The shift towards altcoins like Solana amid Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF outflows suggests evolving investor strategies and market dynamics.

The post Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs face significant outflows as Solana sees minor inflow appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

A ban on Chinese vehicle imports could escalate trade tensions, prompting EU retaliatory tariffs and impacting global market dynamics.

The post Democratic senators urge Trump to ban Chinese vehicle imports amid trade tensions: FT appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Rising recession odds highlight potential economic instability, impacting consumer spending and labor markets amid persistent energy shocks.

The post Goldman Sachs raises US recession odds to 30% by 2026 amid oil shocks appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The uncertain Fed rate cut outlook amid strong job growth and rising yields may prolong market volatility and impact economic forecasts.

The post Jobs report raises doubts about Fed rate cuts, Treasury yields jump: FT appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Increased probability of US forces entering Iran could heighten geopolitical tensions and impact global markets and diplomatic relations.

The post US forces’ entry into Iran by April 30 now seen at 66% probability appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Riot Platforms Sells 3,778 Bitcoin in Q1 as Miner Strategy Shifts Toward AI Infrastructure

Riot Platforms sold 3,778 bitcoin in the first quarter of 2026, generating $289.5 million and marking a shift in strategy as the miner redirects capital toward infrastructure and high-performance computing.

The volume sold exceeded the company’s quarterly production of 1,473 BTC by roughly 2.6 times, signaling a drawdown of treasury holdings rather than routine profit-taking. Riot ended the quarter with 15,680 BTC, down 18% from 18,005 BTC at the close of 2025.

The selling appears to have extended beyond the reporting period. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence flagged a 500 BTC outflow from a wallet linked to Riot following the end of the quarter, suggesting continued liquidation activity.

The imbalance between production and sales comes as Riot accelerates its expansion into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing colocation. The company has begun repositioning its business model away from sole reliance on bitcoin mining, seeking to monetize its energy assets and data center footprint through long-term infrastructure contracts.

In January, Riot sold 1,080 BTC to fund the purchase of 200 acres at its Rockdale, Texas site. It also entered a ten-year agreement with Advanced Micro Devices to provide 25 megawatts of capacity, with an option to scale to 200 MW. The deal is expected to generate about $311 million in contract revenue over its initial term.

Operational metrics complicate a distress narrative. Riot reduced its all-in power cost to 3.0 cents per kilowatt hour, a 21% decline from the prior year, while increasing deployed hash rate by 26% to 42.5 exahashes per second. Average operating hash rate rose 23% to 36.4 EH/s, reflecting continued investment in mining capacity.

The company also generated $21 million in power credits during the quarter, more than double the year-ago period, through participation in grid services and energy programs.

Bitcoin HODLers like RIOT are selling

Industry conditions remain a factor. Rising energy costs tied to geopolitical tensions have pressured margins across the mining sector, prompting several operators to liquidate holdings. MARA Holdings, Genius Group, and Nakamoto Holdings collectively sold more than 15,000 BTC in recent days, reflecting a broader shift in capital allocation.

Riot’s Q1 activity underscores a turning point for the sector, where bitcoin reserves are deployed as funding sources for diversification rather than held as long-term balance sheet assets.

The trend extends beyond corporate treasuries. Bhutan has continued to reduce its BTC holdings, selling a total of 3,103 BTC. A single transaction on March 30 accounted for 375 BTC, according to Glassnode data. 

The country had built its position through state-backed mining operations, reaching more than 13,000 BTC at its peak in October 2024.

Despite the recent selling, public companies still hold about 1.16 million BTC, or more than 5% of bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.

This post Riot Platforms Sells 3,778 Bitcoin in Q1 as Miner Strategy Shifts Toward AI Infrastructure first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

The Bitcoin Treasury Model With a Built-In Valuation Floor

There is a version of the Bitcoin treasury conversation that has become almost routine at this point. Bitcoin is hard money. Fiat debases. Companies that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheet are making a rational long-term decision. All of this is true, and none of it is the interesting question anymore.

The interesting question is structural. Not should a company hold Bitcoin, but what kind of company should hold it, and what that choice implies for how the company performs across a full market cycle, not just a favorable one.

Three models have emerged. Each reflects a different level of conviction, a different capital structure, and a different set of tradeoffs.

• The pure-play. A company whose primary purpose is accumulating Bitcoin through capital raises, financial engineering, etc, with no core operating business. Lean structure, singular mission.

• The digital credit issuer. The most sophisticated expression of the pure-play thesis. These companies issue Bitcoin-backed financial instruments, preferred stock, convertible notes, and similar products, to fund continued accumulation. At scale, this creates a compounding accumulation engine that simpler models cannot match.
• The operating company with a Bitcoin treasury. A business with real revenue, real clients, and operational activity, which holds Bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset in deliberate strategic relationship with the business itself.

All three are legitimate expressions of the Bitcoin treasury thesis. They are not optimized for the same objectives, and the differences matter more than most treasury conversations acknowledge.

What pure-play gets right

The pure-play case deserves genuine treatment because its strongest version has real force.

Financial engineering pure-plays are capital-efficient in a specific and important sense: every dollar raised goes directly to Bitcoin accumulation with no operational drag. The mission is singular and the structure reflects it. For investors, this creates clarity. Allocators know exactly what they are underwriting, direct Bitcoin exposure at the corporate level, and the investment thesis is legible and short.

The digital credit model extends this further. Companies that have successfully issued preferred instruments and Bitcoin-backed products have built accumulation engines that operating businesses cannot match on a per-dollar-raised basis. The compounding effect of a sophisticated capital structure, at scale, is genuinely powerful. It represents the fullest expression of the Bitcoin treasury thesis, and the destination it points toward is one every operator in this space should understand.

The prerequisite problem and what it means in practice

The digital credit model has a prerequisite that is rarely stated plainly: it requires scale, institutional credibility, and market infrastructure that most companies building a Bitcoin treasury today do not yet have. It is a destination, not a starting point.

The path there runs through an intermediate period where the financial engineering structure carries more exposure than is often acknowledged. During that period:

• There is no operating revenue to fall back on
• The ability to raise capital tracks closely with Bitcoin market sentiment
• Strategic options narrow when conditions are not favorable
• The company’s cost structure depends entirely on capital markets remaining open

This is not a criticism of the model. It is a description of the journey. The question for executives is what structure best serves the company while that journey is underway.

What the operating company model actually provides

The operating company with a Bitcoin treasury does not accumulate Bitcoin faster than a well-run pure-play. At meaningful treasury scale, operating cash flow is not moving the needle on accumulation. The advantage is different, and worth stating precisely.

An operating business generates revenue independently of where Bitcoin is trading. That revenue covers fixed costs, which means the company is not dependent on capital markets remaining open to fund its basic operations. It can continue hiring, serving clients, and accumulating at a measured pace without being forced into capital decisions driven by timing rather than conviction.

The compounding effect works like this:

• Operating revenue covers costs and preserves the Bitcoin position through the cycle rather than drawing it down under pressure
• A preserved balance sheet improves the terms on future capital raises, lower dilution, better access to facilities, stronger negotiating position with partners
• Operational credibility widens the available capital base by providing an investment thesis that reaches allocators who cannot underwrite pure Bitcoin exposure within their current mandates

None of these mechanisms make Bitcoin accumulate faster in favorable conditions. Together, they make the company more durable across the full range of conditions it will face.

The built-in valuation floor

Most Bitcoin treasury company valuations are driven by a single number: mNAV, the premium the market assigns to Bitcoin held at the corporate level. When sentiment is strong and capital is flowing into the space, that premium expands. When the narrative cools, it compresses. The valuation moves with the market’s appetite for Bitcoin exposure, not with anything the company is doing operationally.

The operating company model introduces a second component that behaves differently. A profitable operating business carries an earnings multiple underwritten by revenue, client relationships, and operational track record. It does not expand dramatically when Bitcoin is performing. But it does not compress when sentiment turns either. It is stable in a way that mNAV alone is not.

These two components, Bitcoin NAV and an earnings multiple on the operating business, do not move together. That is the point. When mNAV compresses, the earnings multiple holds. The company retains a defensible valuation floor that a pure-play structure, with a single-component valuation entirely dependent on sentiment, does not have.

In practice this matters in three specific ways:

• Capital raises. A company with a defensible valuation floor can raise capital on reasonable terms even when Bitcoin sentiment is cold. A pure-play with a compressed mNAV and no earnings component has less room to maneuver.
• Talent. Equity compensation tied to a two-component valuation is a more legible and stable proposition for prospective hires than equity tied entirely to Bitcoin’s market sentiment.
• Allocator access. Many institutional allocators cannot underwrite a valuation built entirely on mNAV within their current mandates. The earnings component creates a bridge, opening the door to capital that would otherwise be unable to participate regardless of conviction.

The floor is not just a comfort during difficult conditions. It is a structural advantage that compounds over time, widening the capital base, strengthening the talent proposition, and maintaining strategic momentum across the full cycle.

How to think about the decision

These three models serve different objectives. The right framework starts with honest answers to a few questions:

• What does the existing business look like? A company with established revenue and clients already has the foundation for the operating company model. A company without it is choosing between building that foundation and committing to a pure-play path.
• What is the realistic path to scale? The digital credit model is the most powerful expression of the thesis but requires scale and credibility that takes time to build. The operating company model does not depend on reaching that threshold to function well.
• What does the investor base look like? Pure-play structures appeal most clearly to allocators who want direct Bitcoin exposure. Operating companies reach a broader set of capital partners, including those whose mandates require an operating business to participate.
• What kind of company do you want to be running across a full cycle? This is the question underneath all the others. The answer should drive the structure, not the other way around.

Conclusion

The companies that define the next era of corporate Bitcoin adoption will not all look the same. Digital credit issuers will operate at the frontier of Bitcoin-native capital markets. Financial engineering pure-plays will build toward that destination with focused conviction. Operating companies will build businesses where the treasury and core operations strengthen each other across the cycle.

Each model is a genuine expression of the thesis. The goal of this framework is to make the differences legible, so executives can choose the structure that fits what they are actually building, with clear eyes about what each model asks of them in return.

The question was never which model holds the most Bitcoin. It was always which model fits what you are trying to build.

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

This post The Bitcoin Treasury Model With a Built-In Valuation Floor first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Nick Ward.

Bitcoin Magazine

How Real Is The Quantum Threat?

A new panel has officially been announced to take place at Bitcoin 2026 titled “How Real Is The Quantum Threat?” The conversation will bring together five voices at the center of one of the most actively debated technical questions in Bitcoin today, and the lineup reflects the full range of perspectives the topic demands.

The panel features:

Hunter Beast, a senior protocol engineer for the Anduro sidechain platform incubated by MARA, is the co-author of BIP 360, a proposal that establishes a new Bitcoin wallet address type designed to protect the network from quantum computing threats. BIP 360 was merged into the Bitcoin Core BIP repository in February 2026 and was deployed on the Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0 in March, marking significant advancements towards upgrading Bitcoin.

James O’Beirne has been a Bitcoin Core contributor since 2015 and leads multiple projects including OP_VAULT (BIP-345) and assumeutxo, having previously worked at Chaincode Labs.

Brandon Black is a Bitcoin software engineer who has spoken publicly on why quantum computing timelines are often misunderstood by the broader market.

Charles Edwards of Capriole has argued that quantum computing is advancing faster than anticipated and has advocated for a 2026 BIP-360 implementation.

Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, has taken a more measured position arguing the quantum threat to Bitcoin is real but limited today, affecting only certain exposed wallets, and that developers are actively building pathways to address it over time.

The panel will cover one of the most actively discussed technical topics in Bitcoin today — how quantum computing is developing, where Bitcoin’s cryptography stands, and what the path to long-term protocol resilience looks like. Developers are already working on multiple solutions, including quantum-resistant addresses and phased upgrade proposals, and this panel brings together some of the brightest minds working on these upgrades. It takes place April 29 on the Nakamoto Stage at Bitcoin 2026, The Venetian Resort, Las Vegas.

Bitcoin 2026 is Returning to Las Vegas

Bitcoin 2026 will take place April 27–29 at The Venetian, Las Vegas, and is expected to be the biggest Bitcoin event of the year.

Focused on the future of money, Bitcoin 2026 will bring together Bitcoin builders, investors, miners, policymakers, technologists, and newcomers from around the world. The event will feature a wide range of pass types, including general admission passes designed specifically for those new to Bitcoin, alongside premium passes for professionals, enterprises, and institutions.

With multiple stages, immersive experiences, technical workshops, and headline keynotes, Bitcoin 2026 is designed to serve both first-time attendees and long-time Bitcoiners shaping the next era of global adoption.

Past Bitcoin Conferences in the U.S.

Bitcoin’s flagship conference has scaled dramatically over the past five years:

• 2021 – Miami: 11,000 attendees
• 2022 – Miami: 26,000 attendees
• 2023 – Miami: 15,000 attendees
• 2024 – Nashville: 22,000 attendees
• 2025 – Las Vegas: 35,000 attendees

Get Your Bitcoin 2026 Pass

Bitcoin Magazine readers can save 10% on Bitcoin 2026 tickets using code ‘ARTICLE10‘ at checkout.

Stay at The official hotel of Bitcoin 2026, The Venetian, and get a guaranteed low rate plus 15% off your pass. Be in the middle of where the fun is all happening, and where the networking never ends.

And don’t forget:

Volunteer at Bitcoin 2026 and get Pro Pass access plus exclusive perks.

All students ages 13+ can apply for a Student Pass and get free general admission access to Bitcoin 2026.

Location: The Venetian, Las Vegas
Dates: April 27–29, 2026

For more information and exclusive offers, visit the Bitcoin Conference on X here.

Why Attend Bitcoin 2026?

Bitcoin 2026 is the definitive gathering for anyone serious about the future of money. With 500+ speakers, multiple world-class stages, and programming spanning Bitcoin fundamentals, open-source development, enterprise adoption, mining, energy, AI, policy, and culture, the conference brings every corner of the Bitcoin ecosystem together under one roof.

From headline keynotes on the Nakamoto Stage to deep technical sessions for builders, institutional strategy discussions for enterprises, and beginner-friendly Bitcoin 101 education, Bitcoin 2026 is designed for everyone—from first-time attendees to the leaders shaping Bitcoin’s global adoption.

Whether you’re looking to learn, build, invest, network, or influence, Bitcoin 2026 is where Bitcoin’s next chapter is written.

Bitcoin 2026 Pass Types: Something for Everyone

Bitcoin 2026 offers a range of pass options designed to meet the needs of newcomers, professionals, enterprises, and high-net-worth Bitcoiners alike.

Bitcoin 2026 General Admission Pass

Ideal for newcomers and those looking to experience the heart of the conference.

• Limited access on Days 2 & 3
• Entry to Main Stage
• Access to Genesis Stage
• Full access to the Expo Hall

Bitcoin 2026 Pro Pass

Designed for professionals, operators, and serious Bitcoin participants.

Includes all General Admission features, plus:

• Full 3-day access, including Pro Day
• Entry to the Pro Pass Reception
• Access to Enterprise Hall, Enterprise Stage, and Networking Lounge
• Conference App networking features
• Access to the Bitcoin For Corporations Symposium
• Entry to Compute Village and Energy Stage
• Complimentary lunch, coffee, tea, and snacks
• Dedicated registration and check-in
• Reserved seating at Main Stage
• Huge savings when you bundle your hotel and Pro Pass

Bitcoin 2026 Whale Pass

The all-inclusive, premium Bitcoin 2026 experience.

Includes all Pro Pass features, plus:

• Reserved seating at Main Stage
• All-inclusive gourmet food and beverages
• Entry to Whale Night and Whale Reception
• Access to all official after-parties
• Networking app access to connect with other Whales
• Premium access to The Deep — an exclusive networking lounge with intimate speaker sessions
• Complimentary stay at The Venetian when you bundle your whale pass and hotel (use promo code ‘WHALEHOTEL’ here)

This is the most immersive way to experience Bitcoin 2026.

Bitcoin 2026 After Hours Pass

Your ticket to the night.

Most deals are done with a drink in your hand. Get exclusive access to 3 official Bitcoin 2026 after-parties across Las Vegas — each with a 2-hour open bar — where the real conversations happen and the best connections are made.

• Access to 3 official Bitcoin 2026 after-parties
• 2-hour open bar at each event
• Evening events across Las Vegas, April 27–29
• Network with Bitcoiners, builders, and industry leaders after hours

More headline speaker announcements are coming soon.

Don’t miss Bitcoin 2026.

This post How Real Is The Quantum Threat? first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

Bitcoin Magazine

MARA Conducts Ongoing Layoffs Following $1.1B Bitcoin Sale and Debt Reduction Push

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings has begun a series of company-wide layoffs affecting multiple departments, according to reporting from Blockspace Media, marking the latest shift in the firm’s broader restructuring strategy.

Sources familiar with the matter said the layoffs have been “ongoing” and executed in a piecemeal fashion, with at least two rounds taking place this week on Wednesday and Thursday. The total number of employees impacted — as well as the percentage of the workforce affected — has not been disclosed, and the company has not publicly commented on the cuts.

The workforce reduction comes just days after MARA completed a major balance sheet restructuring that involved selling 15,133 bitcoin for approximately $1.1 billion between March 4 and March 25. The proceeds were used to repurchase portions of its outstanding 0.00% convertible senior notes due in 2030 and 2031, allowing the company to retire debt at an average discount of roughly 9% to par.

In total, MARA repurchased $367.5 million of its 2030 notes for $322.9 million and $633.4 million of its 2031 notes for $589.9 million. The transactions are expected to generate approximately $88.1 million in cash savings and reduce the company’s total convertible debt by about 30%, from roughly $3.3 billion to $2.3 billion.

Following the repurchases, MARA now has $632.5 million in 2030 notes and $291.6 million in 2031 notes remaining outstanding. Other tranches of convertible debt — including $48.1 million due in 2026, $300 million due in 2031, and $1.025 billion due in 2032 — remain unchanged.

CEO Fred Thiel previously framed the bitcoin sale as part of a deliberate capital allocation strategy aimed at strengthening the company’s balance sheet while preserving long-term shareholder value. He said the move would improve financial flexibility and position the firm for expansion beyond traditional bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI 

That expansion includes a growing focus on artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC), areas where MARA is seeking to leverage its expertise in energy infrastructure and data center operations. The company has increasingly positioned itself as a digital energy and compute provider, rather than a pure-play bitcoin miner.

As part of this shift, MARA has also signaled that selling bitcoin could become a recurring element of its treasury strategy. The company stated it plans to sell BTC “from time to time” throughout 2026 to support liquidity needs and fund corporate initiatives.

The developments come amid a challenging environment for bitcoin miners, who are navigating tighter margins, rising competition, and increasing pressure to diversify revenue streams beyond block rewards. 

For MARA, the combination of debt reduction, bitcoin sales, and workforce cuts signals a company in transition — prioritizing balance sheet strength and strategic repositioning as it moves deeper into AI and energy infrastructure.

This post MARA Conducts Ongoing Layoffs Following $1.1B Bitcoin Sale and Debt Reduction Push first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Coinbase Receives Conditional OCC Approval to Form National Trust Company

Coinbase has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Coinbase National Trust Company, according to a statement from the company. 

The approval marks a regulatory milestone for Coinbase as it expands its federally supervised custody and market infrastructure operations.

The company emphasized that the approval does not authorize it to operate as a commercial bank. Coinbase stated it will not take retail deposits or engage in fractional reserve banking. Instead, the charter is intended to provide federal oversight for its custody business, which the firm says has been a core part of its operations for years.

Under the conditional approval framework, Coinbase will be required to meet specified regulatory conditions before the charter becomes fully operational. The company said it intends to use the structure to bring uniform federal standards to its digital asset custody services and related institutional infrastructure.

Coinbase framed the decision as validation of its long-standing approach of working within the U.S. regulatory system. The company said it has invested heavily in compliance and engagement with regulators and views the approval as part of a broader evolution in how digital asset firms interface with federal banking supervision.

The charter is expected to provide clearer regulatory consistency across jurisdictions, particularly for institutional custody services. Coinbase said it believes the structure could support future expansion into additional financial services, including payments-related products, while remaining within the bounds of trust company oversight.

OCC is adopting pro-crypto activities

Over the past year, federal banking regulators have taken a more active role in defining the perimeter of digital asset activities within the traditional financial system. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued updated guidance on how banks may engage with cryptocurrency custody, stablecoin-related services, and blockchain infrastructure, while continuing to evaluate applications from crypto-native firms seeking trust or banking charters.

Industry participants have pursued federal charters in part to reduce reliance on a patchwork of state licensing regimes and to gain clearer access to national banking rails. Trust bank structures, in particular, have become a focal point for firms seeking to offer custody services without engaging in lending or deposit-taking activities.

The OCC has adapted to institutional interest in regulated custody models and the growing overlap between traditional financial infrastructure and digital asset firms. Exchanges, custodians, and fintech firms have got federal oversight and support for institutional adoption and reduce regulatory uncertainty.

At the same time, policymakers have debated how far federal banking regulators should extend oversight into crypto-native business models, particularly as stablecoins and tokenized assets continue to integrate into payments and settlement systems. 

The conditional approval for Coinbase’s trust charter reflects this broader regulatory shift toward structured supervision rather than ad hoc enforcement.

If finalized, Coinbase’s national trust status would place it among a small number of crypto-linked firms operating under direct federal trust oversight, signaling continued convergence between digital asset infrastructure and the U.S. regulated banking system.

This post Coinbase Receives Conditional OCC Approval to Form National Trust Company first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

SpaceX is moving toward a public listing that could redefine how Bitcoin shows up in equity markets. The scale of the IPO matters more than the size of its holdings.

SpaceX has reportedly filed confidentially for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a step that would move Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company closer to what could become the largest stock market debut in US history.

According to reports, the firm is looking to raise as much as $75 billion at a valuation of about $2 trillion, with a listing as early as June. This would put it more than three times above the largest US IPO to date.

At that level, the IPO would also make the company one of the top 10 global companies by market capitalization.

Why this matters: This would mark a shift in how Bitcoin enters public markets. Until now, exposure has largely come through companies built around holding the asset. A SpaceX listing would introduce Bitcoin into one of the world’s largest industrial and infrastructure businesses, changing the context in which investors encounter it.

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Launched in 2022, SpaceX sits at the intersection of commercial space, communications, defense, and infrastructure.

Over the past years, the firm has grown to become the dominant force in commercial launches, NASA’s leading launch partner, and the operator of Starlink, the satellite broadband network that has become central to its broader valuation.

That would give investors exposure to a business with far broader foundations than most recent market debuts.

The most valuable public company with Bitcoin

Apart from the size of the deal, a SpaceX listing could create the most valuable listed company with Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

Data from BitcoinTreasuries.com show the company is holding 8,285 Bitcoin, valued at $569.5 million on its balance sheet. The firm is currently the fourth-largest private corporate holder of BTC.

If SpaceX’s public filings confirm these holdings, the firm would overtake another Musk-led company, Tesla, on that measure. Tesla currently holds more than 11,000 Bitcoin and remains the highest-value public company known to own the token. The automaker is currently valued at $1.37 trillion.

With a planned valuation of $2 trillion, SpaceX would move past Tesla in market value even while holding fewer coins.

Over the past year, the market has seen an avalanche of public firms introducing Bitcoin to their balance sheet. This is a model popularized by Michael Saylor's Strategy, which is currently the largest public corporate Bitcoin holder with 762,099 Bitcoin.

However, SpaceX's stock would not trade like that of Strategy or other Bitcoin holding companies.

Strategy’s equity model is built around Bitcoin accumulation, capital raising, and the token’s price. SpaceX would come public as a launch, satellite, and defense business that happens to own Bitcoin.

The numbers make that clear. SpaceX’s reported Bitcoin stash is worth roughly $569.5 million, which translates to less than 0.03% of its $2 trillion valuation.

Such a valuation is too low to make the stock a Bitcoin proxy. However, it is large enough to become part of the company’s public identity.

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Elon Musk's SpaceX uses stablecoins to hedge against foreign exchange risks

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Dec 22, 2024 · Monika Ghosh

Would retail investors gain from the IPO?

The answer is likely yes, but mostly because of what SpaceX is, not because of the Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

Reports indicate that retail investors would get meaningful exposure to the IPO, with allocations of up to 30% of shares and potentially without the standard six-month lock-up.

If that structure holds, it would give ordinary investors access to one of the world’s most sought-after private companies on unusually favorable terms for a deal of this size.

That retail angle would help demand, and the Bitcoin connection would add another layer of interest, particularly among crypto investors who already follow Musk, Tesla, and treasury-holding companies closely.

But the core draw would be elsewhere. Investors would be buying into the dominant launch franchise in commercial space, the Starlink network, and a company whose position reaches into defense and communications.

The stock would appeal because of its scale, strategic relevance, and scarcity value, not because 8,285 Bitcoin sit somewhere on the balance sheet.

The post SpaceX IPO would eclipse Tesla in market value while holding less Bitcoin — challenging the idea of a Bitcoin proxy appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Cardano Foundation is becoming less dependent on ADA. Its latest report shows Bitcoin and cash now account for a much larger share of reserves after a year of sharp price divergence.

That shift changes how closely the Foundation’s balance sheet tracks the performance of Cardano’s native token.

In its 2025 Activity and Financial Insights Report shared with CryptoSlate, the Foundation said its total assets stood at 287.5 million Swiss francs, or about $361 million. This represents a 45% decline from the $659.1 million assets it held as of the end of 2024.

The drop in headline value reflected a difficult year for Cardano’s native token, ADA, but the more notable shift came in the composition of the Foundation’s holdings.

Why this matters: The Foundation has historically been one of the largest long-term holders of ADA, so changes to its treasury structure affect the degree of internal alignment between Cardano’s ecosystem and its core institution. A lower ADA concentration reduces direct exposure to the token’s price but also weakens the feedback loop linking the Foundation’s balance sheet to ADA’s performance.

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Nov 13, 2024 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

A year earlier, the Foundation said 76.7% of its assets were held in ADA, 14.9% in Bitcoin, and 8.3% in cash, cash equivalents, and financial assets.

However, by the end of 2025, ADA’s share had fallen to about 51.6%, while BTC rose to 25.5%, and cash, cash equivalents, and financial assets climbed to 22.9%.

On that basis, the Foundation’s holdings worked out to roughly $186 million in ADA, $92 million in Bitcoin, and $83 million in cash and financial assets.

This essentially means that the Cardano-focused organization's asset was no longer as concentrated in ADA as it had been a year earlier. Now, nearly half of the balance sheet was tied to Bitcoin, cash, and other financial assets.

How Bitcoin gained a foothold in Cardano's Foundation assets

Bitcoin’s greater role in the portfolio did not stem from an increase in the Foundation’s BTC holdings.

In fact, the report showed that the Foundation significantly reduced its BTC holdings last year, down 37% to 656 BTC from 1,054 BTC a year earlier.

That means BTC's increased share of the treasury was driven by relative performance and a broader reshaping of reserves, rather than by an outright accumulation of more BTC.

Market moves help explain the change. Data from CryptoSlate showed that ADA has fallen by roughly 63% over the past year, while Bitcoin has shown more resilience, declining by around 25%.

That divergence meant BTC did not need to rise in absolute terms to claim a larger place in the Foundation’s holdings. Instead, the top crypto's greater resilience during the bear market helped it gain a stronger footing.

Meanwhile, the report also suggests the treasury was becoming more layered, with the Foundation finding more use cases for BTC and also expanding its cash holdings.

The Foundation said part of its Bitcoin allocation was invested in loans and collective investment schemes during 2025.

At the same time, its financial assets, including loans to third parties, investments, and shares, rose to 43.9 million Swiss francs (around $54.9 million) from 14.3 million Swiss francs (equivalent to $17.8 million) a year earlier.

Additionally, the organization's cash and cash equivalents stood at 20.1 million Swiss francs, or $25.1 million.

Taken together, those figures show a reserve base moving beyond a straightforward ADA-and-bitcoin treasury into something more diversified and more actively managed.

Spending priorities shift

The change in portfolio mix was matched by a clearer reset in how the Foundation spent money in 2025.

The report said 23.6 million Swiss francs (equivalent to $29.5 million) was allocated across three strategic pillars, including technology, adoption, and governance.

Technology accounted for the largest share at 40.3%, or 9.5 million francs. Adoption followed at 39.6%, or 9.3 million francs, while governance spending represented 20.1%, or 4.8 million francs.

That marked a change from 2024, when the foundation grouped its work under adoption, operational resilience, and education. The new structure gives a sharper picture of where resources are now being directed and how the Foundation sees Cardano’s next phase.

Technology spending centered on protocol enablement, developer tooling, node diversity, interoperability frameworks, oracle infrastructure, and operational resilience.

The Foundation said it also increased its focus on community initiatives to improve liquidity and adoption in decentralized finance. At the same time, it expanded its Web3 adoption team with an emphasis on integrations, listings, and real-world asset efforts.

A significant part of the technology and adoption story was tied to digital identity. In 2025, the foundation launched Veridian, a privacy-preserving identity platform designed to let organizations issue and verify digital credentials anchored on Cardano.

Meanwhile, adoption spending covered enterprise solutions, identity and traceability systems, regulatory collaboration, education, and ecosystem partnerships.

The report said the foundation made Originate available as an open-source traceability solution, advanced the Reeve platform through internal use and its first enterprise proof of concept, and pushed Veridian into wider deployment, including a white-label rollout for the United Nations Development Program and the launch of the Veridian Wallet.

The Cardano Academy also expanded through new courses, distribution partnerships, and multilingual deployment. The Foundation said course material was extended to Binance Academy, which it said reaches more than 44 million learners, while collaborations also included the Blockchain Research Institute and Coursera.

Lastly, governance took a smaller share of the budget than technology and adoption, but it remained central to the Foundation’s 2025 agenda as Cardano deepened its commitment to decentralized decision-making.

The report highlighted support for the largest on-chain budget submitted so far on Cardano, resulting in 38 separate treasury withdrawal governance actions. It also pointed to the Foundation’s enterprise membership in Intersect and its work across committees tied to civics, budget, technical matters, product, open-source enablement, marketing, and oversight.

That participation fed into a series of initiatives, including work on the constitutional process, the Cardano 2030 vision and strategy, the Cardano Summit 2025 proposal, and the Cardano 2026 budget process.

The Foundation also said it supported tools aimed at widening participation in governance, including the open-source Cardano Voting Tool, a Proposal Examiner built with Griffin AI, updated governance documentation, and dedicated sessions at Cardano Summit 2025.

The foundation’s DRep Delegation Program distributed 140 million ADA to seven builder DReps, with a further 220 million ADA allocation to adoption and operational DReps announced. It also published the Constitutional Committee’s cold keys and expanded internal frameworks for delegation and elections as the governance transition continued.

2026 will test whether the reset works

The next question is whether the Foundation’s repositioning can translate into a stronger operating story for Cardano itself.

Frederik Gregaard, the Foundation's chief executive, said the organization's focus in 2026 would remain on technology, governance, and enterprise and institutional adoption.

He said the group would continue working to strengthen Cardano’s role in real-world asset infrastructure, support the expansion of stablecoin markets and DeFi liquidity, and build the open-source tooling needed for broader adoption.

Notably, this aligns with the blockchain network's recent efforts to integrate the Pyth network, LayerZero, and Circle's USDCx stablecoin. All of these efforts are geared towards expanding Cardano's DeFi ecosystem and stablecoin supply to attract institutional support.

That leaves Cardano facing a clearer test in 2026 to determine if a more diversified balance sheet, combined with heavier spending on infrastructure, governance, and adoption, can help stabilize the economics around ADA itself.

The post Cardano Foundation shifts away from ADA as Bitcoin and cash take larger share of reserves appeared first on CryptoSlate.

On Apr. 2, Coinbase received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust charter.

Coinbase joined a cluster of at least eight firms that the OCC has moved toward federal trust-charter status since December 2025, and the cluster reveals a deliberate federal decision about which parts of crypto belong inside the supervised system.

Why this matters: The US is shifting from regulating crypto to selecting which parts of the stack sit inside the banking perimeter. That decision defines who can scale nationally, who captures institutional flows, and who remains outside the system.

The OCC conditionally approved Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity, and Paxos on Dec. 12, 2025. Bridge followed in February, Crypto.com in February, and Coinbase in April.

Eight approvals in roughly four months, all clustered around custody, reserve management, stablecoin infrastructure, and settlement. That density reframes the Coinbase headline as a data point in a federal design decision.

A national trust charter gives firms federal reach under a single OCC supervisor, allowing them to operate across all 50 states without having to assemble a patchwork of state approvals.

National trust banks hold client assets and facilitate settlement under a fiduciary mandate, operating within a purpose-built custody-and-settlement structure. The lane's practical value lies in scope and supervisory clarity: firms can hold client assets and handle settlement functions under a single federal framework.

Paxos explicitly framed its national trust push as a move beyond its New York state trust structure, and that framing reveals an architectural logic.

The functions Washington is comfortable supervising

The approvals cluster around custody, reserves, and settlement because that is where the OCC's comfort level currently sits.

Reports noted that Crypto.com's charter would cover client asset management and trade settlement, keeping the firm within custody and settlement functions. Bridge's approval covered stablecoin issuance and orchestration, as well as reserve management.

The OCC's Circle decision described digital-asset custody and reserve-management services tied to its fiduciary activities. Coinbase said full approval could support tokenized securities and stablecoins.

Washington is drawing a perimeter around the functions tokenized finance needs most, such as asset custody, stablecoin reserve backing, and settlement infrastructure, and extending supervisory authority over firms that provide them.

The firms best positioned in this environment are custodians, reserve managers, and stablecoin infrastructure operators.

Adjacent regulatory moves reinforce that reading. In March 2026, US bank regulators said tokenized securities would not face additional capital charges purely for being tokenized, calling the framework technology-neutral.

The SEC allowed intraday trading of tokenized shares of the WisdomTree money-market fund, approved Nasdaq's tokenized trading proposal, and cleared NYSE's tokenized securities partnership with Securitize.

The OCC charter wave and the tokenization rule stack are moving in tandem, with institutional infrastructure as the common thread.

VISUAL 2

The re-intermediation arc

Crypto's original commercial promise was removing the regulated intermediaries that traditional finance required.

The practical outcome of the OCC cluster is re-intermediation: the most commercially durable crypto firms are now competing to become a new class of regulated intermediaries. Tokenized finance needs custodians, reserve managers, and settlement rails before it needs another trading venue with more listed assets.

Capital is already pricing that reality. Mastercard agreed to buy BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, for up to $1.8 billion. OpenFX raised $94 million and reported annualized payment volume climbing from $4 billion to $45 billion in a year, with over 98% of transactions settling in under 60 minutes.

The global stablecoin market stood at over $310 billion in February 2026. These are backend-plumbing bets, concentrated in custody, settlement, and reserve management.

The competitive map is also narrowing. Anchorage is currently the only digital asset company operating under a full national trust bank charter. The December cluster and subsequent approvals are conditional or preliminary.

Getting to the final operating status requires demonstrating capital adequacy, governance, and operational controls to OCC examiners. This bar will compress the field toward well-capitalized incumbents with existing compliance infrastructure.

Two paths forward

In the bull case, the OCC finalizes its stablecoin implementation in terms that institutions can operationalize.

Tokenized securities pilots on Nasdaq and NYSE move from proof-of-concept to live settlement infrastructure, while firms like Mastercard accelerate the adoption of stablecoin rails across global payment corridors.

If stablecoins approach Standard Chartered's $2 trillion forecast by 2028 and tokenized real-world assets reach comparable scale, federally supervised crypto utilities become the scarce picks-and-shovels of digital finance.

The OCC's chartered custodians and reserve managers collect margin on trillions of dollars in assets that flow through the infrastructure they control.

In the bear case, final approvals move slowly as bank trade groups press their “lighter-touch charter” objection, and the OCC responds by tightening conditions on reserve buffers, liquidity stress tests, and operational controls.

The stablecoin market tracks closer to JPMorgan's $500 billion by 2028 forecast, a ceiling anchored by the fact that payments account for only about 6% of current stablecoin demand, roughly $15 billion of the $310 billion outstanding.

In that world, state trust structures and bank partnerships stay practical, and the federal lane becomes a premium niche.

The federal bet

Washington is sorting crypto's functions into those it wants to supervise and those it does not, or at least not yet.

The charter cluster, the stablecoin reserve rules under the GENIUS Act, and the technology-neutral treatment of tokenized securities together form a regulated stack for crypto-native financial infrastructure.

The power the OCC is extending is real. Still, it carries supervisory costs: monthly public reserve disclosures for stablecoin issuers, weekly confidential reporting under the proposed implementation rule, and full OCC examination authority.

The firms that clear that bar will operate nationally under a single federal supervisor, hold institutional assets, and process tokenized settlements in a framework that traditional finance counterparties can use.

Those who cannot or choose not to will stay in the state-licensed layer, and the charter wave is starting to sort itself out.

The post Washington has started selecting which crypto firms control custody at a national level appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin becomes the live market over Easter as oil shocks hit and traditional finance goes dark

The Bitcoin market now has three trading days where it will act as the live venue for geopolitical risk while much of traditional finance is closed.

As of Friday, April 3, Wall Street is closed for Good Friday; several other markets are shut or thinner than normal; and the macro backdrop has become harder, rather than easier, to price.

Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel and the Gulf states. Fires were reported at Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery. The Strait of Hormuz remains the central transmission line through which geopolitical risk is moving into oil, inflation expectations, and broader macro sensitivity.

At the same time, WTI surged 11.4% to $111.54, and Brent rose 7.8% to $109.03 in the latest repricing move.

Bitcoin, by contrast, remains open and is still clearing over $33 billion in volume over the last 24 hours.

It is trading around $67,150 after an intraday range of roughly $65,780 to $67,373.

Availability has become part of the market structure

Throughout 2026, Bitcoin has functioned less like a thesis trade and more like a weekend stress monitor.

Related Reading

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Mar 24, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

So what happens when the world gets a fresh geopolitical shock, oil gaps higher, and many of the usual venues for price discovery are closed for a long weekend?

Put simply, Bitcoin’s role here comes from availability rather than ideology.

When cash equities are closed, parts of the commodities complex are offline, and broader liquidity is fragmented by a holiday calendar, Bitcoin becomes one of the few major liquid assets still offering continuous two-way pricing.

In that sense, the market is using BTC as an immediate expression of changing sentiment.

Thin conditions can amplify moves. Crypto-native positioning can distort the signal. Weekend liquidity is not weekday liquidity. But none of that erases the core point.

If the next leg of geopolitical stress lands while traditional markets are dark, Bitcoin may be the first place investors see an immediate price response rather than the last place they confirm it.

The transmission mechanism is oil, and then rates, inflation expectations, and the dollar.

Oil first, then rates, then validation

That ladder matters. First comes the direct energy shock. Then comes the inflation read-through. Then comes the policy question.

If oil remains elevated because the Strait of Hormuz stays constrained or infrastructure damage widens, the inflation impulse becomes harder to dismiss as temporary.

That can move yields. It can support the dollar. It can also remove some of the macro oxygen that speculative assets need.

Bitcoin sits inside that chain whether crypto investors want it to or not. The move in crude is the mechanism through which geopolitical stress becomes a financing and liquidity question for the wider market.

In that sense, BTC is trading the same macro regime that households, bond markets, and central banks are trying to map. No single directional verdict follows automatically for Bitcoin.

If oil keeps repricing higher and the market starts to harden again around a higher-for-longer policy, BTC will have to show it can absorb a tougher liquidity backdrop rather than merely survive a geopolitical shock.

Holiday calendars are usually treated as scheduling details. This time, they are part of the structure, with a split between assets that can update instantly and those that cannot.

In closure windows, Bitcoin serves as a temporary price-discovery layer for global stress, even if it is not the final destination for defensive capital.

That is a narrower and more defensible claim than saying BTC leads all other markets.

Monday’s reopening can always revise the message.

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Feb 2, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

Equity futures can reopen in a different register. Oil can extend or retrace. Bond desks can reset the macro interpretation. But the availability premium still carries weight.

An open market has the first chance to express fear, relief, or confusion. This weekend, Bitcoin plays a more prominent role in that function than ever before. Even after multiple weekends of Bitcoin absorbing geopolitical developments.

The macro complication is that the geopolitical picture is landing into scheduled economic risk rather than replacing it.

The U.S. March jobs report is due Friday morning, with economists looking for a modest rebound after February’s weather- and strike-distorted weakness.

ADP showed 62,000 private-sector jobs added in March, which is not hot enough to settle the policy debate but not weak enough to clear it either.

Fabian Dori, CIO at Sygnum Bank, told CryptoSlate,

“With US equity markets closed for Good Friday, price discovery indications will be delegated to on-chain markets such as Hyperliquid, or be deferred in traditional markets until Sunday night futures and Monday’s open.

This means traditional markets will need to digest any significant miss or beat simultaneously with the weekend's geopolitical developments tied to the ongoing conflict in Iran.”

That leaves Bitcoin trading into a layered setup.

First, there is a live war risk. Second, there is a live oil shock. Third, there is an incoming labor print that could still affect how quickly the market relaxes on rates.

That is what makes the current weekend different from a routine risk-off spell.

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Feb 22, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

What Bitcoin is showing now, and what still needs confirmation

Bitcoin around $67,000 is a dangerous level for such a potentially volatile long weekend.

BTC has already absorbed a material oil repricing move, a worsening geopolitical backdrop, and the closure of major traditional venues without losing continuous market function.

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Apr 2, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

Bitcoin is acting as an open circuit for macro stress at a moment when other circuits are partially unavailable.

Being an open circuit does not make BTC a safe haven, a superior hedging tool, or predictive in any strong causal sense.

It does mean the asset is temporarily serving a role that goes beyond the usual crypto narrative. It is one of the few major markets still speaking.

The clear way to assess Bitcoin over Easter is through three layers: availability, transmission, and validation.

The framework is historical first and causal second.

It organizes the next 48 to 72 hours without pretending Bitcoin has become an oracle for all global assets.

First comes the live signal. Then comes the cross-asset confirmation. Then comes the question of whether the move will be accepted once the full market returns.

Bitcoin will likely trade reactively to developments around Iran, Hormuz, and oil, while investors treat the market action as an early signal rather than a settled verdict.

If there is de-escalation or at least stabilization from some relief around Gulf infrastructure, fewer signs of direct spillover, and an oil market that stops repricing upward in an orderly fashion, then Bitcoin’s resilience through the closure window could be constructive rather than fragile.

However, if the conflict expands further, refinery damage worsens, or the NATO call on opening the Strait of Hormuz by force goes badly, the market may spend the weekend repricing in light of a more durable inflation shock.

In that environment, Bitcoin faces the harder test. It would have to trade through a rising oil regime and a tightening macro backdrop simultaneously.

That leaves the next test unchanged. The first move will have value, but acceptance on Monday carries more weight.

If Bitcoin continues to absorb the Easter weekend stress while oil, war risk, and the jobs narrative stay unresolved, the market will use BTC price as a barometer for Monday's open. However, anything that happens this weekend could easily be reversed and repriced within moments of Monday's pre-market open.

Until then, the market is left trading signals without confirmation, more of a placeholder than a conclusion.

The question is whether Bitcoin is delivering something real, or just leaving a trail of clues for others to interpret, like an Easter bunny that may or may not have actually passed through.

The post Bitcoin is the financial Easter Bunny this weekend as markets close Friday amid critical jobs report appeared first on CryptoSlate.

XRP is in its deepest losing streak in more than a decade, even as Ripple aggressively expands into corporate finance and institutional infrastructure. The disconnect is forcing a key market question: why isn’t that momentum showing up in price?

XRP price is in its longest losing streak since 2014, a slide that has left one of the market’s oldest large-cap tokens searching for a fresh catalyst even as Ripple accelerates its push into corporate treasury, institutional trading, and cross-border payments.

Why this matters: Ripple is moving XRP closer to real financial workflows rather than speculative use. If treasury systems, trading desks, and payment networks begin integrating the asset at scale, it could change how demand forms. For now, the market is treating that transition as unproven.

According to Cryptorank data, the token has fallen for six straight months since October 2025, losing an average of about 10% each month and shedding more than 55% over that period, trading at $1.33 as of press time.

This represents the longest stretch of monthly declines for XRP since a seven-month skid from December 2013 through June 2014, when it lost an average of 27% per month.

Meanwhile, the current downturn has come during a broader risk-off period across digital assets. Bitcoin has retreated from a peak above $126,000 to around $66,000, dragging sentiment lower across the market and leaving traders less willing to chase assets that lack a clear near-term driver.

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Jan 29, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

For XRP, the weakness has been compounded by softer market activity. Data from CryptoQuant showed the token’s 30-day liquidity index on Binance fell to about 0.062, one of the lowest readings in recent periods, while the 30-day turnover index stood at about $4.46 billion.

Together, those figures point to thinner order books, lighter participation, and a market that is more vulnerable to sharp price swings when larger trades hit.

That backdrop helps explain why Ripple’s latest corporate and institutional advances are drawing renewed attention.

The company is expanding quickly across treasury management, prime brokerage, payments, and tokenized financial infrastructure, and the question facing the market is whether those gains can eventually translate into stronger demand, deeper liquidity, and a firmer narrative for XRP.

XRP enters corporate treasury workflows

Ripple’s latest move is to place digital assets directly within the software used by corporate finance teams, an area long dominated by fiat-only systems.

On April 1, the company introduced Digital Asset Accounts and Unified Treasury inside GTreasury, the enterprise treasury management platform it acquired in 2025.

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The system processed $13 trillion in payments volume last year for clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, giving Ripple an established corporate channel rather than a new one built from scratch.

Digital Asset Accounts allow treasury teams to hold, view, and manage XRP, RLUSD stablecoin, and other supported tokens alongside traditional cash balances inside the same platform.

According to the firm, positions are shown with live fiat valuations, while transactions are recorded automatically with native token amounts, fiat equivalents, and the market price at the time of each event.

Ripple said the system also captures balances to 15 decimal places, aligning internal records more closely with on-chain activity.

On the other hand, unified Treasury extends that approach by linking digital asset holdings from multiple custodians through the same API layer already used for bank connectivity.

For finance teams, this promises a way to bring digital assets into existing approval, reporting, and compliance processes without forcing a separate operational setup.

Renaat Ver Eecke, senior vice president at Ripple Treasury, said the additions give the office of the CFO “a trusted, single place to hold and manage both digital and fiat assets.” He added that Ripple plans to connect that setup to its payments network and prime brokerage capabilities for cross-border settlement and yield generation.

The timing is notable. Ripple’s 2026 survey of more than 1,000 global finance leaders found that 72% said they need a digital asset solution to remain competitive, but many still lack a practical way to integrate that exposure into treasury operations.

By placing XRP within a system used by the CFO's office, Ripple is trying to make the token part of routine corporate finance infrastructure rather than a stand-alone crypto allocation.

Ripple expands its market stack with Hyperliquid

Meanwhile, Ripple is also widening its footprint in institutional trading, a second front that could help strengthen the network around XRP even if the effect on the token is not immediate.

Ripple Prime, the company’s institutional trading platform, extended its HyperliquidX integration to include HIP-3 assets, opening access to on-chain perpetual contracts tied to traditional assets such as gold, silver, and oil.

The offering gives institutional clients exposure to decentralized derivatives through a framework that sits alongside more familiar portfolio and collateral management tools.

The pitch is operational simplicity. Institutions can manage these positions without handling separate Web3 wallets, fragmented collateral pools, or direct smart contract interaction.

Notably, Ripple Prime initially integrated with Hyperliquid in February 2026, becoming the sole counterparty for clients seeking access to the venue’s on-chain crypto liquidity.

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That integration comes as Hyperliquid has grown into the largest decentralized perpetuals platform, with more than $5 billion in open interest and monthly trading volume that regularly exceeds $200 billion.

Data from ASXN shows that HIP-3 daily volume has topped $2 billion, with open interest at $2 billion, and that only seven of Hyperliquid’s top 30 markets are crypto pairs.

Against this backdrop, those steps suggest Ripple is building a broader trading and brokerage stack around digital assets, one designed to appeal to clients who want regulated access to blockchain-based markets without abandoning traditional portfolio structures.

Payments, stablecoins, and permissioned finance

The third leg of Ripple’s expansion is payments, where the company is increasingly tying together RLUSD, XRPL, and its enterprise network.

Ripple Labs and Convera said this week they will work together to improve global payments using stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure. Convera, formerly Western Union Business Solutions, operates across about 200 countries and territories and supports more than 140 currencies.

The partnership is centered on a “stablecoin sandwich” model in which transactions begin and end in fiat, while stablecoins are used in the middle of the payment flow.

That model fits Ripple’s broader strategy as stablecoins move deeper into mainstream finance. Stablecoins processed $33 trillion in volume last year, up 72% from 2024, but only a small share of that activity has so far been tied to practical payment functions such as payroll, treasury transfers, and remittances.

Ripple is also extending that strategy into public-private financial infrastructure. Last week, the company joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s BLOOM initiative to test programmable cross-border trade settlement using the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and RLUSD.

At the same time, XRPL is being adapted for more regulated institutional use through permissioned domains and a permissioned decentralized exchange, tools designed to create controlled venues where access can be limited through credentials and compliance checks.

The common thread is clear. Ripple is trying to position XRPL and its stablecoin infrastructure as part of a regulated operating layer for moving money, managing liquidity, and settling value across borders.

Can Ripple’s momentum lift XRP?

That still leaves the central market question unanswered. Ripple’s business is broadening, but XRP remains under pressure.

The token’s weak liquidity and lower turnover suggest that market participants have yet to treat Ripple’s expansion as a decisive reason to reprice XRP higher.

In part, that reflects the distinction investors continue to make between Ripple’s enterprise progress and the token’s direct utility. Treasury integration, brokerage services, and stablecoin partnerships can strengthen the company’s strategic position without immediately changing spot demand for XRP.

Even so, the longer-term case is that these efforts could deepen the conditions XRP needs to recover. More treasury usage can increase familiarity with the asset inside corporate finance. Broader institutional access can improve market structure. Greater use of XRPL and RLUSD in payments and settlement can reinforce the network’s relevance at a time when tokenized money movement is becoming more competitive.

Bitrue Research argued that XRP is expanding beyond its legacy payments identity into a broader stack that includes stablecoins, decentralized finance, sidechains, and cross-chain settlement.

The firm outlined a base case that could see XRP rise to $2.00 by September, with a stronger scenario of $2.50 if RLUSD adoption accelerates, XRPFi expands, and regulation becomes more supportive.

For now, those targets remain a forward bet rather than a confirmed shift. XRP is still in its deepest losing run in more than a decade.

However, as Ripple pushes deeper into treasury management, institutional trading, and regulated payment infrastructure, the market is being forced to consider whether the company’s gains can eventually become the token’s turning point.

The post XRP’s longest slump in a decade collides with Ripple’s $13 trillion institutional push appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The first quarter of 2026 has concluded, leaving the cryptocurrency market in a state of significant reassessment. After a bullish end to 2025, the start of the year brought a harsh "risk-off" reality. Major assets, led by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), saw substantial drawdowns as investors grappled with a perfect storm of geopolitical conflict, surging energy costs, and a hawkish shift in global monetary policy.

Why did Crypto Crash in 2026?

If you are looking for the primary reason for the crash: Q1 2026 was defined by a liquidity drain. As Bitcoin fell 23%, capital fled volatile assets in favor of traditional safe havens. While the broader market bled, specific utility-driven tokens like Tron (TRX) and UNUS SED LEO (LEO) managed to defy the trend, posting gains of 10% and 4.6% respectively.

Q1 2026 Market Performance Overview

The following table summarizes the Year-to-Date (YTD) performance of the top cryptocurrencies as of the end of March 2026:

The Macroeconomic "Pressure Cooker"

To understand the Q1 crash, one must look at the "Macroeconomic Pressure Cooker." This refers to the simultaneous rise in inflation expectations and interest rates. In early 2026, the US Federal Reserve signaled that interest rates would remain "higher for longer" to combat a sticky 2.7% inflation rate. This strengthened the US Dollar, making riskier assets like Ethereum less attractive to institutional desks.

Crypto Crash Reasons

The downturn was accelerated by significant global events:

• Geopolitical Conflict: Escalating tensions in the Middle East—specifically involving Iran—reignited fears of a broader war. This uncertainty historically triggers a flight to quality.
• Oil Prices: Crude oil prices surged in Q1, with Brent crude hitting over $118/bbl. High energy prices act as a tax on the global economy and increase the operational costs for Bitcoin miners, often leading to "miner capitulation" sell-offs.
• The Gold & Silver Hedge: Unlike crypto, Gold posted steady gains of roughly 8% earlier in the quarter, reaching near-record levels as investors sought a store of value that doesn't rely on digital network uptime or speculative sentiment.

Why Altcoins Suffered More

While Bitcoin’s 23% drop was painful, Solana (SOL) and BNB were hit harder, losing 36% and 32% respectively. This is a classic "beta" move; altcoins typically amplify Bitcoin's movements. When liquidity dries up, speculative "high-growth" ecosystems are the first to see capital outflows. Investors moved their holdings from high-risk dApp platforms into stablecoins or exited the market entirely.

The Outliers — Tron and LEO

Why did Tron (+10%) and UNUS SED LEO (+4.6%) survive the carnage?

• Tron (TRX): Tron has solidified itself as the "Global Settlement Layer" for USDT. During a crash, the demand for stablecoin transfers spikes. As users move to safety, the burning of TRX for transaction fees increases, creating deflationary price pressure that supported the TRX price.
• UNUS SED LEO (LEO): As a utility token for the Bitfinex ecosystem, LEO benefits from a consistent buy-back and burn mechanism. In periods of high volatility, exchange-based tokens often act as a "defensive" play, as trading volumes (and thus burn rates) remain elevated.

Institutional Sentiment and ETF Outflows

The latest crypto news highlights that Bitcoin ETFs saw their first sustained period of net outflows in Q1 2026. Institutional investors, who were the primary drivers of the 2025 rally, shifted their focus to the S&P 500 and banking stocks, which showed more resilience during the "war-inflation" scare.

Crypto Markets Are Moving — But Something Is Missing

Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has reacted to a wave of major geopolitical and macroeconomic developments. Rising tensions, escalating military actions, and a sharp surge in oil prices have already introduced volatility across Bitcoin and altcoins.

Yet despite all this, the overall market remains relatively stable.

Bitcoin is holding near the $66,000–$67,000 range, Ethereum is hovering around $2,000, and total crypto market capitalization remains largely flat.

👉 At first glance, this may seem like resilience.

👉 In reality, it signals something else: the market has not fully reacted yet.

Why the Real Move Hasn’t Started

The most important factor right now is simple:

👉 Wall Street is closed.

Due to the Good Friday holiday, U.S. stock markets are not trading. This means:

• Institutional investors are inactive
• ETFs are paused
• Large capital flows are temporarily frozen

At the same time, major developments are unfolding:

• Escalation in U.S.–Iran tensions
• Announcements targeting critical infrastructure
• Oil prices surging above key levels
• Gold behaving unexpectedly under pressure

👉 These events are happening without full market participation.

As a result, crypto is currently trading in a partial-information environment, where only retail and limited global flows are active.

Monday Is the Real Catalyst

👉 The U.S. market will reopen on Monday at 9:30 AM ET (3:30 PM Central European Time).

This moment could act as a major reset point for global markets.

Why?

Because all the news that broke during the market closure will be priced in simultaneously:

• Equity markets will react
• Oil markets will continue adjusting
• Institutional portfolios will rebalance
• Risk exposure will be reassessed

👉 In short: Monday is when the real repricing begins.

Why the Pressure Is Building

Markets are currently sitting in a fragile equilibrium.

On one side:

• Bullish crypto fundamentals (institutional adoption, regulatory progress)
• Bitcoin holding key levels

On the other:

• Rising oil prices tightening global liquidity
• Escalating geopolitical risk
• Uncertainty around further military actions

👉 This creates a compression phase — where price stays relatively stable while pressure builds underneath.

When markets reopen, that pressure is likely to release quickly.

How Big Could the Move Be?

Bearish Scenario (Higher Probability Short-Term)

If macro pressure dominates:

• Bitcoin could break below $66K, targeting $64K or lower
• Ethereum may lose the $2,000 level
• Altcoins could see sharper declines

👉 This would likely happen if:

• Oil continues rising
• War headlines intensify
• Equity markets open significantly lower

Bullish Scenario (Lower Probability but Possible)

If markets interpret the situation as contained:

• Bitcoin could push toward $68K–$70K
• Short squeezes could accelerate upside
• Risk appetite may temporarily return

👉 This would require:

• De-escalation signals
• Oil price stabilization or drop
• Strong dip-buying from institutions

Most Likely Outcome: Volatility First

Regardless of direction, one thing is highly likely:

👉 Volatility will expand sharply.

Expect:

• Fast moves in both directions
• Liquidations across leveraged positions
• Sudden reversals as markets search for direction

Oil Is Now Driving Crypto

One of the most important shifts in this cycle is clear:

👉 Crypto is no longer reacting only to crypto news.

Instead, it is increasingly tied to macro forces — especially energy markets.

As oil rises:

• Inflation expectations increase
• Central banks face pressure
• Liquidity tightens

👉 And when liquidity tightens, risk assets — including crypto — come under pressure.

This makes oil one of the key indicators to watch ahead of Monday.

What to Expect Until Then

Until Wall Street reopens:

• Markets may remain choppy
• Liquidity will stay relatively low
• Price movements may be misleading or incomplete

👉 The current market action is not the final move — it is the setup phase.

Conclusion: Crypto Is Waiting — But Not for Long

Crypto markets are currently reacting, but not fully.

The absence of institutional participation means that what we are seeing now is only a partial response to a much larger macro shift.

👉 Monday changes everything.

As global markets reopen, all delayed reactions will converge — creating the potential for a significant move across Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.

For investors, the key takeaway is simple:

👉 The real move hasn’t started yet — but it’s getting closer.

Coinbase has officially received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish the Coinbase National Trust Company. This move brings the largest U.S. exchange under federal oversight, effectively bridging the gap between Silicon Valley innovation and Wall Street’s regulatory rigors.

Is Coinbase a Bank?

No. While the news is massive, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong clarified that the firm is not becoming a commercial bank. Instead, the national trust charter allows Coinbase to provide fiduciary services, asset custody, and investment management across the entire U.S. under a single federal framework, rather than navigating a patchwork of state-by-state licenses.

What Does the OCC Approval Actually Mean?

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is the primary federal regulator for national banks and federal savings associations. By granting this charter, the OCC is allowing Coinbase to operate as a National Trust Bank.

• Federal Uniformity: Coinbase can now offer custody services nationwide with consistent federal standards.
• Institutional Magnet: Large-scale institutional investors, who are often wary of state-level regulations, now have a federally overseen partner for their digital assets.
• No Retail Deposits: Unlike a commercial bank, this trust cannot take retail demand deposits or engage in fractional reserve lending.

The Perfect Storm: Market Structure Bill and Fundamentals

This approval comes at a pivotal moment. The U.S. Congress is currently advancing the CLARITY Act and other market structure bills aimed at defining how digital assets are regulated. With Coinbase securing a seat at the federal banking table, the fundamental strength of the crypto market has arguably reached an all-time high.

Why This Could Trigger the Biggest Bull Run Yet

The entry of a federally chartered trust company within the Coinbase ecosystem acts as a "green light" for trillions of dollars in sidelined institutional capital. As the crypto market structure becomes more defined, the barriers for pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and major insurance companies to hold $Bitcoin are effectively dissolving.

Institutional Custody and the Future of Payments

According to reports from Coinbase's institutional blog, the new charter will focus heavily on custody and settlement. As of late 2025, Coinbase already held over $370 billion in assets under custody. With this new federal status, that number is expected to skyrocket.

Furthermore, the charter lays the groundwork for advanced crypto payment rails. By working directly with the OCC, Coinbase intends to explore infrastructure products that allow for seamless, instant settlement of digital assets, potentially challenging traditional systems like SWIFT.

What Just Happened in the Markets?

Global markets surged after reports that Iran and Oman are working on a protocol to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The reaction was immediate:

• Over $1.5 trillion added across US markets
• Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow all moved higher
• Risk sentiment briefly flipped bullish

👉 On the surface, this looks like the start of a recovery.

But crypto is telling a completely different story.

Crypto Is Not Following — And That’s the Warning

Despite the bullish backdrop:

• Bitcoin is still trading under pressure
• Ethereum and major altcoins continue to decline
• No strong follow-through from crypto markets

👉 This kind of divergence is rare — and important.

When crypto fails to react to good news, it often signals that something deeper is broken beneath the surface.

The Market Got Bullish News — A Lot of It

Over the past hours, several developments should have supported crypto:

• IMF signaling that tokenization could reshape global finance
• Coinbase gaining conditional approval for a US national trust charter
• $500 million USDC minted, signaling fresh liquidity entering the system
• Equity markets recovering sharply

👉 Under normal conditions, this would trigger a strong crypto bounce.

But it didn’t.

Why Crypto Is Ignoring the Rally

The answer lies in liquidity and macro pressure.

Even though headlines are turning positive, the underlying conditions remain tight:

• Oil prices are still above $110
• Global inflation risks remain elevated
• Central banks are unlikely to ease aggressively
• Capital is still cautious and selective

👉 In this environment, investors are not chasing risk — they are managing exposure.

Crypto, being the most sensitive risk asset, reacts first.

This Is a Classic Late-Stage Signal

Markets often behave like this near key turning points.

First:

• Equities bounce on headlines

Then:

• Crypto refuses to confirm

👉 That disconnect is a warning.

It suggests that the rally may be driven by short-term positioning, not real conviction.

What Smart Money Is Likely Doing

While retail reacts to headlines, institutions tend to act differently.

The signals suggest:

• Positioning into infrastructure (tokenization, custody, stablecoins)
• Preparing liquidity (USDC minting)
• Expanding regulatory positioning (Coinbase trust charter)

👉 This is accumulation — but not in a risk-on environment yet.

What Happens Next?

The market is now at a critical point.

Two scenarios can unfold:

Bullish Case:

• Oil drops
• Tensions ease further
• Crypto catches up to equities

Bearish Case:

• Oil stays high
• Geopolitical risk returns
• Crypto leads the next leg down

👉 Right now, crypto is leaning toward the second scenario.

Final Take: This Is Not Strength — It’s a Signal

Crypto is not lagging by accident.

It is reacting to real underlying conditions, not headlines.

👉 When markets rally but crypto doesn’t follow, it usually means one thing:

The risk isn’t gone — it’s just being ignored.

Bitcoin ($BTC) plummeted below the critical $66,000 threshold on April 2, 2026. This sudden downward movement has sent shockwaves through the derivatives market, resulting in the liquidation of over $251,940,000 worth of long positions within the last 24 hours.

Why is Bitcoin Dropping Today?

The current decline is fueled by a "perfect storm" of fundamental and technical factors. Reports indicate that rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and a hawkish shift in U.S. trade policy—specifically recent tariff announcements—have pushed investors toward a "risk-off" stance.

Furthermore, institutional demand through spot $Bitcoin ETFs has cooled significantly. Data shows net outflows exceeding $170 million in recent sessions, suggesting that the aggressive buying pressure seen in previous months is tapering off. This lack of immediate demand has left the market vulnerable to the "long squeeze" we are currently witnessing.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Why is Bitcoin Down?

Analyzing the 4-hour chart of BTC/USD, several bearish signals are evident that traders should monitor closely.

1. The Descending Resistance Line

A prominent yellow trend line (descending resistance) has been capping Bitcoin's price action since mid-March. Every attempt to break above this line has been met with aggressive selling pressure. As of April 2, Bitcoin remains trapped beneath this diagonal resistance, currently situated near the $67,500 – $68,000 zone.

2. Immediate Support Levels

Bitcoin is currently testing a horizontal support zone identified on the chart at $65,581.

• Crucial Support: The $65,500 – $65,800 range is acting as the primary line of defense for bulls.
• Secondary Target: If $65,500 fails to hold, the next significant psychological and technical floor is at $63,000.

3. RSI and Momentum

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently hovering around 38.02. This indicates that while the market is approaching "oversold" territory (typically below 30), there is still room for further downside before a relief bounce becomes a high-probability event. The momentum is clearly in favor of the bears in the short term.

Market Sentiment and Liquidation Heatmap

The $251 million in long liquidations suggests that many retail traders were positioned for a breakout that failed to materialize. When these positions are forcibly closed (liquidated), it adds "sell-side" pressure to the market, often leading to a cascading effect where the price drops further, hitting more stop-losses.

According to data from CoinGlass, the majority of these liquidations occurred on major exchanges like Binance and OKX.

Bitcoin Future Outlook: Bull Trap or Consolidation?

The big question is whether this is a "healthy correction" before a move toward $100,000 or the start of a deeper bearish phase. For a bullish reversal to be confirmed, Bitcoin must:

• Hold the $65,500 support on a daily closing basis.
• Break out above the yellow descending trend line with significant volume.
• Reclaim $70,000 to shift the narrative back to a positive bias.

The draft law would impose prison terms of up to life for those running the scam compounds behind billions of dollars in crypto fraud.

Algorand jumped following its mention in a Google research paper, as post-quantum cryptography emerges as a new crypto narrative.

The multi-year partnership covers the US and Canada, marking Polymarket's continued expansion into traditional sports markets.

Naoris Protocol says its blockchain network uses quantum-resistant cryptography, as the wider crypto industry prepares for future threats.

Publicly traded stablecoin issuer Circle is launching a new token, cirBTC, its own wrapped Bitcoin alternative.

Shiba Inu lead ambassador Shytoshi Kusama said to "talk soon" in an X post that broke weeks of silence on social media.

Richest individual holder of Ethereum revealed by Arkham.

XRP is flashing signs as decreasing on-chain activity and a weak technical structure point to continued short-term downside risk.

Bitmine has staked additional amount of Ethereum from its treasury holdings, stirring conversations across the crypto community.

Whale shorts five million XRP on Hyperliquid, Japan analysts warn of $10,000 BTC "black swan" and Ethereum Foundation stakes $143 million. Plus, analysis of Bitcoin liquidity vacuum on Easter weekend.

Key Takeaways

• March 2026 revenue data from TSMC drops April 10, offering critical insight into whether supply can match AI chip demand
• Revenue surged 37% year-over-year in January; February posted 22% YoY growth but fell 21% month-over-month due to seasonal patterns
• Broadcom has publicly identified TSMC’s production capacity as a constraint limiting AI hardware rollouts
• Taiwan’s energy dependence—importing roughly 95% of its supply—faces new threats from Middle East instability affecting the Strait of Hormuz
• The chipmaker is scaling its U.S. presence with a massive $165 billion Arizona buildout featuring 12 fabrication and packaging facilities

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) stands at a critical juncture. The company’s March 2026 monthly sales figures, scheduled for release on April 10, will provide investors with crucial visibility into the health of AI semiconductor demand.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, TSM

This upcoming data release carries extra weight because it will reveal whether TSMC can translate explosive AI chip orders into actual production output. That question has grown increasingly complex in recent weeks.

For the better part of a year, the investment thesis around chip stocks has been straightforward: AI demand climbs, revenues climb with it. But that clean narrative is starting to fracture. Manufacturing bottlenecks and international tensions are now sharing the spotlight with order books.

TSMC commands approximately 72% of the worldwide contract chipmaking market, positioning it as the indispensable partner in the AI semiconductor ecosystem. Nvidia, Apple, and numerous other tech giants rely on TSMC’s cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities.

Recent financial performance has been robust. January 2026 sales climbed 37% compared to the prior year. February showed a 22% year-over-year increase, though monthly revenue declined 21% from January—a predictable seasonal dip rather than a warning sign.

Taken together, the first two months of 2026 demonstrated nearly 30% year-over-year revenue expansion. That momentum sets high expectations for the March figures.

Production Constraints Emerge as Primary Challenge

Broadcom hasn’t minced words: TSMC’s manufacturing capacity is creating a genuine constraint. As cloud providers and major corporations shift from AI pilots to production-scale implementations, the flood of chip orders is bumping against the physical limits of TSMC’s fabrication facilities.

This capacity squeeze is now intersecting with heightened international instability. Tensions involving Iran have interrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz—a vital passage responsible for roughly 20% of worldwide petroleum and liquefied natural gas transport.

Taiwan relies on imports for approximately 95% of its energy needs, with natural gas accounting for about 48% of the island’s power generation mix. Any interruption to fuel deliveries creates immediate production risk for semiconductor manufacturing operations.

Compounding these challenges, a global helium shortage continues to intensify. Helium plays a critical role in chip production processes, and reduced supplies create another headwind for output volumes.

Massive U.S. Expansion Gains Momentum

On the capital investment front, TSMC is accelerating its American footprint. The company has expanded its Arizona commitment to $165 billion, outlining plans for a dozen wafer fabrication and chip packaging plants.

Capital spending for 2026 is forecast between $52 billion and $56 billion, fueled primarily by the expensive transition to advanced N2 process technology and the company’s worldwide facility expansion strategy.

Production costs in the United States run two to three times higher than comparable operations in Taiwan. Nevertheless, Taiwanese equipment and material suppliers are pressing forward—processing work visas, building local teams, and committing to long-term contracts despite compressed profit margins in the short term.

Supply chain partners who moved early are offering premium compensation packages to secure skilled workers, wagering that future production volumes will justify today’s elevated investment.

The April 10 revenue announcement will serve as the first significant indicator of whether TSMC’s manufacturing infrastructure can maintain pace with order flow—and whether the substantial Arizona investment is beginning to generate returns.

The post Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) Stock: March Revenue Report Set to Test AI Supply Chain Limits appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• AeroVironment demonstrates robust expansion with a substantial order backlog and raised annual projections driven by military drone orders
• Rockwell Automation delivered impressive sales gains, better margins, and increased subscription-based software income
• Symbotic achieved profitability, reported significant revenue acceleration, and maintains a sizeable contract backlog for distribution center automation
• Wall Street analysts express strong confidence in AeroVironment and Rockwell, though Symbotic receives more varied assessments
• The market increasingly rewards robotics firms demonstrating tangible revenue expansion and profitability improvements

Three robotics companies—AeroVironment, Rockwell Automation, and Symbotic—are capturing significant attention from the investment community. Each operates within distinct segments of the robotics ecosystem, spanning military unmanned systems, industrial automation platforms, and automated warehouse solutions.

Investor sentiment has shifted toward selectivity within the automation sector. Instead of broadly investing in any automation-related business, capital is flowing toward enterprises demonstrating concrete revenue generation and sustainable paths toward profitability.

These three companies present compelling arguments for inclusion in that elite category.

AeroVironment

AeroVironment specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous systems, primarily serving military and defense agencies. This focus differentiates it significantly from conventional industrial robotics manufacturers.

AeroVironment, Inc., AVAV

The company reported explosive revenue growth in its most recent quarterly report, accompanied by an expanding funded backlog that provides enhanced forward visibility. Executives raised their annual outlook following these impressive results.

Military agencies are increasing procurement of autonomous platforms to minimize personnel risk and enhance surveillance capabilities. This trend creates substantial momentum for AeroVironment going forward.

Analyst perspectives skew optimistic, with Buy recommendations outnumbering Hold or Sell ratings. The Street appears prepared to overlook temporary contract fluctuations and concentrate on the extended growth trajectory.

Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation operates in the industrial automation sphere rather than aerial systems or logistics robotics. The company produces control platforms, software solutions, and automation technologies deployed throughout manufacturing facilities.

Rockwell Automation, Inc., ROK

Recent financial reports highlighted organic revenue advancement, widening operational margins, and growing subscription revenue streams. The subscription metric carries particular significance as it demonstrates sustained demand for Rockwell‘s software and control offerings beyond one-time hardware purchases.

As production facilities upgrade their operations, Rockwell occupies a central position in capital expenditure decisions. While it may lack the excitement surrounding pure robotics companies, analyst consensus remains favorable.

Rating distribution reveals numerous Buy recommendations, substantial Hold positions, and minimal bearish outlooks. This pattern reflects consistent operational performance and margin enhancement.

Symbotic

Symbotic concentrates on warehouse robotics, delivering automated systems to major retail chains and logistics operators. The company recently achieved positive net income, representing a significant operational milestone.

Symbotic Inc., SYM

Revenue has expanded rapidly while profitability metrics have strengthened. Additionally, the company maintains an exceptionally large project backlog, offering investors rare forward visibility regarding system installations and revenue recognition.

This backlog forms the foundation of the bullish investment thesis. It indicates multiple years of committed projects and robust customer appetite.

Analyst perspectives on Symbotic show greater divergence compared to the other two companies, incorporating Buy, Hold, and some Sell ratings. Concerns regarding execution capabilities, deployment schedules, and customer diversification account for some skepticism.

The company’s recent profitability achievement represents a pivotal transformation in its financial narrative.

Final Thoughts

The post Three Robotics Companies Attracting Major Investor Interest in 2025 appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• Ondas finalized its purchase of World View Enterprises, a firm specializing in stratospheric balloons and high-altitude intelligence gathering.
• Shares climbed 8.97% to finish at $9.60 following the announcement.
• The company unveiled an integrated, AI-powered defense system developed alongside Palantir Technologies (PLTR).
• Financial results show $50.73M in revenue against a $132.02M net loss for 2025.
• A $36.66M shelf registration remains active, presenting potential shareholder dilution risks.

Ondas Holdings (ONDS) delivered a notable performance Thursday, advancing 8.97% to close at $9.60 after revealing the successful completion of its World View Enterprises acquisition. This strategic transaction expands Ondas’s operational footprint into stratospheric intelligence—territory the company previously hadn’t explored.

Ondas Holdings Inc., ONDS

World View brings expertise in deploying high-altitude balloon systems that carry surveillance equipment and sensor arrays into the stratosphere for prolonged missions. The technology enables continuous, broad-area monitoring capabilities that traditional unmanned aircraft can’t match.

But the acquisition itself isn’t the only story. Ondas simultaneously revealed plans for a comprehensive AI-driven, multi-domain defense system created alongside Palantir Technologies. This platform aims to unify detection, intelligence gathering, data integration, and tactical response across geographically dispersed operations.

According to Ondas, this represents a “unified platform” merging its current unmanned aerial systems, counter-UAS technologies, and the newly acquired near-space balloon capabilities into one cohesive framework. Integrating these diverse elements presents significant technical challenges.

Palantir Partnership Strengthens Software Capabilities

The collaboration with Palantir brings substantial software expertise to complement Ondas’s hardware offerings. Modern defense procurement increasingly favors interconnected, software-centric solutions over isolated platforms—precisely what Ondas aims to deliver.

The company highlighted growing demand for “persistent, layered ISR” capabilities, fueled by ongoing defense modernization initiatives. According to Ondas, military customers are transitioning from compartmentalized systems toward comprehensive integrated frameworks.

Ondas has now consolidated five recent acquisitions, including World View, into this unified platform strategy. Successfully integrating these diverse entities poses significant challenges for an organization still operating in the red.

The financial picture underscores these challenges. Ondas generated $50.73 million in revenue during 2025 while recording a net loss of $132.02 million over the same timeframe. The company continues experiencing substantial cash consumption.

Additionally, a $36.66 million shelf registration covering over four million units remains in effect. This represents an ongoing dilution concern that shareholders should monitor closely.

Critical Factors Moving Forward

Over the trailing twelve months, ONDS has delivered extraordinary returns—including an impressive 899.8% gain across three years—suggesting the stock already prices in considerable optimism regarding this defense platform narrative.

Recent performance shows more variability. While shares gained 1.7% during the week preceding Thursday’s jump, they had declined 4.2% over the preceding month.

The central question centers on contract execution. While Ondas has assembled what appears to be a compelling platform on paper, defense procurement cycles extend over lengthy periods, and revenue from these enhanced capabilities remains unrealized.

Successfully integrating World View operations, securing multi-year contracts leveraging the combined Ondas-World View-Palantir ecosystem, and maintaining disciplined cost management relative to revenue expansion will determine the company’s trajectory in coming quarters.

The post Ondas (ONDS) Stock Surges 9% on World View Acquisition and Palantir Defense Partnership appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Wall Street analysts anticipate TER will deliver Q1 2026 EPS of $2.08, representing a 177.3% surge from the prior year’s $0.75.
• The company exceeded earnings projections by 32.4% in Q4 2025, posting $1.80 per share against the $1.36 forecast.
• Shares have skyrocketed 271.3% during the past year, dramatically outperforming the S&P 500’s 16.7% gain.
• A 6.5% single-day decline occurred on March 30 as Iran-related geopolitical risks sparked semiconductor supply chain worries.
• Coverage from 17 Wall Street analysts yields a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price objective of $311.20.

Teradyne’s performance has been nothing short of exceptional. Shares have climbed approximately 61% since the start of the year and more than 271% over the trailing twelve months, propelled primarily by robust appetite for AI-driven semiconductor testing systems.

Teradyne, Inc., TER

The semiconductor equipment maker has consistently surpassed analyst earnings forecasts across its last four quarterly reports. In the most recent period, Q4 2025, the company delivered $1.80 in earnings per share—32.4% higher than the $1.36 Wall Street consensus. Quarterly revenue reached $1.08 billion, significantly exceeding the $970 million projection and marking a 43.9% year-over-year increase.

As the Q1 2026 earnings announcement draws near, expectations are running high. Analysts project earnings of $2.08 per share, which would mark a substantial 177.3% improvement over the $0.75 reported during the same quarter last year. While this represents an ambitious forecast, Teradyne has demonstrated a consistent ability to exceed elevated benchmarks.

For the complete 2026 fiscal year, Wall Street consensus calls for EPS of $5.91—a 49.2% jump from the $3.96 achieved in fiscal 2025. Extended projections point to earnings of $7.62 per share in fiscal 2027, reflecting 28.9% year-over-year expansion.

The stock currently commands a price-to-earnings ratio near 89, which sits well above historical norms. The twelve-month trading range spans from $65.77 to $344.92, illustrating the dramatic shift in investor sentiment as AI infrastructure expenditures accelerated.

Institutional ownership remains exceptionally strong, with approximately 99.77% of outstanding shares held by institutions and hedge funds. Recent filings show several prominent investors expanding their positions, including Integrated Wealth Concepts, which increased its holdings by 12.8% during Q1.

Wall Street Sentiment and Price Objectives

The analyst community maintains a predominantly positive outlook. Of the 17 analysts tracking the stock, 11 rate it “Strong Buy,” one assigns “Moderate Buy,” and five recommend “Hold.” The consensus twelve-month price target stands at $311.20, implying roughly 1.4% potential appreciation from present trading levels.

Multiple major financial institutions have revised their targets upward in recent months. Morgan Stanley established a $306 price objective. Goldman Sachs upgraded its target from $230 to $300 while maintaining a “Buy” recommendation. Evercore increased its forecast from $200 to $280 alongside an “Outperform” rating. Cantor Fitzgerald adjusted its target higher from $240 to $270.

Robert W. Baird has additionally identified TER as a compelling appreciation opportunity, contributing to the optimistic analyst sentiment surrounding the upcoming earnings release.

Challenges on the Horizon

The upward trajectory hasn’t been without interruptions. On March 30, shares tumbled 6.5% during a single trading session. The decline stemmed from escalating geopolitical concerns related to the Iran conflict, which triggered widespread anxiety across semiconductor equities.

A particular concern emerged regarding possible disruptions to helium supplies—a critical gas utilized in chip manufacturing processes. Such supply chain uncertainties typically impact test equipment manufacturers significantly, given their direct exposure to semiconductor production rhythms.

Teradyne recently commemorated its 25th anniversary of Chinese operations at SEMICON China 2026, where it unveiled four innovative AI infrastructure and semiconductor testing solutions. This underscores ongoing commitment to a market that presents its own geopolitical complexities.

With a beta coefficient of 1.79, the stock exhibits considerable volatility characteristics. As the Q1 earnings release approaches, investors are keenly evaluating whether AI-fueled demand can substantiate what many consider an elevated valuation multiple.

The post Teradyne (TER) Stock Surges 271% Ahead of Q1 Earnings: What Investors Should Watch appeared first on Blockonomi.

Quick Overview

• Shares of SBAC rallied as high as 18.93%, reaching approximately $194.53, following disclosure that the firm is considering a possible acquisition.
• The telecommunications tower operator acknowledged engaging financial advisers to assess preliminary acquisition proposals from major infrastructure investment funds.
• Prior to this development, multiple Wall Street firms had reduced their price objectives, including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Scotiabank, and Morgan Stanley — the Street’s average rating stands at Hold with a $230.11 price objective.
• During its most recent quarterly report, SBA exceeded earnings per share projections ($3.47 versus $3.25 anticipated), although sales of $719.58 million fell marginally short of the $725.80 million forecast.
• The company also increased its quarterly cash distribution to $1.25 (annualized $5.00), compared to the previous $1.11, representing approximately 2.6% yield.

SBA Communications (SBAC) is presently changing hands near $194.53, representing a significant advance from its previous closing level of $171.56.

SBA Communications Corporation, SBAC

Shares of SBA Communications (SBAC) experienced substantial upward movement on Wednesday following media reports indicating the wireless infrastructure provider is investigating a potential transaction, with acquisition interest coming from prominent infrastructure investment entities.

The equity climbed as high as 18.93% during intraday trading. Most recently, it was hovering around $194.53, marking a considerable increase from the prior session’s close of $171.56. Trading activity registered below typical levels, with approximately 524,666 shares traded — about 44% beneath standard session turnover.

The company acknowledged retaining financial advisers to examine the preliminary interest being expressed. This official confirmation suggests legitimate potential acquirers may be involved, which propelled optimistic market sentiment throughout the trading day.

Market participants view any transaction supported by infrastructure investment vehicles as likely commanding a premium price, contributing additional momentum to the stock’s advance.

Prior to this development, the security had been experiencing downward pressure. For the year through yesterday, SBAC had declined approximately 10.7%.

Wall Street Had Been Lowering Expectations

Various equity analysts had been reducing their valuation targets for SBAC throughout recent months. Wells Fargo decreased its objective from $205 down to $195, maintaining an “equal weight” stance. JPMorgan reduced its target from $245 to $240 while keeping a “neutral” designation. Scotiabank adjusted downward from $233 to $223 with a “sector perform” rating, and Morgan Stanley moved from $225 down to $215 at “equal weight.”

Most recently, Truist launched research coverage assigning a “hold” recommendation with a $193 valuation target. The Wall Street consensus currently reflects a Hold assessment with an average price objective of $230.11.

The equity’s 50-day moving average was positioned at $187.32 and its 200-day at $190.97, both technical levels that today’s surge has now exceeded.

SBA’s latest quarterly financial results, disclosed February 26, delivered $3.47 in earnings per share — surpassing the $3.25 Street estimate by $0.22. Quarterly sales of $719.58 million registered slightly below the $725.80 million projection. Top-line growth increased 3.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Cash Distribution Increased Recently

The company also announced an enhancement to its quarterly shareholder distribution not long ago, raising it from $1.11 to $1.25 each quarter. This translates to an annualized rate of $5.00, establishing the yield at roughly 2.6%. The payment was distributed on March 27, with shareholders of record as of March 13 qualifying.

The firm’s current payout ratio registers at 52.47%.

Institutional ownership accounts for 97.35% of SBAC’s shares outstanding. In recent portfolio activity, Geneos Wealth Management expanded its position by 105% during Q1, purchasing 84 additional shares to reach a total holding of 164 shares.

SBA maintains a market capitalization approaching $20.72 billion with a price-to-earnings multiple of 20.59.

Wall Street analysts are currently projecting the company will deliver $12.57 in full-year earnings per share.

The post SBA Communications (SBAC) Stock Soars Nearly 19% on Takeover Speculation appeared first on Blockonomi.

One hundred dollars: that’s how much people usually spend for a monthly streaming subscription bundle, less than a tank of gas in many places across the world, and now apparently just enough to start earning real Bitcoin passively. For many years, the only way to do so was to buy and wait or start a mining operation which most people cannot afford or manage properly. This has left everyday investors on the sidelines while big players have captured most of the upside.

Bitcoin Everlight was engineered to close that gap. Its shard system changes the math entirely, thus allowing each retail investor to hop on the bandwagon.

What Bitcoin Everlight Actually Is

Imagine a layer of infrastructure running quietly alongside Bitcoin, making transactions faster and cheaper without altering the protocol’s core code. That is Bitcoin Everlight in practice. It processes operations quickly and securely, then finalizes them on the blockchain, where the real protection comes from. Anyone who holds BTCL and activates a shard becomes part of the network’s backbone and earns a portion of the fees. The project is currently in Phase 4 of its presale at $0.0014, with the next stage at $0.0016 and the launch price at $0.0310. Over $2.4 million has already been raised, and the minimum to get started is just $10.

Your $100 Starts Earning From Day One

The latest feature of the participation system is the Jade Shard, designed with accessibility as the primary priority. All it takes is a $100 commitment to activate it, and from that moment on, the shard earns 6% APY paid in BTCL throughout the presale period. When the mainnet goes live, these rewards transform automatically to real BTC sourced from actual transaction routing fees. The process is simple and does not require any additional configuration.

The full tier structure scales upward as your commitment grows:

• Jade at $100 earns 6% APY
• Azure at $500 earns 12% APY
• Violet at $1,500 earns 20% APY
• Radiant at $3,000 earns 28% or more APY

Shards upgrade by themselves when users’ balances cross the next threshold. If your BTCL possession dips under the required level, the shard pauses and reactivates once the figure recovers. This naturally keeps holders engaged in the long term. The operation does not require ASICs, power contracts, or heat management, which are necessary conditions in the traditional BTC mining process.

A Community That Shows Its Work

A clear sign that a project is real is what happens in its community channels before the hype arrives. Bitcoin Everlight’s account on X is quite active, covering everything from shard activations to network updates and development progress. The Telegram group functions more like a working group, where members share earnings screenshots and help newcomers with their first endeavors.

The dashboard reinforces that transparency. Leaderboards show who is earning what, the activity feed updates in real time, and tier progress is visible at a glance. Independent reviewers have noticed. Crypto Sister, Bull Run Angel, and Crypto League have each covered Bitcoin Everlight separately, bringing a genuine outside perspective to a project that is still in its early stages.

Security Handled Before the Presale Opened

The audit and verification work was completed before anyone could invest a single dollar. Smart contracts went through independent review by SpyWolf and SolidProof, both well-regarded names in blockchain security. The full team completed identity checks through SpyWolf KYC and VitalBlock, with verified identities held on record by regulated third-party providers. Optional checkpointing anchors transaction data to the Bitcoin blockchain, providing an additional layer of permanent accountability. The system is fully non-custodial, so your keys remain yours, and your BTCL stays under your control at all times.

Getting Started Takes About Three Minutes

The participation flow allows easy access for everyone. All it takes is purchasing BTCL, activating your shard, and the dashboard manages everything from there. The interface is available on both mobile and desktop, connects via WalletConnect, and displays live reward tracking, tier progress, and real-time network activity. Payment options include some of the most popular cryptocurrencies, such as BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDT, with a minimum entry of $10. This means that even a simple try before committing to a full shard tier costs almost nothing.

Why Right Now Is the Window That Matters

Bitcoin mining profitability has been declining since the last halving in 2024, and the trend has not reversed as difficulty rises. Moreover, staking yields across various chains are falling as capital floods those networks. Bitcoin Everlight stands apart from these dynamics, as rewards here are derived from real transaction fees generated by a growing network, not from minting new coins.

That distinction makes the yield sustainable rather than dependent on continuous new investment. Phase 4 pricing at $0.0014 still shows how early the project is. The launch price of $0.00310 represents the gap that closes a little more with each stage that passes.

$100 Was Never This Productive

While earning passive BTC income used to require substantial capital or serious infrastructure, Bitcoin Everlight changed that. Now, all you need is $100 and a few minutes to activate a Jade Shard and start earning during presale. As soon as the network goes live, there will be a smooth and automatic transition to real BTC rewards. The barrier to entry is low, the security is verified, the community is lively, and the current stage still gives early participants a clear advantage over those who wait.

Interested investors can find more information here or check Bitcoin Everlight’s X and Telegram.

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The post Bitcoin Everlight: Understanding How to Earn Passively in 2026 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

It was another eventful week, mostly focused on the developments in the Middle East, which continue to intensify and impact numerous assets’ price moves, including bitcoin and oil.

Before and after our Market Update from last Friday, bitcoin’s price was already struggling, dropping from a weekly high of $72,000 marked a few days ago to $65,600 as the tensions built. It managed to remain relatively quiet over the weekend despite some expectations of more fluctuations, but dipped to a monthly low of $65,600 on Monday morning when most financial markets started to open.

More volatility ensued in the following few days, as the $68,000 resistance rejected the breakout attempts on a couple of occasions, but the $66,000 support managed to hold. The bulls finally pressed hard mid-week and drove bitcoin to a multi-day peak of $69,200 ahead of a highly anticipated speech by Trump on the war in Iran, in which he was expected to de-escalate the tension.

However, the reality was far different, as he reiterated some of his other, more threatening statements of the past couple of weeks, indicating that the US could obliterate Iran and even hinted at exiting NATO. BTC reacted with another nosedive to under $66,000 but rebounded to $67,000 as of now.

In the meantime, oil prices are up to over $110 per barrel, the highest levels since March 9. Most recently, oil was impacted after Trump’s statement that the US can “easily open” the Strait of Hormuz with “a little more time.”

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.380T | 24H Vol: $82B | BTC Dominance: 56%

BTC: $66,800 (+0.5%) | ETH: $2,060 (+3.6%) | XRP: $1.33 (-1.2%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Bitcoin’s Worst-Case Scenario: Analysts Warn of 25–80% Crash. While some analysts might be speculating that the bottom is in for BTC, XWIN Research Japan warned that the asset could plunge by up to 80% if the situation in the Middle East worsens in the following weeks, especially if the Strait of Hormuz is completely blocked.

ZachXBT Accuses Circle of Being ‘Asleep’ as Drift Hack Funds Moved Freely. Drift Protocol fell victim to the latest large-scale hack in the crypto industry, and ZachXBT lashed out at Circle for failing to intervene in time as stolen USDC flowed from Solana to Ethereum for hours.

Ripple Unveils Game-Changer: XRP and Crypto Now Integrated Into Corporate Treasury Systems. It was a big week for Ripple as the company unveiled new products aimed at allowing corporations to manage fiat and crypto side by side in a single system. A day later, KBRA assigned a BBB issuer rating to Ripple Prime.

Metaplanet Buys 5,075 BTC for $405M to Become 3rd Largest Corporate Treasury. Although Strategy didn’t disclose a new bitcoin purchase this week for the first time in months, Metaplanet stepped up and became the third-largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency after it bought over 5,000 BTC for $405 million.

BTC Long-Term Holders Selling at a Loss: Final Capitulation Phase May Be Here. After data emerged that short-term holders are selling BTC at a loss, on-chain numbers revealed that long-term holders have faced the same fate. However, analysts believe this could be the final capitulation phase before a trend reversal.

Google: Quantum Computing Could Crack Top 1,000 ETH Wallets in Days. Quantum computing is the next major threat the cryptocurrency industry will have to battle, and a recent report from Google noted that such devices could crack the largest 1,000 ETH wallets within days.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.

The post Bitcoin Price Dips, Oil Soars to Local Peaks as Trump Vows to Open Strait of Hormuz: Weekly Recap appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ripple’s XRP and Cardano’s ADA have been on an evident decline lately, but recent whale activity signals a possible price revival soon.

The world’s largest crypto exchange revealed that it will launch a prediction market feature. It also implemented several listings and delistings.

Good News for XRP

As of this writing, Ripple’s native token trades at around $1.31 (per CoinGecko), representing a 10% decline over the past two weeks. Its negative performance is rather unsurprising, given the bearish conditions in the broader crypto market and the rising global geopolitical tension stemming from the US/Iran war.

In the meantime, the large investors (known as whales) seem unfazed by the downtrend and have accumulated almost 200 million XRP in the span of seven days. This is considered a bullish factor as it shows that these market participants are confident in the asset’s future performance and expect an upside ahead. Their actions may encourage smaller players to follow suit, who, in turn, could inject fresh capital into the ecosystem.

The positive news related to XRP doesn’t end here. Earlier this week, Ripple unveiled the launch of Digital Asset Accounts and Unified Treasury – products that enable enterprises to manage fiat and crypto side by side.

Furthermore, the ratings agency KBRA assigned Ripple Prime a BBB issuer rating. The latter is the company’s prime brokerage arm and was previously known as Hidden Road. Ripple’s CEO described the development as “clear validation” of the entity’s “strength, reliability, and tech.”

What’s New With ADA?

Cardano whales have also been quite active lately. As CryptoPotato reported, they scooped up 220 million ADA in a single week, increasing their total holdings to almost 13.84 billion units.

We have yet to see whether the effort will be followed by a price resurgence for the asset, which has been struggling over the past several months. Currently, ADA is worth $0.24, meaning a 28% plunge year-to-date.

Some analysts are optimistic that a revival may indeed come next. X user ALTS GEMS Alert, for instance, claimed that the bottom is in and envisioned a potential pump above $0.60 sometime in Q2.

Binance’s Updates

The world’s leading crypto exchange took center stage on March 31, announcing that it will introduce a prediction market feature by aggregating platforms from third-party providers. The upcoming product will enable users to place bets on outcomes from numerous fields, including sports, economics, world events, and, of course, crypto. Those willing to take advantage of the new service should update Binance’s app to the latest version.

Prediction markets have been quite popular lately, and some of the exchange’s main competitors, such as Coinbase and Crypto.com, have already hopped on the bandwagon.

Besides that, Binance listed APT/U, ENA/U, FET/U, NIGHT/U, TRUMP/U, WLD/U, and TRUMP/USD1 to its Cross Margin program. It also conducted a review to check which trading pairs no longer meet the necessary criteria. Based on the results, it removed ALT/BNB, ARB/TUSD, BNB/ARS, GALA/ETH, INJ/BNB, SOLV/FDUSD, and XRP/TUSD.

The post Ripple and Cardano Whales Woke up, Binance Unveiled Important Updates: Bits Recap April 3 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Since the onset of the Middle East conflict, crypto markets have remained volatile in the short term but directionless overall. Several major assets, including XRP, have moved sideways during this period.

At the same time, XRP transaction activity on Binance has declined sharply, with both deposits and withdrawals falling to their lowest levels since 2025.

XRP Stagnation Deepens

Over the past 30 days, deposit transactions were found to be at approximately 310,500, while withdrawals reached around 329,400. This resulted in a net negative transaction count of about 18,900, which indicates continued net outflows from the exchange. In its latest analysis, CryptoQuant explained,

“This decline reflects a continued net outflow from the platform; however, it comes amid a significant drop in the total number of transactions, suggesting a period of market stagnation.”

Since mid-2025, activity has sharply contracted, as earlier periods of the year often saw combined deposit and withdrawal transactions surpass 6 million within a 30-day window. Following the decline, transaction volumes have stabilized at consistently low levels and have now reached their weakest point since that earlier peak period.

The data essentially showed that short-term investor interest and speculative trading have both decreased, contributing to a quieter market environment. Such low activity levels are typically associated with reduced price volatility, as buying and selling pressures weaken simultaneously. Despite this, the continued imbalance where withdrawals exceed deposits may indicate that some users are still moving assets off exchanges. The analytics platform stated that this behavior is often linked to accumulation strategies or transfers to private wallets, especially during periods when trading activity remains subdued and market momentum is limited.

XRP declined by nearly 3% over the past week, but still moved ahead of BNB in market cap rankings. It recorded a market value of $81.02 billion, slightly higher than BNB’s $80.1 billion.

On the institutional side of things, spot XRP ETFs recorded a small daily inflow of $64,610 on April 2, according to data compiled by SoSoValue. However, overall demand stayed low, as weekly outflows stood at $3.56 million. The weak flows suggest that investor confidence remains limited, as geopolitical tensions continue to reduce risk appetite across financial markets.

BBB Rating to Ripple Prime

Against this backdrop, Ripple’s brokerage arm has gained credibility among institutional players. As recently reported by CryptoPotato, ratings agency KBRA has assigned a BBB issuer rating to Ripple Prime. The agency cited the company’s progress in areas such as clearing and intermediation services, especially across derivatives trading and fixed income repo markets.

Since introducing its ETF platform two years ago, the firm has significantly expanded its operations. Its repo segment, for instance, achieved meaningful scale in 2025. Profitability was also reached during the year, aided by roughly $500 million in capital support from Ripple and continued balance sheet growth.

KBRA said that Ripple’s financial strength, including billions in cash reserves and large XRP holdings, played a major role in supporting the rating. It also projected margin expansion in 2026 as the business matures.

The post XRP Transactions Hit Lowest Levels Since Mid-2025: Here’s What It Means for Ripple appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Amid ongoing online criticism of some of its features, the Core Team behind the controversial project has issued a more comprehensive guideline on what users need to do to ensure they successfully participate in the second migrations.

Meanwhile, the project’s native token continues to bleed, dropping by over 8% in the past week alone.

Second Migrations to Do List

In the highly anticipated Pi Day (March 14) celebratory post, the team praised the ecosystem developments in the past few years, but also outlined some of the new key features for users. One of them appeared particularly appealing, second migrations, as its sole purpose is to allow users to migrate their tokens to Mainnet – something the community has been begging for years.

Since then, the number of users who reportedly completed second migrations has grown to over 119,000 (as of the end of March), but many continue to be unhappy about the process. In fact, most of the comments below the Core Team’s posts on X are from people claiming that they have been waiting for months or even years for their tokens to be migrated, only to be stuck in some of the KYC pages.

Perhaps that’s why the team published new guidelines, informing that Pioneers “must set up Pi Wallet two-factor authentication (2FA) through Step 3 of the Mainnet checklist” to complete first or second migrations. This step is needed to “further strengthen the account and wallet security” before the actual tokens are transferred.

To complete first or second migrations, Pioneers must set up Pi Wallet two-factor authentication (2FA) through Step 3 of the Mainnet Checklist.

This step is required to further strengthen account and wallet security before real Pi is transferred, an irreversible and immutable… pic.twitter.com/1Q9Zk2vPzU

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) April 2, 2026

PI Continues to Slide

The protocol’s native token peaked in mid-March at roughly $0.30 after Kraken announced its upcoming listing. Once PI went live for trading, the bears stepped up, and this classic sell-the-news event drove the asset south to under $0.20 within a couple of days.

It has been mostly sideways struggles since then, and the past week and day haven’t been particularly kind. PI is down by over 8% weekly, and has dropped by nearly 4% in the last 24 hours. It dipped to $0.167 earlier, and even though it has rebounded slightly, it still struggles to reclaim the $0.17 level.

There are some warning signs on the token unlock schedule, as the average number of coins to be released in the next month is 8 million. Moreover, a few days will see the unlocking of 18 million or more tokens, which could intensify the immediate selling pressure.

The post Pi Network Issues Key Clarifications, But PI Price Keeps Falling appeared first on CryptoPotato.