DeFi yields on blue-chip stablecoins now trail bank cash and tokenized Treasuries, forcing CoinEx to pitch Flexible Savings as a liquidity tool, not a rate stunt.

CoinEx’s pitch for crypto-denominated savings now lands in a market where, for the first time in a full cycle, many on-chain savings products pay less than mainstream dollar savings accounts while still carrying protocol and platform risk. 

Crypto yields lose their risk premium

Commentators have recently described the shift as a quiet inversion of DeFi’s original bargain. One widely shared summary of April 2026 rate conditions put it bluntly: “DeFi stablecoin yield in April 2026 is a quiet tragedy → Aave / Morpho / Euler: ~1.8%–3.1% → Interactive Brokers cash: ~3.14%,” arguing that the “risk premium that justified DeFi’s existence has inverted.” In other words, the extra return that once compensated for smart contract exploits, oracle failures and governance risk has narrowed or disappeared on undifferentiated stablecoin lending.

Where CoinEx Flexible Savings fits

In this environment, crypto savings products are being judged less by headline APY and more by how they integrate into a user’s overall balance sheet. A 2026 guide to interest-bearing crypto accounts noted that platforms now emphasize terms, liquidity and payout structure — “Flexible Savings” versus “Fixed-term Savings,” daily versus end-of-term payouts — rather than simply marketing “up to” rates divorced from real conditions.

According to CoinEx, its Flexible Savings product is a “principal-protected wealth management” solution where users subscribe with idle balances, interest starts accruing from the next full hour, is calculated hourly, and is credited in a single daily payout at 00:00. Assets can be redeemed at any time, returning instantly to the spot account and stopping interest accrual upon redemption, a structure that some characterize as “focusing on liquidity” for investors “seeking returns without locking up their assets.”

Regulation, meanwhile, is tilting the field toward banks, especially around dollar-pegged assets. Reporting on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act describes how the latest draft “prohibits offering yield directly or indirectly on stablecoin balances,” banning anything “economically or functionally equivalent to bank interest” and explicitly targeting exchange programs that had passed stablecoin rewards through to users. As one FinTech Weekly analysis put it, banks “would get regulatory clarity but lose the competitive tool that made stablecoins threatening to the deposit base,” with the current text landing “closer to the bank position than the White House compromise that preceded it.”

For savers already holding Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) or stablecoins, the result is a more nuanced choice than the old “DeFi beats banks” slogan. Crypto savings through products such as CoinEx Flexible Savings now sit alongside tokenized Treasuries — averaging about 3.38% seven-day APY in recent surveys — and high-yield dollar accounts, functioning less as a replacement for insured cash and more as a portfolio-efficiency tool for keeping dormant crypto balances working within a clear, transparent risk framework.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies chairman Tom Lee says the crypto treasury company took advantage of a recent Ether price drop under $2,200 to scoop up another 71,672 Ether for its stockpile.

Ether (ETH) has traded between $2,081 and $2,341 over the past seven days. It was trading at $2,128 as of Tuesday and was down 8.7% over the same period.

“Over the past week, we acquired 71,672 ETH. We view the recent pullback of ETH to below $2,200 as an attractive opportunity. Bitmine is expected to reach the alchemy of 5% sometime in 2026,” Lee said on Monday.

Bitmine is the largest Ether treasury company and has consistently bought the token, even during market downturns, in a business model similar to Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin treasury firm, Strategy.

Bitmine’s total treasury holdings stand at more than 5.2 million, with the company’s goal to hold 5% of the token’s circulating supply of 120.7 million. It bought 26,659 Ether between May 4 and May 11, breaking its three-week streak of adding more than 100,000 Ether per week. 

It comes amid reports that an Ethereum whale who previously cashed out their Ether also bought the dip over the weekend, making a return to the asset.

Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain said in an X post Saturday that a whale who bought Ether more than a decade ago and sold their holdings a year ago has started buying again. 

Source: Lookonchain

The OG whale purchased 1,951 Ether at $2,182, and Lookonchain speculated “he may keep buying.”

Ether under pressure amid Middle East conflict

Lee said Monday that rising oil prices, which soared after the conflict in the Middle East escalated earlier this year, have been a consistent drag on Ether’s price. He predicted that a reversal in oil prices could lead to Ether recovering.

Ether reached an all-time high of $4,946 in August 2025 but has since fallen about 57%. Analysts have predicted the token could still rise before the end of the year.

Related: Ethereum Foundation hits ‘Glamsterdam’ milestones, names new protocol leads 

Financial institution Citigroup predicted in March that Ether could reach $3,175 in the next 12 months. In a bull case, however, it could hit $4,488, driven by stablecoin and tokenization interest and usage.

Meanwhile, CoinGecko, citing prediction market data, speculated that Ether has a 48% chance of ending the year at $1,500 and a 25% chance of ending the year at $3,500.

Earlier this year, banking giant Standard Chartered had a more bullish outlook. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s head of digital assets research, said in a January report that Ether could hit $7,500 by the end of the year, driven by growing adoption of blockchains and onchain products.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026  

Galaxy Digital, the crypto-focused financial services firm led by Mike Novogratz, has been awarded both a BitLicense and a Money Transmission License from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) via its subsidiary GalaxyOne Prime NY. The approvals enable the firm to extend regulated digital asset trading and financing services to institutional clients operating within New York.

Galaxy disclosed the milestone on Monday, noting that GalaxyOne Prime NY will now offer its institutional trading and financing capabilities under the state’s stringent regulatory regime. The approvals deepen Galaxy’s footprint in New York, widely regarded as one of the most tightly regulated crypto markets in the United States. In commenting on the significance, Novogratz described New York as home to the deepest pool of institutional capital in the country and said the licenses would help broaden access to digital assets for institutional market participants.

BitLicense, introduced in 2015, is commonly viewed as one of the most challenging regulatory approvals for crypto businesses in the United States, requiring comprehensive controls around anti-money laundering, cybersecurity, capital reserves and consumer protection. The NYDFS issuance places Galaxy in a select group of firms authorized to operate crypto-related services for institutions within the state. The development follows other notable NYDFS approvals for prominent crypto players, including Jack Mallers’ Strike, which recently received authorization to provide Bitcoin services in New York.

Source: Galaxy

Key takeaways

• Galaxy One Prime NY gains BitLicense and Money Transmission License, enabling regulated institutional services in New York.
• The approvals mark a notable expansion of Galaxy’s regulated activities in one of the sector’s most scrutinized jurisdictions.
• In Q1 2026, Galaxy posted a net loss of $216 million as lower digital asset prices weighed on results, while gross revenue reached $10.2 billion for the quarter.
• The company is accelerating its pivot toward data-center infrastructure, with ambitions tied to the Helios Data Center campus in Texas and workloads in AI and high-performance computing.
• The NYDFS clearance follows a trend of increasing regulatory acceptance for major crypto firms, signaling evolving but rigorous oversight in the state.

Regulatory milestone and institutional access

Galaxy’s new authorization rests with its institutional arm, GalaxyOne Prime NY, which will be able to provide regulated trading and financing services to big-ticket clients in New York. The NYDFS approval underscores a broader push by state authorities to formalize compliance standards for digital asset businesses while preserving strong protections for consumers and the financial system. The BitLicense framework requires ongoing controls on money laundering prevention, cybersecurity resilience, capital adequacy and transparent consumer safeguards—stringent requirements that Galaxy will now align with for its New York clientele.

Novogratz’s remarks reflect the strategic rationale for the move: New York remains a central hub for institutional capital, and granting the licenses can help deepen institutional participation in digital assets. The NYDFS’s stance aligns with a longer-term trend of selective regulatory accommodation for established players that meet rigorous standards, contrasting with earlier cycles of cautious or restricted market access.

Cointelegraph’s coverage notes that other high-profile entrants, such as Strike, have also secured NYDFS approvals recently, illustrating a pattern of regulated entry for businesses seeking to unlock institutional access to digital asset services in New York.

From trading desks to data centers: Galaxy’s diversification strategy

Beyond its traditional trading and asset management activities, Galaxy is investing in data-center infrastructure to support compute-heavy workloads. In its recent disclosures, the company indicated that future growth would be anchored in the Helios Data Center campus in Texas and in revenues derived from AI and high-performance computing workloads. This shift mirrors a broader industry trend where crypto firms increasingly align with data-center capacity and compute services as a means to diversify revenue and capture demand from AI and cloud workloads.

The company has already signaled that the data-center business is a key growth vector, aiming to monetize the energy and compute scale required for mining, hosting, and AI-related tasks. Galaxy’s leadership argues that owning and operating scalable data-center capacity can stabilize revenue in periods of crypto price volatility and offer new avenues for institutional partners seeking robust compute resources beyond traditional trading and lending.

Galaxy’s exploration of data-center initiatives is not happening in a vacuum. Industry observers have highlighted similar trajectories among other crypto and digital-asset firms as they pivot to infrastructure, emphasizing the strategic value of stable, contract-backed data-center revenue in conjunction with trading and asset-management activities.

Q1 2026 results: a quarter of contrasts, with a longer-term pathway forward

Galaxy’s first-quarter results for 2026 reflect the volatility of the digital asset cycle. The firm reported a net loss of $216 million for the quarter ended March 31, attributable largely to lower digital asset prices, though the result was described as better than some analyst expectations. Gross revenue for the quarter totaled $10.2 billion, down from $12.9 billion in the year-ago period, underscoring the revenue sensitivity to crypto markets during the period.

Management projected that growth could accelerate into the current quarter as demand from Galaxy’s data-center operations increases. The earnings narrative shows a company navigating a cyclic market while doubling down on infrastructure investments that could underpin more diversified, recurring revenue streams in AI, high-performance computing and related workloads. In parallel with regulatory progress, Galaxy’s data-center shift could help balance profitability with the company’s capital allocation priorities in a market characterized by price volatility.

What to watch next

Readers should monitor how Galaxy scales its regulated institutional business in New York and how quickly its Helios Data Center initiatives translate into measurable revenue, particularly as AI compute demand grows. Regulatory developments in NYDFS will continue to shape the pace and scope of crypto market access for institutional players, while the company’s quarterly results will reveal whether the data-center strategy can dampen the volatility tied to crypto prices.