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The Hong Kong Stock Exchange today published a consultation document regarding the shortening of the settlement cycle for the Hong Kong stock cash market (the "Consultation Document"), proposing to shorten the settlement cycle from the current T+2 to T+1, and seeking market opinions on the proposal.

The crypto financial services company Nava, which prevents inappropriate behavior of AI agents, announced the completion of an $8.3 million seed round financing, co-led by Polychain and Archetype.It is reported that the company's method to prevent inappropriate behavior of AI agents is to create a custodial service that holds funds until the agent proposes a transaction. Once the agent proposes a transaction, Nava will use a validation framework to determine whether the transaction outcome aligns with the user's intent. If the transaction passes validation, it will be executed; otherwise, the funds will remain in the custodial account, and the reasons for accepting or rejecting any transaction will be recorded on the blockchain, thereby creating a public decision ledger that can be referenced.

According to CoinDesk, the current Bitcoin halving cycle has surpassed halfway, with block rewards reduced to 3.125 BTC, an inflation rate below 1%, and total supply continuously approaching the fixed cap of 21 million coins.Since the 2024 halving, the price of Bitcoin has increased by about 15%, a rise lower than in previous halving cycles, reflecting a gradual decrease in price volatility as Bitcoin adoption increases and the market matures. This cycle is expected to end in 2028, with halving events occurring every 210,000 blocks, approximately every four years.Data shows that Bitcoin reached an all-time high of about $126,000 in 2025, then fell back to $60,000, with recent prices recovering to nearly $75,000. The current market is focused on whether a price breakthrough above $75,500 could lead to about $200 million in short positions being liquidated, further driving price movements.

In the 13th anniversary open letter, Gate founder and CEO Dr. Han pointed out that the crypto industry is undergoing a structural reshaping driven by multiple variables. Technological evolution, improvements in regulatory systems, changes in the macro environment, and a broader user base are all working together to influence the industry's development path, continuously raising the overall threshold.Dr. Han stated that this change is reflected not only in compliance and technical requirements but also in the higher demands for platform system capabilities and long-term investment; as the threshold rises, resources and space are accelerating towards participants who possess long-term judgment and sustained investment capabilities, and long-termists will gain more certain growth opportunities in the new cycle.As a global leading crypto asset trading platform, Gate always regards security and transparency as the cornerstone of development, being the first to introduce a 100% reserve proof scheme and continuously expanding its global compliance footprint. Currently, 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. At the same time, the platform deeply integrates AI innovative technology, building an ecosystem that covers multi-asset allocation and full-scenario services, driving the industry towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

JP Richardson, CEO of Exodus, stated that this year institutions are accelerating their entry into the cryptocurrency market, while retail participation has declined, indicating that the market may be entering a new phase dominated by institutions.He pointed out that the current market capitalization of stablecoins has reached an all-time high, and traditional financial institutions are continuing to make moves, including launching Bitcoin ETFs and establishing crypto-related business departments. Michaël van de Poppe, founder of MN Fund, also mentioned that under inflation and cost-of-living pressures, retail funding is constrained, and this cycle may exhibit characteristics of being institution-led and lasting longer. Additionally, CryptoQuant data shows that the inflow of funds into small accounts holding less than 1 BTC on Binance has dropped to a nearly nine-year low, indicating a decline in retail participation.

Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi stated during a live broadcast at Binance Square on April 8 that since entering the cryptocurrency industry at the end of 2015 and experiencing two to three cycles of bull and bear markets, he still tends to be "long-term bullish," but the premise is not to be overly optimistic and to face the market's cyclicality and "huge volatility." In his view, the pullbacks and rebounds of crypto assets far exceed those of traditional markets, and investors need to maintain clarity and risk awareness amid the volatility.Regarding the market pressure this year, Yi attributed it to multiple external factors: the unfulfilled expectations of interest rate cuts at the macro level, geopolitical disturbances, slower-than-expected policy advancements, and the cooling of certain narratives (such as "national strategy"); combined with the impact of the four-year cycle, he believes the correction may exceed the original plan. However, he emphasized that this is more about the external financial environment and cycles amplifying short-term volatility, and his core judgment on ETH from a long-term perspective has not changed.On the strategic level, he believes that the difficulty of primary investments has significantly increased after 2022-2023: early-stage primary project cycles are shorter, and liquidity is released faster, but as market structures and unlocking/circulation arrangements change, the window of opportunity for investors has clearly narrowed, making primary investments "not as easy as before." Therefore, he is gradually reducing his involvement in primary investments and focusing more on research and opportunity capture in the secondary market.In addition, he emphasized that AI is accelerating the reshaping of the competitive landscape: over the past two to three months, he has invested more effort into learning about AI and promoting the transformation of invested companies towards AI, believing that individuals and teams that do not understand or cannot use AI in the future may be quickly eliminated. In response to external controversies such as "pumping and dumping," he stated that investment ultimately depends on asset value and trends, and large markets are difficult to be driven by a single participant.

Crypto analyst Ali published a lengthy analysis on the X platform, pointing out that rather than debating whether Bitcoin has bottomed out, it is better to focus on whether the current volatility constitutes a "generational entry opportunity." Based on indicators such as long-term trend lines, on-chain liquidity, and cost distribution, the core "value range" of this cycle is defined.In terms of support, the UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) shows that there is a significant concentration of chips in the range of approximately $63,111 to $70,685, forming the current main support zone; if it falls below $63,111, the market may enter a liquidity vacuum. From a long-term trend perspective, Bitcoin is approaching the key upward trend line of the past decade (approximately $56,000 to $60,000), which historically has often corresponded to accumulation phases before major upward movements.

Since late October last year, the total trading volume of the Japanese compliant stablecoin JPYC has reached 137 million USD, with Polygon dominating at 66% with 90.4 million USD, followed by Avalanche and Ethereum at 26.4 million and 19.7 million USD, respectively.The founder of Polygon confirmed that Japanese physical stores have supported offline payments with JPYC on the Polygon network.

The DeFi protocol Splyce Finance has completed a strategic round of financing, with investors including Sui Foundation, Stellar Foundation, Solana Foundation, Lucid Drakes, Sarson Funds, and Kin Capital. The specific amount of financing has not yet been disclosed.

According to Alex Data, the total trading volume of the Japanese stablecoin JPYC has reached 136 million USD, of which 90 million USD was processed through the Polygon network. JPYC has a wide range of use cases on Polygon, primarily for payment services on platforms such as Tria, Daimo, and CurrencyCompetition.

According to analyst Alicharts, Bitcoin has dropped 52% since its peak in October 2025, with a 3-day SMA crossover signal appearing on February 27 (the death cross of both the 50-period and 200-period SMA), which has now lasted for 30 days. Historical patterns suggest that the final accumulation window of this cycle may occur within the next 3-6 days.Alicharts points out that historical records show that in every major cycle since 2014, the crossover of the 50 and 200 SMA marks an absolute bottom and a golden buying opportunity. Past cycles indicate that a final drop of 40-52% occurs 23-33 days after the crossover, completing the bear market washout. The potential washout target for this cycle is between $30,000 and $40,000, after which the next bull market will begin.

According to on-chain analyst aryan's disclosure on the X platform, in the attack incident on the Drift protocol treasury, the attacker's address obtained funds through NEAR Intents 8 days ago but remained inactive until receiving a large amount of assets from the Drift treasury.The attacker transferred the funds to multiple money laundering addresses. Notably, these money laundering addresses received funds through Backpack yesterday, and Backpack should have conducted KYC verification on these accounts. Subsequently, the money laundering addresses transferred the funds to an Ethereum address via Wormhole, which had previously received funds through Tornado Cash.

Market maker Wintermute's latest market weekly report indicates that the ratio of Bitcoin perpetual contract trading volume to spot trading volume has risen to 15 times, while the funding rate volatility has dropped to a low point in this cycle, showing that market leverage is high but there is insufficient directional consensus. The current structure is closer to "compression and accumulation," or brewing significant unilateral volatility.Wintermute believes that if geopolitical tensions ease and oil prices fall back to around $100, short positions will face the risk of being squeezed to between $70,000 and $74,000. If the situation continues to ease, the resistance level at $74,000 may be tested.Conversely, if the situation escalates further and oil prices rise to $120, oil prices could drop to just above $60, and if the cyclical trend is similar, it could fall to the mid-high $50,000 range. More macro-wise, the directionality here is not important; what matters is the market structure itself. The leverage on futures contracts is high, capital flows are fluctuating within the narrowest range ever recorded, and volatility is also narrowing.Regarding which direction the catalysts ultimately develop, the market structure indicates that the resulting volatility will far exceed the levels currently reflected in spot, futures, and options prices.

According to Jinshi Data, the People's Bank of China Monetary Policy Committee held its first quarter meeting of 2026 (the 112th meeting) on March 26. The meeting analyzed the domestic and international economic and financial situation, noting that the current changes in the external environment have deepened, the momentum of the world economy is weak, geopolitical conflicts and trade conflicts are frequent, the economic performance of major economies is diverging, and there is uncertainty in inflation trends and monetary policy adjustments.China's economic operation is generally stable, with progress in stability and new achievements in high-quality development, but it still faces issues and challenges such as strong supply and weak demand, and external shocks. It is necessary to continue implementing a moderately loose monetary policy, increase counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments, better leverage the dual functions of monetary policy tools in terms of both total volume and structure, and strengthen the coordination and cooperation between monetary and fiscal policies to promote stable economic growth and a reasonable rebound in prices.

The globally oriented Web3 intellectual property (IP) infrastructure project BeatSwap will launch its core product "Space" in Q2. This product is defined as the SocialFi layer in the ecosystem, aimed at directly connecting creators with users and achieving deep integration with other modules of the platform.As a result, a complete user behavior closed loop is formed within the platform: Discovery; Participation; Consumption; Rewards; Trading. The announcement states that the launch of this product marks BeatSwap's evolution towards a full-stack Web3 infrastructure. Through the integration of IP certification and on-chain registration, revenue distribution, incentive mechanisms, and other aspects, the platform constructs an end-to-end closed-loop path, allowing IP rights to complete the full cycle of "creation---usage---monetization" within the same ecosystem.

According to CoinDesk, despite several digital art projects being showcased at the Art Basel in Hong Kong, the overall performance of the NFT market remains weak, with no significant signs of recovery.Specifically, the listing price for Bored Ape #5278 from the "Bored Ape" series is currently only 7 ETH, down more than 100 ETH from its last transaction price, reflecting a significant pullback in the valuation of top NFT assets. Once regarded as a rapidly emerging asset class, the NFT art market has notably cooled, with both liquidity and price performance under continued pressure.

According to Forbes, Goldman Sachs analyst James Yaro stated in a research report that the decline in Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market has roughly reached the historical average level from peak to trough in this cycle. In recent weeks, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related stocks have shown volatility but are trending towards stability. However, Yaro warned that trading volume may decline further, and in a low trading volume environment, Bitcoin prices are prone to significant fluctuations, making any rebound difficult to sustain.He pointed out that trading volume typically remains at a low for about three months before showing a noticeable recovery. If trading volume continues to decline, cryptocurrency companies' revenues may decrease by 2% and profits by 4% in 2026. Goldman Sachs currently rates Robinhood, Figure Technologies, and Coinbase as "buy," with the stock prices of these three companies down at least 50% from their historical highs. Yaro stated that digital asset-related targets are presenting increasingly attractive entry points.Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon revealed last month at the World Liberty Forum held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Florida that he holds a small amount of Bitcoin, marking a shift in his stance for 2024. This week, Bitcoin prices fell back to around $60,000, and Trade Nation senior market analyst David Morrison noted that Bitcoin previously faced resistance and retreated around $72,000. Currently, the daily MACD indicator is flattening at a neutral level, and the short-term trend direction remains unclear.