Cryptopolitan

Matterhorn will introduce a new vibecoding tool for Web3, in partnership with the AI infrastructure project ASI Alliance. Matterhorn also aims to increase security and avoid smart contract mistakes. 

Matterhorn, the producer of an integrated development environment (IDE) for vibecoding, will partner with ASI Alliance, a group of top AI infrastructure projects like SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and CUDOS. The announcement arrived just as Fetch.ai prepares to join the SoCal Startup Week, a hub of AI development ideas. 

Coming up: @Fetch_ai Innovation Lab x SoCal Startup Week 🚀

Join our https://t.co/qzg3riI6Y0 Innovation Lab team, @AnthropicAI and thousands of builders during SoCal Startup Week for the @claudeai Hackathon + @nexussocal Horizons Conference 🔥

All powered by the futuristic… pic.twitter.com/rLTNLXL7rh

— Fetch.ai Innovation Lab (@fetch_ai_IL) April 9, 2026

The main goal of Matterhorn is to bring safe vibecoding with additional safety for on-chain environments. As vibecoding spread, the software built through natural language prompts became mainstream. 

In the Web3 space, however, AI-generated smart contract code carries real financial risk, with few viable protection tools. 

Matterhorn and the ASI Alliance are building infrastructure to allow vibecoding while bridging the security gap. Developers can build and ship dApps, with built-in audits, using a fully decentralized stack. 

Web3 already hosts vibecoded projects

Generating dApps with prompts is widespread, with Matterhorn estimating that dozens of tools are available. The downside is the need for protection and audits that come after the app is produced. 

Additionally, there aren’t many AI platforms that specialize in generating viable smart contract code. This is where Matterhorn comes with specialization, DePIN infrastructure, and launching apps in the environment of ASI Alliance. 

Matterhorn will enable Vibe-Audit, its proprietary system with custom-trained AI models and a human-in-the-loop review. The project will offer pre-vetted app templates and additional specialized guardrails. The Web3 vibecoding possibilities will use the MeTTa native programming language of the ASI chain. 

“We’re at the beginning of a world where dApps become ‘just Apps’, commonplace like the websites and apps we use today,” said Abhinav, Founder of Matterhorn. 

“Every other tool in this space is racing to ship code faster. We think that’s the wrong race. The builders who build dApps that handle real money and real users need a platform they can trust, and this partnership is how we build it.”

Khellar Crawford of SingularityNET added that Web3 would always be open to AI in the end as the ultimate power user. He believes in the AGI-era software stack, integrating the security, ownership and transparency of on-chain activity, with the added convenience of consumer-grade functions. 

“In this world, payment APIs like Stripe sit next to smart contracts, explicit reasoning systems, decentralized compute, and agentic workflows. On ASI:Chain via Matterhorn, with AGI inference as a first-class citizen, we’re opening the floodgates to building applications that are fundamentally more intelligent, more composable, and more sovereign,” said Crawford.

Matterhorn targets 20,000 builders by year’s end

Matterhorn has set the goal of 20,000 builders onboarded by the end of 2026. The project’s roadmap includes a fine-tuning pipeline based on real developer usage data, built into the models of the ASI Alliance. This will allow for more specialized blockchain development over time. 

The end goal is to build a unified environment to build and audit apps using the existing DePIN infrastructure. 

The integration is already live on ASI Chain devnet for testing. Matterhorn expects 1 million model calls and 500 active compute instances in the first quarter.

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Investigative journalists, investors, historians, crypto supporters, and critics have not rested the issue of who Satoshi Nakamoto truly is. Currently, many scholars have taken on the task of discrediting the notion that longtime cypherpunk Adam Back is the anonymous creator of Bitcoin following an eye-opening New York Times report.

While they are at that, Ripple Chief Technology Officer David “JoelKatz” Schwartz is focused on Satoshi’s private keys. JoelKatz believes that the keys to Satoshi Nakamoto’s $70 billion Bitcoin fortune are lost forever.

Are Satoshi Nakamoto’s private keys lost?

According to Ripple CTO Emeritus, accessing those early holdings may no longer be possible. To this date, crypto’s greatest mystery remains unsolved.

The latest conversation began after a recent article written by the well-known investigative journalist John Carreyrou. After an 18-month investigation, Carreyrou pointed to a 55-year-old computer scientist as Satoshi Nakamoto.

As of now, Satoshi’s Genesis wallets are estimated to hold around 1.1 million Bitcoins. This is over over 5% of the total 21 million supply. Bitcoin fanatics argue that Adam Back’s current financial status does not match that of a crypto billionaire.

Political commentator Josh Barro argues his financial status is probably due to lost private keys. “What if he is Satoshi Nakamoto but also lost the keys?”

This argument caught the interest of David Schwartz. He says, “It does seem likely that whoever Satoshi Nakamoto is or was, nobody alive today has access to the keys.”

David Schwartz was once thought to be Nakamoto. However, although the claim could very well be true owing to Schwartz’s expertise in the field, it is ultimately false. Speaking to an X user, Schwartz revealed that he only came across Bitcoin in 2011. JoelKatz argues that almost all that Satoshi did is within his capabilities.

As reported by Cryptopolitan, Adam Back has since refuted those claims. In an X reply, Adam states, “I’m not Satoshi, but I was early in laser focus on the positive societal implications of cryptography, online privacy and electronic cash.”

Adam Back believes that Satoshi Nakamoto’s anonymity is of great benefit to Bitcoin.” According to him, Bitcoin should continue to be viewed as an asset class.

Mt. Gox’s ex-CEO calls on the crypto community to protect Satoshi

Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, has expressed that there is a responsibility on the part of the community to safeguard the anonymity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Mt. Gox ex-CEO asks crypto community to defend Satoshi. Source: @magicaltux via X/Twitter

One user challenges this responsibility. “‘Satoshi chose to stay hidden’ assumes that Satoshi is one person who made one choice. What if the reality is messier than that? You call it ‘duty.’ You might as well call it: narrative management in service of a trillion-dollar ecosystem.” 

Karpelès asserts that Bitcoin’s worth depends on Satoshi Nakamoto remaining a secret. “A mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto is the perfect entity,” he explained.

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.

Japan’s cabinet has approved a bill to amend the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act to classify crypto as “financial products” to protect investors. The country has also introduced new tax rules for crypto to replace the previous progressive system, under which taxes reached 55%, and set a flat 20% rate on profits.

According to the new amendments, the recognition of crypto as a financial asset at a cabinet meeting on April 10 is only the tip of the iceberg. The new act also applies insider trading controls that already apply to stocks to crypto transactions.

Japan is looking to regulate crypto assets as financial instruments to prohibit insider trading based on non-public information.

The Japanese government will require crypto issuers to disclose information at least once a year to create a healthy market environment. The bill is expected to be implemented in fiscal year 2027 if it is passed during the current Diet session. 

Finance minister says bill will ensure fairness and protect investors

Satsuki Katayama, Japan’s Finance Minister, emphasized that the country will boost the supply of growth capital to counter the effects of ever-evolving financial and capital markets. The bill, which reclassifies nearly 105 crypto assets, is also set to ensure markets remain fair and transparent, protecting investors.

Meanwhile, investor protection will include increasing the prison sentence from 3 years to up to 10 years to strengthen penalties. More stringent penalties, such as raising fines from the current 3 million yen to up to 10 million yen, further demonstrate Japan’s strong commitment to protecting investors.

“We will expand the supply of growth capital in response to changes in financial and capital markets, and ensure fairness and transparency in the market and investor protection.”

–Satsuki Katayama, Finance Minister of Japan

To achieve these objectives, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), which previously regulated crypto under the Payment Services Act, will shift regulation to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Registered businesses will also be collectively renamed from the previous “crypto asset exchange businesses” to “crypto asset trading businesses.”

FSA shifts crypto policy to allow banks to hold digital assets

The FSA is shifting its crypto policy by submitting an amendment to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, allowing local banks and other institutions to hold crypto for investment purposes. The move will effectively integrate crypto into the country’s financial system.

Japan was already the first major economy to regulate crypto post-Mt. Gox, and this move takes it a step further. The bill will shift the legal framing of crypto assets from digital payment tools to investible financial instruments. 

Meanwhile, the use of crypto assets for investment purposes has increased in Japan, representing a significant strengthening of regulations. The country’s over 12 million verified crypto users and $34 billion in assets under local custody now have a real runway to grow with these institutional-grade rules in place.

On the other hand, Japan signaled in January that it was bringing crypto under the same umbrella as traditional finance, when Katayama said that the role of exchanges and market infrastructure will be essential to ensure that citizens benefit from crypto assets. The country also plans to legalize crypto ETFs by 2028, marking a significant shift toward mainstream crypto adoption.

Local media reported that major financial groups in Japan, including SBI Holdings and Nomura Holdings, are among the first companies to develop crypto-linked exchange-traded products (ETPs).

The country is moving crypto out of the experimental payments category and into the same league as its stock market by reclassifying crypto assets, marking a major step toward domestic mainstream institutional adoption. 

Additionally, Katayama highlights 2026 as a pivotal year for bringing crypto under traditional financial regulation. She adds that the framework under the proposed bill prioritizes the use of Japan’s established digital asset infrastructure. The bill fits into a wider overhaul, according to the Japanese finance minister.

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The March CPI report drops today at 8:30 AM Eastern Time (ET) and the number markets are bracing for is 3.7% year-over-year, up from 2.4% in February. A 130 basis-point jump would mean that this would mark the biggest monthly rise in years caused almost entirely by the conflict in Iran and the resultant oil shock filtering into gas prices, transportation and food costs. The February print was already a relic of the pre-war economy by the time it was published. This one won’t be. The oil shock is about to be printed in the data. The Fed already saw it coming. As reported by Yahoo Finance, it raised its inflation forecast from 2.4% to 2.7% at the March meeting and seven of 19 FOMC participants are pencilling in zero rate cuts this year. 

Despite the macro narrative highlighting one of the most hostile inflation backdrops since the pandemic, institutional behaviour is telling a completely different story. Morgan Stanley has rolled out the first bank issued Bitcoin Spot ETF with the lowest fee in the market and drew in $34 million on day one while the broader BTC spot ETF market has seen total net inflows this week of over $545 million. At the same time, Strategy continues to accumulate Bitcoin at a relentless pace, adding another 4,871 BTC to its balance sheet.  

What the March CPI Shows: the Iran War’s Inflation Tax Arrives

Economists have been bracing for this print for weeks. FactSet’s median estimate for March CPI sits at 3.4% YoY, while the broader FactSet consensus puts the number at 3.7% on an annual basis, with headline inflation rising 0.93% month-over-month, the biggest single month jump in years. Meanwhile the Cleveland Fed’s Inflation Nowcasting model is in the lower bound of the range and has it at 3.16%. As Morningstar reported, this CPI report is going to be the first real data set to reflect the surge in energy prices from the Iran war. Oil has shot up from around $70 before the war began to over $110. An over 70% rise that wasn’t limited to the pump. It moved into jet fuel, shipping costs, food transportation and eventually, the price of almost everything that gets trucked, railed or shipped across the country.  

The Fed saw this coming and still could not get ahead of it. At the March 18 meeting, policymakers raised their 2026 inflation projections from 2.4% to 2.7%, a 30 basis point jump making the steepest single year upward revision in recent cycles, with core inflation revised up to the same level. The dot plot still shows one cut later this year, but seven of 19 FOMC participants now see zero cuts this year, and the longer-run neutral rate estimate edged higher. 

If March CPI lands at or above 3.7%, the Fed’s forecast will already be obsolete on the day it prints. That’s before tariff passthrough, the San Francisco Fed has flagged that tariff-driven price pressures are expected to peak in Q2 2026, meaning the energy inflation from the war is now stacking directly on top of an already building cost base. 

Morgan Stanley Just Bet on Bitcoin With a Bank-Issued ETF and It’s Not Alone

Just as the worst inflation print since the pandemic is expected to drop, Morgan Stanley, one of the largest banks in the world managing roughly $8 trillion in assets, launched the first bank-issued spot Bitcoin ETF. MSBT drew in $34 million in day one with over 1.6 million shares traded, and Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas placed the debut in the top 1% of all ETF launches as reported by Fortune.  At the same, the largest corporate bitcoin treasury company, Strategy, added another $330 million on BTC. The reason we are seeing this divergence isn’t actually a contradiction but more to do with timeframe. CPI is a backward-looking, monthly data point. Institutional moves like ETF launches and platform integrations are multi-year capital allocation decisions that are designed to outlive any single inflation cycle.

Trading day is half over and $MSBT is at $27m in volume so it's def going to clear my $30m estimate. Prob end up around $50m, which is huge, Top 1% of ETF launches, only two I can recall that were in this range in past year are $BSOL, $XRPC and $DRAM (all around $60m) pic.twitter.com/RylAwtAVz9

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 8, 2026

The Divergence: Why Institutions Don’t Flinch at 3.7% CPI

There’s precedent for this exact setup. In June 2022, when inflation peaked at 9.1% and macro conditions looked outright hostile, BlackRock moved forward with its initial Bitcoin ETF push, an infrastructure bet that has since scaled into one of the largest funds in the market. Today’s environment rhymes. 

For traders, the March CPI matters immediately: a hotter-than-expected print reinforces rate hike risk and short-term pressure on BTC, while a softer number opens the door for relief rallies. But for institutions, the calculus is different. The regulatory backdrop is structurally improving, access points are expanding, and capital rails are being built out regardless of monthly volatility. Both views are rational, they’re just operating on entirely different clocks. 

What to Watch: CPI Market Reaction, Islamabad Talks, and the ETF Race

The first number to watch today is the CPI print at 8:30 AM ET. BTC’s reaction in the two hours that follow will set the short-term tone. A reading above 3.7% likely pushes bitcoin toward the $69K support level as rate hike odds spike and any ceasefire-driven oil relief gets treated as temporary. A reading below 3.4% and this opens up the door to a retest of $72K and potentially the $73 to 75K range. 

The second number to watch is oil, and that one hinges on Islamabad. VP Vance leads the US delegation into talks today alongside Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leading the Iranian side, the highest-level meeting between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

Markets have already shown how delicate the setup is and how the price of oil has been reacting to every piece of news filtering in. If talks produce a credible framework, easing supply constraints, inflation expectations could cool and risk assets benefit. If they stall, oil likely rebounds and reinforces the inflation spike narrative. At the same time, watch the Strait of Hormuz, still operating far below normal capacity after one of the largest supply disruptions in history, as any increase in vessel traffic would signal de-escalation. Layered on top is the ETF race: early MSBT inflows will indicate whether Morgan Stanley’s distribution engine is activating, especially given its fee advantage. Finally, all roads lead to the April 28–29 FOMC meeting, where this CPI print will shape the tone. If inflation confirms the spike, expect the Fed’s posture to harden further, potentially shifting the conversation from “higher for longer” to simply “higher.”

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Cryptocurrency exchange in Russia will be carried out only through non-cash transactions, according to a high-ranking executive of its monetary authority.

This will strengthen controls over financial flows involving digital assets, the official emphasized while clarifying various aspects of the upcoming regulations.

Russians will not be allowed to sell crypto for paper rubles

Cashing out Bitcoin for banknotes won’t be an option for Russian citizens under their country’s new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

This was made clear by Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), who answered questions about the legislation set to be adopted this spring.

In a broad interview for RBC Radio, the banker said the ban on trading coins for cash is needed to strengthen control over financial flows involving decentralized digital money.

The measure will prevent dubious transactions, Chistyukhin further insisted, also quoted by the leading Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media.

Converting crypto into cash “won’t work in Russia,” he emphasized, noting that all fiat payments will be cashless, just like with securities trading.

The restriction will be introduced as part of a package of draft laws recently submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament.

The legislative set includes the bill on “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” which is designed to comprehensively regulate crypto-related activities.

The legal document was developed jointly by the CBR and the Ministry of Finance. It aims to build the domestic Russian crypto infrastructure, including exchanges and depositories.

This and the other laws must be passed and enforced by July 1, 2026, as part of a broader effort to bring more of Russia’s economy out of the shadows.

According to official estimates, the daily crypto transactions of Russian residents reach 50 billion rubles (over $600 million), and Moscow wants to make them legal and visible.

Illegal crypto exchange services will be ‘severely punished’

The upcoming rules will introduce a licensing regime for participants in Russia’s regulated crypto market. Chistyukhin promised the requirements will not be difficult to meet.

“In my opinion, this is a very simple license, and I think all participants who want to obtain it will receive it,” he noted, while acknowledging the process will entail additional costs.

A transitional period will give existing crypto platforms time to legalize their activities, and those who fail to do so will be forced out of business.

“All companies that conduct transactions in violation of or without a license will be severely punished.”

These platforms will initially work with the most liquid currencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT), but the central bank will be able to expand the list of approved assets.

Digital depositories, exclusively Russian entities registered with the central bank, will maintain records of clients’ rights to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Cryptocurrency payments to remain prohibited in Russia

Financial authorities intend to permit most cryptocurrency transactions, except payments, Vladimir Chistyukhin also indicated, stating:

“It’s obvious that cryptocurrencies cannot be used as a means of payment.”

Despite restrictions causing criticism that Moscow is dropping an iron curtain on the crypto market, it will still be possible to send coins abroad or repatriate them.

The key condition is to make the transfer between custodial wallets on both ends, the CBR official explained. Depositing from a custodial to a non-custodial wallet will not be permitted.

Russian citizens will be able to legally keep all cryptocurrency they currently hold, regardless of the type of wallet, Chistyukhin assured. The only requirement is to notify the Federal Tax Service, he noted.

Asked whether the Bank of Russia intends to add digital assets to its reserves, the deputy governor said the authority is not currently considering this option.

“But the world is changing so rapidly that perhaps in the future, cryptocurrencies will become such a highly liquid instrument, low in volatility … that this issue will also be on the agenda,” he commented.

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Bittensor’s TAO token crashed by over 20% as the project lost one of its busiest subnets. The Templar subnet team has announced it will abandon its position with Bittensor. 

Bittensor lost Templar, its busiest subnet, losing a substantial part of its liquidity. Following the news, the TAO native token lost over 20% to $264.05, down from recent local highs above $340. At the peak, the loss extended to 27%, a significant crash for one of the few remaining tokenized projects in the green.

Bittensor’s TAO crashed after the Covenant AI founder sold 37,000 tokens, leading to an additional $9M in long liquidations. | Source: CoinGecko.

TAO was one of the surviving narrative tokens, still preserving some of its gains from the 2024-2025 bull market. The project was also supported by investor interest, and TAO still has a relatively high mindshare of 0.8% on social media.

Will Bittensor survive the loss of a major subnet?

The TAO crash arrived after the Covenant AI project announced it would leave Bittensor, and several of Covenant’s subnets stopped receiving reward emissions. 

The Templar subnet also sold 37,000 TAO, enough to affect the market. The sale also translated into losses for anyone who invested and locked TAO into the Grail, Basilica, and Templar subnets. The 37,000 TAO tokens originated from the wallet of Sam Dare, Covenant’s co-founder.

Covenant AI came up with a statement explaining its position and claimed Bittensor was not truly decentralized. 

“When a single actor can suspend a subnet’s emissions, override an owner’s authority over their own community spaces, publicly deprecate projects without process, and use token sales as a coercive mechanism to compel compliance, that is not decentralization. It is centralized control with decentralized branding,” stated Covenant AI on X.

Covenant claimed the Bittensor team suspended emissions on its subnets, froze its community channels, and destroyed its subnet infrastructure. 

According to Covenant AI, Bittensor was also not decentralized, and the co-founder had full control of the multisig wallet controlling the project.

Bittensor stated it would survive and expand with other subnets not headed by a specific project. According to Steeves, the event will lead to subnets running as true commodities. 

This will prove to birth the first subnets on Bittensor that run headless and as true commodities.

— const (@const_reborn) April 10, 2026

The Covenant AI project was significant, but according to Bittensor, it was running subnets mostly for emission rewards. The rift between Bittensor and Covenant AI may have lasting implications and split the community. For some, Bittensor will survive without Covenant, while others still seek true decentralization. 

TAO crash leads to liquidations

In the short term, the TAO price swing caused additional liquidations in the past 24 hours. Over $9.44M in long positions were liquidated, with a total of $11.36M in liquidations for the past 24 hours. 

TAO is 53.13% unlocked and will continue with new emissions over the next few years. This is the main reason investors are staking and flocking to subnets for extra rewards. TAO is also a highly liquid token with a Binance listing, allowing for the sale of some of the rewards. 

The coming days will reveal whether TAO will keep crashing or it will be seen as a buying opportunity. As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, TAO is one of the tokens included in a Grayscele ETP, exposing the asset to external investors. 

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) announced that it is working on a new strategy to protect the digital asset ecosystem. 

Its program aims to provide eligible U.S. crypto companies and organizations with real-time security data to stop hacker attacks and protect user accounts. The announcement, however, doesn’t fully explain what makes a company “eligible,” but those that fit the bill can tap into the same security resources that traditional banks use. Companies interested in the service were asked to contact the office directly.

Under the initiative, crypto firms will gain access to government-led threat intelligence-sharing programs. The move aims to help digital asset platforms better defend against a growing wave of cyberattacks while also strengthening the broader financial system’s resilience.

The policy change comes amid a sharp rise in crypto-related hacks and fraud. In 2025 alone, illicit actors stole nearly $2.9 billion across roughly 150 incidents, with attackers increasingly targeting wallets, private keys, and operational infrastructure rather than just smart contracts. Recent events underscore the urgency. A major exploit in 2026 involved the Drift protocol, highlighting the scale and sophistication of modern attacks. Meanwhile, global cybercrime losses hit $17.6 billion last year, with crypto-related investment scams accounting for a significant share.

Treasury officials expect the initiative to boost cybersecurity significantly

Treasury officials increasingly view the crypto sector as a critical component of the financial system. The inclusion of digital asset firms in intelligence-sharing networks reflects concerns that vulnerabilities in crypto infrastructure could spill over into traditional markets.

In the OCCIP press release, Cory Wilson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, noted that attacks on digital asset platforms have become more common and more sophisticated. That said, even in its earliest stages, the digital asset industry has struggled with frequent security breaches. Major cyberattacks occur almost monthly, resulting in heavy losses of capital and sensitive data.

Just last week, cybercriminals tied to North Korea drained more than $280 million from the decentralized exchange Drift. Moreover, in late March, over $3.6 million was taken from the crypto ATM firm Bitcoin Depot in a cyberattack. Chainalysis’s annual report also showed that crypto platforms lost more than $3.4 billion to theft in the past year.

Nonetheless, Wilson anticipates that the new program will reduce cybersecurity threats, opening a stream of useful cyber intelligence that will help digital asset businesses lock down their systems and respond more quickly to attacks.

Tyler Williams, Counselor to the Secretary for Digital Assets, also commented, “As digital assets become more integrated into the financial system, access to timely and actionable cyber threat information is essential to protecting consumers and safeguarding the stability of U.S. financial markets.”

He added that the new initiative aligns with the GENIUS Act by encouraging safe innovation that prioritizes strong digital defenses and business continuity. Ideally, the initiative fulfills a recommendation from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report published last year to support the responsible growth and use of digital assets.

Luke Pettit, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, also shared: “Digital asset firms are an increasingly important part of the U.S. financial sector, and their resilience is critical to the health of the broader system. By extending access to the same high-quality cybersecurity information used by traditional financial institutions, Treasury is helping promote a more secure and responsible digital asset ecosystem.”

The U.S. Treasury agreed to partner with the UAE on cybersecurity

This is not the first time the U.S. Department of the Treasury has tried to curb cyber attacks. Back in 2023, under the Biden administration, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Cyber Security Council of the United Arab Emirates on Cybersecurity Cooperation.

At the time, U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo noted that joint action is critical to protecting the global economy from cyber threats, adding that he looks forward to building a broader alliance with the UAE. The bilateral partnership guaranteed data sharing on active threats, joint staff training programs, and collaborative cross-border cyber exercises.

Prior to this, the two nations established a partnership in 2021 to protect critical financial infrastructure and agreed that closer cyber cooperation was vital to securing global markets.

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Securitize appointed former SEC Trading and Markets Director Brett Redfearn as its new President and Board member at a time when real-world asset tokenization and institutional demand for blockchain-based financial infrastructure are expanding.

Previously, Redfear led the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets. He will now oversee strategy, regulatory engagement, and market structure development at the digital asset firm.

His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the tokenization sector, which has crossed the $3 billion mark in on-chain assets, driven by growing institutional participation and regulatory clarity.

Former SEC market chief joins Securitize to help grow safe and regulated token systems

Securitize wants Redfearn’s regulatory experience to shape both short-term action and future planning, so the company named him to both an executive and a board role. Redfearn will help the team expand its platform for digital securities that follow financial laws.

Redfearn’s past experience made him a better fit for the role, as he helped guide the laws and systems that keep financial markets stable while serving as the Director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. SEC from 2017 to 2020.

He also worked on modernizing the National Market System and on reforms that improved transparency and enabled markets to respond more effectively during periods of high volatility.

Additionally, Redfearn spent 14 years at JPMorgan, achieving the role of Global Head of Market Structure, and focused on how trading systems connect with exchanges and how large financial institutions move money and assets through global markets.

He later joined Coinbase as Head of Capital Markets, connecting traditional financial ideas with blockchain-based systems and expanding access for large institutions seeking to enter crypto markets safely.

Redfearn also founded Panorama Financial Markets Advisory and served on the boards of several major brands, including BATS Global Markets, BATS Exchange, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and BIDS Trading.

His appointment shows just how much Securitize wants to be seen as a regulated infrastructure provider linked to traditional finance systems.

CEO Carlos Domingo even said Redfearn had already built a close working relationship with Securitize while serving on his advisory board for several years.

RWA tokenization grows past $3B as Securitize builds global systems

The real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market is now worth over $3B in value recorded on blockchain systems, and reports suggest the real scale is much larger than the onchain figure. 

Asset managers like BlackRock, KKR, Apollo, VanEck, and Hamilton Lane have also adopted tokenization, proving it is no longer limited to crypto-native firms. 

These institutions will use tokenization to accelerate trade settlement, reduce operational costs, improve transparency in ownership and transactions, and enable 24-hour market access without waiting for traditional market opening hours.

When it comes to infrastructure, Securitize now manages more than $4B in tokenized assets and supports issuance, trading, and administration of digital securities across different regions with its regulated systems.

However, the company still operates through SEC-registered entities in the United States, including a broker-dealer, transfer agent, and alternative trading system operator. Additionally, Securitize operates in Europe under the EU DLT Pilot Regime, which governs licensed investment firms.

The company’s structure has made it one of the few firms that can operate regulated digital currencies across both the U.S. and Europe simultaneously, with a fully compliant tokenized stock trading platform

The financial technology company also wants to venture into tokenized equities and a fully compliant tokenized stock trading platform that uses digital tokens to represent real company shares with real rights, such as dividends and voting rights. 

Similarly, Securitize aims to make financial processes faster and more efficient by using blockchain as the official record of ownership, reducing the need for traditional middlemen during trading and settlement.

Since institutional investors and regulators often require clear laws before trusting or adopting new financial systems at scale, Securitize’s compliance-first strategy gives it an edge over many offshore or less-regulated tokenized platforms.

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Supposed rivals Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pulled the heads of the biggest U.S. banks into an urgent meeting in Washington over concerns inside government circles over what Anthropic’s newest AI system could mean for cyber risk.

According to claims from Bloomberg, the meeting allegedly happened on Tuesday at Treasury headquarters and discussed locking things down before tools like Anthropic’s Mythos get used against critical financial systems.

The executives called in were running banks that regulators treat as essential to the financial system. Those invited included Jane Fraser of Citigroup, Ted Pick of Morgan Stanley, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Charlie Scharf of Wells Fargo, and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan was unable to attend.

Crypto community’s Arthur Hayes reacted on X with a jab at the moment, writing, “Powell and Bessent provided the cancerous soft drink to go with the Trump taco.” He added a screenshot of the USD liquidity index covering a one-year period.

Source: Arthur Hayes/X

Moving on, Scott and Powell reportedly wanted the banks to understand the possible danger tied to Anthropic’s Mythos and to similar models that may come after it. They also wanted the companies to take steps now to protect their systems, because it seems that’s what matters most, and not the general public.

Earlier, Cryptopolitan reported that Anthropic has said Mythos can find weak points in every major operating system and web browser and then use those weak points when a user tells it to do so.

Anthropic chases more chips while OpenAI readies a cyber product for select partners

Meanwhile, Reuters reported earlier that Anthropic is looking at whether it should design its own chips. Three sources said the company is exploring that option as AI companies deal with a shortage of the chips needed to train and run more advanced models.

Those plans are still early. Two people with knowledge of the matter and one person briefed on Anthropic’s plans said the company could still decide not to build its own chips at all and just keep buying them.

The backdrop is a surge in demand for Claude. Anthropic said earlier this week that its run-rate revenue is now above $30 billion in 2026, up from about $9 billion at the end of 2025.

To build and run Claude, Anthropic uses several kinds of chips, including TPUs made by Google and chips from Amazon.

Earlier this week, Anthropic also signed a long-term deal with Google and Broadcom, which helps design those TPUs. That deal adds to the company’s commitment to spend $50 billion on stronger U.S. computing infrastructure.

Anthropic’s rivals, Meta and OpenAI, are both pursuing their own chip efforts as well. Industry sources said building an advanced AI chip can cost around $500 million because companies need top engineers and heavy spending to reduce manufacturing defects.

At the same time, OpenAI is working on its own cyber product. A source familiar told Axios that OpenAI is finishing a product with advanced cybersecurity features and plans to release it to a small group of partners. Back in February, after launching GPT-5.3-Codex, OpenAI introduced its Trusted Access for Cyber pilot. The company said in a blog post that groups in the invite-only program would get access to “even more cyber capable or permissive models to accelerate legitimate defensive work.” At that time, OpenAI also set aside $10 million in API credits for participants.

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For years, stablecoins were seen as the backbone for traders, useful but pretty much largely invisible. A way to move in and out of volatile assets without touching fiat. A liquidity bridge, not a destination.

That perception is now, well, outdated. 

Stablecoins are slowly becoming one of crypto’s most practical and scalable contributions to modern finance. The numbers are telling. Average stablecoin market capitalization jumped from just over $150 billion in 2024 to around $220 billion in 2025, according to TRM Labs.

They accounted for 30% of crypto transaction volume between January and July 2025. Stablecoins are moving away from trading pairs and toward real-world payments, settlement, and corporate treasury operations, areas where traditional financial rails are seen as slow, fragmented, and very expensive.

This isn’t speculative adoption. It’s operational adoption.

What’s driving the move is utility. Stablecoins solve real problems, and institutions are using them because they work better, not because they’re new.

In payments, the appeal is straightforward. Stablecoins settle near-instantly, operate 24/7, and move across borders without the friction of correspondent banking networks. 

In reality, it’s the other benefits that make stablecoins more than just a cheaper option. A recent Fireblocks survey found faster settlement topped the list at 48%, followed by improved liquidity and integrated flows at 33% each, with cost savings trailing at 30%.

For businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions, that alone is a game-changer. Payment finality doesn’t need to wait for business hours, intermediaries, or time-zone alignment.

As a result, stablecoins are being pulled into real commerce. From B2B payments to payroll, remittances, and merchant settlement, they’re functioning less like crypto assets and more like digital cash with global reach.

The impact is even clearer in treasury operations.

Corporates and fintechs are increasingly using stablecoins to manage cross-border liquidity, internal funding, and settlement between subsidiaries. Traditional treasury rails, such as SWIFT transfers, nostro accounts, and delayed reconciliation, were never designed for a global, always-on digital economy. 

Stablecoins bypass much of that friction. Funds move faster. Costs are lower. Transparency improves.

Instead of waiting days for cross-border transfers to clear, treasury teams can move value in a matter of minutes. Instead of pre-funding accounts in multiple jurisdictions, liquidity can be held centrally and deployed on demand. For businesses managing cash across regions, that efficiency compounds quickly.

Stablecoins also offer something legacy systems struggle to match: on-demand digital liquidity.

Because stablecoins live on programmable networks, access to capital isn’t constrained by banking cut-off times or settlement windows. Intercompany transfers, margin top-ups, or working capital movements can happen in real time. That reduces idle balances and improves capital efficiency, two things treasury teams care deeply about.

This is where programmable money moves from theory to practice.

Smart contracts allow stablecoins to be embedded directly into treasury workflows. Payments can be triggered automatically when conditions are met. 

Reconciliation can happen in real time. Reporting becomes cleaner because transaction data is native, structured, and auditable.

Legacy systems attempt to approximate this with layers of middleware, batch processing, and reconciliation processes bolted on after the fact. Stablecoins do it at the base layer.

That doesn’t mean the transition is frictionless. Regulatory scrutiny is increasing, and rightly so. Governments and central banks are paying close attention as stablecoins move closer to the core of financial infrastructure.

But importantly, regulation isn’t slowing adoption. It’s shaping it.

Compliant, well-structured stablecoins, backed transparently, governed properly, and issued within clear legal frameworks, are gaining credibility as legitimate payment and treasury instruments. Rather than being sidelined, they’re being evaluated alongside existing financial tools, especially in jurisdictions that recognise their efficiency gains.

This is less about replacing banks and more about upgrading the rails they run on.

The real innovation in stablecoins isn’t speculative yield, trading volume, or market cycles. It’s their ability to function as a neutral, programmable layer for moving value across the internet, reliably, cheaply, and instantly.

As adoption deepens, stablecoins are likely to fade into the background. 

They won’t need hype because they’ll be embedded into workflows, APIs, and balance sheets. That’s how real financial infrastructure behaves.

What began as a tool for traders is evolving into a backbone for digital commerce and enterprise finance. And that may end up being crypto’s most lasting contribution of all.

Star Xu, the founder of OKCoin and the current CEO of its successor platform, OKX, publicly expressed his doubts over the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao’s claim that he decided to sell his apartment worth $900,000 to make a $400 investment in Bitcoin, igniting debates about both ownership and finances.

Interestingly, OKX’s CEO made these remarks shortly after reports revealed the launch of CZ’s book, highlighting the story’s lack of key information and reviving previous arguments linked to OKCoin. 

Xu and Zhao’s conflict ignites tension among cryptocurrency investors 

Regarding Xu’s doubts about CZ’s earlier statement, the Chinese entrepreneur questioned the source of the initial down payment and the apartment’s true ownership. Based on his argument, there is a high likelihood that Zhao’s in-laws own the apartment in question rather than the industry leader himself. Xu also raised concerns about the persistent framing of this story to the public.

Afterward, the CEO of OKX shared a post on the social media platform X, noting that the narrative failed to acknowledge the support CZ’s family provided during that period, and added that this portrayal could be hurtful to his elderly in-laws.

When reporters asked Xu why he decided to challenge Zhao’s statement publicly, he had previously avoided discussing such issues, but the current situation forced him to break his silence to address inaccuracies about Binance founder of Binance’s past published in the new book. Hence, prompting him to disclose previously omitted details.

In his efforts to address the spread of false information, OKX’s CEO revisited a 2015 contract dispute involving prominent Bitcoin figure Roger Ver. At this particular moment, CZ faced allegations of contract forgery during his time at OKCoin.

In response to this accusation, Zhao dismissed all the allegations as false in his new book. According to him, this situation demonstrated a difference in leadership vision, not a behavioral violation. Nonetheless, even with this assertion in place, Xu still maintained that the previous evidence remains valid, citing old materials and a notarized video shared online years ago. He also recalled CZ’s prior assertion regarding potential unauthorized access to his QQ account by another employee.

As the ongoing conflict intensified, Zhao called Xu a liar and alleged that Xu had reported Huobi’s founder, Leon Li, to Chinese officials. In response to these assertions, the OKX founder publicly stated that the claims were untrue. 

Regarding the accusation that Li was detained by Chinese police in November 2020, Xu detailed Asian crypto platform operations, noting that major Asian crypto platforms are overwhelmed by the volume of annual reports retrieved from various sources. According to him, relying solely on those reports would threaten the industry’s survival, highlighting intense regulatory and competitive pressures.

Several analysts weighed in on the situation. They contended that the recent confrontation on X underscores the complex web of personal and professional rivalries shaping top Asian crypto exchanges. In the meantime, it is worth noting that the conflict stems from allegations in CZ’s autobiography, indicating a major falling-out between two people once seen as allies in the early crypto industry.

Analysts outline challenges encountered in the crypto industry 

Regarding the present dispute, analysts argued that the conflict stems from the long-standing professional histories of Xu, Zhao, and Li. To break this argument down, they noted that CZ was a former employee of OKCoin, which OKX directly succeeded. Zhao publicly cited disagreements over company operations as the reason for his departure.

Shortly after leaving, he founded Binance, which quickly became the leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, sparking a rivalry between the two. 

At this point, sources explained that the persistent accusations between the prominent figures in the crypto industry outline how personal rivalries among Chinese crypto pioneers continue to shape public opinion.

CZ, Xu, Li Lin, the founder of Huobi Group, and Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain,  were responsible for creating four of the most powerful platforms in crypto. They faced intense pressure from Beijing, leading to the arrests of founders and the forced relocation of operations abroad between 2017 and 2022. 

Meanwhile, none of the main claims in this dispute is independently verified. The alleged screenshot implicating Li Lin, cited by CZ, remains unpublished. Reports highlighted that the evidentiary basis for a 2014 contract remains the subject of debate after more than 10 years. 

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Concerns about risk, regulation, and trust have significantly affected market sentiment, prompting investors to react to negative signals from Wall Street and causing Circle’s share price to drop nearly 10% on Thursday.

The sell-off came after poor analyst ratings and new concerns linked to the Drift Protocol hack pushed the stock to its lowest point of the day.

Wall Street analysts downgrade Circle stock and raise concerns about new regulations

Wall Street analysts lost confidence in Circle after the research firm Compass Point lowered its rating on the company’s stock from “neutral” to “sell,” and set a lower price target, indicating that the stock would drop even more instead of being stable. 

The low ratings prompted large investors who closely monitor Wall Street analysts to start selling their shares out of fear, adding more pressure on the stock and causing the price to drop faster.

Regulations around stablecoins in the U.S. are also responsible for the crash, as an earlier draft of the Clarity ACT proposed halting rewards on stablecoin balances. As a result, Circle’s stock fell about 20% in March, so investors have now developed a “sell” reflex to any policy changes or market concerns.

Similarly, lawmakers have delayed stablecoin regulations for quite some time, and without clear rules, some investors may become paranoid about their positions and step back, as uncertainty breeds fear.

However, some analysts say Circle’s core business remains strong as more people continue to use USDC for payments and trading. Furthermore, Circle earns yields on its reserves, providing a stable source of revenue when markets become uncertain.

The market seems to be adjusting its valuation of these companies, placing greater weight on uncertainty, so Circle’s stock may continue to face pressure, especially when new risks emerge or old concerns return.

The Drift Protocol fallout spreads fear about risk and makes investors less confident

The Drift Protocol exploit led to a loss of around $280 million in a short time, prompting investors and users across the crypto industry to question the security measures in place and wonder whether similar events are in the making.

A law firm has even begun investigations into the incident and encourages affected investors to come forward and file claims to recover their losses. 

Circle was not directly involved in the Drift Protocol exploit because it neither created the problem nor was it responsible for the attack. However, according to reports, the hackers used Circle’s cross-chain transfer system to move the stolen funds into USDC, linking the company to the incident.

After the funds moved through USDC, investors began questioning Circle’s ability and willingness to stop or freeze the assets. This is because reports suggest that Circle has frozen wallets involved in suspicious activity in the past, so concerns about biased actions in this recent event were not few.

Legal experts jumped on the trend and began investigating what Circle could or should have done based on its role in the system; however, this is not an accusation of any offense. 

But even though no fault is proven, such investigations attract legal scrutiny and public discussion that raise doubts about control, safety, or response. And since stablecoins like USDC rely heavily on public trust, doubt can erode investor confidence, which often reacts quickly and fearfully.

At the same time, the effects of the Drift exploit spread across the wider decentralized finance space as other protocols also reported indirect losses. When a large exploit occurs, it reminds the entire market that similar risks may exist elsewhere, and people become wary of their positions out of fear.

Circle was not directly involved in the exploit, but since investors often respond to risk, the fact that the company is connected through its infrastructure and the broader market is enough to spark caution.

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ClearBank has secured MiCAR approval to start offering USDC and EURC services across Europe, opening a new line of business in regulated digital assets.

ClearBank Europe said it is now the first Dutch credit institution to complete a notification under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and get confirmation from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets, or AFM, to operate as a Crypto Asset Service Provider, referred to as a CASP.

Under its new CASP status, the bank said it will launch Circle’s Mint platform and offer clients access to Euro Coin (EURC) and USD Coin (USDC), two stablecoins tied to the euro and the U.S. dollar.

On one side, ClearBank is bringing digital asset activity into regulated banking channels. On the other hand, it is trying to make traditional financial services available to digital asset firms that want banking access without falling outside the rulebook.

ClearBank said different markets are moving at different speeds depending on local regulation. In the UK, for instance, ClearBank had already announced a partnership with Coinbase through what it calls the “launch of savings accounts with crypto-native exchange, Coinbase, through its Embedded Banking solution.”

European regulators are tightening MiCA standards as crypto continues getting popular

MiCA entered into force in June 2023, and the EU said:

“The regulation includes a huge number of Level 2 and Level 3 measures that must be developed before the entry into application of the new regime (within a 12-to-18-month deadline depending on the mandate).”

During that implementation phase, ESMA worked with the EBA, EIOPA, and the ECB and consulted the public on technical standards that were set to come out in three packages. The goal was to draft those Level 2 and Level 3 measures using feedback from that consultation process. Most of those measures have since entered into application after adoption by the European Commission and approval by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

In November 2025, ESMA issued a public statement on technical specifications, saying:

“The format of order book records for CASPs operating a trading platform for crypto-assets as defined by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/416, supplementing regulation (EU) 2023/ 1114 on MiCA, hereafter referred to as “the order-book RTS.”

That measure is referred to as the order-book RTS. ESMA also addressed data standards for all CASPs under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1140, known as the record-keeping RTS, covering records for crypto-asset services, activities, orders, and transactions.

The statement also covered how CASPs operating trading platforms must present transparency data under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/417 of 28 November 2024, called the transparency RTS. It included the format and data standards for MiCA white papers under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2984 of 29 November 2024, called the white papers ITS. It also covered the data needed to classify crypto-asset white papers under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/421 of 16 December 2024, called the white papers classification RTS, including machine-readable requirements for that data.

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), one of the consolidated plaintiffs, has moved to defend Kalshi (plaintiff) amid threats by the state of Arizona (consolidated defendant) to shut down prediction market operations. Likely, Arizona’s alleged unlawful attempt to apply state gambling laws to CFTC-regulated derivatives markets will fail, just like in New Jersey.

The CFTC is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction from a U.S. District Court in Arizona to stop the state’s regulators’ ongoing attempt to assert jurisdiction over federally regulated interstate commodity derivative markets, such as Kalshi. According to the regulatory body, the state is unconstitutionally intruding on its exclusive regulatory jurisdiction. 

Meanwhile, an arraignment in the criminal case against Kalshi is currently scheduled for April 13, 2026. However, the CFTC emphasizes that Arizona’s use of ever-escalating action against CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) that engage in federally regulated activities violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). 

CFTC argues that Kalshi’s event contracts are swaps

According to the CFTC, event contracts offered by Kalshi and other CFTC-regulated DCMs, such as Polymarket, are swaps under the plain meaning of the CEA. The CEA designates the CFTC as the federal agency with exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of commodity futures, options, and swaps traded on federally regulated exchanges.

Meanwhile, a court document filed on April 8 further highlights that because Kalshi’s sports-related event contracts are traded on a CFTC-licensed DCM and depend on event outcomes associated with economic consequences, they fit within the CEA’s definition of swaps subject to the agency’s jurisdiction. The New Jersey case on April 6 also reached the same conclusion, with a three-judge panel ruling 2-1 in favor of Kalshi.

“Kalshi’s sports-related event contracts are swaps traded on a CFTC-licensed DCM, so the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction.” 

–Judge David Porter, Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

The ruling marked the first time a federal appeals court has weighed in on the escalating battle over state regulators’ ability to oversee prediction market operations. Tarek Mansour, CEO of Kalshi, called it a big win for the industry and for millions of users. The move highlights the high‑stakes battle over the future of prediction market platforms.

CEA and CFTC establish protections for prediction markets

The Congress-enacted CEA grants the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets and establishes a federal regulatory framework that expressly preempts state laws that attempt to regulate CFTC-regulated exchanges. In the Arizona case, the CFTC asserts that the state’s description of event contracts as wagers or bets explains much of the confusion and limited review of fundamentally different products.

Meanwhile, event contracts often also qualify as binary options under the CEA, which are options whose payoff is either a fixed amount or zero. Binary options are swaps under 7 U.S.C. § 1a(47)(A)(i), which defines swaps as any agreement that is an option for the sale or purchase based on pre-defined values. 

On the other hand, CFTC Rule 40.11 prohibits the listing of contracts that involve, relate to, or reference terrorism, assassination, war, gaming, or any activity unlawful under any state or federal law. Lawmakers recently pressed the CFTC to crack down on prediction markets amid incidents of people using the platforms to bet on events tied to the Iran war and other government actions.

Specifically, seven House Democrats demanded in a letter dated April 6 to CFTC chair Michael Selig that the agency tighten its oversight of prediction markets after Polymarket offered a wager on the fate of two U.S. airmen shot down over Iran last week. Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts believes that it is morally corrupt and completely unacceptable for these platforms to offer bets on the lives or deaths of American service members. The House group expects a response from the CFTC about its oversight of prediction markets by April 15. 

However, Polymarket took down the contract almost immediately after the issue was raised, acknowledging that that “unfortunate” wager had slipped through its internal safeguards. The company also said that it is strengthening its controls to prevent such unprecedented events, including insider trading. 

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The Operation Atlantic joint law enforcement effort involving authorities from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada has frozen $12 million and identified over 20,000 victims of approval phishing scams, according to coordinated press releases today. 

Binance also reported that it provided on-the-ground support for this phase of Operation Atlantic, helping to identify scam accounts in real time. However, it did not freeze any accounts on its platform. 

Binance joins Operation Atlantic 

Binance joined forces with law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada to target cryptocurrency fraud in an operation named “Operation Atlantic.” The multinational, interagency group focused on disrupting a specific type of scam known as “approval phishing,” which has led to hundreds of millions in stolen digital assets.

The operation was led by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and ran for one week in March 2026. Today, the NCA confirmed that law enforcement has frozen more than $12 million in suspected criminal proceeds across various platforms and protocols. 

Furthermore, authorities have identified more than $45 million stolen in cryptocurrency fraud schemes globally. The operation also successfully identified over 20,000 victims located across the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

Approval phishing is a scam technique where victims unknowingly hand over control of their crypto wallets. Scammers trick users into signing a malicious blockchain transaction that gives the scammer permission, or “approval,” to move tokens out of the victim’s wallet whenever they want. 

During Operation Atlantic, investigators discovered that scammers often sent fake pop-ups or alerts. These messages appeared to come from legitimate apps or popular investment services. Victims were asked to approve access to their wallets to solve a fake problem or secure an investment. 

Once the victim clicked approve, the criminal gained full control of the wallet.

The operation identified and disrupted over 120 web domains that scammers were actively using to run these fraudulent schemes. One victim in the UK alone lost more than £52,000 (approximately $66,000) to this scheme.

How did Binance and the agencies work together?

Binance provided on-the-ground intelligence and screening support to freeze assets and find victims. Its Special Investigations Team was present at the NCA’s headquarters in London during the operation week. 

Due to the pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions, Binance helped in identifying which accounts were linked to the scam addresses in real time. It assisted in identifying malicious websites that were still defrauding victims during the operation and also provided intelligence on potential bad actors and their addresses to support asset seizure efforts. 

Binance confirmed that no funds were frozen on its own platform as part of this specific action.  

Cryptopolitan reported that during the first phase of Operation Atlantic, authorities warned potential victims and helped them secure their assets with help from private industry partners. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the City of London Police, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) participated in that operation. 

Miles Bonfield, Deputy Director of Investigations at the NCA, stated that the operation is a “powerful example of what is possible when international agencies and private industry work side by side.” He added that it “stopped criminals in their tracks.”

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Reports that a leading crypto exchange in Poland and the region may be facing insolvency have reignited a political dispute in Warsaw over who is to blame for the deficit of oversight in the digital-asset space.

The Polish cryptocurrency market, arguably Eastern Europe’s largest, is yet to be regulated in accordance with the European Union’s latest rules. Government attempts to do that so far were halted by the president.

Poland-rooted European crypto exchange reportedly losing liquidity

Zondarcrypto, one of the oldest and largest coin trading platforms in Central and Eastern Europe, has lost liquidity, local and regional media reported.

Some users have been complaining that they are unable to withdraw funds from the exchange, the Brussels Signal portal wrote on Wednesday. Others experienced delays.

According to an analysis conducted by the market intelligence firm Recoveris, quoted earlier this week by the websites Wirtualna Polska and Money.pl, Zondarcrypto has lost over 99% of its reserves.

Within the study commissioned by Wirtualna Polska, the crypto recovery company estimated that its Bitcoin assets had fallen from over 55 BTC in August 2024 to just 0.18 BTC in March 2026.

Zonda CEO Przemysław Kral has rejected these claims, attributing withdrawal difficulties to “temporary technical issues” and manual operations slowing down payments.

In a post on X, the crypto executive accused the two Polish news outlets of creating panic based on false data and insisted the company is “stable, solvent, and safe.”

Kral said the analysts made a mistake by taking into account only the hot wallets of the exchange while most of its assets were stored in cold wallets, as part of its liquidity management strategy. He was positive the company had more than enough to cover all its obligations, stating:

“On April 1, the balance of our reserve in Bitcoin alone stood at 4,500 BTC.”

Zondacrypto case sparks another political clash in Poland

Zondacrypto was founded in Poland but moved its headquarters to Estonia in 2019 and currently operates under a license issued by the Baltic country.

Poland, however, is yet to adopt legislation transposing the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets regulation into national law and start issuing its own licenses.

The legislative proposal put forward by the center-left government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk was vetoed twice by President Karol Nawrocki, who is allied with the right-wing opposition.

The alleged liquidity issue at Zondacrypto triggered another political clash between the two sides over who is responsible for the absence of adequate regulatory oversight in the industry.

Finance Minister Andrzej Domański remarked that the veto imposed by the head of state has left Poland’s financial watchdog, KNF, without regulatory powers over firms operating under foreign licenses.

Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński chimed in, warning that thousands of investors could lose their savings, blaming President Nawrocki and the opposition for blocking crypto regulations.

Ahead of a cabinet meeting, Tusk insisted the government-drafted bill does not bring overregulation, like the opposition claims, but protection for people’s wallets.

Quoted by the Polish radio and the PAP news agency, the prime minister urged:

“The time for a parliamentary vote to override the presidential veto is approaching fast.”

Citing Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), he also revealed that Przemysław Kral made donations to foundations linked to politicians from the Law and Justice (PiS) party and the far-right Confederation alliance, while Zondacrypto sponsored a conservative political conference.

Meanwhile, the National Prosecutor’s Office of Poland launched an investigation into the alleged irregularities at the cryptocurrency exchange.

Warsaw must adopt the MiCA-inspired crypto legislation by July 1. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka said a new parliamentary vote may take place in mid-April.

The pro-crypto leader of Confederation, Sławomir Mentzen, argued that an earlier adoption of the controversial law would have made no difference as the Estonia-registered Zonda would have been exempted from the Polish rules until the summer under the provisions proposed by the government.

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Crypto traders are still all in on oil perpetual futures on HIP-3. Some of the large short positions are still open, despite peak annualized fee rates. 

Crypto traders are still breaking records on oil perpetual futures, pushing HIP-3 to new highs. In total, oil perpetual futures broke above $4B in volumes for the past day. 

TradeXYZ WTI oil is the leading contract, with over $1.7B in daily volumes. Brent is second in terms of open interest, but with volumes of over $2.78B. The day before that, WTI oil reached $2.6B in volume, while Brent trading reached $1.6B. 

Why are oil perpetual futures so active? 

The answer to the activity in oil perpetual futures may lie in Abraxas Capital’s positions. For the past week, the hedge fund has held four large-scale positions in Brent and WTI futures. 

As of April 9, Abraxas closed some of the positions for small realized profits, but the bulk of oil perpetual futures shorts remains. 

Abraxas pays $1.7M in fees for just one of its positions, or roughly $120K an hour during the most active oil trading periods. Since the position of Abraxas Capital was highly visible, other Hyperliquid participants may have tried to copy it. 

The main reason Abraxas took a long position was the oracle structure on HIP-3. HIP-3 uses front-month futures as its oracle, so the price may shift each month when the futures roll. WTI oil is in backwardation, with May futures more expensive than July’s futures. 

This means around April 14, on HIP-3, the May price will roll over to the lower July futures price. In recent months, backwardation has helped traders profit from the price difference, even as they pay high fees. 

During the latest shift period, the position of Abraxas became public. As a result, other traders attempted to short oil futures, waiting for the roll-over period. 

However, the crowded position also meant funding was becoming more expensive. Some traders may end up paying up to 80% of their gains in funding costs. For one of the Abraxas positions, current funding exceeds the unrealized profit. 

The May and June futures may converge toward the end of April, but not during the TradeXYZ rollover period, which ends April 14. This will allow whales to lock in partial gains from the price disparity in oil perpetual futures. 

Oil perpetual futures are also traded for their short-term reactions to developments in Iran and to the transport of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil perpetual futures are in focus due to the potential for rapid price moves. Whales are also using the contract to benefit from the backwardation | Source: Coingecko

On Hyperliquid, oil perpetual futures activity surpassed SOL trading, lining up just behind BTC, ETH, and HYPE. On-chain oil trading is still relatively new, with higher volumes only picking up in March. In the past weeks, Abraxas and other whales have shown one of the strategies that has led to record volumes.

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A Seoul court ruled in favor of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, canceling a three-month partial business suspension imposed by financial authorities, halting a streak of example-setting actions against domestic operators. 

Bithumb is also in court, attempting to recover the last of the Bitcoin it mistakenly paid out to customers during a February promotional event that sent authorities into regulatory overdrive.

Court rules in favor of Upbit

The Seoul Administrative Court’s 5th Division ruled that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) must cancel its three-month partial business suspension against Dunamu. The court also set aside a 35.2 billion won ($23.8 million) fine.

The FIU had found that Upbit facilitated 44,948 transactions with 19 unregistered operators during a 2024 on-site inspection.

However, the court identified that between 2022 and 2024, while specific rules existed for blocking unregistered transactions exceeding 1 million won (about $676), there were no clear rules for transactions under that level.

Considering this, the court found that Dunamu took reasonable measures by sending confirmation letters to customers, using Chainalysis Korea’s monitoring system to block suspicious wallet addresses, and implementing self-monitoring procedures.

The court noted that only 0.7% to 2.8% of transactions flagged as ‘Unknown’ by external monitoring systems were later confirmed to involve unregistered businesses. The judges concluded that the occurrence of some unregistered transactions “does not immediately constitute intentional wrongdoing or gross negligence.”

This ruling could affect the outcome of similar cases against Bithumb and Coinone. Bithumb is currently litigating a six-month partial business suspension and a 36.8 billion won (almost $25 million) fine on similar charges.

Coinone received advance notice of sanctions, including a three-month partial suspension.

Bithumb instigates litigation to get its Bitcoin back

Bithumb has filed for the provisional seizure of approximately 7 BTC that remains unrecovered following a massive incident that occurred during a promotional “random box” event. A Bithumb staff member intended to pay 620,000 won to 249 winners, but instead paid out 620,000 Bitcoins, worth approximately 62 trillion won ($40 billion) at the time.

Bithumb detected the error within 35 minutes and froze affected accounts. However, some recipients had already sold portions of their windfall or purchased other virtual assets. The exchange recovered 99.7% of the Bitcoin mistakenly paid. Some customers have refused to return the funds, arguing it was the company’s mistake.

A provisional seizure is a court order that temporarily freezes a debtor’s assets before a full lawsuit is filed. Legal experts say customers who did not return the Bitcoin are likely to lose in court.

Former attorney and Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin stated that Bithumb’s Bitcoins are “subject to the return of unjust enrichment. Those who sold and converted them into cash are facing a disaster.”

It’s even more of a problem for those customers because the principle requires returning the exact Bitcoin received. When the error occurred in early February, Bitcoin’s price on Bithumb fell to the low 80-million-won range. The current price is around 105 million won. Customers who sold at 80 million won would need to buy back at over 100 million won to return the funds.

Following the Bithumb incident, Cryptopolitan reported that the Financial Services Commission has mandated that all crypto exchanges reconcile their internal records with their actual asset holdings every 5 minutes by the end of May 2026.

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The Avalanche Foundation came under fire when on-chain data analyst and researcher, Emperor Osmo, called out a steady flow of about $180 million that flowed from the foundation into Coinbase over six months, implying that the team behind the AVAX token has contributed to its recent downtrend. 

Emperor Osmo, with former ties to the Osmosis DEX on Cosmos and Artemis Analytics, made the claim via his X profile, fingering the Avalanche Foundation for sending about 1.88% of the 431.77 million AVAX tokens in circulation to a centralized exchange, which historically means they are getting disposed of on the open market. 

The AVAX token is trading at $9.10 as of writing, down between 44% and 50% over the last year across different price-tracking platforms. The picture is worse from the infamous October 10-11 crash point, when it was actually trading around $21.

The AVAX token is down more than 50% since October. Source: CoinMarketCap

Is Avalanche Foundation selling AVAX tokens?

Emperor Osmo has called out attempts to offload tokens multiple times in recent months, despite the Avalanche Foundation not announcing any AVAX token sales during that period.  

Attempts to verify those transfer claims on-chain did not immediately yield results, and when asked to point to his source, Emperor Osmo replied, “You know who,” implying a potential whistleblower or at least someone with access to privileged information that can’t be easily publicly verified. 

The big claim this time around is that the team has sent about $180 million of tokens to Coinbase in the last six months, with the 104 million tokens in a single transaction punchline delivered a few times in interactions with commenters. 

Emperor Osmo had intimated problems with the Avalanche Foundation’s handling of its token without explicitly naming the foundation. 

In an April 8 X post, he made the rhetorical comment, “Imagine if every FDN were as transparent when they  sold.” The post was in response to the headline that the Ethereum Foundation sold 5,000 ETH tokens to support “R&D, grants, and donations.” 

Ironically, the Ethereum Foundation has also faced criticism in the past for selling into rallies, which has since subsided since the EF unveiled its bumper 70,000 ETH DeFi staking program as an alternative to always selling tokens to fulfill its financial obligations. 

Every rally will be shorted.$AVAX pic.twitter.com/V42f3JfTM5

— Emperor Osmo 🐂 🎯 (@Flowslikeosmo) April 8, 2026

On April 7, Emperor Osmo added the $AVAX cashtag to an unsolicited post that said: “Every rally will be shorted.” When pressed for context, he implied that backing the token to keep it trending downward would be his strategy. 

Why is Avalanche Foundation facing criticism?

One theme that persisted was the lack of transparency in the foundation’s alleged sales, as contrasted with Emperor Osmo’s response to news of the Ethereum Foundation’s latest token sales. 

The Avalanche Foundation is the nonprofit organization designated to support the long-term goals of the Avalanche network, and in the foundation’s defense, it has relatively lived up to the billing, staying in the top 25 among crypto tokens by market capitalization while other OG projects have stepped down for newer, hotter ones.  

The network reported that it achieved sub-second block times on April 8, building on recent news that the second round of its $40 million Retro9000 C-Chain grant program had gone live.  

Pro-foundation commentators also point to the recent move by the CME Group to add AVAX futures to its regulated cryptocurrency derivatives offerings, pending regulatory review, as of May 4, as evidence of progress. 

The Avalanche Foundation was also integral to pushing the Avalanche Treasury Co. deal across the finish line to build corporate AVAX reserves worth over $1 billion. 

However, the criticism still remains among people like Emperor Osmo, who question the project’s long-term viability, especially if the undisclosed token sales they allege persist. 

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