Today's top news highlights:
The US government runs Bitcoin nodes for cybersecurity testing.
Upbit will list its SPK token on the Korean won market.
Aave's total deposits fell below $30 billion, with an outflow of $16.2 billion.
Kelp DAO is collaborating with multiple parties to seek solutions.
Blockchain Capital plans to raise $700 million for two new funds.
The hacker group ShinyHunters claims to have breached the internal systems of Anthropic Mythos.
FTX's assets would reach $114 billion if it did not sell its holdings.
Believe founder arrested on suspicion of strangulation and assault.
Regulation & Macro
The US government runs Bitcoin nodes for cybersecurity testing.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, stated at a congressional hearing that the U.S. government currently operates a Bitcoin network node for cybersecurity testing but is not involved in Bitcoin mining. Paparo stated that the military views Bitcoin as a cryptographic tool, blockchain, and reusable proof-of-work system used to protect and enhance cybersecurity, not as a financial asset to be hoarded. He also praised the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin legislation, as an "important step" in ensuring the global dominance of the U.S. dollar.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand is revising the licensing rules for digital asset derivatives trading, allowing digital asset operators to offer derivatives contracts based on digital assets without establishing a new company. This aims to promote the recognition of digital assets as an asset class and provide investors with additional hedging tools. The revisions require digital asset exchanges to establish appropriate conflict-of-interest prevention mechanisms when applying for derivatives licenses and also raise the financial standards for derivatives exchanges and clearinghouses. The deadline for comments is May 20, 2026.
US Senator: Crypto Market Structure Legislation Expected to be Completed by End of May
U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno stated at an event in Washington that legislation governing the crypto market structure is expected to be finalized by the end of May. Moreno warned last month that if the Clarity Act fails to pass in May, crypto legislation may be stalled for the foreseeable future. Addressing banks' objections to stablecoin yields, Moreno stated that "there's a lot of noise in the system, it's all fake," and urged banks to "speed up their innovation."
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order prohibiting state employees from using insider information to place bets in prediction markets. Hochul cited the "recent surge in prediction markets" in the order, prohibiting state employees from using non-public information obtained in the course of their duties to profit from or assist others in profiting from prediction markets. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also issued a similar executive order on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Hochul stated that he has handled three insider cases involving candidates self-betting, fining and suspending their qualifications.
Coinbase moves New York prediction market lawsuit to federal court
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated that the company has transferred New York Attorney General Letitia James's prediction market lawsuit against Coinbase Financial Markets and Gemini Titan from New York State court to federal court, citing "significant issues of contention under federal law" and deeming it subject to "full priority." Previously, the New York Attorney General alleged that the two companies violated New York gambling laws by offering betting contracts on sports, entertainment, and election events to users, including those aged 18 to 20, without obtaining a state gambling license, and sought fines, forfeiture of related proceeds, and a ban on continuing to offer similar products in New York without compliance.
Project Updates
Kelp DAO is collaborating with multiple parties to seek solutions.
Kelp DAO released a community update stating that the team and partners have been working day and night for the past four days to actively seek a suitable solution. The core principle is putting users first. Progress is reflected in concrete actions: the Arbitrum Security Committee has frozen the stolen funds, and the SEAL 911 task force has quickly intervened in the preliminary investigation and provided clear and impartial insights into the incident. Currently, all efforts are focused on protecting users and strengthening protocol security, and updates will continue to be released through official channels.
Jupiter launches prediction market Telegram bot
Jupiter launched the Jupiter Prediction Bot, bringing its prediction market to Telegram and adding a "Clans" feature that allows traders to team up, discuss the market, and compete socially.
Upbit will list its SPK token on the Korean won market.
According to an official announcement, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit will list the SPK token on the Korean won market.
Input Output proposals to reduce budget drive Cardano Leios upgrade
Input Output Global (IOG), the core developer of Cardano, submitted nine proposals to the Treasury for 2026, with overall funding requests "slightly lower than 50%" of last year's. The core of the proposals is the scaling and upgrade of the Leios mainnet, aiming to increase Cardano's monthly transaction volume from approximately 800,000 transactions to over 27 million. Leios is expected to enter the testnet in June and launch its mainnet before the end of the year. IOG plans to request 62.1 million ADA (approximately $15.8 million) for node upgrades, monitoring, and security maintenance. It also plans to allow users to pay transaction fees using non-ADA assets through Babel Fees, while exploring new economic models such as wallets charging small fees and Bitcoin staking credit and yield. IOG also plans to improve Plutus and formal verification tools.
Circle's chief economist has proposed adjusting Aave USDC interest rate parameters.
Circle's Chief Economist, Gordon Liao, initiated a proposal on the Aave governance forum to urgently adjust the USDC interest rate parameters in the Aave V3 Ethereum main pool to address the extremely high pool utilization rate of 99.87% for four consecutive days following the KelpDAO attack. Liao stated that the current interest rate mechanism has failed to effectively clear the market; the pool's supply and borrowing size are both $1.89 billion, with available liquidity less than $3 million, and the pool size has shrunk by approximately $60 million in the past 24 hours. Liao suggested immediately increasing the Slope 2 parameter in the USDC deposit rate curve from approximately 10% to 40% through the Risk Steward mechanism, and further increasing it to 50% within 5 to 7 days through governance voting. Simultaneously, the optimal utilization rate should be lowered from 92% to 87%, and ultimately to 85%. Under the new parameters, when the utilization rate reaches 100%, the highest USDC deposit rate will increase from approximately 12.6% to 48.2%.
Aave founder says they are working on a plan to reduce KelpDAO's risk exposure.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov stated that the team is working around the clock with multiple partners to advance various pathways to achieve an orderly market recovery, with the best possible outcome for Aave users as the primary goal. He noted that the Arbitrum Security Council has recovered approximately $70 million worth of ETH, which is expected to significantly reduce potential exposure, and several solutions are currently being discussed and evaluated. Stani emphasized that he will continue to update progress on his @aave account, and that all current efforts are focused on incident handling and the follow-up arrangements for the Aave protocol.
MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay leaves Consensys
MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay announced on the X platform that he is leaving Consensys today after more than a decade there, citing exhaustion and a need to spend time with his family. Finlay also expressed his excitement about the recently launched advanced permissions feature and his anticipation for external use of it. According to MetaMask's official documentation, the advanced permissions feature, based on the ERC-7715 standard, allows DApps and AI agents to request granular permissions from MetaMask users to execute transactions on their behalf.
OpenSea launches mobile perpetual contract trading for select users.
According to social media messages, OpenSea has rolled out its mobile perpetual contract trading (Perps) feature to select users and will simultaneously launch a 5-day trading competition starting at 5:00 AM (UTC+8) on April 23. This event is limited to mobile beta users, and all participants will receive a wallet with an initial balance of $50. Rewards will be distributed based on profitability, with the top three earning $2000, $1000, and $500 respectively.
Ronin will migrate to Ethereum Layer 2 on May 12, with a downtime of approximately 10 hours.
The gaming blockchain Ronin will migrate from an Ethereum sidechain to Ethereum Layer 2 on May 12th. This migration will be triggered at block height 55,577,490, at which time Ronin will transition to the OP Stack. During the migration, the mainnet will be down for approximately 10 hours, from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Eastern Time, and games may be temporarily inaccessible. After the migration, the RON token inflation rate will plummet from over 20% to below 1%, market fees will increase from 0.5% to 1.25%, and the 90 million RON previously used for staking will be redistributed to the Ronin treasury. A "proof of allocation" system will also be launched to automatically distribute RON rewards to developers.
According to official news, Binance has announced the launch of an Alpha page to showcase the Alpha Points mechanism, historical Alpha event rewards, and progress data on the listing of related tokens on Binance. This page will serve as a centralized entry point for Alpha-related information, allowing users to view historical performance and participation data.
Believe founder arrested on suspicion of strangulation and assault.
According to public records from the New York Criminal Court, Benjamin Pasternak, founder of the Solana ecosystem app Believe, has been arrested on charges of second-degree strangulation and assault and is scheduled to appear in court on June 11. Previously, on April 11, it was reported that the Believe founder was charged in New York with a multi-million dollar rug pull scam.
Vercel CEO: Hacker activity extends far beyond the initial intrusion.
Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch released an update on the security investigation, stating that the team has processed nearly 1 petabyte of network and API logs, extending the investigation far beyond the initial Context.ai intrusion incident. The investigation revealed that the threat actors' activities have extended beyond the startup, distributing malware to computers to steal Vercel accounts and keys from other service providers. Once they obtained the keys, the attackers immediately made rapid and comprehensive API calls, focusing on enumerating non-sensitive environment variables. Vercel has deepened and expanded its collaboration with industry partners such as Microsoft, AWS, and Wiz, and has notified other suspected victims to rotate credentials and adopt best practices.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the French meteorological service's temperature sensors at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport recorded abnormal readings on the evenings of April 6th and 15th, with temperatures rising unusually within a short period. Around 9:30 PM on April 15th, the sensor recorded a temperature of 22°C, while the afternoon high was only 18°C. These abnormal data were linked to weather betting on the Polymarket forecasting platform, suggesting someone profited by manipulating sensor readings. The French meteorological service has filed a lawsuit. Furthermore, a crypto KOL revealed that a man profited $34,000 on the Polymarket weather market by interfering with the sensors using a hairdryer.
Investment and financing news
Swedish listed company H100 Group has signed a share purchase agreement to increase its Bitcoin holdings to approximately 3,500 coins through a share swap by acquiring Moonshot AS and Never Say Die AS. Following the transaction, H100 will become one of Europe's leading listed Bitcoin treasury companies, with existing shareholders holding approximately 30% and the target companies' shareholders holding approximately 70%. The transaction is expected to close in August 2026.
Tencent and Alibaba are in talks to invest over $20 billion in DeepSeek.
According to The Information, Tencent and Alibaba are in talks to invest in DeepSeek at a valuation of over $20 billion.
Blockchain Capital plans to raise $700 million for two new funds.
Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in cryptocurrencies, is raising $700 million for two new funds, including its seventh early-stage fund and second growth fund. It has already begun deploying some of the new capital and expects to complete fundraising within five to six months. Blockchain Capital has previously raised approximately $1 billion for crypto investments, investing in crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken, as well as Tether Holdings. The firm currently manages $2 billion in fee assets and has a total portfolio value exceeding $6 billion.
Robinhood Ventures invests $75 million in OpenAI
Robinhood Ventures Fund I announced that it purchased approximately $75 million worth of OpenAI common stock on April 17, adding OpenAI to its private equity portfolio. RVI is a closed-end fund that currently holds equity in unlisted companies such as Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Mercor, Ora, Ramp, Revolut, and Stripe.
Opinions & Analysis
Bitcoin's rise was driven by demand for perpetual contracts, while spot demand shrank.
Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, analyzed that the recent surge in Bitcoin prices was entirely driven by demand from the perpetual contract market, while spot demand continued to shrink (albeit at a slower pace). A similar situation occurred when Bitcoin reached $98,000 in January of this year. If traders begin to take profits and spot demand continues to shrink, the market faces the risk of a correction.
FTX's assets would reach $114 billion if it did not sell its holdings.
If FTX's bankruptcy administrators hadn't sold off its holdings in Anthropic, Solana, and SpaceX, among others, FTX would now hold approximately $114 billion in assets. Specifically: Anthropic approximately $82.3 billion (165x), Solana approximately $5.1 billion (27x), Robinhood approximately $4.9 billion (8x), Genesis Digital approximately $3.5 billion (3x), SpaceX approximately $15 billion (75x), and Cursor approximately $3 billion (15,000x).
Jack Yi, founder of Liquid Capital, wrote on the X platform that the core reason for the past wave of crypto VC and project demise was that funding was wasted on developing useless web3 products. The biggest misconception was comparing them to web2 products, when in essence, web3 is the financial industry. Now, with the arrival of the AI era, firstly, there's no need for large-scale funding to hire teams, and secondly, AI + finance presents new opportunities. He believes that an excellent founder leading a few elites can build a top-tier company, which is currently the biggest opportunity in primary investment.
The documentary suggests that Hal Finney and Len Sassaman may be Satoshi Nakamoto.
A new documentary, *Finding Satoshi*, based on a four-year investigation, suggests that "Satoshi Nakamoto," the founder of Bitcoin, is likely an alias used by Hal Finney and Len Sassaman. The investigation team, QRI, combined early mining activity timelines, C++ coding style, PGP work records, and Cypherpunk connections to narrow down the candidates to Finney and Sassaman, concluding that they were responsible for Bitcoin's code implementation and white paper writing and polishing, respectively. The documentary interviews several early cryptography and Bitcoin participants, as well as two widows, who agree that the two were "co-creators of Bitcoin," but acknowledge a lack of cryptographically verifiable evidence.
Important data
Aave's total deposits fell below $30 billion, with an outflow of $16.2 billion.
According to on-chain analyst Ember, total deposits on Aave have fallen below $30 billion, down from $45.8 billion before the rsETH incident to $29.6 billion, with an outflow of $16.2 billion.
Bitmine appears to have increased its holdings by another 100,000 ETH.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Bitmine appears to have acquired another 100,000 ETH (approximately $233.7 million). Three newly created wallets received 100,000 ETH from BitGo, and these wallets may be linked to Bitmine.
Tesla made no adjustments to its Bitcoin holdings in the first quarter of 2026, holding 11,509 Bitcoins, worth approximately $880 million at the current price of approximately $78,000. Due to Bitcoin's decline from approximately $90,000 at the beginning of the year to approximately $68,000 at the end of March, Tesla reported an after-tax impairment loss of $173 million on its digital assets. Tesla's first-quarter revenue was $22.39 billion, slightly below the expected $22.71 billion, but earnings per share of $0.41 exceeded the expected $0.37, and the stock rose 4% in after-hours trading. Tesla initially purchased approximately 43,200 Bitcoins in February 2021, and after several reductions, increased its holdings to 11,509 Bitcoins in January 2025, where it has maintained this position ever since.
The KelpDAO hackers converted almost all of their 75,700 ETH into BTC in just one and a half days.
According to on-chain analyst Ember, within a day and a half, the 75,700 ETH ($175 million) stolen by the KelpDAO hackers have been largely converted into BTC. The hackers primarily used THORChain to exchange ETH for BTC across blockchains, and their actions generated $800 million in transaction volume and $910,000 in platform fees for THORChain.
