Crypto World
Kraken’s surprise Fed win may harken onslaught of crypto firms with narrow Fed access
The crypto industry keeps knocking down the barriers into the core U.S. financial system, and digital assets exchange Kraken’s approval for a limited Federal Reserve account marked another such milestone that analysts think could be the first of a trend.
The crypto arrival inside the Fed payment system — provisional and limited though it is — has aggravated the traditional banks and injected some confusion in the Fed’s ongoing effort to write policies for how crypto firms are supposed to go about getting limited “skinny” master accounts. But Kraken’s Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said that this development represents “what it looks like when crypto infrastructure matures into core financial infrastructure.”
Kraken’s Wyoming-chartered banking arm, Payward Financial, is granted a year of access to a “limited purpose” account as a “Tier 3” entrant, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, one of a dozen regional banks in the Federal Reserve system.
“We see this as the first of many Federal Reserve approvals for crypto entities to obtain master accounts, which gives them direct access to the central bank payment rails including Fed Wire,” said Jaret Sieburg, a Washington policy analyst at TD Cowen, in a client note on Thursday. “Crypto entity access to master accounts was inevitable under President [Donald] Trump, given his support for the crypto sector. We expect additional announcements in the coming months.”
Ian Katz, an analyst who tracks federal financial policies at Capital Alpha in Washington, echoed that sentiment.
“The Fed’s decision could open the doors for other crypto operations including Circle, Anchorage and Custodia, a Wyoming-based firm that has unsuccessfully sued the Fed over the right to have a master account,” he noted.
What does direct access to the Fed payments systems mean for Kraken?Potentially, according to Sethi: instant “settlement between fiat and crypto, institutional-grade cash management integrated with digital asset custody and programmable financial products built within a fully regulated framework.”
Those who operate traditional banks in the U.S. were displeased with the Kraken development — the latest threat they’ve flagged from the crypto space.
“There are significant risks to expanding direct Fed account access to institutions that operate outside the traditional banking regulatory framework,” the Independent Community Bankers of America said in a statement. “The Fed should continue limiting master account access to institutions that meet the financial services sector’s highest standards.”
But former Kraken CEO and current chairman, Jesse Powell, celebrated the development.
“We’re the bankers now,” the Kraken co-founder posted on social media site X. “Saddle up.”
Other crypto-tied institutions have also sought entry onto the Fed rails, including Anchorage Digital (which has sought a full master account, which would include earning interest on reserves placed with the Fed) and the recent arrival among federally approved trust banks, Erebor Bank. The industry also continues to lobby the Fed on its effort to establish a new policy to replace the 2022 guidance that Kansas City’s Kraken decision was based on.
At the national level, the Federal Reserve board started writing new policies for establishing what are commonly referred to as “skinny” master accounts for firms that don’t need the entire array of traditional master account services. But that process is in the early stages, and if regional Fed banks start approving similar accounts in the meantime, it could create uncertainties about what happens when the new policy is set.
“This action ignores public comment that the Federal Reserve sought on this framework, and it was issued with no transparency into the process for approval or the risk mitigants that have been imposed to address the very significant risks it raises,” the Bank Policy Institute’s co-head of regulatory affairs, Paige Pidano Paridon, said in a statement.
The Fed board in Washington, where the central bank is headquartered, deferred requests for comment this week to Kansas City.
The regional Fed banks, of which there are a dozen throughout the U.S., each operates under its own priorities and management, which can make their decisions uneven on such matters. So it’s uncertain whether the location of the Fed hub — Minneapolis for Anchorage Digital, for instance, and Cleveland for Erebor — will affect their outcomes.
The Kansas City Fed will keep working with firms there “to help ensure that access to the payment system supports a level competitive field and reinforces the stability and resilience that has underpinned the Federal Reserve’s payment system offerings throughout its history,” said President Jeff Schmid.
Aave price is approaching a key technical resistance level as the community prepares to vote on a potential deployment on Monad.
Summary
- AAVE trades near $118 as price approaches mid-Bollinger Band resistance around $120.
- The Aave DAO vote to deploy the protocol on Monad has strong community backing.
- A breakout above the 20-day moving average could open a move toward $130
Aave (AAVE) traded at $118.23 at press time, up 3.1% in the last 24 hours and close to the upper end of its weekly range between $105.64 and $124.89. The token has gained about 12% over the past week, though it is still 7% lower over the past month and 45% down year-over-year.
Derivatives activity has slowed slightly. Data from CoinGlass shows trading volume fell 28% to $373 million, while open interest sits at $194 million, down 0.09%.
Aave DAO votes to launch on Monad
The price movement comes as a governance vote by the Aave DAO on deploying the protocol to Monad, which approaches approval. With about 21 hours left, more than 873,000 participants have backed the proposal, while no votes have been cast against it.
The proposal, created on Feb. 24, suggests deploying Aave v3 on Monad, a network built for high-throughput DeFi applications. Its architecture processes transactions in parallel and pipelines execution with consensus, allowing faster processing and lower latency while keeping full compatibility with Ethereum tools.
Supporters say this design could help fintech platforms and on-chain neobanks that require fast settlement, predictable costs, and deep liquidity. If deployed, Aave would act as a core lending layer supporting savings products, credit lines, stablecoin liquidity, and treasury management tools for fintech applications.
If the proposal proceeds, a mid-to-late March launch is being considered. In order to support network liquidity, the plan also calls for the purchase of 10 million GHO units and $15 million in ecosystem incentives from the Monad Foundation.
Market sentiment may be affected by the deployment. Increased user activity and liquidity flows are often the outcome of network expansion. If more users adopt Monad, there may be a greater need for Aave’s lending infrastructure, which could boost the token’s value.
Aave price technical analysis
AAVE is trying to stabilize after weeks of selling pressure. The token is now testing the mid-band, which aligns with the 20-day moving average near $118–$120.
Earlier in February, the price dropped toward the $100 support zone, touching the lower Bollinger Band. Buyers stepped in and a rebound followed, pushing the token back to the mid-band. This level now acts as dynamic resistance.
A move toward the upper Bollinger Band near $130 could be initiated by a break above $120, which would indicate increasing momentum. The price may decline and trade between $108 and $110, which is near the lower band, if the level remains as resistance.
Momentum is steadily increasing. When the relative strength index was near 30, the market was about to be oversold, but it has since risen. It is now approaching the neutral 50 level, suggesting that selling pressure has decreased even though significant bullish momentum has not yet emerged.
Volatility is also tightening as the Bollinger Bands narrow. Such compression often comes before a larger price move. If volatility expands upward, the next resistance zone could appear near $130 to $135. A downside expansion may push the token back toward $100 to $105.
For now, price action is at a decision point. A clean break above the 20-day moving average could trigger a stronger recovery. Failure to hold above the level may lead to another pullback toward the $100 support area.
The quantum computing company PsiQuantum is a step closer to its goal of building the world’s first useful quantum computer, breaking ground on the construction of a 1 million-qubit quantum facility, a size that scientists say is powerful enough to crack Bitcoin’s cryptography.
PsiQuantum co-founder Peter Shadbolt shared a photo of its Chicago site in a post to X on Thursday, saying that 500 tons of steel had been erected in six days, which will house the computer.
PsiQuantum said in September that it raised $1 billion to build the facility in collaboration with chip maker Nvidia, designed to house quantum computers capable of functioning even if they have errors.
PsiQuantum added that the facility would house 1 million qubits of quantum computing power, the equivalent of tens of billions of typical computers, with the aim of making quantum computing commercially useful to support “next-generation AI supercomputers.”
Some in the Bitcoin community have warned that the advent of quantum computing could potentially compromise Bitcoin’s cryptography.
Some Bitcoiners have argued that such a compromise could put the network, which currently secures $1.4 trillion, at risk, while others, such as Blockstream CEO Adam Back, have said quantum computers won’t post a real threat to Bitcoin for at least a decade.
Bitcoin developers are currently discussing whether to take immediate action against quantum threats via a hard fork, and if so, what that would entail.
The Bitcoin (BTC) most vulnerable to a quantum attack are unspent transaction output (UTXO) wallets, or coins tied to wallet addresses that have never been spent, many of which date back to when the cryptocurrency was first invented.
The amount of qubits needed to crack Bitcoin keys is debated, but estimates are dropping as quantum research advances.
Related: Vitalik Buterin outlines quantum resistance roadmap for Ethereum
A preprint scientific paper released last month argued that around 100,000 qubits are needed to break 2048-bit keys, while Bitcoin’s encryption uses 256-bit keys.
The largest quantum computer, from the California Institute of Technology, is 6,100 qubits in size.
PsiQuantum has no plans to attack Bitcoin
In July, PsiQuantum co-founder Terry Rudolph said the company has no plans to use quantum computers to derive private keys from public keys.
“We do not have plans,” Rudolph said at the Presidio Bitcoin-hosted Quantum Bitcoin Summit. “You can’t hide this stuff as well; it’s a company of hundreds of people.”
Only 10,000 BTC at legitimate risk: CoinShares
Even if quantum computers can break Bitcoin, research from crypto asset manager CoinShares in February found that only 10,230 Bitcoin is both quantum-vulnerable and sitting in wallet addresses with publicly visible cryptographic keys.
CoinShares said a selloff of 10,230 Bitcoin, equal to $728.2 million at current market prices, would “resemble a routine trade.”
Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum: BIP-360 co-author
TLDR:
- The SEC roundtable on listed options market structure is scheduled for April 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
- Commissioner Hester M. Peirce praised retail investor growth and called for continued options market reflection.
- Public comments referencing File Number 4-887 can be submitted electronically or on paper through one method.
- The roundtable will be live-streamed on SEC.gov, with a full recording made available at a later date.
The SEC roundtable on listed options market structure is set for April 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The Securities and Exchange Commission officially announced the event on March 5, 2026.
It will be held at the agency’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E. The discussion will also be streamed live on SEC.gov for audiences unable to attend in person.
Core topics include facilitating competition in quote-driven markets, evaluating the customer experience, and identifying growth opportunities in listed options.
What the SEC Roundtable Will Cover
The roundtable is designed to foster open public dialogue on the listed options market structure reform. The SEC aims to examine how competition can be better supported within quote-driven market environments.
Along with that, evaluating the overall customer experience remains a key focus for the discussion.
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce commented publicly on the growth of the U.S.-listed options market. She pointed out that retail investor participation has grown remarkably in recent years.
The roundtable, she noted, will celebrate the market’s achievements while considering areas that may need further reflection.
The SEC posted on X, formerly Twitter, confirming the date and format of the event:
“The SEC is hosting a roundtable on April 16 to discuss listed options market structure. The event will be in-person and live-streamed on SEC.gov. Agenda, panelists, and registration info will be available soon.” — @SECGov
The SEC will release agenda details and speaker information before the roundtable takes place. In-person participation will be open to the public, though space may be limited. All visitors attending in person will be subject to standard security checks at the SEC’s headquarters.
Public Comment Submissions for the Roundtable
Members of the public who wish to share views on the listed options market structure may submit comments. Submissions can be made electronically or on paper, but only through one method at a time. All comments submitted will be entered into the official public record of the roundtable.
The SEC has clarified that personal identifying information will not be removed or edited from any submission. Therefore, submitters are cautioned to include only information they are willing to make publicly available. This applies to both electronic and paper submissions equally.
All submissions must reference File Number 4-887 in the text of the comment. For those submitting via email, the file number should appear in the subject line. The SEC will publish all received comments on its official website without modification.
A recording of the SEC roundtable will be made available on SEC.gov at a later date. This allows those unable to attend or watch the livestream to still access the full discussion.
The agency remains committed to keeping the options market reform conversation open and accessible to all.
Mantle’s ecosystem stablecoin has added roughly 375 million dollars in market value over the past month, climbing from about 494 million to nearly 870 million and cementing the network’s push to become a full‑stack on‑chain liquidity and banking layer built around ETH staking and restaking primitives.
Summary
- Stablecoin market cap jumps 75% in 30 days, approaching 870 million dollars as Mantle’s liquidity products gain traction across DeFi.
- Growth rides on Mantle’s mETH staking and cmETH restaking stack, which channels yield and demand back into the broader ecosystem.
- Mantle’s deep treasury and “fortress” balance sheet reinforce confidence in its stablecoin and DeFi rails despite wider market volatility.
Mantle’s stablecoin engine is firing on all cylinders. Over the past 30 days, the total market value of the Mantle ecosystem stablecoin has risen from roughly 494 million dollars to around 870 million, a gain of more than 75% that sharply outperforms the broader market and highlights the chain’s emerging role as an on‑chain liquidity hub.
The move comes as Mantle doubles down on an integrated strategy: pair an Ethereum Layer 2 with native liquid staking and restaking, then plug that liquidity into DeFi. At the base layer sits mETH, Mantle’s liquid staking token for Ethereum, which has already attracted more than 1 billion dollars in total value locked by letting users earn staking rewards while keeping their assets liquid. On top of that, cmETH extends those positions into restaking, unlocking additional yield and incentives without forcing users to unwind core ETH exposure.
This composable stack is now bleeding directly into stablecoin demand. As traders and protocols seek dollar liquidity backed by yield‑bearing collateral, Mantle’s stablecoin becomes a natural settlement and liquidity layer inside the ecosystem, tightening the feedback loop between ETH staking flows, DeFi usage and dollar‑denominated volume. Campaigns such as “Methamorphosis” and ecosystem incentive seasons have further accelerated user onboarding and capital rotation into Mantle’s products.
Underpinning the growth is a balance sheet that rivals mid‑tier centralized players. Mantle controls a multi‑billion‑dollar treasury, including more than 270,000 ETH, giving the DAO ample capacity to backstop liquidity, co‑invest in protocols and defend key pegs or markets when needed. Research firms have already labeled Mantle a “fortress” protocol for its ability to withstand severe price shocks in its native token while maintaining solvency. If current growth persists, Mantle’s stablecoin could become one of the core dollar rails for restaking‑centric DeFi over the coming cycle.
Chainlink price has confirmed a bearish swing failure pattern at a key resistance zone, signaling a potential downside rotation. The rejection near $9.72 increases the probability of a corrective move toward the $8.33 high-timeframe support.
Summary
- Bearish SFP confirmed: Rejection at the $9.72 resistance signals weakening bullish momentum.
- Value Area High lost: Indicates a shift in market structure toward downside pressure.
- $8.33 support in focus: Confluence with value area low makes it the next major downside target.
Chainlink (LINK) price is showing clear signs of technical weakness after failing to sustain momentum above a critical resistance level. Recent price action formed a bearish swing failure pattern (SFP) at the $9.72 high-timeframe resistance, a signal that often indicates exhaustion in bullish momentum.
With this rejection now confirmed, traders are closely watching the $8.33 region as the next significant support level.
Chainlink price key technical points
- High-timeframe resistance rejection: Price rejected the $9.72 resistance with a bearish SFP formation.
- Value Area High lost: Loss of this key level signals weakening bullish momentum.
- Downside target: $8.33 aligns with the value area low and major high-timeframe support.
Chainlink recently attempted to break above the $9.72 resistance level, which has historically acted as a major barrier in price action. However, the breakout attempt was short-lived. The market briefly traded above the previous swing high but quickly reversed, leaving a wick above the level before closing back below it. This structure forms a classic swing failure pattern, which is widely recognized by traders as a signal that liquidity above the highs has been taken before the market rotates lower.
The confirmation of this SFP highlights a shift in short-term market control. When price fails to sustain above a key resistance and closes back within the previous range, it often indicates that buyers have lost momentum. In Chainlink’s case, the inability to hold above $9.72 suggests that the move was primarily driven by liquidity collection rather than genuine bullish continuation. This increases the probability of a retracement as the market seeks lower levels of support.
Another important technical development is the loss of the value area high. This level previously acted as a key pivot within the current trading range, providing support during earlier pullbacks. Once price loses this level, it often signals a structural shift where sellers begin to gain greater control of the market.
The breakdown from this region reinforces the bearish outlook and suggests that Chainlink may continue rotating within the broader range. On the regulatory front, Chainlink’s deputy general counsel, Taylor Lindman, has also joined the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force, stepping in to replace Michael Selig.
The next major level of interest is the point of control, which represents the price level with the highest traded volume within the range. This area typically acts as a magnet for price due to the high concentration of market activity. If Chainlink continues to show weakness and fails to reclaim the value area high, price is likely to gravitate toward this zone as traders reposition within the range structure.
Below the point of control lies the value area low, which sits in direct confluence with the $8.33 high-timeframe support level. This region represents a critical area where buyers may attempt to step in and defend price. Historically, high-timeframe supports combined with volume-profile levels tend to attract significant market interest, making $8.33 an important level to monitor in the coming sessions.
Meanwhile, on the fundamental side, Chainlink has recently enabled Coinbase’s cbBTC bridging to Monad, unlocking over $5 billion in Bitcoin-backed liquidity for decentralized finance applications and further expanding its ecosystem utility.
While short-term bounces can occur during corrective phases, the broader structure currently favors downside continuation. As long as price remains below the rejected resistance at $9.72 and fails to reclaim the value area high, the bearish market structure remains intact. This keeps the probability tilted toward a deeper rotation within the current range.
What to expect in the coming price action
From a technical and structural perspective, Chainlink remains under bearish pressure following the confirmed SFP rejection at $9.72. If the value area high continues to act as resistance, price is likely to rotate lower toward the $8.33 support zone.
A strong reclaim of the lost resistance would invalidate the bearish outlook, but until then, the path of least resistance remains to the downside.
Smart investors adjust their strategy during bear markets and 50% drawdowns like the one seen in Bitcoin (BTC) over the last five months. The strategy, known as dollar-cost averaging (DCA), involves investing the same amount at regular intervals regardless of market conditions.
Historical market cycle data and forward-looking BTC price simulations provide a clearer view of how these steady investment patterns develop across different entry periods and time horizons.
A five-year Bitcoin DCA stack shows strong net gains
A $250 weekly Bitcoin purchase starting in January 2021 resulted in $67,500 invested over a five-year period. Based on DCA simulation data, the strategy accumulated 1.65097905 BTC at an average purchase price of $40,884.
At the current Bitcoin price near $71,000, that 1.65097905 BTC is valued at roughly $120,518, representing a $53,018 gain (76%) on the invested capital. When Bitcoin traded for $100,000, the holdings were worth about $165,098, while at the cycle peak near $126,000 in October 2025, the same amount reached $208,023.
A shorter accumulation window illustrates how entry timing changes the early outcome while the strategy continues building exposure. A $250 weekly DCA beginning January 2024 results in $28,500 invested, accumulating 0.36863166 BTC with an average purchase price of $77,312.
At the current price of $71000, the amount is valued at about $26,909, a –6% unrealized loss. At $100,000, the holdings had risen to $36,863, while a $126,000 cycle high valued the Bitcoin at $46,448.
In a February X post, Swan Bitcoin analyst Adam Livingston compared a similar DCA approach against equities over the past five years. A $100 weekly allocation produced $42,508 in Bitcoin versus $37,470 in S&P 500 (SPX), representing 62.9% and 43.6% returns, respectively.
Livingston noted that purchasing Bitcoin consistently during drawdowns has historically produced stronger cumulative returns despite the price volatility.
Related: Bitcoin’s bullish momentum accelerates but topping $78K remains a challenge
Long-term models emphasize the time horizon
Forward-looking simulations examine how the DCA strategy could work from 2026 onward. A $250 weekly DCA beginning January 2026 allocates about $54,250 by March 2030.
The price assumptions come from Bitcoin’s long-term power-law growth curve, which tracks Bitcoin’s historical price relative to time on a logarithmic scale. The model produces a rising support band and median trend that have broadly aligned with previous market cycles.
Using this framework, analysts estimate that by 2028, the long-term trend support may move above $100,000, forming the base assumption for future DCA modeling. Simulations from Bitcoin Well place the median price near $430,278 by March 2030.
To capture the wider range around that path, the model also considers deviation bands of the power-law channel, producing a lower projection near $274,000 and an upper expansion scenario near $900,000.
Under those assumptions, the weekly strategy accumulates about 0.30 BTC over four years.
-
At $274,000, the holdings are worth about $82,200.
-
At the $430,278 median estimate, the investment value reaches $129,000.
-
At a $900,000 BTC price, the investment is worth nearly $270,000.
A November 2025 study by Bitcoin researcher Sminston With tested how the entry timing affects the long-term outcomes using similar projections. Even buying 20% above $94,000 (the price of BTC at that time) and exiting 20% below the projected 2035 median still produced nearly 300% gains on the remaining holdings after a decade.
The total savings reached 7.7 times the initial capital in the simulation.
The study concluded that entry timing adjusts the range of outcomes, while long holding periods drive the majority of the results.
Related: A sucker’s rally? Why Bitcoin analysts say BTC price must hold $70K
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Hyperliquid price is approaching a key resistance level, and shrinking volatility suggests a possible breakout toward $35.
Summary
- HYPE trades near $31 after slipping 5.7% in 24 hours but remains up 80% over the past year.
- Bollinger Bands are tightening, signaling a volatility squeeze that often precedes a major move.
- A breakout above $34 could push price toward $35, while losing $29 may expose the $26 support zone.
At press time, Hyperliquid (HYPE) was trading at $31.24, down 5.7% in the past 24 hours. Over the last week, it moved between $26.22 and $33.33, ending roughly 7% higher. However, the token has decreased by roughly 10% per month.
HYPE continues to be one of the better-performing altcoins despite the recent decline. Over the past year, the token has increased by about 80%, despite difficulties in the larger cryptocurrency market.
Derivatives activity has cooled slightly. CoinGlass data shows that trading volume dropped 18% to about $1.25 billion, while open interest fell 7.5% to $1.21 billion, showing some traders closing their positions.
HYPE token fundamentals
HYPE’s price is influenced by several structural factors. The core of Hyperliquid’s ecosystem is perpetual futures trading, and the Assistance Fund for token buybacks receives about 97% of platform fees.
Increases in trading are directly correlated with increases in buybacks. For example, when trading volumes averaged $29 billion daily, $5.82 million in buybacks were generated, demonstrating a direct correlation between trading demand and token support.
Market sentiment has also been influenced by protocol upgrades. Permissionless perpetual markets were introduced by HIP-3, which produced a total volume of about $83 billion.
HIP-4 proposal aims to launch outcome trading products, combining prediction markets, options, and binary-style contracts. These additions could expand platform activity if more retail or institutional traders participate.
Hyperliquid price technical analysis
HYPE appears to be entering a compressed volatility phase. Bollinger Bands have tightened on the daily chart, which is frequently an indication of an impending big move.
The upper band, which has caused pullbacks in recent sessions, is being tested by the price.
The structure of the market has improved. HYPE has formed a string of higher lows around $26 and $29 since late January, indicating that buyers are intervening earlier on dips. This outlook is also supported by momentum indicators.
There is potential for more gains as the relative strength index is in the mid-50s and trending upward. Meanwhile, the mid-Bollinger Band has been offering dynamic support around $29.
A move toward $35 could ensue if HYPE breaks above $33–$34, with a possible extension to $38 if buying pressure increases. Deeper losses could retest the $26 base, and rejection at resistance could push the token back toward $29 on the downside.
The post from Eric Trump, tagging his crypto company, came hours after his father claimed banks were holding a market structure bill “hostage.”
Eric Trump, son of US President Donald Trump and one of the co-founders of the family-backed crypto business World Liberty Financial, has jumped on the anti-bank messaging that many in the industry are espousing amid disagreements over how to handle stablecoin rewards.
In a Wednesday X post, Eric Trump echoed his father, claiming that banks were “desperately targeting” cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as discussions lag on the market structure bill in the US Senate. The post came hours after the president posted a similar message claiming that banks were holding the legislation “hostage.”
The issue of stablecoin yield has been dividing many US lawmakers, banking industry representatives, and crypto companies, stymieing the market structure legislation. Eric Trump and many in the crypto industry oppose a ban on stablecoin yield, arguing it would “block any rewards or perks from being given to customers,” while some banking organizations have argued such rewards could undermine credit and lead to deposit flight risk.
Related: Trump met Coinbase CEO before slamming banks over crypto bill: Report
A company representative, in response to questions about Eric Trump’s post, said that the company was “not a political organization” and he “has been clear about why he helped create World Liberty Financial.”
Senate banking panel has yet to reschedule market structure bill markup
Eric Trump’s message was one of the latest public statements from a leading industry figure after three meetings between White House officials and banking and crypto representatives on how to address stablecoin yield in the market structure bill. The legislation, called the CLARITY Act when it passed the House of Representatives in July, has been delayed by a 43-day government shutdown and debates among lawmakers on ethics, tokenized equities and stablecoins.
Although the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the bill in January, the banking panel postponed a markup and had yet to reschedule it as of Thursday. Both versions will likely need to pass the two committees and be consolidated before the full Senate can potentially vote on the bill.
Magazine: Bitcoin may face hard fork over any attempt to freeze Satoshi’s coins
Aave Labs is going all in on security ahead of its V4 launch.
The team has spent about $1.5 million on an extensive audit program, making it one of the most intensive security reviews in DeFi so far.
The review process lasted roughly 345 days and involved several security firms, as well as a large public audit contest.
The era of “move fast and break things” is fading. In today’s market, resilience and security are becoming the real competitive edge.
- Audit Scale: The $1.5 million program covered 345 days of cumulative review across four major firms and 900+ independent researchers.
- V4 Architecture: Aave has shifted to a “security-first” model where formal verification runs parallel to code writing, not after.
- TVL Implication: The zero-critical-finding result from the public contest signals institutional-grade readiness for V4 liquidity scaling.
Aave Labs $1.5M Audit Program: What the Investment Signals About V4 Risk
The V4 audit went far beyond a normal protocol upgrade.
Backed by funding from the Aave DAO, the team brought in major security firms like ChainSecurity, Trail of Bits, Blackthorn, and Certora. Instead of one audit pass, the code was tested from multiple angles.
Altogether, the protocol underwent nearly a full year of testing by internal teams, external auditors, and independent researchers. One of the biggest phases was a six-week public security contest on Sherlock between December 2025 and January 2026.
More than 900 researchers joined the contest and submitted over 950 findings. Despite that massive review, no critical or high-severity vulnerabilities were found.
That clean result strengthens confidence in Aave’s hub-and-spoke architecture, which was designed to reduce the protocol’s overall attack surface.
Aave V4’s Layered Security Model: How It Works and Why It’s Different
Aave Labs is moving away from the old “build first, audit later” approach. With V4, security teams are working alongside developers from day one.
The framework revolves around five core ideas: formal verification to mathematically test the code, layered reviews combining manual audits and automated testing, continuous checks on every code update, ongoing bug bounties, and AI tools scanning for unusual attack paths.
The AI element stands out. Automated systems can catch edge cases that human auditors might miss. Verification firm Certora helped define strict rules, called invariants, that the code must always follow before it even reaches manual review.
Early researchers who examined the code described it as unusually clean for a pre-audit project. The architecture also reduces the attack surface, helping eliminate common DeFi exploit points before launch.
Security is becoming a major competitive advantage in DeFi. Institutional capital will not touch protocols that carry unknown smart contract risk. Spending $1.5 million upfront on security is a small price to pay for the value locked in the protocol, but it sends a strong trust signal.
The next key test will come after launch. If Aave V4 runs its first months without major issues, cautious capital that has stayed away from DeFi after recent hacks could start flowing back in.
The post Aave Labs Outlines Layered Security Plan for V4 After $1.5 Million Audit appeared first on Cryptonews.
Ethereum derivatives markets saw a sharp bout of deleveraging over the past day, with total ETH contract open interest across major centralized exchanges falling 5.62% to 27.119 billion dollars, according to Coinglass data.
Summary
According to data from Coinglass, the total open interest of Ethereum (ETH) contracts across the network has contracted by 5.62% in the past 24 hours, bringing the figure down to 27.119 billion dollars.
The decline signals a decisive round of risk reduction in the derivatives market, with traders closing or being forced out of leveraged positions as conditions turn more defensive. While granular liquidation figures were not provided, the magnitude of the move suggests a mix of voluntary deleveraging and margin-driven position exits rather than a purely organic rotation.
Binance remains the largest concentration point for ETH derivatives risk, now holding 5.74 billion dollars in open interest, while Gate registers 2.866 billion dollars, Bybit 2.059 billion dollars, and OKX 1.772 billion dollars. This clustering of leverage on a handful of venues means that order book dislocations or sudden funding shifts on these exchanges can quickly bleed into spot pricing. For basis and spread traders, the reset in open interest may open up cleaner arbitrage conditions after a period of elevated speculative positioning.
Historically, single‑day pullbacks of this scale in open interest have often acted as either mid‑trend “cleanup” events or the first leg of a broader de‑risking cycle, depending on subsequent spot demand and funding dynamics. If funding normalizes and fresh spot buying emerges, the current move could be framed as a healthy clearing of excess leverage built up during prior rallies. However, if open interest continues to grind lower while spot remains under pressure, it would indicate that systematic and speculative capital are still in distribution mode.
At press time, Ethereum is trading around 2,067 dollars, down approximately 3.65% over the past 24 hours, broadly echoing the scale of the derivatives drawdown. In the near term, traders are watching the 2,000‑dollar psychological level as key support; holding that zone while open interest stabilizes would support a consolidation narrative, whereas a decisive break lower alongside further OI contraction could signal an extension of the current downside phase.
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