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Web3 security company CertiK released the report "2026 Digital Asset Regulatory Status," systematically outlining global regulatory trends. The report indicates that by 2026, the regulatory frameworks in major jurisdictions will have basically been established, and the industry is entering a phase of full compliance. The report shows that anti-money laundering enforcement has replaced the definition of securities attributes as the primary regulatory risk, with global anti-money laundering-related fines exceeding $900 million in the first half of 2025, and transaction monitoring capabilities becoming a core compliance requirement.At the same time, smart contract security audits are evolving from industry best practices to entry requirements, becoming essential for license approval and token listings. Additionally, global stablecoin regulatory frameworks are becoming more consistent, generally establishing principles such as full reserves and licensed issuance; however, differences in cross-jurisdictional regulation still pose compliance challenges. The report points out that with regulatory convergence and strengthened enforcement, the industry has entered the "strong compliance era." CertiK states that the core issue facing enterprises is shifting from "Are we compliant?" to "Can we quickly build and implement compliance capabilities?" Licensing in multiple regions, investments in anti-money laundering, and ongoing security audits are becoming the foundational thresholds for institutional development.

The decentralized prediction market platform Polymarket has completed the upgrade of its Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) v2, and trading functions have gradually resumed.The platform stated that there was a brief downtime during this upgrade, with trading paused and the order book cleared, but user funds and positions are safe. After the new version went live, Polymarket launched a liquidity reward program totaling $1 million, with $500,000 distributed in the first two hours and the remaining $500,000 distributed during the rest of the day.

Polymarket announced that the upgraded CLOB v2 trading platform is now live, the API has started accepting orders, and the public website will soon be accessible again. A $1 million liquidity incentive has been launched: $500,000 will be allocated in the first 2 hours, and the remaining $500,000 will be allocated for the rest of the day.

a16z crypto released an analysis report titled "The New Stack of Global Finance: The Stablecoin Edition." The report points out that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into fundamental financial pipelines, giving rise to a new type of "banking as a service" model that is driving the reconstruction of the financial system. The report believes that the transition to on-chain finance has "crossed the point of no return."The report categorizes blockchains into three types: general-purpose chains (such as Solana, Ethereum, and L2), payment-specific chains (such as Stripe's Tempo), and institutional networks (such as Canton). It also notes that the bottlenecks in the banking industry are easing, with a number of crypto-friendly banks actively connecting on-chain infrastructure with traditional fiat systems. The competition for stablecoin issuance has shifted to regulatory positioning, with issuers vying to obtain OCC national trust charters.The report states that payments are the "first act," while credit may be the more important "second act." The large-scale issuance of stablecoins will give rise to a new on-chain credit market, allowing capital to form outside the traditional banking system. The report also emphasizes that stablecoins not only enhance the dominance of the dollar but also provide emerging market users with access channels to the dollar.

According to SoSoValue data, as of 8 AM Eastern Time on April 27, 2026, the total net purchase of Bitcoin by global listed companies (excluding mining companies) for the week was $260 million, a decrease of 89.8% compared to last week.Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) announced an investment of $255 million (a decrease of 90% compared to last week) to purchase 3,273 Bitcoins at a price of $77,906, bringing the total holdings to 818,334 Bitcoins.The Japanese listed company Metaplanet did not purchase any Bitcoin last week.In addition, three other companies purchased Bitcoin last week. The Japanese fashion brand ANAP invested $770,000 on April 21 to increase its holdings by 9.1785 Bitcoins at a price of $84,239.7, bringing the total holdings to 1,431.9716 Bitcoins; the UK Bitcoin company The Smarter Web Company announced an investment of $3.39 million on April 24 to purchase 44 Bitcoins at a price of $77,071, bringing the total holdings to 2,750 Bitcoins; the French Bitcoin company announced an investment of $460,000 on April 27 to purchase 6 Bitcoins at a price of $77,151, bringing the total holdings to 2,943 Bitcoins.Metaplanet has issued zero-interest bonds worth 8 billion yen (approximately $50 million) for the purpose of purchasing Bitcoin.As of the time of writing, the total amount of Bitcoin held by the global listed companies (excluding mining companies) in the statistics is 1,084,909 Bitcoins, an increase of 0.3% compared to last week, with a current market value of approximately $8.434 billion, accounting for 5.4% of the circulating market value of Bitcoin.

Global leading digital asset trading platform Gate released its Q1 2026 report, showing continued steady growth in overall business. According to authoritative institutions such as CoinDesk and CryptoRank, Gate's spot trading volume remains among the top three globally, and its derivatives market share continues to expand, further solidifying its position as a leading trading platform worldwide.In terms of security and compliance, according to the latest reserve report released by the platform, the overall reserve ratio reached 122%, with the BTC reserve ratio as high as 147%, covering nearly 500 types of user assets. Gate's Malta-based company, Gate Technology Ltd, has obtained a Payment Institution (PI) license granted by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) under the EU's Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), further consolidating its strategic layout across Europe.As of now, multiple entities under Gate have obtained or completed relevant regulatory registrations, license applications, authorizations, or approvals in jurisdictions such as Malta, Cyprus, the Bahamas, Japan, Australia, and Dubai. While trading business continues to grow, Gate is enhancing its global competitiveness through transparent reserves and compliance qualifications, moving towards a comprehensive digital financial infrastructure.

According to Jinshi reports, Allianz Chief Economic Advisor Mohamed A. El-Erian stated that the price shocks caused by the Middle East war have pushed market expectations toward an environment of "interest rates remaining at higher levels for a longer period," affecting almost all systemically important central banks, with the sole exception being the Bank of Japan. He pointed out that the current situation, accompanied by negative demand shocks from "second-round effects," poses a potential risk of spreading to financial instability, highlighting the uncertainty of the outlook.

According to a report by Bitcoin Suisse, Hyperliquid recorded an annual revenue of $820 million in the past year, ranking fourth in global perpetual contract trading volume, becoming one of the few decentralized platforms that can compete with centralized exchanges. In the field of decentralized perpetual contracts, Hyperliquid held a 41% share of open interest and over 30% of total trading volume in 2025.Additionally, the platform launched over 120 new markets linked to RWA in less than six months, covering off-chain instruments such as tokenized stocks and commodities, averaging about five new markets launched each week. Bitcoin Suisse pointed out that Hyperliquid's order book design and native blockchain architecture are its key differentiating advantages, and the introduction of HyperEVM along with a capital-efficient trading mechanism will support its further expansion, setting a new benchmark for decentralized trading platforms.

After launching on KuCoin and LBank, Staynex is further advancing its exchange layout, and its native token $STAY will be listed on MEXC today at 19:00 (UTC+8). This is not just a listing; it opens up a broader market coverage.$STAY is an AI travel token, fundamentally based on real travel application scenarios. Staynex integrates AI + Web3-driven travel planning, hotel discovery, membership benefits, and token rewards into a single ecosystem. The underlying structure is driven by Web3, while the user experience prioritizes AI.In terms of the token model, the total supply of $STAY is fixed at 100 billion tokens, with an initial circulation of only 3% at TGE. The project adopts a distribution mechanism with no VC, no private placement, and zero team unlocks, giving the token stronger market attributes from the moment it is launched. At the application level, Staynex builds an AI + Web3 ecosystem centered around real travel consumption. Holding $STAY unlocks tiered membership benefits, including travel discounts, staking rewards, and lifestyle benefits such as airport lounges. Additionally, the platform will use 20% of its revenue for token buybacks, linking platform growth with token value.The listing on MEXC continues Staynex's active acceleration of global expansion, including the acquisition of the European Web3 travel platform Sleap and the introduction of over 40 ecological partners. As the product continues to iterate and more exchange listing plans are advanced, $STAY is gradually building an application path that connects digital assets with real consumption scenarios.

KuCoin announced the launch of KuCard in Australia, allowing users to use cryptocurrency assets for daily consumption at merchants worldwide that accept Mastercard, with payment options through Apple Pay and Google Pay. The service initially supports 37 USDC trading pairs, covering mainstream digital assets such as BTC, ETH, and USDT, with real-time conversion to fiat currency during the settlement process. KuCoin stated that this move is an important step in enhancing compliance and transparency in the cryptocurrency payment experience, and it is the latest progress in promoting the real-world application of cryptocurrency assets after completing its registration with AUSTRAC as a digital currency exchange (DCE).

According to official news, the Gate WCTC S8 Global Trading Competition officially started on April 23 at 16:00:00 (UTC+8) and will last until May 20 at 15:59:59 (UTC+8). The pre-heating phase had already attracted over 5,500 teams, and with the official launch of the competition, global traders have fully entered the practical phase to compete for annual trading honors.It is reported that the total prize pool for this event reaches 8,000,000 USDT, covering various trading categories including spot, ETF, flash exchange, contracts, and TradFi, and has set up three core competition tracks: team competition, individual competition, and 1v1 king PK. Among them, the first half of the team competition has already started, focusing on a dual-dimensional competition based on trading volume and profit, unlocking a prize pool of 1,800,000 USDT; the individual competition and PK competition are also ongoing, sharing rewards of 2,000,000 USDT and 1,600,000 USDT respectively, with an overall upgrade in the competition system that balances competitiveness and participation.In addition, during the competition period, blind box treasure chests, live draw events, and multiple bonus activities will be launched simultaneously, continuously releasing incentive benefits. As the competition enters the official competitive phase, the trading feast aiming for a prize pool of tens of millions has fully kicked off.It is reported that Gate Live will start the official live broadcast on April 22 at 20:00 (UTC+8), hosted by the official host Jesse, along with guest Eden and several KOLs, focusing on the team mechanism, gameplay rules, and competition strategies of this WCTC, while discussing the current market situation. This live broadcast will also include an interactive lottery segment, with prizes including an iPhone 17 Pro and $1000 contract position experience vouchers. Users can participate in the interaction in the live broadcast room and have the opportunity to join a team or participate in the competition through the host's channel.

According to CoinGlass data, the price of gold tokens is fluctuating upwards, with gold contracts XAUT_USDT and PAXG_USDT both breaking above $4700. Currently, XAUT is quoted at $4,682.15, and PAXG is quoted at $4,687.79. Although there has been a short-term pullback, the overall price remains in a high range, and market attention continues to increase.In addition, in terms of the spot market for gold (PAXG), Gate ranks among the top with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $1.8846 million, with an increase of up to 99.87%, ranking first.Currently, Gate has fully deepened its TradFi layout, with the spot sector supporting trading in stocks and metals, and the contract sector covering diversified assets such as gold, silver, foreign exchange, and commodities. With a flexible USDT settlement mechanism and leverage of up to 100 times, Gate continues to assist global investors in achieving cross-market, round-the-clock asset allocation and risk management.

According to Jinshi reports, based on the latest data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), as conflicts continue in the Middle East, the share of the US dollar in international transactions rose to a record 51.1% in March, up from 49.2% the previous month, marking the highest share since 2023. The trading share of the euro is about 21%, followed by the British pound and the Japanese yen.

ChainCatcher reported live that Li Baiwei, Partner at HashKey Tokenisation, John Cahill, Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy Digital Asia, Abdelhamid Bizid, Managing Director of BlackRock, and Min Lin, Managing Director and Head of Global Business Development at Ondo Finance, attended the HK Web3 Feastival roundtable to share insights on "From Wall Street to Blockchain: The Practical Logic and Future Landscape of Global RWA Issuance."The attendees generally agreed that the core value of RWA and asset tokenization is no longer just an innovative narrative at the conceptual level, but a realistic path for upgrading financial market infrastructure. John Cahill stated that blockchain is essentially a superior "underlying pipeline" for financial markets, and in the long run, the ultimate goal of financial markets will be "tokenization of everything"; what truly needs attention is not whether tokenization will happen, but whether market participants have already begun preparing for this endgame.Abdelhamid Bizid pointed out that from the perspective of traditional asset management institutions, the current tokenized products primarily serve clients who do not wish to move funds out of the on-chain ecosystem but want to achieve stable returns and compliant asset allocation tools. BlackRock has seen a clear demand for on-chain yield products and will continue to launch more new products. However, he also emphasized that the real bottleneck in the industry at this stage is not technology, but rather institutional adoption, demand validation, liquidity depth, regulatory clarity, and non-technical barriers such as costs and taxation.Min Lin, drawing from Ondo's practice, stated that the key to tokenized stocks is not just moving U.S. stocks onto the blockchain, but transforming stocks that are originally static in brokerage accounts into programmable financial instruments that can serve as collateral, margin, and lending assets in DeFi, further unlocking capital efficiency. He mentioned that the main demand currently observed by Ondo still comes from retail and crypto-native funds in regions like Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, which find it difficult to directly access the U.S. stock market. This indicates that tokenized stocks at this stage are more like "global asset access tools" rather than mainstream trading venues for institutional funds.