Today's top news highlights:
Binance HODLer airdrop launches USD.AI (CHIP), the 63rd project.
DeFi United Releases Technical Implementation Plan for Restoring KelpDAO rsETH Collateral Support
The ban on encrypted self-service machines in Tennessee, USA, will take effect on July 1.
Russian government committee approves proposal to tax cryptocurrency transaction revenue
OpenAI may be developing a phone that replaces apps with AI agents.
Regulation & Macro
Reports indicate that Meta is preparing to withdraw its acquisition of Manus.
Sources familiar with the matter say that Meta is preparing to withdraw from the Manus project after China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) legally banned foreign investment. If the deal proceeds, former Asian investors in Manus, including Tencent, Sequoia China, and ZhenFund, are expected to cooperate. Previously, the NDRC announced its decision to prohibit investment in the Manus project in accordance with the law.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking comments on a rule change proposed by Arca Securities on the NYSE. The proposal requires that at least 85% of the assets in a commodity trust share meet existing eligibility criteria, with derivatives calculated at notional gross value. Eligible assets include those with at least six months of traded futures contracts and significant exposure to ETFs, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. NFTs and collectibles are excluded. If the trust holds Bitcoin and Bitcoin ETF OTC call options, only 71% exposure qualifies. The SEC may approve, reject, or initiate proceedings during the review period.
The ban on encrypted self-service machines in Tennessee, USA, will take effect on July 1.
Russian government committee approves proposal to tax cryptocurrency transaction revenue
Trump said last Thursday he was "dissatisfied" with prediction markets, believing "the whole world has become a casino." However, on Saturday in Florida, he stated that many countries are developing prediction markets, and the US would be "isolated" if it didn't. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., has invested in and advises Polymarket, and also serves as an advisor to Kalshi. Last October, Trump Media announced a partnership with Crypto.com to launch a prediction market on Truth Social.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Financial Services Agency, National Police Agency, and Ministry of Finance jointly issued a document requiring real estate transaction operators to be aware that exchanging cryptocurrencies for fiat currency or acting as intermediaries for such exchanges may constitute cryptocurrency trading activities, and engaging in such activities without registration will violate the Funds Payments Act. Any suspected unlicensed operations should be reported to the police. When accepting cryptocurrency payments, strict anti-money laundering obligations must be followed, and suspicious transactions must be reported. Individuals receiving cryptocurrency equivalent to more than 30 million yen from overseas, as well as non-residents acquiring real estate within Japan, must submit relevant reports.
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is expected to review the Clarity Act in May, with the CEO of the Crypto Innovation Committee stating that only about 9 to 10 weeks remain for actual review. The bill has been delayed since January due to a lack of support from key industries, and Senator Thom Tillis has requested more time to submit a compromise proposal. Senator Cynthia Lummis indicated that the bill will be reviewed in May, possibly as early as the week of May 11th. If issues such as stablecoin yields are resolved, the bill may move forward within the committee.
Acting US Attorney General: Developers who do not assist in crimes will not be prosecuted.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche stated at the Bitcoin 2026 conference that developers who do not assist third parties in using their software to commit crimes will not be investigated or prosecuted. The Department of Justice has "fundamentally changed the game," but the fact that sanctions circumvention and money laundering are still important. FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the focus will be on "pig butchering" scams, and that he will be conducting operations in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand this summer.
Project Updates
Binance HODLer airdrop launches USD.AI (CHIP), the 63rd project.
Binance's HODLer airdrop will feature USD.AI (CHIP), the 63rd project. CHIP is a permissionless lending protocol built specifically for AI infrastructure financing, allowing GPU operators to tokenize their hardware as collateral and instantly obtain funding. From March 13th to March 16th, 2026, users who subscribe to Principal-Protected Earnings or On-Chain Earnings products using BNB will receive an airdrop allocation. The total supply of CHIP is 10 billion, with 25 million airdropped to HODLer, resulting in a circulating supply of 2 billion at listing.
DeFi United Releases Technical Implementation Plan for Restoring KelpDAO rsETH Collateral Support
DeFi United has released its technical implementation plan for restoring KelpDAO's rsETH collateral support. The plan is implemented in two parallel phases: first, raising the necessary ETH and injecting it into the bridge staking contract in batches to restore rsETH to a nominal exchange rate of 1.07 ETH; second, temporarily adjusting the rsETH oracle price through a governance proposal to liquidate the attacker's approximately 107,000 rsETH positions on Aave and Compound, recovering funds to fill the gap. Compound expects to recover approximately 16,800 ETH. During the cleanup, WETH and rsETH will be frozen on multiple chains and temporarily adjusted back to their original values upon restoration.
OpenAI may be developing a phone that replaces apps with AI agents.
Ming-Chi Kuo stated that OpenAI is collaborating with MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Luxshare Precision to develop a smartphone. The chip will be jointly designed by OpenAI, MediaTek, and Qualcomm, with Luxshare Precision serving as the joint design and manufacturing partner. The phone may replace traditional applications with AI agents, combining small on-device and cloud-based models to process requests. Specifications and suppliers are expected to be finalized by the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, with mass production anticipated to begin in 2028.
Ondo Finance adds proxy voting functionality for tokenized stock holders.
Ondo Finance has partnered with Broadridge to add proxy voting capabilities for holders of over 250 tokenized securities on its platform. Investors can use their crypto wallets to log into Broadridge's ProxyVote system to view company documents and submit voting preferences. Ondo can then incorporate these preferences when voting on the stocks they hold.
Monad's official X account has been frozen.
According to CoinGecko, the official X account (@Monad) of the L1 blockchain project Monad has been suspended for nearly 4 hours.
The Injective mainnet upgrade proposal has been officially approved, which will optimize network performance and enhance on-chain modules and the INJ token buyback mechanism. The mainnet upgrade is scheduled for April 28th.
An address turned $141.5 into $77,500 by trading Meme tokens (SCAM), achieving a return of 54,661%.
Address 9Dq1k…JEvCp bought 10.46 million SOL tokens one and a half minutes after SCAM deployment, spending 1.7 SOL tokens ($141.5), with an average cost of $0.00001352. Over the past 10 hours, 55.5% of the position was sold at an average price of $0.00453, resulting in a profit of $26,000. The remaining portion has a floating profit of $51,400, for a total return of 54,661%.
Porvenir, Colombia's largest pension fund manager, launches crypto investment portfolio.
Porvenir, Colombia's largest pension fund manager, has launched a crypto investment portfolio that allows members to indirectly gain exposure to Bitcoin prices through a regulated mechanism. The product operates by investing in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), with a minimum investment of 100,000 Colombian pesos (approximately US$25). It is targeted at savers aged 18 to 45 and is limited to the voluntary pension system. Users are required to undergo mandatory personalized consultation.
Block has launched a new Bitkey hardware wallet with a secure touchscreen, featuring a 2-of-3 multisignature architecture, no mnemonic phrase required, and built-in inheritance planning. Pre-orders are now open. The Cash App allows users to automatically convert received peer-to-peer payments into Bitcoin and earn 5% Bitcoin cashback on purchases at Square merchants. Withdrawal limits have been increased to $10,000 per day and $25,000 per week, with all fees waived for purchases over $2,000. Square merchants will support NFC-enabled Bitcoin tap payments, with near-instant settlement via the Lightning Network and no processing fees until 2026.
Solana developers outline plans to protect networks from quantum threats.
The Solana Foundation stated that its core development team, Anza, and Jump Crypto's Firecanver have reached an agreement on a quantum-resistant solution, both adopting the Falcon digital signature scheme, and have begun building an early version. The quantum threat is still several years away from becoming a reality, and the migration plan has been thoroughly researched. Solana has proposed a phased roadmap: continuing research on Falcon and alternatives, introducing a post-quantum solution for new wallets if necessary, and ultimately migrating existing wallets.
Investment and financing news
A former DeepMind researcher has raised $1.1 billion in seed funding for his AI company.
A former DeepMind researcher has raised $1.1 billion in seed funding for his AI startup.
Opinions & Analysis
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated at the Bitcoin 2026 conference that AI will replace a large number of knowledge workers, potentially causing hundreds of billions of dollars in credit losses to the banking system, similar to a "new subprime crisis." However, the US has entered a state of war, with a new defense budget increased by approximately 50% to $1.5 trillion, and the government will not cut spending but instead print large amounts of money. Enhanced supplementary leverage ratio regulations allow banks to hold fewer reserves and more Treasury bonds, which S&P Global estimates will release approximately $1.3 trillion in new lending capacity, with a money multiplier effect of about 3, ultimately creating approximately $4 trillion in credit. Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Warsh will reduce the balance sheet but simultaneously relax bank regulations, shifting the main body of money creation from central banks to commercial banks. The newly created credit will exceed the credit disrupted by AI, and Bitcoin will continue to rise, with a year-end target price of approximately $125,000.
Chain detective ZachXBT reported that Sam Altman's other company, WorldCoin, launched its WLD token with low circulation and high valuation, similar to SBF and FTX. The company distributed small amounts of WLD to people in low-income countries in exchange for biometric data, leading to black market trading of verified accounts. The token supply inflated at an unsustainable rate, with insiders regularly selling off their holdings through over-the-counter transactions.
Storm's lawyer, Keri Curtis Axel, stated that Acting Attorney General Blanche's remarks at the Bitcoin conference offered no hope for the case. He argued that the Justice Department's claims of changing the game while continuing to prosecute Storm are unreliable. Previously, the Acting Attorney General had stated that developers who do not assist in criminal activities would not be prosecuted.
Important data
Yesterday (April 27th, Eastern Time), Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $263 million. The largest single-day net outflow was seen in Fidelity FBTC, with a net outflow of $150 million, compared to a historical total net inflow of $10.883 billion; followed by Grayscale GBTC, with a net outflow of $46.6259 million, compared to a historical total net outflow of $26.262 billion. The total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $101.234 billion, with a net asset value ratio of 6.57%, and a historical cumulative net inflow of $58.301 billion.
Block, a payment company owned by Jack Dorsey, released proof of reserves, showing that as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, it held a total of 28,355.05 Bitcoins, worth approximately $2.2 billion. Of these, 19,357.16 Bitcoins (approximately $1.5 billion) were held by clients, and 8,997.89 Bitcoins (approximately $696 million) were held in the company's treasury.
