Crypto World
Bitcoin’s war rally is forcing a rethink beyond ‘digital gold’
Bitcoin’s outperformance during the Iran conflict doesn’t fit the standard playbook, and Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan thinks he knows why.
The largest cryptocurrency has gained 12% since U.S. and Israeli airstrikes began Feb. 28, while the S&P 500 has fallen 1% and gold 10%. For an asset routinely dismissed as a leveraged tech bet during risk-off episodes, that performance has forced a rethink.
In a post on X, Hougan reframed bitcoin as two simultaneous bets. The first is the familiar “digital gold” thesis, competing for share of the $38 trillion store-of-value market.
The second is what he calls an out-of-the-money call option on bitcoin functioning as an actual currency, a bet he says most investors have treated as borderline irrelevant until now.
The Iran conflict changed the math on the second bet. Iran said it will collect a $1-per-barrel toll in bitcoin from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the equivalent of roughly $20 million per day.
The levy is one of the first real-world examples of a sovereign state using bitcoin as a settlement mechanism for physical commerce, even if the circumstances were far from ideal.
“In a world where countries have weaponized their financial rails, bitcoin is emerging as an apolitical alternative,” Hougan wrote, tracing the shift back to the U.S. kicking Russia off the SWIFT network in 2022, a move France’s finance minister called a financial “nuclear bomb” at the time.
The options framework is what makes the argument worth watching.
Options gain value when either the probability of hitting the strike price improves or the volatility of the underlying asset increases. Hougan argues the Iran conflict delivered both simultaneously, raising the odds of bitcoin being used as a currency while increasing the volatility of the global monetary order.
If his framing holds, it implies that bitcoin should rally during future geopolitical conflicts, particularly those involving countries caught between the U.S. and Chinese financial systems, and that bitcoin’s total addressable market is significantly larger than the gold market alone.
The counterpoint is that Iran’s use of bitcoin occurs as a sanctioned state acting out of necessity, not preference. It says more about the limits of dollar-denominated enforcement than it does about bitcoin’s readiness to function as a neutral settlement layer. The infrastructure for that, stablecoin settlement, cross-border payment rails, sovereign wallet adoption, remains early-stage at best.
But Hougan’s core observation stands. The market is pricing bitcoin differently during this conflict than during any prior geopolitical shock, and the “digital gold” thesis alone doesn’t explain why.
Crypto World
Dogecoin Price Prediction Targets $0.32 While AlphaPepe AI-DEX Demo Goes Live and Presale Nears $1M
The Dogecoin price prediction is shifting. After months pinned below $0.10, multiple analyst models now project DOGE reaching $0.32 by late 2026 if the ascending channel structure holds and broader crypto momentum returns. DigitalCoinPrice and CoinCodex place their conservative band between $0.32 and $0.50, while Binance Square contributors are mapping breakout targets at $0.26, $0.32, and $0.36 if resistance clears. The setup is forming but the timeline stretches across quarters. Meanwhile AlphaPepe just pushed its live AI-DEX demo into public access, crossed $850,000 in presale capital with the $1 million mark now visible, and continues offering a Stage 13 entry at $0.01450 where the distance to analyst targets makes the Dogecoin price prediction look like a rounding error.
What the $0.32 Dogecoin Price Prediction Actually Requires
DOGE trades at $0.093. The 200-day moving average sits at $0.14, more than 50% above the current price. Bollinger Bands remain compressed between $0.087 and $0.101, and every attempt to reclaim $0.10 this year has been rejected. For the Dogecoin price prediction to reach $0.32, the token needs to clear $0.10, flip $0.14 from resistance to support, break through the $0.28 descending trendline that has capped rallies since July 2025, and sustain momentum long enough for the ascending channel to complete.
That is four sequential resistance levels and a minimum of six to eight months under favorable market conditions. From $0.093 to $0.32 is a 244% return. For holders who bought below a penny years ago, that is a recovery story worth watching. For new capital entering at $0.093 today, that is eight months of waiting for a triple that depends entirely on Bitcoin, sentiment, and meme cycle timing all cooperating at once.
AlphaPepe AI-DEX Demo Goes Live as Presale Approaches $1M
The AlphaSwap demo is no longer a claim. It is running. Anyone can access the AlphaPepe cross-chain AI DEX interface and watch it screen contracts for exploit signatures, surface whale wallet movements in real time, and route swaps across chains through an AI execution layer. This is the product that will generate fee revenue the moment public trading opens. It works today, before a single listing candle has printed.
Behind the demo sits a codebase built by an engineer who cut their teeth shipping Shibarium infrastructure across 500 million live transactions. The smart contract carries a 10/10 BlockSAFU audit with zero vulnerabilities flagged. Supply is capped at 1 billion tokens. Every presale purchase delivers tokens to the wallet instantly with no vesting and no lock period.
The presale is approaching $1 million. Over $850,000 has been collected from 7,600 wallets, with roughly 100 new addresses entering every day. Stage 13 is live at $0.01450 but the price climbs every few days and jumps again when the current stage sells through. Stakers are collecting 85% APR while they wait for the Q2 DEX launch. A Tier 1 CEX listing follows directly after.
A $1,000 entry at $0.01450 secures 68,966 tokens. Analysts placing conservative targets at $1.50 would value that at $103,449 when trading begins. The Dogecoin price prediction needs eight months and four resistance flips for a 244% gain. AlphaPepe needs Q2 to arrive for a return measured in multiples of 100. Buyers entering at $5,000 or more can apply code ALPHA100 for a 100% bonus allocation, doubling their token count before the listing math even begins.
One Prediction Needs Permission. The Other Needs a Calendar.
The $0.32 Dogecoin price prediction may arrive. The technical structure supports it if conditions align. But the presale window at $0.01450 with a live AI-DEX demo, a flawless audit, and $1 million in sight does not wait for conditions. Stage 13 is filling and the next stage is approaching at a higher price.
Click To Visit AlphaPepe Official Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
What is the Dogecoin price prediction for 2026?
Multiple models target $0.32 to $0.50 by late 2026, requiring a breakout above $0.10, $0.14, and $0.28 resistance levels from the current $0.093 price.
What is the AlphaPepe AI-DEX demo?
AlphaSwap is a live cross-chain AI DEX that screens contracts, tracks whale wallets, and routes swaps. The demo is publicly accessible now ahead of the Q2 launch.
How close is AlphaPepe to raising $1M?
Over $850,000 raised across 7,600 wallets with 100 new addresses daily. Stage 13 at $0.01450 is active and the next stage approaches at a higher price.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.
David Solomon, CEO Goldman Sachs, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22nd, 2026.
Oscar Molina | CNBC
When Goldman Sachs executives were asked about disappointing results in the firm’s fixed income division this week, they made it sound as though the trading environment was simply not in their favor.
Fixed income revenue fell 10% in the first quarter, coming in $910 million below analysts’ expectations, according to StreetAccount data. It was an unusually large miss for one of Goldman’s flagship Wall Street businesses.
“It was basically just a function of the overall environment making markets,” CFO Denis Coleman told an analyst on Monday after the bank’s earning report. “We remain actively engaged with clients, but our performance in rates and mortgages was relatively lower.”
But as nearly all of Goldman’s rivals, including JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, posted blockbuster results for first-quarter fixed income in the days that followed, one thing became clear to Wall Street: Goldman Sachs’ vaunted fixed income traders had underperformed.
JPMorgan saw fixed income trading revenue jump 21% to $7.1 billion, the bank’s second-biggest haul ever. Morgan Stanley, where fixed income is less a priority than equities, posted a 29% jump in the bond business. Citigroup saw bond trading revenue jump 13% to $5.2 billion.
Since before the 2008 financial crisis, when Lloyd Blankfein led Goldman Sachs, the firm’s fixed income division had been the envy of Wall Street. Goldman was known for its trading prowess, a reputation forged in periods of dislocation when its desks generated outsized gains. The bank’s identity as a trader’s firm — one expected to outperform in turbulent times — has endured in the decade-plus since.
That makes the first-quarter stumble particularly notable.
“It seems that something went wrong at Goldman in fixed income,” said veteran Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo, who called the bank’s results “worst-in-class.”
“I’d imagine that at Goldman, a fire is being lit under the traders, managers and risk overseers in FICC after such an underperformance,” Mayo said in an interview with CNBC, using an acronym standing for fixed income, currencies and commodities, the formal name for that business.
The prevailing theory is that Goldman was caught offsides on trades tied to interest rates in the first quarter, according to several market participants who asked for anonymity to speak candidly.
That’s because of the positioning that many Wall Street firms had at the start of this year, when markets were expecting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at least twice in 2026, these people said.
But after the price of oil surged with the advent of the Iran war, roiling expectations for inflation, the markets began pricing those cuts out, with some investors even bracing for the possibility of rate hikes this year.
Fixed income was the sole blemish on a quarter in which Goldman Sachs exceeded expectations handily, thanks to the firm’s equities traders and investment bankers. Despite the earnings beat, the firm’s shares dropped as much as about 4% on Monday following the report.
Goldman Sachs didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. But on Monday, CEO David Solomon sought to put the quarter’s performance into context:
“When I look at the scale and the diversity of the business, it’s performing very, very well,” Solomon said during the company’s conference call. “Some quarters, it’s going to be stronger here, stronger there.”
Crypto World
Wall Street broker Bernstein sees prediction market volumes hitting $1 trillion by 2030 with HOOD, COIN as key players
Wall Street broker Bernstein expects prediction market volumes to reach roughly $1 trillion by 2030, as the sector evolves from niche wagering into broad-based “information markets” spanning sports, crypto, politics and the economy.
Volumes hit $51 billion last year and are on pace to reach about $240 billion in 2026, implying roughly 80% compound annual growth through the end of the decade, the report said. Activity has already accelerated in 2026, with Polymarket and Kalshi recording combined year-to-date volumes of $60 billion.
“Increasing regulatory clarity at the federal level is expanding the addressable market, while blockchain-based tokenization and integration with crypto markets is enabling global liquidity, long-tail event creation and participation from institutions,” wrote analysts led by Gautam Chhugani.
Prediction markets have surged from a niche corner of crypto and academic experimentation into a fast-growing segment of global trading activity in just a few years.
Volumes have spiked alongside major news cycles, most notably the 2024 U.S. election, while platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have expanded access beyond politics into sports, crypto and macroeconomic events.
The combination of clearer U.S. regulatory footing, improved user experience and the integration of blockchain-based liquidity has accelerated adoption, pushing the sector toward mainstream relevance
The report attributed the growth to improving federal regulatory clarity, which expands access beyond fragmented state-level gaming rules, alongside blockchain-based infrastructure that enables global liquidity and rapid creation of new event contracts.
Sports currently accounts for about 62% of volumes, benefiting from lower effective take rates versus traditional online sportsbooks. But the analysts expect that share to fall to roughly 31% by 2030, as crypto-linked contracts and macro, political and economic events gain traction. Institutional participation is also expected to grow, particularly for hedging event-driven risks.
$10.8 billion in revenue
Bernstein analysts estimate industry revenues could expand from roughly $400 million in 2025 to $2.5 billion in 2026, reaching about $10.8 billion by 2030 at current take rates. Even with significant fee compression, they see potential for a multi-billion-dollar revenue pool.
Distribution is emerging as a key competitive moat. The report pointed to Robinhood (HOOD) and Coinbase (COIN) as early leaders, leveraging their combined tens of millions of users.
Robinhood has already built a $350 million annualized revenue run rate from prediction markets and is moving toward owning exchange infrastructure, while Coinbase entered via Kalshi with nationwide access to more than 1,000 contracts, the report added.
The broker has an outperform rating on both Coinbase and Robinhood.
ETH, SOL, and major altcoins are marginally higher on the day.
Bitcoin traded around $74,700 on Wednesday, consolidating just below the psychologically significant $75,000 level after retreating from a brief touch above $76,000 earlier this week.
Ethereum changed hands near $2,360, up roughly 2% on the day, while Solana rose to $85 and XRP climbed to $1.39, according to CoinGecko.
Among the Top 100 digital assets, DeFi lending protocols Aave and Morpho are today’s top gainers, up 8% and 7%, respectively.
Meanwhile, RaveDAO is the biggest loser after losing a quarter of its value overnight.
The total crypto market cap stands at $2.61 trillion with 24-hour trading volume near $97 billion. Bitcoin dominance is steady at 57.2%, with Ethereum dominance at 10.9%, per CoinGecko.
ETF Flows Whipsaw
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $411.5 million in net inflows on Tuesday, according to SoSoValue data, the second-largest daily inflow day in April and enough to push 2026 year-to-date net flows back into positive territory. Total spot Bitcoin ETF assets under management surged above $96.5 billion.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with approximately $214 million, extending its inflow streak to five consecutive days totaling around $696 million.
The Tuesday inflows marked a sharp reversal from the previous day, when spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $325.8 million in net outflows, underscoring the tug-of-war between institutional demand and profit-taking in a range-bound market.
Resistance at $75K
Bitcoin has struggled to sustain a break above $75,000, briefly piercing that level yesterday before pulling back to the low $74,000s. Since the onset of the U.S.-Iran conflict, BTC is up roughly 12%, benefiting from its perception as an apolitical store of value, but the rally has stalled at overhead resistance.
The geopolitical backdrop remains the dominant macro variable. Iran’s acceptance of Bitcoin as payment for Strait of Hormuz transit tolls, as confirmed by a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, continues to ripple through markets.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan argued this week that Iran’s use of Bitcoin in sovereign trade positions it to eventually challenge gold’s $34 trillion market cap.
Three near-term catalysts could determine whether Bitcoin breaks higher or retests the $70,000 support zone: the April 15 tax deadline, the Iran ceasefire expiry on April 22, and the FOMC meeting on April 28–29.
Bitwise Asset Management has launched a spot Avalanche exchange-traded product, giving investors exposure to the Avalanche token while staking a portion of its holdings to generate yield.
Bitwise plans to stake roughly 70% of its AVAX holdings through its in-house infrastructure, while maintaining a liquidity reserve of about 30% to meet redemptions and operational needs.
The fund began trading Wednesday on the NYSE under the ticker BAVA, closing up about 1.5%, to $25.50 per share, according to Yahoo Finance. The Avalanche token (AVAX) was last trading at $9.52, up 1.8%, according to CoinMarketCap.
According to Wednesday’s announcement, the product carries a sponsor fee of 0.34%, with a temporary waiver to 0% for the first month on the first $500 million in assets, and is structured to distribute net investment income, including staking rewards, to shareholders periodically.
The fund holds AVAX directly and uses an in-house staking unit, Bitwise Onchain Solutions, to participate in network validation and earn rewards, which are paid in additional tokens. Avalanche staking rewards were about 5.4% as of mid-April, according to the announcement.
Avalanche is a Layer-1 blockchain built for high throughput and low latency. It is used across tokenization and enterprise pilots, including initiatives tied to FIFA, state-level stablecoin efforts in Wyoming, and projects from companies such as Toyota and asset managers including BlackRock.
The new fund is the latest Avalanche fund development in recent weeks. Nasdaq last week filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list shares of the VanEck Avalanche Trust, a proposed ETF designed to provide exposure to AVAX under rules governing commodity-based trust shares.
Related: CME Group expands crypto futures with Avalanche and Sui contracts
Bitcoin ETFs and DATs hold an increasing amount of Bitcoin
The launch of Bitwise’s Avalanche ETF comes as exchange-traded crypto products and publicly traded companies continue to accumulate a growing share of Bitcoin’s (BTC) circulating supply.
According to data from BitBO.io, Bitcoin ETFs hold more than 1.29 million BTC, or just over 6% of circulating supply. Public companies hold an additional 1.17 million BTC on their balance sheets, based on figures from BitcoinTreasuries.NET. Combined, ETFs and corporate holders now account for around 12% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply.
Among ETFs, accumulation is led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, which holds about 791,000 BTC, or roughly 3.8% of total supply, followed by Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust with around 153,600 BTC, or about 0.7%.
Beyond asset managers, banks are also entering the market. Earlier this month, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), the first spot Bitcoin ETF offered by a US bank, recorded $30.6 million in inflows on its trading debut and generated about $34 million in first-day volume.
On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs filed with the SEC to launch a Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund designed to generate income while limiting exposure to the cryptocurrency’s volatility. The proposed fund would invest in Bitcoin ETPs and sell call options to generate income while limiting exposure to price swings.
Among public companies, Strategy, the first Bitcoin treasury company, chaired by Michael Saylor, holds 780,897 Bitcoin, or around 4% of the total supply.
Governments also collectively hold around 3% of circulating Bitcoin, with around 649,870 BTC on their balance sheets. The United States is the largest holder with about 328,000 BTC, followed by China with roughly 190,000 BTC and the United Kingdom with more than 61,000 BTC.
Bitcoin’s price has fallen from its high of around $126,000 in October, and is trading around $75,100, per CoinGecko data.
Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt
Allbirds stock explodes after the struggling shoe brand announces a $50M GPU‑fueled pivot into “NewBird AI,” sells its name for $39M, and rides the AI mania wave.
Summary
- Allbirds shares spike more than 400% after announcing a $50 million AI pivot and “NewBird AI” rebrand.
- The company plans to sell its shoe brand and assets for $39 million and redeploy into GPU‑powered cloud infrastructure.
- The move underscores how investors are rewarding legacy consumer brands that bolt on AI narratives, despite weak fundamentals.
Allbirds shares went vertical on Tuesday after the San Francisco‑based shoe maker said it would pivot into AI compute, rebrand as “NewBird AI” and raise $50 million in convertible financing to buy GPUs, sending the stock from $2.49 to an intraday high of $24.31 before closing at $13.59, up roughly 446% on the day. The move comes just weeks after Allbirds agreed to sell its brand and footwear assets to American Exchange Group for about $39 million, a dramatic turn for a company that once commanded a $4 billion valuation at its 2021 IPO.
According to a press release summarized by outlets like Investing.com, Allbirds has signed a definitive agreement with an unnamed institutional investor for a $50 million convertible financing facility, with proceeds earmarked for “high‑performance GPU assets” and a transition to GPU‑as‑a‑Service and AI‑native cloud solutions under the NewBird AI banner. The facility is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder approval at a special meeting scheduled for May 18, 2026, for stockholders of record as of April 13.
Allbirds said it plans to use the initial capital to acquire and deploy dedicated AI compute capacity and to lease that infrastructure to customers who need long‑term access to GPUs, citing “increasing GPU procurement lead times” and “historic low North American data center vacancy rates” as tailwinds for demand. The company also flagged a special dividend for shareholders of record on May 20, 2026, funded from net proceeds of the $39 million asset sale once it closes and after costs, likely in the third quarter.investing+4
On X, the pivot drew a mix of disbelief and fascination as the stock’s parabolic move was screenshotted across FinTwit. “Allbirds, the shoe brand, now says it’s an AI compute company,” Bloomberg reporter Tracy Alloway wrote, posting a chart of the intraday surge. Watcher.Guru told followers that Allbirds’ BIRD ticker had risen “over 420% after announcing shift from shoes to AI,” while The Kobeissi Letter described the move as a “pivoting from shoes to AI” that sent the stock more than 200% higher early in the session.
The asset sale to American Exchange Group, which owns brands such as Aerosoles, was negotiated by a special committee of independent directors and must still be approved by Allbirds’ shareholders, with closing expected in the second quarter of 2026. Filing details show Allbirds had a market capitalization of around $20 million to $26 million before the AI announcement, negative free cash flow of roughly $58 million over the last 12 months and revenue declines of about 22%, underscoring the financial strain behind the dramatic strategy shift.
Market data providers including MarketWatch and Yahoo Finance reported that BIRD shares were up between 300% and 600% at various points during the day as trading volume exploded above 100 million shares, a staggering multiple of the recent daily average. At the same time, analysts and commentators noted that the new AI plan still hinges on shareholder approval for both the $39 million asset sale and the $50 million financing, leaving open questions about execution risk, governance and whether a struggling consumer brand can credibly reinvent itself as a cloud‑infrastructure play in one of the most capital‑intensive corners of the AI boom.
Crypto World
XRP Price Prediction: Boundless Brings Privacy to Ripple, But CZ’s BNB Ready to Overtake Crypto Top Four Spot
XRP price is trading at above $1.35 as a landmark zero-knowledge proof deployment on XRPL shifts the institutional narrative and prediction. Meanwhile, BNB is circling the top-four market cap rankings with renewed momentum.
This raises a question the XRP community hasn’t wanted to answer. Is Ripple’s position as secure as its holders believe?
XRPL Commons and Boundless have jointly deployed the first ZK proof verifier natively on XRPL, a RISC-V verifier that makes zero-knowledge proofs a native ledger capability. The rollout happened in three phases: verifier deployment, collaborative design of Smart Escrow transaction types with programmable ZK-gated release conditions, and a live developer toolkit with open-source testnet examples.
— Blockchain Daily News (@blckchaindaily) April 14, 2026
BREAKING: XRP LEDGER INTEGRATES BOUNDLESS ZERO-KNOWLEDGE PROVING NETWORK, ENABLES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO TRANSACT PRIVATELY ON PUBLIC BLOCKCHAIN pic.twitter.com/uBYkfO3XYX
Smart Vaults are next, targeting a full private transaction infrastructure in which every settlement is screened against KYC inclusion lists and sanctions lists before funds move, with regulator-accessible disclosure on demand. For institutions that currently treat public ledger transparency as a dealbreaker, this is a material change.
Whether the market prices it in the near term is a separate question entirely. XRP’s technicals are consolidating, and broader regulatory developments continue to shape the Ripple narrative more than any single protocol upgrade.
Discover: The best pre-launch token sales
XRP Price Prediction: $1.50 Too Much to Ask?
XRP is currently caught between $1.29 support and a $1.40 resistance that has capped multiple attempts at continuation. The RSI sits in a wide neutral range of 45–50, indicating consolidation without directional commitment. No volume spike has accompanied the Boundless announcement. At least not yet.
Analyst flagged the setup on April 12: “XRP trades at $1.33… targeting $1.40 by April 2026” amid mixed momentum signals. CoinGecko’s April 6 assessment assigned a 79.5% probability of XRP reaching $1.40 by month-end, a number that sounds bullish until you realize $1.40 is not even $1.50.
MarketBeat’s technical dashboard and longer-horizon analysts like Celal Küçüker, who projects $9 XRP regardless of chart formation, reflect the wide divergence in conviction levels right now.
The ZK development is genuinely significant infrastructure. It just doesn’t resolve a range-bound chart overnight. Rakuten’s XRPL integration covering 44 million users adds to the ecosystem case, but near-term price action remains hostage to broader market sentiment.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as XRP Tests Key Resistance
XRP at $1.37 with a 79.5% shot at $1.40 is a trade, not a transformation. Traders watching consolidation drag on a known asset are increasingly scanning for asymmetric setups, the kind that existed in XRP itself before it became a top-five staple.
Bitcoin Hyper is a Bitcoin Layer 2 project with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, the first of its kind, delivering sub-second finality and low-cost smart contract execution while anchoring to Bitcoin’s security layer.
The presale has raised $32 million at a current price of $0.0136786, with 36% APY staking available for early participants. The core proposition: bring programmable speed to Bitcoin’s ecosystem without sacrificing the trust layer that makes BTC the reserve asset of crypto.
This is a specific technical gap, and the presale has already crossed $32M in funding as that thesis gains traction.
Research Bitcoin Hyper before the current price stage closes.
The post XRP Price Prediction: Boundless Brings Privacy to Ripple, But CZ’s BNB Ready to Overtake Crypto Top Four Spot appeared first on Cryptonews.
Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT , added another $70 million worth of bitcoin to its reserves, extending a steady accumulation strategy tied to its stablecoin business.
Blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence shows 951 BTC moved Wednesday from Bitfinex to a wallet labeled “Tether: BTC Reserve.” The address matches one previously confirmed by CEO Paolo Ardoino as the destination for the company’s earlier purchases.
The firm did not respond to a request for comment about the purchase.
The wallet now holds 97,141 BTC, worth about $7.16 billion at current prices, placing Tether among the largest bitcoin holders globally. If Tether was a public company, it would be the second largest BTC holder behind Strategy (MSTR), according to bitcointreasuries.net ranking.
The latest purchase is part of a policy introduced in 2023 to allocate up to 15% of realized operating profits into bitcoin. Unlike digital asset treasuries that raise capital to buy crypto, Tether uses excess earnings generated by its core business.
USDT, Tether’s dollar-pegged token, is the largest stablecoin with a market cap around $185 billion. The company reported more than $10 billion in net profit for 2025, driven by growth in USDT and rising income from U.S. Treasury holdings.
Tether’s reserves are primarily made up of cash-like assets, with up to $141 billion in exposure to U.S. government debt. It also reported $6.3 billion in excess reserves against $186.5 billion in liabilities, offering a buffer above issued tokens.
Alongside U.S. Treasuries, Tether has been building positions in alternative assets. Its latest report also showed $17.4 billion in gold, highlighting a broader diversification strategy.
The crypto’s industry emerging political action committee, Fellowship PAC, rushed out of the gate this month with $11 million in backing, and it’s so far booked $3 million in ad services through a company co-founded by Tether US CEO Bo Hines.
The super PAC is focusing its support on Republican politicians in races for Congress and a governorship, and it so far gathered $10 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and $1 million from crypto bank Anchorage Digital, according to Federal Election Commission filings released Wednesday. Its initial $3 million spent toward political advertising for its favored candidates has gone to Nxum Group, a company that was founded by Hines (who was President Donald Trump’s crypto adviser until he moved to Tether last year), his father and another partner.
While Fellowship has been reportedly associated with Tether from its inception last year and has a senior executive of Tether as its chairman, the bulk of its funding came from New York financial-services giant Cantor, which handles the reserves for Tether’s industry-leading stablecoin business. Cantor’s former chief, Howard Lutnick, now serves as Trump’s Commerce Secretary, and his children have taken over the business.
Neither Tether US nor Cantor immediately responded to a request for comment on their involvement with the super PAC. When Fellowship first went public, it announced it would wield $100 million (an amount that would rival the leading crypto PAC, Fairshake). Fellowship’s treasurer is an executive at Cantor.
So far, the PAC, which hasn’t responded to requests for comment, has devoted $300,000 to support Clay Fuller, the newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives who just took over Marjorie Taylor Green’s seat in a Georgia special election; $850,000 to back Nate Morris for a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky; and $350,000 to support incumbent Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The filings disclosed that Nxum has received $3 million in disbursements for advertising. Before now, Nxum didn’t yet have a significant track record in serving PACs or campaigns, with its primary claim to fame associated with $1 million in billboard ads it donated to MAGA Inc. in 2024, shortly after Hines took a high-profile job at the White House.
When its formation was announced last year, Fellowship said it had $100 million in pledged backing and would champion transparency as it supported pro-crypto candidates. That promised level hasn’t yet appeared,
Anchorage Digital — the first crypto-native bank to win a U.S. federal charter — called its contribution an investment in the U.S. crypto policy process.
“Anchorage Digital has made a corporate contribution to the Fellowship PAC as part of our broader, bipartisan approach to advancing regulatory clarity for digital assets in the United States,” the company said in a statement, also posting a message on its website.
Despite involvement from Tether executives in Fellowship’s work, it’s unclear whether Tether or its U.S. arm, Tether US, would be able to make direct contributions to the PAC. Non-U.S. entities aren’t allowed to get directly involved in U.S. campaign finances.
Read More: Super PAC tied to Tether makes first ad buy from firm founded by Tether’s U.S. CEO
Markets are navigating ongoing geopolitical uncertainty with volatility persisting, yet signals of cautious resilience are emerging. The release describes a blended picture where crypto momentum interacts with traditional markets amid potential diplomatic progress and ongoing supply considerations. Bitcoin has risen about 5% over the past week and trades near $75,000, on track for a third consecutive weekly gain. Oil has moved back below $100 as expectations for diplomatic developments support risk assets. The report also notes Iran’s exploration of Bitcoin for payments tied to maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz and a possible second round of US-Iran talks ahead of a ceasefire deadline. Near-term volatility may persist.
Key points
- Bitcoin up about 5% over the past week, trading near $75,000 and on track for a third straight weekly gain.
- Oil prices retreat below $100 as diplomatic expectations influence risk assets and supply concerns persist in the Persian Gulf.
- Iran is exploring Bitcoin for payments related to maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
- A potential second round of US-Iran peace talks could occur within days ahead of the ceasefire deadline, suggesting near-term volatility.
Why it matters
This combination matters because crypto momentum, energy markets, and geopolitical dynamics intersect in a volatile environment. A sustained Bitcoin rally can influence risk sentiment for digital assets, while oil movements interact with inflation and rate expectations. Iran’s reported use of Bitcoin for a real-world payment flow hints at broader crypto infrastructure uptake. The prospect of renewed talks adds a political factor that could ease or renew volatility, making near-term developments important for traders and investors.
What to watch
- Possible second round of US-Iran talks within days and any ceasefire timeline updates.
- Updates on Iran’s Bitcoin payments plans for Strait of Hormuz transit.
- Bitcoin price behavior around the $75,000 level and any breaks above or below key levels.
Disclosure: The content below is a press release provided by the company or its PR representative. It is published for informational purposes.
Bitcoin Rallies and Oil Pulls Back as Markets Show Signs of Stability
Abu Dhabi, UAE -15 April 2026: Global markets continue to navigate a period of heightened volatility, but recent trends suggest investors are becoming more resilient and adaptive in the face of ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
Investor sentiment appears to be stabilising, with markets increasingly absorbing negative headlines more efficiently than in previous weeks. Developments that once triggered sharp selloffs are now being digested with greater composure, indicating a shift from reactive behaviour to more measured decision-making.
Cautious optimism is emerging as reports suggest a second round of US-Iran peace talks could take place within days, ahead of the upcoming ceasefire deadline. This prospect is supporting risk assets, as investors rotate away from defensive positioning and cautiously re-enter the market. However, uncertainty remains elevated, and in the absence of a concrete resolution, two-way volatility is expected to persist.
Bitcoin has continued to demonstrate resilience during the current conflict, rising approximately 5% over the past week and trading near $75,000. The asset is on track for its third consecutive week of gains and is up around 9% month-to-date, positioning it for its strongest monthly performance since May 2025. Despite this momentum, Bitcoin remains roughly 40% below its all-time high.
Adding to the constructive narrative around digital assets are reports that Iran is exploring the use of Bitcoin for payments related to maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz. This development reinforces the growing perception that cryptocurrencies could become increasingly embedded in real-world economic infrastructure.
Meanwhile, oil prices have retreated below the $100 mark, reflecting easing tensions and expectations of diplomatic progress. However, a meaningful portion of supply from the Persian Gulf remains offline, which could place upward pressure on prices in the near term. Persistent supply constraints would have broader implications for inflation, interest rate expectations, and overall market stability.
Commenting on the current market environment, Josh Gilbert, Market Analyst at eToro, said:
“Investors are showing a notable shift in behaviour. Rather than reacting impulsively to geopolitical headlines, we’re seeing a more resilient approach to navigating uncertainty. While there are tentative signs of improvement, markets remain highly sensitive to developments, and volatility is likely to remain a defining feature in the near term.”
About eToro
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eToro believes in the power of shared knowledge and that investors can become more successful by investing together. The platform has built a collaborative investment community designed to provide users with the tools they need to grow their knowledge and wealth. On eToro, users can hold a range of traditional and innovative assets and choose how they invest: trade directly, invest in a portfolio, or copy other investors.
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