Section
Crypto
South Korea crypto accounts top 11.1 million as growth slows to 3%
KYC-verified crypto exchange accounts in South Korea reached 11.13 million by end of last year, nearly doubling from 5.58 million at end-2021. But tradable user growth has collapsed from 25 per cent in late 2024 to just 3 per cent in the most recent half.
Trump Media (DJT) Q1 loss widens to $406M as bitcoin and CRO holdings buckle
TMTG's Q1 net loss widened to $405.9 million as $244 million of crypto markdowns and $108.2 million of equity losses overwhelmed an operating business that turned over just $871,200. The asset book, not Truth Social, is now the story.
Swiss Bitcoin Reserve Referendum Fails as Campaign Misses Signature Target
The 18-month campaign to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin alongside gold and foreign currency reserves fell short of the signatures needed to trigger a national vote, campaign founder Yves Bennaim confirmed Thursday.
Strategy STRC reclaims $100 par, opening door for fresh Saylor bitcoin buys
Strategy's STRC perpetual preferred closed at $99.99 on Friday and printed at par after hours, ending a fortnight in which Michael Saylor stayed out of bitcoin. With the security back above its $100 issuance threshold, Strategy's at-the-market funding gate has reopened and weekly purchases could resume as soon as 11 May.
CME targets 1 June launch for bitcoin volatility futures, pending CFTC review
CME Group will list cash-settled bitcoin volatility futures from 1 June, pending Commodity Futures Trading Commission clearance, becoming the first US exchange to offer regulated contracts that trade implied volatility independent of bitcoin's spot price. CME (CME) shares slipped 1.2 per cent on the announcement.
Coinbase buys $88M in Bitcoin in Q1, expands treasury to 16,492 BTC
Coinbase bought $88 million worth of Bitcoin in Q1 2026, adding 1,103 BTC to a corporate treasury now worth $1.3 billion. CFO Alesia Haas also detailed a perpetual USDC revenue-sharing deal with Circle.
Lagarde rejects euro stablecoins, warns $300bn market threatens ECB policy transmission
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde rejected calls for the euro area to promote euro-denominated stablecoins, warning that the $300 billion market risks financial stability and would narrow the channel through which ECB rate decisions reach the real economy.
BlackRock files for tokenized money-market funds on Ethereum, targets stablecoin reserves
BlackRock filed paperwork with the SEC on Friday to issue two new tokenized money-market funds, including an Ethereum-native digital share class of its $6.1bn Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund. The move pulls the world's largest asset manager deeper into onchain finance.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs extend inflows to six weeks, pulling in $3.4B
US spot Bitcoin ETFs have logged six straight weeks of net inflows totalling $3.4bn since early April, the longest streak since July 2025, with BlackRock's IBIT capturing the bulk of new money even as flows cooled this week.
Atkins pushes formal SEC rulemaking for on-chain markets and crypto vaults
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on Friday set out four areas for formal rulemaking on crypto: on-chain trading, broker-dealer definitions, clearing and settlement, and vaults. The speech at the SCSP AI+ Expo broke from his predecessor Gary Gensler enforcement-led approach.
Tokenized RWA market tops $30bn, growing 1,000% in two years
The market for tokenized real-world assets has crossed $30 billion, growing more than 1,000 per cent from early 2024, according to data published by a16z crypto. Tokenized U.S. Treasury debt accounts for roughly half the total.
Bitwise ranks BNY Mellon, JPMorgan as banks with broadest crypto exposure
Bitwise Asset Management published a ranking of traditional banks with the deepest cryptocurrency exposure on Friday, placing BNY Mellon and JPMorgan Chase at the top. The screen assesses banks across trading, payments, ETF servicing and tokenisation.
Bitcoin ETFs see $277.5M in outflows as BTC slips below $80,000
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $277.5 million in net outflows on Thursday, snapping a five-day inflow streak. Fidelity's FBTC led the retreat as Bitcoin fell below $80,000 for the first time in a week.
Hayes calls $60,000 Bitcoin floor as Lee eyes May close above $76,000
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes reiterates a $1 million by 2028 Bitcoin target, calling $60,000 a structural floor. Fundstrat's Tom Lee separately argues a third consecutive monthly close above $76,000 would end the 2026 bear market.
Bitcoin Holds Above $80,000 on SEC Regulatory Shift and Iran Hedging
Bitcoin held above $80,000 through Thursday's session as traders pointed to a regulatory pivot in Washington and demand for alternative stores of value. The Iran-US conflict entered another week without a ceasefire, while altcoins and blockchain equities moved higher in tandem.
Coinbase rebounds 10%, altcoins surge as SEC chair Atkins signals onchain support
Coinbase shares recovered 10 per cent from session lows as SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled support for new rules around onchain trading and blockchain settlement infrastructure, lifting tokenization stocks and altcoins.
SEC's Atkins calls on Congress to pass CLARITY Act, modernize crypto rules
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins called on Congress to pass the CLARITY Act and announced a comprehensive overhaul of how securities regulations apply to blockchain-based financial systems, including exchanges, brokerages and crypto vault yield protocols.
Bitcoin outperforms gold by 36% on relative basis since Iran war began
Bitcoin has outperformed gold by roughly 36% on a relative basis since the US-Iran conflict escalated on Feb 28, breaking from the traditional pattern of gold as the dominant crisis safe haven. The divergence marks a structural shift in how digital assets behave during geopolitical shocks.
JPMorgan says bitcoin overtaking gold as debasement trade after $1.69B weekly ETF inflow
JPMorgan analysts said bitcoin is gaining ground on gold as the preferred debasement trade, citing a sharp rotation in institutional capital flows that has accelerated since the Iran conflict began.
Bitcoin slips to $79,614 as negative funding rates set 10-year record
Bitcoin slipped to $79,614 on Friday as negative funding rates in crypto futures markets extended to a record 67 consecutive days.
Coinbase Q1 revenue misses as volume drops, market share hits 8.6% record
Coinbase reported $1.4bn in Q1 revenue, missing consensus of $1.56bn, as crypto trading volumes declined more than 20 per cent quarter-over-quarter. But spot market share hit a record 8.6 per cent and stablecoin revenue rose 55 per cent year-over-year to $305m.
Bitcoin stalls below $83,000 as altcoins flash bullish rotation
Bitcoin paused near $80,945 on Thursday, shy of Wednesday's $82,800 three-month high, as ether slid below $2,400 and altcoins led by TON, ALGO and the DeFi sector posted outsized gains.
Coinbase opens 24/7 gold and silver perpetual futures with up to 25x leverage
Coinbase listed GOLD-PERP and SILVER-PERP perpetual futures on Tuesday, with up to 25x leverage on spot gold and 20x on silver, settled in USDC. The contracts are not yet available to US users; Coinbase says it is working with the CFTC on a 24/7 metals listing through Coinbase Derivatives Exchange.
AWS launches AgentCore Payments with Coinbase, Stripe; USDC settles AI agent transactions
Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments lets AI agents hold wallets, sign their own transactions and settle in USDC on Coinbase's Base network in roughly 200 milliseconds. Coinbase and Stripe sit on opposite sides of the rail.
Kraken parent Payward to buy stablecoin payments firm Reap for $600m, deepens Asia push
Kraken's parent Payward agreed to buy Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies for up to $600m in cash and stock at a $20bn valuation, its largest deal yet and a clear signal of the IPO pitch: financial infrastructure, not a spot exchange.
