Gold features prominently as Tether reports $1.04B Q1 2026 net profit
Tether reported about $1.04 billion in net profit for Q1 2026, with its gold reserves becoming one of the biggest parts of its balance sheet story.
The company published its first-quarter attestation, covering the assets backing USD₮ as of March 31, 2026, and showed that the company’s excess reserves reached a record $8.23 billion. Tether said the reserve base stayed mostly in short-term, liquid, high-quality instruments, while markets stayed rough across the quarter.
USD₮ stayed large and steady through the same period. The company reported about $183 billion in token-linked liabilities at the end of March, and listed total assets at $191,767,741,495 and total liabilities at $183,535,531,717.
Out of those liabilities, $183,438,487,810 came from issued digital tokens. That left assets above liabilities by $8,232,209,778. No stock ticker applies to Tether, BDO, or the World Gold Council, while Bitcoin trades as BTC.
Tether holds $141 billion in Treasury exposure while gold and Bitcoin sit inside reserves
Tether kept most of its reserves in short-term instruments tied to the U.S. government. Direct and indirect exposure to U.S. Treasury bills reached about $141 billion by March 31, 2026. The company said most reserve assets sat in government-backed holdings and short-term liquidity facilities.
That reserve layout placed Tether as the 17th largest holder of U.S. Treasuries worldwide. The company kept its main reserve focus on short-dated sovereign debt, which matters because USD₮ is used at scale and must meet redemptions without drama. In crypto, drama already comes free.
The reserve book also included other assets. Physical gold holdings stood at about $20 billion. The company said the precious metal portion was fully made up of actual gold, not paper claims. Bitcoin holdings were about $7 billion, giving Tether exposure to the largest crypto asset by market value.
Tether also separated its proprietary investments from the reserves backing issued tokens. Those investments sit under Tether Investments and are funded with excess capital and profits. The company said those holdings are not counted as part of the reserve backing for USD₮, and they allegedly do not affect the liquidity, quality, or transparency of the token reserve base.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said, “Our responsibility is to make sure USD₮ works without compromise. That means building a system that behaves the same way in any market condition, not just when things are stable.”
By April, Paolo said USD₮ was trading at or near record circulation levels, and more than 5 billion USD₮ had been added into the second quarter. He also tied that demand to the launch of Tether Wallet, a self-custody app built for people who use USD₮ every day.
Gold drops as the U.S. and Iran standoff keeps central banks cautious
The gold market was under pressure while Tether reported its large bullion position, as prices fell as much as 1.2% after gaining 1.5% in the prior session. Traders were watching the standoff between the U.S. and Iran, which hurt hopes for central bank rate cuts.
Trump said the naval blockade on Iran would stay in place. He was also briefed by military commanders on further options. Iran said the blockade had to end before the Strait of Hormuz could reopen.
This whole war has been bad for gold because bullion does not pay interest. Gold has fallen about 13% since the conflict started at the end of February.
Gold still gained on Thursday when the yen posted its biggest jump in three years, and Japan’s government announced an intervention in the currency market. A weaker U.S. dollar usually helps gold because the metal is priced in dollars.
The World Gold Council said central banks added gold in the first quarter at the fastest pace in more than a year. Most analysts stayed bullish on bullion, even after the latest drop.
Stakeholders bemoan data center development hurdles as Japan plays catch up
Japan is eager to build more data centers. But finding enough electricity to power them while maintaining efficiency and global competitiveness is a delicate balancing act.
Data center capacity will dictate how quickly AI rolls out and which industries benefit first.
At Japan’s largest technology expo, SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026, industry leaders drew attention to increased bidding competition for electricity between households and AI data centers.
Will AI drive up electricity bills?
Rocky Lee of Zettabyte, an AI infrastructure company based in Taiwan, said that tackling latency is a major factor behind electricity volume.
“If you ask an AI a question and get a response 40 seconds later, that’s not an ideal customer or enterprise experience. Power has to be transferred to GPUs, which is where we see the shortage.”
He warned that households in Japan will likely bear the brunt of rising electricity costs.
“AI is competing with you. If somebody is willing to pay a little bit more than you, then you have a problem,” said Rocky Lee of Zettabyte, an AI infrastructure company based in Taiwan.
Wholesale electricity prices have already soared in U.S. cities with a high concentration of data centers, such as Virginia, Texas, and Silicon Valley.
What is regional Japan’s role?
The need for low-latency AI services is prompting companies to build data centers around big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. However, the Japanese government is trying to buck this trend.
Japan is home to an estimated 256 operational data centers. The U.S., on the other hand, operates a whopping 5,400 facilities, followed by approx. 520 in Germany, 500 in the UK and roughly 450 in China.
On April 24, it announced an expansion of its GX strategy with the aim of creating industrial clusters around renewable energy sources in regional Japan. The designated regions have not been made public, but likely include Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Kyushu.
GMI Cloud is one AI cloud startup that is poised to build Japan’s largest data center in the southern city of Kagoshima. The massive $12 billion gigawatt-scale (GW) project is expected to be completed by 2030.
Japan is a safe haven for data
GMI Cloud Founder and CEO, Alex Yeh, explained that ample availability of nuclear power is just one reason for the location.
“Japan is a huge hub for fiber optic internet access from the U.S. to Asia, such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia. That’s why Google, Amazon, Microsoft Azure are located in Japan.”
Its data protection policy is an added advantage. Alex Yeh said Japan is the best choice when it comes to building highly sought-after sovereign data centers.
“Data is sensitive. There’s government data, military data, and enterprise data. You don’t want data situated in geopolitically sensitive areas such as the U.S. and Korea. That’s why Japan matters.”
Corporate giants bet on AI infrastructure
Japan’s legacy industrial giants are pivoting toward data centers and power infrastructure in an effort to reinvent their business model and generate new avenues of growth.
Japanese telecommunication giant NTT is expanding R&D into AI-native infrastructure. It currently holds the largest market share of data centers in Japan. It has more than 160 sites across all 47 prefectures.
On April 27, it announced the AI x OWN initiative. It’s NTT’s effort to redesign the internet around real-time AI use.
In a statement, NTT President Akira Shimada said “NTT’s AI infrastructure must shift from conventional ICT infrastructure to infrastructure for a new market premised on AI utilization.”
NTT also plans to triple its domestic power capacity from approximately 300 MW today to around 1 gigawatt by fiscal 2033.
Can data center deregulation boost AI competition?
At SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026, Alex Yeh of GMI Cloud said top-down deregulation could make Japan globally competitive in AI data centers. He criticized legacy businesses for stifling innovation as well as the government’s preference for traditional, concrete-built data centers.
“In the U.S. and Taiwan, data centers are built modularly. These are 40-foot container units that can be shipped and deployed quickly. They’re essentially pre-built data centers, with all wiring integrated, that can be dropped on-site. So why can’t we do that in Japan?”
Yeh hopes Japan will turn to modular data centers, slashing construction timelines to six to eight months instead of the 18 to 24 months needed for conventional concrete facilities.
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Íránský rial dosahuje 1,800,000 za dolar, prodlužuje ostrý pokles
Íránský rial prodloužil svůj pokles na rekordní minimum v dubnu 2026, což odráží rostoucí ekonomický tlak spojený s akcemi USA a pokračujícími regionálními napětími.
Data sledující otevřenou tržní směnnou sazbu ukazuje, že měna klesla na 1,800,000 rialů za americký dolar 29. dubna. Tento pohyb následuje dlouhodobý trend devalvace, který začal na začátku roku 2025 a v posledních měsících se rozšířil.
Na začátku roku 2025 se íránský rial obchodoval blízko 800,000 za dolar, pohybující se v užším rozmezí během první poloviny roku. Druhá polovina však znamenala obrat, protože měna oslabovala více konzistentně.
Boom AI v hodnotě 670 miliard dolarů přináší nevyrovnané výsledky napříč technologickým sektorem
Peníze, které velké technologické firmy investovaly do umělé inteligence, začínají přinášet výsledky, ale Wall Street zůstává nervózní ohledně stovek miliard, které jsou vynakládány na čipy a datová centra, a ne každá firma vítězí.
Akcie Redditu (NYSE: RDDT) vzrostly o 16 % před otevřením trhu v pátek, poté co společnost nabídla investorům výhled na příjmy vyšší, než se očekávalo, pro nadcházející čtvrtletí.
Zisky ukazují, jak dobře fungují reklamní řešení Redditu poháněná AI.
Společnost vyvinula systém, který vkládá reklamy do relevantních diskuzních vláken (komunity založené na zájmu známé jako subreddity) a využívá AI k tomu, aby pomohla inzerentům psát texty, spravovat kampaně a automaticky ořezávat obrázky, aby odpovídaly různým umístěním reklamy.
Insider betting case pushes crypto prediction giant to tighten its grip
Prediction market giant Polymarket has stepped up surveillance and compliance controls following a high-profile insider trading scandal. The prediction market operator is collaborating with Chainalysis to tighten oversight following the $410,000 insider bet on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
According to Polymarket, it will work with Chainalysis to create a more reliable and transparent betting environment and, hopefully, set the gold standard for market oversight.
It also stated that they will collaborate to introduce new monitoring and detection tools and reinforce on-chain security to prevent threats. Chainalysis will also help train Polymarket’s team, build new detection capabilities, and support complex investigations.
Chainalysis and Polymarket will introduce a new detection model
Primarily, their deal centers on a detection model built on Chainalysis Data Solutions, which would sift through and identify wagers made using insider information. The model would add more muscle to the multi-level security setup Polymarket already relies on to spot rule-breakers.
Speaking on the partnership, Shayne Coplan, Founder and CEO of Polymarket, emphasized that the platform intends to prioritize transparency. He commented, “This partnership with Chainalysis pairs that transparency with the monitoring and enforcement infrastructure to back it up, and helps us continue to build the most trusted source of truth in markets.”
Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and CEO, Chainalysis, also noted that, with the team-up, they are paving the way for on-chain markets to grow into the world’s most reliable and trusted tools for understanding global news as it happens.
The recent clampdown, however, follows a string of messy headlines about traders making a killing off insider information or manipulated storylines. Recently, a US special forces soldier, Van Dyke, allegedly made more than $400,000 on classified information of Maduro’s capture.
So far, Dyke pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges against him in court and has been granted bail of $250,000. Though the federal judge restricted his travel, limiting him to parts of North Carolina, New York, and California. His case represents the first time the Department of Justice (DOJ) has pursued insider trading charges involving a prediction platform.
More recently, the US Senate passed a unanimous vote to bar senators and their staff from trading in prediction markets. As earlier reported by Cryptopolitan, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno had led the charge on the resolution, even asserting at one point, “United States Senators have no business engaging in speculative activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck, period.”
Nevertheless, Polymarket, after the Senate’s decision, voiced its support, calling it a progressive move that aligns perfectly with its own existing anti-insider policies.
How are prediction platforms holding up against lawmaker criticism?
Overall, prediction markets are holding their ground against state and public opposition. A Bitget-Polymarket report found traders pushed monthly volumes to a staggering $25.7 billion in March during a crypto dry spell.
Their analysis showed retail participants are leading the activity, moving away from isolated bets toward more consistent engagement, especially in sports. Dune Analytics also reported similar results, noting that markets saw over $23.7 billion in trading volume in March.
In the past few months, prediction platforms have been embroiled in several controversies. Polymarket and Kalshi are still caught in the middle of a showdown, with state governors pushing for bans on the platforms in the name of protecting residents, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) arguing over its sole authority to regulate them.
A group of Democratic lawmakers recently even pushed the CFTC to address “the rapid erosion of integrity” in prediction markets. In a letter to the agency, they requested that the agency take measures to curb insider trading and corruption within the platforms. Meanwhile, New York recently filed suit against Coinbase Financial Markets and Gemini Titan, contending that their prediction market platforms violate state gambling laws.
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Wall Street gains $8T as April delivers six-year high
US stocks went ballistic all through April and gave Wall Street its strongest month since 2020, with investors piling back into tech while oil, inflation, and the Iran war kept the macro side messy.
The S&P 500 ended the month at a record close after gaining 14.2% from its March 30 low. That rebound added about $8.1 trillion in market value across 23 trading days, which is the kind of number that makes even crypto traders blink twice.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 15.29% in April, its best monthly run since April 2020, when markets were bouncing from the early Covid crash.
The tech trade got help from earnings, with Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT) all beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations and showing stronger cloud numbers.
Big Tech carries stocks as AI demand pushes traders back into growth names
Alphabet (GOOGL) jumped 10% after its earnings report and finished April up 34%. That was its strongest month since October 2004, the same year it went public.
Amazon (AMZN) gained 27% for the month, helped by its cloud performance and the wider rush into AI-linked tech. Meta Platforms (META) had a rough Thursday, falling 9% after saying it would spend more on capital projects, but the stock still ended April higher by nearly 7%.
Chip stocks had an even wilder month because data center demand is still pulling serious money into the sector. Broadcom (AVGO) gained 35% in April.
Qualcomm (QCOM) jumped close to 40% for the month after having its strongest session since last year on Thursday. Micron Technology (MU) climbed 53%, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) surged 74%. Nvidia (NVDA) rose about 14%, giving the AI chipmaker its strongest month since June.
Intel (INTC) had the loudest rebound in the group. Its shares doubled in April, giving the company its best month in 55 years.
Intel is still trying to fix years of late launches and weak production results that allowed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) and Nvidia (NVDA) to pull ahead in AI hardware. Traders are now paying attention to Intel’s 18A chips, which are coming out of its new Arizona factory.
Another reason Intel got attention is the return of demand for central processing units as agentic AI spreads. Bank of America (BAC) expects the CPU market to more than double by 2030.
Oil, inflation, Fed cuts, and Asia keep pressure around the stock rally
April’s rally in stocks came even as energy prices turned ugly. Brent crude climbed above $125 a barrel on Thursday, sending gasoline to about $4 per gallon across the US.
That matters because expensive fuel can keep inflation hot, squeeze consumers, and make the Federal Reserve less willing to cut interest rates.
Citi (C) lifted its rating on US stock markets to overweight versus other regions in April. Beata Manthey, Citi’s head of global equities strategy, said “tech is carrying the weight” of the wider market. The data backed that up. Tech stocks were flying, but the economy did not look clean.
The US economy grew at a 2% annualized rate in the first quarter, when economists had expected 2.2%. Investors then cut back their bets on Fed rate cuts for this year because oil and gas prices raised the risk of another inflation problem.
Meanwhile, trading in Asia was thin because the May Day holiday shut several large markets. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (.AXJO) rose 0.74% to 8,729.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (.HSI) fell 1.28% to 25,776.53. South Korea’s KOSPI (.KS11) dropped 1.38% to 6,598.87. India’s Nifty 50 (.NSEI) lost 0.74% to 23,997.55. China’s Shanghai Composite (.SSEC) added 0.11% to 4,112.159.
Japan traded higher. The Nikkei 225 (.N225) rose 0.38% to 59,513.12. The Topix recovered from earlier losses and ended up 0.04% at 3,728.73.
The yen also firmed a little against the dollar on Friday after reports said Tokyo stepped into the market on Thursday to support the currency. The yen was last at 156.56 per dollar after crossing 160 earlier in the week and touching 160.72, its weakest level in two years.
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BTC končí měsíc se svým nejlepším výkonem zatím v tomto roce
BTC zakončil duben v plusu s 11,87% čistým růstem. Vedoucí mince uzavřela v zelených číslech již druhý měsíc po sobě a dokončila nejúspěšnější měsíc roku do dnešního dne.
BTC zvrátil některé hluboké ztráty z února a v začátku května vzrostl na $76,960.11. Mince akumulovala 12,94% zisků za Q2 do dnešního dne, což vede k větším býčím očekáváním obratu ceny.
BTC zakončil duben s téměř 12% čistým ziskem, čímž zopakoval vzor zotavení z roku 2025. | Zdroj: CoinGlass.
Nedávné měsíční zisky přišly po pětiměsíčním období čistých ztrát. Podle indexu strachu a chamtivosti na 26 bodech se obchodníci stále necítí dostatečně jistí, aby nastavili velké long pozice. Duben však přinesl obrat, když opustil obchodování ve 'vysoce nervózním' režimu z předchozího měsíce.
Eric Trump disappears from Alt5 Sigma page as crypto backlash grows
Eric Trump is no longer shown on the leadership page of Alt5 Sigma Corp., the Las Vegas company that became closely tied to the Trump family’s crypto business, World Liberty Financial Inc.
His name had appeared on the company’s website as recently as March, when he was listed as an adviser and board observer. By last week, Eric was no longer there.
Alt5, which now calls itself AI Financial (NASDAQ: ALTS), became part of the Trump crypto story after it agreed to hold World Liberty tokens on its balance sheet in August, and agreed to build a $1.5 billion crypto reserve. In return, World Liberty received stock in AI Financial and board seats..
Alt5 keeps other World Liberty names listed while Eric leaves the public page
Eric was first lined up for a stronger role at Alt5. The early plan had him joining the board as a director. He was expected to sit there with Zachary Witkoff, the son of presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, and Zak Folkman. Zachary and Zak are also co-founders of World Liberty Financial.
That plan did not stay the same. Eric later became a board observer, not a director. A board observer can usually attend board meetings, read materials, and stay close to the company’s internal discussions. The person does not normally vote on board decisions.
Zachary and Zak are still listed on the company’s board page. Alt5 reported a loss of more than $341 million in its latest fiscal year. In its newest annual filing, management warned investors that there was serious doubt about whether the company could keep running for another year.
World Liberty faces legal heat, falling token prices, and questions over outside crypto ties
The trouble around World Liberty has been getting louder. Last month, Cryptopolitan reported crypto billionaire Justin Sun sued the company. Justin accused World Liberty of extortion and of illegally freezing his tokens. Eric responded on X and called the lawsuit “ridiculous.”
Other Trump-linked crypto assets have also lost value since launch. Shares tied to a Bitcoin mining company have fallen. The $TRUMP virtual token has also been steadily crashing.
AI Financial has also agreed to buy Block Street, a crypto infrastructure startup owned by one of the company’s own advisers. SEC filings say the Las Vegas company signed the deal last Monday. The purchase could be worth up to $43 million.
Morgan, the adviser behind Block Street, pushed back against the idea that the deal was self-dealing. He told Fortune that Block Street is not making revenue. He also said he had offered the startup to several public companies in late 2025 and turned down proposals with possible value above $100 million in “upside.”
Another issue comes through AB, a crypto venture that announced an arrangement with World Liberty less than a month after the Trump administration brought criminal charges and sanctions against a large alleged scam network. One AB-linked project was a planned “blockchain”-themed resort in East Timor.
Two men tied to that resort were later named in the U.S. crackdown. They were the controlling shareholder and the general manager of the resort project. U.S. officials said the men had worked for the Prince Group, which the government described as one of Asia’s biggest criminal organizations.
The Justice Department said on October 14 last year that Prince Group ran at least 10 violent scam compounds in Cambodia. Officials said enslaved workers were forced to run online fraud, including “pig butchering,” where scammers build fake relationships with victims before stealing their money.
That same day, the Treasury Department sanctioned more than 140 people and companies over alleged Prince Group activity and money-laundering networks.
A lawyer for World Liberty denied any relationship with the sanctioned men. He said the company did not know about the planned resort when it announced the AB arrangement.
He also said the AB deal was not a partnership, but a “limited non-exclusive technology integration” that would allow AB’s network to use the Trump family’s USD1 stablecoin. The lawyer added, “WLF takes its compliance obligations very seriously.”
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XRP čelí testu kvantové bezpečnosti po odvážném signálu generálního ředitele Ripple
Ekosystém XRP je opět v centru optimismu a dlouhodobých technologických obav, protože generální ředitel Ripple Brad Garlinghouse znovu potvrzuje, že XRP je „severní hvězdou“ společnosti, i když se v širší diskusi o rizicích kvantového počítání začínají objevovat obavy v kryptoprůmyslu.
Validátor XRP Ledger Vet varuje, že některé kvantové procesory by mohly nakonec ohrozit samotné nejstarší peněženky XRPL, což je ekvivalent adres Bitcoin z „Satoshi Éry“.
Vet říká, že po prozkoumání 7,8 milionu účtů hledajících kvantové hrozby, většina sítě XRPL je bezpečná, ale 0,02 % z celkového zásobení XRP, Genesis peněženky, jsou zranitelné vůči kvantovému dešifrování. To znamená, že přibližně 23,16 miliardy XRP je zcela zabezpečeno před potenciálními kvantovými riziky.
Senate Crypto Bill hits critical junction as Trump-linked ethics fight tests bipartisan deal
A U.S. Senate effort to overhaul crypto market structure through the CLARITY Act is approaching a mid-May committee markup, though negotiations remain strained by disputes over ethics rules, stablecoin yield provisions, and political concerns tied to Donald Trump’s crypto-related business interests.
The legislation would establish a federal framework dividing oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a long-sought regulatory clarity effort for the industry.
Bipartisan agreement remains uncertain as lawmakers struggle to resolve both technical and politically sensitive issues.
Legislative push toward May markup
Sen. Tim Scott, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said the CLARITY Act is nearing a critical stage, with lawmakers aiming for a bipartisan committee vote in May. Sen. Thom Tillis told Politico he would oppose final passage without ethics provisions included.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins described the agency’s March guidance as “an important bridge” while Congress develops permanent rules, Axios reported.
The House passed its version in July 2025 by 294–134, including 78 Democrats. The Senate Banking Committee released a 278-page draft in January 2026, but multiple scheduled markups have been postponed.
Banks continue to oppose proposals that would let crypto firms offer yield on stablecoin deposits. Standard Chartered estimates stablecoins could divert up to $500 billion in US bank deposits by 2028, per Reuters.
A White House Council of Economic Advisers report countered that stablecoin yield would displace only about 0.02% of total bank loans, roughly $2.1 billion, as Cryptopolitan reported when industry group NC Blockchain pushed Tillis to advance the bill last week.
Trump crypto ties drive ethics standoff
Bloomberg reported Trump has earned at least $1.4 billion through crypto-related ventures, including World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance and stablecoin project. His family also holds a stake in bitcoin mining firm American Bitcoin.
Democrats argue that these financial ties raise the potential for conflicts of interest in shaping digital asset regulation. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) told The Block that bipartisan support depends on resolving ethics and illicit finance concerns.
Earlier this year, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a related crypto bill without Democratic support, with lawmakers citing Trump-related crypto ties as a key concern.
Vote math tightens as time runs out
The bill needs 60 Senate votes, meaning unanimous Republican support plus seven Democrats. That path tightened after Sen. John Kennedy said he would not support it, per Punchbowl News. Kennedy’s defection drops effective Republican backing to 52 from 53, raising the Democratic threshold from seven to eight.
Polymarket odds moved from 38% to 46% over the past week. Estimates cited by The Block place the probability between 15% and 50%.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis has warned that failure to pass this Congress could delay comprehensive crypto regulation for years. Sen. Bernie Moreno delivered an ultimatum at a Washington event on April 22, declaring the bill must clear Congress by end of May.
Digital policy analyst Adrian Wall told Reuters: “If this doesn’t get passed and put in front of the President’s desk by July, I think everyone feels that window will have been closed because of the mid-terms.”
The Polymarket move suggests the market sees the path widening. The 60-vote math says it has not widened by enough.
UK FCA approves onchain fund registers and direct-to-fund dealing in tokenisation push
The Financial Conduct Authority finalised rules on Thursday allowing UK asset managers to maintain official investor registers on blockchain and introduced an optional Direct-to-Fund dealing model that removes intermediaries from fund transactions.
The changes, set out in policy statement PS26/7, take effect immediately. They apply to about 2,600 firms managing an estimated £16.5 trillion in assets across the UK market.
The policy formalises a framework the regulator has tested since January 2025, when it authorised the UK’s first tokenised UCITS fund under the industry “Blueprint” model. PS26/7 turns that pilot into permanent rules.
Onchain records gain regulatory recognition
Under the new rules, authorised fund managers can use distributed ledger technology (DLT) as the official register of investor ownership.
A full off-chain duplicate is no longer required, provided firms maintain operational resilience and comply with governance, data protection, and financial crime standards.
The framework builds on an industry “Blueprint” model already used to approve the UK’s first tokenised UCITS fund.
Funds may operate on public or private blockchains, including across multiple networks, as long as investor rights and fee structures remain unchanged.
Simon Walls, the FCA’s executive director of markets, said tokenisation would “play an important role in asset management” and that the regulator had delivered “a practical framework to give firms confidence in how fund tokenisation can operate within the FCA’s rules.”
Direct-to-fund dealing reduces intermediaries
The FCA also introduced an optional Direct-to-Fund (D2F) dealing model.
Under D2F, the fund or its depositary becomes the counterparty to investor transactions. This removes the need for an asset manager or intermediary between the investor and the fund.
Transactions are executed in a single step, with units issued or cancelled as cash moves directly between investor and fund. The regulator said the structure could reduce operational friction and better align with faster settlement systems, including blockchain-based infrastructure.
Firms will still be able to use traditional dealing models or combine both approaches within umbrella fund structures.
Three-stage roadmap signals what comes next
PS26/7 sits at stage one of a broader FCA digital assets path. Stage two extends to traditional securities moved on-chain. Stage three involves tokenised cash flows enabling portfolio management through wallets and smart contracts. The regulator said it may explore settlement using digital cash and stablecoins in consultations later in 2026.
The framework sits alongside the broader cryptoasset regime. As Cryptopolitan reported, the FCA’s CP26/4 consultation proposes Consumer Duty rules, safeguarding requirements for client cryptoassets, and stricter governance for large stablecoin issuers. That regime takes effect in October 2027.
The industry has been signalling this shift for months
Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan and head of research Ryan Rasmussen wrote in a July client note that “tokenisation, the shift to issuing stocks, bonds, and other real-world assets on blockchains instead of traditional rails, is having a moment.”
The global stocks and bonds market is worth roughly $257 trillion combined, against current tokenised real-world assets at about $25 billion.
Robinhood chief executive Vlad Tenev offered a sharper version at Token2049 in October. “Tokenisation is like a freight train. It can’t be stopped, and eventually it’s going to eat the entire financial system,” he told the conference, predicting most major markets will have tokenisation frameworks within five years.
The first tokenised UCITS launched 16 months ago. The framework that authorised it is now permanent.
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US Senate moves fast to ban its own members from prediction market bets
The U.S. Senate has taken a rare unanimous step. It voted on Thursday to ban lawmakers, staff, and chamber officers from betting on prediction markets. Senate Resolution 708 passed by unanimous consent and took effect immediately as a change to the Senate’s standing rules.
The vote came eight days after federal prosecutors indicted a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant for using classified information to win more than $400,000 on Polymarket, and one week after Kalshi fined three congressional candidates for betting on their own races.
Republican Senator Bernie Moreno introduced the measure. Democratic Senator Alex Padilla widened it to include Senate staff.
Moreno framed the issue bluntly. “United States senators have no business engaging in speculative activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck,” he said, according to Reuters.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer backed the move. He warned against turning public service into speculation.
“We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino where members representing the public can gamble on wars or economic crises,” Schumer said.
Prosecutors acted on U.S. Army Master Sergeant’s bet
The vote did not happen in a vacuum. It followed a case that stunned both lawmakers and regulators.
Federal prosecutors charged Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a 38-year-old Army Special Forces master sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg, with using classified information to place wagers on Polymarket. The trades were tied to Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. military mission that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on January 3.
Van Dyke “was involved in the planning and execution” of the operation, the Justice Department said in announcing the indictment. Prosecutors allege he placed approximately $33,034 in 13 bets between December 27 and January 2, all on “Yes” positions for contracts predicting U.S. forces would enter Venezuela by January 31.
The wagers won him approximately $409,881 in profit. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a parallel civil complaint, calling it the agency’s first insider trading action involving prediction markets.
Van Dyke pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday and was released on $250,000 bail.
Experts warn that prediction markets remain vulnerable
For many experts, the case confirmed long-standing concerns.
“The idea that insider trading is somehow permissible in prediction markets is a myth,” said David Miller, CFTC Director of Enforcement. He named insider trading on prediction markets as one of the agency’s five enforcement priorities going forward.
Academic research published days earlier reached a similar conclusion. Columbia Law professor Joshua Mitts and University of Haifa professor Moran Ofir analyzed two years of Polymarket data through February 2026 and identified more than 210,000 suspicious wallet-market pairs.
Flagged traders posted a 69.9% win rate, well above chance, and accumulated approximately $143 million in aggregate anomalous profit.
Mitts told American Banker that prediction market regulation is “a lot trickier” than securities-market enforcement because the contracts are commodities, not securities, and so fall outside the SEC’s classical insider trading framework.
When outcomes are yes-or-no and trading is thin, even one informed bet can move the market.
The polymarket ban has limits
Despite the strong vote, the Senate’s action has clear limits. This is not a criminal law. It is an internal rule. That means the Senate polices itself. Penalties could include reprimands, loss of committee roles, or fines tied to ethics violations.
But there is an important catch.
If a lawmaker uses insider information, existing federal laws could still apply. Regulators and prosecutors can still step in. So the rule acts more like a guardrail than a hammer. It is designed to stop the behavior before it starts.
How does this ban compare to the stalled stock trading ban?
Feature Prediction Market Ban Stock Trading Ban (Proposed) Status Already in force Still stalled Who it covers Senators and staff Members of Congress What it bans Event-based bets Stock trades Enforcement Senate ethics system Would require federal law Penalties Internal sanctions Proposed legal penalties
A narrower, simpler rule passed in a single afternoon. The broader stock trading ban, debated for nearly a decade, remains stuck. Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have introduced separate legislation to ban all federally elected officials and government employees from using insider information on prediction markets.
Young called Resolution 708 “a good first step.”
Prediction markets remain a global gray area
Around the world, prediction markets sit in a legal gray zone. In the U.S., regulators are starting to treat them like financial derivatives.
In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority has taken a cautious approach. Across Europe, rules vary widely. Some countries treat them as gambling. Others treat them as financial instruments.
This patchwork creates gaps. And those gaps can be exploited.
Regulators are watching the Van Dyke case closely. A conviction would set a precedent for how Rule 180.1 of the Commodity Exchange Act applies to government-sourced classified information.
As Cryptopolitan reported in March, Polymarket has already updated its insider trading rules across both its DeFi platform and its U.S. exchange, citing pressure from regulators and the Ritchie Torres bill that has drawn 40 Democratic co-sponsors.
There’s a middle ground between leaving money in the bank and rolling the dice in crypto. Start with this free video on decentralized finance.
Krypto hacky dosáhly rekordních výšin v dubnu, když 20+ exploatů otřáslo DeFi
Hackeři ukradli přes 625 milionů dolarů v 20 až 30 samostatných útocích pouze v dubnu 2026. To je skoro každý den jeden útok. DefiLlama zveřejnila graf na X, který ukazuje, že průměr v dubnu byl téměř 1 útok za den, v porovnání s předchozími měsíčními rekordy, které zřídka překročily 12 až 15 incidentů.
Toto překonalo celkový počet všech předchozích čtvrtletí, což posunulo měsíc k rekordnímu maximu bezpečnostních porušení.
Proč dva útoky způsobily téměř veškeré škody?
Několik vysoce dopadových incidentů definovalo měsíc. 1. dubna 2026 ztratil Drift Protocol 285 milionů dolarů. Severokorejská skupina strávila asi šest měsíců budováním důvěry s zaměstnanci Driftu, jen aby během 12 minut ukradla prostředky pomocí předpodepsaných pokynů k výběru.
StepDrainer drains crypto wallets across +20 networks
A crypto-stealing tool called StepDrainer is draining money from wallets across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Polygon, and at least 17 other networks.
StepDrainer operates as a malware-as-a-service kit. It uses fake but realistic Web3 wallet pop-ups to trick people into approving transfers. Some of those screens are made to look like Web3Modal wallet connections.
Once someone connects their wallet, StepDrainer looks for the most valuable tokens first and automatically sends them to wallets controlled by the attackers, according to LevelBlue.
StepDrainer misuses smart contract tools
StepDrainer misuses real smart contract tools like Seaport and Permit v2 to show wallet approval pop-ups that look normal. But the details inside those pop-ups are fake.
In one case, cybersecurity researchers found that victims saw a fake message saying they were receiving “+500 USDT,” making the approval look safe.
StepDrainer loads its harmful code through changing scripts and gets its setup from decentralized on-chain accounts.
That setup helps the attackers dodge normal security tools because the harmful code is not stored in one fixed place where it can be easily scanned.
StepDrainer is not just one person’s project. Researchers said there is a developed underground market selling ready-made drainer kits, making it easier for many attackers to add wallet-stealing features to scams they already run.
EtherRAT siphons crypto from Windows users
Researchers also found another malware besides StepDrainer, called EtherRAT. It targets Windows through a fake version of the Tftpd64 network admin tool.
According to LevelBlue, EtherRAT hides Node.js inside a fake installer, makes sure it stays on the computer through the Windows registry, and uses PowerShell to check the system.
EtherRAT first targeted Linux. Now it is bringing malware tricks and crypto theft to Windows.
EtherRAT quietly runs in the background. It checks things like antivirus tools, system settings, domain details, and hardware before it starts stealing.
According to a recent Cryptopolitan report, over 500 Ethereum wallets have been drained in the past 24 hours. The attacker siphoned more than $800K in crypto assets and then swapped the funds via ThorChain.
Many of the drained wallets have been inactive for over 7 years, according to on-chain research Wazz. The drained funds were directed by a single wallet address controlled by the attacker.
Cybersecurity researchers advise users connecting wallets to unknown sites to verify the domain, read the transaction details before signing, and remove any unlimited token approvals.
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Crypto devs face new threat from Claude-based malware
An open-source crypto trading project received a malicious npm package called @validate-sdk/v2 after Anthropic’s Claude Opus AI model made it a dependency. This gave hackers access to users’ crypto wallets and funds.
Security researchers from ReversingLabs (RL) found the breach in the openpaw-graveyard project, which is an autonomous crypto trading agent hosted on npm. They called it PromptMink.
The bad commit was made on February 28, 2026. ReversingLabs says that the package pretends to be a tool for checking data but really steals secrets from the host environment.
North Korean hackers linked to PromptMink malware
ReversingLabs said that the attack came from Famous Chollima, a North Korean state-sponsored threat group.
The group has been spreading malicious npm packages since at least September 2025. They have been improving a two-layer strategy that is meant to trick both human devs and AI coding assistants.
The first layer is made up of packages that don’t have any malicious code. These “bait” packages, like @solana-launchpad/sdk and @meme-sdk/trade, seem like real tools for crypto developers.
They list a few second-layer packages that carry the actual payload, along with popular npm packages like axios and bn.js as dependencies.
When the second-layer packages are reported and taken down from npm, the attackers just put in a new one without losing the reputation they’ve built around the bait packages.
ReversingLabs says that when @hash-validator/v2 was taken off of npm, the attackers released @validate-sdk/v2 the same day with the same version number and source code.
AI agents are more susceptible to hacks than humans
Security researchers stated that Famous Chollima’s method seems more suited to taking advantage of AI coding assistants than human developers. The group writes long, detailed documentation for its malicious packages, which researchers call “LLM Optimization abuse.”
The goal is to make packages look real enough that AI agents will suggest and install them without any problems. The infected packages were “vibe-coded” by generative AI tools. Leftover LLM responses are visible in the file comments.
Since late 2025, the PromptMink malware has taken on many different forms.
It started as a simple JavaScript infostealer, then grew into big single-executable applications, and now comes as compiled Rust payloads that are made to be stealthy, according to ReversingLabs.
When the malware is installed, it looks for configuration files related to crypto, steals wallet credentials and system information, compresses and sends project source code to itself, and drops SSH keys on Linux and Windows machines so it can always access them remotely.
The PromptMink campaign is not the only recent attack targeting crypto developers through package managers.
Last month, Cryptopolitan reported on GhostClaw, a malware that targeted the OpenClaw community through a fake npm installer. It harvested crypto wallet data, macOS Keychain passwords, and AI platform API tokens from 178 developers before removal from the npm registry.
PromptMink and GhostClaw use social engineering as an entry point and target developers working in crypto and Web3. What makes PromptMink different is that it targets AI coding agents and uses them as the attack path.
Uber is transforming from a rides-only to an all-travel platform
Hertz Global Holdings announced a new unit, Oro Mobility on Thursday. It is partnering with Uber Technologies on two different deals for both driverless cars and regular ride services. Hertz stock went up 17.14% to $6.55 during trading.
Oro Mobility will handle the day-to-day operations for Uber’s self-driving taxi program. This includes charging the vehicles, fixing them when needed, keeping them clean, and managing the facilities where they’re stored. The company plans to start this service in the San Francisco Bay Area before the year ends, with possible growth into more cities by 2027.
The second partnership focuses on regular rides with human drivers. Oro will run its own fleet of vehicles on Uber’s platform using drivers who work directly for Oro. Company officials said this setup helps handle increasing customer demand while making sure riders get the same quality of service each time. This program is already running in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Northern New Jersey will get the service this spring.
Hertz explained that launching Oro Mobility fits into its broader plan to move beyond just renting cars to tourists and business travelers. The company wants to use what it already knows about managing large numbers of vehicles to support both computer-driven and human-driven transportation services.
The deals expand on an existing arrangement between the two companies, where Uber drivers can rent vehicles from Hertz.
Uber is going far beyond ride services
On Wednesday, Uber revealed a new feature in its app in the realm of hotel bookings at its Go-Get event in New York. It is working with Expedia for the hotel booking tool in its app. Users can surf through over 700,000 hotels all over the world to make bookings. The feature seems especially convenient for tourists to have both car ride services alongside hotel bookings in just one app.
If that wasn’t good enough, the company has also included a Travel Mode feature for local spots suggestions and restaurant reservations.
Uber is also incorporating voice commands with an AI assistant for customers to book rides. The system understands where you want to go and what type of ride you need, then shows the best options.
These latest updates suggest that the company is aiming to become the go-to app for all travel needs. It may be getting a cut from hotels, which it doesn’t own, for each booking. The new multipurpose features will help retain customers on the app.
A new Shop for Me service lets customers request items from any store, even ones not listed in the app. Users can ask for specific products from local shops, whether it’s a gift, specialty foods, or household items.
Select cities will soon get Eats for the Way, letting riders who book Uber Black or Uber Black SUV reserve vehicles that show up with coffee or snacks already inside. After confirming the ride reservation, customers can add their drink or food order.
Investors betting on a rebound
The change in direction comes while Uber shares have struggled to gain ground in early 2026. Meanwhile, traders buying and selling options contracts seem to think better days are ahead.
Data from Barchart shows the ratio of put options to call options for contracts ending in mid-September sits at just 0.22. This heavily favors bullish bets, with the top price target at $87 representing a possible 17% jump over the next five months.
Uber’s quarterly earnings report, set for May 6, could move the stock significantly. Analysts expect revenue to hit $13.3 billion, which would mark a gain of more than 15% compared to the same period last year.
Despite falling from its 2026 peak, the stock has held steady around two key technical levels, its 20-day and 50-day moving averages. This suggests investors who believe in the stock haven’t given up yet.
Analysts covering Uber largely share the optimistic view seen in options trading. The overall rating sits at “Strong Buy,” with the average price target near $106. That would represent potential gains of more than 40% from current levels.
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Ethereum Foundation opens applications for its seventh protocol fellowship, dubbed EPF7.
The Ethereum Foundation has opened applications for the seventh cohort of its Ethereum Protocol Fellowship today, Thursday, April 30.
The program is designed to bring new developers into core protocol work months after co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced a period of fiscal restraint for the organization.
The applications for the cohort tagged EPF7 are going to be open through May 13, and the cohort is expected to run from June through November.
The selected participants will receive monthly stipends and mentorship from active core developers. An introductory town hall is scheduled for May 6 at 1500 UTC.
In January, Buterin wrote on X that the Foundation was “entering a period of mild austerity” to balance an aggressive technical roadmap with long-term financial sustainability. The Foundation held roughly 172,000 ETH at the time and had faced criticism for annual spending that previously reached as high as $100 million, according to Cryptopolitan’s earlier reporting.
Currently, the Foundation holds over 92,500 ETH per Arkham Intelligence, having sold some of its holdings to BitMine six days ago.
What is the Ethereum Foundation’s upcoming cohort about?
According to the Foundation’s protocol support team, the coming cohort will be smaller compared to previous rounds. The team stated that they are “prioritizing depth of engagement over breadth.”
Fellows who join the cohort will get to work more closely with the mentors, and this should also enable them to make “higher-impact contributions to the projects they take on.”
The program targets software engineers with a solid technical foundation who are self-directed and motivated by open-source work. The makeup has always revolved around gathering a diverse group with the goal of advancing Ethereum’s roadmap.
Fellows will contribute to client implementations, testing, specifications, and core protocol research. Past participants have joined client teams and remained long-term contributors, according to the Foundation.
The May 13 application deadline will determine the size and composition of the cohort. Buterin’s January commitment to personal austerity, including earmarking 16,384 ETH for ecosystem goals over five years, set expectations that the Foundation would do more with less.
How did Ethereum use its resources in Q1?
A day before the EPF7 announcement, the Foundation’s Ecosystem Support Program published its Q1 2026 allocation update. The report lists grants across cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, security tooling, and protocol research, suggesting that while spending discipline has tightened, core development funding continues.
The Ethereum Foundation presents the initiatives it has supported since 2024. Source: Ethereum Foundation
Among the funded projects are maintenance for the EthereumJS TypeScript stack, Lighthouse client development for the Fusaka transition, L2BEAT’s 2026 operations, and a performance benchmarking initiative to stress-test states 10 times the size of the mainnet.
The Foundation also funded several positions through its 2026 internship program in areas including protocol consensus, cryptography, and protocol security.
The Ethereum Applications Guild, a new nonprofit announced on April 29, adds another layer to the Foundation’s developer recruitment effort. In its bio on X, the organization describes itself as “a global non-profit collaborative organization dedicated to advancing the innovation, adoption, and real-world impact of Ethereum-native applications.”
Apple překonal odhady s 111,18 miliardami dolarů v příjmech a 2,01 dolaru v zisku na akcii
Apple (AAPL) překonal očekávání Wall Streetu za fiskální druhé čtvrtletí s příjmy 111,18 miliardy dolarů a ziskem na akcii 2,01 dolaru, přičemž prodeje iPhonů dosáhly 56,99 miliardy dolarů a mírně zaostaly za odhady analytiků.
Analytici oslovení LSEG očekávali příjmy 109,66 miliardy dolarů a zisk na akcii 1,95 dolaru. Akcie se po zprávě téměř nezměnily v prodlouženém obchodování, protože čísla byla silná, ale ne bezchybně čistá.
Nejčistší část čtvrtletí přišla ze služeb, ne z hardwaru. Příjmy ze služeb vzrostly na 30,98 miliardy dolarů, oproti 26,65 miliardám dolarů před rokem.
Kritici Trumpa získávají nové zbraně pro vyšetřování, když rodinný podnik uzavírá dohodu s americkou vládou
Dvě nové dohody od podniků s vazbami na rodinu Trumpů by mohly brzy být čerstvými body pro vyšetřování pro demokratické zákonodárce jako Elizabeth Warren, Maxine Waters a Richard Blumenthal, kteří zahájili předchozí šetření týkající se obchodních aktivit první rodiny.
Dnes ráno Fortune informoval, že AI Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: AIFC), veřejně obchodovaná krypto firma s vazbami na rodinu prezidenta Donalda Trumpa, zakoupila Block Street Corp., krypto infrastrukturní podnik založený jedním z jejích vlastních poradců, Matthewem Morganem. Obchod má hodnotu až 43 milionů dolarů.