Crypto World
Bitcoin (BTC) market is splitting in two. Here’s who is buying and selling amid the war
Six weeks of war have split the bitcoin market into two camps. The institutional buyers who keep accumulating regardless of conditions, and everyone else, who is leaving.
The result is a market that looks stable on the surface, with bitcoin holding a $65,000 to $73,000 range through five weeks of conflict headlines, $600 million liquidation events, and the worst sentiment readings since the 2022 bear market, but is narrowing underneath in ways that matter for what comes next.
Here is who is on each side and what their behavior tells us about where conviction actually sits.
The mandated buyers
Three entities account for nearly all of the sustained buying pressure in the bitcoin market right now, and all three are buying because their business model requires it rather than because they’ve made a discretionary call on price.
Strategy has been the most visible. The company disclosed its latest purchase on April 5, adding 4,871 BTC for approximately $329.9 million at an average of $67,718 per coin.
Total holdings now stand at 766,970 BTC acquired for $58.02 billion at a blended cost basis of $75,644. The position is underwater by roughly 8% at current prices, but Strategy continues buying below its average, pulling the breakeven lower with each purchase.
A CoinDesk report last week showed Strategy’s 30-day accumulation holding steady at approximately 44,000 BTC through March.
Strategy’s STRC preferred equity product saw hundreds of millions in new inflows around its recent ex-dividend date, providing the capital for continued accumulation. As long as investor appetite for that yield product holds, Strategy keeps buying. If STRC inflows slow, so does the bid.
Meanwhile, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed approximately 50,000 BTC in March’s 30-day rolling window, the highest monthly pace since October 2025.
But the broader ETF industry data tracked on a weekly basis tells a less bullish story. CoinShares reported only $22 million in U.S. spot ETF inflows last week out of $107 million in total bitcoin ETP flows globally. Meanwhile, most flows came from one country – Swiss-listed products pulled in $157 million alone, accounting for 70% of the global ETP inflow of $224 million.
The institutional channel is open but the flow tis highly concentrated and is slowing on a weekly basis.
Meanwhile, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, while primarily an ether play, represents the same structural dynamic on the ETH side.
The company bought 71,252 ETH last week, its largest single-week purchase since December 2025, and now holds 4.8 million tokens worth roughly $10 billion.
Chairman Tom Lee called the stock market bottom this week while his company was actively spending hundreds of millions accumulating the asset he was publicly talking up.
The discretionary sellers
Everyone with a choice is running for the exit.
Whales holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC have turned from the market’s largest buyers into its largest sellers. The one-year change in whale holdings has swung from roughly positive 200,000 BTC at the 2024 bull market peak to negative 188,000 BTC, a nearly 400,000 BTC reversal that CryptoQuant described as one of the most aggressive large-holder distribution cycles on record. The 365-day moving average continues to decline, confirming the selling is structural rather than reactive to any single event.
Mid-tier holders, wallets with 100 to 1,000 BTC, are still technically accumulating but the pace has collapsed more than 60% since October 2025, from nearly 1 million BTC in annual additions to 429,000. They have not flipped to selling yet, but the trajectory points that direction.
Listed bitcoin miners are liquidating treasury. Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, and Genius Group disclosed selling more than 19,000 BTC from their treasuries in a single week earlier this month.
Some are facing operational strains, with bitcoin near $70,000 and difficulty at all-time highs and rising energy costs. The likes of Core Scientific, Iris Energy, and Hut 8, are pivoting capacity to AI hosting where contracted revenue replaces the volatility of mining income.
Bhutan, the only sovereign nation that built a bitcoin position through its own hydropower-backed mining operation, has sold 70% of its holdings since October 2024, from roughly 13,000 BTC to 3,954. The kingdom moved another 319.7 BTC to exchange-linked wallets this week. Its last mining inflow exceeding $100,000 was recorded over a year ago, suggesting the operation may have stopped entirely. Strategy now buys more bitcoin in a typical week than Bhutan has left.
The sentiment gap
The gap between what mandated buyers are doing and what the rest of the market feels is historically unusual.
The Fear and Greed Index spent over a month pinned between 8 and 14, the most sustained period in extreme fear territory since the 2022 bottom. It only climbed out of single digits this week after the ceasefire was announced.
Santiment data showed five bearish social media posts for every four bullish ones last weekend, the most negative skew since the war began.
Yet through all of that, ETFs were buying 50,000 BTC a month, Strategy was buying 44,000, and bitcoin never broke below $65,000. The floor held because the mandated buyers were absorbing what the discretionary sellers were dumping. The question is whether that absorption is sustainable.
What the ceasefire changed and what it didn’t
The ceasefire announcement Tuesday produced the sharpest single-day rally in over a month, with bitcoin surging past $72,000 and $427 million in shorts getting liquidated. Open interest in BTC and ETH perpetuals expanding by $2.1 billion and $2.2 billion respectively in 24 hours, with coin-denominated OI also rising, confirming net new long positions rather than just short liquidations.
The Coinbase Premium turned positive for both bitcoin and ether for the first time since October’s all-time high, reversing months of persistent negative readings. If it holds, that is the first sign of genuine U.S. buyer re-engagement since the war began.
But the ceasefire has not changed the structural dynamics underneath. Whether it converts into a trend reversal depends on whether the two-week truce becomes permanent, and whether the institutional flows that held the floor through the war can push through the $73,000 ceiling that has rejected every rally since late February.
In conclusion, a read across all of the data is that bitcoin’s buyer base has been narrowing for months.
The number of entities providing sustained buying pressure can be counted on one hand. Strategy, ETFs, and to a lesser extent Morgan Stanley’s new channel. Everyone else is either selling, slowing down, or leaving.
Shipping firms weighing cryptocurrency payments to cover potential transit fees through Iran face substantial sanctions risk, according to Kaitlin Martin, a senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis. Under current sanctions frameworks, payments linked to the Iranian regime or other sanctioned actors can be interpreted as material support, exposing companies to both U.S. and international restrictions.
The alert comes as reports circulate that Tehran could seek to collect transit fees via crypto for passage through strategic waterways. While U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled he would not tolerate tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, the broader question remains whether crypto could serve as a workaround for sanctions—an idea that experts say is unlikely to escape scrutiny and enforcement actions.
Key takeaways
- Payments to the Iranian regime or sanctioned entities tied to transit routes can be treated as material support, creating meaningful sanctions exposure for shippers and financiers.
- Iran has expanded its use of digital assets, especially stablecoins, to facilitate trade in oil, weapons, and other commodities, but blockchain transparency does not guarantee a bypass of sanctions.
- Cryptocurrency transactions leave a traceable record, which investigators can leverage to freeze or seize assets at cash-out points, complicating evasion efforts.
- Besides Iran, other sanctioned states have explored crypto-enabled trade. Russia, for example, has used digital tokens to support cross-border commerce in the face of sanctions.
- Iran’s Bitcoin mining activity has declined markedly, while the global Bitcoin network remains robust; the disruption appears concentrated within Iran and does not appear to destabilize neighboring markets.
Crypto use and sanctions: what changes, and what remains uncertain
In a field where financial channels are traditionally governed by a dense matrix of controls, the idea that cryptocurrency can neatly sidestep sanctions is met with caution by investigators. Martin notes that while digital assets enable cross-border transfers outside conventional rails, they come with inherent visibility. “In many ways, cryptocurrency is actually easier to trace than traditional methods of sanctions evasion,” she said, highlighting the ability to track funds to eventual cash-out points where authorities can intervene or seize assets.
Public data suggests Tehran is pushing forward with crypto-enabled trade, leveraging digital assets to move value for oil, commodities, and related goods. The trend underscores a broader strategic pivot: sanctioned economies are exploring crypto as a tool to preserve some level of cross-border activity amid pressure from Western jurisdictions. Yet the traceability of blockchain transactions means that these efforts remain exposed to enforcement actions and risk mitigation strategies by banks, exchanges, and other counterparties.
There is a precedent for state actors adopting crypto as a supplementary mechanism for trade under sanctions. For instance, Russia has experimented with digital tokens to facilitate cross-border transactions after international restrictions intensified in 2022. Such moves illustrate the dual nature of crypto in geopolitics: it can expand access to value transfer, but it also amplifies the footprint of regulatory scrutiny and potential sanctions enforcement.
Iranian mining and the global network outlook
The same period that highlights Tehran’s interest in crypto-enabled trade also intersects with a broader crypto mining landscape. Iran’s Bitcoin hashrate has fallen sharply, dropping by about 7 exahashes per second and sliding to roughly 2 exahashes per second, amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and domestic pressures. While this represents a substantial local shift, the global Bitcoin network remains broadly stable, with total hashrate hovering near 1,000 exahashes per second. The decline appears concentrated within Iran, with neighboring Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman showing little impact so far.
These dynamics matter for investors and builders in several ways. First, the concentration of mining power in a single region can affect energy markets and grid stress in that area, potentially influencing local policy and energy incentives. Second, the resilience of the global network despite regional disruptions reinforces Bitcoin’s core property as a globally distributed system. And third, the shift in Iran’s mining activity could influence the country’s capacity to monetize energy assets through crypto, a factor worth watching as sanctions and regional risk evolve.
What to watch next
Several developments bear watching in the near term. First, how strictly authorities pursue alleged crypto-enabled sanctions evasion in shipping lanes and whether there are new enforcement actions against companies facilitating such flows. Second, any shifts in Tehran’s crypto and stablecoin usage for trade, including potential policy signals from Iranian authorities. Third, the interplay between regional mining activity and energy policy, particularly in Iran and neighboring states, as sanctions and geopolitical tensions continue to reshape incentives for miners and exporters alike.
The Japanese Cabinet approved a bill on April 10 reclassifying crypto as a financial instrument under the amended Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, pulling digital assets out of the Payment Services Act framework and placing Japanese crypto on the same legal footing as stocks and bonds.
Maximum prison sentences for unregistered sellers jump from 3 years to 10 years. Fines climb from 3 million yen to 10 million yen. Insider trading on undisclosed information is now explicitly banned.
That’s not incremental regulatory cleanup. That’s a structural reclassification with enforcement teeth attached from day one.
The question is exactly what this changes for exchanges, institutional allocators, and the 13 million Japanese residents who already hold crypto accounts – and whether the compliance clock is as short as the headline implies.
- Reclassification under FIEA: Crypto moves from Payment Services Act treatment to full Financial Instruments and Exchange Act coverage, matching stocks and bonds.
- Insider trading ban: Crypto assets are now explicitly subject to insider trading prohibitions based on material non-public information.
- Penalty escalation: Unregistered seller sentences rise to 10 years; fines increase to 10 million yen.
- LPS Act amendment: Japanese venture capital firms can now directly hold crypto assets, removing a structural barrier that had pushed startup funding offshore.
- Tax alignment incoming: Maximum crypto tax rate set to drop from 55% to a flat 20% capital gains rate, matching equities.
- Bitcoin ETF legalization: FSA is targeting 2028 for crypto ETF approvals alongside these rule changes.
Discover: How Wall Street’s Institutional Bitcoin Moves Are Reshaping Crypto Markets
What Does Crypto Reclassification Under Japan FIEA Actually Change for Operators and Investors?
Under the old framework, crypto fell under the Payment Services Act, regulated primarily as a payment mechanism rather than an investment vehicle.
That legal container determined everything: custody standards, disclosure obligations, investor protections, and the severity of enforcement. The FSA’s February 2026 Financial System Council report was direct about the core problem: “information asymmetry” between issuers and retail investors had become structurally dangerous as crypto evolved into an investment asset class.
The new bill fixes that at the legal-definition level. By bringing crypto under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, issuers now face mandatory annual disclosure requirements covering technology, token supply, risk factors, and use cases – even for post-listing assets not actively fundraising.
That’s the same disclosure regime Japanese equity issuers operate under. For the 105 cryptocurrencies the FSA flagged for reclassification – including Bitcoin and Ethereum – the compliance surface area just expanded significantly.
The LPS Act amendment is the piece that most institutional observers are watching closely. Previously, Japanese venture capital funds structured as investment limited partnerships were legally prohibited from holding crypto assets directly.
That single restriction had been quietly pushing Web3 startup capital offshore for years. The amendment removes that barrier – meaning domestic VC can now deploy into crypto without restructuring through foreign entities. That’s not a marginal fix. That’s the structural precondition for a functioning domestic crypto venture ecosystem.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama framed the cabinet approval as a dual mandate: “expand the supply of growth capital” while ensuring “market fairness, transparency, and investor protection.” The two goals aren’t in tension here – securities-grade oversight is exactly what institutional adoption requires.
A Sandmark Crypto Intelligence Report from April 2026 found that 42% of global finance professionals cited regulatory uncertainty as their primary barrier to allocating to crypto.
Japan just removed that barrier domestically. XRP’s $120 million in weekly ETP inflows recorded in early April show how quickly institutional capital moves once the legal infrastructure aligns – Japan is now building that same infrastructure at the sovereign level.
The site’s position: this is the most consequential single piece of Japan crypto regulation since the PSA amendments that followed Mt. Gox. It doesn’t just add rules – it changes the legal category, which changes everything downstream.
The post Japan Crypto Revolution Inbound? Tokyo Pass New Law Equalising Crypto and Stocks appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto World
The Pepeto Price Prediction That Has Analysts Drawing Lines From Presale Entry to the Original Pepe Valuation
The Pepeto price prediction gets its strongest signal yet after Canary Capital filed for the first US spot PEPE ETF, proving meme coins are now serious enough for Wall Street fund wrappers, according to Yahoo Finance.
The meme sector added $2 billion in seven days to $31 billion. That shift changes the Pepeto price prediction for anyone tracking presale entries before listing. The project raised $8.86 million during extreme fear with a Binance listing approaching, and the math between the current entry and Pepe’s original valuation gives the forecast its clearest case yet.
Canary Capital filed to launch a US spot ETF tied to PEPE, making it the first meme coin fund application to go beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into the meme category, according to Yahoo Finance. The proposed fund would hold spot PEPE through a custodian and could keep up to 5% of assets in ETH for gas fees.
Meanwhile the meme coin sector climbed 7% on the week to a $31 billion market cap, according to CoinMarketCap, with capital rotating from large caps into meme entries where the return math is far bigger.
Presale Entries and Listing Targets Shaping the Token Forecast
Pepeto: Zero Cost Swaps and Pepe Legacy Positioning the Strongest Presale of the Cycle
A spot PEPE ETF filing proves that meme coins have crossed from internet jokes into regulated investment products. One presale drawing even heavier capital through this cycle’s fear is Pepeto, structured not for short term noise but for the kind of returns that rewrite a portfolio after one listing event, making it the Pepeto price prediction that analysts keep returning to.
The project delivers lasting value on clear paths. Staking at 186% APY grows early positions ahead of listing. The 420 trillion token supply matches Pepe’s original structure, giving the Pepeto price prediction a direct reference point that traders can verify.
Exchange tools already handle live activity. PepetoSwap processes token swaps across chains at zero cost, keeping full position value intact. The cross chain bridge routes assets between networks without fees, giving holders access to every chain while protecting what they carry.
Over $8.86 million in capital arrived while the Fear and Greed Index showed extreme fear. Pepeto at $0.0000001863 sits at a fraction of what listing models project, and the space between that price and where trading opens is where the real returns take shape for wallets that act while the number holds.
The presale closes for good once the Binance listing goes live. A developer who built trading systems at Binance shaped every stage of the platform, and the identical supply to Pepe’s original token that reached a multi billion dollar cap with zero tools running gives forecasters the data they need. The wallets that built wealth from Pepe all made one decision: they moved while entry was still open. That same window is open right now, and the listing can drop at any moment.
Pepeto Price Prediction: Listing Targets and Return Scenarios
The Pepeto price prediction begins with the math. At the current presale entry with 420 trillion supply, the fully diluted value sits near $78 million. PancakeSwap launched at $200 million FDV and hit $7 billion. BNB started near $15 million and climbed past $100 billion.
Pepeto sits below both with a working exchange already live. Matching Pepe’s $7 billion cap delivers roughly 89x, and analysts who factor in exchange tools Pepe never had see that as a floor. The forecast ranges from 50x to 300x depending on listing volume.
Conclusion
The Pepeto price prediction points to returns no large cap can approach from current prices. A spot PEPE ETF filing proves that meme coins now attract Wall Street capital, and the project built by the same founder with a working exchange and a Binance listing sits at a fraction of where that capital will price it.
At $0.0000001863, every $1,000 grabs 5.37 billion tokens. If Pepeto matches even a fraction of Pepe’s run on the same 420 trillion supply, that $1,000 turns into six figures. Over $8.86 million already flowed in during extreme fear because thousands of wallets ran that math and committed. The listing can land at any moment, and early holders will be sitting on positions the rest of the market pays multiples more to chase. The Pepeto official website is where that entry is still open.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
What is the Pepeto price prediction based on listing models and Pepe’s market cap?
Analysts project 50x to 300x from presale based on Pepe’s $7 billion cap and working exchange tools Pepe never had. The Binance listing is approaching.
How does the 420 trillion supply affect the Pepeto price prediction?
The supply matches Pepe’s original token, giving analysts a verified reference point. Pepeto’s $78 million FDV sits below where exchange tokens historically launch.
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.
The US government moved a small amount of bitcoin on April 10 from wallets that Arkham Intelligence linked to a criminal case. The transfer involved 2.438 BTC, worth about $177,000, sent to a Coinbase Prime address.
Summary
- US government moved 2.438 BTC from seized wallets tied to an alleged steroid conspiracy case.
- Arkham linked the funds to Glenn Olivio, who faced charges filed in 2025.
- The transfer renewed focus on how seized bitcoin moves under the federal reserve policy.
Arkham data showed two separate transactions from wallets labeled “U.S. Government: Glenn Olivio Seized Funds.” Both transfers went to the same Coinbase address, beginning with 3EMqu.
Government-linked bitcoin transfers are not unusual. Federal agencies often move seized assets for custody, consolidation, or other handling during legal and administrative processes.
The latest move still drew attention because the funds may be tied to a 2025 federal case. The transfer also comes after the Trump administration said it had stopped selling seized bitcoin.
That policy became clearer after President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a strategic bitcoin reserve. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said the government would keep bitcoin obtained through criminal forfeitures.
The Block reported that the seized bitcoin appears linked to Glenn Bradford Olivio. Court records show Olivio was arrested in May 2025 with Dana Rene Light.
Prosecutors charged the pair with five counts, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, money laundering conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and drug possession counts.
The indictment said the case involved “a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of anabolic steroids.” The listed substances included synthetic testosterone, Trenbolone, Nandrolone, Mestanolone, Oxandrolone, Stanozolol, and Methandienone.
Court filings also included a notice of forfeiture. That step is common when the government seeks to seize property, including cryptocurrency, that it says came from alleged criminal activity.
Reserve policy remains in focus
The transfer comes as federal bitcoin holdings remain under close watch. The US government currently holds about 328,000 BTC, valued at more than $22 billion at current market prices.
In recent weeks, government-linked wallets also moved funds tied to other cases, including assets associated with Ross Ulbricht, Chen Zhi, and Miguel Villanueva.
Those earlier transfers raised questions about whether the government was still sending bitcoin to custodial platforms despite the reserve policy. The latest Olivio-linked transfer is likely to draw similar attention.
PACER shows the steroid case last updated in June 2025. Public records reviewed by The Block did not confirm whether this case is related to an older 2015 marijuana arrest involving a man with the same name.
Bitcoin (BTC) is showing early signs of a liquidity rotation, with on-chain metrics and futures positioning both pointing to a gradual shift in investor behavior.
The move comes as BTC’s price has seen a modest recovery amid the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.
Stablecoin-to-BTC Pipeline Reopens
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), analyst Darkfost noted that at the end of February, Bitcoin’s realized cap hit an extreme low of -$28.7 billion. At the same time, stablecoin market capitalization grew to over $6 billion.
This reflected defensive positioning by investors looking to preserve capital without fully exiting the market. According to the analyst,
“This marked the first time such a rotation had been observed since the previous bear market. At that stage, this configuration signaled a clear intention from investors to protect their capital.”
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However, the picture has since shifted. Bitcoin’s realized cap has recovered to -$3 billion. Meanwhile, stablecoin capitalization has declined to -$1 billion. Capital that once sat on the sidelines appears to be flowing back into the largest cryptocurrency.
Futures Positioning Mirrors 2023 Pre-Breakout Setup
Derivatives data support the optimism. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted that speculators are now net long on Bitcoin.
“Very similar to previous cases where we’ve seen the same before a big breakout in 2023. Commercials’ Net Position has been net short on the markets, which is the inverse of the speculators,” Poppe said.
Van de Poppe suggested that BTC could reach $80,000- $85,000. He cautioned, however, that the data points to elevated volatility rather than a guaranteed directional move.
“Now, this doesn’t guarantee that we’re going to be breaking upwards massively. It does say that there’s a significant chance for volatility, also knowing that we’ve been ranging in this area for two months and markets refused to fall down,” he wrote.
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The timing of these shifts is worth noting. Darkfost stated that it began as uncertainties surrounding the Iran conflict reached their peak.
“Almost as if some investors are starting to view Bitcoin as an edge against inflationary and economic risks stemming from the situation,” he remarked.
Bitcoin has gained over 10% since the war began on February 28. For now, the recovery remains modest, but Darkfost suggested that if the rotation continues, the asset’s recovery could continue.
BeInCrypto Markets data showed that BTC gained over 1% over the past day as ceasefire negotiations continue in Pakistan. At press time, the cryptocurrency traded at $72,900.
The post Money Is Rotating Back Into Bitcoin, On-Chain Data Shows appeared first on BeInCrypto.
San Francisco police arrested a suspect after an alleged firebomb attack at OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman’s home.
Summary
- Police arrested a 20-year-old after a firebomb attack at Sam Altman’s San Francisco home Friday.
- OpenAI said no one was hurt after the exterior gate of the property caught fire.
- Altman later addressed the attack and allegations from The New Yorker in a Sunday post.
The case drew wider attention after police said the same person later moved toward OpenAI headquarters and made threats.
The San Francisco Police Department said an unknown man threw an incendiary device at a North Beach home on Friday. Police said the device caused a fire at the exterior gate of the property.
Officers said the suspect fled on foot after the attack. Police later found and arrested a 20-year-old near OpenAI headquarters after reports of threats to damage the building.
A spokesperson for OpenAI told CNBC that no one was injured in the incident. The company said it is working with police as the investigation continues.
Police said the suspect threatened to burn the building down. Authorities have not yet disclosed charges, and investigators have not released further details about motive or evidence.
The attack came during a period of renewed public scrutiny around Altman and OpenAI. Earlier this month, The New Yorker published a report that questioned Altman’s handling of safety issues and leadership disputes.
Altman later addressed both the attack and the report in a blog post.
“Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house,” he wrote.
Blog post addresses past conflicts
Altman also responded to criticism raised in the New Yorker report. He said the article was “incendiary” and said he had underestimated “the power of narratives.”
He also acknowledged past mistakes at OpenAI. Altman wrote, “I have made many other mistakes throughout the insane trajectory of OpenAI,” and said he was sorry to people he had hurt.
Shipping firms that turn to cryptocurrency to pay potential transit fees to Iran could face significant sanctions exposure, according to Kaitlin Martin, senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis.
Martin told Cointelegraph that under the current sanctions framework, any payments made to the Iranian regime, including those tied to passage through key waterways, could be interpreted as “material support,” putting companies at risk of violating US and international restrictions.
“Doing so could carry significant sanctions violation risk, as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is sanctioned by multiple jurisdictions and Iran is subject to comprehensive sanctions by the United States,” she said.
The warning comes amid reports that Iran may seek to collect transit fees in cryptocurrency. While there has been no official confirmation, US President Donald Trump has said he would not accept any attempt by Tehran to impose tolls on shipping through the vital waterway.
Related: White House warns staff as Iran bets add to growing insider trading concerns
Iran expands crypto use
Tehran has already expanded its use of digital assets, particularly stablecoins, to facilitate trade in oil, weapons and commodities, based on publicly available data, Martin said.
However, she noted that cryptocurrency is not a foolproof workaround for sanctions. While it enables cross-border transfers outside the conventional financial system, blockchain transactions are inherently transparent and leave a permanent record.
“In many ways, cryptocurrency is actually easier to trace than traditional methods of sanctions evasion,” she said, pointing to the ability of investigators to follow funds to cash-out points where assets can be frozen or seized.
Other sanctioned states have also explored similar approaches. Russia, for instance, has used digital tokens such as A7A5 to facilitate cross-border trade following sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Related: Bitcoin community weighs in on reports of Iran’s crypto toll for oil ships
Iran’s Bitcoin hashrate drops sharply
As Cointelegraph reported, Iran’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining power has dropped significantly over the past quarter, losing around 7 exahashes per second and falling to roughly 2 EH/s, amid escalating tensions with the United States and Israel.
Despite the regional disruption, the global Bitcoin network remains stable, with total hashrate holding near 1,000 EH/s. Notably, the impact has been contained within Iran, with neighboring countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman unaffected.
Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum — BIP-360 co-author
Binance has begun surfacing pre-IPO assets in the Markets section of its Web3 Wallet, adding a new on-chain product tied to private companies that have not yet gone public.
The exchange said that five pre-IPO assets are now available in the wallet view of its app.
Pre-IPO Tokens Tied to SpaceX and OpenAI
The Richard Teng-led exchange did not name those five assets listed on the market in its brief announcement.
However, PreStocks, which said its pre-IPO assets are now live in the Binance app, said its platform offers tokens linked to SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Anduril, Kalshi, and Polymarket.
On its website, PreStocks says its tokens are backed 1:1 by special-purpose-vehicle exposure to the underlying company shares.
PreStocks says its tokens do not confer ownership, voting, dividend, information, or other legal rights. The company also says the products are not available in the United States or to US persons.
Essentially, this structure leaves holders with price exposure rather than shareholder rights.
Meanwhile, Binance’s entry into the tokenized equity sector intensifies an ongoing arms race among major digital asset platforms to capture traditional financial workflows.
Major crypto exchanges, including Kraken and Gemini, have increasingly explored adjacent traditional offerings over the past year. Notably, Bitget, another major rival, debuted a parallel product, IPO Prime, just days prior.
These firms’ aggressive launches show that they are trying to capture some of the retail demand generated by the 2026 “IPO supercycle.”
Market analysts noted that this IPO cycle is projected to be one of the largest in history, potentially unlocking over $3.6 trillion in value.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX leads the coming wave of public offerings. The firm recently filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 1. The aerospace company is reportedly targeting a June 2026 listing at a valuation of about $2 trillion.
The post Binance Launches Pre-IPO Token Trading Ahead of Tech Supercycle appeared first on BeInCrypto.
The XRP community is heading into a packed week as Paris Blockchain Week and a new XRP Ledger audit contest begin.
Summary
- XRP community members are preparing for Paris Blockchain Week and a new XRPL security audit contest.
- Ripple and Sherlock will run a two-week audit contest covering several upcoming XRP Ledger features.
- XRP Ledger supporters expect strong European participation during community events linked to Paris Blockchain Week.
The schedule brings together community events, developer activity, and fresh attention on upcoming XRPL features.
The XRP community night event is set for April 15 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Solum, Paris. The gathering will take place during Paris Blockchain Week, one of the major crypto events on the European calendar.
Past XRP community night events have brought together builders, partners, and supporters from across the ecosystem. This year’s event is again expected to draw strong attendance from European XRP Ledger users and developers.
XRP Ledger validator Vet pointed to the week as an important moment for the regional community. In a recent post, Vet said, ”Next week is Paris Blockchain Week.”
Vet also added, ”Traditionally the European XRP community has a strong presence there and is the top regional layer 1 hub thanks to XRPL Commons.” The comment has added more attention to the Paris gathering.
XRPL audit contest starts on April 13
Alongside the Paris event, the XRP Ledger hackathon period will also get attention from developers. A feature-unlock audit contest organized by Sherlock with Ripple will begin on April 13 and run through April 27, 2026.
The contest will focus on several parts of the XRPL road map. It comes as Ripple continues to support broader external review of new protocol-level tools before they are rolled out further.
Sherlock said the contest will cover Batch Transactions, Permission Delegation, MPT DEX, Confidential Transfers for MPT, Sponsored Fees, and Reserves. These features relate to transaction execution, account permissions, trading environments, and token functionality on the ledger.
The audit program carries a $550,000 prize pool. That amount places extra focus on the security review as the XRP Ledger moves forward with new infrastructure changes.
Ripple expands XRPL security work
The audit contest follows Ripple’s recent move toward a more proactive security approach for XRPL. Last month, Ripple said it was using a more active and AI-driven method to strengthen the network’s security process.
That step now connects with the two-week contest, which opens the review process to outside researchers and developers. The broader goal is to test upcoming XRPL features under competitive conditions before wider adoption.
Crypto World
CoreWeave (CRWV) Stock Surges 11% on Major Anthropic and Meta Contracts Despite Executive Share Sales
Key Takeaways
- CoreWeave shares surged nearly 11% to $102 following a strategic cloud partnership with Anthropic and a massive $21B Meta contract expansion
- Chief Operating Officer Sachin Jain offloaded 3,953 shares at $92 per share on April 8, generating proceeds of $363,676 through a pre-scheduled trading plan
- Executive Brian Venturo liquidated 61,747 shares at $89.22 each for approximately $5.51M, trimming his holdings by over 21%
- Quarterly revenue jumped 110.4% to reach $1.57B, though earnings per share fell short of expectations with continued losses
- The company issued $3.5B in convertible debt plus $1.75B in senior notes carrying a 9.75% rate, intensifying balance sheet concerns
Shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) reached $102 on April 11, marking an increase of approximately 11% from the $92 level where its Chief Operating Officer had liquidated shares mere days before. Market activity spiked dramatically with 83.2 million shares changing hands — far exceeding the typical daily volume of 22.6 million.
CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV
The share price surge stemmed from a pair of significant business developments. The company announced a multiyear cloud services agreement with Anthropic to support the computational needs of Claude AI models. Infrastructure capacity associated with this partnership is scheduled to become operational in the latter half of this year.
Additionally, CoreWeave revealed a $21 billion extension to its current arrangement with Meta, pushing total Meta-related commitments to $35.2 billion extending through 2032. Meta’s contracts now represent approximately 40% of the company’s pro-forma backlog, which totals roughly $87.8 billion.
Cantor Fitzgerald initiated research coverage during the week with an Overweight recommendation and established a $149 price objective, highlighting the Anthropic agreement as a near-term growth driver. Evercore ISI maintained its Outperform stance with a $120 target following the announcement.
Skepticism remains among certain analysts, however. Sanford C. Bernstein maintains an Underperform rating with a $56 price objective. Stifel assigned a Hold recommendation alongside a $110 target. Across the analyst community of 32 firms, 19 recommend buying, 11 suggest holding, and 2 advise selling — producing a consensus price target of $121.65.
Executive Stock Sales Draw Scrutiny
Even as shares climbed, two company insiders executed notable transactions. COO Sachin Jain disposed of 3,953 shares on April 8 at $92 each, realizing proceeds of $363,676. That identical day, insider Brian Venturo sold 61,747 shares at an average price of $89.22, generating $5.51 million and reducing his position by 21.64%.
Both transactions occurred under previously established Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangements, which allow executives to schedule sales in advance to avoid allegations of trading based on material nonpublic information. Jain maintains direct ownership of 122,691 shares following the sale. Venturo continues to hold 223,580 shares worth approximately $19.9 million.
The magnitude of these dispositions has attracted investor attention despite their pre-scheduled nature.
Elevated Leverage Introduces Financial Risk
CoreWeave recently completed pricing on a $3.5 billion convertible senior note offering, expanded from an originally planned $3 billion. The company simultaneously issued $1.75 billion in senior notes maturing in 2031 with a 9.75% coupon, increased from an initial $1.25 billion target. This substantial coupon rate introduces considerable interest obligations to a business that has yet to achieve profitability.
The firm’s debt-to-equity ratio currently registers at 4.46. Both its quick ratio and current ratio stand at 0.46, suggesting constrained near-term liquidity.
During the fourth quarter, CoreWeave generated revenue of $1.57 billion — representing 110.4% growth compared to the prior year. However, the company reported a loss per share of $0.89, missing analyst consensus expectations of $0.61 by $0.28. Net margin settled at negative 22.75%.
The stock has traded between $33.51 and $187.00 over the past 52 weeks. Its 50-day moving average currently sits at $85.40, while the 200-day moving average is positioned at $94.92.
Institutional investment activity has accelerated, with multiple funds establishing or expanding positions during recent reporting periods. ARK Invest has been identified among the institutional buyers.
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