The SEC CLARITY Act roundtable convened in Washington today, April 16, bringing regulators and industry together for a public discussion on digital asset market structure as the Senate Banking Committee targets a late-April markup of the most consequential crypto bill the US has ever seen.

The SEC CLARITY Act roundtable opened in Washington today as the US Securities and Exchange Commission convened a public forum on digital asset market structure, placing the bill’s trajectory on full display for the first time since the Senate returned from Easter recess on April 13. Today’s session is not a vote or formal markup, but the commissioners running it are the same ones who will implement the CLARITY Act once Congress passes it.

The Senate Banking Committee markup is targeted for the second half of April. Chair Tim Scott has not yet announced a date as of Wednesday evening.

The CLARITY Act would draw a statutory line between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, assigning digital commodities to the CFTC and leaving digital securities under SEC oversight. The House passed the bill 294 to 134 in July 2025 and the Senate Agriculture Committee cleared its version in January 2026, making this the most advanced crypto market structure bill in US history.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said publicly that the SEC and CFTC are operationally ready to implement the act the moment Congress passes it. Polymarket currently puts passage odds at 55%.

The Stablecoin Fight That Almost Killed the Bill

The central dispute holding up the legislation has been whether stablecoin issuers can pay yield to holders simply for holding their tokens. White House digital assets adviser Patrick Witt said the stablecoin yield compromise “appears to be holding firm,” describing it as a “must-have” for unlocking the remaining sticking points. The deal bans passive yield on stablecoin balances while permitting activity-linked rewards tied to payments and platform use, a structure that protects DeFi protocols while addressing banking industry concerns about deposit migration.

The bill has stalled twice in 2026 as House Republicans remain split over FISA reauthorization and budget reconciliation, consuming legislative bandwidth the CLARITY Act needs before midterm politics close the window entirely. Senator Cynthia Lummis wrote on X this month that this is “our last chance” until at least 2030 if Congress misses the May window.

What Passes Next Has Trillion-Dollar Stakes

JPMorgan analysts have called midyear passage a positive catalyst for digital assets. Standard Chartered estimated that an uncapped yield provision could redirect up to $500 billion in deposits out of the banking system, explaining the banking lobby’s resistance. A White House Council of Economic Advisers study countered that banning yield would increase total US bank lending by just $2.1 billion while imposing an $800 million welfare cost on households.

The bill must still clear the Senate Banking Committee, pass a full Senate floor vote requiring 60 votes, reconcile with the Agriculture Committee version and the House-passed text, and receive a presidential signature. Today’s roundtable does not shorten that path, but it signals regulators are aligned and waiting for lawmakers to act.

Key Highlights

• Shares of Onfolio Holdings (ONFO) climbed more than 150% Thursday following the announcement of a $100 million equity financing arrangement with an institutional backer.
• The proceeds are primarily designated for purchasing profitable online enterprises the firm considers underpriced.
• Some funding will be allocated to expanding Onfolio’s digital asset holdings.
• CEO Dominic Wells stated the organization dedicated 2025 to achieving profitability and is now prioritizing expansion.
• ONFO shares are trading near their 52-week high, positioned 182.9% above the 20-day moving average.

Shares of Onfolio Holdings (ONFO) skyrocketed Thursday after the firm revealed a $100 million equity financing arrangement with an institutional investor. The stock climbed over 149% to $1.66 during trading, approaching the upper boundary of its 52-week trading range between $0.46 and $1.95.

Onfolio Holdings, Inc., ONFO

The financing agreement provides Onfolio with adaptable, on-demand capital that can be utilized at the company’s discretion. The arrangement carries no mandatory drawdown obligations.

The majority of proceeds will support working capital needs and business acquisitions. Onfolio plans to pursue profitable online operations it views as undervalued when managed traditionally but could flourish when integrated with AI-powered infrastructure.

A smaller allocation will support expanding the firm’s digital asset portfolio, which complements its operational holdings as part of an overarching value-creation approach.

CEO Dominic Wells was straightforward regarding the company’s position. “We dedicated 2025 to reaching profitability,” he explained. “Now we’re allocating capital toward expansion.”

Wells characterized the facility as enhanced flexibility rather than emergency funding. It complements an existing convertible note arrangement as part of what the organization describes as an expanding capital infrastructure.

AI-Driven Acquisition Strategy

Onfolio’s acquisition framework is deeply connected to its artificial intelligence services platform. Upon acquiring a business, the company integrates it with pre-existing AI systems covering content creation, marketing automation, data intelligence, and operational efficiency.

The firm describes this methodology as capital-efficient. It expands AI-generated revenue leveraging current advanced model infrastructure while avoiding substantial capital investment.

Wells noted that AI implementation is already progressing throughout its current portfolio. The business-to-business division is experiencing enhanced margins, while consumer-facing operations are benefiting from AI-driven data intelligence tools.

This analytics solution is being developed into a standalone service product for B2B customers, targeting both current clients and prospective accounts.

Technical Analysis and Trading Levels

ONFO was positioned 182.9% above its 20-day simple moving average and 188.2% beyond its 100-day SMA during the rally — representing a dramatic revaluation reflecting the stock’s rapid ascent.

The 20-day SMA currently trades above the 50-day SMA, indicating short-term positive momentum. Nevertheless, a death cross formation from November 2025 — when the 50-day crossed beneath the 200-day — continues to signal longer-term technical weakness.

The MACD indicator remains below its signal line with negative histogram readings, suggesting momentum could begin moderating despite the elevated price level.

Critical resistance exists at the $2.00 mark, where shares have previously encountered selling pressure. Immediate support is positioned around $1.50, a psychological price point that has traditionally attracted buying interest.

The organization submitted an 8-K filing with the SEC providing complete details regarding the financing arrangement.

The online casino industry thought it understood scale. Spartans.com just redefined it entirely. A platform still in restricted beta, not yet open to the global public, recorded $1,000,000,000 in total wagers in its first 60 days. Legacy platforms spent years chasing that milestone. Spartans casino hit it before most people knew it existed.

Meanwhile, crypto markets are quietly building serious institutional momentum. Chainlink just upgraded its Data Streams infrastructure to feed real-time U.S. stock prices into DeFi, while Avalanche welcomed a brand new NYSE-listed spot ETF as daily transactions hit a 2026 high of 3.5 million.

Spartans.com Post Class Leading Numbers in Beta Stage

Most online casinos spend years building credibility. They acquire players slowly, establish their infrastructure gradually, and hope that volume follows reputation over time. Spartans.com skipped all of that. In just 60 days of restricted beta, February and March 2026, the platform recorded $1,000,000,000 in total wagers, captured $100,000,000 in deposits, generated $40,000,000 in Gross Gaming Revenue, and onboarded 27,000 first-time depositors. All before a single day of full global operation.

The number that makes those figures even more remarkable: Spartans casino is currently ranked the 14th largest crypto casino on earth. In beta. With global access still restricted. The August 1st worldwide launch has not happened yet, and the platform is already sitting inside the top 14 of a fiercely competitive global industry. The strategic target, becoming the world’s number one top crypto casino by the end of 2026, looks considerably less ambitious when framed against those pre-launch numbers.

The platform delivering these figures is built differently from the ground up. Near-instant withdrawals eliminate the friction legacy sites depend on. Uncapped betting limits invite the biggest action online. The $7,000,000 leaderboard, the largest in online casino history, with $5,000,000 for a single first-place winner, is running simultaneously with a $3,000,000 Mansory Koenigsegg Jesko giveaway. Grammy-winner Lil Baby and boxer Conor Benn are locked in as partners. And hardwired beneath all of it is the 33% CashRake system, automatically returning up to 33% of the house edge to the player on every wager. If this is what Spartans casino looks like as a top crypto casino before launch, August 1st changes everything.

Chainlink Feeds Wall Street’s Data Into DeFi

The Chainlink price tells a story of fundamentals and price action moving in opposite directions. LINK is trading near $8.80, down sharply from January 2026 highs near $14, yet the underlying network is generating approximately $75 million in annualised fees, securing over $28 trillion in total value, and processing $18 billion in monthly cross-chain volume through CCIP, up 62% year-over-year. JPMorgan and UBS are running live blockchain settlement pilots directly on Chainlink infrastructure, and an institutional consortium including Swift, Euroclear, and DTCC has adopted Chainlink oracles for corporate action workflows.

The most significant recent development came on April 12, when Chainlink upgraded its Data Streams infrastructure to provide near-real-time pricing for U.S. stocks and ETFs, directly bridging the $80 trillion equities market into DeFi. The Bitwise LINK ETF (CLNK), listed on NYSE Arca, has expanded availability to 401(k) retirement plans. The Chainlink price compression between $8.20 and $9.55 has created a historically tight Bollinger Band structure that analysts note typically precedes significant directional moves. Standard Chartered targets $15 by late 2026.

Avalanche Lands NYSE-Listed ETF as Transactions Hit 2026 Record

The AVAX price is trading near $9.33 with a key resistance battle forming around the $10 level, a ceiling that has capped every rally since January. The timing of the latest catalyst makes that level increasingly significant. On April 15, Bitwise launched its spot Avalanche ETF (BAVA) on the New York Stock Exchange with staking rewards included and a 0% sponsor fee on the first $500 million in assets. This follows VanEck’s AVAX ETF launched in January 2026, giving the asset two NYSE-listed institutional products within months of each other.

On-chain fundamentals are strengthening independently of price. Daily transactions hit a 2026 high of 3.5 million, while TVL across Avalanche’s DeFi ecosystem has approximately doubled since April 2025 to $2.1 billion. South Korean payment processor NHN KCP signed an MOU with Ava Labs to develop a payments-optimised Layer 1 blockchain targeting sub-second finality. CME Group confirmed AVAX futures contracts launching May 29. The AVAX price needs a confirmed close above $10 to break the descending triangle structure, analysts target $15 if it holds.

The Final Take

Chainlink is quietly becoming the data layer connecting Wall Street to every blockchain on earth, with institutional adoption accelerating even as the token price consolidates. Avalanche is landing NYSE-listed ETFs, record transaction volumes, and enterprise payment partnerships while holding above critical support. Both networks are building the kind of institutional infrastructure that takes years to be reflected in price. And sitting above all of trends in the online gaming space is Spartans.com, a platform that generated a billion dollars in wagers before its global doors even opened, ranked 14th in its industry before a single day of unrestricted operation. The $7,000,000 leaderboard is live. The August 1st launch is approaching. The pre-launch numbers already made the argument.

Find Out More About Spartans:

Website: https://spartans.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spartans/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/SpartansBet

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpartansBet

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.

Tempo, the payments-focused Layer 1 blockchain, on Wednesday introduced Tempo Zones, a new feature that lets enterprises run private stablecoin transactions on parallel blockchains connected to Tempo’s mainnet.

The product targets a core friction point for institutions exploring stablecoin rails: public blockchains broadcast every transaction by default. A company processing payroll, for example, would expose individual salary data on-chain, while a payment processor would leak confidential merchant volume with every settlement.

“The parties to a transaction should see the details, the broad public should not, all while retaining the usability and interoperability of stablecoin rails,” the Tempo team wrote in a blog post.

Zones serve as private execution environments where participants can transact without publicly revealing information. Assets remain interoperable with Tempo’s mainnet, meaning users inside a Zone can still access on-ramps, off-ramps, and decentralized exchange liquidity on the base layer.

The Zone operator, which can be the enterprise itself or a third-party infrastructure provider, has visibility into all transactions within its Zone for compliance and reporting purposes, but does not have custody of funds. Assets are locked in a smart contract on Tempo’s mainnet and can only be withdrawn by the owning user.

Tempo said enterprises managing payroll are among the first users of Zones, with broader production deployments planned in phases. The company is currently working with design partners across payroll, treasury, settlement, and tokenized deposit use cases.

The launch adds another layer to Tempo’s pitch to institutional users. The blockchain, which Stripe and Paradigm first unveiled in September 2025, went live on mainnet in March alongside the Machine Payments Protocol, an open standard for AI agent-to-service payments co-authored with Stripe. It raised $500 million in a Series A at a $5 billion valuation in October 2025, and recently onboarded Visa, Stripe, and Zodia Custody as validators.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Polish crypto exchange Zonda disclosed that a cold wallet holding about 4,503 BTC is currently inaccessible as withdrawal requests spike and questions swirl around the platform’s governance. In a video posted on X, Zonda chief executive Przemysław Kral showed the wallet address and said the private keys were never handed over, arguing that the handover failed because founder and former chief executive Sylwester Suszek has been missing since 2022.

The disclosure arrives amid weeks of controversy linked to local media reports of a policing probe into Zonda, and a Recoveris analysis that warned the exchange could be insolvent given a sharp drop in the hot wallet balances. The address’s last on-chain activity dates back to November 2025, and the balance remains around 4,503 BTC, valued at roughly $334 million depending on the price at the time of measurement.

Previously, Kral had denied insolvency claims following Recoveris’ April 6 report, reiterating that Zonda remained solvent with more than 4,500 BTC in custody. In the latest video, he attributed the withdrawal pressure to an abnormal spike in requests, driven by negative media coverage. He noted that Zonda normally processes around 100,000 withdrawal requests per year, but more than 25,000 were filed within hours and days around early April. He also vowed to pursue legal action over what he described as false claims and to uphold customer obligations amid the withdrawal surge.

Polish lawmaker Tomasz Mentzen commented on X that Zonda may have lost access to its cold wallet following Suszek’s disappearance. While Kral did not say the funds were lost, he stressed that the private keys were never transferred during the handover. Suszek has been reported missing since March 2022, with coverage referencing alleged criminal ties among some of Zonda’s shareholders when the firm was known as BitBay.

Founded in Poland in 2014 and rebranded as Zonda in 2021, the exchange has been at the center of regulatory and political debate around crypto in the country. Kral told Cointelegraph in February that the company registered in Estonia amid regulatory uncertainty in Poland and delays implementing the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regime, known as MiCA. The broader context sees Poland balancing national policy with EU rules as regulators weigh stronger oversight of crypto firms and custody practices.

Key takeaways

• The Zonda cold wallet address holds about 4,503 BTC, last active in November 2025, valued at roughly $334 million as markets moved. The private keys were reportedly never handed over to the founders, complicating any potential access recovery.
• Kral attributed withdrawal pressure to an unusual spike around early April, with more than 25,000 withdrawal requests in a short period, far exceeding Zonda’s typical annual pace of around 100,000.
• Recoveris’ analysis and local media reports have fueled insolvency concerns, while Kral has publicly denied such claims and pledged to meet customer obligations while pursuing legal action over what he calls false accusations.
• The ongoing dispute intersects with regulatory dynamics in Poland and the EU, including MiCA-related uncertainties that prompted Zonda to register in Estonia and heightened scrutiny of the Polish crypto sector.

Disclosure of the inaccessible wallet and the stakes for users

The revelation that a sizable cold wallet could be out of reach raises immediate questions for customers relying on Zonda for funds custody and withdrawals. While Kral maintains that the private keys were never transferred, the situation underscores the fragility that can accompany custody arrangements when founders vanish or governance transitions stall. The wallet’s inactivity since late 2025 adds another layer of ambiguity about the future accessibility of those funds and how the exchange intends to honor withdrawal requests already in flight.

Market observers will be watching how Zonda navigates this impasse — whether through legal channels, potential third-party custodial interventions, or other mechanisms to restore confidence among users and counterparties. The balance between public assurances and on-chain realities is at the heart of investor and customer risk in a scenario where a substantial asset holdings appear to be stranded.

Regulatory scrutiny, solvency debates, and the Polish crypto frame

Media coverage of a possible Polish authorities probe has amplified a broader conversation about how crypto exchanges should be supervised in Poland and across the European Union. The Recoveris report, which suggested a potential insolvency risk based on on-chain balances, has interacted with local reporting to amplify investor concern, even as Zonda asserts solvency. The exchange’s leadership has argued that a sudden uptick in withdrawal demand, rather than balance mismanagement, explains the immediate stress around withdrawals.

The case sits at a crossroads of national policy and EU-wide rules. Zonda’s decision to register in Estonia, highlighted by Kral, reflects a strategic coping mechanism to navigate regulatory uncertainty within Poland and the slow rollout of MiCA. As policymakers debate stricter custody standards and clearer licensing pathways for crypto businesses, Zonda’s public custody incidents may sharpen the debate over how quickly and robustly regulators should intervene to protect consumers while fostering innovation.

The unfolding narrative also touches on the sensitive topic of Suszek’s disappearance and the historical governance of the company, which was previously BitBay before the rebrand. Reports of alleged ties between shareholders have added a criminal-justice dimension to the financial and regulatory questions surrounding Zonda. While there is no definitive public linkage announced between Suszek’s disappearance and the current liquidity concerns, the constellation of factors has intensified calls for stronger disclosure and more transparent governance in regional crypto ventures.

What to watch next for Zonda and the broader landscape

Moving forward, observers will scrutinize whether Zonda provides additional on-chain disclosures, updates on the status of the private keys, and any official statements clarifying the custody framework and customer guarantees. Regulators in Poland and across the EU will likely monitor how the exchange resolves withdrawal pressures, communicates with customers, and addresses governance questions stemming from Suszek’s absence and historical leadership changes. The Estonia registration and MiCA implications will be a recurring thread as the sector tests the balance between regulatory compliance and practical operations in a rapidly evolving policy environment.

Readers should stay tuned for any new statements from Zonda, any formal regulatory actions, and further analytical commentary from firms tracking custody risk and on-chain activity. The convergence of custody challenges, regulatory pressures, and a high-profile missing-founder case ensures that Zonda’s next moves will be read as a bellwether for governance standards and investor protection in Poland’s expanding crypto ecosystem.

Sources and context for this report include Zonda’s disclosed wallet narrative and Kral’s video statement, media reporting on the Polish probe, Recoveris’ analysis, on-chain data from Blockchain.com, and related regulatory discussions around MiCA and Poland’s crypto policy framework.

Bitcoin price prediction turns cautious on Thursday as BTC hovers near $74,921, with profit-taking slowing a ceasefire-driven rally that pulled in $597.5 million in spot ETF inflows over two days.

Bitcoin (BTC) price prediction points to consolidation Thursday as BTC drifts near $74,921, held up by institutional demand but capped by profit-taking after a sharp week of gains tied to the US-Iran ceasefire. BTC is up 1.7% over the past 24 hours and 5.5% for the week, but the rally is losing steam at familiar resistance.

The S&P 500 set a record on Wednesday. Crypto did not follow at the same pace, underscoring a more cautious investor posture in digital assets relative to equities despite the improved geopolitical backdrop.

The $76,000 level has now rejected price three times. IG analysts wrote Wednesday that “a technical breakout above roughly $76,100 would signal bullish continuation but failure maintains range-bound trading.” The setup has not changed materially: positive macro sentiment from ceasefire hopes is being offset by intermittent profit-taking from traders who bought earlier in the week.

The SuperTrend indicator has flashed green on the daily chart and MACD lines crossed into positive territory, both pointing to underlying bullish structure. But BTC has failed to close above $75,000 on a sustained basis across multiple sessions.

ETF Inflows Provide the Floor

Twelve US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows totalled $597.5 million across the past two sessions, per SoSoValue data. Short liquidations added $152 million in forced buying pressure over the same window, providing mechanical support to the rally even as spot demand from retail traders remains subdued.

The combination keeps $72,000 as the structural floor. A break below that level would invalidate the current bullish thesis and expose BTC to a deeper correction, per the on-chart analysis.

What Moves the Price From Here

The path to $80,000 remains tied to geopolitics more than technicals. Trump told Fox News the Iran conflict is “close to over” and the White House said talks are “productive and ongoing.” Any confirmed ceasefire extension or positive development from resumed negotiations in Islamabad would likely trigger another ceasefire rally similar to last week’s 5% surge to $74,400.

Absent that catalyst, BTC looks likely to continue ranging between $72,000 and $76,000 until diplomatic clarity arrives or the FOMC meeting on April 28 provides fresh macro direction.

The digital wagering sector in April 2026 is witnessing a technical revolution where speed is the ultimate currency. While Rollbit and BC.Game have defined the previous era of crypto-native gambling, Spartans.com is rewriting the rules through sheer technical performance. During its record-breaking beta phase, Spartans processed $100,000,000 in total deposits, generating an impressive $40,000,000 in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR).

Currently ranked 14th and climbing globally, the platform has established itself as the fastest withdrawal online casino by integrating proprietary “Degen Zone” technology, allowing for high-velocity wagering and instant payouts that legacy platforms simply cannot match.

Rollbit: The Crypto-Native Ecosystem

Rollbit has long been considered a pioneer in the crypto gambling space, successfully building a multifaceted ecosystem that blends traditional casino games with innovative features like NFT loans and a native token economy. In 2026, it remains a major destination for players who appreciate a broad range of crypto-integrated services.

However, the complexity of the Rollbit platform—designed to manage everything from a sportsbook to a token-burn mechanism—can sometimes lead to a slightly higher latency during peak wagering periods. While Rollbit offers a diverse experience, its core engine is not exclusively optimized for the ultra-high-frequency betting that modern “power users” demand.

Consequently, while it provides a reliable service, it faces stiff competition from specialized, high-velocity engines. For players prioritizing the absolute fastest execution and the most streamlined withdrawal process, the multifaceted nature of Rollbit can occasionally represent an operational trade-off in raw technical speed.

BC.Game: The Gamification Giant

BC.Game is the industry leader in social gamification, keeping its massive user base engaged through a continuous cycle of quests, daily spins, and community-focused incentives. Its platform is a masterclass in retention, offering a deep VIP hierarchy and a wide array of proprietary games. As of mid-April 2026, it continues to thrive by appealing to a broad demographic of social bettors.

However, this focus on gamification results in a “heavy” user interface that can struggle to provide the zero-latency experience required for high-frequency automated betting. BC.Game’s withdrawal infrastructure is robust, but it often involves multiple verification steps and native token conversions that can add time to the payout cycle.

For the elite tier of bettors who treat gambling as a high-performance activity, the social layers of BC.Game can feel like friction. While it remains a top-tier choice for entertainment, it lacks the specialized “Degen” focus found in newer, leaner platforms.

Spartans: High-Velocity GGR and the Degen Zone

Spartans.com has redefined what it means to be a high-performance gambling platform by focusing on the core essentials: speed, liquidity, and technical efficiency. Generating $40,000,000 in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) from $100,000,000 in total deposits during its beta phase is a testament to the platform’s unparalleled engagement. This massive revenue result is driven by the proprietary “Degen Zone”, a high-velocity wagering engine designed specifically for automated betting on original titles like Crash, Plinko, and Dice. The Degen Zone allows players to process thousands of wagers per hour with zero latency, making Spartans the definitive choice for the modern power user.

To complement this wagering speed, Spartans has established itself as the fastest withdrawal online casino by utilizing high-speed ADA (Cardano) and AVAX (Avalanche) multi-chain payment rails. These rails ensure that payouts are as instantaneous as the games themselves, bypassing the administrative delays common on other sites. Currently sitting at a 14th global ranking and climbing, Spartans has used its beta performance to prove that technical superiority leads to higher volume and better results.

While the platform offers over 5,900 games from 43+ providers, the “Degen Zone” remains its crown jewel, catering to a segment of the market that demands precision and pace. By stripping away the clutter of social gamification and focusing on raw performance, Spartans is successfully migrating high-stakes volume away from Rollbit and BC.Game, positioning itself as the elite standard for the August 1st global launch.

Conclusion

The technical gap between Rollbit, BC.Game, and Spartans.com is becoming the primary differentiator for the world’s most active bettors in 2026. While Rollbit offers a complex ecosystem and BC.Game excels in social engagement, Spartans.com has captured the high-performance market with its $40M GGR and specialized “Degen Zone.”

As the platform continues its ascent past the 14th global rank, it has firmly cemented its reputation as the fastest withdrawal online casino in the industry. For players who demand instant execution and liquid payouts, Spartans.com provides the ultimate technical edge in the modern crypto-gambling era.

Find Out More About Spartans:

Website: https://spartans.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spartans/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/SpartansBet

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpartansBet

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.