging role in real-world settlement. Iran’s reported move to require bitcoin-based tolls for oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz introduces a tangible use case for the asset in global trade. This transforms bitcoin from a speculative asset into a neutral settlement rail operating outside traditional financial infrastructure.

Taken together, these dynamics — technical pressure, bearish positioning, and geopolitical utility — suggest bitcoin is entering a new phase.

This post Citi Says Mixing Bitcoin With Gold Can Boost Your Portfolio Performance  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Scholars Fund Launches With $21 Million Goal to Bring Bitcoin Education to K–12 Schools

A new nonprofit initiative, the Bitcoin Scholars Fund (BSF), announced plans attempting to redirect $21 million from federal coffers into K–12 Bitcoin education by 2027. The organization unveiled its mission on X, promoting what it calls a “modern alternative” to government-backed education funding.

According to group statements, the fund will leverage the One Big Beautiful Bill Act beginning in 2027, allowing individuals to claim a 1:1 federal tax credit for donations up to $1,700 — or $3,400 for couples — toward Bitcoin-focused curricula. The organization says this structure effectively makes the contribution “net cost $0” for donors while channeling funds directly into classrooms.

In other words, a taxpayer with a standard 8,000 dollar federal bill could donate 1,700 dollars to the Bitcoin Scholars Fund, receive a full 1,700 dollar federal credit, and still remit 8,000 dollars total — effectively redirecting part of their liability from general revenues into Bitcoin education at no additional net cost. 

The organization’s stated goal is to recruit 12,350 donors, described as the “Genesis 12,350,” to fully fund a $21 million pool dedicated to primary and secondary education in Texas. 

Scholarships will support coursework in Bitcoin, Austrian economics, and “freedom tech” at partner schools that complete Base58’s “Bitcoin at Work(shop)” certification, which brings protocol-level, hands-on instruction into classrooms. 

Bitcoin Scholars Fund: Powered by STRC

The fund’s model introduces what it describes as a “Zero-Leakage Treasury,” powered by STRC, to ensure minimal overhead and maximize the direct impact of funds on educational content and student resources. 

“Using a STRC bridge, we generate our own operational fuel, allowing us to bypass the standard 10% fee and deliver near 100% efficiency for every dollar you redirect,” the Fund’s website reads. 

BSF’s approach is presented as a response to widespread dissatisfaction with current fiscal and educational systems.

“The government’s education model doesn’t prepare the next generation for the world we’re building,” the organization wrote. “It’s time to opt out.”

Its founders are calling on supporters to begin contributing and spreading awareness ahead of the fund’s official launch on January 3, 2027—symbolically aligning with Bitcoin’s 18th anniversary.

“Our proof of work starts today,” the group stated. “Fund education, not wars.”

This post Bitcoin Scholars Fund Launches With $21 Million Goal to Bring Bitcoin Education to K–12 Schools first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Tennessee Senate Committee to Weigh State Bitcoin Reserve Next Week

Tennessee lawmakers will take a fresh look at a proposal to create a state Bitcoin reserve when the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee hears SB 2639 next Tuesday, April 21.

The “Tennessee Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act” would direct the state to hold Bitcoin as part of its reserve assets, positioning Tennessee as a cryptocurrency policy leader.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Kerry Roberts, has advanced from the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and now moves to the powerful Finance panel, which oversees tax and spending measures. Its House companion, HB 1695 from Rep. Jody Barrett, has stalled in the Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee after being placed behind the budget and then taken off notice this week, a step that halts further movement unless leadership revives it.

The bill would grant the State Treasurer authority to invest a limited share of select state funds in BTC. The bill’s findings cite inflation as a central concern. Lawmakers state in the bill that rising prices erode the real purchasing power of assets held in the general fund, the revenue fluctuation reserve, and other state pools. 

Bitcoin is described in the legislation as a decentralized digital commodity with a fixed supply and global liquidity. The bill argues that a fiduciary investor may use such an asset to improve long-term, inflation-adjusted returns.

“This is about responsible stewardship of public finances,” Barrett said in a statement. He compared bitcoin to gold and framed it as a hedge against inflation.

U.S. State efforts to pass Bitcoin reserve legislation

Tennessee follows a growing wave of U.S. states exploring Bitcoin-focused policy, with lawmakers in South Dakota and Kansas introducing bills that would allow public funds to be allocated to BTC or placed into a strategic Bitcoin and digital assets reserve. 

At the same time, states like Rhode Island and Florida have revived or reintroduced legislation aimed at studying BTC, easing its use, or potentially adding it to state balance sheets under defined oversight frameworks.

10% of Tennessee’s general fund into bitcoin

Under the proposal, the Treasurer could allocate funds from the general fund, the revenue fluctuation reserve, or other state funds approved by lawmakers. Bitcoin exposure would be capped at 10% of each eligible fund at the time of purchase. 

Annual purchases would be limited to 5% per fiscal year until the cap is reached. The bill allows passive price gains to push holdings above the cap without forcing sales.

The legislation restricts investments to BTC only. It bars allocations to other cryptocurrencies or digital assets. Bitcoin could be held directly by the state, through a qualified custodian, or via an exchange-traded product tied solely to BTC. 

The bill sets detailed custody standards. A “secure custody solution” must store private keys in encrypted hardware kept offline in at least two locations. Access would require encrypted channels and multi-party authorization. 

Transparency is also a core feature of the proposal. Every two years, the Treasurer would need to publish a public report. The report would list the amount of bitcoin held, its dollar value at purchase and at the end of the period, and a summary of transactions.

It would also include a cryptographic proof that allows third parties to verify on-chain balances. Security assessment summaries would be available upon request.

The bill also allows the Treasurer to create a program to accept bitcoin for taxes, fees, or other state obligations. Participation would be voluntary. Any bitcoin received would be transferred to the general fund and recorded at market value. Agencies would be reimbursed in dollars.

This post Tennessee Senate Committee to Weigh State Bitcoin Reserve Next Week first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Steak ’n Shake Teases “Bitcoin Milkshake” for Bitcoin Conference 2026 

Steak ‘n Shake plans to open Bitcoin Conference 2026 with a themed “Bitcoin Milkshake,” deepening a broader pivot that now spans payments, treasury strategy, and employee compensation in Bitcoin. The limited-time drink presumably will debut on April 27, across participating locations as the chain positions itself as the fast-food brand most aligned with Bitcoin culture.

The company teased the “Bitcoin Milkshake” on X and “new plans”, calling the milkshake the best way to start Bitcoin Conference 2026 and featuring branding tailored to conference attendees and Bitcoin fans. The rollout targets visitors heading to the annual gathering and regular customers who already pay with Bitcoin at the chain’s restaurants. 

Steak ‘n Shake expects the product to serve as a marketing hook for its broader Bitcoin strategy, which has moved from payments to balance sheet exposure and worker incentives.

Steak ‘n Shake customers can now pay for burgers and milkshakes, including the new Bitcoin Milkshake, using Bitcoin over the Lightning Network via the Speed wallet. 

The chain began accepting Bitcoin payments across 393 U.S. locations in May 2025 and reports lower processing costs and higher sales since the launch. Speed’s integration gives the company real-time visibility into Lightning transactions and has cut payment processing fees by about 50 percent versus card networks, according to Speed.

Steak n’ Shake’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Alongside the product launch, Steak ‘n Shake has added another $10 million in Bitcoin to its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, expanding a treasury program that directs all customer-paid Bitcoin into its balance sheet.  The company began formal treasury accumulation with an initial $10 million purchase in January, followed by additional notional exposure and reserve growth tied to same-store sales. 

Management describes the model as self-sustaining: Bitcoin payments grow sales, which in turn expand the reserve earmarked for store upgrades, menu improvements, and remodeling.

Bitcoin bonus for workers

In March, Steak ‘n Shake introduced a new benefit that pays hourly employees a Bitcoin bonus equal to 21 cents per hour, funded from its Bitcoin-focused reserve. The chain links this incentive to its “Bitcoin-to-burger” initiative, in which Bitcoin revenues help finance both the treasury and worker rewards. 

Executives say the program aims to attract employees who follow Bitcoin and to align staff directly with the company’s digital asset strategy.

This post Steak ’n Shake Teases “Bitcoin Milkshake” for Bitcoin Conference 2026  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Charles Schwab to Launch Spot Bitcoin Trading for Retail Clients

Charles Schwab announced further details and plans in their attempt to launch direct spot bitcoin trading through its new platform, Schwab Crypto, signaling a major step by one of the country’s largest brokerage firms into the digital asset market. 

The feature will roll out in phases over the coming weeks and will allow retail clients to buy and sell bitcoin and ethereum through existing Schwab platforms, the bank said. 

The move gives millions of Schwab clients the ability to trade bitcoin alongside traditional holdings such as stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. Clients will access Schwab Crypto through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, which will act as custodian for the digital assets. 

Blockchain infrastructure provider Paxos will handle sub-custody and trade execution under a federally regulated trust structure.

“Clients want to conduct more of their financial lives at Schwab,” said Jonathan Craig, Head of Retail Investing. “With Schwab Crypto, they can trade digital assets within their existing accounts while drawing on the service, research, and tools they rely on.”

At launch, Schwab Crypto will enable direct trading in bitcoin and ethereum, which together represent about three-quarters of global crypto market capitalization. 

Schwab will charge a transaction fee of 75 basis points on the dollar value of each trade, placing its pricing at the low end of the brokerage industry. Over time, the firm plans to add more cryptocurrencies and enable transfer capabilities for deposits and withdrawals.

Schwab said its platform will integrate digital assets across Schwab.com, the Schwab Mobile App, and the thinkorswim® trading suite. Clients will retain access to Schwab’s 24/7 customer service network, digital asset education through Schwab Coaching®, and research from the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

Charles Schwab is jumping into bitcoin

Joe Vietri, Head of Digital Assets at Schwab, described the launch as an extension of the firm’s broader digital strategy. “Our goal is to be the destination of choice for retail investors who want to integrate digital assets into their portfolios with confidence,” Vietri said.

Paxos, a New York–based blockchain provider overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, will supply the infrastructure that underpins the new trading offering. Its custody platform is already used by several global financial institutions seeking regulated access to digital assets.

Schwab already holds a strong presence in the digital asset ecosystem, with clients owning roughly 20 percent of spot crypto exchange-traded products. The new feature expands Schwab’s reach beyond indirect crypto exposure through ETFs, mutual funds, and futures tied to cryptocurrency benchmarks.

The company’s entry into spot trading will position it alongside firms such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and Webull, which have long provided retail access to major digital currencies.

This post Charles Schwab to Launch Spot Bitcoin Trading for Retail Clients first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

According to the latest official update, the third large-scale buyback and burn of JST has been completed. In this round, 271,337,579 JST tokens, worth an estimated $21.3 million, were burned, representing 2.74% of the total supply. Every dollar deployed in this round originated directly from the organic revenue of JustLend DAO. This includes approximately $10.34 million drawn from accumulated revenue, paired with $10.97 million in net new revenue generated during Q1 2026.

This milestone marks the completion of three massive buyback-and-burn cycles. Since its launch in October 2025, this program has burned 1,356,228,332 JST tokens in just six months, slashing the total supply by ~13.70%.

On the execution front, Grants DAO spearheaded the entire process on-chain. This fully decentralized operation ensures that every transaction is publicly traceable. Community members can monitor the capital deployed, tokens burned, and transaction hashes in real time through the JustLend DAO’s transparency page—offering absolute transparency at every stage.

Since the October 2025 launch of its buyback and burn initiative, JST has successfully completed three massive rounds of supply reductions. The data for all three rounds is fully transparent and verifiable on-chain:

• Round 1 (Oct 2025): 559 million JST burned via a $17.72 million capital commitment, representing 5.66% of total supply.
• Round 2 (Jan 2026): 525 million JST burned via a $21 million capital commitment, representing 5.3% of total supply.
• Round 3 (Apr 15, 2026): Approx. 271 million JST burned via a $21.3 million capital commitment, representing 2.74% of total supply.

Through these three massive burns, 1,356,228,332 JST have been permanently removed from the total supply, slashing the token base by 13.7%. This intensifying deflationary pressure has rapidly accelerated JST's scarcity. With a fixed total supply and stable demand, this supply-side contraction is triggering a fundamental token revaluation, clearing the way for sustained growth in both token price and market capitalization.

JST's market performance is another powerful validation of this deflationary logic. According to CoinGecko's data, since the buyback program commenced in October 2025, JST's price has surged from a low of ~$0.03 to $0.08, representing an over 100% upsurge. Over the same period, its market cap has jumped from $300 million to ~$700 million, signaling robust investor confidence. As this deflationary mechanism becomes a structural fixture of the ecosystem, the ongoing contraction of circulating supply is expected to drive JST's valuation up in the long run.

The momentum behind JST's buyback and burn program comes from the strong fundamentals of JustLend DAO. Per protocol, JST burn capital is sourced from two pillars of the JUST ecosystem: the net revenue of the JustLend DAO platform and incremental earnings from the USDD ecosystem above the $10 million revenue threshold. Since USDD's revenue is yet to hit the threshold, all funding for the first three burns has been derived from the organic revenue generated by JustLend DAO.

Financial deployment for these three rounds has scaled progressively, shattering market expectations. This trajectory stems directly from JustLend DAO's high profitability and sophisticated operational framework.

As the cornerstone of TRON's financial infrastructure, JustLend DAO has engineered a diversified product matrix—including SBM lending, sTRX liquid staking, energy rental, and the GasFree smart wallet—to provide stable, multifaceted support for ecosystem earnings. Currently, SBM lending and sTRX business lines serve as the primary engines for JST burn funding.

Through this comprehensive lineup, JustLend DAO has achieved consistent revenue growth and demonstrated resilience across market cycles. With a Total Value Locked (TVL) of approximately $6.75 billion, its SBM lending business is consistently ranked among the top three globally in the sector.

Driven by this organic revenue, the JST buyback and burn flywheel is operating with high efficiency. This intensifying deflationary pressure will persist across both bull and bear markets, forging a solid foundation for JST's long-term value appreciation.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. CryptoSlate does not endorse any of the projects mentioned in this article. Investors are encouraged to perform necessary due diligence.

The post On Schedule and Above Target: JST’s Third Buyback and Burn Breaches $21 Million appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin has spent much of 2026 moving between recovery attempts and macro shocks, yet one part of the market has kept moving in a single direction. Large holders have been buying.

On April 16, Bitfinex highlighted CryptoQuant data showing whales accumulated 270,000 BTC over the previous 30 days, the largest buying spree since 2013, while exchange reserves fell to their lowest level since December 2017.

That combination carries more weight than usual, pointing to a market where available supply is thinning beneath the surface, even while price remains far below the October 2025 all-time high of $126,198.

As of press time, CryptoSlate’s Bitcoin data page shows BTC trading near $74,500, up 0.9% over 24 hours, 3.3% over seven days, and 0.7% over 30 days. Market capitalization stands near $1.5 trillion, and 24-hour volume is just above $41.2 billion.

#1

Bitcoin BTC

$75,060.48

+0.32%

Market Cap $1.5T

24h Volume $42.42B

All-Time High $126,198.07

Sectors

Coin Layer 1 PoW

Those numbers describe a market that has regained balance after a bruising first quarter, though they only show part of the supply picture that the CryptoQuant chart is starting to expose. Price has recovered enough to draw fresh attention, while the deeper change sits in where the coins are and who holds them.

Coins on exchanges are available for quick sale. Coins moved into colder, longer-duration hands take more time and stronger conviction to bring back into the market.

When that transfer happens at scale, price can stay quiet for a period and then respond much more sharply once fresh demand pushes into a thinner pool of supply. That is the core development behind the latest whale activity.

Whale accumulation has turned into a supply event

Bitcoin often treats whale accumulation as a sentiment clue, a sign that larger holders expect stronger prices later. The April 16 signal points to something more concrete in market plumbing.

When whales absorb that much BTC in 30 days as exchange balances collapse, the central issue becomes inventory. A market with fewer readily available coins behaves differently once buying pressure arrives.

CryptoSlate reported in February that accumulator addresses received 66,940 BTC in a single day after a liquidation shock, a move worth roughly $4.7 billion at the time. Later that month, CryptoSlate showed whales had added 200,000 BTC in a month, even as short-term demand faded and the market struggled to regain momentum.

The setup was already established. The April 16 CryptoQuant signal extends it and sharpens it.

Persistence is the key change. A one-day spike can reflect custody reshuffling or balance-sheet management. A 30-day accumulation run of 270,000 BTC, paired with seven-year-low exchange reserves, carries the hallmarks of genuine supply removal.

The math around issuance helps explain why this point in the cycle carries extra weight. Since the April 2024 halving, Bitcoin has produced 3.125 BTC per block, leaving annual supply growth far below prior cycles.

CryptoSlate’s Bitcoin reference data notes that more than 20.02 million BTC have already been mined out of the maximum 21 million. In a market already dealing with a finite float, another 270,000 BTC moving into stronger hands changes the balance between buyers and sellers.

A breakout still depends on demand, but the threshold for a larger move becomes easier to reach when fewer coins are near the market price.

The current contradiction sits in plain view. Bitcoin remains about 40.77% below its peak, which keeps the chart far from euphoric.

At the same time, the supply side looks far tighter than the price alone suggests. The 30-day return remains below 1%, suggesting the market is marking time. The CryptoQuant chart points in another direction.

Surface calm can coexist with a shrinking pool of available coins, and that combination often creates the conditions for a sharper move later.

It'd be easy to simply say, “whales are bullish,” but that captures only part of what is happening. Bullishness is a view. A smaller pool of readily available coins is a condition.

Conditions shape how markets move once a catalyst appears. If the largest holders continue to absorb supply and exchange reserves keep falling, Bitcoin requires less incremental demand to produce a larger price response.

That is the mechanism behind the current setup, and it explains why this accumulation wave deserves more attention than the average on-chain signal.

ETF flows and treasury buyers are testing a thinner market

Thin supply becomes powerful once demand returns with enough persistence to test it. That is why ETF flows and treasury buying remain central to the next phase.

The broad pattern since February has been uneven, though the direction over the last several sessions has improved. Farside Investors’ daily Bitcoin ETF flow data shows U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed $471 million on April 6, then swung to a $159 million outflow on April 7, a $93 million outflow on April 8, and then back to $358 million of inflows on April 9, $256 million on April 10, $411 million on April 14, and $186 million on April 15.

That is a buyer base returning in bursts rather than following a straight line.

The weekly fund data tells a similar story. On March 30, CoinShares reported $414 million in digital asset fund outflows, the first weekly outflow in five weeks, as fears around the Iran conflict and a shift in June FOMC expectations hit sentiment.

The United States drove $445 million of those outflows, while Germany and Canada bought into the weakness. Bitcoin products still held a strong year-to-date net inflow position, though the weekly move showed how quickly macro stress can interrupt demand.

Two weeks later, CoinShares’ report showed $1.1 billion of inflows, the strongest weekly total since early January, with Bitcoin alone taking in $871 million. At the same time, trading volumes at $21 billion remained well below the year-to-date average of $31 billion, and short-Bitcoin products still saw meaningful inflows.

Demand has improved, while conviction remains incomplete and hedging activity continues to play a visible role.

Bitcoin’s public company demand remains active, but is mostly confined to a single company. Strategy’s Bitcoin purchases page shows the company now holds 780,897 BTC at an average acquisition price of $75,577.

Corporate treasury accumulation does not produce the same daily rhythm as ETF flows, though it reaches the same destination. Coins leave the liquid market and move into the hands of those who plan to hold through volatility. If that thesis holds, that is.

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Bitcoin treasury trade faces a stress test as debt pressure triggers selling

Corporate and sovereign BTC holders are selling into stress, raising fresh doubts about how durable treasury demand really is.

Apr 4, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

When ETF inflows, treasury buying, and whale accumulation occur simultaneously, they drain the same pool of spot inventory.

The market has another reason to focus on this setup, because the macro backdrop remains unresolved. Earlier this month, CryptoSlate noted that Bitcoin entered April on firmer footing after a late-March relief rally, though the recovery still faced a macro test tied to Fed expectations and geopolitical risk.

That framework still applies. ETF demand can return, whales can keep buying, and reserves can keep shrinking, while a sharper repricing in rates or renewed geopolitical pressure can still slow the whole machine.

The recent flow pattern captures that tension well. Buyers are back, though they have not committed to a smooth, uninterrupted run.

Macro pressure still shapes the speed of the move

That leaves Bitcoin in a position that is both fragile and powerful. Fragile, because the marginal buyer still reacts to macro headlines. Powerful, because once that buyer commits, the spot market may have fewer coins to offer than it did earlier in the year.

This is where the April 16 accumulation data gains broader force. It sits at the junction of supply, ETF demand, corporate buying, and macro sensitivity, all at once.

The next question is simple, even if the answer remains open. Does Bitcoin have enough returning demand to force a repricing in a market that appears short on easy sell-side supply?

A durable yes would reshape how the market behaves from here. A sustained run of positive ETF flows, combined with continued reserve compression and further whale accumulation, would place more pressure on price than the current seven-day gains suggest.

Under those conditions, resistance begins to weaken because the market is working with less nearby inventory. Price advances can also become more abrupt, since the next seller often waits at a higher level.

A second path is less dramatic, though still constructive. Demand can remain positive but inconsistent, as seen in recent ETF flow data and CoinShares’ weekly volume figures.

In that environment, Bitcoin can continue grinding higher or sideways without producing the kind of breakout that pulls in a much wider audience. The supply squeeze remains real, though the market never receives enough demand at once to fully expose it.

That would keep Bitcoin in a regime where every positive week looks promising, and every macro wobble interrupts the move before it fully matures.

A weaker path also deserves attention, though for a narrower reason than usual. The main risk is not the accumulation of data being inaccurate, but being overwhelmed. Macro shocks still have veto power over risk assets.

As Fed expectations shift toward tighter policy and geopolitical stress continues to mount, buyers can step back even while supply remains thin. Under that outcome, Bitcoin trades first as a macro-sensitive asset and second as a scarcity asset.

Another risk sits inside the on-chain data itself. As CryptoSlate noted in February, custody reshuffles can sometimes resemble fresh accumulation. That caveat still belongs in the frame.

The April signal carries more weight because of its duration and its alignment with lower exchange reserves, while disciplined reporting still separates strong evidence from absolute proof.

Bitcoin is trading against a tighter supply base

For now, the clearest conclusion is that Bitcoin has entered a more sensitive market structure. The latest price, the recent ETF inflow rebound, Strategy’s continued buying, and the 270,000 BTC whale accumulation wave all point toward the same outcome.

A larger share of the coin supply appears increasingly unwilling to sell at current levels. If demand keeps returning, the market may discover that the real shortage was hiding in plain sight. If demand fades again, the setup remains incomplete rather than invalidated.

Either way, the whale data adds a crucial detail to the current market map.

Bitcoin is trading against a supply base that may already be tighter than many in the market assume.

Exchange reserves have fallen to their lowest level since December 2017, whales have accumulated at a pace not seen since 2013, ETF inflows have resumed after a shaky stretch, and one of the largest public corporate holders continues to withdraw coins from circulation. Each of those developments has its own logic.

Together, they describe a market where available supply is shrinking while several demand channels are still active.

The result is an asymmetric sensitivity setup. A modest pickup in demand can have a larger effect than it would have in a looser market. A pause in demand can leave Bitcoin range-bound for longer, though the underlying supply picture would still remain tight.

That is why the next few weeks could carry unusual importance

The post Bitcoin whales just bought the most BTC since 2013 – so why is the price stuck below $80,000? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin's latest recovery has pushed the flagship digital asset back toward the $75,000 level, tracking a broader return in risk appetite as hopes for de-escalation in the Middle East lifted global equities to fresh records.

However, the move is running into a quieter constraint than geopolitics or crypto-specific sentiment: the bond market still shows a Federal Reserve that remains in no hurry to loosen policy.

That backdrop has become more important as the succession battle at the US central bank enters a more volatile phase.

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Apr 13, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled Kevin Warsh's confirmation hearing for April 21, while Jerome Powell's current term as chair ends on May 15.

Powell's term as a Fed governor runs until Jan. 31, 2028, and he said last month that if his successor is not confirmed by the time his chairmanship expires, he would serve as chair pro tem until that happens.

For crypto investors, that means the question is no longer only whether Warsh reaches the chair. It is whether the market begins to believe that a change at the top would actually alter the path of rates and liquidity.

The Fed's March meeting pointed in the opposite direction. Officials left the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%, said inflation remained somewhat elevated, and repeated that any further adjustments would depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.

Bitcoin recovery meets a quiet ceiling

One of the most important macro variables for Bitcoin right now is the pricing of policy in the front end of the rates market.

CME said this week that March brought a dramatic repricing in short-term rate markets, with the 2-year Treasury yield swinging through a 50-basis-point range and FedWatch showing “no hike by December” as the base case for traders in 2026. That is not the profile of a market betting on a clean, aggressive easing cycle.

This metric is prescient because Bitcoin has spent most of this recovery trading like part of the broader global risk complex.

The same cease-fire hopes that pulled oil lower from recent peaks and helped send world equities back to record highs also revived expectations that inflation pressure from the Iran war might ease, a shift that helped gold and other non-yielding assets recover.

While Bitcoin has participated in that move, it has not escaped the larger debate over how restrictive US policy will remain.

The distinction is important. Crypto does not need a formal rate cut to respond. It needs the market to believe that financial conditions are becoming easier.

At the moment, that belief is still partial. Investors are willing to buy risk when oil falls, and war fears recede, but the rates market still reflects a Fed that wants more proof before it moves. That leaves BTC's rebound dependent on a macro repricing that has started only cautiously.

A succession fight with market consequences

Warsh's nomination was supposed to give markets a clearer line of sight on the post-Powell Fed. Instead, the handoff has become tangled in legal and political risk.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that he remains optimistic that Warsh will take the chair on time, but Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has vowed to block the nomination while a Justice Department investigation into Powell remains active. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has also urged the committee not to move forward under that cloud.

Powell has hardened that uncertainty rather than resolved it. In his March press conference, he said that if Warsh was not confirmed by the end of his term, he would remain chair pro tem, and that he had no intention of leaving the Board until the investigation was over “with transparency and finality.”

All of this uncertainty and stalemate have caused Warsh's May 15 confirmation odds on prediction markets like Polymarket to slip to 42%, down from highs of 80% earlier this year.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has since threatened to fire Powell if he stays after May 15, deepening the risk of an institutional clash just as markets are trying to price the next policy regime.

As a result, the practical consequence for markets is continuity. Even if Warsh is ultimately confirmed, any delay extends the life of the same cautious policy framework that has defined the Fed this year.

The current committee lineup remains Powell-led, and the March vote itself showed only one dissent, with Governor Stephen Miran preferring a quarter-point cut while the rest backed no change.

That shows at least one visible split, though the committee still looks broadly aligned.

Rates are only half the story

The case for restraint is clear in the data: the unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in March, according to the Labor Department, while core CPI was up 2.6% from a year earlier.

New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday that the war in the Middle East is already feeding inflation pressures through higher energy and transport costs. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said a recent oil shock could keep core inflation near 3% for the rest of the year and leave rates on hold for some time.

But the Fed funds rate is only part of the transmission mechanism for crypto. The deeper issue is liquidity, which brings the balance sheet back into focus.

The Fed's total assets stood at about $6.69 trillion as of April 8, according to Federal Reserve data carried by FRED.

More importantly, the March policy directive showed the central bank is still increasing System Open Market Account holdings through purchases of Treasury bills and, if needed, other Treasuries with maturities of three years or less to maintain an ample level of reserves.

It is also rolling over principal payments from Treasury holdings and reinvesting agency principal into Treasury bills.

That plumbing is not the same as a full easing cycle, but it is important for markets built around liquidity narratives.

Warsh has been identified with a different mix: less tolerance for a large Fed balance sheet and more skepticism toward the bond-buying programs that expanded it.

In fact, Reuters has reported that he has criticized the Fed's balance-sheet management and pushed for less quantitative easing and a smaller portfolio. That combination can read as hawkish for liquidity in the near term, even if investors decide it is pro-growth over a longer horizon.

What crypto traders are watching now

The next clue comes quickly. Warsh's April 21 hearing will tell markets whether senators see him as a clean handoff candidate or as part of a broader fight over Fed independence.

Investors will be listening for his views on three linked questions: whether supply-driven inflation from the Iran war should be looked through, whether a lower policy rate can coexist with a smaller balance sheet, and whether he would preserve the Fed's cautious, data-dependent stance or try to redefine it.

After that, attention shifts back to the calendar that actually moves asset prices. The next FOMC meeting is scheduled for April 28-29, according to the minutes of the March meeting.

If Warsh is not yet confirmed, Powell remains the face of policy, and the market is likely to read any statement through the same wait-and-see framework it has been trading all year.

Even if Warsh does get through later, the bar for a durable crypto breakout will remain the same: traders must start to believe that front-end rates and reserve management are moving in a direction that loosens financial conditions rather than simply preventing stress.

That is why the quiet signal counts more than the loud one. Bitcoin can rise on truce headlines, ETF demand, and improved risk appetite, and all three have helped it recover.

However, unless the rates market begins to price a softer Fed path, or at least a more accommodative liquidity backdrop, the rally remains exposed to the same ceiling that has constrained it for much of the year.

For Bitcoin, the headline drama is in Washington. The more important variable is still trading on the short end of the US curve.

The post Bitcoin’s recovery hits a Fed ceiling with no sign of cheaper money appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Traditional equities like the S&P 500 are staging a historic comeback, shaking off weeks of geopolitical anxiety to chart new all-time highs.

Yet Bitcoin, which has historically been a synchronized beneficiary of risk-on sentiment, is noticeably dragging its feet, leaving investors questioning what is missing from its narrative.

The S&P 500 closed higher by 0.8% this week, pushing the benchmark index to a record 7,022.95 and eclipsing its previous peak established in late January.

The milestone marks a dramatic reversal from the turbulent first quarter, where the index plummeted nearly 10% to a local bottom of 6,316.91 on March 30 amid the US-Israel-Iran conflict and subsequent oil price shocks.

While Wall Street celebrates a return to “greed” and heavily capitalized tech stocks reclaim their market dominance, Bitcoin remains ensnared in a prolonged consolidation phase.

The flagship cryptocurrency continues to trade significantly below its previous all-time high, highlighting a rare and persistent decoupling from traditional risk assets that has not been observed with this severity since 2020.

The ‘momentum thrust' fueling equities

The velocity of the stock market’s recovery has caught many institutional desks off guard.

In the two weeks since the late-March lows, markets have rapidly adjusted to the sustained geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East and added over $6 trillion in market capitalization.

According to Warren Pies, founder of 3F Research, the market’s trajectory over the last ten days represents a statistical anomaly. The S&P 500’s near 10% surge places it in the 99.7th percentile of all 10-day returns.

Historically, there have been only 20 instances since 1950 where the stock market has recorded such aggressive short-term gains. Pies characterized these events as bullish “momentum thrusts,” which typically yield an average return of 19% over the next twelve months.

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However, what makes the current equity rally unique is its proximity to all-time highs.

According to Pies, the previous momentum thrusts almost exclusively occurred during deep bear markets, with indices still languishing 20% or more below their peaks.

Meanwhile, the current market recovery has been distinctly top-heavy. Since the March 30 low, a fund tracking the “Magnificent 7” mega-cap technology stocks has surged nearly 18%, outpacing the broader S&P 500 by roughly 8% when excluding those seven companies.

This aggressive institutional buying is largely driven by the “AI-Infrastructure” narrative, with sector leaders like Oracle serving as the primary engines of global productivity growth.

Moreover, the macroeconomic backdrop has also provided a robust tailwind.

Easing tensions in the Persian Gulf, highlighted by diplomatic talks and a temporary ceasefire, has alleviated immediate fears of a prolonged blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, the US Producer Price Index (PPI) data for March came in well below expectations at 0.1%, showing that the US economy remains highly resilient and largely insulated from the temporary energy-driven inflation spikes that capped market gains earlier in the year.

A historic decoupling for the crypto market

While the Nasdaq Composite simultaneously celebrated a 10-day winning streak, its longest since late 2021, the digital asset sector has failed to mirror this unbridled optimism.

Despite the easing macroeconomic pressures, Bitcoin remains heavily discounted, hovering around the $74,000 to $76,000 range.

This represents a staggering 40% drawdown from its previous all-time high of more than $126,000, reflecting the sluggishness that has persisted for several months.

Data compiled by CryptoQuant highlights this divergence. According to the firm, Bitcoin has traditionally operated as a high-beta asset that loosely follows the liquidity trends of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

However, its current price performance is being driven by its own internal sluggish dynamics. As a result, the current period of weak correlation with the S&P 500 is now the longest stretch observed in over four years.

This is also evident in the fact that the sentiment across the digital asset space has transitioned into a “complacency phase.”

According to analytics firm Alphractal, broader crypto market sentiment sits at a neutral, borderline bullish level, which is highly unusual given the asset's significant distance from price discovery.

On-chain metrics signal a fragile recovery

Underneath the hood, on-chain data reveals exactly why Bitcoin is struggling to break out: a severe lack of sustained capital inflow.

Alex Adler, an analyst at CryptoQuant, pointed to the 30-day Realized Cap change, a metric that tracks net capital inflow into the Bitcoin network.

Since mid-January, the metric has been flashing warning signs. Out of the first 105 days of 2026, only seven recorded a positive 30-day Realized Cap change. Since January 23, capital has been systematically leaving the network, culminating in an extreme localized outflow in late February.

Adler noted:

“Since mid-January, capital has been systematically leaving the network without meeting compensating demand.”

While the outflow pressure has slowed in recent weeks, improving to -0.32% from steeper deficits earlier in the month, a true macroeconomic reversal has not yet occurred.

For Bitcoin to mount a credible attack on its all-time highs, Adler argues that the Realized Cap must transition into sustained positive territory for several weeks, accompanied by price appreciation above key short-term holder cost bases.

There are, however, preliminary signs of structural repair. Bitcoin is currently testing its Adjusted Realized Price, which sits at roughly $72,300. This metric represents the average break-even level for a massive cohort of active investors.

Reclaiming and holding this cost basis is traditionally a prerequisite for a sustained bullish trend, serving as a critical psychological support level that encourages investors to hold rather than capitulate during pullbacks.

Institutional positioning and the path forward

Despite the lack of a definitive breakout, institutional footprint in the crypto market remains highly visible.

Rachel Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets, highlighted that Bitcoin's recent push toward a 70-day high of $76,000 was heavily subsidized by $411.5 million in daily spot ETF inflows, the second-largest single-day figure recorded in April.

Furthermore, options markets are reflecting a subtle shift in risk appetite. According to Block Scholes, the strong skew towards put contracts (downside protection) in Bitcoin options markets has begun to ease following the de-escalation in the Middle East.

Yet, this easing of downside fear has not directly translated into aggressive spot buying.

Glassnode data indicates that while spot and ETF demand are improving, the market is characterized by quick profit-taking and cautious options positioning.

According to the firm, the current recovery is highly “twitchy” and flow-driven, lacking the deep-seated conviction seen in traditional equities.

Considering this, market-structure analysts at Bitunix told CryptoSlate that Bitcoin is currently serving as a real-time test of the market due to its capacity to absorb risk.

The asset faces a formidable supply zone and clear resistance around $75,500, with a dense cluster of leveraged liquidations stacked just above $76,000.

For now, the $70,000 level remains the critical support floor that institutional buyers are actively defending.

If Bitcoin can convincingly clear the $76,000 resistance, it could trigger a cascading short squeeze, forcefully ending the asset's historic decoupling and realigning it with the broader, record-setting Wall Street supercycle.

Lucas explained:

“A sustained break above US$76,000 would represent a meaningful structural shift and open the path toward the $80,000 handle.”

Until then, the crypto market remains in a tense holding pattern, waiting for the capital inflows required to validate a new bull phase.

The post Why S&P 500’s $6 trillion melt up rally exposes Bitcoin amid range-bound weakness appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin's debate about quantum computers produced a published draft with real political consequences on Apr. 14.

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 361 (BIP 361), titled “Post Quantum Migration and Legacy Signature Sunset,” landed in Bitcoin's official proposal repository with a three-phase plan to phase out ECDSA and Schnorr signature spends entirely once a quantum-resistant output type exists on the network.

The proposal builds directly on BIP 360, published in February, which introduced a new address format that strips Taproot's quantum-vulnerable key-path spend, called Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR). The proposal also preserved compatibility with Lightning, BitVM, and multi-signature setups.

Together, the two drafts constitute the most explicit governance posture Bitcoin has adopted regarding quantum migration to date.

What makes this moment sharp is the external calendar hardening around it, as NIST finalized FIPS 203, 204, and 205 in August 2024 and urged organizations to begin migrating immediately.

The UK's NCSC has set migration milestones for 2028, 2031, and 2035, while US federal agencies face a 2035 quantum-transition target.

Governments, banks, and national cyber agencies already have migration deadlines on their calendars, making blockchains late arrivals to that debate.

Bitcoin's coercive logic

What separates BIP 361 from prior Bitcoin post-quantum (PQ) discussions is its deliberate coerciveness.

Phase A, three years past the activation of a quantum-resistant address type, blocks new sends to vulnerable address formats. Phase B, two years later, invalidates ECDSA and Schnorr spends from quantum-vulnerable UTXOs at the consensus layer. Coins that have not migrated get frozen.

A possible Phase C would allow frozen coin holders to prove ownership via zero-knowledge proofs linked to a BIP-39 seed phrase and to recover their funds via a later recovery mechanism.

The proposal's authors, including Jameson Lopp of Casa, frame this as a defense. As of Mar. 1, over 34% of all Bitcoin sat in addresses whose public keys had already been exposed on-chain, making those coins theoretically readable by a quantum machine running Shor's algorithm.

Google researchers estimated in recent work that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could crack a Bitcoin private key in roughly nine minutes, with one analysis citing 2029 as a plausible outer bound for a cryptographically relevant machine.

The counterargument arrived on the mailing list immediately.

Tadge Dryja, a Bitcoin developer and Lightning Network co-author, said that the plan is not viable in its current form because it ties the activation of quantum-resistant outputs to the deactivation of elliptic-curve outputs.

That link, Dryja argued, could destroy coins preemptively and relies on definitions of “quantum-vulnerable UTXO” still contested in practice.

The BIPs repository explicitly states that inclusion certifies only that a proposal met formal editorial criteria, with community endorsement and activation timing being separate determinations.

BIP 360 is already running on Bitcoin's quantum testnet, deployed by BTQ Technologies in early 2026. BIP 361 co-author Ethan Heilman has estimated that a full Bitcoin migration to quantum resilience would take seven years from the day consensus forms.

Tron's calculated entry

Justin Sun published his own declaration on post-quantum resistance.

In a post on X, the Tron founder announced that the network is officially launching a post-quantum upgrade initiative to become the first major public blockchain to deploy NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptographic signatures on mainnet.

Sun wrote that “while Bitcoin debates whether to freeze vulnerable coins and Ethereum forms research committees, Tron is building.” He added that a technical roadmap is “coming soon.”

Tron holds roughly $86.7 billion in stablecoins, about 97.78% of which is USDT, alongside approximately $5.1 billion in total value locked in DeFi.

Post-quantum readiness on a chain of that scale becomes a question of custody and settlement infrastructure. The networks, exchanges, and custodians moving dollar liquidity through Tron have operational keys, admin paths, and bridge mechanisms that a quantum attacker targeting high-value addresses would prioritize first.

Tron's current public posture is narrative compression, consisting of decisive language and competitive positioning of the scheme selection, migration model, wallet compatibility plan, and activation path needed to verify what “first major public blockchain” actually means in practice.

NIST's relevant standards, such as ML-DSA, FN-DSA, and SLH-DSA, carry different trade-offs in signature size, verification speed, and implementation complexity, and choosing among them is a material technical decision.

Ethereum's layered bet

Ethereum takes the structural opposite of Bitcoin's forced deadlines.

The Ethereum Foundation launched pq.ethereum.org in March 2026 as a hub for its post-quantum research, roadmap, and open-source repositories, with more than 10 client teams running weekly post-quantum interoperability devnets.

The roadmap spans three layers. At the execution layer, native account abstraction, as defined by EIP-7701 and EIP-8141, provides a built-in migration path away from ECDSA, allowing users to rotate to quantum-safe authentication via smart accounts without requiring a protocol-wide cutover.

At the consensus layer, BLS signatures would eventually give way to hash-based alternatives under the leanSig scheme, which combines XMSS-style quantum resistance with STARK-based aggregation to offset the size and performance costs of post-quantum primitives.

The Foundation's own assessment places core L1 protocol upgrades around 2029, with full execution layer migration extending beyond that date.

Ethereum's February 2026 protocol priorities post made the intersection explicit, with native account abstraction providing a natural migration path away from ECDSA-based authentication, while developers are working on complementary EIPs to make quantum-resistant signature verification cheaper in the EVM.

Ethereum has an official roadmap and an active engineering track, with Glamsterdam targeted for the first half of 2026, and it is arriving with no standalone quantum proposal introducing a fixed migration date.

Two futures for migration

The bull case runs through cryptographic agility.

If the threat stays far enough out, and NIST's estimate that full integration can take 10 to 20 years from standardization supports that reading, chains can migrate without emergency powers.

Bitcoin's sunset logic narrows to the most clearly exposed outputs or evolves into a softer incentive structure.

Tron eventually publishes a roadmap that names its scheme and migration model, and the market rewards systems that make migration boring: smart accounts, precompiles, key rotation, and wallet updates handled gradually enough that no user wakes up locked out.

Ethereum's own team has said L1 protocol upgrades could be completed around 2029, the cleanest publicly stated timeline among the major chains in this race.

The bear case begins where Ethereum's own portal draws the boundary, and early quantum machines may target a small number of high-value keys.

Bitcoin faces its hardest political test under that scenario because BIP 361 already exposes more than 34% of BTC on-chain, and any selective attack on Satoshi-era or P2PK coins would force the governance question before consensus has formed.

Ethereum's exposure is concentrated in externally owned accounts, bridges, and validator keys, the exact places a well-resourced attacker would try to exploit first.

Tron's concentration as a USDT rail makes custody and admin-key migration the first thing to scrutinize, and a narrative initiative without a published technical roadmap offers no operational protection under those conditions.

Who decides

Bitcoin says certainty requires deadlines, Ethereum says safety requires agility, and Tron says speed is the product. None of those positions is obviously wrong.

A coercive Bitcoin deadline forces migration but risks leaving coins behind whose owners cannot be reached.

Ethereum's layered approach spreads migration pain over years but lacks a single focal point to coordinate wallets, custodians, and exchanges on the same timetable.

Tron's executive speed may prove real, or it may prove to be another well-timed announcement awaiting a second act.

The actual contest over which governance model can move users, infrastructure, and hundreds of billions in assets before a quantum adversary selects the weakest node belongs to whoever has a runbook when the window closes.

The post Bitcoin’s quantum migration plan forces the network to choose between frozen and stolen coins appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitpanda has officially relaunched its professional trading infrastructure under the banner of Bitpanda Fusion 2.0. While the original Fusion platform introduced the concept of liquidity aggregation, the 2.0 evolution takes a "leap forward" by integrating even more global liquidity providers and expanding the asset range to unprecedented levels for a regulated entity.

What’s New in Fusion 2.0?

Bitpanda Fusion 2.0 is a comprehensive relaunch of Bitpanda’s professional trading suite. It combines aggregated liquidity from 12+ global order books, offering deeper market depth and tighter spreads. Unlike its predecessor, Fusion 2.0 now supports over 2,000 trading pairs and features a revamped interface designed for institutional-grade execution.

The Technology Behind Fusion 2.0: Deep Aggregated Liquidity

The defining feature of Bitpanda Fusion 2.0 is its sophisticated aggregation engine. Instead of operating as a closed-loop crypto exchange, Fusion 2.0 acts as a high-speed gateway to the global market.

1. 12+ Global Order Books in One

Fusion 2.0 connects to more than a dozen of the world's largest liquidity providers and exchanges. This ensures that even during high volatility, traders can execute large blocks with minimal slippage.

• Real-time Synchronization: The platform pulls live bid/ask data to ensure users always receive the most competitive pricing.
• Best Execution: Orders are dynamically routed across multiple venues to find the optimal fill price.

2. Massive Expansion of Trading Pairs

One of the most significant upgrades in the 2.0 relaunch is the asset variety. With over 2,000 trading pairs, Fusion 2.0 dwarfs most European competitors.

• Local Fiat Integration: Traders can trade directly against EUR, CHF, and GBP, eliminating unnecessary conversion fees.
• Stablecoin Depth: Comprehensive support for USDT, USDC, and EURC/EURCV pairs ensures seamless hedging strategies for Bitcoin and altcoin positions.

Pro-Grade Features & Institutional Security

Bitpanda Fusion 2.0 is specifically tailored for those who have moved beyond retail investing. The platform now includes:

• Advanced Order Types: Precision execution via Limit, Stop-Limit, and Take-Profit orders.
• Native TradingView Integration: High-performance charting with hundreds of technical indicators.
• Unified Ecosystem: Users manage a single balance across the entire Bitpanda world—no need for capital-intensive pre-funding of multiple accounts.
• Fee Transparency: A tiered volume-based fee structure where high-volume traders can enjoy rates as low as 0.02%.

Regulatory Stability: The MiCA Advantage

As reported by authority outlets like Reuters and the Financial Times, the European regulatory landscape is tightening. Bitpanda Fusion 2.0 stands as a fully compliant, EU-regulated platform (MiCA, MiFID II, and VASP). This provides a "Safe Haven" for professional traders who require legal certainty alongside performance.

Comparison: Fusion 2.0 vs. The Market

Professor Jiang (Xueqin Jiang), a Chinese-Canadian educator turned viral geopolitical commentator, has publicly claimed that Bitcoin is a CIA operation.

Already famous for his "Predictive History" and bold forecasts regarding the decline of Western hegemony, Jiang’s recent stance on Bitcoin adds a layer of skepticism to the digital asset's decentralized narrative. While most see $BTC$ as a hedge against fiat, Jiang argues it may be a sophisticated tool of the very empire he predicts will soon collapse.

Who is Professor Jiang?

Professor Jiang Xueqin rose to international prominence via his YouTube channel, Predictive History. A Yale graduate and former educator at elite Chinese institutions like the Affiliated High School of Peking University, Jiang has transitioned into a "geopolitical prophet" for the digital age.

He gained massive traction in 2024 and 2025 for his remarkably accurate predictions concerning Middle Eastern conflicts. Most notably, his assertions that the United States would find itself embroiled in a losing battle against Iran have made him a polarizing yet watched figure. Jiang utilizes a mix of game theory, historical cycles, and eschatology to argue that the current global order is reaching a terminal point.

Why Does He Call Bitcoin a CIA Operation?

In a recent series of lectures and social media posts, Jiang pivoted his focus toward financial sovereignty. His core argument suggests that Bitcoin’s anonymity and global reach serve the interests of U.S. intelligence agencies—specifically the CIA.

"Bitcoin is not the exit from the system; it is the trapdoor within it," Jiang suggested in a recent commentary.

The Argument for "Intelligence Control"

Jiang’s theory rests on several controversial pillars:

• Technological Origins: He points to the SHA-256 algorithm (designed by the NSA) as a "fingerprint" of state involvement.
• Controlled Opposition: He suggests that by allowing a "rebel currency" to flourish, the U.S. can monitor capital flight from rival nations like China and Russia.
• Liquidity for Black Ops: Jiang posits that the crypto market provides a dark-pool environment for funding operations without congressional oversight.

While these claims lack empirical evidence and are often dismissed by the $Bitcoin community as "tinfoil hat" rhetoric, Jiang’s track record with geopolitical forecasts has given his followers pause.

The Connection to the US-Iran Conflict

Jiang’s distrust of Bitcoin is deeply tied to his view of the U.S.-Iran war. He predicts that as the U.S. dollar faces a crisis of confidence due to overextension in the Middle East, the "CIA-backed" Bitcoin will be pushed as a temporary lifeboat to maintain American influence over global capital flows when the greenback fails.

According to Jiang, the U.S. "empire" is committing strategic suicide through its involvement in Iran. He argues that the loss of this conflict will signal the end of the "Pax Americana," and that assets like Bitcoin are part of a broader "Secret History" of the world intended to manage the transition to a new, perhaps more controlled, digital financial era.

Fact or Geopolitical Fiction?

Professor Jiang represents a growing trend of "anti-system" intellectuals who view every facet of modern life through the lens of power struggles. While his claims about Bitcoin being a CIA project align with long-standing urban legends (like the "Satoshi is a group of NSA agents" theory), they remain speculative.

The cryptocurrency market is entering a phase of high-tension consolidation this April 16, 2026. While Bitcoin remains the primary barometer for risk appetite, institutional infrastructure is evolving rapidly. Today's headlines are dominated by two major themes: Bitcoin's battle with psychological resistance and a massive shift in how institutional Ethereum products generate yield.

What is the Crypto Market Status Today?

As of April 16, 2026, the crypto market is showing a bullish bias despite tight price ranges.

• Bitcoin ($BTC) is trading near $74,438, maintaining its position above key moving averages.
• Ethereum ($ETH) is seeing renewed interest following news that BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) has formalized a staking agreement with Coinbase Prime.
• Regulatory Front: The SEC has issued a significant "no-action" statement regarding decentralized user interfaces, providing a breather for DeFi developers.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The $75,000 Coil

Bitcoin has spent the last 48 hours grinding within a narrow corridor between $73,400 and $75,300. Technical analysts point to a "compression" phase, where low volatility often precedes a massive directional breakout.

The Money Flow Index (MFI) is currently at 79.00, its highest level in this recovery cycle. Historically, when the MFI approaches the 80.00 "overbought" threshold while price remains just below resistance, it suggests heavy institutional accumulation rather than retail exhaustion. If BTC clears the $76,000 mark, the path to the $150,000 target projected by Standard Chartered earlier this year remains structurally intact.

Ethereum News: Institutional Staking Goes Mainstream

A major catalyst for Ethereum today is the announcement from the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB). The fund has entered a definitive agreement with Coinbase Prime to enable staking for the ETH held within the trust.

Why This Matters for ETH Investors:

• Yield Generation: For the first time, institutional ETF holders will benefit from the Ethereum network's staking rewards directly through a regulated product.
• Validator Security: By using Coinbase Prime’s infrastructure, the trust ensures professional-grade validator management, reducing "slashing" risks.
• Market Liquidity: Increased institutional staking could lock up a significant portion of the ETH supply, potentially creating a "supply shock" if demand surges.

Regulatory Update: SEC Clarifies DeFi Interface Rules

In a move that caught many by surprise, the U.S. SEC Division of Trading and Markets issued a statement regarding "Covered User Interface Providers." The commission noted it would not object to software providers offering interfaces for crypto asset securities without registering as broker-dealers, provided they do not exercise discretion over transactions. This provides much-needed legal clarity for decentralized exchanges and DeFi protocols.

Summary of Today's Crypto Market Data

We've reviewed enough CFD brokers to know that most of them blur together after a while. TradeEU Global does a handful of things well, keeps the experience simple, and doesn't try to pretend it's something it's not. That actually counts for more than you'd think in this space.

Here's our full TradeEU Global review for 2026 after spending time on the platform.

First Impressions: Getting Started

Before we get into features and fees, let's talk about what actually happens when you sign up — because that's where a lot of brokers already start losing people.

TradeEU Global's registration is quick. You fill in your details, upload an ID and a proof of address document, and you're through. Once verified, you land in a personal dashboard that lays everything out without burying things in submenus: account balance, open positions, deposit options, transaction history. It felt organized in a way that suggests someone actually thought about the user flow here, rather than just slapping a back-office panel together.

The minimum deposit is $250 across all account types. Not the lowest in the industry, but not unreasonable either.

The Platform: TradingView Under the Hood

This is probably the single best thing about TradeEU Global in 2026.

Instead of building a half-baked proprietary charting tool (which too many brokers do), they've integrated TradingView directly into the WebTrader. That means proper charting — multiple timeframes, drawing tools, over 100 indicators, and the kind of layout flexibility that TradingView users already know and expect.

The WebTrader runs entirely in-browser. No downloads, no Java plugins from 2012, no "please install our desktop client" prompts. It loaded fast, charts rendered smoothly, and placing orders felt responsive even with several pairs open at once. We also tested the mobile app on iOS and had no issues — trades placed on desktop showed up instantly on the phone, and vice versa.

It's not going to replace a full institutional-grade terminal, but let's be real: if you're reading a broker review, you probably don't need one. For analyzing setups, placing trades, and managing risk, the TradeEU Global platform handles it.

What can you trade with TradeEU Global?

TradeEU Global lists 350+ instruments, and to their credit, the selection is practical:

• Forex: major, minor, and exotic pairs 
• Stocks: the big names (Apple, Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Amazon) plus a broader equity lineup 
• Indices: global benchmarks across US, European, and Asian markets 
• Metals: gold, silver Commodities — oil, gas, agricultural 
• Crypto: BTC, ETH, and others ETFs

The ETF access is worth calling out specifically. If you want diversified market exposure without opening a separate brokerage account, having ETF CFDs alongside traditional instruments gives you more flexibility in how you construct a portfolio.

Another feature we noticed: TradeEU Global supports automated strategies. If you've been trading manually and want to experiment with deploying algo-driven setups, you don't need to leave the platform to do it.

Account Tiers on TradeEU Global

TradeEU Global runs the familiar tiered model. Here's how it breaks down:

• Silver: the starter account. Standard spreads, full instrument access, leverage up to 1:200, 0.01 minimum lot. Good enough for getting your feet wet and learning the platform.
• Gold: tighter spreads, faster execution, same leverage. Built for traders who've moved past the beginner stage and want better cost efficiency on more frequent trades.
• Platinum: the best conditions TradeEU Global offers. Lowest spreads, premium support, same 1:200 leverage. If you're trading at volume, this is where the cost savings actually start to compound.
• Islamic: swap-free, no overnight rollover charges. Same instrument access as the standard accounts, designed for traders who need Sharia-compliant conditions.

Is TradeEU Global Regulated?

TradeEU Global operates under Tradesense Holding Ltd, registered in Mauritius (registration number 183967) with an additional office in Cyprus. They're regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius.

That said, TradeEU Global does publicly list its license details, legal entity name, and registered addresses across its site and legal documentation. That level of disclosure is more than some offshore brokers bother with.

Payment Methods and Withdrawals

Funding options on TradeEU Global are as follows:

• Visa / Mastercard 
• Apple Pay / Google Pay 
• PayPal 
• Skrill 
• Neteller 
• AstroPay 
• Kuady

No deposit fees from TradeEU Global's side (though your bank or payment provider may charge their own). Card deposits are processed instantly; bank wires take longer depending on your region. Withdrawals go through the same method you used to deposit and are processed within three business days.

The variety of options is good. Adding Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside traditional e-wallets means most traders should find at least one method that works for them without friction.

Support in Seven Languages

Customer support is available 24/5 through live chat, email, and phone — and they operate in English, Arabic, Korean, Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The website auto-selects your language based on your location, which is a small touch but tells you they're actually thinking about their global user base rather than just slapping an English-only FAQ page together and calling it a day.

TradeEU Global Review 2026: Should You Try It?

TradeEU Global has been operating for more than 3 years, which gives it a real-world track record, not ancient, but not brand-new either. The TradingView integration makes the trading experience feel modern, the 350+ instrument range covers most strategies, and the multilingual support is legitimately useful if English isn't your first language.

Our take: open a demo account first. Spend a few days with the platform. Test the execution. If the conditions work for you, start small. And as with any broker — read the terms, understand the leverage risk, and don't deposit anything you'd panic about losing.

Crypto Markets Surge as Fed Drama Intensifies

Crypto markets are pushing higher again, but this time the driver is not purely technical or crypto-native. Instead, a wave of political and macroeconomic developments is reshaping investor expectations — and injecting fresh liquidity hopes into the system.

Recent statements from Donald Trump suggest potential drastic changes at the Federal Reserve, including the possibility of removing Jerome Powell if he refuses to step down. At the same time, Trump hinted that interest rates would drop under a new Fed leadership.

Markets reacted instantly.

Why Markets Are Rallying Right Now

The logic driving both stocks and crypto is simple:

• Lower interest rates = more liquidity
• More liquidity = higher asset prices

This explains why the S&P 500 has surged to new all-time highs, while risk assets — including Bitcoin and altcoins — continue climbing.

At the same time, Tesla saw its stock jump sharply, adding over $100 billion in market value in a single session. Small-cap stocks are also approaching breakout levels, reinforcing a broad risk-on environment.

👉 In short: markets are pricing in cheap money returning soon.

The Hidden Risk No One Is Pricing In

While the rally looks strong on the surface, it is being built on an unusually fragile foundation.

The growing tension between political leadership and the Federal Reserve introduces a serious risk: the potential loss of central bank independence.

If monetary policy becomes politically driven, several consequences could follow:

• Inflation expectations could become unstable
• Investor confidence in the Fed could weaken
• Long-term market volatility could increase

👉 This is not typical “bullish liquidity” — it’s forced liquidity driven by political pressure.

That distinction matters.

Why Crypto Benefits First

Despite the risks, crypto markets tend to react quickly — and positively — to any sign of increased liquidity.

Bitcoin and altcoins thrive in environments where:

• Interest rates are expected to fall
• Capital becomes cheaper to deploy
• Investors seek higher returns in risk assets

Additionally, institutional narratives continue to strengthen. Morgan Stanley recently highlighted tokenization as a key future growth area, signaling that traditional finance is still moving toward blockchain integration.

👉 This creates a powerful short-term tailwind for crypto.

Warning Signs Beneath the Surface

However, several developments suggest that this rally may not be stable:

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating suspicious oil trades linked to recent geopolitical announcements
• Ongoing tensions involving Iran and global energy routes continue to impact macro sentiment
• Markets are increasingly reacting to political headlines rather than fundamentals

At the same time, risk assets are rising even as uncertainty increases — a divergence that historically does not last long.

Why This Rally Could Turn Fast

The biggest risk is not that markets are rising — it’s why they are rising.

If any of the following occur, the current momentum could reverse quickly:

• Escalation in the conflict between political leadership and the Fed
• Delays or disappointment in actual rate cuts
• Renewed inflation pressures due to energy shocks
• A loss of confidence in monetary policy stability

👉 In that scenario, liquidity expectations could unwind just as fast as they formed.

Final Outlook: Short-Term Bullish, Long-Term Uncertain

Crypto markets are benefiting from a powerful narrative shift: the expectation of easier monetary policy. In the short term, this supports higher prices and continued momentum.

But this is not a typical bull run driver.

This rally is being fueled by political pressure, macro uncertainty, and fragile expectations — all of which can change rapidly.

For now, crypto is rising.

But the foundation beneath this move may be far less stable than it appears.

Russian crypto exchange Grinex paused trading services after a $13 million exploit it says was conducted by "foreign special services."

The United States government has rapidly adopted AI tools in recent years, but skepticism towards both AI and agencies alike is only growing.

Two linked wallets flawlessly bet on several pardons made by former President Joe Biden during his final minutes in office.

Two months after a New York federal judge ruled AI conversations can be seized by prosecutors, more than a dozen major law firms have issued warnings to clients.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced his backing of the company following its relaunch under the Stack BTC name in March.

Veteran chartist Peter Brandt is warning cryptocurrency traders against letting bullish bias dictate their technical analysis.

Financial services giant Charles Schwab is preparing to enter the spot cryptocurrency market in the coming weeks, but will it be able to compete with spot ETFs?.

The publicly traded developer behind the popular non-custodial software wallet, has announced a massive expansion of its XRP Ledger (XRPL) capabilities.

Robinhood records three billion Dogecoin (DOGE) withdrawal worth $294 million into an unknown new wallet just four days before "Doge Day" (4/20).

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirms a $150 million support plan for Drift Protocol, but it comes with a catch as Ardoino is demanding a shift to USDT from USDC.

TLDR

• Hyperbridge increased its April 13 exploit loss estimate to about $2.5 million after a broader review across four chains.
• The attacker extracted around 245 ETH and then minted about 1 billion fake bridged DOT tokens.
• Polkadot confirmed that only DOT bridged through Hyperbridge was affected, while native DOT remained secure.
• The exploit targeted a flaw in the Merkle Mountain Range proof verification logic in HandlerV1.
• Hyperbridge paused Token Gateway operations and is working with Binance and law enforcement on fund recovery.

Hyperbridge has raised its loss estimate from the April 13 Token Gateway exploit to about $2.5 million. The project had earlier reported losses of nearly $237,000 based on early on-chain activity. However, a broader review across four chains revealed deeper damage and a two-phase attack.

Polkadot Confirms Bridged DOT Exposure

Hyperbridge said it revised the figure after reconciling transactions across Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum. The team explained that it reviewed attacker activity in two phases and included losses from incentive pools. As a result, it increased the total realized losses to roughly $2.5 million.

Polkadot stated that the incident affected only DOT bridged through Hyperbridge to Ethereum. The network confirmed that native DOT on Polkadot remained unaffected. It also clarified that the broader Polkadot ecosystem did not face a direct impact.

Hyperbridge initially focused on the visible sell-off of bridged DOT on Ethereum. However, further investigation showed that the attacker first extracted about 245 ETH from Token Gateway. The attacker then moved into a second phase that involved minting about 1 billion bridged DOT tokens.

The attacker minted the tokens without authorization and sold them into available decentralized exchange liquidity. Consequently, the sales pressure deepened losses across supported chains. Hyperbridge confirmed that the exploit centered on its Token Gateway component.

Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum Impacted

Security researchers traced the flaw to the Merkle Mountain Range proof verification logic. The vulnerability affected Hyperbridge’s HandlerV1 path and enabled forged cross-chain messages. As a result, the attacker gained control over admin functions tied to the bridged DOT contract.

The attacker used that access to mint fake bridged DOT tokens on Ethereum. The attacker then dumped those tokens into limited liquidity pools. This sequence expanded losses beyond the initial ETH extraction.

Hyperbridge stated that the damage remained isolated to Token Gateway. It confirmed that bridged token contracts on Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum were affected. However, it said that Intent Gateway and related products were not impacted.

The team said it traced a large portion of exploited funds to Binance. It added that it works with Binance’s compliance team and law enforcement to freeze and recover assets. Hyperbridge said it plans to allocate BRIDGE tokens if recovery efforts fail.

All Token Gateway bridging remains paused while the team finalizes a patch. Hyperbridge said it will complete an independent audit and add safeguards before resuming operations. It confirmed that it will publish the audit report before restoring full functionality.

The post Polkadot-linked Hyperbridge exploit losses hit $2.5M appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Anthropic launched Claude Opus 4.7 as a direct upgrade to Opus 4.6 with stronger coding and reasoning performance.
• The company made the model available across Claude products, its API, and major cloud platforms.
• Anthropic kept pricing unchanged at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens.
• The model improves instruction following and handles long-running multistep tasks with greater rigor.
• Claude Opus 4.7 supports high-resolution images up to 2,576 pixels on the long edge.

Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.7 as its latest flagship model and positioned it as a direct upgrade to Opus 4.6. The company said the model delivers stronger coding, multistep reasoning, and high-resolution vision performance. It also confirmed broad availability across its products, API, and major cloud platforms.

Anthropic expands Claude Opus 4.7 Across Platforms with Unchanged Pricing

Anthropic made Claude Opus 4.7 available across Claude products and its API services. The company also rolled out access through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry. Pricing remains at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, unchanged from Opus 4.6.

The company said the model improves instruction following and handles long-running tasks with greater rigor. It also supports images up to 2,576 pixels on the long edge for higher resolution analysis. Anthropic stated that Opus 4.7 follows instructions more literally than earlier Claude versions.

Anthropic reported stronger internal test results across coding, finance, document review, and agent workflows. The company introduced a new xhigh effort setting to balance reasoning depth and latency. It said the setting aims to improve performance without increasing response time excessively.

The company warned that prompt behavior may shift because of stricter instruction adherence. It advised developers to review prompts to ensure desired outputs. Anthropic emphasized that Opus 4.7 focuses on precision and reliability in professional tasks.

Frontier Model Competition Intensifies as Anthropic Advances Safeguards

Anthropic launched Opus 4.7 nine days after introducing Claude Mythos Preview through Project Glasswing on April 7. The company described Mythos Preview as its most capable model and built it to secure critical software systems. It said the preview model showed strong cybersecurity capabilities during internal evaluations.

However, Anthropic kept Mythos Preview limited and restricted broader deployment. The company confirmed that Opus 4.7 is the first model deployed with new safeguards for cyber risk detection. It said these systems block prohibited or high-risk cyber requests before any wider Mythos release.

The release follows recent updates from major competitors in the frontier model space. OpenAI introduced GPT 5.4 on March 5 and called it its most capable professional model. The company also launched GPT 5.4 mini and nano later in March for coding and subagent tasks.

Google updated its Gemini series with Gemini 3.1 Pro in February for complex workloads. It later rolled out Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite and Gemini 3.1 Flash Live in March. On April 15, Google released Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview for lower latency and multimodal applications.

Anthropic stated that Opus 4.7 marks its first deployment with enhanced cyber safeguards ahead of any broader Mythos class release. The company continues to offer the model at $5 and $25 per million tokens across supported platforms.

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TLDR

• The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred 250 BTC worth about $18.47 million, within 24 hours.
• Bhutan has moved 3,247 BTC in 2026, with total outflows valued near $240.4 million at current prices.
• After the latest transfers, Bhutan holds about 3,524 BTC worth between $260 million and $264 million.
• Bitcoin climbed to an intraday high of $76,038 before easing toward the $74,000 range.
• Glassnode identified resistance between $74,000 and $76,000, while CryptoQuant placed key levels near $76,800.

The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred about 250 BTC worth $18.47 million within 24 hours. Arkham data showed 162 BTC and 69.7 BTC moved to new wallet addresses in quick succession. The transactions came as Bitcoin traded above $74,000 and tested resistance levels.

Bhutan Extends Bitcoin Sales as Treasury Activity Continues

Arkham data confirmed that Bhutan shifted 162 BTC and 69.7 BTC to fresh addresses within hours. The transfers formed part of a wider reduction in publicly tracked holdings. Bhutan has moved 3,247 BTC in 2026, with total outflows valued near $240.4 million at current prices.

Other pricing periods placed the yearly sales closer to $198 million. After the latest transfers, Bhutan wallets hold about 3,524 BTC worth between $260 million and $264 million. Analysts linked earlier movements to wallets that later routed funds to Galaxy Digital and OKX.

Arkham reported that no Bitcoin inflow above $100,000 reached Bhutan-linked wallets in over a year. That data drew attention to possible shifts in mining operations or liquidity priorities. Bhutan originally built much of its reserve through hydropower-backed mining using surplus national energy.

On-chain records showed reduced inflows and continued outflows across tracked addresses. The pattern matched earlier sequences where funds moved in structured batches. However, blockchain data has not confirmed the final destination of the newest transfers.

Bitcoin Price Tests Resistance as Market Metrics Shift

Bitcoin price climbed to an intraday high of $76,038 earlier this week before easing toward $74,000. Glassnode said the market is moving through a resistance band between $74,000 and $76,000. CryptoQuant identified $76,800 as the “Traders’ Realized Price” level.

CryptoQuant stated that holders who bought between $65,000 and $76,000 now sit in profit. The firm reported that large deposits rose from under 10% to above 40% of exchange inflows. The shift pointed to heavier activity from larger holders within days.

Daily realized profits reached about $500 million on Wednesday. However, that figure remained below the $1 billion level often seen near local tops. Market data showed Bitcoin trading in the mid-$74,000 range during the latest session.

Mining economics also shifted as prices recovered in recent days. The average all-in production cost stood near $79,500 per BTC as of mid-Wednesday. The gap between cost and spot price narrowed compared to previous months.

The next network difficulty adjustment is scheduled for April 17. Forecasts projected a decline of nearly 3%, which would bring difficulty below 135 trillion hashes. Reports also showed the network hash rate fell 4% during the first quarter of 2026.

Some operators shut down older machines due to unprofitable conditions. Other miners redirected resources toward AI and high-performance computing services. The difficulty adjustment estimate remained the latest scheduled network update.

The post Bhutan Moves 250 BTC as Bitcoin Climbs Above $74K appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Tennessee Senate Finance Committee will review SB 2639 on April 21 to consider creating a state Bitcoin reserve.
• The bill would allow the State Treasurer to invest up to 10% of certain public funds in Bitcoin.
• Annual Bitcoin purchases would be limited to 5% of each eligible fund until the cap is reached.
• The proposal restricts investments to Bitcoin and bars other digital assets.
• The bill sets strict custody standards and requires biennial public reporting with cryptographic proof of holdings.

Tennessee lawmakers will review a proposal to create a state Bitcoin reserve on April 21. The Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee will consider SB 2639 during its scheduled hearing. The bill would allow the State Treasurer to invest limited public funds in Bitcoin.

Lawmakers Advance Bitcoin Reserve Proposal to Finance Panel

Sen. Kerry Roberts sponsors SB 2639 and guides it through the Senate. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee advanced the measure before sending it to Finance. The Finance panel oversees tax and spending matters, and it will now decide the bill’s next step.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jody Barrett sponsors the House companion, HB 1695. The House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee placed the bill behind the budget and later removed it from notice. That action halted progress in the House unless leadership revives the measure.

The proposal directs the State Treasurer to invest a capped share of certain state funds in Bitcoin. Lawmakers cite inflation as a key concern in the bill’s findings. They state that rising prices reduce the real value of assets held in the general fund and other pools.

The bill describes Bitcoin as a decentralized digital commodity with a fixed supply. It argues that a fiduciary investor may use such an asset to improve long-term, inflation-adjusted returns. Barrett said, “This is about responsible stewardship of public finances,” and he compared Bitcoin to gold.

Bill Sets 10% Cap and Strict Custody Standards for Bitcoin Reserve

The legislation would allow the Treasurer to allocate funds from the general fund and the revenue fluctuation reserve. Lawmakers could also approve other state funds for participation. The bill caps Bitcoin holdings at 10% of each eligible fund at purchase.

The proposal limits annual purchases to 5% per fiscal year until the 10% cap is reached. However, passive price gains could push holdings above the cap without requiring sales. The bill restricts investments to BTC and bars other digital assets.

The measure outlines custody requirements for any Bitcoin reserve. A secure custody solution must store private keys in encrypted hardware kept offline. The system must keep the hardware in at least two locations and require multi-party authorization.

The bill also mandates encrypted channels for any access to private keys. Every two years, the Treasurer must publish a public report on holdings. The report must list Bitcoin amounts, dollar values at purchase, and values at period end.

The report must also summarize transactions during the reporting period. It must include cryptographic proof that allows third parties to verify on-chain balances. Security assessment summaries would remain available upon request.

The proposal also allows the Treasurer to create a program to accept Bitcoin for taxes and fees. Participation would remain voluntary for payers. The state would transfer the received Bitcoin to the general fund and record it at market value.

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TLDR

• Exodus Movement has expanded its native integration with the XRPL network across its software wallet platform.
• The update introduces enhanced in-wallet tools for managing and sending XRP directly.
• Exodus has added support for Ripple USD RLUSD within the XRPL ecosystem.
• Users can store, send, and swap XRP and RLUSD while maintaining full control of their private keys.
• The company confirmed that XRP ranks among the top assets on its platform by daily activity and swap volume.

Exodus Movement has expanded its integration with the XRP Ledger to offer deeper native support across its wallet platform. The publicly traded company introduced enhanced XRP tools and added support for Ripple USD within the same update. The rollout strengthens Exodus’ infrastructure for XRPL while maintaining full self-custody for its users.

XRPL Integration Expands Core Wallet Functions

Exodus upgraded its wallet to provide direct and native interaction with the XRPL network. The update enables users to manage and send XRP within the wallet interface. It also improves transaction handling and simplifies blockchain access through integrated tools.

The company confirmed that the upgrade moves beyond basic XRP storage. Previous versions treated XRP as a standalone asset for storage and swaps. Now, Exodus supports broader network-level functionality tied directly to XRPL.

Exodus stated that XRP ranks among the top assets on its platform. The token consistently records high daily user activity and strong in-app swap volume. As a result, the company expanded its infrastructure to match sustained demand.

JP Richardson, CEO and Co-founder of Exodus, addressed the development. He said, “Expanding XRPL support means more ways to use XRP without sacrificing self-custody or the simplicity of the Exodus experience.” He also stated that XRP remains one of the wallet’s most used assets.

Richardson added that working with Ripple aligns with user demand. He said the partnership supports easier daily use of XRP. The company confirmed that users retain control of private keys at all times.

XRP and RLUSD Support Broaden Network Access

Exodus introduced support for Ripple USD, known as RLUSD, within the same integration. RLUSD operates as Ripple’s enterprise-grade stablecoin on the XRPL network. The wallet now enables storage, transfers, and swaps of RLUSD directly.

Users can manage dollar-pegged value on XRPL without relying on centralized exchanges. The update allows seamless in-wallet swaps between supported assets. Exodus confirmed that all transactions maintain its non-custodial structure.

The integration establishes the groundwork for broader XRPL-issued assets. Exodus stated that future updates may include tokens and decentralized finance tools. The company described the current release as foundational infrastructure expansion.

Exodus has supported XRP transactions for several years. However, earlier versions limited functionality to storage and trading. The new framework integrates deeper blockchain features within the wallet.

The company reported that XRP continues to rank among its top overall assets. Daily activity and swap volume remain strong across global users. Therefore, Exodus aligned its technical roadmap with ongoing user engagement.

The rollout is now live for Exodus users across supported platforms. The company confirmed that the upgrade applies directly within its software wallet. Exodus continues to operate as a publicly traded firm behind the non-custodial platform.

The post Exodus Expands Native XRPL Support for XRP and RLUSD appeared first on Blockonomi.

Bitcoin’s near-term direction may hinge less on Fed policy than on which four war scenarios play out in the Middle East.

This is according to Maelstrom’s chief investment officer, Arthur Hayes, who published a detailed breakdown this week, arguing that the US-Iran conflict, now almost seven weeks in, has created a trading environment so uncertain his fund “did f*ck all” in the first quarter.

Four Scenarios, One Key Question

Everything in Hayes’s analysis comes down to one question: what happens to ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz? He mapped out four possible outcomes, dismissing a nuclear escalation scenario upfront as “un-investable” and not worth writing about.

The first scenario, which he dubbed “Back to Normal,” is less bullish than it sounds. Here, the war ends, shipping resumes, but the AI-driven deflationary pressure on Western knowledge workers stays in play.

According to Hayes, banks holding customer credit would face a slow-motion solvency problem as white-collar layoffs spread, something he illustrated with a story about a crypto-gaming entrepreneur who, after experimenting with the latest Claude model over Christmas 2025, automated enough of his engineering workflow to cut 50% of his staff within weeks.

Until the Fed moves to address the resulting credit losses, Hayes says BTC could bounce to $80,000 or $90,000, but does not warrant an aggressive buy.

The second scenario centers on Iran restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz and charging a toll. According to Hayes, this could push countries to sell dollar assets, buy gold, and acquire Chinese yuan to settle trades. That shift, if it accelerates, would weigh on US bonds and equities, and Bitcoin, in his view, would likely struggle at first as investors reduce risk exposure, before recovering once central banks step in with fresh liquidity.

A variation of the above scenario came into focus after Trump announced on April 12 that the US Navy would block all ships entering or leaving the Strait. Here, Hayes said markets should focus less on political rhetoric and more on oil futures spreads to gauge whether supply disruptions are real.

The fourth, “The Empire Strikes Back,” has the US military destroying Iran’s ability to block the Strait entirely. The problem, as Hayes sees it, is that Iran has promised to take the rest of the Gulf’s energy production down with it if it goes. That would force central banks everywhere to print money regardless, while raising the probability of a wider conflict.

The Money Quantity Argument

One thread runs through all four scenarios: Hayes believes Bitcoin’s price is determined by the quantity of money in existence, not its cost.

Even if central banks raise rates to fight food and energy inflation, governments will need to borrow heavily for defense and commodity stockpiling. If private buyers won’t absorb that debt, central and commercial banks will, expanding the money supply anyway. That hurts cash-flow-dependent assets while helping Bitcoin and gold.

The cryptocurrency itself was trading around $75,000 at the time of writing, up about 5% over the past seven days and outperforming the broader crypto market’s roughly 4% gain in the same period.

The post Arthur Hayes Breaks Down Bitcoin’s Fate in Four Iran War Outcomes appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Pi Network’s PI has been trading in a tight range between $0.16 and $0.17 since the start of the month, far below the local top seen in March.

According to some of the most popular AI-powered chatbots, the price may be on the verge of a substantial surge in the remaining weeks of April, while certain on-chain indicators support the bullish outlook.

‘Don’t Expect Miracles’

ChatGPT envisioned two potential scenarios. The first one favors the bulls and calls for a price increase to as high as $0.30, a level described as “the absolute optimistic ceiling” for this month. However, the chatbot claimed that a pump of that magnitude would require a major catalyst, such as a listing on a leading crypto exchange.

Recall that a similar event prompted PI’s brief rise above $0.30 last month. Back then, Kraken offered trading services for the coin and sparked huge enthusiasm across the community.

The second option is more pessimistic and classified as more likely. Specifically, ChatGPT predicted a possible pullback toward $0.12, driven by limited demand outside the core community and still-developing real-world use cases.

Grok, the chatbot integrated into the social media platform X, was even more bearish. It suggested that the maximum realistic price PI can reach in April is $0.22 and argued that the upside potential would heavily depend on the advancement of Pi Network’s ecosystem. Google’s Gemini made a similar forecast:

“In my opinion, the maximum PI can realistically reach in the remainder of April 2026 is $0.22, but it would require a perfect storm of technical success and market sentiment.”

The Bullish Outlook

Perplexity was the most optimistic chatbot (from the ones we consulted), envisioning a significant surge later this month. It claimed that “a stretch spike above $1 is possible only in a very aggressive, low-probability scenario,” but suggested that a jump to $0.40 is not out of the cards.

Some on-chain metrics signal that a revival may indeed be knocking on the door. The upcoming token unlocks, for instance, are scheduled to be quite substantial over the next few days, but towards the end of April, they are expected to slow down, thus reducing selling pressure.

PI’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) should also be observed. The technical analysis tool measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes to give traders an idea about potential trend reversals. It ranges from 0 to 100, where anything below 30 indicates that the token is oversold and could be due for a rebound. Conversely, readings above 70 are interpreted as bearish territory. Currently, PI’s RSI stands at roughly 33 on a weekly scale.

The post Can Pi Network (PI) Resurrect in April and How High Can It Go: 4 AIs Make Shocking Predictions appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin’s price ascent came to an end minutes ago as the asset was rejected at $75,000 and pushed south by two grand in minutes.

The notable price decline came after the US jobs report for the past week came out, which was actually quite positive.

The US Labor Department announced minutes ago that initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000 for the week that ended on April 11. The forecasts were slightly higher at around 215,000 claims.

Layoffs remain relatively low, but the war with Iran could be hindering hiring, reads a Reuters report.

“At some point, elevated energy costs and prices for materials will cause firms to lay off marginal workers ​to protect profit margins. Just keep in mind that in the 1973 ​oil shock, it took about three months for claims to start to rise in any meaningful way,” commented High Frequency Economics’s chief economist, Carl Weinberg.

Although this news is somewhat positive, BTC’s price dipped immediately after the report went live. The cryptocurrency traded at $75,000 but dumped to $73,200 in minutes before it rebounded slightly to $73,700.

The liquidations jumped immediately as most alts followed suit with similar moves. In the past hour alone, over $120 million worth of longs and shorts have been wrecked, with the former dominating. On a daily scale, the total value is up to $350 million.

Almost 140,000 traders have been wrecked in the past day, with the single-largest liquidation taking place on Binance, and it was worth nearly $10 million.

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Bitcoin (BTC) has staged a notable recovery over the past 14 days, with its price hovering around $75,000.

One of the cryptocurrency’s early supporters, though, warned that the bottom of the cycle is yet to be reached, predicting a major crash ahead.

Prepare for ‘Max Pain’

Davinci Jeremie – the early Bitcoin advocate who went viral in 2013 for urging people to buy BTC at $1 – is among the latest crypto commentators to sound the alarm of a potential price crisis.

He found similarities between the dump this February, when the asset’s valuation suddenly plummeted below $60,000 to the one from June 2022. Later on, the analyst alerted traders and investors that “the max pain isn’t in yet,” foreseeing one capitulation event like the FTX crash before BTC tumbles to its cycle low.

The meltdown of the once-leading crypto exchange occurred in November 2022 and triggered a broader market collapse, massive liquidations, and reputational damage to the entire industry. BTC, for instance, briefly nosedived under $16,000.

X user Chiefy also made a bearish forecast, claiming that the asset could soon tumble to the $35,000-$38,000 range. For their part, Doctor Profit described the asset’s resurgence as “a large trap for the bulls,” arguing that the real question now is how high the valuation can climb before a sharp correction sets in.

‘Make-or-Break’ Moment

The renowned analyst Ali Martinez added his name to the long list of people discussing Bitcoin’s performance as of late. He believes the asset is at “a make-or-break” point, claiming that for the third time in six months, BTC is testing the 100-day simple moving average (SMA) as resistance.

He reminded that in October (right after the formation of that pattern) the price plunged by 30%. A similar thing happened at the start of the year when the valuation plunged by 39%.

“Today: We are testing this exact level again. A third rejection here would be a major structural failure. It could trigger a triple top effect, potentially sending Bitcoin back down to the yearly low at $59,800,” Martinez said.

At the same time, the analyst claimed that closing above the 100-day SMA could open “a direct path” toward $80,000-$84,000 and confirm that “the macro correction might be over.”

The recent whale activity and the declining amount of coins stored on exchanges support the bullish scenario. Large investors have acquired 10,000 BTC (worth roughly $750 million at current rates) over the last 96 hours: a move that could stimulate smaller players to follow suit.

Meanwhile, there are now fewer than 2.7 million coins situated on centralized exchanges, representing the lowest level since 2019. Such a development shows strong investor conviction and reduces immediate selling pressure.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Rebounds 12% in 2 Weeks, Yet Analyst Believes The ‘Max Pain’ Could be on the Way appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin is trading around $74.7k, holding near its highest levels since the February breakdown, as the recovery momentum built over the past two weeks continues to develop.

The move is encouraging, but BTC now stands at one of the most technically important junctures of the entire correction, near the confluence of the descending channel’s upper boundary and the 100-day moving average, two levels that have defined the bearish structure for months.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

For the first time in this correction cycle, BTC appears to be pressing a genuine breakout attempt above the descending channel, with the price now breaking above the upper boundary near $74k–$75k alongside the declining 100-day MA nearby. The RSI has also climbed into the high-60s, which is the strongest daily momentum reading since before the February crash, and is lending some credibility to the attempt, while also not showing overbought signals.

Whether this becomes a confirmed breakout or another failed one depends on how the price behaves over the next few daily closes. A sustained close above the channel and the $75k–$80k resistance band would be a structural shift of real significance, and would open a path toward $88k–$90k, where the 200-day MA awaits. On the downside, $60k–$62k is the key support that buyers should defend at all costs if the breakout fails.

BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart

On the 4-hour chart, BTC continues to trade inside the mildly ascending channel that has been in place since the February lows. The price has now risen above the midline and is attempting to break above the $74-$76k resistance zone. The 4-hour RSI is also hovering near 60s, which leaves room for a further push without the immediate threat of an RSI-driven rejection like those seen in prior attempts.

A clean breakout above $76k with the RSI holding above 60 would be a compelling short-term bullish signal and could accelerate a run toward the $80k–$82k zone. If the asset stalls and pulls back from here, the recent low near $71k is the first support to watch, followed by the lower boundary of the channel at $67k.

On-Chain Analysis

Bitcoin’s exchange reserves have fallen to approximately 2.68M BTC. It is at its lowest level in the entire dataset, stretching back to mid-2023, and a dramatic decline from the 3.2M BTC peak seen in early 2024. The drawdown has been steep and consistent, accelerating through the second half of 2025 and continuing even as the price corrected sharply from the $125k peak.

The significance of this reading is hard to overstate. With less Bitcoin sitting on exchanges than at any point in recent history, the immediately available sell-side supply is structurally thinner than it has been throughout the past 3 years, including the periods when BTC was trading at much lower prices. In a scenario where demand returns with conviction, the lack of exchange-side supply could amplify upward price moves significantly.

The setup mirrors conditions seen ahead of previous recoveries, where a tightening supply base combined with improving sentiment created the conditions for outsized moves. The key missing ingredient, as always, is the sustained demand. But the foundation being built on-chain is among the most constructive in years.

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