Crypto

A substantial pump or a painful decline: what's next for BTC?

Familiar players ramp up Bitcoin and Ether bets as markets hint at a rebound, while institutions test blockchain rails and US lawmakers stall on crypto rules this week. Familiar names have been aggressively accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), but this time, their buying comes amid early signs of a market reversal. This week, Strategy made one of its largest Bitcoin purchases on record, bringing its total holdings well north of 800,000 BTC. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, despite sitting on steep unrealized losses, executed its largest Ether purchase since December. Beyond digital asset treasuries, traditional finance continues to test blockchain infrastructure, with Japan exploring the use of government bonds onchain. In the United States, regulation is still grinding forward, albeit slowly, as lawmakers remain divided over key market-structure legislation. Read more

A U.S. soldier charged with using classified military intelligence to bet on Polymarket failed to pass Kalshi's KYC procedures.

Bitcoin and risk assets faced an uphill struggle after the S&P 500 hit new all-time highs as analysis warned that BTC price support was at risk. Bitcoin (BTC) stayed glued to $78,000 on Friday with markets “awaiting clarity” from the US-Iran war. Key points: Bitcoin stalls in its bid to recapture $80,000, as US stocks tread water. Read more

The Justice Department passed an investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell to the Fed's own inspector, which could clear a confirmation path for Kevin Warsh.

A bullish signal from Solana’s MACD indicator hinted at a potential rally, though resistance at $90 could delay the recovery. Solana’s (SOL) MACD indicator sent a “buy” signal on its weekly chart, an occurrence that has historically preceded parabolic rallies. Key takeaways: Solana’s MACD indicator sent a “buy” signal that has led to a 100%-860% SOL price rallies in the past. Read more

Morgan Stanley debuted a money market fund intended for stablecoin issuers, billing the product as a way for companies to manage reserves.

I believe the hardest question for DeFi in 2026 is whether the original dream is still alive. The collective bargain was simple. Users would hold their own keys. Code would execute the rules. Markets would stay open. Ledgers would be visible. Intermediaries would lose power because financial services could run on public smart contracts rather […] The post Yearly DeFi hacks cost 8,500% more than TradFi breaches per dollar moved appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Nakamoto launched a Bitcoin derivatives program with Bitwise and Kraken, aiming to generate options premiums and hedge part of its BTC treasury exposure. Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto announced on Friday an actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program designed to generate recurring income from volatility while hedging part of its downside exposure. Nakamoto said the program has been in place since the first quarter of 2026 and uses a portion of the company’s Bitcoin holdings as collateral for a derivatives strategy managed by Bitwise Asset Management in a separately managed account. Under the arrangement, a portion of the company’s Bitcoin is held in Kraken’s qualified custody solution and used as collateral for a derivatives strategy managed by Bitwise Asset Management in a separately managed account. Read more

A filing Thursday said the lawsuit rehashes events already settled in court and seeks damages for losses caused by internal misconduct.

Top Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies made its second ETH buy from the Ethereum Foundation.

The transaction brings the firm’s holdings closer to its 5% of ETH target.

The state alleges sports betting products on Kalshi, Polymarket and other financial platforms violate Wisconsin gambling laws.

Project Eleven awarded 1 BTC to an Italian researcher after a public quantum computer breaks a 15-bit elliptic curve key, the largest public demonstration of its kind to date.

South Africa’s draft capital flow rules would bring crypto under exchange controls, with declaration duties, transaction limits and tougher penalties. South Africa’s National Treasury has published draft rules that would bring cryptocurrency transactions under the country’s capital flow regime, requiring some holders to declare digital asset holdings and routing certain transactions through authorized providers or Treasury-approved channels. Published on April 17, the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations bill proposes that crypto holders above a yet-unspecified threshold would be required to declare investments to the treasury within 30 days. In some cases, crypto acquired through an authorized provider for a stated purpose would have to be offered for sale if it was no longer needed for that purpose. The draft is open for public comment until May 18 and would replace South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations of 1961, marking the most significant overhaul of the country’s exchange control framework in ...

Independent researcher Giancarlo Lelli broke a 15-bit elliptic curve key on publicly accessible quantum hardware, 512 times larger than the previous public demonstration in September 2025.

Historically, MSTR’s outperformance signals traders are taking more risk, betting Bitcoin’s worst drawdown phase may be over. Strategy’s MSTR stock has jumped roughly 25% over the past month, outperforming Bitcoin’s circa 9% gain and reviving a historical signal that has often appeared near BTC cycle bottoms. Key takeaways: Historically, a sustained MSTR outperformance versus Bitcoin has preceded the latter’s bear market bottom. Read more

China’s new online marketing rules tighten an already sweeping crypto ban and place fresh pressure on financial influencers, echoing parallel crackdowns in Europe, Australia and the UK. China’s central bank and seven other regulators have finalized the “Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products” (Announcement No. 9), dated April 21 and publicly released on April 24. The rules take effect on Sept. 30, 2026, and confine online marketing of financial products to licensed financial institutions and lawfully entrusted third-party platforms, and prohibit any organization or individual from offering online marketing services or any other form of assistance that facilitates illegal financial activities. The text explicitly folds virtual currency issuance and trading, along with illegal foreign exchange margin business, into the definition of illegal financial activity, reinforcing a stance first made explicit when the People’s Bank of China declared all crypto transactions illegal in 2021. Re...

The ECB signed deals with three standards bodies to reuse open payment standards for the digital euro and lower integration costs for banks and merchants. The European Central Bank (ECB) said Friday it has signed agreements with three European standards bodies to reuse existing open payment standards for digital euro transactions, as it seeks to reduce integration costs for banks, merchants and payment service providers.  According to the ECB, the agreements with the European Card Payment Cooperation, Nexo standards and the Berlin Group will allow the ECB to use standards covering contactless tap-to-pay payments, merchant-to-payment-provider connections and alias-based payments, such as transactions using a mobile phone number. The ECB said using existing open standards would minimize adoption costs for the market and help create a uniform digital euro user experience across the euro area. However, the standards agreements remain a cost-mitigation step, not confirmation that the digital euro will be cheap to ...

The March and April 2026 drawdown has structural consequences, as Bitcoin ETF holders stayed steady. Bitcoin sits near $78,000, roughly 38% below the $125,761 peak from Oct. 6, and US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $1.32 billion in March, reversing a four-month outflow streak. Then, the ETFs added another $2.42 billion in net inflows between […] The post Surprisingly Bitcoin’s paper hands are not ETF buyers as 38% plunge reveals appeared first on CryptoSlate.