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On-chain data shows the Exchange Inflow indicator has shot up for USDC, something that could be relevant for Bitcoin and other digital assets.

USDC Exchange Inflow Has Hit The Highest Level In Months

As highlighted by CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn in a new post on X, the Exchange Inflow recently observed a surge for Circle’s stablecoin, USDC. The “Exchange Inflow” here is an indicator that keeps track of the total amount of a given asset that’s being transferred to wallets connected to centralized exchanges.

Generally, one of the main reasons why investors deposit their tokens to these platforms is for selling-related purposes, so a spike in the metric can indicate elevated demand for swapping the cryptocurrency. In the case of assets like Bitcoin, this can naturally have a bearish effect on the price.

For a stablecoin like USDC, however, there is no such effect as its price is by definition stable around the $1 mark. That said, exchange inflows related to the asset can still matter for the wider sector.

Often, investors stash their capital away in the form of these fiat-tied tokens when they want to wait for an opportune moment to enter the volatile side. Once traders feel that the time is right, they deposit their stablecoins to exchanges, swapping them for Bitcoin or any digital asset of their choice. This shifting can naturally provide a buying boost to the target cryptocurrency.

As the chart below, shared by Maartunn, shows, the USDC Exchange Inflow has observed a massive spike during the past day, implying exchanges have received a large amount of the stablecoin.

The latest deposit spree has seen the inflow of 778,566,191.65 USDC, the largest level since September 2025. Back then, the large spike led into Bitcoin’s run to the new all-time high (ATH) above $126,000 in early October. It now remains to be seen whether the new surge in the indicator is a sign of market buying.

Since stablecoins are often used for injecting capital into the volatile side of the sector, their supply is considered as a measure of the sector’s liquidity waiting on the sidelines. An indicator called the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR) compares the market cap of Bitcoin against this liquidity to estimate how much room the cryptocurrency might have to grow.

As the analyst pointed out in another X post, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of the BTC SSR has declined into the green zone recently.

Based on the trend, Maartunn explained, “There is still a large amount of stablecoin liquidity relative to Bitcoin’s market cap, suggesting buying power remains on the sidelines.”

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $66,600, up 1% over the last 24 hours.

Tokyo-listed investment firm Metaplanet generated close to $19 million in operating revenue during the first quarter of 2026 from a Bitcoin options strategy that runs separately from its main treasury — and that money is being funneled back into buying more of the cryptocurrency.

A Two-Track Approach To Bitcoin Accumulation

The company operates what it calls a Bitcoin Income Generation business, a ring-fenced portfolio that uses collateral-secured options contracts to produce income. Once those option cycles close out, the returns can be converted into direct Bitcoin purchases and added to the firm’s long-term holdings.

Based on company filings dated April 2, trailing 12-month revenue from that segment reached roughly $71.5 million when combined with full-year 2025 figures of nearly $54 million.

That income engine ran alongside a significant buying spree. Metaplanet acquired 5,075 Bitcoin in Q1 at an average price of roughly $79,898 per coin, spending about $405 million in total.

During Q1 2026, Metaplanet acquired 5075 BTC for $405.48 million at ~$79,898 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 2.8% YTD 2026. As of 03/31/2026, we hold 40,177 $BTC acquired for ~$4.18 billion at ~$104,106 per bitcoin. $MPJPY $MTPLF pic.twitter.com/IMxC3lwYCx

— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) April 2, 2026

The purchases pushed its cumulative holdings to 40,177 Bitcoin — enough to rank it as the third-largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury in the world, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.

Metaplanet Chief executive Simon Gerovich shared the figures in investor materials, reporting a year-to-date BTC Yield of 2.8% for 2026. That metric tracks how Bitcoin holdings grow on a per-share basis. It does not measure income.

Cost Basis Sits Well Above Current Market Price

The firm’s average acquisition cost across its entire holdings stands at $104,106 per coin, according to the same materials. With Bitcoin trading around $66,550 at the time of the announcement, the company’s treasury carries a substantial gap between what it paid and what those coins are worth on the open market today.

Despite the headline acquisition numbers, the market response was muted. Metaplanet shares fell almost 2% on Thursday to $302, down from $308 the day before, data from Yahoo Finance shows. Annual revenue and operating profit forecasts were left unchanged from guidance issued in January.

Rival Firm Exited Metaplanet Stake At A Loss

Elsewhere in the listed Bitcoin vehicle space, Nakamoto disclosed Wednesday that it unloaded 284 Bitcoin for $20 million in March and unwound a significant portion of its stake in Metaplanet at a loss during the first quarter. The move underlines how exposed these corporate treasury strategies are to price swings in a volatile asset class.

Metaplanet has not changed its full-year outlook for the period ending December 31, 2026, and continues to pursue both sides of its strategy — accumulating Bitcoin for the long term while using options to keep fresh capital moving into the treasury.

Featured image from fundacionblazer.org, chart from TradingView

The XRP Ledger is recording some of the strongest network activity figures in its history. Daily active addresses have climbed back above 200,000, the number of daily transactions has set an all-time record, and the ledger’s total wallet count recently breached a threshold not seen in its 13-year existence. 

On the other hand, the XRP’s price, currently trading around $1.31, has declined for six consecutive months. However, the surge in on-chain activity may be laying the foundation for a move that price has yet to reflect.

Active Addresses And Transactions Numbers At Peaks

Recent data from XRPScan shows daily active users, measured by addresses carrying SourceTag and DestinationTag activity, have climbed back above 200,000, a level that has always been associated with periods of increased market participation. 

The six-month chart shows that the metric has held largely between 100,000 and 180,000 since October 2025, with periodic spikes above the upper threshold. The timing matters because the surge arrives in a period where price action has been relatively unstable in terms of bullish momentum.

What this means is that the spike in active addresses is not based purely on a breakout rally. Instead, it points to usage of the Ledger picking up independently, whether through transfers, exchange flows, or institutional-related activity on the network.

At the same time, transaction throughput has reached a milestone of its own. The XRP Ledger recently recorded over 4 million successful transactions in a single day for the first time in over two years, reaching as high as 4.49 million transactions on April 2.

The chart shows a steady climb in transaction activity since late December, with higher highs forming into February and March. Even when pullbacks occurred, the baseline level of transactions remained above 2 million, which is another sign of sustained usage and activity on the Ledger. That persistence in activity ties in with the network recently surpassing 7.7 million non-empty wallets for the first time in its 13-plus year history.

Will Price Catch Up To The Surge In Network Activity?

The current disconnect between on-chain strength and price performance is very glaring. Increases in active addresses and transaction counts have sometimes preceded larger price moves, but the relationship is not always immediate.

XRP has not closed a monthly candle in the green since September 2025, with six consecutive red months bringing the price to $1.31 and approaching another support at $1.28. Billions of dollars worth of XRP have also left exchanges in recent weeks, with a notable example being $11.4 billion worth of XRP leaving Binance.

Although activity alone does not guarantee a rally, what is clear, however, is that XRP is no longer dealing with weak on-chain fundamentals. The network is active, growing, and processing huge numbers of daily transactions, and this usage could translate into price growth in the coming weeks and months.

Ethereum is trying to hold $2,000. The market is coiling for a significant move. And the organization that has been selling this asset for months has just changed what it is doing with its ETH.

Data from Arkham Intelligence has confirmed a behavioral shift at the Ethereum Foundation that the market has been waiting for without knowing it was waiting: the Foundation has stopped selling ETH and has started staking it. That sentence requires context to carry its full weight.

For much of the past several months, the Ethereum Foundation’s periodic ETH sales represented one of the most psychologically damaging overhangs in the market. Each confirmed sell transaction from the Foundation’s wallets arrived as a signal from the inside — the organization that created Ethereum, that understands its technology more deeply than any outside participant, choosing to convert its holdings into cash. The market interpreted those sales as institutional doubt expressed in the most credible possible form. Price suffered accordingly.

That chapter appears to be closing. Staking is the opposite of selling in every meaningful sense. It is locking, committing, removing from circulation, and earning yield on the conviction that Ethereum’s future justifies the commitment. The Foundation is no longer exiting. It is embedding itself deeper.

This Is No Longer a One-Time Decision

Arkham’s on-chain data documents the specific transaction that makes the behavioral shift concrete: the Ethereum Foundation has staked an additional $46.64 million in ETH, bringing its total staked position to $96.59 million. That cumulative figure is the number that matters most — not because of its size relative to the Foundation’s total treasury, but because of what it represents as a repeated, deliberate, escalating commitment.

A single staking transaction can be dismissed as treasury optimization. Two transactions totaling nearly $100 million cannot. The Foundation has now made the same decision twice, in the same direction, at a price level that the broader market has treated as fragile support. Each transaction is a vote. The second vote confirms the first was not an anomaly.

The supply consequence is direct and permanent for the duration of the stake. $96.59 million in ETH now sits in staking contracts — unavailable for sale, removed from the liquid float, contributing nothing to the sell-side pressure that has weighed on the $2,000 level for weeks. The Foundation’s previous selling added to that pressure. Its current staking position actively reduces it.

The organization that built Ethereum has now committed nearly $100 million to its own protocol at exactly the moment the market is deciding whether $2,000 holds. That timing is not incidental. It is a statement.

Related Reading: $410 Million In Bitcoin Losses Realized In A Week. Two Key Indicators Say the Stress Is Not Over Yet

Ethereum Tests Long-Term Support as Weekly Structure Weakens

Ethereum’s weekly structure shows a market at an inflection point, not in a confirmed breakdown. Price is currently holding near $2,060, sitting just above the 200-week moving average — a level that has historically acted as a long-term trend boundary. That positioning matters. Unlike lower timeframes, this is where structural bull and bear regimes are defined.

The rejection from the $4,000–$4,500 region established a clear lower high, breaking the sequence of higher highs that defined the prior expansion phase. Since then, Ethereum has retraced sharply, losing the 50-week and 100-week moving averages, both of which are now flattening and beginning to roll over. That shift signals weakening momentum, but not yet a completed trend reversal.

The key issue is follow-through. The recent bounce off sub-$2,000 levels has not been strong enough to reclaim the 100-week average decisively. Without that, price remains vulnerable to another test of the 200-week level.

Volume does not show aggressive accumulation at current levels. That absence raises a question: is this a structural defense or a temporary pause?

If $2,000 fails on a weekly basis, the next meaningful support sits significantly lower. If it holds, Ethereum remains in a contested but still salvageable long-term structure.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Ripple’s XRP Ledger and SWIFT are gaining serious attention in the cryptocurrency and financial sector following recent speculations about both parties. While SWIFT remains one of the leading payment firms in the world, rumors are that the company might be supported by XRPL infrastructure.

SWIFT Might Be Integrating XRP Ledger Infrastructure

SWIFT, an open global standard for financial information, is now in the spotlight as speculations are starting to swell across the market regarding the company’s inner workings. This is centered around a possible integration or relationship between SWIFT and the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Over time, SWIFT has been hailed for its fast processing time and execution, but some analysts are starting to suggest the possibility of the XRP Ledger currently playing a role behind the scenes. Pumpius, a crypto commentator, highlighted on X that SWIFT could be secretly using the Ledger at the backend.

Even though no formal confirmation has been made, the notion that a major traditional financial messaging company might covertly access blockchain technology underscores the notable growth of the blockchain sector. The multiple partnerships between big financial institutions and Ripple Labs are reinforcing this rumor.

According to Pumpius, 36 out of the 50+ banks on SWIFT’s new retail cross-border payments list are already in partnership with leading payment firm Ripple. In addition, SWIFT has recently made announcements regarding Ripple Treasury as an official part of its Certified Partner Program.

As outlined by City of London banker Lord Belgrave in a strategy meeting with major banks, Ripple and the XRP Ledger were freely discussed as powering the underlying tech for cross-border payments of the next generation.

SWIFT’s frontend, which handles the customer interface, branding, and compliance, remains with each respective bank or financial institution. However, the backend is allegedly anchored on the Ledger, which is believed to be doing all the heavy tasks behind the scenes. If such a link were to exist, it might represent a major advancement in the merging of decentralized technology with legacy finance.

Pumpius stated that this architecture has been quietly building underneath the surface for years, but the recent announcement from SWIFT brought it to the notice of the public and the crypto sector. 

The Token To Take Over Global Finance

With a growing role in finance, Pumpius has shared a few key points from Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz on why XRP will take over global finance and outpace stablecoins. As the sector evolves, the CTO claims that banks will choose XRP over stablecoins.

One of the reasons is that stablecoins are stable to one currency, futile for global deals across borders. Also, issuers like court orders and politics can freeze or seize them anytime. Lastly, unlike stablecoins, XRP’s price can grow and offer investors real upside potential.

The altcoin is purely decentralized, offers lightning-fast atomic settlement, and has near-zero fees. Other key factors include liquidity sourcing and bridge asset design, high scalability and energy efficiency, escrow functionality, etc. In search of true freedom, speed, and future value in the sector, the altcoin is one of the best bets.

The Dogecoin (DOGE) price has been in a prolonged downtrend for months, basically mirroring Bitcoin’s decline and showing no signs of a sustained recovery or uptrend. However, a crypto analyst has suggested that this might change soon. The analyst has identified a critical sell wall on the Dogecoin chart that, if broken, could trigger a major trend shift and provide enough momentum for the meme coin to pump higher. 

Dogecoin Could Rally If Sell Wall Breaks

Crypto market analyst CW has highlighted a major sell wall around the $0.09 that could determine Dogecoin’s next bullish move. In an X post on Wednesday, the analyst noted that Dogecoin is already preparing to break through this key area, as its price tests $0.09 and holds this support level firmly. 

According to the analyst, if DOGE can push past this current support zone with strength, there may be no other resistance level strong enough to hold the meme coin until around $1.12. This means that CW expects the DOGE price to rise quickly toward this new high, representing a staggering increase of more than 1,144% from $0.09.  

The market expert noted that this price surge could come with a bullish trend reversal, likely confirming the end of Dogecoin’s prolonged downtrend. Notably, the analyst’s chart shows that the meme coin has been trading sideways within a descending channel since its price surge in September 2025. 

After rallying above the $0.25 area, Dogecoin has moved downward, previously crashing to this same critical support zone around $0.09 during the devastating October 2025 liquidation event. Although the meme coin rose back to normal levels, it remained range-bound inside this descending channel. With price showing strong breakout signals, CW has stated that once Dogecoin rises above this channel, its next major uptrend could begin in days. 

DOGE Breakdown Remains The Less Likely Scenario

In a separate X post, market analyst Osemka shared a price chart showing Dogecoin hovering around $0.09. He noted that the meme coin is currently trading in a tight range, with the price stuck between support and resistance. According to him, this behavior cannot last forever, suggesting that the DOGE price could soon make a strong move either upward or downward to break the critical area. 

Based on his chart analysis, Osemka appears cautiously bullish on Dogecoin. He said it would be a “little miracle” for Dogecoin to break downward, suggesting the more likely scenario is a strong rise above $0.09 soon. If this happens, it could completely invalidate DOGE’s bearish outlook and possibly trigger its next trend shift to the upside. 

As of now, the market is cautiously watching as DOGE trades around $0.091 at the time of writing, still trapped below both the Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and the descending channel.

Bitcoin is struggling to hold above $70,000. Days of trying to defend $65,000 have given way to a fragile recovery that the market does not yet trust. A top CryptoQuant analyst has identified the structural reason why — and it has nothing to do with sentiment, ETF flows, or macroeconomic headlines.

The culprit is in the mining data. A CryptoQuant analysis examining the relationship between Miner Selling Power and Bitcoin’s price has identified a decoupling that began in the second half of 2025 and has been widening ever since. Historically, the two indicators moved in correlation — when Bitcoin price rose, miners’ selling power declined as profitability improved, and vice versa. That relationship has broken down entirely.

What the chart now shows is a divergence that runs in the wrong direction: Miner Selling Power is sharply rising while Bitcoin’s price falls. The miners who are supposed to benefit from a recovery are instead increasing their selling activity into weakness. That is not profit-taking. That is survival.

The connection to the stagnant hashrate data is direct and confirming. Miners are not expanding. They are not holding. They are selling — not because the market is giving them a reason to, but because the alternative is shutting down.

This Is Not Capitulation. It Is Something More Dangerous

The report’s conclusion reframes what is happening in the mining industry in a way that changes how the current Bitcoin market should be read. The word capitulation implies a single event — a moment of peak pain where the last forced sellers exit simultaneously, clearing the market and establishing a floor. What the Miner Selling Power data describes is not that. It is a continuous, sustained, survival-driven unloading that has no defined endpoint because its trigger is not sentiment — it is the ongoing gap between operating costs and revenue.

Miners facing a harsh profitability winter do not sell because they have lost conviction in Bitcoin. They sell because electricity bills, hardware maintenance, and facility costs arrive on a schedule that the Bitcoin price does not respect. Every week that production costs exceed mining revenue is another week of forced selling — regardless of where price stands, regardless of what the chart suggests, regardless of what the broader market is doing.

That persistence is what makes the current overhead so structurally significant. It is not a wall of supply waiting for the right price to clear. It is a drip of forced selling that the market must absorb continuously before any sustained upside can develop.

The analyst’s forward position is stated without ambiguity: upside potential remains limited until these survival-driven sell-offs are fully absorbed. Until that absorption is confirmed in the data, the conservative perspective is not caution — it is the only analytically defensible posture available.

Bitcoin Stalls Below Resistance as Downtrend Persists

Bitcoin is trading near $66,800, continuing to consolidate after the sharp February breakdown that disrupted its prior bullish structure. The chart shows a clear shift in trend, with price moving from a series of higher highs into a pattern of lower highs and lower lows, confirming sustained bearish pressure.

Following the capitulation event — marked by a significant spike in volume — BTC entered a range between approximately $62,000 and $72,000. Since then, price action has remained contained within this zone, but with a noticeable bias toward the lower end, suggesting weakening demand.

The 50-day and 100-day moving averages are both trending downward above price, acting as dynamic resistance and limiting any recovery attempts. The 200-day moving average remains far above current levels, reinforcing the broader structural shift from expansion to correction.

Recent rallies toward the $70,000–$72,000 region have consistently failed, producing lower highs and indicating that sellers are still active on strength. Volume has declined during consolidation, pointing to reduced participation and a lack of strong conviction from buyers.

Unless Bitcoin can reclaim key moving averages and break above range resistance with strength, the current structure favors continued consolidation or a potential move lower toward support.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin demand is taking a crucial turn in a market hampered by ongoing negative macroeconomic and political events across the globe.  A recent report has outlined an increasing interest and demand for the leading cryptocurrency asset among large companies, which has now significantly exceeded those produced by miners in the market.

More Bitcoin Is Absorbed Than Being Mined

While price direction has been uncertain and unstable for the past few weeks, a growing imbalance is starting to take shape in the Bitcoin market. This imbalance focuses on institutions’ interests in BTC compared to new coins being mined.

On the X platform, a crypto investor known as AltCryptoGems has shared that institutional demand for BTC is rising at a substantial rate despite current unfavorable market conditions. Currently, public companies are scooping up more BTC faster than the rate at which miners are producing new coins.

As it continues to expand, this dynamic is strengthening the scarcity narrative of the flagship asset and reducing the amount of liquidity that is available. Such an imbalance could play a crucial role or act as a catalyst for the asset’s next price move. When large institutions accumulate, it is typically a clear sign of conviction in the asset’s long-term prospects.

The recently concluded month of March saw a wave of accumulation from these big public firms. In the month alone, the expert revealed that these companies collectively added over 47,000 BTC valued at approximately $3.14 billion at current price levels, to their balance sheets. Leading the charge is Michael Saylor’s Strategy, amassing over 44,377 BTC out of the net acquisition.

When compared to the prior month, this is significantly higher, as it saw over 29,590 BTC being scooped up by public institutions. This shows that institutional interest and demand in BTC nearly doubled within a monthly period. As for Bitcoin mining, only 13,950 BTC were mined during the same period, indicating that demand is currently clouding new supply into the market. 

BTC Exchange Balance Is Drying Up Pretty Fast

Despite persistent sideways price action and ongoing volatility, the underlying sentiment toward Bitcoin is turning quite bullish. Investors on cryptocurrency exchanges are steadily taking out their BTC from these platforms. Market expert Leon Waidmann reported that BTC balance on cryptocurrency exchanges is not sitting at its lowest level since 2018. 

After a period of steady withdrawals, the total supply of BTC left on exchanges is only 14.6%. From 2019 to 2022, the balance dropped to the 16% to 18% range, and then gradually continued bleeding throughout 2022. Now, 8 years later, the percentage has dropped to 14.6% as of April 2026.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency asset, has also witnessed a similar trend, with balances on exchanges now sitting at 11%, its lowest level in years. Both leading assets are at historic lows at the same time, making this period a crucial one for the market as it could notably shift sentiment.

Charles Schwab is preparing to offer clients direct access to cryptocurrencies, joining a growing group of traditional financial institutions that have moved into digital-asset services. 

The firm plans to roll out “Schwab Crypto” through its Premier Bank platform, enabling eligible customers to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) directly, according to disclosures on the company’s website.

Charles Schwab’s New Crypto Service 

Charles Schwab’s announcement makes clear that the new offering will not be open to everyone. The firm says not all applicants will qualify, and accounts will be available in every US state except New York and Louisiana. 

Company leadership has signaled a cautious, phased approach to the launch. CEO Rick Wurster told investors last month that Schwab will initially support only Bitcoin and Ethereum and is “extremely confident” in the technical work required to integrate crypto trading into its systems.

Charles Schwab’s CEO also described a staged rollout: the exchange will first test the platform internally with employees, then open access to a limited group of customers, and only after that offer the service broadly to its investor base. 

Launch Date And Fees Still Unknown

Until now, Charles Schwab investors seeking crypto exposure have had to rely on alternative products available through the broker. The firm already provides access to crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), crypto-related equities, Bitcoin futures, and listed options tied to spot Bitcoin ETPs.

Schwab Crypto would, if launched as described, mark a move into direct custody-and-trading services for the two largest digital assets. A few details remain unsettled. Schwab has not yet disclosed the exact launch date or the final fee structure for Schwab Crypto. 

Those decisions could be influenced by recent market conditions: falling prices in the cryptocurrency market may prompt the firm to delay its public rollout until conditions stabilize or until its testing phases are complete.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

Crypto pundit Cryptoinsight has pointed to Google’s latest research on quantum computing, which discussed XRP. The report specifically highlighted the XRP Ledger and the network’s efforts to protect against quantum threats. 

Google’s Latest Quantum Research Report Discusses XRP

In an X post, Cryptoinsight highlighted Google’s research report, which discussed XRP and the XRPL’s quantum efforts. He also noted that Google’s claim that 2/3 of the short-dated U.S. treasury bills are on the Ledger, while the majority of the remaining are on the Ethereum network. 

In the quantum report, Google noted that the Ledger is among the networks conducting experimental and test deployments of post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The Ledger recently deployed post-quantum ML-DSA signatures on the testnet. The report also recognized how this was key as the Ledger provides “extensive support” for RWA tokenization. 

RWA.xyz data shows that the XRP Ledger currently ranks 8th in terms of RWA tokenization, with a total tokenized value of $1.9 billion. The network boasts an RWA count of 289. Google noted that networks like the XRPL, which provide protocol-level support for RWA tokenization, introduce new quantum vulnerabilities not present in Bitcoin and its derivatives. 

This is based on the account model and smart contracts that networks like the Ledger employ to support tokenization. Google indicated that this quantum risk will become more prevalent. This is because of financial developments, such as fiat-backed stablecoins and the tokenization of other RWAs, which are projected to significantly increase the pool of assets governed by smart contracts by 2030. 

Another Quantum Risk For The Ledger And Other Networks

Google noted that the XRP Ledger is among the protocols that make long-term exposure of quantum-vulnerable public keys inevitable. However, Ledger has an edge as Google noted that the network, alongside Algorand and TRON, supports native, protocol-level key rotation. The research report added that modern Ethereum, Solana, and Rootstock accounts are controlled by smart wallets and support key rotation, but that legacy accounts remain a lingering vulnerability. 

Google stated that the technical and social complexities of switching blockchains to post-quantum signature schemes indicate that the process will take years. However, they noted that this move cannot be delayed until the exact timeline and feasibility of constructing Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) become completely clear. 

At the same time, the report noted that the complexities and challenges are feasible to overcome, as networks such as the Ledger, Algorand, and Solana have demonstrated by making “notable progress” in real-world adoption of post-quantum cryptography. The Ledger also recently integrated AI to help identify vulnerabilities in the cycle development. 

At the time of writing, the altcoin’s price is trading at around $1.31, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin (BTC) traders appear caught between caution and opportunity as Easter approaches and geopolitical tensions from the Iran conflict continue. A fresh analysis report from K33 Research highlights a surge in bearish bets that could signal either deeper trouble ahead or a setup for a sharp rebound once the holiday liquidity reduction eases. The report emphasizes how many traders have moved into short positions at levels rarely seen before, even as Bitcoin holds relatively steady compared to other cryptocurrencies and traditional assets affected by the same tensions and volatility. 

Bitcoin Traders Pile Into Shorts Amid Easter Caution

Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33, has highlighted the aggressive caution in Bitcoin derivatives markets right now. Notably, leveraged short exposure through major Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has climbed sharply in recent sessions, reaching the second-highest level on record. This marks a 20% jump in just days, reflecting concentrated selling pressure from institutional and retail investors who are preparing for thinner trading volumes and liquidity during the Easter period. 

Lunde noted that such aggressive positioning typically occurs when sentiment turns very defensive, as people become more worried and fearful about current market conditions. He indicated that in the past, when similar behavior occurred, it often came right before the market changed direction, suggesting that this may be a bottoming signal. 

In addition to cautious sentiment, Lunde stated that funding rates in perpetual futures contracts have remained negative for more than a month, the longest streak since the brutal bear market in 2022. He suggested that persistent negative funding often indicates that shorts are paying longs to keep their positions open. He noted that this behavior could trigger a short squeeze if prices start rising and short traders rush to buy back their positions to avoid losses. 

Lunde also pointed out that the recent behavior of short traders, combined with Bitcoin approaching the Easter holiday at oversold levels, suggests that too many traders are expecting prices to fall. Because so many expect a drop, prices could rise suddenly once the holiday period ends and normal trading activity resumes.

What Easter And Geopolitics Mean For Long Or Shorts Bets

In the report, Lunde noted that Bitcoin has followed a predictable seasonal pattern around Easter for six straight years. During this holiday period, trading volumes drop noticeably and volatility compresses as big trading firms and banks in Europe get quieter or stop trading. 

However, the Bitcoin researcher highlights that this year might be different from past periods. He noted that the rising tensions in the Middle East might disrupt the usual quiet Easter trading period. Currently, there is a lot of talk and concern about oil facilities being at risk due to the ongoing conflict. As a result, investors are becoming more cautious even as they decide whether to go long or short. 

Based on the recent activities, two possible outcomes could emerge after the holidays. Because many traders are betting on prices falling, any major bad news could cause a sharp drop, especially when trading activity is low. However, when traders become extremely bearish, it often signals that sellers are exhausted and buyers may soon take over, signaling a possible trend shift. 

Первые три месяца этого года стали худшими для биткоина за восемь лет. Американо-иранский военный конфликт продолжает давить на настроения участников крипторынка. Президент США Дональд Трамп своими заявлениями только усиливает страх инвесторов.

Illinois, Arizona and Connecticut are trying to regulate crypto predictions markets, such as Polymarket and Kalshi. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Justice Department are coming to the rescue.

For The First Time, The Scale Moves In Crypto Prediction Markets’ Favor

As contradictory as it may sound, the Trump administration is trying to save crypto prediction markets from the State itself. The coordinated lawsuits the CFTC and the DOJ have filed against the three states argue that only the federal derivatives regulator can police prediction markets.

The @CFTC has clear and longstanding exclusive jurisdiction to regulate prediction markets. But recently, state regulators have tried to impose inconsistent and contrary obligations on CFTC-registered prediction markets. In response, the CFTC and @TheJusticeDept today filed three…

— Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) April 2, 2026

The lawsuits go as far as to claim the three states are bypassing the CFTC’s authority by trying to shut down “federally regulated DCMs” (designated contract markets). Regarding Illinois, the federal regulator said the state spent the past year issuing cease‑and‑desist letters to Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Polymarket, which the complaint argues are all under CFTC authority:

Illinois’s attempt to shut down federally regulated DCMs intrudes on the exclusive federal scheme Congress designed to oversee national swaps markets.

Related Reading: Crypto Traders On Edge As Korea Stalls Key Law — Is The “Kimchi Premium” At Risk Next?

Put simply, Washington says prediction markets are federally regulated derivatives. States insist, however, that prediction markets are just unlicensed gambling products harming local consumers.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig explained that this is not the first time states “have tried to impose consistent and contrary obligations on market participants”. Just this past month, a bipartisan Senate bill targeting sports‑style bets on platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi was introduced by Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT).

Also on March, democratic representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts (MA-06) formally banned all his staff from participating in prediction markets. That same day, Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE-03) and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) from Nebraska introduced the PREDICT Act, banning members of Congress from trading on political and policy outcome markets.

These are the first lawsuits by the CFTC to block state gaming regulators ​from policing operators of prediction markets, according to Reuters. The outlet also highlighted the fact that all the defendants are Democrats.

Market Implications

The CFTC’s lawsuits build on its recent push to assert “exclusive jurisdiction” over event contracts, including sports and politics, reversing the Biden‑era move that tried to ban broad categories of prediction markets.

Prediction markets are morphing into an information layer and hedging tool for traders, with liquidity increasingly coming from crypto‑native capital and exchange integrations.

A federal win would likely centralize rule‑making at the CFTC, potentially clearing a single regulatory path for crypto prediction platforms, but also tightening surveillance and enforcement. Conversely, if states prevail, platforms may face a patchwork of gambling rules that fracture liquidity, push some markets offshore, and raise operational risk premia for traders.

Cover image from Perplexity. BTCUSD chart from Tradingview.

Финансовый советник Международного валютного фонда (МВФ) Тобиас Адриан (Tobias Adrian) назвал четыре провода считать токенизированные активы угрозой для мировой финансовой системы.

Гендиректор инвестиционной компании ARK Invest Кэти Вуд (Cathie Wood) предположила, что по мере созревания биткоина как актива резкие циклы спада и подъема цены могут остаться далеко в прошлом.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic says the $286 million exploit of Solana-based Drift Protocol is most likely linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Solana Suffered One Of The Largest Crypto Exploits In History

On April 1st, the DEX Drift Protocol suffered a major exploit that drained almost $300 million dollars in crypto assets from its core vaults. The exchange reported on it on its official X account as it was still undergoing:

Drift Protocol is experiencing an active attack. Deposits and withdrawals have been suspended. We are coordinating with multiple security firms, bridges, and exchanges to contain the incident. This is not an April Fools joke. We’ll provide additional updates from this account as… https://t.co/03SRPq4fHj

— Drift (@DriftProtocol) April 1, 2026

The raid unfolded in under 20 minutes, with roughly $286 million siphoned off across a basket of assets from close to 20 vaults. Drift is the largest decentralized perpetual futures exchange on Solana. This is the biggest crypto exploit seen so far in 2026 and ranks among the largest on record, edging out the $235 million WazirX breach.

Drift’s total value lock (TVL) collapsed from roughly $550 million to under $250 million after the attack. The team’s emergency response consisted of pausing deposits and withdrawals and coordinating with security firms and exchanges.

The protocol shared the details of the incident later on, claiming it was a “a highly sophisticated operation that appears to have involved multi-week preparation and staged execution”. Beyond that, the exchange’s official channels refrained from attributing responsibilities.

Earlier today, a malicious actor gained unauthorized access to Drift Protocol through a novel attack involving durable nonces, resulting in a rapid takeover of Drift’s Security Council administrative powers.

This was a highly sophisticated operation that appears to have involved…

— Drift (@DriftProtocol) April 2, 2026

Now, the analytics firm Elliptic has released an investigation claiming the on‑chain behavior, laundering methods, and network‑level indicators match the techniques seen in prior DPRK‑linked operations, making this not just another DeFi rug, but a suspected state‑sponsored attack.

The North Korean Hackers Strike Again

Ledger CTO Charles Guillement also linked Drift’s attack method to Bybit’s $1.4 billion hack, which was attributed to North Korean hacking groups. NewsBTC’s sister website Bitcoinist reported on this yesterday.

Drift Protocol, one of the leading perpetual DEXs on Solana, has been hacked for approximately $213M. This makes it the biggest hack of 2026 so far, and one of the largest ever on the Solana blockchain, right behind the Wormhole Bridge exploit of 2022.

The full details of the…

— Charles Guillemet (@P3b7_) April 2, 2026

According to Elliptic, the attacker likely compromised Drift’s administrator private keys, gaining privileged control over withdrawals and key parameters. The attack systematically drained three main vaults: JLP Delta Neutral, SOL Super Staking and BTC Super Staking, including a single $41.7 million JLP transfer worth about $155 million.

Elliptic traced the stolen funds and concluded that the attacker created the wallet roughly eight days before the exploit and even received a small test transfer from a Drift vault. This suggests a pre‑planned, staged operation rather than a smash‑and‑grab.

After the exploit was completed, the attacker used Jupiter, a Solana DEX aggregator, to swap the stolen tokens into USDC, bridged funds to Ethereum, and then rotated into ETH and other assets across multiple wallets.

Such cross‑chain laundering patterns, obfuscation methods, and network‑level indicators match techniques seen in prior DPRK‑attributed attacks, Elliptic claims. If officially confirmed, this would be the 18th such operation with over $300 million stolen already.

Confirmed or not, there is no denying that state‑linked actors are systematically targeting liquidity‑rich crypto protocols to fund North Korea’s weapons programs. Let’s not forget that the North Korea‑affiliated Lazarus Group has funneled billions of dollars in stolen money through cryptocurrency networks.

Elliptic has already clustered all attacker‑linked token accounts on Solana and Ethereum so exchanges and protocols can screen against contaminated funds in near real time.

The hack will likely harden scrutiny of Solana DeFi governance, admin key design, and multisig security, even as the ecosystem continues to chase institutional‑grade perps liquidity.

Cover image from Perplexity. SOLUSD chart from Tradingview.

Аналитики Binance Research объявили, что биткоин начал приобретать новую роль на рынке — опережающего события экономического индикатора, заранее отражающего ожидания инвесторов от политики Федеральной резервной системы США (ФРС).

Ethereum has spent the better part of recent months losing ground to Bitcoin, and this underperformance may now be approaching a turning point, at least according to a new technical outlook shared by crypto analyst CrediBULL Crypto. The technical analysis shows that the ETH/BTC pair is no longer breaking down and is now quietly settling down at a level that has always led to sell-off exhaustion in the pair.

ETH/BTC Holds Range Lows As Selling Pressure Fades

The ETH/BTC 12-hour chart tells a story that has been unfolding since July 2025 and is now nearing a completion. The ETH/BTC chart shows a pair that has spent recent months grinding lower before finally reaching a support zone. As shown in the chart below, the ETH/BTC ratio has been in a sustained decline for the past few years from a peak near 0.0420 in mid-2025, which the analyst labels as wave 5 of a completed five-wave impulse. 

The ratio worked its way down through a series of lower highs and lower lows throughout the second half of 2025 and January 2026. However, it has been compressed between February and March into what looks like a macro support zone between approximately 0.02143 and 0.02626.

This support was noted by CrediBULL Crypto as being important in this context, with the analyst pointing out with confidence that the ETH/BTC pair is bottoming here and is in a final stage preceding a true breakout from the current range.

Ethereum/Bitcoin Chart. Source: @CredibleCrypto On X

Reclaim Of Range Could Cause A 20% Outperformance Move

The Elliott Wave labeling on the chart frames the current structure on the ETH/BTC pair as a (w)-(x)-(y) correction after the previous five-wave impulse that peaked in mid-2025. Wave (w) has played out in full, and the projection is a wave (x) move that should see the Ethereum price going on a 20% move up on the Bitcoin price.

The most important step in this projected move is reclaiming the previous range lows around 0.0308-0.031, which have now flipped into resistance. Failure to reclaim the level would likely delay this scenario, but the current price action has been characterized by repeated attempts to push higher.

Switching to the ETH/USD 30-minute chart, the analyst overlays a Wyckoff Accumulation schematic to the current price action. The Ethereum/USD chart complements the ETH/BTC outlook, showing price trading in a range just above $2,000. This is above a notable support level around the $1,900-$1,950 range, where multiple reactions have occurred.

Ethereum Price Chart. Source: @CredibleCrypto

There’s also a pink resistance zone above, which is around roughly $2,120 to $2,200. CrediBULL Crypto’s projection, illustrated by the green arrows, envisions a brief retest of support below $1,900 before an upside resolution that pushes the ETH price above the pink resistance zone to $2,400 and maybe higher.

В января — марте у 34 протоколов децентрализованных финансов (DeFi) хакеры украли криптовалюту на сумму более $168,6 млн, сообщил сервис DefiLlama.

Аналитики ончейн-платформы CryptoQuant обратили внимание, что крупные биткоин-инвесторы перешли от накопления к распределению актива. Эксперты считают эту тенденцию способной иметь долгосрочный характер.