News section

The CFTC approved Kalshi’s BTCPERP contract, clearing the way for the first federally regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures product in the U.S.The regulator also issued Coinbase a no-action letter allowing certain crypto perpetual futures products to use Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoins as collateral.Kalshi’s approval comes as the company expands beyond prediction markets while challenging Minnesota’s proposed prediction market ban in federal court.

Wintermute begins two way market making on major prediction platformsMonthly prediction market volume above $20 billion as lifetime flows top $150 billionMove follows institutional push into Polymarket and Kalshi style event contracts

Bitcoin options worth $6.2 billion expired as BTC traded below the key $75,000 max pain level.Ethereum options worth $1.28 billion expired while ETH struggled near $2,000 after recent market weakness.Greeks.live said the expiry looked like bearish unwinding, with longs retreating from key resistance zones.

The ether price has fallen sharply in recent months, but the underperformance does not reflect continuing improvements in Ethereum’s internal metrics, according to Standard Chartered Bank.The bank compared ETH to Amazon stock during the 2001 tech bubble burst, saying ETH will catch up to internal metrics and that “it is just a matter of time.”Standard Chartered maintained its ether price targets of $4,000 by end-2026 and $40,000 by end-2030.

YZi Labs unveils Creator Program focused on Web3, AI, and frontier techInitiative connects vetted creators with over 300 portfolio projects and foundersMove extends YZi Labs’ wider push into Web3 infrastructure, talent, and content

Geoffrey Kendrick at Standard Chartered compares Ethereum to Amazon after the 2001 dot‑com bust, saying ETH’s price is lagging its internal metrics.The bank keeps a $4,000 end‑2026 target and a $40,000 2030 target for ETH, banking on stablecoins, tokenization and policy clarity to close the gap.Critics note Standard Chartered’s spotty crypto calls, but the Amazon analogy lands in a market where Ethereum remains the dominant base layer for real‑world assets.

Samsung Securities, Samsung Card, and Samsung SDS will purchase a 4% stake in Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit.Local financial giant Hana recently disclosed a $670 million investment in Dunamu to acquire a 6.55% stake in the company.Major institutions in South Korea are seeking to expand into digital assets in preparation for the upcoming regulatory framework for crypto.

Bit Digital originated a $100 million delayed draw term loan facility to fund growth initiatives at a unit of its majority-owned AI infrastructure firm, WhiteFiber.The company said advances may be funded through an Ethereum-denominated secured credit facility, allowing it to retain ETH exposure and earn a financing spread on the loan asset.

Morpho publishes the Midnight white paper and opens the codebase on GitHubMidnight targets fixed-rate, fixed-term credit markets with intent-based loan matchingMorpho now ranks as DeFi’s second-largest lending protocol with about $7.7 billion in TVL

Analysts compared Ethereum's current position to Amazon following the dot-com bubble burst.

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF suffered its second‑worst daily outflow since launch, with hundreds of millions in redemptions as BTC sold off sharply intraday.Across U.S. spot products, Bitcoin ETFs saw one of their heaviest combined exit days since January 2024, reversing weeks of inflows and flipping sentiment bearish.The move cements ETF flow as the main driver of Bitcoin’s short‑term price action, with discretionary buyers increasingly forced to trade around institutional liquidity.

Grayscale sent 1,530.704 BTC to Coinbase Prime worth about $112m in one hour.The move follows earlier multi hundred million dollar transfers tied to ETF redemptions.On chain data again puts Arkham in the middle as watcher of institutional flows.

John Williams warns the Middle East war is already lifting US inflation via higher energy costs.He expects headline inflation to approach roughly 2.75% in 2026 and temporarily rise above 3%.Williams argues the energy shock should be short lived but says uncertainty limits Fed guidance.

Bitcoin dropped 3.6% in the past 24 hours to around $72,882 early Thursday, while Ethereum fell to $1,974.U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw their largest net outflows on Wednesday since late January, with BlackRock’s IBIT posting its second-biggest daily net outflow on record.

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BofA, Morgan Stanley, and UBS expect U.S. headline PCE inflation to rise 3.8% year-over-year in April.Core PCE inflation is projected between 0.27% and 0.30% month-over-month as traders watch for clues on future Fed rate decisions.Bitcoin and broader crypto markets remained under pressure ahead of the PCE release, while rising Treasury yields and a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on risk assets.

Bit Digital originated a $100 million loan facility to support WhiteFiber’s AI infrastructure growth plans.The facility may rise to $150 million if Bit Digital and WhiteFiber reach mutual agreement.Ethereum-backed funding lets Bit Digital retain ETH exposure while seeking returns beyond traditional staking yields.