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U.S. Treasury to loop in crypto sector on hacker warnings shared with traditional firms

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U.S. Treasury to loop in crypto sector on hacker warnings shared with traditional firms

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is opening its cybersecurity information sharing to crypto businesses to help them ward off attacks as the industry becomes an increasingly important arm of the financial system, according to a Thursday statement.

Eligible crypto firms and organizations — a status not yet clearly defined in the announcement — can sign on for the same service enjoyed by traditional financial institutions. The Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection will include them on “timely, actionable cybersecurity information,” and encouraged interested companies to reach out to that office if they’re interested in the free service.

The move responds to an earlier recommendation from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, which issued a report last year that included several information-sharing ideas on cyber-attack dangers.

“By extending access to the same high-quality cybersecurity information used by traditional financial institutions, Treasury is helping promote a more secure and responsible digital asset ecosystem,” said Luke Pettit, assistant secretary for financial institutions, in a statement.

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The digital assets sector has been plagued since its earliest days by malicious hacks. Hardly a month goes by without a noteworthy cyber assault draining significant funds or data from crypto operations. North Korean-linked hackers stole over $280 million from decentralized platform Drift last week. Just this week, recent incidents spurred the Solana Foundation to pursue new security measures to prevent exploits.

Billions of dollars in assets are stolen each year, often by hacker groups sponsored by nations such as North Korea. Digital security has remained one of the points of concern for U.S. lawmakers weighing legislation that would bring the crypto sector into the regulated financial system.

Read More: U.S. DOJ Pursues North Korea’s Illicit Money Machine, Seizes More Crypto

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midterms may kill CLARITY Act

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CME Group explores crypto token for 24/7 trading

The crypto market’s most significant regulatory variable may not be a Senate committee vote but the November 3 midterm elections, with TD Cowen, TD Securities, and multiple legal analysts warning that the CLARITY Act could slip off the congressional calendar entirely if it does not clear the Senate before summer.

Summary

  • TD Cowen Washington Research Group managing director Jaret Seiberg warned in a January note that Senate Democrats may withhold support for the CLARITY Act if they believe they can flip the House, and even a full Republican vote still requires at least seven Democratic senators for the 60-vote cloture threshold
  • If Democrats take control of either chamber in November, Senator Elizabeth Warren would likely become Senate Banking Committee chair, making CLARITY’s passage described as slim to none; the crypto PAC Fairshake has $193 million earmarked for midterm spending in response
  • Senator Bernie Moreno has warned that missing the May Senate window risks the bill entirely; Fireblocks’ policy director called the legislation “at risk altogether if its passing cuts too close to the midterm elections”

The CLARITY Act passed the House in July 2025 by a 294 to 134 vote and has stalled in the Senate since, caught between disputes over stablecoin yield, DeFi oversight, and ethics provisions targeting crypto holdings by government officials. The Senate Banking Committee markup was originally scheduled for January 15, postponed when Coinbase pulled support hours before the vote, and has not been formally rescheduled. As TheStreet reported, TD Cowen’s Seiberg warned that resolving the standoff will require President Trump’s personal intervention to force both sides toward compromise.

The May deadline is not arbitrary. The Senate avoids controversial floor votes in the months immediately preceding midterms, and the August recess effectively closes the calendar for legislation requiring broad bipartisan support.

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The electoral math is structural. Republicans hold slim majorities in both chambers. Even with full Republican support, the CLARITY Act needs Democratic votes, and Democratic senators facing competitive seats have no political incentive to vote for a bill the White House is claiming as a win, particularly while ethics provisions targeting Trump family crypto holdings remain unresolved. Legal analyst John E. Deaton put it directly: “If we get into the summer months, it’s just probably not going to happen.” TD Securities’ Seiberg put the probability of pre-midterm passage at more likely 2027 than this year in January, with full implementation pushed to 2029.

What Happens to the Crypto Market If CLARITY Dies

JPMorgan analysts had described CLARITY Act passage by midyear as a positive catalyst for digital assets, citing institutional scaling and tokenization growth as direct beneficiaries. Standard Chartered estimated that an open-ended yield provision could redirect up to $500 billion in deposits, making the bill’s outcome material to stablecoin market structure. The Georgia-14 and Wisconsin Supreme Court results on April 7, both showing Democratic overperformance against historical baselines, added urgency to the calculus.

What Needs to Happen in the Next Six Weeks

As crypto.news has reported, the bill still faces a Senate Banking markup, a Senate Agriculture markup, a floor vote, and a conference process before reaching the president’s desk. As crypto.news has noted, the GENIUS Act’s stablecoin framework advances independently, but the market structure provisions in CLARITY, including SEC and CFTC jurisdictional clarity and DeFi oversight rules, have no alternative legislative path. Deaton’s warning may prove to be the most accurate single-sentence forecast for where the bill stands by June: “Come summer, the midterms are going to consume everything in this country.”

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‘Crypto Robin Hood’ faked prison for clout, rugged memecoins for Palestine

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'Crypto Robin Hood' faked prison for clout, rugged memecoins for Palestine

The brief career of William Banks is one of the crypto industry’s most bizarre tales, involving months of staged content, a fake jailbreak that earned over 10 million views, and two memecoin rug pulls that he claimed raised approximately $50,000 for Palestinian aid organizations. 

On memecoin platform Pump Fun, where over 99% of tokens collapse to near-$0, the self-proclaimed comedian tried to stand apart by using philanthropy to justify his antics.

“Thank you to the crypto community for buying my pretend memecoin and helping me to raise $50,000 for the crisis in Gaza,” he said about a very real, not-at-all pretend memecoin that he created

“Free Palestine,” he added.

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He also proclaimed, “William Banks is Robin Hood,” childishly assuming that everybody who lost money in his memecoin deserved their assets less than leaders of foreign aid organizations.

Moreover, the mythical Robin Hood didn’t create deep-fake videos to harm his Merry Men before giving to the poor.

William Banks creates content for his upcoming promo

Banks’ curious story began in December 2023, when the 20-something comedian from Brooklyn stole Israeli yard signs from lawns in Westport, Connecticut. Police charged him with sixth degree larceny. 

He duly took advantage of his new-found infamy, plastering his mugshot on social media in an effort to shift some merch. In October 2024, he announced an eight-month prison sentence on X, even though he received no such punishment. 

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He then spent four months posting content from what appeared to be a jail cell. This included football tosses, theological discussions, and on February 20, 2025, a video of himself crawling under a security fence during a supposed prison riot.

However, the Connecticut Department of Corrections has no record of Banks being incarcerated. Public records turned up a backstage casting call for a project titled Jail Saga Reality Show, posted by a company that lists Banks as a co-owner.

When Cryptopolitan pressed him directly, Banks answered, “It’s real. I recreated it of course, but it’s real. It happened.”

Read more: ‘Thanks for the 20 bandos!’ Teen behind QUANT rug pull misses out on $4M profit

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Another crypto bro claiming to hate crypto bros

The escape video attracted precisely the kind of attention from crypto promoters that Banks claimed he didn’t want. For months, he’s vehemently espoused hatred for crypto, despite his extensive use of the industry’s tactics.

Among those who reached out to Banks was “Jester,” a self-proclaimed “memecoin marketer” who uses a Retardio NFT profile picture.

Banks denied working with him directly, although Jester claims he helped Banks launch four tokens.

Either way, in the media wave of his manufactured prison break, memecoin operators sent Banks unsolicited portions of token supply in the hopes that he’d mention them to his growing following.

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“They were using me, so I decided to use them back,” Banks justified.

He launched White Moses (MOSES) on Solana-based Pump Fun. After pumping to a market capitalization of a few hundred thousand dollars, Banks sold his holdings in three liquidations.

The first sale of about $14,000 caused a 75% price drop within eight seconds. After a partial recovery, two further sales drove the token down 96% within a few more seconds. 

He followed MOSES with a second token called William Banks (BANKS), and ran the same sequence.

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His total haul was approximately $50,000.

On social media, he then shared receipts showing payments totaling that amount to Palestinian aid organizations.

Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Binance’s CZ Offers OKX Founder $1 Billion Bet Over Divorce Dispute

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Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) confirmed he is officially divorced and offered OKX founder Star Xu a $1 billion bet to prove it.

The challenge came after Xu questioned CZ’s marital status as part of a broader dispute triggered by CZ’s 457-page memoir “Freedom of Money,” released on April 8.

Star Xu Questions CZ’s Marital Status

Xu demanded that CZ produce a divorce agreement signed by both parties.

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He said he would publicly apologize if CZ could present the document. If not, he argued, the claim would amount to public misrepresentation.

I typically ignore all these false claims and attacks. But… You can apologize now. I am officially divorced,” wrote CZ.

CZ responded by confirming his divorce and proposing a permanent wager of $1 billion. He stated he would not share legal documents online out of respect for his ex-wife’s privacy.

However, he offered to have lawyers verify the agreement if Xu accepted the bet.

“I am happy to bet $1 billion USD (or any number you choose) that: I am officially divorced (way before today),” CZ added.

He gave Xu a 24-hour window to respond, adding that silence would reveal who had been misleading the public.

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A Feud Rooted in a Decade of Rivalry

The divorce dispute is the latest front in a conflict that dates back to 2014. CZ served as chief technology officer at OKCoin, the predecessor to OKX.

Their falling out over equity, a Bitcoin.com domain contract, and forgery allegations have resurfaced multiple times.

CZ’s memoir also claims Huobi founder Li Lin told him in 2025 that Xu had reported him to Chinese authorities. Xu has denied that claim.

“Both OKX and Binance are regulated by multiple regulators. As the UBO of a regulated company, publicly offering a $1 billion bet is hardly professional conduct,” Xu responded to CZ’s invitation.

The OKX executive also called on the attention of Binance’s regulators to CZ’s offer, questioning whether Changpeng Zhao’s Binance stake has been legally separated with his ex-wife.

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“Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have already shown what proper asset separation looks like in a divorce,” he added.

Yi He, the co-CEO of Binance, is the long-term life partner (romantic and business) and the mother of three of CZ’s children. Reportedly, CZ has five kids total, two from his previous marriage.

They met in 2014 while working at the crypto exchange OKCoin (she recruited him), and became a couple around that time, and co-founded Binance together in 2017.

Amid the ongoing talks between CZ and Star Xu, Yi He has come to her own defense, highlighting her role as the second largest shareholder and Co-CEO of Binance.

“I’m not some delicate wife literature female protagonist; I’m the second largest shareholder and Co-CEO of Binance who continues to fully suppress competitors even after CZ stepped down,” she articulated.

The post Binance’s CZ Offers OKX Founder $1 Billion Bet Over Divorce Dispute appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Bitcoin Wall Street Love Affair: Honeymoon Phase Cooling Down, But Affection

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🔥

Bitcoin is sitting at 43% below its October peak, and yet Wall Street hasn’t blinked. The institutional product machine is still running at full speed. What happens next to the price may surprise both bulls and the newly converted suits.

Morgan Stanley has rolled out its first dedicated Bitcoin fund, the latest in a string of Wall Street moves that signal a structural, long-term commitment to the asset class regardless of short-term volatility. The launch arrives as Bloomberg analysts note the “speculative heat” has clearly exited the market, the 40% drawdown from peak levels is evidence enough.

But product launches don’t follow price; they follow conviction. Macro headwinds still remain real, with global trade disruption from the Iran conflict weighing on risk assets broadly. Though the divergence between institutional product activity and spot price weakness is the story we shouldn’t ignore.

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Discover: The best pre-launch token sales

Can Wall Street Pump Bitcoin Price to $80K?

Bitcoin is consolidating near the $71,000 level following a sharp multi-month correction. Volume has thinned during this drawdown phase, a pattern consistent with distribution giving way to accumulation. Technical readings suggest momentum is compressed, with the 200-day moving average acting as a line in for medium-term trend direction.

The $68,500–$70,000 band represents the key near-term support cluster. A clean hold there keeps the recovery thesis intact. Resistance sits in the $76,000–$78,000 range; a weekly close above that level would shift the technical picture meaningfully.

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Bitcoin is sitting at 43% below its peak, and yet Wall Street hasn't blinked. The institutional machine is still running at full speed.
BTC USD, Tradingview

Institutional, especially from Wall Street, Bitcoin buying pressure from the new Morgan Stanley fund flows, absorbs sell-side supply, forcing the price to grind back toward $80,000–$85,000 over four to six weeks.

However, a weekly close below $67,000 invalidates the recovery structure and opens a retest of the $60,000 psychological level.

The data points to patience being required here. Institutional conviction is building the floor; it isn’t yet building the ceiling.

Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with

Bitcoin Hyper: It’s Bitcoin, But Hyper

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When Bitcoin itself trades sideways, capital historically rotates toward higher-beta opportunities in the Bitcoin ecosystem, not away from Bitcoin entirely, but toward projects that amplify its thesis. That’s the window presale investors are currently watching.

Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioning directly inside that rotation. It’s the first Bitcoin Layer 2 integrating the Solana Virtual Machine, meaning developers get Bitcoin’s security and trust layer combined with sub-second smart contract execution that, by design, targets performance exceeding Solana’s own throughput.

The project addresses Bitcoin’s three structural constraints simultaneously: slow transactions, elevated fees, and the absence of native programmability.

The numbers are concrete. Currently, presale price stands at $0.0136, with approaching $33 million raised to date. Staking is live with a high 36% APY also available to early participants. The presale has already crossed significant milestones, suggesting genuine demand rather than manufactured momentum.

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Traders looking for asymmetric exposure while BTC consolidates can research Bitcoin Hyper here.

The post Bitcoin Wall Street Love Affair: Honeymoon Phase Cooling Down, But Affection appeared first on Cryptonews.

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$5 million political donation by BitMEX’s Delo lands amid U.K. crypto crackdown

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$5 million political donation by BitMEX’s Delo lands amid U.K. crypto crackdown

Ben Delo, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, said he donated 4 million pounds ($5.1 million) to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, in an opinion piece for The Telegraph Wednesday.

Delo wrote that the contribution was made “since the start of this year” to help build Reform UK into “a genuine alternative party of government.”

The op-ed does not specify whether the donation was made in fiat currency or cryptocurrency, though he also expressed support for a proposed U.K. government moratorium on political donations made in cryptoassets, citing regulatory complexity.

Guidance from the U.K. Electoral Commission, last updated April 7, 2026, states that crypto donations are currently not prohibited under electoral law, but are treated as non-monetary donations and must be valued in pounds at the time of receipt. Parties must also verify donor identity, particularly for contributions above 500 pounds.

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The Commission also noted government plans to introduce a moratorium on crypto donations, potentially applying retrospectively to contributions received from March 25, 2026, though no legal changes have yet taken effect.

Late last month, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government announced an immediate moratorium on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, citing concerns that digital assets could be used to obfuscate the origin and motivation behind donations in British politics.

The move placed crypto at the centre of a broader crackdown on foreign interference, signaling that regulators view digital payments as a democratic risk rather than a financial one.

Electoral Commission data does not reveal any contributions listed under Delo or BitMEX.

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Delo did not respond to a CoinDesk request for further information.

Farage acknowledged the support on X, writing that “brave people like Ben Delo” were becoming “even more determined” to back Reform UK.

In December, British multi-billionaire Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based entrepreneur who has invested in stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, made a donation of 9 million pounds to Reform.

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Binance Rolls out Prediction Markets for App Using Predict.fun

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Cryptocurrency Exchange, Applications, Binance, Prediction Markets

Binance Wallet has integrated prediction market features into its app, saying it will cover all trading and settlement transaction fees for users as it make a play for a piece of the $20 billion market.

In a Thursday notice, Binance said it will launch probability-based markets as a feature on the company’s app through an integration with third-party platforms, starting with Predict.fun. According to the crypto exchange, the integration will be “gasless,” with the company sponsoring fees for trades and settlements on the BNB Smart Chain.

Cryptocurrency Exchange, Applications, Binance, Prediction Markets
Source: Binance

Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket offer users the chance to take a position on the outcome of events in a variety of topics, including politics and sports. The latter has put those platforms in the sights of multiple US state authorities who have filed lawsuits for allegedly violating state gaming laws by offering sports bets.

Binance’s integration is the latest example of a crypto platform moving deeper into prediction markets despite some of the more controversial bets on the platforms. Polymarket, for example, has offered users contracts on events related to US-Israeli military actions against Iran.

Related: DOJ and CFTC seek halt to Arizona action against Kalshi

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According to data from TRM Labs, the monthly transaction volume across prediction markets platforms reached $20 billion in January — a twenty-fold increase from levels seen in early 2025.

Kalshi co-founder denies Trump son is influencing US regulators

While state-level gaming authorities pursue the platforms in court, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has claimed it has “exclusive jurisdiction” to oversee prediction markets. Amid challenges by federal regulators to state actions, ties between some of the companies and the current US administration have stoked concerns among industry leaders and lawmakers about conflicts of interest.

In an Axios interview released on Thursday, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and co-founder Luana Lopes Lara addressed questions about conflicts due to hiring US President Donald Trump’s son as a strategic adviser shortly before his father took office. 

“We have never asked for any favors […] and he has never done anything, any regulatory ask, nothing like that,” said Lara, referring to Donald Trump Jr. using his connections to the US government.

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Magazine: Anger grows over Polymarket bets on Iran war: ‘Dystopian death market’