cryptocurrency

According to CoinDesk, the UK's parliamentary standards watchdog is conducting a formal investigation into Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage for failing to declare a £5 million donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Harborne holds a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether. Farage argues that the donation was used to pay for personal security costs and falls within the exemption for disclosure.If found in violation of the code of conduct, Farage could face suspension. A YouGov poll shows Reform UK leading with a 28% support rate, and Farage is expected to become the next Prime Minister. The UK government suspended political crypto donations in March, and this ban will be written into the Representation of the People Act.

American financial services giant Charles Schwab has begun to phase in the "Schwab Crypto" service for eligible U.S. retail customers, allowing users to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum directly.According to official information, users can view and manage their crypto assets directly through their existing Schwab accounts, with custody provided by Charles Schwab Premier Bank, while Paxos offers underlying custody and trade execution services. The platform charges a transaction fee of 0.75% of the transaction amount, and currently does not support external wallet deposits and withdrawals. Additionally, this service is not yet available to residents of New York and Louisiana. Charles Schwab currently manages approximately $12 trillion in client assets, with its clients holding about 20% of the assets in U.S. spot crypto ETFs.

According to The Defiant, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced the launch of the Flexline lending service, designed for crypto holders who cannot access traditional credit markets.It is reported that Flexline offers a fixed annual interest rate of 10%-25% and accepts cryptocurrencies as collateral, supporting scenarios such as operational funding needs and proof of funds for large transactions. The product aims to address the issue of crypto-native businesses and high-net-worth individuals having difficulty obtaining loans from traditional financial institutions using digital assets.

Zhao Changpeng stated in a Binance Online live broadcast that, compared to directly investing in AI itself, he prefers to invest in the "shovels" that support AI, including data centers, power, and other computing infrastructure.Zhao Changpeng mentioned that although the current AI chip market is almost dominated by NVIDIA, there may be more customized solutions for AI computing scenarios in the future. Additionally, he is also paying attention to the development of robotics technology.In terms of investment direction, Zhao Changpeng said that AI will drive rapid development in biotechnology, but YZi Labs will not make large-scale investments in this field, with core investments still focused on the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Currently, about 70% to 80% of investments are still in the Web3 sector.

Upexi's financial report shows that as of March 31, 2026, the company had a net loss of $109.3 million, significantly widening from a net loss of $3.8 million in the same period of 2025. Although total revenue for the quarter reached $4.6 million, an increase from $3.2 million in the same period last year, it was primarily impacted by an unrealized loss of $92.3 million in digital assets, resulting in a loss per share of $1.67.Upexi stated that by the end of March, it held 2.36 million SOL, with a fair value of approximately $184.9 million, and staking income of $3.5 million. Additionally, the company has completed a $36 million private placement of convertible bonds, exchanging 265,500 locked SOL tokens.

Upexi's financial report shows that as of March 31, 2026, the company had a net loss of $109.3 million, significantly widening from a net loss of $3.8 million in the same period of 2025. Although total revenue for the quarter reached $4.6 million, an increase from $3.2 million in the same period last year, it was primarily impacted by an unrealized loss of $92.3 million in digital assets, resulting in a loss per share of $1.67.Upexi stated that by the end of March, it held 2.36 million SOL, with a fair value of approximately $184.9 million, and staking income of $3.5 million. Additionally, the company has completed a $36 million private placement of convertible bonds, exchanging 265,500 locked SOL tokens.

According to The New York Times, the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and its co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have disclosed a total of over $115 million in federal donations during this midterm election cycle, surpassing George Soros ($102.9 million), Elon Musk ($85 million), and Jeff Yass ($81.8 million), making them the largest known political donor in this election cycle.Compared to the approximately $63 million in donations for the 2024 election cycle, this round of donations has seen significant growth. Notably, on November 6, 2024 (the day after the election), a16z injected over $23 million into a major super PAC in the cryptocurrency industry, indicating that its political strategy has a clear long-term intention.

According to Cointelegraph, the Deputy Minister of Finance of Vietnam stated that the country may officially launch the cryptocurrency market in the third quarter of 2026.

PANews' in-depth analysis article points out that, in the context of accelerating global cryptocurrency regulation, compliance capability is becoming a key watershed in the competition among CEXs. Trading platforms represented by Gate are strengthening their competitiveness in the mainstream financial system by continuously expanding their global licensing network.Specifically, Gate is promoting its compliance layout through its various operational entities: Gate US achieves compliant operations in 46 jurisdictions by holding 35 state-level MTL licenses in the United States; leveraging the Cyprus CySEC license, MiCA license, and Payment Institution (PI) license, it is deeply developing business in multiple regions in Europe; Gate Japan is entering the highly regulated Japanese market with the FSA license; it is tapping into the rapidly growing Middle Eastern market with the Dubai VARA license; at the same time, it has completed its layout in the Australian market through AUSTRAC registration.The article notes that compared to some platforms that focus on advancing in a single region, Gate prefers to promote its global compliance layout by establishing entities in multiple locations and directly applying for licenses. Although this path takes longer and incurs higher costs, it helps enhance long-term compliance credibility and diversify risks associated with a single jurisdiction. As global regulation enters the enforcement phase in 2026, the industry's model of "expanding first, complying later" is gradually retreating, and compliance is transforming from a cost item into a core asset, becoming a key threshold for platforms to participate in mainstream market competition.

According to The Kobeissi Letter, crypto funds recorded an inflow of $858 million last week, marking the sixth consecutive week of net inflows, with a total of $4.7 billion injected over the past six weeks.In the past 11 weeks, crypto funds have seen net inflows in 10 of those weeks. Among them, Bitcoin funds led the way with an inflow of $706 million last week, totaling $4.9 billion year-to-date. Ethereum, Solana, and XRP funds saw inflows of $77 million, $48 million, and $40 million, respectively.Meanwhile, short Bitcoin funds experienced an outflow of $14 million last week, the largest single-week outflow since 2026, indicating a further weakening of bearish sentiment in the market.

According to SoSoValue data, the overall cryptocurrency market is experiencing narrow fluctuations, with the CeFi sector performing relatively well, rising 1.50% in 24 hours. Among them, Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 2.36%, and NEXO (NEXO) rose by 1.09%. Additionally, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.04%, fluctuating narrowly around the $81,000 mark; Ethereum (ETH) decreased by 0.87%, maintaining around $2,300.In other sectors, the AI sector rose by 1.42% in 24 hours, with Billions Network (BILL) continuing to rise by 35.21%; the Layer1 sector increased by 0.41%, with NEAR Protocol (NEAR) rising by 11.09%; the Layer2 sector rose by 0.37%, with Celestia (TIA) increasing by 9.03%; the Meme sector increased by 0.21%, with Binance Life soaring by 14.53%; the PayFi sector fell by 0.86%, but Telcoin (TEL) rose by 14.02%; the DeFi sector decreased by 1.35%, while Falcon Finance (FF) rose against the trend by 11.53%; the SocialFi sector fell by 2.41%, with Toncoin (TON) dropping by 3.48%.The cryptocurrency sector index reflecting historical market trends shows that the ssiCeFi and ssiLayer1 indices rose by 1.95% and 0.17%, respectively, while the ssiRWA index fell by 6.46%.

Traditional financial giant Charles Schwab announced that Schwab Crypto accounts are now gradually opening to retail customers. The first batch of customers can trade Bitcoin and Ethereum on Schwab, managing them alongside other investment products.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett revealed that U.S. Senator Jack Reed submitted an amendment before the stablecoin bill review this Thursday, aiming to explicitly prohibit cryptocurrencies from being used as legal tender, including banning the payment of taxes with crypto assets.Senator Elizabeth Warren also submitted over 40 amendments, one of which aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing master accounts to cryptocurrency companies. Another amendment jointly submitted by Senators Reed and Smith seeks to include restrictions on banks regarding stablecoin yields in the bill.

According to The Block, eToro's revenue from its cryptocurrency business in the first quarter of 2026 fell to $2.15 billion, down from $3.5 billion in the same period of 2025; the total number of cryptocurrency transactions decreased by 32% year-on-year.During the same period, the cost of revenue from its cryptocurrency business dropped from $3.5 billion to $2.1 billion, and the cryptocurrency holdings on the balance sheet slightly decreased from $62.6 million at the end of 2025 to $60.5 million. eToro stated that it completed the $70 million acquisition of cryptocurrency wallet company Zengo during the quarter and launched cryptocurrency trading services in New York.

According to The Block, Bitcoin's market share has rebounded from a low of 55% to about 58.5%. This metric has historically been a barometer for capital rotation within the crypto market: an increase in market share typically accompanies a consolidation phase where Bitcoin outperforms altcoins, while a decrease often signals the arrival of altcoin season.In mid-2025, Bitcoin's market share peaked between 62% and 63%, then continued to decline to about 54%. The current rise to 58% suggests that the market may be in a consolidation phase rather than a full shift towards altcoins.Bitcoin's price has rebounded from a low of around $63,000 in February to about $80,000. Over the past month, TON, ZEC, and DOGE have performed relatively strongly, a pattern that previously indicated altcoin expansion when Bitcoin's market share began to decline. The key question is whether Bitcoin's market share is consolidating at the current level or continuing to decline.

The Speaker of the Polish Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, announced that the parliament has officially begun reviewing four competing regulatory bills for crypto assets, following President Karol Nawrocki's veto of related legislation twice. This review involves multiple legislative proposals from the government, the presidential office, the Poland 2050 party, and the Confederation party, with a second reading vote expected to take place on Thursday. The core disagreement centers on the scope of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) regarding account freezing powers and the maximum penalties for violations. The presidential draft sets the maximum fine at approximately 20 million zlotys (about 5.5 million USD), while the Ministry of Finance's version raises it to 25 million zlotys (about 6.9 million USD).Meanwhile, the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), after withdrawing support for earlier regulatory proposals, submitted a separate bill on Monday advocating for a complete ban on crypto asset-related activities in Poland, further complicating the regulatory discussion. Speaker Czarzasty stated that the PiS ban draft will enter the review process only after the four main regulatory bills are completed and questioned the connection between crypto industry funding and political activities, specifically inquiring about potential political financing issues, including those involving zondacrypto.

On-chain detective ZachXBT exposed American threat actor Dritan Kapllani Jr, claiming he is suspected of participating in a social engineering theft targeting crypto users, totaling approximately $19 million. ZachXBT stated that Dritan has long flaunted luxury cars, high-end watches, private jets, and nightlife on social media. On April 23, 2026, during a "Band 4 Band (B4B)" voice chat on Discord, he publicly displayed an Exodus wallet containing $3.68 million in assets to prove he was wealthier than another hacker.The relevant ETH address is: 0x4487db847db2fc99372a985743a26f46e0b2bba6. ZachXBT tracked and found that this address is linked to a social engineering theft case involving 185 BTC (approximately $13 million) on March 14, 2026. The next day, Dritan's Exodus wallet received about $5.3 million of those funds. By the time of the B4B call six weeks later, about $1.6 million had been spent or laundered.On May 11, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed a criminal indictment against Trenton Johnson, who is accused of participating in the aforementioned 185 BTC theft case and could face up to 40 years in prison. "Coconspirator 1" in the indictment is alleged to be Dritan, who has not yet been formally charged. ZachXBT also pointed out that Dritan is connected to hacker John Daghita (Lick), who was previously arrested for stealing $46 million from the U.S. government, and John had exposed Dritan's old wallet address on Telegram.On-chain analysis shows that this address is related to multiple high-confidence social engineering theft cases in 2025, with a total amount involved exceeding $5.85 million. ZachXBT stated that Dritan has been active in "The Com" hacker circle for a long time and had previously not faced formal charges due to his minor status. He is now over 18 years old, and "the borrowed time may finally be over."