Today's top news highlights:
The Winklevoss brothers withdrew $42.77 million worth of BTC from Gemini.
Billionaire Tim Draper predicts Bitcoin will reach $250,000 within 18 months.
Regulation & Macro
The Central Bank of Pakistan has allowed banks to open accounts for licensed virtual asset service providers, overturning a 2018 ban. This move, in accordance with the Virtual Assets Act 2026, marks the first time that crypto-related businesses have been brought into the Pakistani banking system, subject to stringent anti-money laundering and compliance regulations. Banks must verify the licenses issued by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority of Pakistan before accepting a business and open segregated, non-interest-bearing customer accounts in rupees. Banks remain responsible for due diligence, risk analysis, and reporting of suspicious transactions, but are prohibited from using their own or customer funds to invest in or hold virtual assets.
Elastic Security Labs has discovered a new type of social engineering attack targeting users in the crypto and financial industries. Attackers exploited the community plugin feature of the note-taking application Obsidian to spread malware that could take control of victims' devices. The attackers used sophisticated social engineering on LinkedIn and Telegram, impersonating venture capital firms and establishing a business relationship by discussing financial services, particularly cryptocurrency liquidity solutions. They tricked victims into using Obsidian to open cloud-hosted repositories controlled by the attackers and enabling community plugin synchronization. The malicious plugin then silently executed the attack chain. The attack, which runs on both Windows and macOS, deploys a previously undocumented remote access trojan, PHANTOMPULSE, which uses on-chain transaction data from at least three different blockchain networks for decentralized command and control.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has repealed the "pattern day trader" rule, eliminating the $25,000 minimum balance requirement.
Based on widespread community feedback, those who registered for U-cards with their passports last year have generally received a CRS filing notification from Fiat24, the upstream issuer of U-cards, in the past two days. The email states that, according to the new regulatory requirements CRS/DAC8, all financial platforms are required to collect users' tax residency information; failure to do so may result in account restrictions. Currently, this only applies to U-cards issued by Fiat24. CRS is a cross-border tax information exchange, and its members include China.
The IRS has officially implemented new reporting standards for digital assets to curb tax evasion.
On April 15, the IRS officially entered a new phase of enforcement, with mandatory cost basis reporting requirements for digital asset brokers now fully effective for the 2026 tax year. Centralized exchanges, custodial wallet providers, and certain digital asset processors are required to issue Form 1099-DA to the IRS and taxpayers, documenting every sale and transaction of a digital asset. The IRS stated that this move aims to close a long-standing "compliance gap" and align crypto reporting standards with those for traditional stocks and bonds. The new rules require brokers to track the "cost basis" of each asset from acquisition to disposal, and taxpayers must be able to verify the specific purchase price and date of each token sold. The Treasury Department has introduced a simplified electronic consent process, allowing brokers to terminate their relationships with clients who refuse to participate in the new reporting framework. Although the Trump administration has ordered the repeal of the "DeFi broker" designation that considered front-end service providers like Uniswap as reporting entities, the IRS stated that it will track on-chain activity through advanced forensic audits, and investors using self-custodial wallets to "evade" reporting requirements face higher audit risks.
Federal Reserve's Goolsby: Rate cuts may not happen until 2027
The South Korean government plans to reform the basic pension eligibility criteria, including overseas financial assets and virtual assets in the calculation of income eligibility. This reform aims to prevent high-asset individuals from exploiting loopholes in the system to receive pensions and improve fairness. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated it will advance revisions to the Basic Pension Act and review improvements to the deduction system for basic assets such as housing and land. This is a response to the Audit and Inspection Service's previous criticism that the selection method for basic pension recipients did not adequately reflect asset status. The government also plans to introduce domestic residency requirements, referencing practices in OECD countries such as Australia, Canada, Norway, and Sweden, to restrict eligibility for pensions for those returning from long-term overseas residence. The relevant bill has been proposed for 2025 and is currently under discussion in the National Assembly.
European nations are working on a plan to form a broad international coalition to help restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, including measures such as deploying minesweepers and other military vessels. However, the plan will only be implemented after the war and may specifically exclude one country: the United States. The Wall Street Journal reported that French President Macron said on Tuesday that the plan aims to create an international defensive mission that will not include the “belligerent” parties, namely the United States, Israel, and Iran. European diplomats familiar with the plan said that European ships will not be under US command. The goal of this European plan is to give shipping companies confidence to use the strait after the war ends. Officials say the end of the war may still be some time away. According to a senior German official, the European plan is likely to include Germany. Berlin’s involvement means the mission could be larger than previously anticipated. The plan has three main objectives: first, to implement logistical arrangements to ensure the departure of the hundreds of ships currently trapped in the strait; second, to conduct a large-scale minesweeping operation to clear obstacles for a much larger number of ships to use the strait’s wider waters. The ultimate goal is to reassure shipping companies that safe passage through the strait is guaranteed by providing routine military escort and surveillance by frigates and destroyers.
Sources say discussions are underway to extend the US-Iran ceasefire.
Project Updates
Six researchers, including Jameson Lopp, have proposed BIP-361, a proposal to freeze tokens in quantum-vulnerable addresses on the Bitcoin network, including approximately $74 billion worth of Bitcoin held by Satoshi Nakamoto, to prevent theft once quantum computers mature. This proposal is the second part of a three-phase "post-quantum migration and old signature deactivation" scheme. The first phase, BIP-360, was proposed in February, introducing a new P2MR output type to protect new tokens. According to BIP-361, three years after activation, sending Bitcoin to old-type addresses will be prohibited; five years after activation, old signatures will become invalid, and Bitcoin in vulnerable addresses that have not migrated will be frozen. The third phase provides a zero-knowledge proof rescue mechanism, allowing users who missed the deadline but still possess the mnemonic phrase to recover their funds. The proposal authors call this a "private upgrade incentive," arguing that freezing tokens will increase the value of other people's tokens. The proposal has sparked controversy in the community, with critics calling it "authoritarian and confiscative," arguing that forcing upgrades and invalidating old expenditures lacks justification.
The Winklevoss brothers withdrew $42.77 million worth of BTC from Gemini.
The Winklevoss brothers withdrew $42.77 million worth of BTC from Gemini. Their last major move occurred just over a month ago when they deposited $128.5 million worth of BTC into Gemini, bringing their Bitcoin balance down to its lowest level since 2012, holding only 8,800 coins.
Lattice, a blockchain infrastructure team, announced it will gradually shut down its operations after five years. Its Layer 2 network, Redstone, will cease operation on May 16, 2026, at 07:59. Lattice reminds users to withdraw funds before this deadline, especially assets in contracts such as Uniswap pools. After the shutdown, only L1 withdrawal contracts will be deployed for external account balance withdrawals; funds in these contracts will be irrecoverable. Founded in 2021, Lattice focused on building autonomous worlds, developing tools such as the MUD framework, the Redstone chain, Quarry, and Dozer, but failed to achieve a sustainable business model. The team used remaining funds for its final project, DUST Autonomous World, but the scale was insufficient to support the business, and they did not believe VC funding was the right path. DUST has migrated to DUST Chain, MUD is fully functional, audited by OpenZeppelin, and is completely open source, while Quarry and Dozer are now open source.
Cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians such as Coinbase and Binance are vying to integrate Anthropic's Mythos AI model to address the growing threat of AI-driven security. Coinbase's Chief Security Officer, Philip Martin, confirmed that the company has been in close communication with Anthropic regarding Mythos, believing the model will simultaneously accelerate both attack and defense capabilities. Binance is using Anthropic's commercial models and internal tools to test system vulnerabilities. Fireblocks revealed that it discovered previously undetected security vulnerabilities while testing Anthropic's early model, Claude Opus 4.6. Mythos is a restricted, cutting-edge AI model launched by Anthropic in early April 2026 as part of Project Glasswing's cybersecurity defense initiative, and is only available to select partners. During its testing phase, the model identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities, including a 27-year-old security flaw in OpenBSD.
Crypto wallet Zerion disclosed that North Korean hackers used AI in a long-term social engineering attack, stealing approximately $100,000 from the company's hot wallet last week. Zerion confirmed that user funds, applications, and infrastructure were unaffected and has proactively disabled its web application as a precaution. Zerion also stated that the attackers obtained login sessions and credentials of some team members, as well as the company's hot wallet private key, noting that AI is changing the way cyber threats operate.
Security firm Blockaid reported that its system detected an attack on the front end of the decentralized exchange CowSwap, and Cow.fi has been flagged as a malicious site. Blockaid warned users who have connected their wallets to CowSwap to immediately revoke their contract authorizations via their wallets or security tools and to cease all interaction with Cow.fi until the issue is resolved to prevent asset theft. The CoW DAO subsequently issued a statement confirming the current malfunction of the CoW Swap front end, stating that the team is investigating and resolving the issue, and advising users to temporarily refrain from using the platform for transactions.
Farcaster has issued a statement clarifying that it will not be issuing any tokens. The "token discussion" circulating in the market is actually related to Hypersnap, a fork of the Farcaster protocol. The Hypersnap team referred to its token as the "Farcaster token" in the discussion, causing confusion for users unfamiliar with the technical details. Farcaster stated that this is not a comment on the fork project, but simply an attempt to avoid unnecessary noise from speculation, such as bot accounts, airdrop users, and scam accounts. It emphasized that there is no such thing as a Farcaster protocol token airdrop.
Polygon launches sPOL, a liquidity staking token, to unlock native DeFi.
Polygon Labs has launched its native liquidity staking token, sPOL, aiming to bring over 3.6 billion staked POL into the DeFi ecosystem. Users earn sPOL by staking POL at a 1:1 ratio. sPOL accumulates staking rewards over time and can be used for trading, collateralizing, providing liquidity, or participating in DeFi yield strategies. Existing stakers can migrate their positions through the staking portal with no waiting period and uninterrupted rewards. Polygon Labs has committed $10 million from its own funds to launch sPOL and plans to add another $90 million subsequently. The Uniswap V4 pool is already live. A Polygon co-founder stated that network priority fees have increased by 1000% since the PIP-65 proposal, and PIP-85 will distribute a larger proportion of fees to stakers and delegators.
Changpeng Zhao: An AMA will be held at Binance Square at 21:00 today.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao announced that he will hold a live AMA on Binance Square at 9:00 PM today, welcoming any questions from the community. He stated that since the release of his new book, the community has responded enthusiastically, creating various memes and mini-videos, and even rankings of his favorite and least favorite people. Zhao joked that he had been imprisoned for four months, so he should be able to handle an hour of "spicy questions."
Nikita Bier, product manager for the X platform, announced the launch of the Cashtags feature on iPhones in the US and Canada, providing users with real-time financial data. When users search for or post content containing Cashtags or contract addresses, X automatically recommends matching stocks or crypto tokens. Clicking on a Cashtag allows users to view related posts and price charts without leaving the app. X also announced a pilot integration with Canadian brokerage Wealthsimple, where Canadian users will see a trading button on their Cashtags and can complete trades directly within X. Bier stated that Cashtags is just the first step, with web, Android, and global launches coming soon.
The Ethereum Foundation, in partnership with Areta, Nethermind, Chainlink Labs, and others, has launched the "Ethereum Audit Subsidy" program, providing Ethereum ecosystem developers with up to approximately $1 million in subsidies for security audits. Led by the Ethereum Foundation's Trillion Dollar Security Initiative, the program collaborates with several top-tier auditing firms to review applications. It targets development teams building new use cases and CROPS-related projects on Ethereum, aiming to reduce security audit costs and enhance pre-launch security.
Google Chrome browser adds AI Skills feature, supporting the saving and reuse of prompts.
Google has announced more AI features for its Chrome browser. A new feature called Skills will allow users to save and reuse frequently used AI-generated suggestions, which can be used across different web pages without needing to be re-typed. To use it, save the AI suggestions directly from your chat history as Skills. Then, in Chrome's Gemini, type a forward slash or click the plus button to reuse the skill. The skill will run on the currently viewed webpage and other selected tabs. Google says these skills can also be edited at any time. The Skills feature will be rolled out gradually to Chrome desktop users who are logged into their Google accounts starting today. Initially, it will only be available when the browser language is set to US English.
Goldman Sachs applies to launch a Bitcoin yield-enhanced ETF
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has submitted an application for a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF. The fund aims to capture current returns while preserving the potential for capital appreciation from rising Bitcoin prices.
Investment and financing news
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, confirmed at the Semafor World Economic Summit that Kraken has secretly filed for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Deutsche Börse Group has committed $200 million in exchange for a 1.5% fully diluted stake, valuing the company at approximately $13.3 billion, a reduction of over $6 billion from its $20 billion valuation last November. Last November, Kraken announced the submission of a draft registration statement on Form S-1, but at that time, no offering date was set. Less than a month ago, Kraken froze its IPO plans due to the crypto market downturn, when Bitcoin had fallen 40% from its record high in October of last year.
Fluidstack plans to raise $1 billion, raising its valuation to $18 billion.
Cloud computing startup Fluidstack is in talks with investors for a new funding round of approximately $1 billion, targeting a valuation of around $18 billion. Sources familiar with the matter say Jane Street and Situational Awareness are in discussions to co-lead the round, with Morgan Stanley advising on the investment. This valuation represents a significant increase from its earlier funding round of approximately $7.5 billion this year, which included Situational Awareness, a fund managed by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. Fluidstack focuses on building high-performance computing data centers. It recently signed a custom data center construction agreement worth approximately $50 billion with Anthropic, moved its headquarters from London to New York, and withdrew from a large data center project in France, focusing instead on its US operations.
Opinions & Analysis
Billionaire Tim Draper predicts Bitcoin will reach $250,000 within 18 months.
American venture capitalist Tim Draper recounted his Bitcoin investment experience in an article published on the X platform. He initially planned to buy Bitcoin at $4, but mining equipment supplier Butterfly Labs used the chips that were supposed to be delivered for its own mining. By the time Peter Viscenne received the chips, Bitcoin had already risen to over $30. His subsequent Bitcoin holdings through Mt. Gox were also lost due to the platform "losing" funds. Draper noticed that Bitcoin's price did not drop significantly after the Mt. Gox incident. His research revealed that Bitcoin was being used for remittances, paying wages to unbanked workers, and creating new economic opportunities. Therefore, he purchased all nine lots of Bitcoin at a U.S. Marshals Service auction for $632. In 2014, he predicted on Forbes Business Channel that Bitcoin would reach $10,000 within three years, a prediction that came true on the same day three years later. Draper stated that his predictions have not come true since, but he has reason to believe that Bitcoin will reach $250,000 within 18 months, and that this figure will ultimately be even higher as Bitcoin appreciates and the dollar weakens due to inflationary pressures.
Bitcoin briefly broke through the key resistance level of $76,000 last night before falling back to around $74,000, failing to achieve a valid breakout and continuing its sideways consolidation that has lasted for more than two months. Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33 Research, stated that Binance's Bitcoin perpetual contract funding rate has been negative for 11 consecutive periods. Despite the recent price rebound, traders remain bearish, indicating that the market maintains a bearish positioning even during price increases. Meanwhile, open interest continues to rise, suggesting that new short positions are increasing rather than being closed out. Lunde also pointed out that the 30-day average funding rate has been negative for 46 consecutive days, comparable to the market stress periods following the FTX crash at the end of 2022 and the mid-2021 ban on Bitcoin mining in China. Lunde stated that historically, such risk aversion has often provided attractive entry points for Bitcoin, as crowded short positions are forced to close when prices begin to rise, triggering a more significant upward move.
Bernstein predicts that the forecasting market will reach $1 trillion by 2030.
Analysts at Wall Street brokerage Bernstein predict that prediction market trading volume will reach approximately $1 trillion by 2030. In the first few months of 2026, the two major platforms, Kalshi and Polymarket, already achieved approximately $60 billion in trading volume, exceeding the $51 billion for the entire year of 2025. Kalshi currently controls over 90% of the US prediction market share, with weekly trading volume surging from approximately $100 million a year ago to over $3 billion. Bernstein projects that prediction market trading volume will reach $240 billion in 2026, a 370% increase from last year. Analysts expect the institutional market to develop around economic, commercial, and political contracts, with sports contracts currently accounting for over 60% of trading volume, a figure expected to halve by 2030. Robinhood's prediction market business generates $350 million in annual recurring revenue, approximately 30% of Kalshi's total. Despite facing state-level legal challenges, analysts anticipate that prediction markets will gain greater market legitimacy and mainstream adoption as federal regulations become clearer.
Important data
Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net inflow of $411 million. The BlackRock ETF IBIT saw the largest single-day net inflow at $214 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $63.975 billion. Following closely were Ark Invest and 21Shares' ETF ARKB, each with a net inflow of $113 million, bringing ARKB's historical total net inflow to $1.502 billion. The total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $96.563 billion, representing a net asset value ratio of 6.51%, with a historical cumulative net inflow of $56.864 billion.
Suspected manipulators of ARIA sold 45.64 million ARIA tokens in the early hours of this morning, exchanging them for 5.42 million USDT. This caused the price of ARIA to plummet from $1.01 to $0.09, a drop of 91%, and the circulating market capitalization to decrease from $315 million to $38.5 million. These 45.64 million ARIA tokens were withdrawn from Gate.io and put on-chain three weeks ago through eight wallets, during the early stages of ARIA's price surge. This morning, these eight wallets collectively sold off all 45.64 million ARIA tokens for 5.42 million USDT, at an average selling price of $0.12 per token.
Ethereum treasury company Bitmine Immersion Technologies released its quarterly financial report, showing a net loss of $3.82 billion for the quarter ending February 28, 2026, far exceeding the $1.15 million loss in the same period last year, primarily driven by unrealized losses of $3.78 billion in its digital asset holdings. The net loss for the six months exceeded $9 billion. As of April 12, Bitmine held 4.87 million ETH, worth approximately $10.7 billion, with an average purchase price of $2,206 per ETH, representing 4.04% of the total Ethereum supply, with a target of 5%. Bitmine is currently the world's largest enterprise Ethereum treasury, second only to Strategy among enterprise crypto treasuries. The company's chairman stated that given the strengthening fundamentals of Ethereum, the current pullback is attractive, as the ETH price does not reflect its high utility and role as a cornerstone of future finance. The Middle East conflict, entering its seventh week, remains the primary driver of the global market.
RAVE ranks 5th in Binance Futures trading volume, with a 24-hour trading volume of $3.14 billion.
RAVE has ranked 5th on Binance's 24-hour contract trading volume list, and is the only altcoin among them. Its 24-hour trading volume reached $3.14 billion, second only to BTC and ETH; its 24-hour liquidation amount was $29.33 million, also second only to BTC and ETH. Other coins on the list include Binance Life and AIRA.
