Key Insights

• The TAO token of Bittensor falls over 20% post-exit of Covenant AI, citing governance issues.
• Fears of centralization impact the sentiment of the crypto market negatively.
• Currently, TAO is testing the $250-$263 support level, which requires a recovery above $280.

Price Plunge for TAO Due to Governance Issues

The native coin of Bittensor named TAO fell dramatically by more than 20% to reach approximately $273. This dramatic price plunge came as a rude shock to many traders after witnessing steady gains by the token.

The reason behind this selloff could be the unexpected departure of Covenant AI from the Bittensor network. Although departures happen all the time in blockchain projects, the reason why this departure became noteworthy was due to the substantial reputation that Covenant AI holds in the ecosystem.

Changes in Market Sentiment Happen Quickly

The news about Covenant AI being accused spread quickly throughout cryptocurrency circles, leading to a swift change in market sentiments. Investors who used to consider Bittensor a potential decentralized AI platform started rethinking the possible dangers related to governance transparency and sustainability in the long run.

Apart from damaging the reputation of the project, the departure of Covenant AI also led to negative changes in terms of finances. The organization is said to have liquidated a significant number of TAOs, putting additional pressure on the already falling price of the asset. Moreover, as soon as traders saw how Covenant AI sold its tokens, they rushed to do the same to avoid losses.

Thus, the market sentiment worsened quickly. The governance mechanism of Bittensor was accused of centralization and failing to distribute governance among many members of the network.

Liquidity Puts Downward Pressure on TAO Price

This led to massive selling by leveraged investors whose trades depended on further increases in the price. Their exits accelerated the downward trend. In other words, forced liquidations added further pressure on the TAO price as new sell orders entered the market after the positions were liquidated.

In addition, breaking below $300 was particularly important as it showed how strong bullish sentiment had been before the breakdown. Notably, just a few days earlier, the price was above $340.

Critical Support Zone Comes Into Focus

TAO is now attempting to stabilize in the mid-$260 range, an area that aligns with previous support levels and technical retracements. The immediate support zone between $250 and $263 has become crucial for short-term price action.

If this range holds, the market could enter a consolidation phase, allowing buyers to regain confidence and potentially rebuild momentum. A move back above $280 would be an early signal of recovery and renewed bullish interest.

However, risks remain elevated. If TAO fails to maintain support above $250, the next downside target could emerge around $233. This scenario would likely confirm continued bearish pressure and prolonged uncertainty.

Prognosis Is Still Unclear

Recent developments in relation to Bittensor show how the issue of governance can affect investor sentiment and confidence, particularly within decentralized networks.

Although the project may still have good prospects for success within the realm of AI-blockchain applications, investor sentiment currently remains highly volatile.

In the meantime, investors will be paying close attention to how the price develops, along with any progress within the network itself. The position taken by the Bittensor development team regarding any governance problems may become critical in determining future moves.

For the moment, however, caution appears to prevail.

Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, filed his 69-page financial disclosure with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, clearing the last bureaucratic hurdle before his confirmation hearing, now expected next week.

The filing reveals combined assets with his wife of at least $192 million — but it’s the crypto-specific holdings buried deep in the document that should interest this industry the most.

Warsh, through a web of venture fund structures, holds equity positions in more than a dozen blockchain and digital asset companies spanning DeFi lending, decentralized derivatives, Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, prediction markets, and Bitcoin payments infrastructure. And he has pledged to divest the majority of them.

The man who will oversee stablecoin regulation, bank crypto custody policy, and any future central bank digital currency decisions has, until now, been personally invested across the crypto ecosystem, though the size of those holdings was unclear.

The Full Crypto Portfolio

CoinDesk reviewed the complete 69-page OGE Form 278e. Warsh’s crypto and blockchain-related holdings are concentrated in two fund structures: DCM Investments 10 LLC (through a vehicle called Abstract Holdings) and a series of funds labeled AVF I, AVF II, AVF III, and AVGF I and II. Here is every identifiable crypto and blockchain position:

DeFi and trading protocols:

• Compound — Algorithmic crypto money markets, one of the foundational DeFi lending protocols
• dYdX — Decentralized derivatives trading exchange
• Lighter — Decentralized exchange protocol
• Eulith — Crypto trading platform

Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks:

• Solana — High-performance Layer 1 blockchain
• Optimism — Ethereum scaling Layer 2
• Blast — Yield-generating Ethereum Layer 2
• Zero Gravity — Layer 2 AI blockchain platform
• DeSo — Social crypto network

Bitcoin-specific:

• Flashnet — Lightning Network Bitcoin trading platform
• Lightning Network — Off-chain Bitcoin payment network (a direct holding)

Crypto investment and financial infrastructure:

• Polychain — Crypto investment firm
• Scalar Capital — Blockchain investment firm
• Polymarket — Prediction market platform
• Lemon Cash — Crypto financial services platform
• Alpaca — Financial assets API infrastructure
• OnJuno — Crypto-enabled neobank
• OneSafe — DeFi data infrastructure
• Ridian — Crypto portfolio automation
• SkyLink — DeFi portfolio management
• Caliza — Global USD banking platform
• Kinetic — Digital asset exchange platform

Web3, NFTs, and crypto-adjacent:

• Crossmint — NFT developer tools
• CreatorDAO — Creator investment platform
• Friends With Benefits — Web3 community platform
• Dapper Labs — Consumer digital assets (NBA Top Shot)
• Tenderly — Ethereum developer platform
• Vana — Incentivized data collection platform
• Structure (Zaibatsu Heavy Industries) — Blockchain retail trading
• Metatheory — Web3 gaming (held separately as a direct SPV)

In addition, Warsh previously invested in Bitwise Asset Management, the firm behind one of the spot bitcoin ETFs, though that position does not appear on the current disclosure.

What he has to sell — and what that means

Most of these crypto positions sit within fund vehicles whose individual line items are reported without dollar values, which, under OGE rules, means each is worth less than $1,000. In other words, they’re small venture bets, not concentrated positions.

But there are bigger pots that almost certainly contain crypto exposure. Warsh holds over $100 million in Juggernaut Fund LP, whose underlying assets are shielded by confidentiality agreements. He also holds dozens of positions in THSDFS LLC, some valued at $1–$5 million individually, all similarly opaque. Both will require full divestiture.

OGE certifying official Heather Jones flagged these in her review, noting that Warsh will be in compliance with the Ethics in Government Act once he completes the divestitures. The open question is how that divestiture plays out for illiquid venture stakes. Selling a position in Compound or dYdX token holdings is straightforward; unwinding LP stakes in Polychain or Bessemer Venture Associates funds is not.

The conflict question

Even after selling, Warsh will face a complicated recusal landscape. Federal ethics rules generally require a one-year cooling-off period for matters directly affecting recent financial interests. That could be relevant as the Fed weighs in on:

• Stablecoin legislation: Congress is actively debating stablecoin frameworks that would define which institutions can issue and custody stablecoins — directly impacting DeFi protocols and crypto neobanks like those in Warsh’s portfolio.
• Bank crypto custody guidance: The Fed’s supervisory stance on whether banks can custody digital assets has been one of the most contested policy questions in crypto since 2022.
• Tokenized deposits and securities: The Fed has a direct role in approving or discouraging bank experimentation with tokenized deposits, an area adjacent to several Warsh holdings.
• CBDC research: Though political support for a U.S. CBDC has cooled, the Fed’s ongoing research intersects with the payment network infrastructure represented by Lightning Network and Solana holdings.

The Bigger Picture

What’s striking is less the size of the crypto bets — most are small — but more that they exist at all. This is not a nominee who passively held bitcoin through a brokerage account. Warsh deliberately sought exposure to the specific protocols, networks, and infrastructure companies that the Fed’s regulatory and monetary policy decisions most directly affect.

His broader financial profile underscores the point. Warsh earned $10.2 million in consulting fees from Duquesne Family Office, the investment arm of Stanley Druckenmiller, one of crypto’s most prominent macro investors. He collected $1.55 million from GoldenTree Asset Management, $750,000 from Cerberus Capital Management, and another $750,000 in honoraria from Brevan Howard — all firms with significant digital asset trading operations.

His speaking fee circuit in the first half of 2025 alone totaled over $780,000 from firms including TPG, Warburg Pincus, State Street, Eli Lilly, and Centerview Partners.

Combined with spouse Jane Lauder’s estimated $1.9 billion net worth, Warsh would be among the wealthiest Fed chairs in modern history.

What comes next

Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said Tuesday that a confirmation hearing will be held next week. But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) continues to block any final vote until the Justice Department drops its criminal investigation of current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires May 15.

The crypto holdings will almost certainly come up in questioning. Senators on both sides have grown more focused on financial conflicts at the Fed, and Warsh’s portfolio gives them specific, named companies to ask about.

For the crypto industry, the Warsh disclosure is a double-edged signal. On one hand, a Fed chair with personal venture exposure to DeFi and blockchain infrastructure may have more nuanced views on the technology than predecessors who had none. On the other hand, the mandatory divestiture and recusal obligations could constrain his ability to act on whatever sympathies those investments imply — at least in the first year.

ECB chief economist Philip Lane warned the central bank could still raise interest rates if inflation’s impact lasts longer than expected, keeping tightening risks alive even after March’s pause.

European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane has warned that interest rates may yet rise if inflation in the euro area proves more persistent than policymakers currently expect, keeping the door open to further tightening even after the ECB held borrowing costs steady in March.

According to Jinshi’s summary of Lane’s latest remarks, the Governing Council member said that “if the impact of inflation lasts for a longer period, the European Central Bank will consider raising interest rates,” underlining that the fight against above‑target price growth is not over.

His comments echo recent guidance from ECB President Christine Lagarde, who told the Financial Times that “if we expect inflation to deviate significantly and persistently from target, the response must be appropriately forceful or persistent,” signalling that rate hikes remain on the table if price pressures re‑accelerate.

In its March policy decision, the ECB left its three key interest rates unchanged and reiterated that it is “determined to ensure that inflation stabilises at the 2% target in the medium term,” while acknowledging that the conflict in the Middle East has created upside risks for inflation via higher energy costs.

The central bank’s latest projections see headline inflation averaging 2.6% in 2026 and hovering around 2% in 2027 and 2028, but officials including Lane have flagged that wage dynamics and firms’ price‑setting plans will be watched closely at “every meeting” to judge whether those forecasts remain credible.

Lagarde has also stressed that “self‑reinforcing mechanisms” could take hold if inflation expectations drift away from the target, warning that the risk of de‑anchoring would “become acute” without a sufficiently firm response, a stance that has kept markets wary of declaring the hiking cycle definitively over.

Traders in money markets currently price in two to three ECB rate increases by year‑end, which would lift the main policy rate toward a range of roughly 2.50% to 2.75%, with the timing seen as highly sensitive to incoming inflation prints and developments in energy markets.

For crypto investors, Lane’s signal that rates could still rise if inflation lingers adds another macro variable to watch alongside the European inflation data and central bank communications that crypto.news has tracked in previous coverage of ECB decisions and their spillover into Bitcoin and Ethereum markets.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) dedicated a considerable portion of his autobiography, Freedom of Money, to talking about somebody called Wei Zhou.

Indeed, Zhao is this fifth most mentioned person in the book, tied with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) with 23 mentions. But who is he?

Zhao joined Binance from Goldman Sachs in 2018 as its first chief financial officer (CFO).

He’d previously shepherded two companies through NYSE and NASDAQ IPOs, and in Binance’s eyes, he brought institutional credibility that the then-one-year-old crypto exchange desperately needed.

Zhou is now CEO of Coins.ph, a Philippines-based crypto wallet and exchange that he acquired from Indonesian super-app Gojek in 2022 for roughly $200 million. 

He also advises Old Fashion Research, a blockchain fund run by former Binance executives, as well as serving as vice chairman of the gay dating app Grindr.

Wei Zhou : From CZ’s first CFO to his nemesis

CZ used Freedom of Money, written largely during his time in prison and published on April 8, to paint Zhao as an unreliable subordinate-turned-antagonist.

Specifically, it frames his tenure around two grievances. 

The first involves Zhao’s role in Binance’s FTX investment. 

FTX launched in May 2019 and within months, SBF approached Binance for investment. Zhao championed the deal, yet CZ claims that he initially declined. 

However, by late 2019, FTX lowered its valuation and sweetened the offer with a Binance Coin (BNB) for FTX token (FTT) token swap. Binance agreed, taking a 20% stake in SBF’s company that would implode three years later.

Fortunately for CZ, Binance was able to sell its FTX equity, before FTX went bankrupt.

Fintech Alliance Philippines and Binance

CZ also complained about Zhao’s role in Binance’s Philippine expansion. 

In September 2022, Zhao wrote to the chairman of Fintech Alliance Philippines, questioning a blockchain education partnership between the Alliance and Binance. 

The letter, which a Philippine crypto publication published in full, called Binance an unregistered virtual asset service provider. 

Zhao claimed that Coins.ph was “astounded” by the Binance-Alliance collaboration, an assertion that CZ frames as an underhanded attempt to block Binance from the Philippine market.

Unsurprisingly, Zhao denied the framing and told reporters, “We did not block Binance from joining. We asked to be involved in blockchain education initiatives of Fintech Alliance Philippines.”

Partial financials for his CFO

Basically, CZ’s memoir casts Zhou as a disloyal insider. However, other reports tell a different story about who kept whom in the dark. 

Reuters reported in December 2022 that Zhao never had access to Binance’s full financial accounts during his tenure as CFO of nearly three years. Reuters says that two former colleagues confirmed that claim.

It also claimed the world’s largest crypto exchange ran its finances as a “black box” obscured from even its own CFO.

Zhao wasn’t the only executive to discover CZ’s centralized grip over Binance. 

Binance.US, launched in 2019 while Zhao still served as global CFO, was meant to operate independently. 

However, its first CEO, Catherine Coley, was replaced without explanation. Her successor, former US Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, lasted less than four months.

Brooks later testified concerningly that he realized CZ ran the US entity, not him. 

The SEC would eventually allege that Binance.US was a sham, controlled behind the scenes by CZ while publicly claiming independence.

Zhao left Binance in June 2021, the same summer Brooks walked out of Binance.US. Binance cited personal reasons for both departures.

TLDR

• XRP rose to $1.37 after gaining 3.83% and ending a three-day decline.
• XRP Futures net inflows surged 294% to $46.15 million within 24 hours.
• Derivatives data showed steady inflows across 4-hour, eight-hour, and 12-hour timeframes.
• Short liquidations reached $1.59 million over 24 hours and made up 88% of total liquidations.
• Spot exchange data showed a $10.07 million net outflow as holders moved XRP off exchanges.

XRP climbed to $1.37 after posting a 3.83% intraday gain on Monday, reversing three days of declines. At the same time, derivatives data showed futures net inflows surged 294% to $46.15 million within 24 hours. The combined price recovery and leverage increase signaled renewed trader participation.

XRP Futures Record $46M Daily Inflows as Leverage Builds

XRP Futures activity accelerated as traders reopened leveraged positions across major exchanges. Data from Coinglass showed 24-hour net inflows reached $46.15 million, reflecting a 294.78% increase. Meanwhile, four-hour data recorded $71.16 million in inflows and a net increase of $753,280. Over eight hours, inflows totaled $111.03 million, while outflows hit $106.32 million, leaving a $4.71 million net gain.

In the 12-hour window, inflows reached $286.18 million against $277.18 million in outflows. This pattern confirmed steady positioning by derivatives traders. Rising participation often increases short-term volatility, and current figures showed active positioning across multiple timeframes. XRP traded at $1.37 at press time after Monday’s upward move.

Liquidations and Spot Outflows Shape Current XRP Structure

Liquidation data reflected pressure on bearish positions as prices moved higher. In the last 12 hours, total liquidations reached $328,110, including $70,870 from longs and $257,250 from shorts. Over 24 hours, total liquidations climbed to $1.79 million, with $1.59 million from short positions. Shorts accounted for 88% of total liquidations during that period.

At the same time, spot exchange flows showed net withdrawals. In the eight-hour timeframe, inflows stood at $27.34 million, while outflows reached $26.45 million, producing a $893,470 net inflow. However, in 12 hours, inflows totaled $62.99 million, and outflows climbed to $67.40 million, leaving a $4.42 million net outflow.

Across 24 hours, inflows reached $131.03 million, while outflows exceeded that at $141.10 million. This resulted in a $10.07 million net outflow and a -203.62% net change. Exchange withdrawals indicated that holders moved tokens off trading platforms during the rebound.

Market data showed that liquidations occurred alongside tightening exchange balances. The price structure shifted as short positions closed and futures inflows expanded. XRP continued to trade near $1.37 as derivatives and spot metrics reflected active market participation.

Decentralized perpetual exchange GMX has launched 24/7 gold and silver markets on Arbitrum, drawing more than $10 million in trading volume on the first day, the protocol announced on X.

The new XAU/USD and XAG/USD markets are synthetic perpetuals settled onchain using WETH-USDC liquidity. Pricing is secured through Chainlink Data Streams, the same oracle infrastructure that underpins GMX’s existing perp markets, according to a blog post from the exchange.

“We’re excited to see GMX adopt Chainlink to power its newly launched gold and silver perpetual markets,” said Johann Eid, Chief Business Officer at Chainlink Labs. “This is how we enter a new era where the world’s largest commodities are traded onchain at a massive scale.”

The launch comes at a turbulent moment for precious metals. Gold climbed above $4,800 per ounce on Tuesday, rebounding from prior losses as the U.S. and Iran signaled their willingness to resume ceasefire negotiations.

GMX said gold and silver represent the starting point for a broader push into real-world asset (RWA) derivatives, with additional commodities and asset classes under evaluation. Both pools are included in the protocol’s GLV [ETH-USDC] vault, allowing liquidity providers to earn fee revenue as demand scales. Traders on Base, BNB Chain, and Ethereum mainnet can also access the markets via GMX’s multichain infrastructure.

The move places GMX alongside a growing roster of DeFi protocols racing to bring traditional asset exposure onchain. Hyperliquid’s permissionless HIP-3 markets have seen commodity perpetuals, particularly oil, dominate trading activity in recent months.

The broader tokenized commodities sector has expanded rapidly. Tokenized gold surpassed $4 billion in market value in January and is now approaching $5 billion, led by Tether Gold and Paxos Gold. New entrants like Theo have launched yield-bearing tokenized gold products, while the World Gold Council has proposed shared infrastructure to lower barriers to entry and improve fungibility across digital gold products.

The growth underscores demand for permissionless precious metals exposure, particularly as geopolitical uncertainty continues to drive interest in safe-haven assets traded outside traditional market hours.

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

TLDR

• Solana recorded $1.1 trillion in total economic activity during the first quarter of 2026.
• Artemis data confirmed that this marks the first time Solana crossed the $1 trillion level in a single quarter.
• The network posted a 6,558.6% increase in economic activity compared to the previous quarter.
• On-chain usage accelerated sharply in late 2025 and continued rising into early 2026.
• The quarterly total reflects the highest value of transactions and economic interactions ever recorded on Solana.

Solana recorded $1.1 trillion in total economic activity during the first quarter of 2026, according to Artemis data released Tuesday, April 14. The figure marks the first time the blockchain has crossed the $1 trillion threshold within a single quarter. The surge follows a sharp rebound in on-chain usage after months of market volatility.

Solana Posts $1.1 Trillion in Quarterly Economic Activity

Artemis reported that Solana processed $1.1 trillion in total economic activity in Q1 2026. The data shows that this is the highest quarterly figure ever recorded on the network. As a result, Solana achieved a new all-time high in total value of transactions and economic interactions.

The charts from Artemis highlighted a 6,558.6% increase in economic activity compared to the previous quarter. This rapid growth pushed Solana beyond the $1 trillion milestone for the first time. Artemis stated that the spike reflects a sharp rise in on-chain usage across the network.

On-Chain Usage Surges as Network Rebounds

The Artemis charts showed that Solana’s on-chain usage accelerated sharply in late 2025. Activity continued to expand into early 2026 as transaction volumes increased. As a result, the network regained strong momentum after extended volatility through 2024 and mid-2025.

Data indicate that higher transaction throughput supported the growth in total economic activity. Increased participation in decentralized finance protocols also contributed to the surge. In parallel, staking activity on Solana expanded during the same period.

The quarterly total includes all recorded transactions and economic interactions on the blockchain. This covers transfers, decentralized finance operations, and other on-chain activities. Consequently, the combined value reached its highest level in the network’s history.

Artemis confirmed the figures on April 14 through its published dataset. The report identified Q1 2026 as the strongest quarter by economic output for Solana. The milestone comes as broader crypto markets regain upward momentum.

Market data shows that Solana experienced fluctuating activity throughout 2024 and mid-2025. However, usage levels began rising again in late 2025 and continued into 2026. Therefore, the latest quarterly figure reflects a sustained rebound in network engagement.

The reported 6,558.6% increase represents quarter-over-quarter growth in economic activity. This growth rate ranks among the highest recorded by the network to date. As such, the data places Q1 2026 at a new peak for Solana.

The $1.1 trillion total captures the aggregate value of all economic transactions processed during the quarter. Artemis compiled the data using on-chain metrics and transaction tracking tools. The figures became publicly available on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.

Crypto tracker app CoinStats has launched a new AI-powered research agent, claiming it outperforms leading models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic in crypto-focused deep research tasks.

The announcement comes alongside the public beta release of the CoinStats AI Agent, a tool designed specifically for cryptocurrency traders and investors.

Benchmark Results

According to CoinStats, its AI Agent achieved a score of 79 out of 100 in an internal benchmark evaluating crypto research quality. In comparison, Gemini Deep Research scored 67, ChatGPT 61, and Claude 58.

Speed was another key differentiator. The CoinStats AI Agent reportedly delivered results in an average of four minutes, while competing tools took significantly longer, with some responses exceeding 50 minutes.

The company noted that the benchmark methodology is open source and available on GitHub, allowing independent verification of the results.

Why a Crypto-Native AI?

CoinStats attributes its performance advantage to its access to specialized data sources.

Unlike general-purpose AI models, which primarily rely on web data, the CoinStats AI Agent integrates multiple streams of crypto-native information, including on-chain data, exchange metrics, derivatives data, and real-time social sentiment.

The system uses a multi-agent architecture, where different agents simultaneously analyze various data sources such as news, blockchain activity, and social media trends. These inputs are then combined into a unified research output.

Key Features

The CoinStats AI Agent is positioned as a research copilot rather than a simple chatbot, offering several advanced capabilities:

• Market Research: Explains price movements by combining news, sentiment, and on-chain activity
• Onchain Tracking: Analyzes wallets, token flows, and blockchain activity across 120+ networks, powered in part by the CoinStats Crypto API
• Social Sentiment Analysis: Tracks narratives and influencer activity in real time
• Portfolio Analysis: Provides insights based on a user’s actual holdings
• Backtesting: Simulates trading strategies using historical data
• Code Execution: Performs advanced calculations and custom analysis on demand

The platform also generates visual outputs such as charts and tables, enhancing usability for traders.

Multiple Modes

The AI Agent operates across different modes, including:

• Deep Research: Multi-step analysis across multiple data sources
• Backtesting: Historical simulation of strategies
• Fast Mode: Quick answers for simple queries
• Private Mode: Encrypted processing via decentralized infrastructure, powered by Venice AI

Availability

CoinStats AI Agent is currently available in public beta for Degen and Premium users on web, iOS, and Android.

CoinStats, a crypto portfolio tracking platform founded by Narek Gevorgyan, is positioning this launch as part of its broader move into AI-powered analytics.

A Growing Trend in Vertical AI

While the results highlight strong performance in crypto-specific tasks, they are based on internal testing and may vary depending on use cases.

The launch reflects a broader trend in the AI industry, where specialized, domain-focused tools are emerging to compete with general-purpose models in niche areas such as finance and cryptocurrency research.