Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, announced it will acquire 100% of digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million (cash + stock). The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. Bitnomial is the first crypto-native platform to simultaneously hold all three licenses for the full stack of derivatives in the United States (designated contract market, derivatives clearing, and futures commission broker). This acquisition will help Payward quickly acquire a complete compliant derivatives infrastructure, significantly accelerating its expansion in the US market. Upon completion of the transaction, Bitnomial's clearing and trading capabilities will be integrated with platforms such as Kraken and NinjaTrader, offering US clients products such as spot margin trading, perpetual contracts, and options, and will be regulated by the CFTC. This acquisition will also expand Payward Services, enabling banks, fintech companies, and brokerages to access the compliant US derivatives market through a single API. Industry insiders believe that with market recovery and valuation repair, M&A activity in the crypto sector is picking up again. Leading institutions are acquiring companies to enhance their key capabilities in compliance, custody, and derivatives, accelerating their transformation into institutional-grade comprehensive trading platforms. (CoinDesk)

Bitcoin successfully broke out of the $62.8k–$72.6k range, briefly touching the $74k mark. This breakout strategically signifies that the market has moved from a geopolitically induced "forced deleveraging" phase to an "initial stabilization period."

The official WeChat account of the Cyberspace Administration of China published an article entitled "Building a Law-Based Cyberspace that Benefits the People," which pointed out that it is necessary to continuously improve laws and regulations that promote and protect the development of informatization, especially to strengthen legislation in areas such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, network infrastructure, satellite internet, and blockchain, and strive to ensure that cyber legislation covers wherever informatization development goes, so as to safeguard technological innovation and self-reliance in the cyberspace field with the rule of law.

China and India have significantly influenced global gold demand, according to data from The Kobeissi Letter. Over the past decade, these two countries have collectively accounted for nearly half of the world's gold purchases, with China contributing 27% and India 21%. According to NS3.AI, emerging economies have played a major role, representing approximately 70% of global gold acquisitions during this period.

According to the official announcement, in order to optimize the trading experience and liquidity, the listing market for Bitget IPO Prime's first project, preSPAX, will be changed from "over-the-counter trading" to "spot trading." Trading will open on April 21st at 20:00 (UTC+8), and the instant swap function will be available 10 minutes after trading begins.

According to its official website, OKX Wallet has completed a security audit by the blockchain security firm SlowMist. The results show that all seven core security modules passed, with no high-risk security issues found. The audit covered key aspects such as private key management and cryptographic security mechanisms, demonstrating that all sensitive information is processed locally, and no risk of private keys or mnemonic phrases being leaked was detected. The full audit report is now publicly available on the website.

Bond tokenization platform BlockInvest announced the completion of a €4 million strategic funding round, with UniCredit participating and acquiring a 16% stake in the company. BlockInvest will reportedly assist UniCredit in issuing Italy's first native digital mini-bond and the first public blockchain-based tokenized structured note for wealth management clients, as well as building a technological infrastructure that combines the programmability of digital ledgers with financial regulatory compliance. (LedgerInsights)

SpaceX is expected to publicly file for its IPO in late May and price its shares in the week of June 15. If it achieves its fundraising target of up to approximately $75 billion, it will become the largest IPO in history. Furthermore, sources familiar with the matter say that SpaceX has moved up the originally scheduled vesting date for employee stock grants, which could take effect as early as next week. This early vesting is expected to help alleviate employee concerns about the number of shares available for sale at the time of the company's IPO. SpaceX has already notified employees that the vesting date (the time when shares granted through stock options can be sold) will be moved forward from the originally planned May to April. (Bloomberg)

Despite Bitcoin's rise to $76,300 this week, market sentiment remains subdued, with the Fear & Greed Index still hovering around 21, in the "extreme fear" range, indicating a clear divergence between price and sentiment. Institutional views suggest this rally is more of a "valuation correction" than a trend reversal. QCP Capital calls it a "mitigation rally," noting that macroeconomic pressures from inflation, energy, and policy have not fully subsided. Glassnode points out that Bitcoin is still about 5% below the key resistance level of approximately $78,100, the "real market average," suggesting limited upside potential. Funding structures are also showing divergence. While spot demand and ETF inflows have improved somewhat, profit-taking has increased, institutional participation remains cautious, and the derivatives market continues to favor downward hedging. Exchange data also shows that demand is primarily driven by offshore and retail funds, rather than US institutional dominance. Analysts suggest that around $75,000 has become a key support/test level. If subsequent buying fails to sustain, the price may fall back to the $70,000 to $71,000 range. On the macro front, US stocks continued to hit new highs, and oil prices remained high but did not surge further, leading to a recovery in market risk appetite, but uncertainty remains. Market focus is shifting to the Federal Reserve's policy path, and the overall environment continues to constrain crypto assets. In summary, while Bitcoin is currently maintaining its rebound, it is fluctuating near resistance levels, the market tone remains cautious, and a unified bullish trend has not yet formed. (The Block)

TeraWulf, a Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company, has successfully completed its public offering of 54,510,000 shares of common stock at a price of $19.00 per share, raising a total of $1,035,690,000. According to Odaily, Morgan Stanley acted as the lead underwriter for this offering, with BofA Securities, Citigroup, TD Cowen, and Wells Fargo Securities serving as joint underwriters. Citizens Capital Markets and Santander Bank were co-managers, while Cantor Fitzgerald provided advisory services for equity capital markets. The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to cover part of the construction costs for its planned data center campus in Horse Cave, Kentucky. This includes fully repaying outstanding amounts under its transitional credit arrangements and funding future site acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

A recent prediction on Polymarket suggests a 32% probability that U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Pakistan by May 31, 2026. According to Odaily, this marks a 16% increase over the past 24 hours. The contract stipulates that if Trump enters Pakistan's land or maritime territory by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 31, 2026, the outcome will be 'Yes.' Entry into Pakistani airspace does not affect the result. The primary sources for market information include official U.S. government announcements, Trump's verified social media accounts, and other credible reports.

Discussions surrounding stablecoins have long focused on one question: who will issue the next dominant stablecoin?

A group of Drift Protocol investors are seeking to bring stablecoin issuer Circle to court, blaming the company for its inaction following the Drift Protocol hack.

OpenAI has paused its Stargate UK data centre plan, saying energy costs and regulation were the main reasons. The UK AI minister disputes this, saying conditions have not changed and pointing instead to OpenAI’s financial pressures.

The most valuable thing in the future will be the oldest thing. It's not computing power. It's not data. It's not models. It's when one person says "I believe in you" to another, and that promise is truly fulfilled.

A Brazilian cybersecurity researcher has raised alarm bells, warning others about counterfeit ledger devices that has been planted by scammers in the Chinese market in the attempt to steal users' crypto.

Exchanges are replacing traditional venture capital (VC) firms, gradually gaining control over initial public offerings (IPOs), pricing power, and liquidity. Exchanges are eroding the informational, investment, and lock-up advantages of traditional VCs, and arbitrage opportunities for VCs are being continuously squeezed.

Grinex halted trading after hackers stole around $13–15 million from its wallets in a coordinated attack involving 54 addresses. The stolen funds were quickly moved across multiple blockchains and converted into other assets to make them harder to trace.

Payments, Stablecoins, Web3 Compliance: Licensing Strategies for Stablecoin Payment Projects (Jinse Finance) This article analyzes the compliance and licensing strategies for stablecoin payment projects.

Overnight, BTC continued to fluctuate around 75k, with various opinions circulating in the market.