Crypto World
Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Jumps 5% as Intel Earnings Ignite Semiconductor Rally
Key Highlights
- Nvidia shares climbed as high as 5.2% Friday, driving market capitalization beyond the $5 trillion threshold.
- Intel’s impressive first-quarter results and robust CPU demand outlook fueled the semiconductor surge.
- Intel shares jumped 20% following its third straight quarter of revenue and earnings beats.
- AMD and Arm Holdings both posted gains of approximately 14% riding the Intel-fueled wave.
- The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index continues an 18-session winning streak.
Nvidia shares reached approximately $209 on Friday, approaching its record intraday peak of $212.19 achieved on October 29, 2025. This valuation pushed the chipmaker’s market capitalization back above the $5 trillion mark, establishing a $1 trillion lead over Alphabet, the second-largest company by market value.
If these gains persist through market close, Nvidia would secure a new record closing price.
The primary driver behind Friday’s surge wasn’t company-specific developments. Instead, Intel provided the momentum. Following a challenging period, Intel reported its third consecutive quarter beating both revenue and earnings per share expectations Thursday evening, sending its stock soaring 20% Friday — positioning it for a historic closing high.
Strong CPU Demand Commentary Energizes Chip Stocks
Investors weren’t merely impressed by Intel’s financial performance. CEO Lip-Bu Tan highlighted accelerating CPU demand driven by the transition from inference-focused AI to agentic AI applications.
“A shift from inference to agentic AI is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs,” Tan stated during the quarterly earnings call.
This demand commentary carries important implications for Nvidia as well. The graphics chip leader began offering standalone CPU products in early 2026, a strategic expansion CEO Jensen Huang discussed at Nvidia’s annual conference in March.
“We never thought we will be selling CPUs standalone, but we are selling a lot of CPUs standalone,” Huang explained. “This will for sure be a multi-billion dollar business for us.”
Nvidia touched an intraday peak of $210.95 Friday, marking its highest trading level since November 2025.
The semiconductor sector broadly capitalized on this momentum. AMD posted 14% gains, ranking among the top S&P 500 performers for the session. Arm Holdings matched that performance with a 14% advance.
April Rebound Follows Difficult First Quarter
Nvidia faced headwinds entering 2026. The stock declined 6.4% during the first quarter through March’s conclusion.
The April picture has reversed dramatically. Nvidia has surged 20% over the past month, benefiting from sustained strength in semiconductor equities.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index — commonly called the SOX — has posted gains for 18 consecutive sessions, representing one of its most extended winning periods on record. Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor, Micron, AMD, Intel, and Texas Instruments have all contributed to this rally.
Intel’s corporate recovery narrative added additional momentum Friday. The company weathered uncertainty surrounding former CEO Pat Gelsinger’s departure, but Lip-Bu Tan’s appointment has restored investor confidence. Intel’s successful on-schedule delivery of its 18A manufacturing process node has earned endorsement from industry collaborators and the U.S. government alike.
Nvidia shares traded at $209.56 as of Friday afternoon, representing a 4.97% daily gain.
Crypto World
Varntix expands reach with fixed and flexible accounts, while Dogecoin price predictions point to $0.50
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Dogecoin price prediction targets $0.50, but slow gains push investors toward Varntix for stable 20–24% returns and flexible income options.
Summary
- Dogecoin shows recovery signs, while investors seek steadier returns beyond hype-driven price swings.
- Varntix offers fixed crypto income plans with 20–24% annual returns and flexible entry options.
- Starting from $50, Varntix provides flexible plans with clear returns and better liquidity for investors.
Dogecoin is up on its daily and weekly scale, showing signs of recovery after early-year losses. Dogecoin price prediction models show a shift from a bearish to neutral sentiment. In fact, some forecasts point to DOGE even touching $0.50. However, the memecoin remains driven by hype and sentiment, making price moves unpredictable.
That uncertainty is pushing investors toward more reliable options. Varntix is gaining attention with fixed returns of up to 20–24% and flexible plans that still allow access to funds. With clear returns set from the start and growing demand from investors, it offers a more stable and practical way to earn in today’s market.
DOGE price prediction points to $0.50 as market sentiment turns neutral
DOGE is trading around $0.09 after a tough start to the year, which saw it lose over 21% of its value. As per Dogecoin price prediction metrics, momentum has improved from bearish to neutral. In fact, the memecoin even built on this modest leap by recording 18 green days in the last 30 days.

In line with the positive Dogecoin price predictions, some analysts see a strong upward movement for DOGE. Some projections even point to a possible move toward $0.50, but this depends heavily on market sentiment and demand.
Even at that, the memecoin price is not moving enough to make investors money. Many are stuck holding through long periods of sideways action with no real returns. Because of this, more investors are starting to look for ways to earn steady income instead of waiting for price gains.
Varntix shows why fixed income beats waiting in slow crypto markets
Dogecoin’s slow price action shows a bigger problem in crypto. Holding alone is no longer working for many investors. If they poured $500,000 into the market and prices stayed flat for even a year, they would earn nothing during that time. And on top of that, there remains a risk of losing investments to price crashes.
But when compared to Varntix’s structured income strategies, a key upside stands out. Investing that same $500,000 at a 20% APY could yield about $100,000 in a year or about $50,000 in 6 months. This shows how much investors stand to gain by adopting fixed and stable strategies.
Varntix drives demand with fixed and flexible crypto income plans
Varntix is also gaining traction by offering both fixed- and flexible-income plans in crypto. The platform gives users clear returns from the start, rather than leaving them to guess.
Fixed plans offer returns of 20–24% annually, with terms of 6-24 months. Investors lock in their funds and know exactly how much they will earn. Flexible plans offer returns of 4–6.5% while still allowing access to funds, making them more liquid.
Interestingly, entry to these structured income options is investor-friendly. Fixed plans start at $500, while flexible plans start at just $50, making it easier for more people to participate. It’s no surprise this investment barrier has attracted smart movers.
Varntix reportedly raised over $20 million within hours for the high-net-worth investor offering, which has fixed yields of 24%. Current allocations in their fixed and flexible plans are also limited, and the rates are not expected to last for long as more investors are moving toward steady income options.
Conclusion
The Dogecoin price prediction models show that DOGE is making a recovery and could potentially move toward $0.50. But for now, the memecoin’s slow price movement means many investors are not making real profits. Holding during long sideways periods is still a challenge, even with positive forecasts.
This is where Varntix stands out. It is a digital wealth platform that helps users earn a fixed income on their crypto through structured savings accounts. With clear returns and simple, flexible options, it gives investors a more stable way to grow their money without depending only on price movement.
Take a closer look at Varntix to put crypto to work.
FAQs
1. What is the latest Dogecoin price prediction?
Some forecasts suggest Dogecoin could reach $0.50, but it depends on market demand and sentiment.
2. What does Varntix offer investors?
Varntix provides fixed returns of 20–24% and flexible plans with 4–6.5% returns on crypto savings.
3. Why are investors choosing Varntix?
Because it offers steady, predictable income instead of relying only on uncertain price movements.
Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.
Crypto World
Here’s why Zcash price rallied over 10% today
Zcash price rallied nearly 12% on Friday, continuing its recent uptrend as buying interest picked up again after a brief pullback earlier this week.
Summary
- Zcash price climbed nearly 12% to around $360, rebounding from $300 support as buying interest returned.
- Rising demand for privacy coins and increased shielded pool usage helped strengthen investor sentiment.
- Technicals show bullish momentum, with price testing $350 resistance and eyeing a move toward $400.
According to data from crypto.news, Zcash (ZEC) rose to an intraday high close to $360 before easing slightly to trade around $350 at the time of writing. The move comes after the token found support near the $300 level, where buyers stepped in to defend the downside.
The latest rally appears to be driven by a mix of fresh demand and improving technical structure. After holding key support zones during its recent dip, Zcash has started to attract traders looking to position for a continuation move higher.
A key factor behind the renewed interest is the steady demand for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. With growing attention on blockchain transparency and regulation, some investors are rotating into assets that offer stronger transaction confidentiality, which has helped lift sentiment around Zcash.
At the same time, activity within Zcash’s shielded ecosystem continues to support its outlook. The increasing share of coins held in shielded pools has effectively reduced liquid supply, which can amplify price moves when demand rises.
The token is also tracking the broader market recovery, with improving sentiment across crypto helping altcoins regain momentum after recent volatility.
If the current trend holds, traders will be watching whether Zcash can push toward the $400 level, which remains a key psychological barrier.
Zcash price analysis
On the daily chart, Zcash price has bounced from the 50% Fibonacci retracement level near $293, confirming it as a strong support zone.

It is now testing resistance around the 78.6% Fibonacci level near $350. A clean break above this level could see the price move back toward the recent high near $390.
The Supertrend indicator has stayed in bullish territory, suggesting the uptrend remains intact. Meanwhile, the RSI is sitting around 64, showing steady buying pressure without signs of extreme overheating.
On the downside, a drop below the $316 level, which aligns with the 0.618 Fibonacci support, could lead to a pullback toward the $293 zone.
Crypto World
Coinbase to list Fluent (BLEND) spot pair against USD
Coinbase is rolling out a BLEND–USD spot pair for Fluent’s newly launched token, joining KuCoin and MEXC in a coordinated listing that could turn the tiny‑cap altcoin into a high‑beta volatility play.
Summary
- Coinbase plans to launch spot trading for Fluent (BLEND), with the BLEND–USD pair expected to go live today once liquidity conditions are met.
- The listing follows Coinbase’s earlier move to enable BLEND deposit address generation and comes alongside listings on KuCoin and MEXC, boosting access to the new altcoin.
- Fluent’s mainnet launch and partnership with major exchanges position BLEND as a high‑beta token likely to see sharp price swings once trading opens.
Coinbase is preparing to launch spot trading for Fluent’s BLEND token, adding a BLEND–USD pair to its platform as early as today, subject to sufficient order-book liquidity. The decision places BLEND on the largest regulated crypto exchange in the United States by trading volume, signaling that demand for fresh altcoin listings remains strong despite a choppy market backdrop.
In an update on its listings page, Coinbase confirmed support for Fluent (BLEND) and said users in eligible regions can already generate deposit addresses, though deposits only become active once the asset issuer enables transfers. “Spot trading for BLEND will allow users to buy and sell the token directly on the platform, as opposed to derivative or futures-based exposure,” Coinbase’s listing note states, underscoring that the asset will be available in the cash market rather than via leveraged products.
New altcoin, thin float, high volatility risk
Fluent is a web3 platform whose native token, BLEND, is designed to sit at the center of its ecosystem for functions such as payments, governance, and incentives. According to CryptoRank, Coinbase is acting as a “primary launch platform” for BLEND as part of a wider collaboration focused on token distribution, developer onboarding, and educational content.
The timing aligns with BLEND’s initial exchange rollout, with MEXC and KuCoin both scheduling BLEND/USDT spot markets to open at 13:00 UTC on April 24, 2026, while Bybit has teased a forthcoming listing. Social posts from BSCNews noted that “leading exchanges @Coinbase and @krakenfx have scheduled $BLEND spot trading to begin today, April 24, 2026, once liquidity conditions are met,” highlighting a coordinated launch across multiple venues.
On-chain and order-book data suggest traders should brace for heavy volatility. A recent flow analysis from Streetbrief put BLEND’s market capitalization at roughly $1.85 million with only about $783 in 24‑hour volume ahead of the Coinbase listing, an “extremely illiquid” profile that can magnify both upside and downside moves when fresh demand hits.
Analysts expect that access via a BLEND–USD pair on Coinbase could pull in U.S.-based retail flow seeking high‑beta exposure, but warn that thin float and tight liquidity bands make the token particularly vulnerable to sharp intraday spikes and drawdowns in its early trading sessions.
Crypto World
South Africa moves to pull crypto into strict capital flow rules
South Africa’s 2026 capital flow draft recasts crypto as “capital,” tightening FX controls with declarations, approvals and sanctions as Africa’s biggest market matures.
Summary
- South Africa’s National Treasury has published draft 2026 capital flow regulations that formally bring crypto assets inside the country’s foreign exchange control regime.
- The rules would align South Africa with OECD and FATF standards, tighten oversight of cross‑border crypto transfers, and introduce new declaration, reporting, and sanction powers.
- The proposal lands as South Africa cements its role as Africa’s largest crypto market, with an estimated $35 billion in annual on‑chain volume and a sector value above $11 billion.
South Africa’s National Treasury has released its Draft Capital Flow Management Regulations for 2026, a sweeping overhaul that explicitly classifies crypto assets as “capital” and pulls them into the country’s foreign exchange control framework for the first time. The proposal, published on April 17 and now open for public comment, aims to replace the 1961 Exchange Control Regulations and align South Africa’s regime with recommendations from the OECD and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and illicit financial flows.
According to the draft, crypto assets are now treated as a channel through which capital can be imported and exported, placing them alongside foreign currency, gold, and securities rather than outside the regulatory perimeter. National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank said in a joint statement that the amendments are intended “to address gaps in the current regulations, including in relation to cross‑border crypto asset transactions,” and to remove “any ambiguity regarding the declaration of foreign assets.”
Prior approval, declarations, and tougher sanctions
The new framework introduces authorised crypto asset service providers, transaction thresholds, mandatory declarations, and stiffer administrative sanctions for non‑compliance. In practice, this could mean that certain cross‑border crypto transfers will require prior approval from authorities, while residents and visitors may have to declare digital asset holdings above thresholds set by the finance minister, with the risk of seizure or forced sale if they fail to do so.
Bitcoin.com reported that draft rules “require visitors to declare crypto or face up to 5 years in prison,” and grant border officials powers to search devices for coins such as Bitcoin and other tokens suspected of being moved in violation of capital controls. Business Insider Africa added that the same regulations could “require residents to declare and sell certain crypto, gold and foreign currency holdings to the National Treasury” if they exceed those thresholds.
National Treasury insists the overhaul does not amount to a ban on digital assets but a modernization of control tools. “The policy emphasis shifts away from transaction‑by‑transaction pre‑approval towards reporting, traceability and risk‑based oversight, particularly in relation to illicit financial flows and capital flight,” the South African Institute of Taxation wrote in a commentary, describing the approach as a “pragmatic acknowledgment that value now moves across borders digitally.”
Africa’s largest crypto market under tighter watch
The timing is significant for a country that has emerged as the continent’s biggest crypto hub by volume and venture funding. Chainalysis data cited by Mariblock show that Sub‑Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on‑chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, with South Africa accounting for about $35 billion of that total, second only to one other market in the region.
Market research from IMARC Group estimates that South Africa’s cryptocurrency market reached roughly $11.18 billion in 2024, driven by both speculative trading and real‑world use cases such as remittances and hedging against domestic currency volatility. A CV VC report highlighted that the country captured 18% of all African blockchain venture capital, with blockchain deals representing 7.4% of total VC funding on the continent — more than double its approximate 3.2% share globally.
Those figures, combined with South Africa’s exit from the FATF grey list in late 2025 and preparations for the next assessment cycle starting mid‑2026, help explain the urgency behind the draft. Treasury officials argue the rules are a “vital prerequisite” for modernizing the financial architecture and shutting down channels for illicit flows, even as critics warn they could chill innovation and push activity into less regulated jurisdictions if implemented heavy‑handedly.
Crypto World
$178M in crypto liquidations as longs and shorts both get squeezed
$178M in crypto liquidations over 24 hours show a choppy, leverage‑heavy market where both long and short traders are getting whipsawed out of positions.
Summary
- Coinglass data shows $178 million of crypto derivatives liquidations in the past 24 hours, split between $92.15 million in longs and $85.88 million in shorts.
- The near‑even wipeout of bullish and bearish positions points to a choppy, directionless market dominated by range trading and leverage whipsaws.
- Bitcoin alone saw over $120 million in futures liquidations in the same window as price chopped around $77,500, underscoring fragile positioning across majors and altcoins.
Crypto traders absorbed a fresh wave of forced deleveraging over the past day, with data from analytics platform Coinglass showing that total liquidations across major exchanges hit $178 million in 24 hours. Long positions accounted for roughly $92.15 million of that sum, while shorts made up about $85.88 million, a rare near‑parity that signals an exceptionally indecisive and whipsaw‑prone market structure.
The shakeout came as Bitcoin hovered near $77,487, down about 0.18% on the day, with more than $121 million in BTC futures positions liquidated over the same period, according to Coinglass’s BTC dashboard. Open interest in Bitcoin futures remains elevated at around $56.49 billion, suggesting leverage is still high even after the flush. Coinglass notes that it aggregates liquidation figures across perpetual swaps and dated futures on venues such as Binance, OKX, and Bybit to map total leverage washouts.
Range‑bound chop punishes both bulls and bears
The almost perfectly balanced split between long and short liquidations points to a market swinging back and forth within a tight range rather than trending decisively in one direction. When volatility spikes inside narrow bands and price repeatedly reverses around key levels, over‑leveraged traders on both sides can be wiped out in quick succession as stop‑losses and margin calls cascade through order books.
Coinglass’s long/short ratio indicators have flagged this tug‑of‑war dynamic for weeks, with futures positioning oscillating around parity rather than skewing clearly bullish or bearish on major pairs. That pattern often precedes large “breakout” moves once one side finally overwhelms the other, but in the interim it tends to produce exactly the kind of two‑sided liquidation profile seen in today’s $178 million tally.
For altcoins and smaller‑cap tokens, the impact can be even more violent, as thinner liquidity and higher funding‑rate sensitivity magnify forced selling and buying. With derivatives still driving a large share of total crypto trading volumes, the latest data underscores how quickly sentiment can flip — and how costly it can be to run high leverage in a market that has not yet chosen a clear direction.
Crypto World
Hyperliquid whales park $3.66B as long/short ratio hovers near neutral
Hyperliquid whales now hold $3.66B in nearly balanced perp positions, turning the on‑chain DEX into a real‑time gauge of institutional crypto sentiment.
Summary
- Coinglass data shows whales on Hyperliquid now hold $3.66 billion in perpetual positions, with $1.854 billion in longs and roughly $1.8 billion in shorts.
- The resulting long/short ratio of 1.03 signals an almost perfectly balanced book, underscoring how uncertain large traders are about the next major move.
- The scale of these positions highlights Hyperliquid’s rise into the top tier of derivatives venues, with quarterly volumes in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Whale traders on Hyperliquid, one of the fastest‑growing on‑chain derivatives exchanges, are currently running $3.66 billion worth of open perpetual futures positions, according to fresh figures from Coinglass. Of that total, $1.854 billion, or 50.64%, is parked in long exposure, while roughly $1.8 billion sits in shorts, leaving a near‑neutral long/short ratio of 1.03 that reflects finely balanced conviction among the platform’s largest accounts.
Coinglass, which tracks whale activity on Hyperliquid through its dedicated whale tracker, notes that it aggregates large perpetual positions and marks them to market in real time to give traders “a better understanding of whale behavior and smarter trading decisions.” Its long/short ratio dashboard for Hyperliquid is designed to “quickly assess market sentiment and positioning, analyze trader behavior, and enhance risk control and trading strategy decisions,” making today’s almost symmetric split a clear signal of indecision rather than one‑sided speculation.
Hyperliquid cements role as on‑chain perps heavyweight
The sheer size of the $3.66 billion whale book underscores how Hyperliquid has evolved into a genuine institutional‑scale venue in the perpetual futures market. A recent MEXC research note highlighted that the exchange processed about $492.7 billion in derivatives volume in the first quarter of 2026, pushing it into the global top‑10 alongside incumbents such as Binance, OKX, and Bybit.
Separate analysis from IndexBox, citing data from Yahoo Finance, CryptoRank, and DefiLlama, said Hyperliquid handled roughly $40.7 billion in perp volume over a single seven‑day stretch, with about $9.57 billion in open interest — more than all major rival perp DEXs combined over the same window. In January 2026 alone, Hyperliquid facilitated over $208 billion in perpetual futures turnover, capturing 5.38% of total centralized exchange perpetual volume, its highest market share on record, according to a post by market analyst Jean‑Pierre Palomba‑Marin.
This combination of deep liquidity, fully on‑chain transparency, and large, nearly balanced whale positioning makes Hyperliquid a real‑time barometer of institutional‑level sentiment in crypto. With the long/short ratio hovering just above 1.0 and billions of dollars committed on both sides, the data suggest that big traders are positioned for volatility but not yet prepared to bet aggressively on either a sustained rally or a deeper drawdown.
Crypto World
New Quantum Break Claim Sparks Bitcoin Security Debate
A researcher has made a small but notable step toward breaking the cryptography that secures Bitcoin, but the claim has already sparked pushback over how meaningful the result really is.
Project Eleven said it awarded a 1 BTC “Q-Day Prize” to Giancarlo Lelli for deriving a private key from a public key using a quantum computer.
A Tiny Quantum Break, a Big Debate Over What It Proves
The test used a 15-bit elliptic curve, far smaller than the 256-bit standard used by Bitcoin and most blockchains.
The firm described the result as the largest public demonstration yet of a quantum attack on elliptic curve cryptography. It said the work shows the threat is moving from theory into early execution.
However, the scale gap remains large. A 15-bit key has a search space of just over 32,000 possibilities. Bitcoin’s security relies on numbers so large they cannot be brute-forced with current machines.
Critics quickly challenged the claim. A community note on the announcement argued the method relied heavily on classical verification, not purely quantum computation.
In simple terms, the quantum system may not have done the hardest part of the attack on its own.
That distinction matters. True quantum attacks would use Shor’s algorithm to efficiently solve problems that secure digital signatures. Partial or hybrid approaches do not yet prove that capability at scale.
Still, the result adds to a pattern. Earlier demonstrations broke even smaller keys. At the same time, research suggests the hardware required to attack real-world cryptography may be lower than previously thought.
For Bitcoin, there is no immediate risk. Yet the debate highlights a longer-term issue. Upgrading cryptography across decentralized networks is slow and complex, even if safer alternatives already exist.
For now, the takeaway is narrow. Quantum progress is real, but its practical impact remains distant—and contested.
The post New Quantum Break Claim Sparks Bitcoin Security Debate appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
China Orders Three AI Giants to Reject US Investment
Three top Chinese AI firms have been told to reject US-origin capital without government approval. The directive reshapes how Washington money reaches Beijing’s strategic technology champions.
The instructions were issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in recent weeks. Bloomberg first reported the guidance on Friday.
Beijing Cuts Off US Capital For Its AI Giants
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent and China’s most valuable private startup, was told to block US secondary share sales without state clearance.
The instruction carries weight given ByteDance’s complex ownership structure and pool of US institutional backers. Any secondary liquidity now funnels through Beijing.
Moonshot AI, considering a Hong Kong listing, was told to refuse US capital in funding rounds and deals without approval.
The restriction complicates pre-IPO planning for a firm widely seen as China’s answer to OpenAI. Any foreign allocation will likely tilt toward Middle Eastern and Hong Kong investors.
StepFun, a Tencent-backed startup focused on multimodal and generative AI, received the same guidance as Moonshot. The company is less globally known but ranks among Beijing’s strategic AI champions.
Why China Is Gating Its AI Firms
The guidance follows Meta Platforms’ roughly $2 billion acquisition of Singapore-based Manus, a startup with deep Chinese engineering roots.
Beijing imposed exit restrictions on the co-founders of Manus and reviewed the deal for potential technology export violations.
On Wednesday, White House science director Michael Kratsios accused Chinese entities of running industrial-scale campaigns to extract US AI models.
“Foreign entities who build on such fragile foundations should have little confidence in the integrity and reliability of the models they produce,” he stated.
The Trump administration signaled new enforcement against firms using model distillation, according to reports.
The capital divide between Washington and Beijing looks set to deepen. Beijing may formalize the guidance into a published regulation over the coming weeks.
The post China Orders Three AI Giants to Reject US Investment appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
CLARITY Act deadline turns into Congress’s last real shot at crypto rules
Senator Bernie Moreno’s end‑of‑May ultimatum has turned the CLARITY Act into Congress’s last credible chance this cycle to set U.S. crypto market‑structure rules before politics and bank lobbying slam the window shut.
Summary
- Senator Bernie Moreno has given Congress until the end of May to pass the CLARITY Act, warning that missing the window could shelve U.S. digital asset legislation for years.
- The bill still faces five major hurdles in just a few weeks, while bank lobbying intensifies against stablecoin yield provisions and Senate floor time is being chewed up by the Kevin Warsh Fed nomination fight.
- Prediction markets now give the Act less than a 50% chance of becoming law in 2026, even as industry groups warn that innovation and capital are drifting toward friendlier jurisdictions like Dubai and Singapore.
At a Washington event on April 22, Senator Bernie Moreno (R‑Ohio) dropped the optimism and set a hard line: the CLARITY Act must clear Congress by the end of May or U.S. crypto market structure legislation is effectively dead for this cycle. “I think we’re going to get it done by the end of May,” he said, but he has also warned that if the bill isn’t passed by then, digital asset legislation “will likely be impossible” to advance for the foreseeable future as the midterm calendar takes over.
Moreno’s ultimatum comes as the Senate Banking Committee still hasn’t held a single formal vote on the package, even though the House approved its version 294–134 in July 2025 and the Senate Agriculture Committee cleared its own text back in January. As Disruption Banking and Galaxy Research have both mapped out, the bill must now run a five‑step gauntlet in a matter of weeks: a Banking Committee markup, a 60‑vote Senate floor passage, reconciliation with the Agriculture version, reconciliation with the House bill, and finally President Donald Trump’s signature.
Bank noise, DeFi text, and a shrinking calendar
If Moreno is playing bad cop on timing, he is even blunter on bank pushback around stablecoin yield. At the DC Blockchain Summit he dismissed the backlash outright: “There’s a lot of noise in the market, but most of it is fake,” he said, arguing that banks “also need to innovate” instead of trying to kill yield‑bearing stablecoin products in committee. His comments landed just as reports emerged that the North Carolina Bankers Association was urging member banks to call Senator Thom Tillis’s office to oppose a hard‑won stablecoin yield compromise.
On April 20, industry lobby group the Digital Chamber sent a formal letter to Senate leadership pressing for an immediate markup, warning that further delay would turn the CLARITY Act into another lost opportunity for market‑structure reform. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R‑Wyo) has said DeFi provisions in the bill are already finalized and called this “our last chance,” while Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad has publicly projected an April markup and a May floor vote if leadership moves.
“The US Senate Banking Committee is unlikely to consider the CLARITY Act, a bill to regulate the crypto market, in April. Discussion of the document may be postponed until May,” says Yuliya Barabash, founder and managing partner at the law firm SBSB Fintech Lawyers.
The main obstacle remains the regulation on rewards for storing stablecoins. Banking industry representatives fear that high returns from stablecoins will lead to an outflow of deposits from traditional institutions. This could undermine the financial stability of smaller institutions. According to Tillis, negotiators need more time to find a compromise between banks and crypto companies.
-Yulia Barabash
That schedule now runs head‑on into another priority: the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Trump’s pick to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair, a process that is already burning Banking Committee time in late April. Every day the Warsh hearing occupies the agenda is a day the markup does not happen, and Congress is due to leave town for Memorial Day recess on May 21, leaving roughly three working weeks in May to get Democratic votes and clear a 60‑vote threshold on the floor.
Prediction markets flash amber as capital looks abroad
For traders, the legislative clock is now a tradable variable. On Polymarket, odds that the CLARITY Act is signed into law in 2026 climbed from around 38% to the mid‑40s after Moreno’s April 22 remarks, but remain far from a confident yes. One recent update pegged the “yes” probability at roughly 44%, even after earlier spikes above 80% when White House adviser Patrick Witt signaled that remaining hurdles were “toppling fast.” Finbold noted this week that expectations for 2026 passage have been “slashed” by about a third in just five days amid Senate delay.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly warned that every month of U.S. dithering pushes digital asset innovation toward hubs like Dubai and Singapore, which are actively courting American crypto capital with clearer licensing, tax, and tokenization regimes. That warning is backed by hard numbers: Q1 2026 saw a record $297 billion in global venture funding, with growing slices aimed at crypto and AI‑adjacent infrastructure, while Y Combinator made its first stablecoin investment this April.
With or without the CLARITY Act, that capital is going to move. The difference, as Moreno and industry advocates keep stressing, is whether it moves under a U.S. legal framework that offers institutional guardrails and SEC‑CFTC clarity — or whether Washington runs out the clock and watches its last real shot at shaping the next decade of crypto market structure vanish with the May recess gavel.
Crypto World
BitGo Outlines Four Controls as AI Agents Move Into Institutional Finance
Agentic finance is gaining serious traction. AI agents are no longer just drafting reports or surfacing ideas. They are placing trades, settling payments, and transacting on behalf of users and enterprises. The pace has accelerated sharply in 2026.
As adoption scales, Jody Mettler, COO of BitGo, says that from an institutional standpoint, four controls must be in place for agentic transactions.
Agentic Finance Arrives From Every Direction
Recent weeks have seen a wave of agentic AI launches pushing autonomous systems closer to live financial activity. Most recently, Coinbase’s x402 launched Agentic.market.
It is a marketplace and discovery layer for the x402 agentic commerce ecosystem, letting humans browse services via a web UI and AI agents autonomously find and integrate them through an MCP interface, with semantic search, live metrics, and no accounts required.
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Furthermore, enterprise software firm Aptean previewed AppCentral. This brings 10 AI agents to Microsoft Dynamics 365 customers across finance, supply chain, procurement, and production.
Basware has launched AI agents within its Invoice Lifecycle Management Platform, harnessing Agentic AI to transform invoice processing and bring fully autonomous accounts payable within reach.
“The future involves Agentic Finance, where AI entities transact on behalf of the enterprise to drive faster, smarter decisions and real business outcomes. This is the future we are creating at Basware and preparing our customers for today,” Basware’s CEO Jason Kurtz said.
Last month, Bybit rolled out the Bybit AI Trading Skill Hub, featuring 253 APIs. It delivers an all-in-one AI trading experience spanning market data, spot and derivatives trading, and account and asset management.
BitGo itself shipped the Model Context Protocol (“MCP”) server on March 23, giving AI development tools direct access to its documentation and APIs.
These launches collectively highlight a clear shift: agentic AI is moving from experimentation into real financial and commercial infrastructure, with autonomous agents now being positioned to transact, trade, and operate on behalf of businesses.
Meanwhile, a recent survey adds crucial demand-side evidence to the wave of agentic AI launches. NVIDIA’s sixth annual State of AI in Financial Services 2026 report, based on 800+ industry professionals, found that 65% of firms are actively using AI (up from 45% a year earlier).
In addition, 42% are using or assessing agentic AI, and 21% have already deployed AI agents.
“Agentic AI systems can now autonomously route transactions to the most optimized payment networks, dynamically adjust retry logic based on real-time issuer signals, and make routing decisions under 200-millisecond routing that traditional rule-based systems simply can’t match. What makes this compelling is that every basis point improvement in authorization rates translates directly to revenue — there’s no ambiguity in measurement,” Dwayne Gefferie, payments strategist at Gefferie Group, said.
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Key Pillars for Institutional Agentic Finance
In an interview with BeInCrypto, Mettler welcomed the innovation but drew a sharp line on risk. From an institutional standpoint, she argued, agentic transactions demand specific controls to avoid becoming a “wild west.”
“While we’re looking at this and we are absolutely excited about what the future can hold here… we don’t want a financial crisis to happen because it’s just the wild west. So, there needs to be controls around it,” she said.
The first is identity. Institutions need to know who or what stands behind each agent acting on their systems. The second is permissions. Every agent needs limits on what it can access, authorize, or execute.
The third is policy and approval logic. Rules must govern which actions run autonomously and which require human sign-off. The fourth is auditability. A traceable record of every agent decision lets institutions and regulators reconstruct what happened if something goes wrong.
“Everybody’s entering into this era with some measured optimism, right? We need to look into it with where it can take us from a financial infrastructure standpoint, but also about the controls that you still need to have behind it,” she added.
As agentic finance scales, these four controls are likely to become the benchmark against which new systems are evaluated.
The post BitGo Outlines Four Controls as AI Agents Move Into Institutional Finance appeared first on BeInCrypto.
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