Crypto World
Standard Chartered to absorb Zodia
The crypto custody market reached a new consolidation milestone Wednesday when Bloomberg reported that Standard Chartered is planning to integrate Zodia Custody’s business into its corporate and investment bank division as early as this month, folding its majority-owned crypto custody subsidiary into an internal division that already offers similar services.
Summary
- The restructuring plan would merge overlapping custody functions that currently run in parallel between Standard Chartered’s internal CIB digital asset unit and the bank-backed Zodia Custody subsidiary it co-founded in 2020 with Northern Trust; an announcement could come as early as April 2026
- Zodia Custody would not disappear: the plan preserves Zodia as a standalone software-as-a-service platform offering crypto custody white-label services to third-party banks and fintechs across its seven offices in London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Singapore, the UAE, Sydney, and Hong Kong
- Standard Chartered declined to comment on the reported plans; minority shareholders including Northern Trust, Emirates NBD, SBI Holdings, and National Australia Bank did not immediately respond to or confirm whether they have been approached about the restructuring
The crypto custody market is consolidating, and Standard Chartered’s reported move to absorb Zodia Custody is its clearest signal yet that the bank intends to own the institutional digital asset infrastructure its advisors and corporate clients use, rather than maintaining it at arm’s length through a subsidiary. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that discussions are underway to fold Zodia’s custody operations into the bank’s CIB division — a unit that has been building its own digital asset services since at least 2024.
The logic is operational. Zodia Custody and Standard Chartered’s internal division have been running parallel custody infrastructure, creating redundancy. Merging them consolidates both functions under a single regulated entity, reducing overhead and simplifying client-facing structures.
Under the reported plan, Zodia Custody’s customer-facing business for Standard Chartered’s institutional clients would move inside the bank. But Zodia would not be wound down. The subsidiary would continue operating as a white-label SaaS platform, providing crypto custody services to other banks and fintech firms that want to offer institutional-grade custody under their own brand. Zodia currently supports over 75 digital assets across seven offices globally, employs approximately 150 people, and holds regulatory registrations across the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
The dual structure — one business internalized, one remaining external — mirrors what the bank has already done with its broader digital asset strategy. Standard Chartered launched its own crypto custody services in Luxembourg in January 2025 and introduced spot crypto trading for institutional clients in July 2025 under the CIB umbrella. Those internal services were competing with Zodia’s external-facing platform for the same client base.
Standard Chartered’s Broader Crypto Stack
The Zodia integration fits into a multi-year digital asset buildout that now spans custody, trading, stablecoins, and prime brokerage. In January 2026, Standard Chartered moved to establish a crypto prime brokerage within its SC Ventures unit. In November 2025, it partnered with DCS Card Centre to support stablecoin-linked credit cards in Singapore. In March 2026, Bloomberg separately reported that Zodia Markets — the bank’s crypto trading subsidiary — lost its CEO Usman Ahmad in March, with Nick Philpott stepping in as interim. That leadership change preceded the custody restructuring news by less than two weeks.
As crypto.news reported, Zodia had been raising capital and expanding globally as recently as late 2024, with plans to enter new markets and attract tokenization and payments investors. As crypto.news noted, Standard Chartered secured its EU crypto custody license in Luxembourg in January 2025 — a move that in retrospect looks like preparation for bringing Zodia’s operations inside the regulatory perimeter of the bank itself.
The broader custody competition is intensifying. BNY Mellon, State Street, and Morgan Stanley — which named BNY Mellon as custodian for its MSBT Bitcoin ETF — have all expanded their crypto custody operations in 2026. Standard Chartered’s reported move accelerates that consolidation trend, positioning a globally systemically important bank as a direct competitor to specialist crypto custodians.
US Federal Reserve members were split on whether the war in the Middle East could spur further interest rate cuts before the end of 2026, according to minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) March meeting.
On Wednesday, the Fed released minutes from its last FOMC meeting on March 17 and 18. The meeting ended with an 11-1 vote to keep rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, with many officials cautious about the potential impacts of war and what it could mean for the economy.
Amid a risk of further conflicts, the official consensus pointed to a potential rate cut this year, but as Fed officials noted in the minutes, only if inflation does not get out of control.
“Many participants judged that, in time, it would likely become appropriate to lower the target range for the federal funds rate if inflation were to decline in line with their expectations,” according to the Fed minutes.
Rate cuts are generally seen as a positive catalyst for crypto as they free up investment liquidity and can spur demand for speculative investments. The last interest rate cut was Dec. 10, 2025, with the Fed slashing rates by 25 basis points.
While a cut may still be on the table for this year, the general feeling from the FOMC meeting was that it was “too early to know how developments in the Middle East would affect the U.S. economy.”
The FOMC’s next meeting is scheduled for April 28-29.
Cuts still possible, but so are hikes
While some officials were cautiously optimistic about a rate cut, others warned that the opposite might be necessary.
“Some participants judged that there was a strong case for a two-sided description of the Committee’s future interest rate decisions … reflecting the possibility that upward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation were to remain at above-target levels.”
Related: Iran weighing crypto tolls for ships using Strait of Hormuz: Report
Inflation was not the only concern, as many officials pointed to potential downside risks in the labor market, arguing that “in the current situation of low rates of net job creation, labor market conditions appeared vulnerable to adverse shocks.”
According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, there is currently a 75.6% chance that the Fed will keep rates at 3.5% to 3.75% during the Fed’s Dec. 8 meeting later this year.
Meanwhile, the chance of a rate cut is 20.4%, while the chance of a rate hike is 2.4% at the time of writing.
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Just 0.015% of Polymarket traders can reliably make $5,000 or more a month, according to new data, meaning the idea of quitting a full-time job to trade prediction markets is unrealistic for most.
Data from crypto analyst Andrey Sergeenkov on Monday found that while nearly 1% of Polymarket traders earned more than $5,000 in a single month, only 0.1% managed to repeat that the following month and just 0.015% were able to sustain it for four consecutive months.
The average US monthly salary is around $5,220, according to Consumer Shield.
Prediction markets have become one of the fastest-growing use cases in crypto, enabling users to speculate on outcomes across politics, sports, finance and cultural events.
Most prediction markets use binary “yes” and “no” shares priced between $0 and $1 that reflect perceived probabilities. Traders can profit by buying undervalued shares and selling higher or holding winning outcomes that settle at $1 when the event has concluded.
Sergeenkov’s findings were framed alongside a report about Logan Sudeith, a former financial risk analyst who quit his job and turned to prediction markets, where he profited $100,000 in December.
Sergeenkov also highlighted an X post from former Messari analyst “Tulip King,” who claimed in November that “Polymarket is the easiest place in crypto to make six figures right now.”
Related: Three Polymarket traders made timely bets on US-Iran ceasefire
However, Sergeenkov’s data found that only 840 wallets (roughly 0.033% of Polymarket traders) have profited over $100,000.
Not all of these wallets would be retail traders, either, as professional traders working at hedge funds and other firms are also trading in prediction markets.
“Less experienced users tend to trade less successfully,” Sergeenkov noted.
Most successful traders make profits and bounce
The more successful traders don’t stick around long either, Sergeenkov said, pointing out that only 172 of 6,600 wallet addresses with average monthly profits above $5,000 remained active more than a year.
“That’s 2.6%,” Sergeenkov said. “Most traders show up, trade for a short period, and leave.”
Sergeenkov’s analysis didn’t come without limitations. The researcher noted that he only factored in realized profits and losses, though he claimed that 96% of trading volume comes from already resolved markets.
Data was taken from April 2024 through to April 1, 2026.
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A single geopolitical policy announcement may have just rewritten Bitcoin price prediction. Iran is reportedly requiring ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to pay tolls in Bitcoin, instantly transforming the world’s most critical oil chokepoint into a live crypto settlement corridor.
According to the Financial Times report confirmed by Bitcoin Magazine, Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union spokesperson Hamid Hosseini confirmed the toll is set at $1 per barrel, with a fully loaded supertanker could face a charge approaching $2 million per transit.
Vessels have only seconds to complete payment once approved; the compressed window is explicitly designed so transactions cannot be traced or seized under existing sanctions. The policy applies during a two-week ceasefire window, with empty tankers exempted.
JUST IN: — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 8, 2026
Iran to require ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay tolls in Bitcoin, FT reports. pic.twitter.com/6yoIEys139
BTC had already surged past $72,000 on ceasefire news alone, recovering sharply from the $67,000 range where it held during Trump’s April 4 ultimatum weekend. The Hormuz toll announcement adds a second, structurally different catalyst, adding Bitcoin’s role in geopolitical infrastructure.
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Bitcoin Price Prediction: Hormuz Toll and Geopolitical Tension
Bitcoin’s technical setup entering this week was already constructive. Price reclaimed $69,000 Monday after volatile swings between $65,000 and $74,000 tied to Operation Epic Fury strike updates and oil price moves.
Support is well-defined as institutional bids have clustered at the $65,800–$66,000 zone, which held during the worst of the escalation fear in early April. Resistance sits at $71,000–$75,000, a range BTC is currently pressing against.
Oil crashed 16% from its $100+/barrel peak as ceasefire signals emerged, a deflationary impulse that historically benefits risk assets. Bitcoin’s resilience relative to equities during the Hormuz escalation period signals decoupling behavior in a bullish structural read.
If the ceasefire holds through the two-week window, Hormuz BTC tolls process live transactions, adoption narrative ignites, and the price can then target $100,000 after, with analysts flagging exactly this level on sustained risk-on sentiment.
The ceasefire expires in approximately 12 days. Every day it holds is a day BTC tolls process, and a day the “Bitcoin as sovereign payment rail” narrative compounds. Tick, tock.
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Hyper Targets Bitcoin’s Bullish Outlook
Bitcoin at $71,000 is a strong position, but the math of a move to $100K from here represents roughly 40% upside for spot holders. For traders who missed the run from $65K, that asymmetry feels thinner than it looks. The rotation question becomes: where does the upside of early-stage Bitcoin infrastructure lie?
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is making a case for exactly that allocation. Positioned as the first-ever Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, the project targets Bitcoin’s core structural weaknesses. Bitcoin is known for slow finality, high fees, and the absence of programmable smart contracts.
The SVM integration is the technical differentiator: it delivers sub-second transaction processing, faster than Solana’s base chain itself, with low-cost execution and a Decentralized Canonical Bridge for native BTC transfers.
The presale has raised $32 million at a current price of $0.0136 per $HYPER, with staking available at a high APY during the presale window. If the Hormuz toll story accelerates institutional and retail focus on Bitcoin’s infrastructure layer, early-stage Layer 2 projects absorb that attention before spot BTC does.
Research Bitcoin Hyper here before the presale window closes.
The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Iran Hormuz Toll Might Spark BTC USD Rally to $100K appeared first on Cryptonews.
Cardano price fell over 5% towards $0.25 on Thursday, paring off a part of its gains seen on the previous day.
Summary
- Cardano price fell 5.7% to around $0.25 as a broader crypto market sell-off triggered profit-taking after the U.S. Iran ceasefire news.
- Nearly $545K in long positions were liquidated over 24 hours, significantly outweighing short liquidations and adding downward pressure.
- Whale wallets holding over 10M ADA rose to a four-month high, signalling continued accumulation despite recent price weakness.
According to data from crypto.news, Cardano (ADA) price fell 5.7% from $0.263 on Wednesday to $0.248 on Thursday morning before settling at the $0.25 mark.
This decline occurred amid a broader sell-off across the cryptocurrency market as investors booked profits after they sold the U.S.-Iran ceasefire news. Bitcoin (BTC), the bellwether asset, was down 1.2% below the $71,000 figure. Ethereum (ETH) fell by 3.4% while other major crypto assets, such as BNB (BNB), XRP (XRP), and Solana (SOL), were all in the red with even more significant losses.
As Cardano price fell, it caught highly leveraged long traders off guard across the derivatives market. Data from CoinGlass show that nearly $545K worth of long positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, which is nearly nine times the amount of short positions liquidated in the same timeframe.
Long liquidations occur when traders who bet bullish are caught by falling prices and are forced to sell their positions to cover their margins. When long liquidations significantly outweigh short liquidations, the asset’s price often faces intense downward pressure as the forced selling creates a cascading effect.
Despite this volatility, reports indicate that whales are still betting on the token to go up. Notably, data from Santiment shows that the number of whales holding over 10 million ADA tokens has hit a four-month high of 424 at press time. That represents a 5.2% jump over the past nine weeks, a clear sign that whales have been accumulating the token during these dips.
As such, if the whale accumulation trend continues to gain strength, they could attract the attention of retail investors. This, in turn, could potentially change the course of ADA’s current price trajectory.
On the daily chart, Cardano price has entered a horizontal channel pattern where the price was previously trading since early February.
The altcoin broke below the pattern earlier on March 29 as risk-on sentiment withered from the crypto market amidst geopolitical concerns at that time. However, the recent Cardano rebound back into the channel suggests that bulls are attempting to reclaim control.
While the Supertrend indicator still points to some lingering bearishness as it remains red, the MACD line points to a slightly bullish momentum with a bullish crossover while still remaining under the zero line.
For now, the two trendlines of the channel mark the key resistance and support areas for the token. As such, a break below the lower trendline at $0.24 could signal a deeper correction, while if bulls manage to push the price above $0.30, it could spark a fresh rally toward previous highs.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected Anthropic’s request to pause a Pentagon designation labeling the firm a national security supply chain risk.
The three-judge panel denied the emergency motion for a stay on Wednesday, ruling that the government’s interest in controlling how it secures AI technology during active military conflict outweighed any financial or reputational harm Anthropic may suffer from the label.
The decision means that part of the US Department of Defense’s official designation of Anthropic’s products as a “supply-chain risk to national security” remains in place.
This designation has never been applied to an American company before and also restricts contractors who work with the Pentagon from using Anthropic’s AI models. It could set a chilling precedent for other tech companies that do not comply with government demands.
“In our view, the equitable balance here cuts in favor of the government,” wrote the three-judge panel.
“On one side is a relatively contained risk of financial harm to a single private company. On the other side is judicial management of how, and through whom, the Department of War secures vital AI technology during an active military conflict.”
Challenging the label in two courts
The dispute stems from a deal between the AI firm and the Pentagon in July 2025 on a contract to make Anthropic’s AI model Claude the first large language model approved for use on classified networks.
However, negotiations collapsed in February, with the government seeking to renegotiate and insisting that Anthropic allow military use of Claude without restrictions. Anthropic maintained that its technology should not be used for lethal autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance of Americans.
US President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products in late February, stating that the company had made a “disastrous mistake trying to strong-arm the Department of War.”
Anthropic sued the Trump administration in March in what it termed an “unlawful campaign of retaliation.”
In late March, the District Court for the Northern District of California ordered a preliminary injunction against the Pentagon over the designation and temporarily halted Trump’s directive, branding it “Orwellian.”
Related: Anthropic limits access to AI model over cyberattack concerns
However, because of the way federal procurement law is written, Anthropic had to challenge the designation on two separate legal tracks — in a California district court on constitutional grounds and directly at the D.C. Circuit under the specific statute that authorized the designation.
The ruling acknowledged that Anthropic will “likely suffer some degree of irreparable harm absent a stay,” and stated that “substantial expedition is warranted.”
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X that it was a “resounding victory for military readiness.”
“Military authority and operational control belong to the Commander-in-Chief and Department of War, not a tech company.”
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European currencies posted solid gains, while the US dollar came under pressure amid easing geopolitical tensions following reports of a two-week ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran. Reduced demand for so-called safe-haven assets acted as the primary driver, prompting a reallocation of capital flows towards risk-sensitive instruments and developed market currencies.
Additional pressure on the dollar came from a sharp decline in oil prices, driven by expectations of stabilised supply through the Strait of Hormuz. This has lowered inflation risks and reinforced expectations of a more accommodative stance from the Federal Reserve. At the same time, US Treasury yields declined, further supporting a reassessment of the Fed’s policy outlook. Against this backdrop, money markets are once again pricing in the probability of rate cuts before year-end, limiting the dollar’s recovery potential and reinforcing the current downward momentum.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair broke out of its recent range, moving higher in line with broad-based dollar weakness. The price could continue rising towards 1.1740–1.1770. However, a short-term corrective pullback towards former resistance at 1.1610–1.1630 could happen. A daily close below 1.1600 may signal a return to the previous consolidation range.
Key events for EUR/USD:
- Today at 09:00 (GMT+3): German industrial production
- Today at 15:30 (GMT+3): US Core PCE Price Index
- Today at 15:30 (GMT+3): US GDP
GBP/USD
The GBP/USD pair also broke out to the upside, following the broader trend of dollar weakness. After such a sharp move, a corrective pullback towards the recent highs at 1.3320–1.3350 might be possible. A sustained move above yesterday’s high could open the way for further gains towards 1.3510–1.3560.
Key events for GBP/USD:
- Today at 11:30 (GMT+3): Bank of England Credit Conditions Survey
- Today at 12:00 (GMT+3): UK mortgage rate data
- Today at 15:30 (GMT+3): US initial jobless claims
Summary
The appreciation of European currencies is being driven by a combination of easing geopolitical tensions, declining oil prices, and a reassessment of the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook. The upside breakouts in EUR/USD and GBP/USD reflect a shift in market balance towards risk assets. However, further direction will depend on confirmation from incoming US macroeconomic data. Should downward pressure on yields persist and rate cut expectations strengthen, the dollar may continue to weaken. Conversely, stronger-than-expected data could trigger short-term stabilisation and a return to consolidation.
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Asset management firm Canary Capital is looking to launch a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) tied to the PEPE memecoin.
On Wednesday, Canary filed a Form S-1 for the CANARY PEPE ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The ETF would track the performance of Pepe (PEPE), with all of the trust’s PEPE held by a custodian.
It noted that the ETF trust may hold up to 5% of the trust’s assets in Ether (ETH) to pay the transaction fees on the Ethereum network.
Canary Capital, which also offers several other crypto ETFs tracking XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Hedera (HBAR) and Sei (SEI), has filed for several other niche crypto ETF products in recent months.
In November 2025, Canary Capital filed to launch an ETF tracking the price of a memecoin called Mog Coin, the 353rd-largest crypto token by market cap, far behind PEPE, which is ranked 45th.
PEPE, a memecoin based on Pepe the Frog, gained traction on social media in 2024. The token is roughly 9% the size of the largest memecoin by market cap, Dogecoin (DOGE).
Grayscale’s Dogecoin ETF made its debut in November but fell well short of initial volume expectations. ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicted at the time that the ETFs would get at least $12 million in volume. However, the ETF only saw $1.4 million on its first day.
The proposed ETF also comes despite the Pepe token, which is down almost 85% from its December 2024 all-time high of $0.00002368, according to CoinMarketCap.
There are currently 513,392 holders of the PEPE, according to Etherscan data. Canary Capital warned investors that ownership of the token is “highly concentrated.” “As of January 2026, the ten largest PEPE wallet addresses collectively held approximately 41% of the total circulating supply,” the filing said.
Altcoin season may hinge on more ETFs launching
Analysts have previously said that the next altcoin cycle may hinge on more crypto ETFs launching further down the risk curve.
However, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at investment firm Bitwise, said in March that traditional altcoin cycles are over, and that institutional investors are focused on yield-bearing digital instruments or crypto assets that capture revenue.
Fabian Dori, chief investment officer at Sygnum Bank, told Cointelegraph in December that the number of new ETF filings is expected to surge in 2026, driven by US crypto regulations.
Related: Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows top $471M but BTC is pinned under $70K: Here’s why
“On the basis of the potential passing of the Clarity Act, we would expect that new filings continue to go beyond BTC and ETH,” Dori said.
However, the US CLARITY Act has not passed as quickly as industry participants had hoped, largely due to an ongoing disagreement over stablecoin yields.
Canary’s filing warned that regulations in the US for the use of Pepe and the Ethereum network “continues to evolve,” which may impact the use of Pepe and its demand.
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Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs has settled its long-running lawsuit with a pair of artists accused of profiting off lookalike NFTs.
According to documents filed in the District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday, Yuga Labs and artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen told the court they had reached a settlement agreement.
As part of the settlement, Ripps and Cahen are permanently banned from using Yuga Lab’s imagery and trademarks and will transfer control of the smart contracts, domains and any remaining NFTs associated with their RR/BAYC project to Yuga Labs within the next 10 days.
The court has also ordered the pair not to “transfer, assign, conceal, or otherwise dispose of any NFTs, domains, accounts, or other assets referenced in this Injunction, or cause any of the foregoing, for the purpose of avoiding or frustrating compliance.”
Legal saga ends after nearly four years
The matter was initially scheduled for a jury trial after a court ruled in favor of Yuga Labs, and Ripps and Cahen appealed the judgments.
Yuga Labs first filed a lawsuit in June 2022, accusing Ripps and Cahen of copying its Bored Ape Yacht Club cartoon ape images, selling lookalike NFTs, and profiting millions as users confused the two projects.
Lawyers acting for Ripps and Cahen argued the RR/BAYC NFTs, first minted in May 2022, were satire and a parody of the real Bored Ape Yacht Club collection and were protected under free speech laws.
Related: Judge tosses lawsuit against Yuga Labs over failure to satisfy Howey test
In April 2023, the court ruled in favor of Yuga Labs and found that Ripps and Cahen had violated copyright laws by creating unauthorized versions of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and ordered them to pay $1.37 million out of their profits, plus an additional $200,000.
The penalty later grew to $9 million after Ripps and Cahen lost a counterclaim in 2024. An appeals court later tossed the judgment in 2025 and ruled that a jury trial was required to resolve the matter and decide whether Yuga’s trademarks were infringed.
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Yuga Labs has brought a nearly four-year legal dispute to a close with a settlement that bars its rivals from using its imagery and trademarks and pivots control of the related assets back to the crypto creator. Court filings this week show that Yuga Labs and artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen have reached an agreement, ending the long-running case over lookalike NFTs tied to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) brand.
Under the settlement, Ripps and Cahen are permanently prohibited from using Yuga Labs’ imagery and trademarks. In addition, they will transfer control of the RR/BAYC smart contracts, domain names, and any remaining NFTs associated with the RR/BAYC project to Yuga Labs within the next 10 days. An injunction from the court also restricts the pair from transferring, concealing, or disposing of any linked assets to evade compliance.
The RR/BAYC NFTs themselves remain accessible for holders and curious onlookers; as of this writing, they are still live on OKX Wallet, underscoring how the asset layer sits at the intersection of branding protection and active markets. OKX Wallet’s NFT collection page for RR/BAYC provides a live snapshot of those tokens still circulating in wallets.
Key takeaways
- The dispute over lookalike BAYC imagery ends with a settlement that imposes a permanent ban on using Yuga Labs’ branding and requires asset transfers to Yuga Labs within 10 days.
- The settlement closes a saga that stretched from a June 2022 filing through multiple court rulings, reversals, and appeals, including a 2023 ruling favoring Yuga and a subsequent shift in judgments on damages and trademark questions.
- Despite the injunction and transfers, RR/BAYC NFTs continue to function on live marketplaces, illustrating the persistence of lookalike projects in secondary markets even after legal action.
- The case highlights how IP enforcement plays out in NFT ecosystems, where branding and originality are central to project value and user trust.
Settlement marks a culmination of a high-stakes IP fight
The legal entanglement began when Yuga Labs filed suit in mid-2022, alleging that Ripps and Cahen copied BAYC’s distinctive ape artwork and sold lookalike NFTs to profit from brand confusion. The plaintiffs argued that the mimicry undermined Yuga Labs’ IP rights and damaged the value of the original BAYC ecosystem.
Earlier in the litigation, a court sided with Yuga Labs, finding that Ripps and Cahen had created unauthorized versions of BAYC NFTs and ordered the pair to pay damages. The initial judgment set damages at $1.37 million plus $200,000, tied to profits from the infringing NFTs. The post-judgment landscape grew more complex as outcomes from subsequent proceedings added layers of appeal and retrial expectations.
In 2024, the court’s order expanded the penalties, and the total rose to about $9 million after Ripps and Cahen lost a counterclaim related to the matter. An appeals court later tossed that judgment in 2025, ruling that a jury trial would be necessary to determine whether Yuga Labs’ trademarks had been infringed and to resolve related issues. The latest settlement then brings the case to a close, avoiding a further retrial while preserving the injunctions against the defendants.
What this means for IP in NFT ecosystems
The resolution underscores an important precedent for how branding and copyright claims are treated in the NFT space. Yuga Labs has repeatedly asserted that protecting its avatar-based IP is essential to maintain product integrity and user trust across a fast-evolving market. The settlement affirms that such protections can be backed by enforceable injunctions and asset transfers, even as markets continue to trade lookalike or derivative tokens in parallel to legitimate projects.
From an investor and builder perspective, the outcome reinforces a critical point: brand equity in digital collectibles matters as much as the underlying code and artwork. Projects seeking to capitalize on a well-known IP must navigate not only smart-contract functionality but also the legal boundaries of trademark and copyright. The case also demonstrates that even when a lookalike project garners attention and liquidity, the original IP owner may pursue a legal remedy that includes branding restrictions and asset handovers.
Transient markets meet durable rights
The fact that RR/BAYC NFTs remain visible on major wallets and marketplaces despite the injunction speaks to a nuanced dynamic in crypto markets. While the court order restricts the use of Yuga Labs’ branding and directs the transfer of domain and contract control, the assets already minted and circulating in wallets can continue to trade unless further restrictions are imposed by platform policies or additional court actions. This tension—between legal rights and ongoing market activity—illustrates how IP enforcement interacts with decentralized liquidity and public recordkeeping in real time.
For traders, holders, and creators, the settlement signals a potential re-emphasis on authenticating provenance and respecting IP boundaries before minting or marketing derivative projects. It also raises questions about how future settlements might structure ongoing obligations, such as royalties, licensing, or clear demarcations between parody, satire, and infringement in the NFT landscape.
What to watch next
With control of the RR/BAYC assets transferring to Yuga Labs within about a week, observers will want to track how the company integrates these elements back into its ecosystem. Will there be additional revivals or revocations tied to RR/BAYC tokens, and how will platforms handle branding-sensitive content tied to a well-known IP? The ongoing governance and ecosystem implications for BAYC’s broader community, as well as for other IP-heavy NFT projects, will be worth monitoring as more settlements of this type appear in the crypto legal arena.
Additionally, the market for lookalike NFTs in the wake of this case may reflect evolving risk assessments among buyers and traders. Even with a favorable outcome for IP owners, the persistence of lookalikes in wallets and marketplaces suggests a continuing need for diligence on authenticity and provenance in NFT collections.
As this saga concludes, investors can expect closer scrutiny of branding and copyright claims in NFT launches and a clearer path for IP holders to pursue enforcement when necessary. The case serves as a reminder that in the rapidly expanding NFT space, the boundaries of legal rights and market activity are increasingly intertwined, and that regulatory and judicial clarity will continue to shape how projects operate and compete.
Source data and developments referenced here draw on filings and reporting surrounding the settlement announced this week, including the permanent injunction barring use of Yuga Labs’ imagery and trademarks and the transfer timeline for RR/BAYC assets. The live RR/BAYC NFT collection, as noted, remains accessible on OKX Wallet during this transition.
Key Takeaways
- Ripple’s XRP has experienced six straight months of decline — a pattern not seen since 2014 — with prices plummeting over 60% from the $3.65 peak.
- Price action slipped from $1.37 down to $1.33, with consistent selling pressure emerging at the $1.37–$1.38 resistance barrier.
- ETF products connected to Ripple registered $3.32M in net inflows, marking a reversal from March’s outflow trend, though insufficient to halt downward momentum.
- Large holders have been accumulating at elevated rates, adding approximately 11 million XRP daily based on 30-day averages, per CryptoQuant intelligence from April 6.
- Breaking the losing pattern requires just a monthly settlement above $1.33, with the CLARITY Act and Bitcoin’s upward trajectory identified as possible positive catalysts.
Ripple’s XRP token has recorded an unprecedented six consecutive months of losses, marking the longest downward streak since 2014. From its peak of $3.65 reached in July, the digital asset has shed more than 60% of its value. While brief rallies toward $1.40 emerged, persistent selling has maintained downward pressure.
The downturn began in October 2025 when President Trump’s announcement of comprehensive China tariffs sparked the crypto market’s most significant single-day liquidation event on record. Leveraged positions totaling over $19 billion evaporated within 24 hours. XRP’s value collapsed from above $2.80 to beneath $2.00 in the immediate aftermath.
November and December saw attempted recoveries that ultimately failed due to ETF capital withdrawals and diminishing institutional appetite. In late February 2026, geopolitical tensions intensified when Iran-related conflicts escalated, driving oil prices beyond $100 following disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz.
The Federal Reserve’s response included upward revisions to inflation projections, prompting institutional capital to retreat from risk-oriented assets. Positive developments for XRP throughout 2026 — such as commodity classification prospects, ETF capital inflows, and strategic partnership reveals from Ripple — proved insufficient against these broader macroeconomic headwinds.
Additional selling from existing XRP holders compounded the pressure. Approximately 60% of XRP’s circulating tokens are currently held at unrealized losses. Whenever prices approached the $1.44 average acquisition cost, holders sitting underwater seized opportunities to exit positions. This recurring behavior characterized every rally attempt from November through March.
Resistance Zone Continues to Repel Recovery Efforts
Analyzing shorter timeframes reveals XRP sliding from $1.37 to $1.33, with accelerated downward movement following rejection near the $1.38 level. Elevated trading volume accompanied the decline, confirming seller dominance. Late-session action tested $1.31 before modest stabilization emerged, though subsequent recovery efforts remained feeble.
A descending trendline has established itself with resistance positioned at $1.3550. Current trading occurs below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average. The combination of increasing volume alongside declining prices indicates distribution activity rather than accumulation behavior.
Ripple-associated ETF vehicles recorded $3.32M in net positive flows, contrasting with March’s withdrawal pattern. However, exchange-based liquidity has diminished, elevating the potential for amplified volatility should critical support thresholds fail. Immediate support resides at $1.33, while the crucial level requiring attention sits at $1.28.
Large Holder Activity Reaches Notable Peak
CryptoQuant intelligence dated April 6 reveals whale accumulation patterns at their most pronounced level in ten months. Substantial wallets have been absorbing more than 11 million XRP tokens daily when averaged across 30 days. Simultaneously, exchange outflows have intensified, constraining available selling supply.
XRP dominated all cryptocurrency assets in ETF inflows during the previous week, capturing $120 million. Bitcoin has advanced beyond $71,000 while XRP currently trades above $1.35.
March concluded with XRP at $1.33. A monthly closing price exceeding that threshold would terminate the six-month negative sequence. The CLARITY Act, legislative framework that would establish XRP’s permanent classification as a digital commodity under federal regulation, may advance if the Senate Banking Committee concludes its markup proceedings in late April.
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