Cryptopolitan

The executive power in Russia has approved a cap on coin purchases for ordinary citizens as part of new legislation legalizing crypto investment and trading.

The upcoming rules are also reducing the assets that non-professional investors can buy to only the most liquid cryptocurrencies pre-approved by the central bank.

Moscow caps crypto investments for most Russians

The federal government of Russia has approved a package of bills designed to regulate cryptocurrency transactions and place them under strict state control.

Three pieces of legislation have been greenlit at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers in Moscow, according to a press release published Monday.

These are the draft laws “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts,” and “On Amending the Code on Administrative Offenses.”

The announcement emphasized that the bills have been “developed as part of an action plan to ‘legalize’ certain sectors of the economy,” but media reports highlighted the restrictions they are introducing.

While significantly expanding access to digital assets to officially include even non-qualified investors, Russia is severely limiting exposure for most people.

Under the new rules, which will be passed by the summer, ordinary Russians will be permitted to acquire no more than 300,000 rubles’ worth of crypto a year through a single intermediary.

The annual threshold, equal to less than $3,700 at the ruble’s current exchange rate with the dollar, has been fixed in legal writing for the first time.

While the cap was first pitched months ago, recent statements by officials did not specify the amount, as noted by the crypto news outlet Bits.media.

Then, most Russians will be allowed to buy only the most liquid cryptocurrencies, whitelisted by the Bank of Russia, after passing a test to determine their awareness of the risks.

Qualified, professional investors will undergo testing, too, but they will have no limit on their purchases and will be able to add almost any digital currency to their portfolio, except privacy-oriented coins.

Russia to ban crypto transactions outside regulated market

The provisions approved by the Russian government prohibit cryptocurrency transactions without using regulated intermediaries.

They introduce a licensing regime for such platforms, including crypto exchanges and depositories, existing stock exchanges and trustees.

Banks and brokers will be authorized to join the digital assets market as well but will be subjected to special prudential requirements.

The legislation leaves the door open for some cryptocurrency operations outside the framework of the domestic market.

Russians will be able to purchase digital currencies abroad, as long as they pay for the coins from foreign accounts and transfer foreign currency purchased through local intermediaries.

In all these cases, Russian residents will have to notify the Federal Tax Service (FNS) of their foreign transactions, the Ministry of Finance underscored in its press release.

The bills introduce various penalties for violators. For example, amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses target the organizers of trading platforms that don’t meet the new requirements.

Meanwhile, the head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, indicated that Russians may be banned from using foreign exchanges altogether.

Speaking to the Gazeta.ru website, the high-ranking lawmaker confirmed the legislation will be filed with the lower house of parliament this week and highlighted:

“It is expected that trading in crypto instruments through foreign exchanges that do not work with Russian licensed intermediaries will be prohibited.”

Aksakov stressed that trading under the upcoming framework will be safer than peer-to-peer transactions. He also insisted that the 300,000-ruble limit is sufficient to allow Russians to test the market without risking bankruptcy.

Quoted by the official newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also stated that “using cryptocurrencies will become easier and safer” when citizens and businesses start buying and selling them domestically.

Critics have commented that with its attempt to regulate digital assets, Russia is effectively dropping an iron curtain on the crypto market, as recently reported by Cryptopolitan.

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Ethereum führte in dieser Woche eine Erholung der NFT-Aktivitäten mit einem Verkaufswachstum von 70 % und 12,51 Millionen Dollar an Verkäufen über alle Ethereum-basierten Kollektionen an.

Das gesamte Ethereum NFT-Volumen, einschließlich Wash-Trades, erreichte 13,17 Millionen Dollar, ein Anstieg von 84,68 % gegenüber der Vorwoche, mit 5.449 Käufern, einem Anstieg von 1,66 %.

Laut CryptoSlam-Daten erreichte das gesamte Marktverkaufsvolumen 44,58 Millionen Dollar, ein Anstieg von 4,34 %. Die NFT-Käufer stiegen ebenfalls um 19,03 % auf 269.408, die NFT-Verkäufer stiegen um 12,06 % auf 315.062, und die Gesamttransaktionen stiegen um 163,63 % auf 2.098.514.

Ethereum führt die NFT-Erholung mit einem Verkaufswachstum von 70 % an

BTC quantum risk is still hypothetical, yet the cryptographic protection of wallets can give a preview of which addresses are the most vulnerable. Legacy wallets and older holdings may be exposed to cryptographic cracking through quantum computers. 

A total of 6.7M BTC sit in wallets vulnerable to quantum attacks. A large number of wallets from the early mining era use P2PK wallets, exposing early mining rewards to quantum risk. 

Within the top 100,000 addresses, many are vulnerable due to exposed public keys, as well as reusing public keys. The vulnerable wallets may belong to individual investors, as well as bigger entities with significant holdings. The vulnerable wallets include those of early miners, including Satoshi Nakamoto. 

BTC protected by P2PK wallets faces the biggest risk

Quantum risk may be mitigated by moving wallets to new standards and keeping public keys only for personal use. As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, quantum risk may arrive sooner than expected. 

Google also proposed a new model where crypto addresses could be exploited with much lower than expected quantum computing power. The estimate of Google for the total vulnerable BTC is lower. 

“We highlight the example of Bitcoin’s Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) locking scripts, which secure over 1.7 million BTC. The total amount of dormant quantum vulnerable bitcoin may reach 2.3 million BTC when all script types are considered,” explained the recent paper on quantum risk.

The quantum risk cut-off date, envisioned 15 years into the future, may arrive sooner. Some suggest Google may be capable of hacking a BTC key already, but has decided to give crypto a leeway to adapt to quantum computing.

Google also discovered that quantum cracking of a BTC code may actually take around 20 times fewer resources than previously suggested. 

BTC remains unevenly distributed

Besides direct quantum attacks, which are still hypothetical, BTC as a long-term reserve faces another vulnerability. 

As a high-priced asset, around 44% of all available BTC is held in the top 100 wallets. Those entities are closely watched for any coin movements as a signal for BTC price action and sentiment. 

As a result, exposed public keys may increase quantum risk, unless the holders move or disguise their BTC. However, large-scale owners will not likely use mixers or other tools. Some large-scale holders resort to Coinbase Custody, which does not expose their cold wallets. 

Are BTC treasuries exposed to quantum risk? 

Currently, only Strategy’s treasury is closely watched. On-chain research has exposed at least 13,000 BTC from Strategy’s reserves with exposed public keys. 

In the past year, some of the biggest whales have started moving their coins. Some of the old wallets have sold, while others seem to have split the assets. 

In the past year, shark wallets with 100 to 1,000 BTC increased by 11.82%, while the biggest wallets remained unchanged. Retail wallets with 1-100 BTC have declined the most, while retail speculation is happening in wallets with under 1 BTC. 

For short-term traders, quantum risk is negligible compared to the exposure of large-scale reserves, hot wallets, and treasuries, which have not moved in months or years.

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The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in the UAE has introduced a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto or virtual assets exchange-traded derivatives. The new Rulebook Version 2.1 is effective immediately for all the VASPs registered and licensed in Dubai, UAE.

First globally, VARA has developed a VA derivatives under a purpose-built, enforceable rulebook. The framework allows Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to offer derivatives products within a clearly defined regulatory perimeter subject to explicit authorization and compliance with strict operational and conduct requirements.

According to the VARA press release, this comes as demand for derivatives exposure in virtual asset markets grows. VARA’s framework has established binging requirements across five areas, that include client suitability and classification requirements, particularly for higher-risk products, margin leverage, and liquidation controls to manage market exposure, segregation of client assets and accounts to mitigate systemic and counterparty risks, enhanced disclosure and communication obligations, aligned with VARA’s Marketing Regulations and regulatory intervention powers, enabling VARA to act decisively in response to market stress or misconduct.

Ruben Bombardi, General Counsel at VARA, said, “Derivatives are a natural next step in the evolution of virtual asset markets, but they demand a higher standard of governance. VARA’s framework gives licensed providers a clear path to offering these products responsibly, while giving market participants confidence that Dubai’s virtual asset ecosystem operates under rules that are rigorous, enforceable, and designed to protect them. This is the best way to build a market that will stand the test of time.”

There are already crypto exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, OKX, Deribit, and BitMEX that offer crypto derivative products such as futures, options, and perpetual swaps. They allow trading BTC, ETH, and other assets.

OKX, Bybit, Deribit, and Binance are already regulated crypto exchanges in the UAE and in the Dubai VARA regime.

According to Amina Bank, the cryptocurrency derivatives market reached a total trading volume of approximately $85.70 trillion in 2025. The daily average turnover was around $264.5 billion. Derivatives account for over 75% of total crypto trading volume, dominated by perpetual swaps and futures.

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.

Axios, one of the most popular JavaScript libraries, may be compromised and involved in a crypto wallet attack. The npm package attack is becoming more common, directly attacking projects, developers, and end users. 

An Axios npm package was published to the official JavaScript library, and unpublished just hours later. On-chain security experts intercepted the attack, which was active for around three hours. 

@npmjs @GHSecurityLab there is an active supply chain attack on axios@1.14.1 which pulls in a malicious package published today – plain-crypto-js@4.2.1 – someone took over a maintainer account for Axios

— Maxwell (@mvxvvll) March 31, 2026

The npm packages were compromised through the credentials of @jasonsaayman, as researchers still looked for signs that the account was compromised. The affected packages were identified as axios@1.14.1 and axios@0.30.4.

As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, npm attacks often target crypto wallets and are especially risky for decentralized projects with large team holdings. 

What happened in the Axios npm attack? 

StepSecurity was among the first to identify the issue. Two malicious versions of the Axios HTTP client library were published through the compromised credentials of a lead Axios maintainer, bypassing the normal publishing pipeline on GitHub. 

According to StepSecurity, this was the most sophisticated attack against a widely used top-10 npm package. The malicious package version injects a new dependency, plain-crypto-js@4.2.1, which is not imported in the axios source code. The dependency runs a post-install script, active on all operating systems. 

After using the npm, the client is infected with a remote access trojan dropper, which has a live server and delivers the payloads. The malware also deletes itself and replaces the suspect .json with a clean version to evade detection. 

Which types of projects were affected?

The npm packages were among the most popular, with up to 100M weekly downloads. However, at this point, there are no reports of unauthorized crypto movement. Previously, an npm attack led to only $1,000 of crypto losses from obscure tokens. 

The only way to limit malicious npm is to track versions and not allow automated upgrades, or check new versions for potential malicious uploads. 

New supply chain attack this time for npm axios, the most popular HTTP client library with 300M weekly downloads.

Scanning my system I found a use imported from googleworkspace/cli from a few days ago when I was experimenting with gmail/gcal cli. The installed version (luckily)… https://t.co/9DOVWH5KK1

— Andrej Karpathy (@karpathy) March 31, 2026

Researchers also discovered two additional malicious packages delivering payloads the same way – @shadanai/openclaw and @qqbrowser/openclaw-qbot. The attack follows the LiteLLM malicious code injection by just a week. 

There is no report of Web3 or OpenClaw projects being affected or any crypto stolen, for the duration of the attack. However, warnings were issued that npm attacks may now become the norm, either through stolen credentials or unauthorized publishers. The threat follows previous warnings on malicious code using the OpenClaw skill platform. 

The packages are not limited to Web3 or bot projects, and may affect any payloads linked to crypto wallets. The loss of trust in npm and pip installs for Python may also erode the general trust in the library ecosystem, with calls for a more secure upload path. 

The usage of AI agents may also lead to indiscriminate package downloading, spreading the threat. The actual effects on crypto wallets may not be immediate, but they still potentially expose wallet data. 

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Investoren neigen zu XRP-Investitionsvehikeln. Laut CoinShares haben XRP-Fonds letzte Woche solide 15,8 Millionen Dollar an Zuflüssen verzeichnet. Dies geschieht zu einem Zeitpunkt, an dem die US-Regierung Schritte unternimmt, um 401(k)-Pläne zu ermöglichen, in digitale Vermögenswerte und Private Equity zu expandieren.

Das US-Arbeitsministerium hat gerade eine neue Regel vorgeschlagen, die es 401(k)-Plänen ermöglichen würde, in „alternative“ Investitionen zu diversifizieren, wie z.B. Krypto, Private Equity und Immobilien. Der neue Vorschlag folgt einem Mandat aus dem Executive Order von Präsident Trump im August 2025, das die Aufsichtsbehörden damit beauftragte, Vermögenswerte wie Krypto und Private Equity für 401(k)-Sparer zugänglicher zu machen.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell told Harvard students on Monday that he is completely fine holding interest rates where they are, even with oil rallying so unexpectedly throughout market sessions, thanks to the war America and Israel started with Iran.

Chair Powell said the plan right now is to wait and see how things play out, but as expected, the man also made it clear the Fed will not sit back if inflation starts sticking in people’s heads.

He said the real issue is what people start to believe about prices tomorrow. If businesses and households begin to expect things to keep getting more expensive, that is when the Fed has a problem.

“You can have a series of these supply shocks and that can lead the public generally to start expecting higher inflation over time. Why wouldn’t they?” said Powell.

Powell keeps rates steady while watching inflation expectations rise

Powell then explained that energy shocks usually pass and do not last forever, so central banks often wait instead of reacting fast.

He said officials are watching closely for any sign that people expect prices to keep rising. That includes companies setting prices and families planning their spending. If those expectations change, the Fed may have to step in, even if growth is weak.

The Fed then has to choose between fighting inflation or supporting growth, and the ever-so-vague-and-tactful Chair Powell did not give a clear answer on what the Fed will do if that moment comes.

He said, “We will eventually maybe face the question of what to do here. We’re not really facing it yet because we don’t know what the economic effects will be.” He said this while speaking to students at Harvard during a basic economics class.

Trump’s war in Iran has disrupted shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz route, which is key for global oil flows. Inflation was already moving higher earlier this year before this shock hit, which makes things harder for the Fed.

At the March 18 meeting, the Fed voted 11 to 1 to keep rates between 3.5% and 3.75%. Stephen Miran was the only one who wanted a cut. After that meeting, Powell pushed back on forecasts from other officials that showed possible rate cuts later this year. He said those outlooks depend on inflation slowing again, which has not really happened since last summer.

As you likely know, Powell’s term ends May 15, and Kevin Warsh has been picked to replace him, but the Senate has not set a hearing date. Thom Tillis said he will block that process until a Justice Department probe into Powell is finished.

Powell said earlier this month he will stay on as chair pro tempore if no one is confirmed by then. He also said he will remain on the board until that investigation is done.

Oil prices fall as Trump signals possible end to Iran conflict

Meanwhile, Donald Trump said he is open to ending U.S. action tied to the conflict even if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed. He told aides that pushing Iran to reopen the route could drag the conflict out longer.

Markets reacted fast. West Texas Intermediate for May dropped 0.72% to $102.14 a barrel. Brent for May fell 1% to $111.55. Traders pulled back as they tried to figure out what would happen next.

Trump has been caught lying so many times its impossible to keep count. He has said talks are going well, to which Iranian officials have been mocking him on social media, saying they have not and will not respond to any of his calls as they don’t want to talk to the “Epstein class.”

Trump insists that he is telling the truth and even claimed again that they sent him ten boats of oil as a gift/show of good faith.

Shortly after, he was seen telling reporters Iran agreed to “most of” a 15-point ceasefire plan. Tehran pushed back and set its own conditions, including keeping control of the Strait of Hormuz.

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.

Aluminum hit its highest price in nearly three years Monday after Iranian missiles damaged major Gulf production facilities over the weekend. The strikes came on top of existing problems from Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz with sea mines.

London Metal Exchange futures jumped 5.5 percent Monday morning, briefly touching $3,492 per tonne before pulling back to $3,381 per tonne by afternoon, still up 3.5 percent for the day. The metal hasn’t traded at these levels since April 2022. Aluminum has climbed about 10 percent since the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran started on Feb. 28.

Iranian drones and missiles hit Emirates Global Aluminium and Aluminium Bahrain on Saturday. EGA said its Al Taweelah smelter took major damage in the strikes. Several workers were injured.

The damaged plant produced 1.6 million tons of cast metal in 2025. The Gulf makes about 9 percent of the world’s aluminum. The region imports raw aluminum, refines it, then ships the finished product worldwide, but companies there haven’t been able to export beyond their area since the waterway shut down. Some suppliers have announced shortages. Others have closed refineries completely.

Analysts warn of supply crisis reshaping global market

“The attacks have sent shockwaves through the global aluminum market, raising the risk of a supply crisis that could reshape the industry,” said April Kaye Soriano, an aluminum research analyst at S&P Global Energy. If the damage lasts, the market could move past any temporary softness and start reflecting tighter supply and higher prices, she said.

The problems extend across multiple industries. Aluminum goes into electronics, transportation, construction, solar panels, and packaging. Copper shipments have also been disrupted by the Strait closure, and because Iran was a big producer. That adds to shortages already driven by data center construction.

China is the world’s biggest aluminum producer. The country usually keeps production capped at 45.5 million tons per year to cut emissions and prevent overcapacity.

“If the Chinese government decides that the prices are too high, they can restart a number of idle smelters in the country, and the world will be full of aluminum,” Artem Volynets, chief executive of miner ACG Metals, said on March 18.

But Soriano from S&P Global thinks China’s ability to ramp up output is limited. “While there is some capacity to increase output, the global market remains exposed to further shocks, especially if the conflict spreads to other metal supply chains,” she said.

LNG disruption threatens semiconductor production

The strait carries 11 percent of global seaborne trade by volume each year, according to Tom’s Hardware analysis. It handles 20 percent of worldwide liquefied natural gas commerce.

Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, which supplies about one-fifth of global LNG, stopped production on March 2 after military attacks and then declared force majeure. About 90 percent of LNG from Qatar and the UAE goes east to Asian markets. European natural gas prices have jumped over 60 percent.

The same facility makes roughly 30 percent of the world’s helium as a byproduct of LNG operations. Helium works as an inert blanket and purge gas when making silicon wafers. It also works as a coolant when liquified. Samsung and SK hynix are watching this closely. Some Taiwanese firms reportedly have multi-year helium reserves stored up.

Asian tech stocks plunge on energy concerns

Over half of DRAM and NAND memory chips come from South Korea. Taiwan makes around 70 percent of the advanced processing chips used in smartphones, computers, and data centers. Both countries are among the biggest importers of liquefied natural gas from Qatar.

Asian equity markets tied to energy dropped fast on March 4. South Korea’s KOSPI stock index fell 12 percent, its biggest daily drop. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix make up around 40 percent of that index. Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped 4.4 percent, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. alone representing about 45 percent of the benchmark.

One-third of China’s total LNG use comes through the Strait. There’s also a container shortage building. Ships waiting at the strait can’t reach their destinations to unload, so containers aren’t available for return trips.

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.

Bitcoin is sitting around $67,000 while markets keep swinging hard on every Iran headline.

Iran’s parliament speaker called pre-market news a “reverse indicator,” and price action has literally flipped direction multiple times since.

S&P 500 futures dropped nearly 1%, then fully reversed, then jumped on Trump’s peace talk post, then dumped again within hours.

U.S. securities regulators have been under more strain than ever from critics this time around on rollbacks of cryptocurrency regulation, and a key senator asks whether they have internal information on any new stock trading or SEC policy decisions.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate investigations subcommittee, has written to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to share records and exchanges related to the government’s high-profile digital asset cases, including the dismissal of its claims against Tron founder Justin Sun. 

Blumenthal’s request comes weeks after the SEC’s interim head of enforcement, Judge Margaret Ryan, departed. Ryan commenced the job near the end of 2025 and left in March of this year.

According to reports, Ryan was seeking to delve more deeply into pursuing fraud charges involving those in President Donald Trump’s inner circle. However, people familiar with the matter say he faced a setback because Atkins and other top Republicans on the commission opposed it.

“Ms. Ryan’s abrupt departure from the agency raises questions in light of her short tenure and reports that senior leadership intervened to prohibit the Division of Enforcement from pursuing cases against certain cryptocurrency companies,” Blumenthal said in the letter.

SEC drops high-profile crypto cases amid allegations of political influence

According to reports, tensions have risen over Sun’s case. During the Biden administration, the SEC charged Sun and his three affiliated companies with conducting unregistered sales of TRX and BTT tokens. Charges that stood against him also included manipulating TRX prices through wash trading and paying celebrities, including actress Lindsay Lohan and influencer Jake Paul, to promote the tokens without proper disclosure.

Under the Trump administration, the SEC dropped several high-profile cases against major crypto firms, including Coinbase and Kraken, which had been accused of failing to register correctly. In May, the agency also dismissed charges against Binance after alleging the platform had misrepresented its trading controls.

Just this month, the watchdog has thrown out charges against Sun, the Tron Foundation, and BitTorrent (now Rainberry) and ordered the latter to pay a $10 million civil penalty to the agency. Sun has been a vocal supporter of Trump and has made huge investments in Trump-family-backed crypto ventures, including World Liberty Financial and Trump’s memecoin $TRUMP. 

“This is a clear example of how President Trump’s blatant crypto corruption creates back doors for his family’s business partners, creating a pay-to-play enforcement regime that turns a blind eye to grave threats to national security and consumer protection,” Blumenthal said in the letter.

Moreover, according to Blumenthal’s letter, Ryan’s short tenure raises concerns that political actors (in particular, the White House) influenced the decision not to approve or decline certain cryptocurrency cases. 

The senator is also looking for communications between senior SEC officials and industry leadership partners, including the developers who run World Liberty Financial, now a cryptocurrency company supported in part by President Trump supporters, said Blumenthal.

Critics say the SEC’s recent enforcement approach, which was so aggressive earlier, has brought dozens of crypto‑related enforcement decisions in a single year and has since transitioned to a more lenient or selective approach. Under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, there were 46 crypto‑related enforcement efforts in 2023 alone, the best year on record for the agency.

Legal experts note the pivot has been noticeable: after a series of disputes with the biggest platforms, the SEC in 2025 dismissed or paused litigation against several crypto firms, particularly exchanges and trading platforms, amid a major regulatory focus.

Blumenthal probes SEC shift as lawmakers scrutinize crypto oversight

The tone has shifted sharply throughout Washington. Supporters of the newly adopted SEC structure say that explaining the rules could bring innovation and clarity, and that enforcement will be lower at firms that comply with disclosure and registration requirements. Opponents argue that weakening enforcement could put investors’ interests at risk and grant bad actors impunity.

Blumenthal’s inquiry probes into the reasons behind this shift. In his letter, he specifically asked for SEC communications regarding potential enforcement against crypto companies, including interactions with political appointees or outside actors. 

He expressed deep concern and discomfort with the abrupt leadership change and enforcement decisions that impose strict limits on the agency’s ability to prosecute corporate crimes in the fast‑paced digital asset space.

Industry reactions are mixed. Crypto advocates are betting that we are taking a step forward rather than moving from legal war to a firm rule-making scheme, and that, through various initiatives, they will see how different tokens and business models apply to rules in U.S. securities law. 

For now, Blumenthal asked Atkins to provide records and communications between the SEC’s enforcement division and its leadership by April 13th. He has also requested records between his office and any member of the Trump family. 

And so lawmakers and regulators alike will be closely watching as this record request goes out, to see how the SEC will balance innovation with its basic function of protecting customers.

Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.

Das US-Roboter-Startup Icarus Robotics hat mit den Vorbereitungen begonnen, Roboter zur Internationalen Raumstation zu senden. Die Nachricht kommt, nachdem das Unternehmen vor ein paar Monaten 6,1 Millionen Dollar in einer überzeichneten Seed-Runde gesichert hat.

Icarus kündigte am Montag an, dass es Voyager Technologies für einen neuen Vertrags zur Missionsverwaltung beauftragt hat, um ihre frei fliegende Roboterplattform, Joyride, an der Raumstation zu demonstrieren.

Das Startup zielt auf 2027 als das Jahr ab, in dem es seine Roboter zur Raumstation fliegen wird. „Die Roboter, die wir in diesem Jahr herstellen, werden nächstes Jahr auf der ISS fliegen und neben Astronauten arbeiten, um die Dinge zu erledigen, die all ihre Zeit in Anspruch nehmen“, bemerkte Icarus-Mitbegründer Jamie Palmer präzise.

Eine britische Finanzaufsichtsbehörde hat eine Apple-Tochtergesellschaft mit 390.000 £ bestraft, nachdem das Unternehmen Zahlungen an einen russischen Streaming-Dienst geleistet hatte, der mit einer sanktionierten Bank verbunden war.

Apple Distribution International, eine in Irland ansässige Tochtergesellschaft des amerikanischen Technologieriesen, wies eine britische Bank an, zwei Zahlungen in Höhe von über 635.000 £ an Okko, eine russische Video-Streaming-Plattform, zu senden.

Die Zahlungen wurden im Juni und Juli 2022 über ein britisches Bankkonto der Tochtergesellschaft vorgenommen.

Es wird angenommen, dass die Zahlungen an Okko von Kunden stammen, die die Dienste der App gekauft hatten.

Die G7-Führer hielten an diesem Montag ein Notfalltreffen ab, um die globalen wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Krieges im Iran zu erörtern. An diesem Treffen nahmen Vertreter der IEA, des IWF, der Zentralbank sowie G7-Energie- und Finanzminister teil. Dies ist das erste Treffen dieses Formats seit der Gründung der G7 im Jahr 1975, was die Schwere der aktuellen Situation unterstreicht.

Der Krieg im Iran tritt in seine fünfte Woche ein, und die Folgen des laufenden Konflikts haben verheerende Konsequenzen für die globale Wirtschaft. Da keine klare Lösung in Sicht ist, kämpfen die Weltführer darum, Antworten zu finden, um die sich vor ihnen entfaltende Energiekrise zu bewältigen. Die G7 hielten an diesem Montag ein Notfalltreffen ab, um sofortige Lösungen zu brainstormen, um die laufende Wirtschaftskrise zu mildern. Der französische Finanzminister Roland Lescure erklärte, das übergeordnete Ziel dieses Treffens sei es, "Entwicklungen zu überwachen" und "Diagnosen über potenzielle Störungen auszutauschen", so Barrons.

SpaceX drängt auf das, was das größte Aktienangebot aller Zeiten sein könnte. Aber es gibt ein Problem mit dem Timing.

Berichte von letzter Woche besagten, dass das Unternehmen plant, noch in dieser Woche die IPO-Unterlagen einzureichen. Sie möchten 70-75 Milliarden Dollar sammeln, wobei das Unternehmen mit 1,75 Billionen Dollar bewertet wird. Das sind massive Zahlen, die Rekorde brechen würden.

Die Wettmärkte sind sich nicht sicher, ob das IPO so schnell stattfinden wird, wie berichtet. Auf Kalshi geben die Leute nur eine 6%ige Chance auf eine offizielle Ankündigung vor dem 1. Mai. Das steigt auf 25 Prozent für den 1. Juni. Bis zum 1. Juli liegt es bei 66 Prozent. Polymarket-Nutzer glauben, dass es eine 59%ige Chance gibt, dass der gesamte Prozess bis Ende Juni abgeschlossen ist.

Circle’s USDC had its second most successful year in 2025, comparable only to the expansion during the 2021 bull market. This time, the stablecoin grew into a more mature environment, with more established liquidity hubs. 

Circle’s USDC stablecoin posted robust growth in 2025, comparable only to the 2021 bull market. This time, USDC started from a higher supply baseline, reaching a record of over 76B tokens in circulation on all networks. 

USDC on Ethereum was the growth leader, with smaller gains on other chains and stablecoins pegged to other currencies. Circle’s stablecoin also benefits from its partnership with Coinbase, as more users are being onboarded to stablecoins as a payment tool.

In 2025, the USDC supply on Ethereum increased by 6.73%, or around $20B, from $30.9B up to $51.7B. In 2021, the supply expanded by over 819%, but only after starting from a low baseline of $4.1B. 

USDC also saw peak fees in 2025, after becoming one of the main liquidity tokens. In the summer of 2025, USDC generated over $49M in weekly fees, according to TokenMarket data, bringing the total to $5.1B over the past three years. 

USDC expands activity and user base on Ethereum

The extra supply of USDC was not just a tool for whales or professional traders. USDC holders on Ethereum became more active in 2025, doubling their activity in the course of a year. 

At the beginning of 2025, just 22% of USDC holders on Ethereum were active on a monthly basis. Activity rose to 44% by the end of the year, while asset senders expanded from 2.1M at the start of 2025 to around 4M by the end of the year.

The shift in USDC usage was caused by multiple factors, including the record-low fees on Ethereum. USDC became more widely adopted as more apps and platforms preferred the regulated token over USDT. 

A total of 43.1M users hold USDC, an all-time record on all networks based on active wallets. This has led to robust growth for transfers in 2025, extending the trend into Q1 2026. Individual identified holders are around 6.28M, keeping the growth trend into the new year. In March, the USDC transaction volume expanded by another 160%, based on Artemis data, surpassing the USDT growth of 140%. 

Why does USDC defy the market gravity? 

The growth of USDC does not follow the overall contraction of the crypto market. Currently, around $16B in USDC are held in contracts, bringing liquidity to trading pairs and lending. 

USDC has also become the key asset on Hyperliquid and Polymarket, offsetting the lower use for trading on centralized and decentralized exchanges.

Circle’s growth in 2025 also relied on hopes of the Clarity Act boosting the position of stablecoins. Despite this, Circle’s CRCL shares took a hit, sinking to $91.20, after the Clarity Act excluded the usage of stablecoins as an alternative to a savings account with yield.

Still letting the bank keep the best part? Watch our free video on being your own bank.

März 2026 wird in die Geschichtsbücher eingehen als der Monat, in dem die Preise für Brent die +50%-Marke überschritten, den Monat bei 81 $ eröffnend und einen Höchststand von fast 120 $ pro Barrel erreichend. Dies geschieht zu einem Zeitpunkt, an dem sich der Konflikt im Nahen Osten über die Straße von Hormus hinaus und ins Rote Meer ausgeweitet hat, nachdem Houthi-Truppen ballistische Raketen auf Israel abgefeuert haben, und die fünfte Woche des Krieges an seiner breitesten Front eröffnet wurde. Der Energieschock hat in die makroökonomische Perspektive eingedrungen.

Bis Freitag, gemäß dem CME Group FedWatch-Tool, haben Händler die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Zinserhöhung bis Ende des Jahres auf 52% erhöht. Hinzu kommt, dass das Risiko einer Rezession in den USA gegen einen historischen Auslöser drängt. Wie von Fortune berichtet, liegt das Rezessionsmodell von Moody’s Analytics jetzt bei 49%, einen einzigen Prozentpunkt von der Schwelle entfernt, die jeder US-Rezession seit 1945 vorausgegangen ist. Was wir vor uns haben, sind vier Datenpunkte innerhalb einer Woche, die auf dasselbe Ergebnis hinweisen: Stagflation.

A Russian tanker carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil sailed toward Cuba this week after President Donald Trump reversed course on blocking oil supplies to the island, saying he sees no reason to stop other countries from sending fuel there.

Trump made the remarks as a sanctioned Russian vessel made its way across the Atlantic toward Cuban shores.

“If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it’s Russia or not,” Trump said.

He added that he believed Cuba’s government was already falling apart on its own.

“Cuba is finished. They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership, and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter. I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need.”

The tanker in question belongs to what is known as a shadow fleet, vessels that continue operating despite being under international sanctions placed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. The ship is reported to be carrying around 730,000 barrels of crude oil.

Three months without fuel

The fuel crisis in Cuba has been developing over a period, but it intensified significantly after the U.S. aimed to halt Venezuelan oil deliveries to the island in the wake of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s removal on January 3.

It became even more difficult when Trump cautioned other nations that supplying oil to Cuba would result in heavy tariffs. The threat was enough to persuade Mexico, an important oil provider for Cuba, to halt its shipments entirely.

According to a report by The New York Times, the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the sanctioned ship to keep moving toward Cuba, though officials did not say publicly why that call was made.

Analysts said that trying to physically stop a Russian vessel could have led to a dangerous face-off between the U.S. and Russia, particularly at such a delicate moment in international affairs.

The decision came after the U.S. gave a 30-day sanctions waiver earlier in March. This waiver allowed buyers around the world to purchase 19 to 100 million barrels of stranded Russian oil.

The goal was to stabilize the oil supply and prevent prices from rising. Cuba was banned from receiving oil at first, but recent developments suggest a change in approach.

Some analysts warn that such actions could weaken the long-term effectiveness and credibility of the sanctions. This may create uncertainty about energy security and raise concerns about how fairly allied countries share the responsibility of limiting Russian oil profits.

Washington and Moscow are warming up

The tanker, named the Anatoly Kolodkin, was expected to arrive at the port of Matanzas on Monday. The ship’s arrival was described by Cuba’s state media outlet Cubadebate as a direct challenge to what it called a U.S. oil blockade.

The tanker was escorted through the English Channel by the Russian navy, as noted by the outlet.

By allowing Anatoly Kolodkin to dock, Washington is performing a delicate balancing act: maintaining the optics of the 2022 sanctions while ensuring that a sudden supply shock doesn’t send global oil benchmarks climbing.

This is occurring during a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are getting better.

Since Trump returned to the White House, officials from both parties have participated in multiple discussions to mend relations.

A delegation of Russian lawmakers from the State Duma journeyed to Washington last Thursday for discussions with Congress members.

The discussions centered on humanitarian collaboration and the restoration of cultural connections.

According to Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who welcomed the Russian delegation, it is vital for the two greatest nuclear superpowers in the world to maintain open lines of communication.

Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.

A Russian tanker carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil sailed toward Cuba this week after President Donald Trump reversed course on blocking oil supplies to the island, saying he sees no reason to stop other countries from sending fuel there.

Trump made the remarks as a sanctioned Russian vessel made its way across the Atlantic toward Cuban shores.

“If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it’s Russia or not,” Trump said.

He added that he believed Cuba’s government was already falling apart on its own.

“Cuba is finished. They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership, and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter. I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need.”

The tanker in question belongs to what is known as a shadow fleet, vessels that continue operating despite being under international sanctions placed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. The ship is reported to be carrying around 730,000 barrels of crude oil.

Three months without fuel

The fuel crisis in Cuba has been developing over a period, but it intensified significantly after the U.S. aimed to halt Venezuelan oil deliveries to the island in the wake of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s removal on January 3.

It became even more difficult when Trump cautioned other nations that supplying oil to Cuba would result in heavy tariffs. The threat was enough to persuade Mexico, an important oil provider for Cuba, to halt its shipments entirely.

According to a report by The New York Times, the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the sanctioned ship to keep moving toward Cuba, though officials did not say publicly why that call was made.

Analysts said that trying to physically stop a Russian vessel could have led to a dangerous face-off between the U.S. and Russia, particularly at such a delicate moment in international affairs.

The decision came after the U.S. gave a 30-day sanctions waiver earlier in March. This waiver allowed buyers around the world to purchase 19 to 100 million barrels of stranded Russian oil.

The goal was to stabilize the oil supply and prevent prices from rising. Cuba was banned from receiving oil at first, but recent developments suggest a change in approach.

Some analysts warn that such actions could weaken the long-term effectiveness and credibility of the sanctions. This may create uncertainty about energy security and raise concerns about how fairly allied countries share the responsibility of limiting Russian oil profits.

Washington and Moscow are warming up

The tanker, named the Anatoly Kolodkin, was expected to arrive at the port of Matanzas on Monday. The ship’s arrival was described by Cuba’s state media outlet Cubadebate as a direct challenge to what it called a U.S. oil blockade.

The tanker was escorted through the English Channel by the Russian navy, as noted by the outlet.

By allowing Anatoly Kolodkin to dock, Washington is performing a delicate balancing act: maintaining the optics of the 2022 sanctions while ensuring that a sudden supply shock doesn’t send global oil benchmarks climbing.

This is occurring during a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are getting better.

Since Trump returned to the White House, officials from both parties have participated in multiple discussions to mend relations.

A delegation of Russian lawmakers from the State Duma journeyed to Washington last Thursday for discussions with Congress members.

The discussions centered on humanitarian collaboration and the restoration of cultural connections.

According to Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who welcomed the Russian delegation, it is vital for the two greatest nuclear superpowers in the world to maintain open lines of communication.

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Jeder Krypto-Inhaber ist frustriert, dass er, um Krypto in der realen Welt auszugeben, zuerst die Verwahrung aufgeben, auf einer Börse verkaufen, auf die Abrechnung warten oder eine Karte aufladen muss.

Verwahrungsrisiken entstehen, wenn Nutzer die Kontrolle über ihre Gelder an Drittanbieter-Plattformen abgeben, wodurch sie anfällig für Missmanagement, Hacks oder Insolvenz werden. Wenn die Verwahrung scheitert, verlieren die Nutzer die Kontrolle über ihre Gelder.

Oobit ist eine globale Zahlungslösung, die es Nutzern ermöglicht, ihre nicht verwahrten Kryptowährungen an Millionen von Visa-Standorten weltweit auszugeben. In diesem Artikel überprüfen wir Oobit-Produkte und vergleichen, wie es im Vergleich zu herkömmlichen Systemen und anderen Krypto-Zahlungslösungen auf dem Markt abschneidet.