Stablecoin Velocity Doubles, Challenges $2 Trillion Supply Forecast by 2028

Stablecoin velocity has approximately doubled over the past two years, reaching about six times per month, according to Standard Chartered. This development complicates a key assumption behind the bank's $2 trillion supply forecast by 2028. According to NS3.AI, the increase in velocity is primarily driven by USDC activity across various blockchains. Despite this shift, Standard Chartered has maintained its broader forecast unchanged.

Wormhole Addresses Drift Protocol Attack Concerns

On April 2, Wormhole responded to the Drift Protocol attack incident on the X platform. According to BlockBeats, Wormhole assured users that their assets are not currently at risk, and the cross-chain bridge functionality remains operational. However, due to built-in security mechanisms set for Solana, some cross-chain transfers may experience delays. Wormhole's core contributors are in communication with the Solana ecosystem team and will continue to provide support as needed.

Senate CLARITY Talks Move Closer, But Timing Is Still Unclear

• Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the US Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is moving closer to a Senate Banking Committee markup, but no hearing date has been set yet.

• According to Grewal, lawmakers are nearing agreement on the core parts of the bill, while the main unresolved issue remains stablecoin yield — specifically whether issuers or platforms should be allowed to offer rewards.

• That dispute has become one of the biggest delays in Senate negotiations. US banks have argued that yield-bearing stablecoins could pull deposits away from traditional institutions, while Coinbase says there is no evidence supporting those fears.

• The House already passed the CLARITY Act on July 17, 2025, but the Senate process stalled after a planned markup was delayed in January and has not yet been rescheduled.

• The political backdrop is also becoming sharper. President Donald Trump recently accused banks of holding back both the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act over disagreements tied to stablecoin yield.

• The broader market implication is regulatory. Industry voices are warning that if CLARITY does not pass, the crypto sector could remain vulnerable to future policy swings and stricter enforcement under a different administration.

Insight: The bill is no longer stuck on basic structure — it is now stuck on incentives. If senators resolve the stablecoin yield issue, CLARITY could become the framework that gives US crypto regulation more permanence instead of leaving the market exposed to political cycles.

CZ Says Freedom of Money Book Launch Is Set for Next Week; Proceeds to Go to Charity

Binance Co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) posted an update on his book, Freedom of Money, saying the launch is “set for next week,” pending any final editorial round.

According to CZ, e-book pre-orders are now available in English and Traditional Chinese, and the English physical edition is also expected to launch next week. “Regional language editions will follow in the coming months — taking a bit longer, but we’re on it,” he added.

CZ also said he will not be making money from the release: “All proceeds from the book sales will go to Charity. Not trying to make money from the book.”

DOGE Tests a Fragile Zone

Dogecoin is still trading under short-term resistance after slipping below $0.0920, with price also staying under $0.0910 and the 100-hour SMA. That keeps the market in a weak technical position rather than a recovery setup.

The key issue now is structure. DOGE dropped to around $0.0889 and failed to reclaim important retracement levels from the recent decline, while a bearish trendline continues to cap upside near $0.0910–$0.0920. In other words, sellers are still controlling rebounds.

For bulls, the path is clear but narrow: reclaim $0.0920 first, then break above $0.0932. Only then does the chart reopen room toward $0.0950, $0.0980, and possibly $0.10. Until that happens, upside remains theoretical.

On the downside, the market is leaning on $0.0900 and $0.0880 as nearby support, while $0.0850 stands out as the main defensive level. A confirmed break below that zone could accelerate losses toward $0.0800 and even $0.0750.

Momentum also remains soft. The hourly MACD is strengthening in bearish territory, and the RSI is still below 50, both pointing to weak buying conviction.

Bottom line: DOGE is sitting in a vulnerable range where failed recovery attempts matter more than small bounces. If buyers cannot push the price back above $0.0920, the market may start pricing in a deeper leg lower.

CZ Shares Book Excerpt Recounting Binance's Tense Launch Moment on July 14, 2017

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, shared an excerpt from his book Freedom of Money on X, recounting the moment Binance went live on July 14, 2017. The passage describes the team counting down to launch with the BNB trading page open, only to see the screen flood immediately with sell orders and no buy orders. As a handful of bids appeared at low prices they were quickly taken, and BNB's price began to decline. "This is not good, right?" CZ writes that he murmured. The room, initially filled with anticipation, fell silent.

The personal memoir titled: Freedom of Money: A Memoir of Protecting Users, Resilience, and the Founding of Binance, is scheduled for release on April 8, 2026.

Drift Protocol's $280 Million Exploit May Be Civil Negligence, Says Crypto Attorney

Crypto attorney Ariel Givner has suggested that the $280 million exploit of Drift Protocol could be considered civil negligence due to alleged lapses in basic security measures. According to Cointelegraph, Givner pointed out that the team reportedly failed to maintain signing keys on separate air-gapped systems and did not exercise sufficient diligence when engaging developers met at industry conferences.

Drift Protocol's update on Saturday revealed that the attackers had spent six months building trust before deploying malicious links and malware that compromised developer machines. The protocol expressed medium-high confidence that the same group was responsible for the Radiant Capital hack in October 2024.

Polymarket Plans Major Infrastructure Upgrade to Enhance Platform

Polymarket, an on-chain prediction market platform, has announced a significant infrastructure upgrade set to occur within the next 2-3 weeks. According to ChainCatcher, this upgrade will include a comprehensive overhaul of the trading engine and the introduction of a native stablecoin, Polymarket USD.

The upgrade will feature the new CTF Exchange V2 smart contract system, which aims to optimize matching logic and order structure, improve matching efficiency, and reduce gas costs. Additionally, the platform will enhance its central limit order book (CLOB) by adopting a hybrid model of off-chain order matching and on-chain settlement.

On the asset side, Polymarket will introduce Polymarket USD, a native stablecoin pegged 1:1 to USDC, to replace the previous cross-chain version USDC.e on Polygon. This change is intended to improve asset security and consistency. The platform will also support the EIP-1271 standard, allowing multi-signature wallets, such as Safe, to participate directly in trading, thereby expanding use cases for institutional and advanced users.

Polymarket has stated that existing order books will be cleared during the upgrade, with specific maintenance times to be announced a week in advance. This upgrade comes amid increasing competition in the prediction market sector, as the platform seeks to enhance performance and user experience.

SEC: Some Crypto Enforcement Cases Fail to Deliver Investor Protection

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged that some enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies have not directly protected investors. According to Cointelegraph, the SEC highlighted misunderstandings in the interpretation of federal securities laws.

Since the fiscal year 2022, the SEC has initiated 95 enforcement actions, resulting in approximately $2.3 billion in fines. However, some cases did not reveal actual investor harm or provide clear protection or benefits. The regulatory body noted a tendency to prioritize quantity over quality in these actions, along with improper resource allocation.

Under the leadership of current Chairman Paul Atkins, the SEC has adjusted its enforcement strategy, shifting from focusing on the number of cases to targeting fraud and market manipulation, which have a more significant impact on investors. Data indicates that enforcement actions against public companies, including those in the crypto sector, decreased by about 30% in the fiscal year 2025 compared to the previous year.

Analyst Warns XRP Price Will Dip Again – Here’s the Full Setup From $1.13 to $0.87

XRP price action has been boring. The token has sat in the $1.30‑$1.35 range for days, doing nothing exciting. But one well‑known analyst says that calm is deceptive.

CasiTrades, a chart expert who regularly breaks down XRP in detail, posted a warning on April 6. She sees bullish candles appearing and people starting to flip bullish again. Her message: don’t get trapped.

Based on her analysis, XRP failed to make a new high and instead printed a clean 5‑wave move right into resistance. On top of that, bearish divergence printed on the chart. That is exhaustion at resistance.

She stressed that without a new high, nothing has changed. The current XRP price action is just noise inside the same larger pattern. Too many traders react to individual candles instead of waiting for structure to confirm.

The Full Roadmap Lower

CasiTrades laid out a step‑by‑step path to the downside.

First, a wave down targeting roughly $1.13. That would be the first leg lower.

Then a small relief bounce. This will likely lure in buyers who think the drop is over.

CZ on TBPN: A Memoir, Regulation Clarity, and Why Crypto Still Needs Privacy

CZ recently shared a broader view on where crypto is heading and why the industry still faces major misconceptions.

He said he wrote his new book to tell his own story and present his perspective more directly, especially after years of what he sees as inaccurate narratives around crypto, Binance, and his personal role in the space.

A major point from the interview was privacy. CZ argued that crypto is often called risky because of illicit activity, but in reality blockchain transactions are highly transparent. In his view, that creates a different problem: too much visibility. Public wallets, on-chain salary payments, and traceable spending can expose sensitive information, which means the industry still needs better privacy solutions.

On regulation, his position was simple: even imperfect clarity is better than none. He noted that clearer rules can help the industry move forward, even if the first versions of regulation are not ideal.

He also spoke about AI and crypto, saying AI agents may become an important driver of adoption because they need digital, global, always-on payment systems that traditional banking cannot easily provide.

At the same time, CZ said sectors like prediction markets, DAOs, NFTs, and tokenized digital assets could see renewed interest, but likely in updated forms rather than repeating the last cycle exactly.

XRP Spot ETFs See Significant Inflows and Outflows

XRP spot ETFs experienced notable financial movements last week, with a net inflow of $11.75 million, according to Odaily. The data, sourced from SoSoValue, covers the trading days from April 6 to April 10 (Eastern Time).

The Bitwise ETF XRP led the inflows, attracting $9.5154 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $388 million. Following this, the Franklin ETF XRPZ saw a weekly net inflow of $2.8987 million, with its historical total reaching $324 million.

Conversely, the 21Shares ETF TOXR recorded the highest net outflow, amounting to $661,200, with its historical total net outflow standing at $25.85 million.

As of the latest update, the total net asset value of XRP spot ETFs is $968 million, with an ETF net asset ratio of 1.16% compared to XRP's total market capitalization. The cumulative historical net inflow has reached $1.22 billion.

Aptos Announces Tokenomics Update with Key Adjustments

On April 14, Aptos released an update to its tokenomics. According to BlockBeats, the main changes include a reduction in the annualized staking rewards rate from 5.19% to 2.6% and a tenfold increase in gas fees, although stablecoin transfer costs remain low at approximately $0.00014. The launch of Decibel DEX is expected to significantly boost on-chain transaction volume and gas fee burning, with an estimated annual burn of over 32 million APT. A protocol-level hard cap has been set for the total supply at 2.1 billion APT. Additionally, the Aptos Foundation will permanently lock and stake 210 million APT. Future incentives will be triggered by milestones, and there is exploration of a programmatic buyback plan.

Kraken boss signals IPO still in play despite reports of pause

Crypto exchange Kraken has hinted it is still going ahead with an initial public offering despite reports suggesting the plan was put on hold last month due to market conditions.

Kraken filed for a confidential IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November, but an unconfirmed report in March suggested that the plan may have been frozen.

Speaking at the Semafor World Economy 2026 conference on Tuesday, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi didn’t address the pause but confirmed the company had “confidentially filed” for an IPO when asked by Semafor reporter Rohan Goswami whether “there are plans to take Kraken public soon.”

“Is that news?” Goswami asked, to which Sethi responded: “I believe that’s news.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Kraken to confirm whether Kraken is actively pursuing the IPO or has pushed back the timeline, but did not receive an immediate response.

Sethi’s comments come as German financial markets platform Deutsche Börse Group invested $200 million in Kraken’s parent firm, Payward, in exchange for a 1.5% fully diluted stake on Tuesday.

The deal placed Kraken’s valuation at $13.3 billion, down from $20 billion in November.

Kraken told Cointelegraph that the Deutsche Börse Group investment seeks to bring crypto and TradFi closer together as a “single, cohesive infrastructure for institutional clients” rather than parallel systems.

XRP Price Climbs above $1.40

XRP price started a fresh upward move above $1.3550 and $1.3750, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The price gained pace for a clear move above the $1.3880 resistance.

The bulls even pumped the price toward the $1.40 zone. A high was formed at $1.4157, and the price started a consolidation phase above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $1.3510 swing low to the $1.4157 high.

The price is now trading above $1.40 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. Besides, there is a bullish trend line forming with support at $1.370 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair.

If there is a fresh upward move, the price might face resistance near the $1.4150 level. The first major resistance is near the $1.4220 level, above which the price could rise and test $1.440. A clear move above the $1.440 resistance might send the price toward the $1.450 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $1.4650 resistance. The next major hurdle for the bulls might be near $1.4840.

XRP Volatility Just Hit A Multi-Year Low – Analysts Explain Something Is About To Change

XRP is holding just above $1.40 as the broader market searches for direction, with buyers and sellers locked in a standoff that has produced little more than sideways price action in recent sessions. The price is not breaking down — but it is not breaking out either. And according to an Arab Chain report, the numbers behind that stillness are telling a story of their own.

The 30-day Realized Volatility Index for XRP on Binance has dropped to approximately 0.42 — its lowest reading since 2024. In practical terms, the price swings that characterized XRP throughout 2025 have largely disappeared. The explosive moves in both directions that defined last year’s market, coinciding with surges in momentum and speculative activity, have given way to something much quieter.

That shift did not happen overnight. As 2026 began, volatility started declining steadily, and it has continued falling to the point where XRP is now moving within one of its narrowest ranges in over a year.

For traders watching the chart, that calm might feel like the market losing interest. But in crypto, compressed volatility rarely stays compressed. The question is not whether the quiet ends — it almost always does — but whether it ends with a move up or a move down, and what the setup looks like when it does.

VIX drops 45% in three weeks: Is Bitcoin price ready to retake $80K?

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a preferred Wall Street metric to measure investor sentiment and market risk, dropped by over 45% in under a month. For Bitcoin BTC/USD, this could be a significant bullish signal.

Key takeaways:

– Bitcoin may rise toward $82,700 if VIX keeps underperforming.

– BTC’s upside outlook gets a boost from Strategy’s BTC buying spree.

Weakening VIX hints at BTC rising to $82,700

Often called Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” the VIX tracks how much volatility traders expect in the S&P 500 index over the next 30 days.

When the index rises, it usually signals rising stress and risk aversion across markets. When it falls, it suggests investors are becoming more comfortable owning riskier assets such as stocks and crypto.

History suggests that a VIX drop of 40% or more is bullish for Bitcoin.

For instance, BTC rallied approximately 40% during April 2025–May 2025, with its gains aligning with the VIX’s 70% dip.

Similarly, a 46% VIX drop during the October–November 2025 period coincided with a 12% BTC gain.

Even the recent 42%–47% VIX decline has coincided with an 8%–9% BTC price rebound, improving the bullish backdrop for Bitcoin in the coming days.

BTC’s next upside target appears to be around the 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA, the blue line) at around $82,700 by early May.

📊 Bitcoin’s Next Move May Break the Old Cycle

• Analyst Matt Crosby argues that Bitcoin’s classic 4-year cycle is losing relevance as market structure changes.

• More than 20 million BTC are already in circulation, so each halving now has a smaller supply impact than in earlier cycles.

• The bigger driver today is demand: Crosby points to heavy buying from corporate treasuries and spot BTC ETFs, including Strategy’s pace of 1,000+ BTC per day and a recent nearly $750M ETF buying session.

• In his view, liquidity matters more than seasonality: he cites strong long-term correlations between global liquidity, the S&P 500, and Bitcoin.

• He also says Bitcoin may have already spent over a year in a relative bear phase versus gold, with a possible bottom forming around February 2026.

• On-chain indicators such as Coin Days Destroyed and Value Days Destroyed are now signaling a zone that previously matched undervaluation.

Insight: The main idea is simple: the next major BTC move may come not from the usual post-halving script, but from liquidity expansion and steady institutional demand. At the time of publication, BTC was around $78,144.

Ethereum Holds $2,300 Despite DeFi Stress

• Ethereum remains above $2,300 even as the DeFi sector faces renewed pressure.

• The market was hit by the $292M KelpDAO exploit, which affected liquidity across major DeFi protocols, including Aave.

• Ethereum DeFi TVL reportedly dropped by about $10.7B over five days, falling to around $44.7B.

• Despite capital leaving DeFi, ETH has stayed resilient, supported by broader market sentiment and institutional accumulation.

• BitMine-linked wallets reportedly received 100,000 ETH, while the firm also staked another 93,600 ETH.

• Technical levels remain important: ETH is holding above the 20-day and 50-day EMAs near $2,275 and $2,226.

• Resistance is now around $2,388, with $2,500 as the next psychological target if momentum strengthens.

Insight:
Ethereum’s price action remains stronger than DeFi sentiment. The key question is whether institutional demand and fee-driven supply reduction can offset falling TVL and weaker network activity.