Today's news tips:
Bitcoin exchange supply drops to 7-year low
French jewelry brand Messika supports crypto payments worldwide
Mastercard plans to integrate stablecoins into global payments network
1inch announces expansion to Solana
Upbit to List SIGN in KRW, BTC, USDT Markets
Bithumb will launch AI16Z Korean Won trading pair
Regulatory/Macro
French jewelry brand Messika supports crypto payments worldwide
According to Bitcoin.com, French jewelry brand Messika announced that it has opened cryptocurrency payments in its global stores and official website, supporting four mainstream digital assets: BTC, ETH, USDT and SOL. By cooperating with payment service provider Lunu, the system will complete the legal currency settlement at a preferential exchange rate in real time. Customers only need to scan the QR code to complete the payment, and there are no additional fees throughout the process. Messika has become another luxury brand that embraces crypto payments after Farfetch and Off-White. Its CFO Nicolas Zanelli said that the program has covered all offline boutiques and e-commerce platforms. The founder of Lunu pointed out that this move is aimed at meeting the payment needs of high-net-worth technology people. At present, the penetration rate of cryptocurrency payments in the luxury goods field has increased by 47% annually.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the United States will “fully promote the development of the Bitcoin mining industry in the United States,” according to Bitcoin Magazine.
100 days after Trump was sworn in, the crypto market has lost $537 billion in market value
According to CoinGecko data, today is the 100th day since Trump was sworn in, and the total market value of cryptocurrencies has rebounded to $3.084 trillion. On January 20, when he officially took office for his second term, the total market value of cryptocurrencies was $3.621 trillion, and the market value has evaporated by $537 billion. The market shows that Bitcoin reached its historical high of $109,588 on the day Trump took office, and is now trading at $95,006.07, a retracement of more than 13%; Ethereum reached $3,453 on the day he took office, and is now trading at $1,799.61, a retracement of more than 47.8%.
Mastercard plans to integrate stablecoins into global payments network
Payment giant Mastercard is taking action to allow consumers to spend with stablecoins and merchants to receive payments with stablecoins, according to The Block. In a press release released on Monday, it said: "In order to enable consumers and businesses to use stablecoins as easily as using funds in their bank accounts, Mastercard is providing an integrated, all-in-one solution. Consumers will be able to earn rewards, pay and use stablecoins in crypto wallets through traditional bank cards at more than 150 million merchants accepting Mastercard worldwide, and can also use Mastercard Move to withdraw stablecoins to their bank accounts." Mastercard said that in addition to working with the crypto exchange OKX to issue cards, it is also working closely with stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos to enable merchants to receive payments in stablecoins.
Arizona Legislature Passes Bitcoin Reserve Bill, Sends It to Governor
According to The Block, the Arizona State Assembly passed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act SB 1025, authorizing the state finance department and pension system to invest up to 10% of available funds in digital assets such as Bitcoin. The bill has been submitted to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs for signature. If it comes into effect, the state will become the first state in the United States to require public funds to invest in Bitcoin. The bill was jointly initiated by Republican lawmakers Wendy Rogers and Jeff Weninger, aiming to incorporate cryptocurrencies into public financial management. Currently, several states including Iowa, Missouri and Texas are considering similar legislation. In addition, another Bitcoin reserve bill in the state, SB 1373, was also passed by the House of Representatives and submitted to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs for signature. The proposal proposes the establishment of a digital asset strategic reserve fund managed by the state treasurer. The sources of funds include seized assets and legislative appropriations. Up to 10% can be invested in digital assets such as BTC each fiscal year, and loans can be made without increasing risks.
Beijing releases blockchain action plan, aims to achieve more than 10 breakthroughs by 2027
Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Zhongguancun Science Park Management Committee and other departments jointly issued the "Beijing Blockchain Innovation Application Development Action Plan (2025-2027)". The plan sets a goal by 2027, aiming to enhance the ability of autonomous and controllable blockchain technology to support national digital infrastructure, and strive to achieve more than 10 breakthrough results in core technology fields such as blockchain-specific chips and privacy protection. In addition, it is planned to form more than 20 excellent application cases in five key areas such as artificial intelligence large models, and initially build a national blockchain hub node. The action plan will provide important guidance for the development of blockchain technology in Beijing.
Viewpoint
According to The Block, this year's Bitcoin price narrative fluctuates between the correlation of "gold" and "Nasdaq", but Bernstein analysts believe that short-term correlation is highly misleading. The exhaustion of retail selling, the tide of corporate holdings and the return of ETF funds are the key indicators, which may drive "supply tightening" to new highs. Last week, Twenty One Capital announced an initial hoard of 42,000 BTC (about US$4 billion), joining the competition of companies such as Strategy. Currently, about 80 companies hold a total of 700,000 BTC, accounting for 3.4% of the total supply. The US spot Bitcoin ETF had a net inflow of US$3 billion last week, a five-month high, and the total holdings accounted for 5.5% of the circulation of Bitcoin. The proportion of institutions increased from 20% in September last year to 33%, of which 48% were held by investment advisors, reflecting the demand for asset allocation. Combined with corporate holdings, institutional capital has controlled 9% of the BTC supply. If the US government implements strategic reserves, it may trigger sovereign countries to compete to hoard coins. The proportion of BTC balances on exchanges has dropped from 16% to 13% at the end of 2023, but some assets have only been transferred to ETF custodians. Bernstein analysts estimate that Bitcoin will reach a cycle peak of about $200,000 by the end of 2025, $500,000 by the end of 2029, and $1 million by the end of 2033, with intermittent one-year bear markets.
Riot Platforms executives: suggest Ethereum Foundation IPO on Nasdaq
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted a message emphasizing that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has set two core goals: 1. Increase the usage of Ethereum; 2. Enhance the decentralization and resilience of Ethereum. In this regard, Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at crypto mining company Riot Platforms, questioned it. Rochard pointed out that the two goals of "increasing the usage of Ethereum" and "enhancing the decentralization and resilience of Ethereum" proposed by the Ethereum Foundation are of no help in increasing the value of ETH, because the use of Ethereum can be achieved through wBTC or USDT. He believes that these goals are partly basic clichés and partly superficial. As an alternative, Rochard suggested that the Ethereum Foundation should conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and implement the ETH treasury strategy through convertible bonds.
According to The Block, on April 25, the 30-day Pearson correlation coefficient between Bitcoin and gold reached 0.54, close to the annual high of 0.73. Previously, the two had "decoupled" in February, and the correlation coefficient plummeted from 0.73 to -0.67 in three weeks. At the beginning of February, the price of Bitcoin was about $102,000 and gold was $2,800 per ounce; by the end of February, Bitcoin fell to $84,000 and gold rose to $2,850, and the price difference caused the correlation coefficient to plummet. Since then, the correlation coefficient has rebounded sharply to 0.52. This "recoupling" may be caused by macroeconomic uncertainty caused by the imposition of tariffs by the United States. From a historical perspective, "recoupling" can be attributed to cyclical fluctuations. Since 2020, the correlation coefficient has been close to or below -0.50 18 times, of which 17 times rebounded within a week, with the only exception in December 2022. Historically, whenever the coefficient falls to extreme levels of -0.50 or lower, the correlation coefficient between Bitcoin and gold will subsequently experience a strong "recoupling", usually rising back to 0.8 or higher, before a new round of "decoupling" cycle begins.
Project News
Bitcoin exchange supply drops to 7-year low
According to Decrypt, CryptoQuant data shows that the supply of Bitcoin exchanges has fallen to a seven-year low, falling to 2.488 million BTC last Friday. Exchange reserves are currently 2.492 million BTC, an increase of about 40,000 BTC over the weekend, but the level is still the lowest since October 2018. However, CoinShares reported that Bitcoin funds had inflows of $3.2 billion in the week ending April 28. The dual factors of declining exchange balances and increased capital inflows indicate that a new round of accumulation phase is coming. But in the past week's rally, retail investors seem to have played a greater role than in recent weeks. This is evident in the "Exchange Whale Ratio", which has fallen from 0.512 on April 17 to 0.36 on April 27.
1inch announces expansion to Solana
1inch announced that it has expanded to Solana, and users can conduct secure MEV protection token swaps through the 1inch dApp. With the help of the Fusion protocol, 1inch optimizes liquidity, reduces slippage, and ensures the best exchange rate. Users can exchange on 1inch through Phantom or Trust wallets, and more wallets will be supported in the future.
Hyperliquid: New Fee System and Staking Tiers Coming May 5
Hyperliquid posted on the X platform that the new fee system and pledge levels will be launched at approximately 11:00 Beijing time on May 5. The changes include: staking HYPE can reduce trading fees; perpetual contracts and spot transactions use different fee rate tables; spot trading volume is doubled when calculating fee levels. The function of linking pledge accounts with trading accounts is now online on the test network. This function allows users to apply the pledge discount of one account to another different trading account. It is expected that this function will be officially launched shortly after the new fee system and pledge levels are launched.
Upbit to List SIGN in KRW, BTC, USDT Markets
PANews reported on April 29 that according to an official announcement, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit will launch SIGN in the Korean won, BTC, and USDT markets, and trading will begin at a later date.
Regarding the issue of traders tracking his wallet for profit, Tom (@SolportTom), a developer of Letsbonk.Fun, a Meme coin issuance platform under BONK, posted on the X platform that the main goal now is to develop the platform and help creators reach a certain number by trying new things. In order to create more markets that are not related to BONK, he made his wallet address public and bought related tokens. After the platform announcement, he bought the first non-BONK cryptocurrency (GRASSITO). Tom mentioned that his wallet was tracked and felt a great sense of responsibility. He said: "I only bought one token, then destroyed it and bought it again because I would not abuse this influence." He also revealed that he privately increased his holdings of the token at a market value of $6 million. Tom emphasized: "I am not a developer, I have no secret supply, and I have not profited from it. I just bought the first token that appeared and did not anticipate subsequent developments, but as the situation became increasingly crazy, I decided to become a holder and provide support to the best of my ability." In addition, Tom announced that he holds HOSICO, LetsBONK, and GRASSITO tokens, and said that he is communicating with excellent technical teams to explore token deployment cooperation. At the same time, updates such as platform native translation and advanced trading functions are also progressing in an orderly manner.
Binance Wallet announces MilkyWay TGE participation threshold: 75 Alpha points required
According to the official announcement of Binance Wallet, the participation threshold of MilkyWay TGE has been announced, and users must reach 75 Alpha points to participate.
Sui Ecosystem Liquidity Staking Protocol Haedal released token economics, with a total of 1 billion tokens, and the initial circulation accounts for 19.5% of the total supply (of which Sui Ecosystem airdrop accounts for 5%). The total ecosystem incentive allocation is 55%, the liquidity fund accounts for 10%, the investors account for 15%, and the team and consultants account for 20%. According to previous news, Binance Alpha will launch Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) on April 29. Related reading: HaedalProtocol Analysis: The No. 1 seed player in Sui's liquidity staking track, TVL crushes competitors
Bithumb will launch AI16Z Korean Won trading pair
According to an official announcement, South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb will launch the AI16Z Korean won trading pair.
Ethereum Fusaka hard fork to launch by the end of 2025
According to Cointelegraph, Ethereum co-executive director Tomasz Kajetan Stańczak revealed on social media that the Fusaka hard fork upgrade is scheduled to be implemented in the third or fourth quarter of 2025, and the specific time has not yet been finalized. Core developer Tim Beiko announced on the same day that the controversial EVM object format (EOF) upgrade has been removed from Fusaka due to technical uncertainties that may affect the progress of the upgrade. EOF originally planned to comprehensively reform the way smart contracts are developed through 12 EIP proposals, including the introduction of RJUMP instructions to replace traditional JUMP and the adoption of structured bytecode containers and other optimization solutions. Supporters believe that this will improve the efficiency of EVM, but opponents point out that it over-complicates the system and requires synchronous updates to the development tool chain. A special poll on the Ethereum voting platform ETHPulse showed that 39 addresses holding 17,745 ETH opposed the upgrade.
Important data
According to Coingecko, as of April 2025, governments around the world hold a total of 463,741 Bitcoins, accounting for about 2.3% of the total Bitcoin supply. This is down from 529,591 Bitcoins in July 2024. The United States remains the largest holder, with 198,012 Bitcoins, which it manages through a "digital Fort Knox" strategic reserve. China holds 194,000 Bitcoins, mainly from the 2019 PlusToken scam. The United Kingdom holds 61,000 Bitcoins through criminal seizures. Bhutan, which conducts sustainable mining through hydroelectric power, holds 8,594 Bitcoins. El Salvador purchases 1 Bitcoin per day and now holds 6,135 Bitcoins. Ukraine has received 256 Bitcoin donations since 2024 for military and humanitarian aid. Germany has liquidated its 46,359 Bitcoins in mid-2024.
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (April 28, Eastern Time), the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was US$591 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net inflow in a single day yesterday was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a net inflow of US$971 million in a single day. Currently, the total net inflow of IBIT in history has reached US$42.171 billion. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net outflow in a single day yesterday was Ark Invest and 21Shares' ETF ARKB, with a net outflow of US$226 million in a single day. Currently, the total net inflow of ARKB in history has reached US$2.879 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs was US$109.301 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market value to the total market value of Bitcoin) was 5.83%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached US$39.023 billion.
Market maker Cumberland DRW deposited 300,000 TRUMP tokens worth $4.4 million to OKX 5 hours ago
According to the monitoring of on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, market maker Cumberland DRW recharged 300,000 TRUMP to OKX 5 hours ago, worth 4.4 million US dollars. It is reported that leading market makers such as Cumberland DRW/Wintermute/GSR Markets have participated in TRUMP market making.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Galaxy Digital's OTC wallet has deposited 23,900 ETH (worth $42.52 million) to Coinbase in the past 8 hours.
PANews reported on April 29 that according to monitoring by on-chain analyst Ember, an address suspected to be from the TRUMP team transferred 1.346 million TRUMP (US$19.53 million) to CEX 9 hours ago. 700,000 (US$10.21 million) were transferred to Binance; 350,000 (US$5.08 million) were transferred to OKX; and 296,000 (US$4.32 million) were transferred to Bybit.
The gap between BlackRock’s IBIT and Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings has narrowed to just 20,000
According to Cointelegraph, the Bitcoin holding gap between BlackRock's Bitcoin spot ETF "IBIT" and Strategy has narrowed to only 20,000 BTC. Currently, IBIT holds 573,869 BTC and Strategy holds 553,555 BTC.
Kaiko: Trump's dinner plan announcement triggers $2.4 billion in on-chain transfers of TRUMP tokens
According to The Block, cryptocurrency data company Kaiko reported that after Trump's related Meme coin TRUMP announced on April 23 that "the top 220 holders can attend the presidential dinner", the token price soared 60% in a single day (from $9 to $14.5), triggering on-chain transfers of up to $2.4 billion in TRUMP tokens, and on-chain activity surged 200%, hitting the highest daily trading volume on CEX since mid-February. Kaiko pointed out that although Trump is challenging the claim that "Meme coins are worthless", the move has also sparked controversy. Both political opponents and moral advocates have questioned the president's practice of providing exclusive use rights to those who buy his Meme coins. Kaiko also said: "As the excitement fades, trading volume also decreases, similar to on-chain activities. However, according to the website's competition rules, we expect more active activities in the coming weeks. As the deadline approaches, holders transfer funds back to the chain to qualify for the competition, and activities may increase."
Financing
According to official news, the parallel MPC network Ika announced that it has received strategic investment from the Sui Foundation. Since then, Ika has received more than $21 million in financing, and its highest valuation in the private placement stage has reached $600 million in FDV, and has received support from dozens of institutions in the Web3 field, including the Sui Foundation, DCG, Big Brain Holdings, Blockchange, Node Capital, Amplify Partners, Liquid2 Ventures, FalconX, Tykhe Block Ventures, Lightshift, Token Bay Capital, Collider, Zero Knowledge Ventures, NoLimit Holdings, Rubik Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Insignius Capital, Impatient Ventures, Cerulean Ventures, Earl Grey Capital, HDI Ventures, Flowdesk, TPC Ventures, Purechain Capital, Solr DAO, Heroic Ventures, as well as Naval Ravikant, NotVCs, G-20 Group, Artifact Capital, DSRV, Encapsulate, etc. According to reports, Ika is a parallel MPC (multi-party computing) network that will be launched on the Sui blockchain soon.
According to official news, ether.fi announced that it has launched a $40 million venture capital fund, ether.fi Ventures Fund I, which aims to support fearless entrepreneurs who redefine industry possibilities. In addition, the fund has now disclosed its first batch of investment projects, namely Resolv, Rise Chain, and Symbiotic.
Blockchain-powered payments company Next Generation completes $5 million seed round
According to FF News, blockchain-driven payment startup Next Generation announced the completion of a $5 million seed round of financing, with participation from two Cypriot companies, an Austrian company and an international investor consortium. The specific investor information has not been disclosed. This round of financing will accelerate the launch of the company's B2B payment ecosystem, which aims to connect traditional finance and digital finance through its proprietary MiCA-compliant, euro-pegged stablecoin.
According to Beincrypto, Itaú, one of Brazil's largest banks, announced an initial investment of $210 million to establish Oranje, a company that will specialize in the accumulation of strategic reserves of Bitcoin. This new initiative follows the business model of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). The project aims to create a strong BTC reserve, expand the brand, and provide a new investment model in Brazil. Oranje will become the first public company in Latin America dedicated to Bitcoin. The project aims to build a strong Bitcoin fund reserve, expand brand influence, and provide an innovative investment model for the Brazilian market. If the business plan is implemented smoothly, the first year's goal is to achieve a 45% return on Bitcoin investment. Oranje plans to adopt financing strategies such as debt issuance and stock sales, which is similar to Strategy's approach. In addition, the company promises to provide tax and operational convenience for investors who want to hold Bitcoin directly (without going through an intermediary). Its governance team includes well-known crypto figures Eric Weiss and Fernando Ulrich, and is supported by Itaú Investment Bank, Pinheiro Neto Law Firm and one of the four major auditing agencies.
