Today's top news highlights:
Billionaire Grant Cardone to add 400 Bitcoins to his portfolio.
The ETH/BTC ratio rose to a 10-week high, with Ethereum recently outperforming Bitcoin.
Tom Lee: The "mini crypto winter" is over; Ethereum may rise to over $60,000 in the next few years.
BitMEX Research proposes an alternative to quantum freeze: a "canary address" triggering mechanism.
Google Gemini Launches Native Desktop App for macOS
Regulation & Macro
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking public comment on guidelines for a future cryptocurrency regulatory regime, expected to take effect on October 25, 2027. The feedback window will close on June 3, 2026. The guidelines will clarify requirements for areas such as stablecoin issuance, cryptocurrency trading, custody, and staking. Companies can apply for authorization starting in September 2026, with the application period expected to end in February 2027. Companies already registered under anti-money laundering regulations will not automatically receive authorization under the new regime.
Trump: Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will take place tomorrow.
Report: Iran proposes allowing free passage of ships on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz.
A source familiar with Tehran's position said that if an agreement can be reached to avoid a renewed conflict, Iran might consider allowing ships freedom of navigation on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without the risk of attack; this idea has been included in its negotiating proposals. Iran would maintain control of its waters, while Oman would decide for itself regarding its side. The proposal depends on whether Washington meets Tehran's demands.
The Israeli military has set three basic conditions for reaching a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.
The Israeli military set three basic conditions for a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon: establishing a buffer zone extending to the Litani River and prohibiting Hezbollah from operating in the area; complete freedom of military action north of the Litani River; and disarming Hezbollah through long-term steps under US supervision.
Bank of England Governor and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, Andrew Bailey, called for a globally unified regulatory standard for stablecoins. Speaking at an event hosted by the Institute of International Finance, he stated that stablecoins only function effectively if users trust them to redeem them at face value at any time, and that different countries should not have different regulatory rules. His call comes as the UK and the US are each pushing forward with their own regulatory frameworks.
Project Updates
The official Agents Toolkit has been fully upgraded and launched, covering 16 core use cases and 18 CLI commands, expanding its capabilities to include market prediction and industry events. Key upgrades include Polymarket Smart Money Rankings, events and calendars, columns/series/topics, native support across all platforms, enhanced news capabilities, and multilingual output.
Google Gemini Launches Native Desktop App for macOS
Google has launched Gemini, a desktop application for Mac. Users on macOS can access Gemini from any screen using the shortcut Option+Space and share the current window's content to receive answers and assistance based on the document, code, or data being processed. The application is now available for download and is positioned as a native AI assistant entry point for Mac.
OpenGradient, a verifiable AI computing layer, has launched an OPG token airdrop registration portal. Registration is open until April 20th, and the application window will open on April 21st. The total supply of OPG tokens is 1 billion, with the distribution plan including 40% to the ecosystem, 15% to the foundation, 15% to core contributors, 10% to investors and advisors, 10% to staking rewards, 6% to liquidity and token listing, and 4% to airdrops.
The Lido buyback appears to have begun, with 4.82 million LDO tokens withdrawn from Binance and transferred to a multisignature wallet managed by the Lido Growth Committee early this morning. The price of LDO has risen 40% to $0.38. Three days ago, Lido passed a proposal to buy back up to 10,000 stETH of LDO, and the Growth Committee announced the execution parameters for the first buyback of 1,000 stETH.
Trader @fibonacki purchased 37.45% of the supply of the token unc when its market capitalization was only $6,000, and then airdropped 33.85% of the supply to more than 2,000 on-chain addresses, including several well-known traders. The airdrop is currently worth approximately $6.4 million, with the largest single airdrop of 1% worth nearly $200,000.
Binance Futures will launch pre-market trading of CHIPUSDT perpetual contracts.
Binance Futures will launch pre-market trading of CHIPUSDT perpetual contracts on April 16, 2026 at 15:15, with a maximum leverage of 5x.
The Bless project team sold 300 million BLESS tokens, causing the token price to drop by 55%.
The Bless project team dumped BLESS tokens, causing BLESS to drop by 55%. In the past 9 hours, 300 million BLESS tokens were transferred out of two Bless project addresses, of which 200 million were directly transferred to the Bitget exchange, and 50 million were transferred across chains to BSC and are currently being sold off.
Bitnomial's launch of injective futures in the US is expected to support eligibility for spot ETFs.
Chicago-based crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial launched a monthly futures contract for Injective, marking the first time the Injective token has entered a regulated US derivatives market. The contract settles in INJ, expires monthly, and is available immediately for institutional clients, with retail trading expected to open in the coming weeks. Bitnomial also plans to add INJ perpetual futures and options. This launch will begin a six-month trading period and is expected to support applications for spot ETFs.
Starting April 17, 2026 at 08:00, Binance will launch an airdrop event for eligible users holding World Liberty Financial USD on the platform, with a total prize pool of $15 million equivalent in World Liberty Financial. The event will run from April 17, 2026 at 08:00 to May 15, 2026 at 08:00, with WLFI rewards distributed every Friday. Users must hold a balance of USD1 in their Binance account; USD1 held as collateral in leveraged or futures accounts will receive a 1.2x reward bonus.
Coinbase adds Diem (DIEM) and Opengradient (OPG) to its listing roadmap
Coinbase has announced the addition of Diem and Opengradient to its listing roadmap. The listing of these assets is still contingent on the availability of market-making support and the necessary technical infrastructure; specific launch dates will be announced separately once these conditions are met.
Binance Futures will launch GENIUSUSDT U-margined perpetual contracts.
Binance Futures will launch GENIUSUSDT perpetual contracts on April 16, 2026 at 11:30 AM, with a maximum leverage of 20x.
The WLFI project team passed a new governance proposal outlining a long-term vesting plan for its 62.28 billion locked tokens. The founding team will permanently burn up to 4.52 billion tokens, while the remaining 90% will be locked for 2 to 5 years. Following this news, WLFI's market price rose 7%, currently trading at $0.084.
Binance Alpha has listed xMoney and airdropped XMN to UTK holders.
xMoney officially launched and opened for trading on Binance Alpha at 20:00 today. Binance users holding UTK will automatically receive an airdrop at a ratio of 3 UTK to 2 xMN, which will be distributed to their Binance Alpha 2.0 accounts without requiring any claiming or points accumulation.
Opinions & Analysis
Tom Lee: The "mini crypto winter" is over; Ethereum may rise to over $60,000 in the next few years.
Tom Lee, Chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, stated that the recent crypto market downturn was a "mini crypto winter" that may already be over. He predicts that Ethereum could rise above $60,000 within the next few years, driven by tokenization and plans for Ethereum-based AI agents. Bitmine recorded a loss-free record of $3.82 billion in Ethereum holdings in the first quarter, but still added 71,500 ETH.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes pointed out that the crypto market is currently in a "no-trading zone," with his fund Maelstrom trading almost nothing in the first quarter. He believes that AI agents will destroy job prospects and trigger a deflationary financial collapse, while the US-Iran conflict has made the situation in the Strait of Hormuz a key market variable. Hayes ruled out a nuclear annihilation scenario, analyzed three possible paths, and noted that Bitcoin's value depends on the amount of fiat currency it holds. He currently only intends to increase his holdings of gold and Hyperliquid's governance token, HYPE.
BitMEX Research proposes an alternative to quantum freeze: a "canary address" triggering mechanism.
BitMEX Research proposes an alternative mechanism to the quantum freeze scheme suggested in BIP-361: instead of a direct freeze after five years, the token enters a "canary observation state." A "canary fund" address is established, generated using a "sleeve digit" system to prove that no one knows the private key. Only when a valid spend from this address occurs on the blockchain is the existence of a quantum computer proven, at which point the freeze is immediately activated. If the canary effect is never triggered, the quantum fragile coin can be spent normally.
CryptoQuant: Bitcoin rally faces profit-taking risk as exchange inflows surge.
Julio Moreno, Head of Research at CryptoQuant, stated that Bitcoin's recent surge faces profit-taking risks, with on-chain metrics indicating increased selling pressure. After breaking through $76,000, Bitcoin retreated to around $74,800, testing the $76,800 trader-realized price on-chain. The hourly inflow of Bitcoin into exchanges has risen to approximately 11,000, the highest since the end of December 2025, with the proportion of large deposits increasing from below 10% to over 40%. Daily realized profits are approximately $500 million, and could accelerate to over $1 billion if the upward trend continues.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back stated that Bitcoin should begin building optional post-quantum upgrades now, even though quantum computers are still in the "laboratory experiment" stage. He pointed out that the Taproot upgrade design is flexible and can accept new signature methods. This stance contrasts with the BIP-361 proposal put forward by Jameson Lopp et al., which proposes phasing out quantum-fragile addresses and freezing unmigrated coins over five years.
Mike Reed, Head of Digital Asset Partnerships and Development at Franklin Templeton, stated that while Franklin Templeton is a traditional financial institution, the company is genuinely building on the blockchain in a crypto-native spirit. He also noted that the crypto industry is still in its early stages, but change is accelerating.
Important data
Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net inflow of $186 million. BlackRock's IBIT ETF led the way with a net inflow of $292 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $64.267 billion. Morgan Stanley's MSBT ETF saw a net inflow of $19.3242 million. Fidelity's FBTC ETF experienced a net outflow of $47.3457 million. Total net assets are $97.566 billion, with a net asset ratio of 6.51%, and cumulative net inflows of $57.05 billion.
Billionaire Grant Cardone to add 400 Bitcoins to his portfolio.
Grant Cardone, CEO of real estate investment firm Cardone Capital and a billionaire, announced on the X platform that he has purchased 500 properties in prime locations and will add another 400 bitcoins.
The ETH/BTC ratio rose to a 10-week high, with Ethereum recently outperforming Bitcoin.
The ETH/BTC ratio rose to a 10-week high, with Ethereum outperforming Bitcoin. The ratio broke through the downtrend line resistance and climbed above the 50-day and 100-day exponential moving averages. XWIN Research noted that a statement from SEC staff contributed to Ethereum's strength. On-chain data showed an increase in active addresses, an improved Coinbase premium gap, and Bitmine adding 279,000 ETH. Global ETH open interest reached $16.37 billion, and funding fees on Binance turned positive.
A whale increased its ETH holdings to 6886 ETH through Aave revolving lending.
Three new wallets withdrew a total of 1,600 BTC, worth $120 million, in nearly 5 hours.
The SIREN dealer's address has withdrawn a large amount of SIREN from the Binance Alpha wallet, totaling 30.07 million SIREN to date. During this period, SIREN rebounded from $0.13 to $0.83. From an on-chain perspective alone, the SIREN dealer controls at least 93% of the tokens.
Hyperliquid HIP-3 open interest surpasses $2 billion, demand for 24/7 tokenized stocks surges.
Hyperliquid's HIP-3 open interest reached a record $2.38 billion last week, slightly below $2.1 billion on Wednesday, representing a year-to-date increase of approximately 580%. TradeXYZ accounts for over 90% of HIP-3 open interest. The top ten markets by trading volume are predominantly tokenized stocks and commodity futures, including the Nasdaq and S&P 500. Analysts suggest traders are seeking exposure to stocks and commodities outside of traditional market trading hours.
