Crypto World
Bitcoin Rally Builds on Leverage as Spot Demand Lags
TLDR
- Bitcoin reached $79,488 before easing to $78,223 as futures activity powered the latest price move.
- CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said the current Bitcoin rally is driven by derivatives, not strong spot demand.
- On-chain data shows Bitcoin’s 30-day apparent demand metric remains in negative territory.
- Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy, purchased $255 million in Bitcoin after a $2.54 billion acquisition last week.
- Bitcoin ETFs acquired more than $2.6 billion worth of BTC this month despite weak on-chain demand.
Bitcoin climbed toward two-month highs as derivatives activity powered the latest advance. The asset reached $79,488 before easing to $78,223 during the session. However, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said futures markets, not spot demand, drive the current Bitcoin rally.
Bitcoin Rally Fueled by Futures While Spot Demand Stays Weak
Ki Young Ju stated that derivatives traders lead the present move in Bitcoin. He said rising open interest shows traders are increasing leverage across futures markets.
He explained, “This rally is futures-driven,” and he pointed to negative on-chain demand data. CryptoQuant data shows Bitcoin’s 30-day apparent demand metric remains below zero.
Meanwhile, institutional buyers continued acquisitions through direct purchases and exchange-traded funds. Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy, bought $255 million in Bitcoin after acquiring $2.54 billion last week.
At the same time, Bitcoin ETFs accumulated more than $2.6 billion worth of BTC this month. Yet on-chain metrics did not reflect matching growth in spot-driven demand.
CryptoQuant data showed futures demand in strong positive territory during the same period. However, Ju said bear cycles end only when both spot and futures demand recover together.
He added that current data does not show that alignment. Therefore, the structure behind the Bitcoin rally remains uneven.
Short Squeeze Accelerates Bitcoin Price Surge
On April 23, Bitcoin rose from $76,351 to $79,447 within hours. The move marked a 4.05% increase during that session.
Carmelo Alemán, an on-chain analyst at CryptoQuant, attributed the surge to forced liquidations. He said short traders closed positions rapidly as prices climbed.
Open interest jumped from $24.88 billion to nearly $28 billion during the rally. This rise showed a sharp increase in leveraged futures positions.
Short liquidations exceeded $607.9 million in Bitcoin during that move. Ethereum short liquidations reached $580.9 million in the same period.
Together, short liquidations totaled about $1.19 billion across both assets. In contrast, long liquidations remained just above $111 million combined.
Alemán said the imbalance highlighted strong pressure on bearish traders. As shorts closed, forced buying pushed prices higher.
CryptoQuant data indicated that derivatives activity expanded faster than spot transactions. Therefore, leverage played a central role in the advance.
Ju reiterated that on-chain demand still shows weakness despite price gains. He stated that negative apparent demand contrasts with rising futures exposure.
Bitcoin traded near $78,223 after touching $79,488 earlier in the day. Open interest remained elevated near $28 billion at the latest reading.
Crypto World
CFTC New York Prediction Market Lawsuit Filed
The CFTC filed a lawsuit against New York on April 24 in the Southern District of New York, seeking a permanent injunction to stop the state from enforcing its gambling laws against federally registered prediction market exchanges.
Summary
- The CFTC sued New York after the state filed suits against Coinbase and Gemini earlier that week, alleging their prediction market products violated state gambling laws.
- The CFTC is seeking a declaratory judgment of federal preemption and a permanent injunction blocking New York from enforcing gambling rules against its registered exchanges.
- New York joins Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, and other states already facing CFTC lawsuits in a rapidly expanding federal-state jurisdictional battle over prediction markets.
CFTC New York lawsuit was filed on April 24 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The CFTC announced that it is seeking a declaratory judgment that federal law gives it exclusive authority to regulate event contracts and a permanent injunction preventing New York from enforcing state gambling statutes against its registrants. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said that “CFTC-registered exchanges have faced an onslaught of state lawsuits seeking to limit Americans’ access to event contracts and undermine the CFTC’s sole regulatory jurisdiction over prediction markets,” adding that New York is “the latest state to ignore federal law and decades of precedent.”
CFTC New York Lawsuit Escalates a Fight Already Spanning Six States
As crypto.news reported, the New York action was triggered directly by the state attorney general suing Coinbase and Gemini earlier that week, alleging their prediction market platforms operated as unlicensed gambling without meeting state gaming licensing requirements or minimum age restrictions. Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul responded to the CFTC lawsuit by stating that “New York’s gambling laws are designed to protect consumers, whether they are placing bets in a prediction market or a casino,” and vowed to continue defending state law in court. As crypto.news documented, the CFTC had already sued Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois earlier in April, arguing those states were making “aggressive and overzealous attempts to overstep the CFTC,” with New York’s addition making it the fourth direct state defendant. The CFTC’s core legal argument is that event contracts are classified as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, giving the federal agency exclusive jurisdiction and preempting any state gambling statute.
The Third Circuit Ruling That Made New York’s Position Harder
The CFTC’s lawsuit against New York arrives shortly after a significant federal judicial precedent. As crypto.news tracked, the Third US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April that New Jersey cannot bar Kalshi from offering sports-related event contracts, finding that the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC hold exclusive authority over those markets. That ruling strengthened the federal preemption argument the CFTC is now deploying against New York. Courts in Tennessee have similarly issued temporary restraining orders blocking state enforcement against Kalshi. New York’s case will now be decided in federal district court, where the Third Circuit’s reasoning, while not binding, carries significant persuasive weight. A loss for New York would likely cause other states to drop parallel enforcement actions, while a New York victory would almost certainly accelerate the conflict to the Supreme Court.
What a Resolution Means for Prediction Markets and Crypto
The stakes extend beyond the immediate parties. As crypto.news noted, New York’s lawsuit against Coinbase and Gemini sought at least $2.2 billion in fines from Coinbase and $1.2 billion from Gemini, making the financial exposure from state enforcement potentially existential for smaller prediction market operators. Wisconsin has also sued Polymarket, Kalshi, and Robinhood, seeking forfeiture of profits from Wisconsin residents. If the CFTC prevails across its state lawsuits, prediction markets would operate under a single federal regulatory framework with no state-by-state licensing requirements, a structure that would massively expand their addressable market. If states prevail, prediction markets would face a patchwork of 50 different regulatory environments, effectively operating only in states that permit them.
A bipartisan group of US senators has separately proposed legislation to ban sports and casino-style contracts on CFTC-regulated prediction markets entirely, meaning that even a CFTC victory in court could be reversed by Congress if the political will materializes.
Crypto World
Israeli Regulators Approve Shekel-Pegged Stablecoin
Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority has greenlit the launch of a shekel-pegged stablecoin by the virtual exchange exchange Bits of Gold.
In a Monday notice, the Israeli regulator said that it had granted approval of the BILS stablecoin after a two-year pilot program of the stablecoin on the Solana blockchain.

Source: LinkedIn
According to the announcement, the stablecoin’s reserve assets will be held in Israel in “designated and separate accounts.” The project was part of a larger effort by the Israel Tax Authority and the country’s Finance ministry to regulate the crypto industry, including by allowing certain stablecoin activities.
“BILS creates a direct bridge between the Israeli shekel and the global digital assets economy, enabling real-time payments, on-chain trading and programmable financial applications based on a regulated local currency,“ said Bits of Gold founder and CEO Youval Rouach.
Related: Zondacrypto CEO goes off radar as Poland probe deepens
As of Monday, the global stablecoin market capitalization was more than $320 billion, dominated by US dollar-pegged stablecoins like Tether’s USDt (USDT).
The launch of BILS, as one of the first Israeli shekel-pegged coins, came as the fiat currency was at a 30-year high against the US dollar, at 1 ILS to 0.34 USD at the time of publication.
Stablecoin yield under scrutiny in US amid market structure debate
In the United States, lawmakers continue to debate provisions within a digital asset market structure bill over stablecoin yield, tokenized equities, and ethics concerns related to US President Donald Trump’s potential conflicts of interest with the industry. The legislation, effectively stalled in the US Senate since July 2025, requires a markup by the chamber’s banking committee before a potential vote.
Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?
Crypto World
Top 3 Meme Coins to Watch in Final Week of April 2026
The April meme coin rally accelerated as Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), MemeCore (M), and SPX6900 (SPX) posted weekly gains between 19% and 32%, with each chart now testing decisive Fibonacci levels.
The three tokens dominate this week’s meme coin leaderboard, but their technical setups diverge. One faces a stretched RSI, another breaks fresh resistance, and the third attempts a breakout on uncertain volume.
MemeCore (M) Stalls Near $4.86 After Fibonacci Extension Hit
MemeCore (M) trades near $4.19 after a 23% weekly advance, holding within the upper Fibonacci pocket between the 0.786 and 1.0 retracement levels. The token printed a recent swing high of $4.86 on April 24.
The Fibonacci structure draws from the November low and a second test of that same low on February 1. After retracing toward the 0.618 golden pocket near $3.46, buyers stepped back in.
That bounce coincided with a retest of an ascending exponential curve and the green-box support zone close to $3.00.
Momentum signals warrant caution. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits at the edge of overbought territory and prints one bearish divergence against the latest swing high. Volume is also contracting, which weakens the case for an immediate continuation.
A clean break above $4.86 opens the path to the 1.272 Fibonacci extension at $5.85, the next bullish target. Failure to reclaim that high keeps M trapped in the upper pocket and exposes a deeper retest of the $3.46 golden pocket.
Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) Powers Meme Coin Rally With Breakout
PENGU trades near $0.0096 after a 32% weekly surge. The token broke decisively above the $0.008 resistance zone that had capped price action since early February, flipping that level to support.
The breakout escapes a multi-month accumulation range that formed between $0.006 and $0.008. Daily volume picked up sharply during the move, supporting the validity of the breakout. RSI climbs toward the overbought line yet has room to run before signaling exhaustion.
Price now contests the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement at $0.0096, the immediate resistance flagged on the chart. A long upper wick shows sellers defending the level. Holding above $0.008 keeps the bullish structure intact.
A daily close above $0.0096 sets the next destination at the 0.618 golden pocket near $0.0106. Beyond that, the $0.013 zone marks the prior resistance shelf and aligns with the 1.0 Fibonacci level. Loss of $0.008 invalidates the breakout.
SPX6900 (SPX) Breakout Lacks Volume Confirmation
SPX6900 (SPX) sits near $0.3839 after a 19% weekly advance, mirroring a setup the token printed earlier in the year. Price emerged from an accumulation channel between $0.27 and $0.35 that held throughout most of February, March, and the first half of April.
The current resistance challenge sits at the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement near $0.426, the next zone where sellers have previously blocked rallies. RSI hovers around 60 and tilts higher, which fits a healthy uptrend rather than an overheated reading.
Bollinger Bands have widened, with price riding the upper band. That expansion confirms increasing volatility and a bullish bias on the short-term tape. Volume tells a different story. The breakout attempt prints on subdued turnover, reducing conviction in the move.
A volume-backed close above $0.426 would unlock the 0.5 retracement near $0.489 and then the 0.618 golden pocket at $0.55.
Without participation, SPX risks slipping back into the upper end of the accumulation channel near $0.35, with the lower bound at $0.22 acting as the structural floor. Broader sector rotation into meme coins could supply the missing volume.
The post Top 3 Meme Coins to Watch in Final Week of April 2026 appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Western Union to Launch USDPT Stablecoin in May: Western Union
Western Union plans to roll out its USDPT stablecoin next month, alongside a digital wallet network and Stable Card for global payments.
Western Union will launch its USDPT stablecoin in May as part of a broader digital assets strategy, CEO Devin McGranahan announced. The stablecoin rollout will integrate with a new network connecting digital wallets to Western Union’s existing retail infrastructure and a planned global Stable Card for payments.
Western Union is embedding digital assets into its core money movement platform, positioning stablecoin settlement as a central feature alongside its legacy remittance and payment services. The USDPT launch represents one of the largest traditional financial institutions moving into stablecoin issuance and crypto infrastructure integration.
Sources: Cointelegraph | The Block | Crypto.news
This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.
Crypto World
Bitcoin Mining Goes Open-Source as Tether Publishes Framework
Tether has rolled out an open-source development framework for Bitcoin mining, aiming to give operators and developers a unified control layer over both hardware and software across multiple mining sites. The company described the framework as a modular, scalable option designed to move mining operations away from fragmented, vendor-locked toolsets toward a cohesive stack that can monitor devices, automate workflows and host custom applications from a single interface.
Dubbed a development framework, the kit blends a backend software development kit with user interface tools to enable cross-site oversight. Its architecture exposes standardized functions from mining hardware, allowing independent modules to be added without rewriting the core system. Tether said the design supports a wide range of machines, services and locations, enabling operators to tailor dashboards and automation while preserving a common control layer.
Compatibility spans Windows, macOS and Linux, and the framework is pitched to scale from a single rig to large industrial deployments. In its release notes, Tether highlighted features for automation, continuous monitoring and coordinated hardware management, all aimed at simplifying operations in environments where interoperability has historically been a challenge and vendor lock-in has raised costs.
The MDK builds on Tether’s prior open-source work with Mining OS, expanding the stack with a development layer that makes it easier to build dashboards, workflows and analytics atop existing mining infrastructure. In short, the company frames the release as an evolution of openness in the Bitcoin-mining software ecosystem.
The timing aligns with broader industry activity and capital moves within the crypto mining sector. Last week, Tether disclosed an 8.2% stake in Antalpha, a Bitcoin-focused lender and financing platform with ties to Bitmain, a major hardware supplier. The move underscores a broader convergence between traditional finance-style capital and mining infrastructure developers.
Beyond the pure software story, the wider market context remains deeply linked to the stability and liquidity of crypto rails. Tether is the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, accounting for about $190 billion of the roughly $320.7 billion global stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama data.
Key takeaways
- The Mining Development Kit (MDK) marks a shift toward vendor-agnostic control of mining fleets, offering a unified layer for monitoring, automation and custom building across sites.
- The modular approach lets operators add new hardware integrations and software modules without touching the core system, potentially reducing complexity in mixed-vendor environments.
- MDK extends Tether’s open-source mining stack, following Mining OS, and aims to empower dashboards, workflows and analytics on top of existing infrastructure.
- The development is taking place amid a broader trend of miners diversifying into AI and high-performance computing, supported by large-scale data-center expansions and new financing plans.
Modular control in a fragmented ecosystem
At the heart of MDK is a modular architecture designed to accommodate a wide array of mining hardware. By exposing standardized functions from machines and allowing independent modules to plug in, the framework seeks to reduce the friction that comes with assembling a heterogeneous fleet. Operators can add monitoring, automation and specialized tooling without retooling the entire software stack, which could lower operating costs and shorten deployment cycles for multi-site operations.
The planned cross-platform reach—covering Windows, macOS and Linux—addresses a long-standing pain point for mining operators who mix old and new rigs across geographies. With the framework, operators could potentially orchestrate firmware updates, thermal management, thermals, and energy-use optimization from a single cockpit, rather than juggling disparate tools from several vendors.
Open-source lineage and practical implications
By building on Mining OS, MDK represents a continuation of Tether’s push toward openness in the mining software stack. The company said the new framework is designed to let developers craft dashboards, workflows and analytics that sit atop existing hardware and software setups. For operators, this could translate into more transparent tooling, easier integration with third-party services and more room to customize operations without depending on a single vendor’s ecosystem.
Analysts and observers have long noted that open frameworks can help reduce total cost of ownership and accelerate innovation in mining operations that use diverse hardware from multiple suppliers. The MDK release therefore sits at the intersection of software tooling and strategic resilience—aimed at improving uptime, performance visibility and workflow automation across distributed deployments.
Industry momentum: miners expanding into AI and HPC
The MDK news arrives as a broader segment of the mining industry pursues artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads to diversify revenue and make use of power capacity beyond traditional mining. Early movers like CoreWeave have shifted from crypto mining toward cloud-based AI compute since 2019, signaling a broader recalibration of what mining infrastructure can power.
Publicly traded mining operators have followed suit, investing in AI-centric data centers and HPC capabilities. Companies such as Riot Platforms, HIVE Digital, MARA Holdings, TeraWulf and Cipher Mining have publicly signaled or pursued strategies to repurpose capacity toward AI and HPC workloads, aiming to monetize processing power in the AI era.
In recent weeks, financing moves have underscored this shift. Core Scientific signaled plans to raise about $3.3 billion through senior secured notes due in 2031 to fund data-center expansion and debt refinancing. Separately, Hut 8 announced plans to raise approximately $3.25 billion in senior secured notes to support a 245-megawatt AI data center in Louisiana, linked to a long-term lease with Fluidstack valued around $7 billion.
Analysts have also started to map how AI and cloud computing could reshape the profitability and strategic outlook of leading miners. Bernstein analysts recently suggested that IREN, the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner by market capitalization, may gradually pivot away from mining and toward expanding its AI cloud business over time as the company scales its non-mining operations.
As the sector morphs, observers caution that the balance between traditional mining economics and the emerging AI-driven infrastructure model remains delicate. Open questions include how quickly operators can monetize AI workloads, how financing cycles will adapt to shifting capex needs, and how regulatory developments could influence cross-border data and energy strategies.
Broader market context and transmission effects
While MDK targets the operational layer of mining, the surrounding market environment remains closely tied to the health of stablecoins and digital-asset liquidity. USDT’s dominance—sitting at roughly two-fifths of the stablecoin market by market capitalization—helps underpin a range of on-ramps, liquidity pools and financing arrangements used by mining firms seeking working capital and equipment liquidity. DefiLlama’s data provides a snapshot of this ecosystem and highlights how stablecoins continue to factor into mining and crypto-finance activity.
Industry observers also flagged potential strategic implications for suppliers and operators. An open-source, interoperable framework could encourage more hardware compatibility and reduce the risk of vendor lock-in, potentially shifting negotiating leverage toward mining operators and away from a handful of dominant toolmakers. The Antalpha stake disclosure ties into the broader narrative of financial players deepening exposure to mining infrastructure and equipment financing, a trend that could accelerate collaboration between lenders, equipment providers and miners.
In terms of next steps, the market will be watching for early adopter deployments of the MDK, the breadth of hardware integrations that surface, and how dashboards and analytics built on top of the framework perform in real-world, multi-site environments. Adoption signals—such as new integrations, case studies, and community contributions—will be key indicators of whether MDK becomes a standard layer in the evolving open mining software stack.
Cointelegraph continues to monitor how these developments intersect with the industry’s broader diversification into AI compute and data-center capacity, as well as the financing dynamics that underpin major buildouts across North America and beyond.
Readers should watch for updates on MDK adoption, new partnerships with hardware vendors or service providers, and any regulatory considerations that could shape the adoption curve for open-source mining infrastructure in the months ahead.
Crypto World
ETH Triple Top Rejects $2.4K As Analysts Flag Weakness Against BTC
Ether (ETH) fell 3.4% to $2,287 on Monday, after its fourth rejection at the $2,400 level since April 14. The price continues to trade below the 100-day moving average, with over $2.5 billion in liquidation risk concentrated near the $2,150 support zone.
Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe also flagged weakness in Ether relative to Bitcoin, raising doubts about the strength of any near-term uptrend.
Repeat rejections at $2,400 cap ETH’s upside
Ether has failed to break $2,400 four times over the past two weeks, forming a clear triple top pattern on the daily chart. Each retest saw a loss of strength near that level, suggesting supply absorption by sellers.
The 100-day exponential moving average (EMA) near $2,350 continues to act as a dynamic resistance. The price has not held above it on the one-day chart, keeping upside attempts short-lived.

ETH/USDT on the one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The support at $2,150 now carries more weight. The level previously acted as resistance and could be tested as a base in the coming days. A move below it opens the door to deeper downside levels.
Liquidation data adds pressure to this zone, with $2.5 billion in leveraged longs sitting below $2,150. A break below this level could trigger forced selling into the $2,050 to $1,900 range.

Ether liquidation map. Source: CoinGlass
MN Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe noted weakness in the ETH/BTC pair. The ratio dropped below 0.032 BTC, removing a key support level tied to prior continuation attempts.
The ETH/BTC ratio also slipped under the 21-period moving average, signaling fading relative strength against Bitcoin. The next higher-time frame level sits near 0.026 BTC, where buyers previously stepped in.

ETH/BTC chart analysis on Binance. Source: CryptoQuant
Related: BitMine acquires 101,000 ETH despite $6.5B in unrealized losses
ETH futures positions hint at a market reset
On Binance, Ether’s open interest (OI) has dropped to $2.58 billion, matching levels seen when ETH traded near $2,200 earlier this month. The decline points to a reset in leverage following the recent positioning buildup.

ETH: Binance cumulative net taker volume. Source: CryptoQuant
The funding rate offers a clearer signal, sitting near -0.013%, the lowest reading since February. The short positions dominate new activity while earlier long exposure has been reduced.
Crypto analyst Amr Taha noted that this combination places ETH in a shorts-heavy setup with lower leverage. If price holds near current levels, the imbalance between positioning and price could tighten, leading to a breakout sooner than later.
The key zone centers on $2,150, where liquidation risks and the current technical level converge on the daily chart.
Related: ETH price up 10% in April, so why is Ethereum Foundation selling?
Crypto World
Pi Network Protocol 22 Deadline Today
April 27 is the hard deadline for all Pi Network Mainnet node operators to upgrade to Protocol 22.1, with nodes still running v21.2 after today’s cutoff automatically disconnected from the Mainnet, and Protocol 23 now moved one week earlier to May 11.
Summary
- All Pi Network Mainnet nodes must upgrade to Protocol 22.1 by today, April 27, or be automatically cut off from the network, losing the ability to validate transactions and earn node rewards.
- The Bitget technical guide confirms Protocol 23.0 has been moved from May 18 to May 11, one week earlier than previously announced, with four additional protocol upgrades added to the summer roadmap.
- PI traded near $0.1687 with a $1.73 billion market cap on April 23, largely unmoved by the deadline, with 421,000 active nodes and over 10 billion PI migrated to Mainnet.
Pi Network’s Protocol 22.1 upgrade deadline is today, April 27. Bitget confirmed that nodes still running v21.2 after the cutoff will be disconnected from Pi Mainnet entirely, unable to process transactions, validate blocks, participate in network consensus, or earn rewards until they complete the upgrade. The Pi Core Team explicitly stated that the upgrade must be completed sequentially, with no node downgrading to an earlier version permitted once the transition is done.
Pi Network Protocol 22 Deadline Marks a Strict Infrastructure Sync Requirement
As crypto.news reported, the upgrade takes under 15 minutes if operators follow the correct traffic redirection protocols. Nodes should not be upgraded simultaneously: operators are instructed to divert traffic to other nodes or point to the official API endpoint during the process to maintain network stability. The upgrade introduces a dual-interface setup allowing node operators to use both a node screen and a desktop Pi application simultaneously, enabling balance checks and network feature access from a computer rather than only a phone. Nodes must update to software version 0.5.4 to complete the transition. According to community data cited in the Bitget guide, over 421,000 active nodes are currently supporting the network across more than 1 million CPUs, with 10 billion PI already migrated to Mainnet. A recent pilot with OpenMind AGI confirmed Pi’s distributed node network can power decentralized AI image recognition and training tasks.
Protocol 23 Deadline Has Moved a Week Earlier to May 11
The most significant new detail from the Bitget technical guide is that Protocol 23.0’s deadline has been moved forward from May 18 to May 11, a full week ahead of the previously announced date. As crypto.news documented, Protocol 23 is the upgrade that introduces full smart contract functionality across the Pi Network, transforming the network from a transactional system into a programmable platform where developers can build decentralized applications, exchanges, and automated tools. The earlier deadline also aligns the Protocol 23 launch more closely with the Consensus 2026 event in Miami from May 5 to 7, where both co-founders Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan are scheduled to speak. Four additional upgrade steps have been added to the roadmap: Protocols 24.1, 25.1, and 26.0 following Protocol 23.0, signaling an accelerating development pace heading into summer 2026.
PI Price Has Not Responded to the Technical Milestone
Despite the Protocol 22 deadline, PI has remained under pressure. As crypto.news tracked, nearly 3 million PI tokens moved to centralized exchanges in the days before the deadline, raising short-term selling concerns, while approximately 200 million PI tokens are scheduled to unlock over the next 30 days. PI fell approximately 4% in the week before the deadline even as Bitcoin and other major assets gained on improved Iran ceasefire sentiment. As crypto.news noted, the market has consistently treated each Pi technical milestone as a sell-the-news event rather than a structural re-rating, and the April 27 deadline appears to be following the same pattern heading into the Consensus 2026 appearance.
Pi Network’s roadmap now extends to Protocol 26.0, with five major milestones across a ten-week window from late April through late June 2026, representing one of the most compressed upgrade sequences in the project’s history.
Crypto World
Canada Tightens Campaign Finance Rules to Ban Crypto Donations
Canada is moving closer to blocking political donations in cryptocurrency, as Ottawa tightens the rules governing how money can flow into elections. Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, passed a second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, signaling cross-party support to advance the measure and send it to committee for detailed scrutiny and potential amendments.
The legislation would prohibit political parties and candidates from accepting cryptocurrency contributions, addressing what regulators view as a gap in campaign-finance rules. Introduced on March 26, the bill forms part of a wider reform agenda intended to strengthen transparency, bolster enforcement, and reduce the risk of foreign interference in Canadian elections. According to Cointelegraph, crypto donations became a focal point due to concerns over traceability and compliance with existing limits. While the bill is not solely focused on digital assets, it explicitly includes crypto within its restrictions on political financing. There is currently no fixed date for when Bill C-25 will be taken up in committee.
An excerpt from Bill C-25. Source: Parliament of Canada
Regulators have signaled that this approach aligns with broader efforts to modernize Canada’s electoral framework while integrating digital assets into the financial system under tighter rules. In the same policy space, Canadian authorities are advancing stablecoin frameworks intended to grant oversight powers to the Bank of Canada and to refine rules governing crypto investment funds, custodians, and cold storage practices.
These developments unfold in a policy environment that has shifted toward increased scrutiny of crypto-asset activity, even as the government seeks to balance innovation with risk management and consumer protection. While crypto donations are the immediate focal point, the evolving regulatory landscape is shaping how crypto-native firms, exchanges, and financial institutions interact with both electoral law and public-market safeguards. Cointelegraph notes that the Canadian discourse about digital assets extends beyond elections to a broader push for regulatory clarity and systemic resilience.
Overall, the moves come within a broader national effort to establish a coherent, enforceable framework for digital assets, consistent with international regulatory trends and standards. As policy makers reassess the role of crypto within traditional financial channels, the country is evaluating how to harmonize transparency, AML/KYC compliance, and licensing oversight with modernization of electoral rules and governance norms.
Parliamentary documents show the bill’s text and context, with an excerpt published by the Parliament of Canada. Parliament of Canada
Key takeaways
- The bill would prohibit political parties and candidates from accepting cryptocurrency donations.
- Bill C-25 passed a second reading in the House of Commons and proceeds to committee scrutiny, where amendments can be proposed.
- Crypto is explicitly included in the financing restrictions as part of a broader election-law reform focused on transparency and enforcement.
- There is no fixed date yet for committee review of the bill.
- Canada’s crypto-regulatory environment is evolving, with efforts to implement stablecoin oversight, custody standards, and other governance measures that could affect banks, crypto firms, and institutional participants.
Legislative trajectory and enforcement implications
The second-reading approval signals political appetite to close a recognized gap in election-finance rules. By explicitly barring cryptocurrency donations, the government aims to reduce anonymity and enhance traceability in campaign funding, aligning with broader objectives of transparency and accountability. For campaign entities, this would necessitate robust compliance programs to verify the sources of contributions, monitor cross-border flows, and enforce existing contribution limits across all asset classes. In practice, the policy could compel political parties and candidates to implement digital-payment screening and record-keeping that conforms to AML/KYC expectations, with regulatory bodies empowered to investigate anomalous activity or illicit funding patterns.
From an enforcement perspective, the committee stage will be critical. Lawmakers can amend the bill to clarify definitions of crypto assets, determine treatment for different token categories, and set practical reporting requirements. The absence of a fixed timetable for committee consideration introduces uncertainty for political entities and compliance teams as they map potential changes into internal controls and governance processes.
Crypto regulation beyond electoral financing
The proposal sits within a broader Canadian strategy to regulate digital assets more comprehensively. Regulators have advanced stablecoin frameworks intended to expand oversight capabilities for the Bank of Canada, while refining rules for crypto investment funds, custodians, and custody practices. The convergence of financial regulatory reform with electoral integrity measures indicates a move toward a regulated, auditable digital-asset ecosystem that seeks to balance innovation with risk mitigation and consumer protection.
For institutions, these developments carry practical implications. Digital-asset firms, exchanges, and traditional banks operating in Canada must prepare for tighter compliance obligations, licensing expectations, and potential cross-border considerations, including how stablecoins and other tokenized assets are treated under both financial and electoral law. The alignment with international norms—such as ongoing regulatory dialogues around crypto-asset governance in other jurisdictions—also informs how Canadian policy may evolve in relation to global standards.
Context within Canada’s broader digital-asset policy landscape
Canada’s approach to digital assets appears to be moving toward greater integration within the formal financial system, while simultaneously imposing stricter limits on their use in politically sensitive contexts. The regulatory arc emphasizes transparency, enforcement, and cross-cutting oversight that spans financial services, governance, and national security considerations. As policymakers weigh the balance between nurturing digital-asset innovation and safeguarding the integrity of public processes, the outcome of Bill C-25’s committee stage will illuminate how Canada intends to structure this balance in the coming years.
Closing perspective: The committee phase will determine the bill’s final shape, with potential amendments addressing definitions, scope, and practical compliance obligations. Analysts and compliance teams should monitor legislative updates, regulatory guidance, and the evolving stance of enforcement authorities to anticipate how crypto-financing rules will interact with electoral governance and the broader Canadian financial framework.
Crypto World
DeFi United Hits Recovery Target as Consensys, Solana, TRON Pledge Support
The DeFi United coalition crossed its rsETH backing target after a flood of weekend commitments from across the Ethereum, Solana, TRON, Avalanche, and Bitcoin ecosystems.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the DeFi United recovery fund has reached the level needed to fully back rsETH, subject to pending votes, indicative agreements, and successful execution, after a wave of new commitments over the weekend pushed the coalition past an initial 163,200 ETH shortfall.
The milestone caps a frenetic stretch since the April 18 KelpDAO bridge exploit, which drained 152,577 rsETH from Kelp’s LayerZero bridge adapter and saddled Aave with between $123.7 million and $230.1 million in bad debt, depending on how Kelp ultimately allocates losses across rsETH holders.
Consensys, the company behind MetaMask, and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin have committed up to 30,000 ETH to the recovery effort, with Nasdaq-listed Sharplink joining in an advisory capacity, according to a press release viewed by The Defiant. The contribution is structured to make funds available immediately while standard governance processes for other contributors run in parallel.
Kulechov said the support materially advances the recovery and credited the contributors with making funds available without delay. Lubin said the Ethereum ecosystem “has always been at its best when it moves together.”
Cross-chain Solidarity
The recovery effort drew support from across the crypto ecosystem over the weekend.
TRON founder Justin Sun said TRON DAO and exchange HTX would jointly supply $20 million in USDT to Aave’s Core V3 market, calling the move “a show of support to bring AAVE to TRON.”
Solana Foundation president Lily Liu separately said the foundation would lend USDT on Aave for the first time and bring the AAVE token to Solana this weekend, noting that Solana had previously supported Tether’s $127.5 million recovery plan for Drift Protocol after that protocol’s April 1 exploit.
The Avalanche Foundation said it would support DeFi United, framing the coordinated response as a public stress-test of DeFi’s “transparent books and real accountability,” in contrast to traditional finance.
Bitcoin restaking protocol Babylon committed $3 million in USDT to Aave, with $2 million allocated to V3 and $1 million to V4. The Babylon Foundation said any interest earned on the deposit would be redirected back into the Aave ecosystem through incentives.
Liquid restaking protocol Renzo said it had supplied more than $10 million from its treasury into Aave V3 stablecoin markets, calling the past week “a true test for the DeFi ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, Circle Ventures said it was purchasing AAVE tokens directly, citing Aave’s role in shaping the future of onchain finance.
What’s Next
Kulechov’s announcement carried three explicit caveats: pending votes, indicative agreements, and successful execution. Several of the largest commitments, including the Aave DAO’s proposed 25,000 ETH contribution, Mantle’s 30,000 ETH credit facility, and Lido’s 2,500 stETH allocation, must pass through their respective governance processes.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
Crypto World
Western Union Pushes USDPT Stablecoin Launch on Solana Network
Western Union Advances USDPT Stablecoin Strategy on Solana
Western Union has moved ahead with plans to launch its USDPT stablecoin on the Solana blockchain next month. The company aims to strengthen its payment infrastructure and reduce reliance on traditional banking rails. This development follows earlier internal announcements made in late 2025.
Western Union Expands Digital Asset Network and Payment Tools
Western Union has also progressed with its Digital Asset Network platform, which links crypto wallets to its retail system. The company expects to onboard its first partner as the platform goes live this week. This integration will allow users to convert digital assets into local currencies through existing agent locations.
The firm has designed the network to support seamless interaction between blockchain assets and traditional cash systems. It aims to simplify transactions for users while maintaining familiarity for agents. This approach supports both accessibility and operational continuity.
In addition, Western Union has prepared a new product called the USD Stable Card for later release. The card will allow users to store and spend stablecoin balances globally. The company plans to target regions where local currencies face volatility and instability.
Solana Faces Price Pressure Despite Growing Network Adoption
Solana has experienced a price decline even as network activity and partnerships continue to expand. The token traded at $85.08 on April 27, reflecting a modest daily decrease. Market performance has not fully aligned with the network’s recent developments.
Solana $SOL could be setting up for a 10% move as it approaches the apex of this triangle. pic.twitter.com/uO6HnZJjcp
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) April 27, 2026
However, analysts have noted a potential technical setup that may signal a short-term price movement. Chart patterns indicate a possible breakout as the asset approaches a consolidation point. This outlook suggests that price action may shift in the near term.
Despite current pressure, Solana continues to attract institutional and enterprise-level integrations. The blockchain has positioned itself as a high-speed and low-cost platform for financial applications. These factors continue to support its role in evolving digital payment systems.
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