Ethereum staking participation has never been higher and is at an ATH. But beneath the record-setting headline sits a divergence that fundamentally changes the risk profile of staking: yields are at a three year low, the validator count is recovering from a year-long exit spree, and one leveraged accumulator holds enough staked ETH to flood …
Crypto’s most influential women are no longer limited to investors, executives or policy advocates. Many of the industry’s most important companies, protocols, funds and infrastructure businesses were built or co-founded by women who entered the sector when blockchain was still a niche technology. This list focuses specifically on founders and co-founders. The ranking considers the …
Artificial intelligence is entering a new phase where systems are evolving from answering questions to autonomously completing real-world tasks. Rather than simply generating text or images, AI agents are increasingly being designed to search for information, interact with software, coordinate with other agents, and execute financial transactions on behalf of users. This shift is driving …
Swift said its blockchain-based shared ledger is ready for initial use, enabling 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenized deposits while keeping existing credit and risk standards. Seventeen global banks are preparing to pilot live transactions on the platform. The project aims to improve payment speed, liquidity management, and cash flow visibility without replacing Swift’s existing network. …
Autheo introduced a decentralized Internet Operating System aimed at AI agents and blockchain transaction coordination.
The agency that spent the better part of a decade defining crypto policy through enforcement has published a five-year plan describing blockchain as a technology with “the potential to revolutionize America's financial infrastructure.” The SEC's draft Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 dedicates a standalone objective to digital assets and blockchain technology, placing […]
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A major traditional finance infrastructure provider has set its sights on the Stellar blockchain, and market watchers say the timing could not be more significant. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, better known as the DTCC, announced plans to connect its tokenization platform to the Stellar network as part of a broader multi-chain strategy. The move is aimed at supporting tokenized representations of assets held within the traditional financial system. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Prolonged Downtrend Through 2027, Analyst Warns A Bounce Off Long-Term Support The announcement triggered one of XLM’s strongest price advances in months. That rally formed the monthly candle now visible at what analyst MikybullCrypto labels point E on a long-term chart structure he has been tracking across several market cycles. The chart maps a series of repeating highs and lows on the monthly timeframe dating back to 2017. Points B and D mark previous peaks near a horizontal resistance zone, while points A and C identify major lows along an ascending support trendline that has guided price action for years. $XLM is about to experience a mega breakout in history The upcoming altcoins season will be huge ???? The bull target price ranges between $5-$11 pic.twitter.com/v16PTNPZrJ — MikybullCrypto (@MikybullCrypto) May 31, 2026 Point E marks the latest successful test of that same support line. XLM has bounced from the trendline once again, staying within the broader structure that has defined its behavior across multiple cycles. The Setup Behind The Call MikybullCrypto, a widely followed crypto analyst, says the current positioning mirrors conditions that preceded strong rallies in the past. He is calling for a bull market target range of $5 to $11 for XLM, projecting that the upcoming altcoin season will be significant. The analyst expects a breakout above the long-standing resistance zone to serve as the next major technical milestone. A move above that level, according to his chart, would put XLM on a path toward substantially higher ground. What The Pattern Suggests The structure MikybullCrypto references has repeated itself across different market environments over roughly nine years. Each time XLM has tested the rising support line, a recovery followed — though the magnitude has varied. Bullish sentiment around XLM has been building in recent weeks. Reports indicate that separate analysts have pointed to the DTCC integration alongside the technical setup as factors strengthening the case for a larger move ahead. Related Reading: Could XRP Hit $10 This Bull Run? World’s Highest IQ Holder Thinks So XLM’s global search interest has also climbed to its highest level in three months, according to reports, suggesting growing retail attention toward the asset at the same time institutional blockchain activity is picking up. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Cardano’s total stablecoin market cap has climbed to roughly $54.88 million, a 15% jump from where it stood in early March 2026. That figure captures just how quickly liquidity has been building on the network over the past several weeks. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Prolonged Downtrend Through 2027, Analyst Warns USDCx Drives the Surge Circle’s USDCx now commands the largest share of Cardano’s stablecoin market at 45.20%, with USDM at 26.90%, USDA at 15.45%, and DJED at around 5.90%. Data from Cexplorer shows that nearly 8 million USDCx were minted within just the last two days of the reporting period. According to Messari data, Cardano recorded a 61% rise in stablecoin market cap over the past seven days — the highest among major blockchain networks tracked during that period. Polygon came in second at 36%, followed by World Chain at 10.3%, HyperEVM at 7.4%, and XDC Network at 3.5%. Source: Messari Net stablecoin flow for the current epoch on Cardano has reached approximately $8.55 million. Reports indicate that around $9.57 million worth of stablecoins were minted during this stretch, while roughly $1 million were burned. A Gap That Still Remains The minting surge has been concentrated in USDCx, which is Circle’s on-chain representation of USDC on the Cardano blockchain. That product has seen consistent minting activity throughout the week, with activity accelerating in the final two days. Despite the momentum, Cardano has not yet secured a direct integration of a Tier-1 stablecoin such as Circle’s native USDC or Tether’s USDT. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has raised this point repeatedly, saying that such an addition would significantly strengthen the network’s DeFi activity and liquidity depth. Related Reading: Unknown Wallet Destroys $8.5 Million In Bitcoin In Shocking Burn What The Numbers Reflect The figures point to rising on-chain activity across the Cardano ecosystem, even as the network continues working toward deeper stablecoin infrastructure. Analysts generally treat stablecoin inflows as a signal of expanding financial activity and wider DeFi adoption on a given chain. Cardano’s one-week performance puts it well ahead of the other networks in Messari’s rankings for stablecoin market cap growth. Whether that pace holds will likely depend on how quickly new stablecoin integrations and minting activity continue across the ecosystem. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Chainlink announced its data standard is now available through AWS Marketplace, giving millions of developers easier access to blockchain data tools for institutional-grade applications. The integration could help businesses build tokenized asset platforms and on-chain financial products without creating custom infrastructure from scratch. The move matters because major cloud providers are increasingly supporting blockchain services, …
Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and stablecoins can cross borders in seconds on a Sunday morning. And yet, if a major UK institution needed to move collateral, settle a high-value payment, or shift liquidity between clearing houses over the weekend, much of that activity had to queue up and wait. […]
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Privacy concerns tied to artificial intelligence may be one of the strongest cases yet for owning certain altcoins or cryptocurrencies. That was one argument Arthur Hayes made at Consensus 2026, where the BitMEX co-founder laid out a broad defense of the altcoin market and named the specific tokens he’s betting on. Related Reading: Bitcoin Eyes $90K As Bears Get Burned Again Amid $30B Open Interest Surge Hayes Sees AI Surveillance Driving Demand For Privacy Coins Hayes said governments, major tech companies, and AI systems are becoming increasingly effective at tracking blockchain activity. As those tools grow more powerful, he argued, more people will want financial tools that shield their transactions from outside eyes. Zcash, a cryptocurrency built around transaction privacy, was singled out as one that stands to benefit. “There is a role for private cash on the internet,” Hayes said. The remarks came during a broader conversation about the future of alternative cryptocurrencies — assets that have repeatedly faced waves of skepticism, especially after sharp market downturns. Hayes pushed back against the idea that institutional money and tighter regulation will wipe out most of the market. His position was simple: altcoins will keep coming, and some will generate real, lasting value. Arthur Hayes says altcoins will never die… Respectfully… Some of them absolutely need to ???? There are 10 million+ tokens fighting for the same liquidity. At some point the market has to stop funding: AI Inu Elon Pepe GPT 4.0 The next alt season won’t save everything.… pic.twitter.com/pkx2C3jtt9 — MANDO CT ???????? ???????? ???????? (@XMaximist) May 6, 2026 Hyperliquid Tops His List Of Altcoin Bets Of all the tokens Hayes discussed, Hyperliquid drew the most detailed attention. He described decentralized trading platforms as among the most consistently profitable models in crypto history, pointing to the wealth they’ve created for early participants. Hyperliquid, in his view, represents the next step in that lineage — combining fast infrastructure with a token structure he finds genuinely attractive. One feature Hayes highlighted: roughly 97% of the platform’s protocol revenue flows back to token holders through buybacks. He also pointed out that no portion of the token supply was set aside for venture capital investors — an arrangement that distinguishes it from many other projects. Related Reading: David Schwartz Says Selling XRP Doesn’t Make Him The Villain The Stock Market Parallel Underpins His Case For Altcoins Hayes compared the altcoin space to the broader stock market, where most companies ultimately fail but a handful go on to produce outsized returns. Tokens, he said, should be thought of like software startups — high failure rate, but worth participating in because of what the winners can deliver. Based on reports from the event, Hayes framed crypto markets as efficient environments for experimentation and capital formation, where new ideas can be tested and funded outside traditional financial systems. Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) said Monday it has reached new progress and clarified timelines for delivering its tokenization service—an initiative aimed at bringing tokenized real-world securities into the same infrastructure used by the US capital markets today. Two-Phase Rollout For Tokenized RWAs DTCC said the service will move in two phases. It plans to facilitate initial, limited “production” trades of real-world assets (RWAs) that have been tokenized using the tokenization service in July 2026. After that trial period, DTCC expects to launch the service more fully in October of this year. DTCC’s tokenization service, as described in its release, is designed for tokenizing real-world, DTC-custodied assets while preserving the core rights that investors expect from securities held in traditional form. Related Reading: This Signal Has Predicted Every Bitcoin Bottom, Here’s What It’s Saying Now The company said tokenized assets supported through the Depository Trust Company (DTC) would provide the “same entitlements, investor protections and ownership rights” as conventional custody arrangements. DTCC further emphasized that the service is built on DTC’s existing resilience and accountability, noting that DTC already custodies assets worth more than $114 trillion. In remarks accompanying the announcement, Brian Steele, DTCC Managing Director and President for Clearing & Securities Services, said the goal is to provide “systemic scale where deep liquidity already lives.” Steele also framed the effort as a way to develop the service “in lockstep” with both current industry needs and expected future requirements—while the market collectively builds what DTCC calls “a digital ecosystem.” How The DTCC Plans To Bridge TradFi And DeFi DTCC’s digital assets leadership also tied the initiative to broader infrastructure goals. Nadine Chakar, DTCC Managing Director and Global Head of Digital Assets, said tokenization is a “critical step” toward building digital infrastructure for the future. She added that DTCC aims to stay at the forefront of innovation by supporting a scalable, interoperable, and risk-managed Web3 environment, one that uses digital ledger technology to deliver real value to the broader industry. DTCC said the firms involved in the Industry Working Group represent a wide cross-section of roles, including custodians, asset managers, brokers, trading venues, application providers, and back-office service providers. The participating firms include Anchorage Digital, Bank of America, BitGo Bank, BlackRock, and Ripple Prime, as well as over 50 other firms from the traditional finance (TradFi) sector and the crypto industry. Related Reading: XRP Setup Nobody’s Watching Points To Fast Move Higher, Crypto Analyst Says DTCC President and CEO Frank La Salla described the project as a step toward bridging TradFi and decentralized finance (DeFi) through structured, ongoing dialogue. La Salla said DTCC continues to convene a broad group of industry leaders to support digital assets adoption and innovation, and that the organization sees its tokenization vision as coming to fruition through both launching the service and “successfully bridging TradFi and DeFi.” Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
A dollar-linked stablecoin built to meet Islamic finance standards is now operating on a new blockchain network anchored in the Middle East, adding a second digital currency to a settlement platform backed by some of Abu Dhabi’s biggest financial names. Related Reading: Consistent XRP Buys Could Deliver Outsized Gains By 2030: Finance Expert Backed By Gulf Currencies, Not Just The Dollar PUSD, issued by Palm Azgar Finance, holds reserves in Saudi riyals and UAE dirhams — both pegged to the US dollar — rather than holding US dollars directly. That structure is central to its Shariah-compliant design, which is aimed at institutions operating under Islamic finance rules that prohibit interest and require asset backing. The stablecoin has roughly $2.3 billion in circulation and runs on several major blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, and Tron. ADI Chain is its newest addition. ADI Chain was built as a settlement layer for a dirham-backed token that came out of a partnership between International Holding Company and First Abu Dhabi Bank. The Central Bank of the UAE licensed it. With PUSD now on board, institutions using the network can settle transactions in either a dollar-linked or dirham-denominated token operating on the same platform. The ADI Foundation says the network is designed to support payment corridors across the Gulf, broader Middle East, and parts of Africa. A $3 Trillion Market In The Crosshairs Islamic finance assets are estimated at more than $3 trillion worldwide, according to the ADI Foundation. That market has traditionally been served by conventional banks and funds operating under Shariah guidelines, but blockchain-based alternatives have struggled to break through at scale. Sharia Law At A Glance Shariah law forbids interest, limits speculation, and requires financial instruments to be backed by real assets — rules that disqualify most crypto products outright. For a stablecoin to meet that standard, it must hold verifiable reserves and generate no interest-based returns. Certification from a board of qualified Islamic scholars is typically required, though the report does not confirm whether PUSD has obtained one. PUSD’s move onto ADI Chain is a bid to change that, targeting corporate treasuries, exchanges, and payment processors looking for compliant digital settlement tools. The UAE has become one of the more active regulatory environments for stablecoins. Several frameworks have been put in place by the Central Bank and the Abu Dhabi Global Market, covering both dirham-pegged and dollar-denominated tokens. Related Reading: A New Phase For XRP? Integrations Keep Rolling In Across The Ecosystem Global Players Already In The UAE Space Approvals have also been extended to established names. Tether, Ripple USD, and Circle have all been cleared to operate within the ADGM financial zone by its Financial Services Regulatory Authority. That puts PUSD in a field that includes some of the largest stablecoin issuers in the world, competing for a share of institutional transaction flow in one of the region’s most active financial hubs. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Japan’s biggest loyalty program may have just become one of crypto’s most unexpected entry points. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Hit $85K Before April Ends, Analyst Says A Rewards System Worth $23 Billion Opens Up Rakuten is sitting on more than 3 trillion loyalty points — valued at roughly $23 billion — and users can now convert those points into XRP. That single detail changes the nature of this integration. It is not just another tech company adding a crypto option. It is an existing, widely used rewards system being turned into a direct path into digital currency, no exchange account required. Reports confirmed the points-to-XRP conversion feature is part of the rollout inside the Rakuten Pay app and Rakuten Wallet. The announcement pushed XRP to $1.38, with the token’s market cap climbing above $84 billion. Trading volume came in at $2.4 billion over the past 24 hours, though that figure was down 25% from the prior period. ????IT’S OFFICIAL: XRP is LIVE for 44 million users on one of the largest wallets in Japan, Rakuten Wallet. Enabling users purchasing anything by using #XRP! pic.twitter.com/pOd9CNXpTe — JackTheRippler ©️ (@RippleXrpie) April 15, 2026 44 Million Users, 5 Million Merchant Locations The scale of Rakuten’s network is what makes this stand out. Around 44 million users will be able to hold XRP in the Rakuten Wallet, buy it with loyalty points, and fund Rakuten Cash to spend in physical stores and online. That covers more than 5 million merchant locations across Japan. Users can also spot trade XRP directly inside the app. Rakuten had already added Bitcoin, Ether, and Bitcoin Cash in earlier phases. XRP now joins that group inside one of Japan’s largest consumer platforms — one that most of its users visit for shopping, not for investing. Ripple’s senior ecosystem growth manager Tatsuya Kohrogi called this one of the most significant milestones for XRP, pointing out that Rakuten Pay is a mainstream commerce app, not a product built for crypto users. That means XRP is being placed in front of tens of millions of people who may have never bought or held digital currency before. Related Reading: ‘Extremely Good News’ – XRP DeFi Momentum Builds As SEC Softens Position On Interfaces Whether Everyday Shoppers Follow Matters Most XRP has long been associated with institutional cross-border payments. A move into retail point-of-sale spending in Japan marks a clear shift in how the token is showing up in real-world use. Based on reports, analysts see the potential as real but conditional. The bigger question is not whether Rakuten has the infrastructure — it clearly does. The question is whether ordinary shoppers choose XRP when it is time to pay, or stick to yen and existing payment methods they already trust. If even a fraction of that $23 billion in loyalty points finds its way into XRP and circulates through everyday commerce, it could push other large consumer platforms to take a closer look at similar moves. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
An analyst on X has made a bold call on Ethereum, stating that the asset is on the verge of a parabolic move. The claim is based on a golden triangle formation on the chart, a setup that shows a breakout could be approaching for the leading altcoin. This approaching breakout could also serve as the driving force for a broader altcoin market rally. Related Reading: Cardano In Danger Zone? Trader Drops ‘Time Bomb’ Claim Golden Triangle Pattern 9 Years In The Making Technical analysis of Ethereum’s 3-week chart stretching back to 2017 shows the cryptocurrency trading within a narrowing triangular structure. The pattern is defined by a rising lower trendline anchored from the March 2020 Covid crash low and a horizontal upper trendline connecting the rally peaks of 2021, 2024, and 2025. Over nearly a decade of price action, ETH has repeatedly respected both boundaries, with bounces within the narrowing range. This has led to the formation of a golden triangle, which is a macro structure with a better possibility of resolving to the upside. As it stands, the ETH price is trading at the lower end of this formation in what looks like a higher low compared to the lowest price in 2025. The projected move shows a bounce from this level that eventually pushes Ethereum to break above resistance and transition into an upward parabolic move. The projected breakout path on the chart shows ETH exiting the apex of this triangle to the upside, with a parabolic rally that climbs above $12,000 and beyond by 2027 to 2028. This move is expected to spill into other cryptocurrencies with a huge rotation that supports an altcoin season. Ethereum’s Golden Triangle. Source: @zenkaixbt On X $2,800 As The Next Stop While the Golden Triangle analysis looked at the macro context, analyst Crypto Feras has identified a more immediate target that could cement the first significant milestone of any sustained recovery. The analysis is based on the 3-day candlestick chart, and it is centered on the idea that Ethereum’s current structure is more important than short-term headlines. As noted by the analyst, Ethereum has maintained a consistent 3D pattern on higher time frames since February, even as markets reacted to external shocks, most especially the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This consistency has led to the same creation of a higher low compared to the 2025 bottom that respects a rising support line. This rising diagonal support line, visible in the chart below, connects the lows of 2022, 2023, and 2025, and each of those cycle bottoms preceded substantial rallies. Ethereum Price Chart. Source: @CryptoFeras On X The 2022 low produced a 91.72% recovery, the 2023 low was followed by a 167.79% rally, and the 2025 low was followed by a 223% rally. Related Reading: Ethereum Steals The Spotlight As Capital Moves Away From Bitcoin The current 2026 low, printed in February around $1,800, appears to be setting up along the same structural sequence, with the projected path on the chart showing ETH targeting $2,800 as the first recovery level and then an extension to $3,393. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A dispute over stablecoin rewards — not sweeping disagreements about crypto itself — is what’s holding up one of the most significant digital asset bills in US history. Related Reading: XRP Faces No Immediate Quantum Threat As Only 0.03% Supply Seen At Risk: Analyst Banks And Crypto Firms Clash Over Stablecoin Yields At the center of the standoff is a narrow but contentious question: should third-party firms like Coinbase be allowed to pass stablecoin yields on to their customers? Banks say no, warning it could drain deposits from traditional financial institutions. Crypto companies say yes, arguing it’s essential to staying competitive. That single point of friction has stalled the CLARITY Act in the Senate for months, even as the Trump administration pushes hard for a vote. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went public Tuesday with a blunt message — Congress needs to move now, before Senate floor time runs out. According to reports, Bessent described the situation as urgent, saying “time is scarce, and now is the time to act.” He framed the legislation not just as a financial policy matter but as a national security concern, arguing that economic security and national security are one and the same. The U.S. Treasury Secretary is weighing in on the push to pass crypto market structure legislation in a new @WSJ op-ed.@SecScottBessent framed it as a national priority, saying “economic security is national security,” and argued the Clarity Act is the cornerstone to bringing… — Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) April 9, 2026 Adoption Numbers Add Weight To The Push The case for urgency isn’t just political. Data shows that roughly one in six Americans already holds some form of digital asset. Major banks and financial institutions have either launched crypto-related products or applied to do so. Blockchain technology, according to Bessent, has worked its way into payments, settlements, and the trading of real-world assets at a scale that regulators can no longer ignore. The global crypto market swung between $2 trillion and $3 trillion in value over the past year alone — a range that reflects both the size and the volatility of the industry. That backdrop gives the push for a regulatory framework added weight, especially as traditional finance continues to wade deeper into the space. Senator Cynthia Lummis joined Bessent’s call, saying the conditions for passing the CLARITY Act are as good as they’ve ever been. “We have the administration, the momentum, and we’ve made bipartisan progress,” she said. A Senate markup of the bill is expected sometime in April, though similar deadlines have slipped before. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Quantum Risk As Bernstein Sees 3–5 Year Window For Upgrades White House Study Adds Fuel To Banking Debate A White House analysis recently found that the risk of deposit flight from allowing stablecoin rewards is, by its own description, “quantitatively small.” Under the GENIUS Act framework, stablecoin issuers are barred from paying yields directly. The CLARITY Act, however, would open the door for third-party distributors to do it instead. Some banking members pushed back on the White House findings, arguing the analysis overlooked key funding risks beyond deposit levels. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, warned investors in his latest annual letter that the bank must accelerate its efforts in blockchain technology to meet mounting competition from the crypto sector. Dimon told shareholders that a “whole new set of competitors” has emerged around blockchain-based products — including stablecoins, smart contracts, and broader tokenization — and that the bank needs to “roll out our own blockchain technology” to defend its market position. JPMorgan Doubles Down On Crypto The call to action comes as the US regulatory landscape for crypto undergoes notable shifts and traditional financial institutions increasingly adopt decentralized technology. JPMorgan is not starting from scratch: the firm introduced JPM Coin on a permissioned blockchain in 2019 and has continued to build capabilities through its Kinexys blockchain unit, which focuses on tokenization and payments. The bank has also been involved in experiments on permissionless chains; executives from JPMorgan’s Commercial and Investment Banking units recently pointed to the bank’s role in a 2025 US commercial paper issuance on Solana (SOL) for Galaxy Digital Holdings as a sign of broader exploration. Related Reading: Ethereum (ETH) Outlook: $2,500 Break Could Trigger Major Rally — Expert’s Price Scenarios Dimon’s stance toward crypto has evolved visibly over the past year. Once a vocal skeptic, he publicly acknowledged last year that he has become “a believer in stablecoins,” and later reiterated that “blockchain is real,” predicting it would displace elements of the traditional financial system. JPMorgan has already ramped up its internal crypto activity. In a separate investor note, the co‑CEOs of the bank’s Commercial and Investment Banking division reported that transactions on JPMorgan’s blockchain-based products have expanded roughly thirtyfold since 2023. At the same time, JPMorgan and other major banks have been active in shaping regulatory outcomes. The banking industry has pressed to alter provisions of the GENIUS Act and the anticipated CLARITY Act, seeking to prevent what they call a regulatory “loophole” that might allow stablecoin issuers to offer yield. Banks’ Push To Bar Stablecoin Rewards Banks argue that yield-bearing stablecoins could serve as substitutes for deposit accounts, posing a risk to their deposit bases and potentially destabilizing lending. Yet, those concerns were challenged on Wednesday by a new analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Using a model calibrated to current market conditions, the report found that banning stablecoin yields would have only a marginal effect on deposit flight from banks. Specifically, it estimated that eliminating stablecoin yield would raise bank lending by roughly $2.1 billion — about 0.02% of total loans — while imposing an estimated $800 million net welfare loss on consumers, suggesting the costs could outweigh any systemic benefits. Related Reading: FDIC Advances Rulemaking For GENIUS Act: New Framework For Stablecoin Issuers The study also tested a worst‑case scenario in which stablecoins pose a much larger threat to lending, but that outcome required assumptions — such as zero excess reserves and a major shift in Federal Reserve policy — that do not reflect present conditions. It remains uncertain whether the White House analysis will shift negotiations between banks and the crypto industry over whether yield and rewards should be permitted on stablecoins. Those involved in the talks have largely remained silent over the past two weeks amid Congress’s Easter recess. However, two sources familiar with the discussions told Crypto In America that they remain cautiously optimistic that the talks are progressing. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
A 33-day dry spell for solo Bitcoin miners ended last week when one small operator cracked a block that, statistically, should not have been cracked for decades. Related Reading: XRP Eyes $8.30 Target As Rare Chart Pattern Emerges From Prolonged Decline One Miner, One Block, One Very Long Shot The winning miner earned 3.139 BTC — worth roughly $210,000 — after successfully validating block 943,411 on April 3. The payout included the standard 3.125 BTC block subsidy and approximately 0.014 BTC in transaction fees. Data from mempool.space confirmed the transaction. The miner operated through CKPool, a platform built for independent operators who prefer to go it alone and keep most of what they earn. What made the win remarkable was the hardware behind it. The miner’s setup ran at just 230 terahashes per second. At the time, Bitcoin’s total network hashrate sat at approximately 1 zettahash per second. That put the miner’s share of global computing power at around 0.00002% — a slice so thin it barely registers. A solo Bitcoin miner with a small setup just hit the jackpot earning 3.139 BTC block rewards worth $210,000. His setup was so small, he should statistically win once every 76 years. pic.twitter.com/z7s1LxIhZT — Bitcoin Archive (@BitcoinArchive) April 6, 2026 CKPool developer Con Kolivas put the daily odds of success at roughly 1 in 28,000. Bitcoin Archive analyst Archie framed it differently: a miner at that power level should statistically win once every 76 years. This particular miner didn’t wait that long. Congratulations to miner bc1qtt7cr9cxykyp9g4hq47zf5lq9t97cxvq72lun3 with ~230TH for solving the 312th solo block at https://t.co/UWgBvLk5AE! A miner of this size has a 1 in ~28k chance per day of solving a block.https://t.co/dx3lUuDRbl pic.twitter.com/uiDOzZdHts — Dr -ck (@ckpooldev) April 2, 2026 A Pattern Of Unlikely Wins The April win marked the 312th solo block ever mined through CKPool, based on data from the Bennet solo-miner tracker. It snapped a 33-day gap since the previous solo success, recorded on February 28. But the result is far from an isolated case. Reports show a string of similar upsets over recent months. In December, a miner running at 270 TH/s walked away with more than $284,000. Before that, a setup running at just 6 TH/s — far smaller than the latest winner — pulled in around $265,000. A 200 TH/s rig scored approximately $350,000 back in September. Even rented computing power produced results: in late February, a miner reportedly spent about $75 on cloud hashrate and came away with close to $200,000 in rewards. Each of those wins carried odds steep enough to discourage most rational participants. And yet they kept happening. Related Reading: Bitcoin Mood Sours To Levels Not Seen Since Late February Big Miners Head In A Different Direction While independent operators occasionally pocket life-changing sums, large mining companies have been moving away from holding Bitcoin. Riot Platforms sold 3,778 BTC in the first quarter of 2026, generating roughly $289 million, while still holding 15,680 BTC at quarter’s end. MARA Holdings moved even faster, selling more than 15,000 BTC between early and late March to raise approximately $1.1 billion, using the proceeds to handle debt-related obligations. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
About 97% of the machines used to mine Bitcoin currently come from companies based in China. This heavy reliance on foreign technology has created a bottleneck at American ports and raised alarms about the long-term security of the network. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Pull In $56B As CEO Pitches Crypto Over Gold To fix this, US Senators Bill Cassidy and Cynthia Lummis introduced the Mined in America Act. The bill aims to move the production of specialized computer chips and mining rigs onto American soil. Cleaning Up The Mining Supply Chain The proposed law creates a special “Mined in America” certification for data centers. To earn this label, a facility must prove it is not using equipment made by “foreign adversaries.” This would force a massive shift in how the industry operates. Right now, most miners buy their hardware from Chinese giants like Bitmain or MicroBT. Under the new rules, companies would have to phase out that gear in favor of US-made alternatives. It is a bold attempt to build a domestic industry from the ground up. Digital asset mining is a big part of our economy. We should be doing it here in America. Proud to introduce the Mined in America Act with @SenLummis, which secures supply chains, backs U.S. manufacturing, and supports this key industry.https://t.co/qZdv6SEe3g — U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) March 30, 2026 Reports indicate that federal agencies would play a major role in this transition. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would be tasked with helping US manufacturers develop more efficient chips. This move is designed to ensure that the US does not just host the mining power, but actually owns the technology behind it. By making the hardware at home, the industry could avoid the shipping delays and customs seizures that have slowed down growth over the last year. Connecting Mining To National Reserves The legislation does more than just worry about hardware. It also seeks to lock in a plan for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. US President Donald Trump has previously expressed support for the government holding a stockpile of the digital currency. This bill would codify that idea into law. It suggests that the Bitcoin held in this national reserve should ideally come from “Mined in America” facilities. This creates a direct link between national security and the computers humming in rural warehouses across the country. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Fresh Pressure As Oil Crosses $104 For First Time In 4 Years Data shows the US currently accounts for roughly 38% of the global hashrate, which is the total computing power used to secure the Bitcoin network. While that makes the US a leader in operations, it remains a follower in manufacturing. Officials said the bill would use the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to give small and medium-sized American factories the tools they need to compete. The goal is to turn Bitcoin mining into a pillar of American industrial policy rather than just a niche financial activity. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Altcoin trading activity has continued to weaken across the crypto market, which is another sign of the current investor appetite for altcoins. New data shared by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost shows spot trading volume on Binance and other major exchanges is now at extreme lows compared to levels seen during the crypto market’s more active phases in February and October 2025. Altcoin Trading Volumes Drop Across The Board Analysis of altcoin flows shows how much of the remaining altcoin activity is now flowing through Binance compared to the rest of the crypto market. Data from CryptoQuant shows altcoin spot volumes on Binance have collapsed to $7.7 billion, which is a fraction of the $40 billion to $50 billion trading volumes recorded during last year’s peak activity periods. Related Reading: Bitcoin Gains Ground On Gold Even As Both Assets Slide On the other hand, other major exchanges combined account for about $18.8 billion in altcoin trading volume. That puts Binance’s share near 40% of the total market, meaning close to one out of every two dollars traded in altcoins is now passing through the exchange. MEXC ranks second at 7.62%, followed by Bybit at 6.07%, OKX at 6%, and Bitget at 5.61%. HTX, Coinbase, and Upbit each hold between 4.57% and 5.38%, while smaller platforms including Crypto.com, Gate.io, KuCoin, and Kraken account for the remainder. Altcoin Spot Trading Volume By Exchange. Source: CryptoQuant Those figures are far below altcoin trading volumes normally observed during more active periods. In October 2025, Binance alone recorded between $40 billion and $50 billion in altcoin trading volume, with other exchanges reaching around $63 billion. The February 2025 peak was even more pronounced, with competing platforms collectively processing approximately $91 billion in altcoin movements. The Altcoin Spot Trading Volume chart from January 2025 through March 2026, which is shown below, reveals the decline very well. What were frequent spikes well above the $40 billion mark have given way to a prolonged suppression of activity, with readings largely hugging the baseline since the beginning of 2026. Altcoins Spot Trading Volume. Source: CryptoQuant Decline In Interest Could Matter For What Comes Next The fading interest in altcoins is happening against a context that is hostile to risk-taking. Ongoing geopolitical tensions and a bear market structure have left investors more defensive, and that caution has hit altcoins harder than Bitcoin. Capital inflows are now much more selective; Bitcoin is absorbing attention first, leaving the rest of the market struggling for momentum. Even so, Darkfost pointed to an idea that long-term investors will likely keep in mind. The volume spikes observed in October and February occurred when the crypto market was forming local tops. These phases are during periods of FOMO, during which well-positioned investors use the surge in demand as exit liquidity. Related Reading: Bitcoin Holds As Gold Posts Worst Week Since 1983 Amid Iran War On the other hand, periods of extremely low interest are worth watching closely because they often develop when sentiment is most depressed and expectations are at their lowest. These are when the most attractive opportunities tend to emerge. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Security certifications topped the list of concerns for financial institutions weighing tokenization partners, with 97% saying standards like ISO and SOC II were non-negotiable — a sign that trust, not just technology, is now driving deals in institutional crypto finance. Related Reading: Bitcoin Gains Ground On Gold Even As Both Assets Slide Stablecoins Lead As Finance Firms Shift Crypto Focus A new survey from Ripple, released Thursday, found that 72% of more than 1,000 financial industry executives worldwide believe their companies must offer digital asset solutions to remain competitive. Ripple surveyed 1,000+ global finance leaders in 2026. A few things stood out: https://t.co/414dTO9Qit → 72% say digital assets are now table stakes to stay competitive → 74% see stablecoins as a cash-flow tool, not just a payment rail → 89% of those surveyed say digital… — Ripple (@Ripple) March 19, 2026 The poll covered banks, asset managers, fintechs, and corporate firms across global markets. What stood out wasn’t just the appetite for digital assets — it was how differently each type of firm plans to get there. Fintech companies are moving fast and building in-house. About 47% of fintech respondents said they plan to develop their own digital asset infrastructure. Corporate firms are taking the opposite approach. Nearly three-quarters of them said they intend to work with outside providers. Banks and asset managers are looking for something in the middle — experienced partners who can guide strategy while also supplying the technology. Stablecoins drew the strongest interest across the board. According to Ripple, 74% of respondents said stablecoins have the potential to improve cash flow and free up capital that would otherwise sit idle. Ripple said institutions are treating stablecoins not just as payment tools, but as instruments for managing treasury operations. Custody Rises As A Core Priority Tokenization is also gaining ground, though institutions aren’t rushing in without safeguards. Among those assessing potential tokenization partners, 89% named secure asset storage as a top requirement. Token lifecycle management came in at 82%, and primary distribution ranked at 80%. Banks showed a particular appetite for advisory help. Based on survey data, 85% of bank respondents called pre-issuance structuring support important. Asset managers were close behind at 76%. Reports indicate that institutions aren’t just buying crypto infrastructure — they want guidance on how to use it. Ripple credited several forces for pushing digital assets higher on the priority list: shifting regulations, growing interest from major banks, wider use of fintech services, and the continued rise of stablecoins. Related Reading: XRP Still In Danger Zone Without This Key Breakout: Analyst The Build-Or-Buy Question Takes Center Stage The survey suggests the industry’s internal debate has moved on. The question is no longer whether to get involved with crypto. It’s who to work with and what to build. That shift, if accurate, marks a turning point in how seriously established financial institutions are treating the space. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Tempo launched its mainnet with the Machine Payments Protocol, enabling autonomous agent payments and a directory of over 100 services.
Ethereum users may soon interact with the blockchain in ways that were not possible before. According to co-founder Vitalik Buterin, native smart accounts — a feature that has been in the works for over a decade — are now expected to arrive within the year as part of the network’s upcoming Hegota upgrade. Related Reading: Bitcoin In The Line Of Fire: Price Dips To $63k As US, Israel Launch Strikes On Iran Privacy Tools Stand To Benefit Most For privacy-focused users, this shift could matter more than most people realize. Protocols like Railgun have long depended on middlemen called “public broadcasters” to push transactions through. These go-betweens have been a persistent source of headaches for users. Reports say Buterin wants to remove them entirely by replacing that system with a general-purpose public memory pool — cutting out the intermediary and putting more control directly in the hands of the user. His words were direct: “Intermediary minimization is a core principle of non-ugly cypherpunk Ethereum — maximize what you can do even if all the world’s infrastructure except the Ethereum chain itself goes down.” That is a strong statement. And it signals just how seriously the Ethereum team takes self-sufficiency at the protocol level. Now, account abstraction. We have been talking about account abstraction ever since early 2016, see the original EIP-86: https://t.co/HYLSTLHgWH Now, we finally have EIP-8141 ( https://t.co/jYqeS55j6P ), an omnibus that wraps up and solves every remaining problem that AA was… — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 28, 2026 A Decade In The Making Buterin acknowledged the long road to get here. He pointed out that account abstraction has been discussed since early 2016. Now, with EIP-8141 bundled into the Hegota fork, the goal is to finally tie up every problem the concept was originally meant to fix — and then some. The Ethereum Foundation’s public roadmap, called the “Strawmap,” places native account abstraction in the second half of 2026. The technical approach being proposed centers on what Buterin calls “frame transactions.” Rather than a transaction being one single action, it becomes a series of frames. Each frame can point to another’s data, and each can authorize a sender or a gas payer. One frame handles the signature check. Another handles execution. It is modular by design and built to be broadly useful. This also means paying transaction fees without holding ETH becomes possible. Users could pay in other tokens through a paymaster contract or a specialized exchange that supplies ETH on the spot — no third party needed. Related Reading: Vitalik Buterin Lays Out A Plan To Make Ethereum 1,000 Times More Capable Quantum Resistance Also In Scope The Hegota upgrade is not stopping at smart accounts. Buterin also rolled out a separate quantum resistance roadmap earlier in the week, identifying four areas of concern: validator signatures, data storage, user account signatures, and zero-knowledge proofs. Existing accounts are expected to fit into the new framework without being left behind, gaining access to batch operations and transaction sponsorship along the way. After 10 years of promises, the pieces finally appear to be falling into place. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The U.K. bank would rival JPMorgan and others in using decentralized technology for banking services.
A finance expert believes XRP may be approaching a notable moment amid ongoing market and regulatory developments. Related Reading: Jim Cramer Suggests US Government Could Buy Bitcoin Near $60K Finance guru Coach JV points to regulatory delays, policy uncertainty, and behind-the-scenes activity as factors that could shape the token’s next moves. While the situation is far from certain, his perspective highlights why investors are watching XRP closely despite broader market swings. Regulatory Delays Could Signal Change According to Coach JV, the long-running Ripple vs. SEC saga and slow progress on bills like the Clarity Act and the GENIUS Act have left a lot of questions in play. Some of those gaps are legal. Some are practical. When rules are fuzzy, large funds hesitate to move. When rules are clearer, capital tends to follow. That is simple, yet it’s not automatic. Many factors decide where big investors put money: liquidity, custody solutions, legal safety, and return potential. Reports say the Clarity Act aims to define how digital assets should be treated beyond stablecoins. That could matter a lot for tokens with institutional use cases. Market Psychology And Misinformation Reports note Coach JV also warned about noise. Social posts, clips, and AI-made headlines can push short-term moves that don’t reflect fundamentals. He urged calm and a plan. That was practical advice: set buy rules, remove emotion, stick to them. A crypto analyst added a different tone. He said he’s watching for curveballs — a one-line way to say unexpected policy shifts or regulatory surprises might appear. Those surprises could involve stablecoins or new banking rules. A crackdown on certain stablecoins would change flows in the market. It would not automatically hand the keys to XRP, but it would reshape choices for payments and custody. Accumulation And The Case For Patience Coach JV explained his own approach: disciplined accumulation across select assets during dips. He mentioned continuing to buy Bitcoin and XRP on weakness. That method is time-tested for many investors. It works when an investor has a long horizon and can tolerate swings. Reports say accumulation is a defensive way to act when headlines flash and sentiment whipsaws. Related Reading: Calm Down: Ethereum Has Survived 8 Major 50% Falls, Lee Reminds Investors Institutional Flows And Real-World Use According to market watchers, true separation from broader crypto moves will need more than clearer laws. Real demand must appear. That means banks or payment firms using blockchain rails, meaningful custody offerings, and on-ramps that work at scale. If institutions begin to run settlement tests and then roll out services, token activity could change for good. But right now most large allocators are still waiting on clearer rules and proven infrastructure. Some moves may be passive in the system; others will be driven by active adoption. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Ethereum’s recent sell-off has weighed heavily on sentiment after the price fell below the $2,000 level and pulled much of the altcoin market lower alongside it. The move has caused sweeping fear and caution among Ethereum traders. However, some analysts are of the notion that a bullish upside will roll in soon. In a post shared on X, crypto analyst ChainHub said the current conditions point more toward exhaustion, and after massive downside comes massive upside. Related Reading: Bitcoin Edges Past Gold In Appeal, JPMorgan Says ETHBTC Structure Holds ChainHub emphasized that the ETH/BTC pair is still technically valid and has not seen any structural invalidation despite the recent price crash. Although Ethereum’s price fell much lower than many expected during the crash, it is not going to keep falling forever. He also pointed to fear levels that are now climbing to extremes rarely seen, noting that such environments always tend to appear near major turning points. “After massive fear and massive downside comes massive upside,” the analyst said. On Ethereum itself, ChainHub acknowledged that losing the $2,000 handle was important, but he highlighted the next major area of interest near $1,700. This zone is technically consistent with a broader corrective structure, and it is possible that Ethereum might not even fall that far before it rebounds. However, even if Ethereum does fall to $1,700, price action reaching this area means Ethereum is finally at a region where buyers may begin to reassert control. He linked this outlook to Bitcoin’s recent behavior. Bitcoin’s rejection at $72,000 opened the door to a retest of the upper portion of its summer 2024 demand range, which stretches from around $59,000 down to $49,000. ChainHub pointed out that this is the first significant interaction with that demand area since 2025, with Fibonacci alignment clustering around $57,000 to $58,000. This increases the odds that Bitcoin is in the process of forming a base, and that is where it establishes a bottom. Altcoins Touching Meaningful Demand Levels ChainHub also noted that Ethereum is not alone in testing critical levels. Several major altcoins, including Solana and XRP, have moved into important demand zones. Many of these altcoins have revisited August 2024 lows or filled prior wicks, areas that have not yet been broken on an initial attempt. Solana, for instance, has broken below $100 for the first time since January 2024 and recently traded at a low of $75. As noted by ChainHub, this move saw Solana finally touch meaningful demand for the first time in 2 years. Related Reading: Polygon Hits $3.50 Billion In Payments As Crypto Activity Expands Dogecoin, Cardano, and Avalanche have also all filled the downward wicks on October 10, restoring balance and touching the August 2024 low. Although there is still the possibility for limited downside, the expectation is that the market begins forming a range and then starts building bullish momentum in the coming weeks. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Plaintiffs say insiders sold millions of dollars’ worth of tokens immediately after Cere’s 2021 ICO, sending prices into a near-total collapse.
Ripple launched Ripple Treasury following its $1 billion acquisition of treasury management provider GTreasury.
Crypto traders often assume that meaningful gains need long timelines to take place, and they often give up during the wait and silence. However, crypto has a habit of shattering that belief without warning. History shows that when conditions line up, altcoins do not grind higher over years. They release and erase multiple years of drawdowns in a matter of weeks. That memory was highlighted by a crypto commentator known as Waterman on the social media platform X, who noted a familiar seasonal window between February and late April to early May for an altcoin explosion. Related Reading: Gold Becomes The Whale Safe Haven As Bitcoin Takes A Back Seat Speed Matters More Than Time The most notable example of an altcoin rally season was in 2021, when the entire altcoin market went on a rally to new all-time highs, many of which are still unbroken for some cryptocurrencies. The 2021 cycle delivered some of the clearest reminders of just how fast capital can rotate once momentum takes hold. Solana moved from roughly $20 to $200 in about 50 days, a clean tenfold run. Although Solana has since broken above this peak to register a new all-time high of $293 in January 2025, this was still Solana’s most explosive rally to date. Dogecoin followed an even sharper trajectory, climbing from $0.07 to a peak of $0.73 in under a month due to speculative interest that flowed into other memecoins like Shiba Inu. Unlike Solana, Dogecoin is yet to reclaim or surpass this peak price. Avalanche went further, rallying from around $3 to $60 in less than 40 days, a twentyfold expansion that unfolded faster than most long-term projections ever anticipate. None of these moves required years of development or prolonged accumulation. A Timeframe To Watch Closely Notably, February through late April or early May has more often than not been the period where altcoin performance increases the most. If that pattern repeats, the coming weeks may matter far more than the years that came before them. At the time of writing, the notion of an altcoin season is still impeded by strong Bitcoin dominance. Much of that comes down to how the entire crypto industry ecosystem has changed massively since 2021, especially after the launch of crypto-based ETFs. That steady demand has kept capital inflows concentrated around Bitcoin and slowed the usual rotation into altcoins. Meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have struggled to keep up in terms of price action, even with the launch of Dogecoin ETFs. Although the ETF has boosted visibility, it has not yet resulted into sustained upside. At the same time, investors have become more selective, favoring cryptocurrencies tied to clearer utility. As a result, many crypto communities have been working to create utility for their meme coins. Related Reading: XRP Showing Strength, Analyst Points To $4 Potential Nonetheless, as noted by Waterman, you only need about four to six weeks for an altcoin to wipe out three to four years of suffering. You don’t need one to two years for altcoins to make massive gains. Featured image from YouHodler, chart from TradingView
Sui’s blockchain resumed normal activity after a network stall that halted transactions for roughly six hours on January 14, 2026. According to reports, validators identified the problem in the mid-afternoon and worked to roll out a fix that restored block creation and transaction processing later that evening. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s New Power Buyers: Companies Bought 3 Times What Miners Produced Outage Timeline And Recovery Based on reports, Sui’s team first flagged the issue at about 2:52 pm UTC when block production and checkpoint creation stopped. Validators applied changes and began bringing nodes back into sync. Service was reported as restored at about 8:44 pm UTC, a span of roughly five hours and 52 minutes from detection to recovery. During that interval, no new blocks were finalized and user activity stopped across wallets and decentralized apps. The Sui network is now back and fully operational. Transactions are flowing normally. If you are still seeing issues, please refresh your app or browser window. Thanks for your patience. We will share a full incident review in the coming days. Please check… — Sui (@SuiNetwork) January 14, 2026 Transactions Halted And Value Frozen The halt left a large amount of on-chain value inactive while the network was stalled. Reports indicate more than $1 billion in value was effectively frozen during the outage, though there were no signs of funds being stolen or altered. Users and apps that rely on the chain saw failed or queued transactions, and many dApps displayed errors until validators finished their updates. Cause, Response And Market Reaction Reports have disclosed that the problem was recorded as a consensus outage, meaning the mechanism used to agree on new blocks stopped finalizing. A full technical root-cause writeup has not yet been published. The Sui Foundation said an incident report will appear later with more detail. The SUI token showed modest movement during the event, trading around $1.80–$1.85 in the hours after the network came back, with a brief spike recorded on some exchanges as the news circulated. Past Interruptions And Context Sui launched mainnet in May 2023, and this outage follows previous incidents that raised similar questions about validator coordination and uptime. One earlier major disruption occurred in November 2024, which also involved issues around consensus and validator operation. Developers who build on Sui said many of their services experienced interrupted user flows while the chain was stalled. Related Reading: Russia Drafts Bill That Could Change Who Can Buy Crypto Questions About Network Reliability Some community members and outside observers have asked how often such consensus stalls can happen and what measures will reduce future occurrences. Validators and the Sui team said they were focused on patching the immediate bug and improving monitoring so problems are detected faster. Based on reports, the foundation plans to share specific steps for validators and node operators in the upcoming post-mortem. Sui’s team has said transactions are flowing again and advised users to refresh wallets or apps if they still see problems. The network’s operators have promised more transparency with a formal incident report, which will be watched closely by developers, exchanges, and investors who depend on the chain’s steady operation. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView