The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed new rules on Tuesday to oversee stablecoins issued through the banking system under the GENIUS Act. The FDIC board of directors voted to advance the proposal, which sets parameters for how stablecoins may be issued and managed by regulated depository institutions.

The proposal represents the FDIC’s formal regulatory framework for stablecoin operations within the traditional banking sector. Details on specific requirements and implementation timelines were included in the Tuesday statement.

Sources: FDIC

This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.

Polymarket has acquired Brahma, a DeFi infrastructure provider, to strengthen its platform’s trading performance and underlying infrastructure. The acquisition was announced on April 8, 2026, and aims to bolster Polymarket’s capabilities in the decentralized finance ecosystem.

Brahma’s integration into Polymarket is expected to enhance the prediction market platform’s technical infrastructure and user experience. The deal represents continued consolidation in the DeFi sector as platforms seek to improve their competitive positioning.

Source: Polymarket

This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.

Iran will collect crypto payments as transit fees from oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz during the two‑week ceasefire with the U.S., an industry official told FT.

Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said that crypto-denominated tolls will be charged for fully loaded vessels as the nation seeks to “monitor what goes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks aren’t used for transferring weapons.”

Hosseini’s comments signal Tehran’s willingness to use cryptocurrency for toll payments, highlighting the expanding real‑world use cases of digital assets in high-stakes geopolitical developments.

This isn’t new — nations at odds with the U.S. or its allies have long turned to crypto as a way to bypass traditional banking channels that leave a paper trail. Russia has indeed used cryptocurrency as part of broader efforts to evade Western sanctions, and in Iran’s case, Tehran is exploring digital payments as it looks to unlock funds for rebuilding the war-destroyed infrastructure.

The proposed framework will require tankers to notify cargo details to Iranian authorities via email, and the toll will reportedly be calculated at $1 per barrel of oil. Authorities will then instruct on how to settle the fee in digital assets, with officials citing bitcoin as a potential payment method.

Hosseini suggested that empty tankers would transit without charge, but fully laden vessels must comply with the reporting and crypto payment process before being cleared for passage.

“Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in Bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,” he said.

The comments also indicated Tehran may direct traffic along the northern route of the Strait close to its coastline, a move that could raise questions about whether Western and Gulf‑linked shipping firms are prepared to navigate the risky Iranian waters.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a study Wednesday examining stablecoin yield and its impact on deposit flight and bank lending. The report finds that eliminating stablecoin yield would increase bank lending by just 0.02%—approximately $2.1 billion—while resulting in a net welfare loss to consumers. The findings directly contradict concerns from some Senate Banking lawmakers who had pressed the White House to release the report.

The report concludes that deposit flight concerns related to stablecoin yield are “quantitatively small,” noting that most stablecoin reserves remain within the banking system with only a limited share removed from lending activity. The executive summary states: “a yield prohibition would do very little to protect bank lending, while forgoing the consumer benefits of competitive returns on stablecoin holdings.”

Sources: White House

This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.

Standard Chartered PLC is reportedly seeking to fully acquire Zodia Custody Ltd. to merge it with one of its digital asset divisions, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

The ‘restructuring’ plan, which could come as soon as this month, contemplates merging Zodia’s crypto custody business into one of the investment bank’s divisions that provides similar services, the sources told Bloomberg.

The sources also said Standard Chartered is considering allowing Zodia Custody to continue operating as a separate software-as-a-service (SAAS) business for cryptocurrency custody.

The people close to the negotiations, according to Bloomberg, did not clarify whether Standard Chartered has approached Zodia Custody’s minority shareholders, which include Northern Trust Corp., Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, National Australia Bank Ltd. and SBI Holdings Inc.

Emirates NBD and Northern Trust declined to comment, while SBI Holdings and NAB did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Bloomberg wrote.

Standard Chartered told CoinDesk it would not comment on the news of the potential takeover. Zodia did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Standard Chartered has expanded its digital asset footprint in recent years. The bank launched its own digital asset custody services out of Luxembourg in January last year and introduced crypto trading for institutional clients last summer, becoming one of the first global banks to offer spot bitcoin and ether trading.

Banks have ramped up their digital asset activities as regulatory clarity improves in key regions such as the U.S. and Europe. Crypto custody in particular has become a competitive battleground, with firms including State Street, BNY Mellon and Morgan Stanley expanding their presence, with Morgan Stanley recently naming Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians for a proposed bitcoin ETF.

Zodia, which was aimed at financial institutions and began custodianship of emeralds in June 2025, raised $18.5 million in a Series A funding round in July of last year to expand and develop its stablecoin payment services.

The firm was originally established in 2020 as a joint venture between Standard Chartered and Northern Trust and has since raised external capital multiple times. Zodia Custody employs around 150 people across seven offices in London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Singapore, the UAE, Sydney and Hong Kong.

Crypto markets rallied sharply on Wednesday as a surprise two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran sent Bitcoin to its highest level since mid-March.

Bitcoin is changing hands at $71,638, up 4.3% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Ethereum climbed 6% to $2,220, while the total crypto market capitalization rose nearly 4% to $2.51 trillion.

Ceasefire Sparks Short Squeeze

The rally kicked off on Tuesday evening after President Trump announced a conditional two-week ceasefire with Iran, agreeing to suspend military operations for two weeks pending further negotiations. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif brokered the deal, with formal peace talks scheduled to begin Friday in Islamabad.

CoinGlass data showed approximately $654 million in crypto futures positions were liquidated over 24 hours, with bearish short bets accounting for roughly $470 million of the total.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index recovered to 17, up from a low of 9 earlier in the week, but it remains deep in “extreme fear” territory.

Oil markets moved sharply in the opposite direction. WTI crude dropped to roughly $94 per barrel from Tuesday’s highs above $112, as the ceasefire raised hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to tanker traffic.

Altcoins Outperform

Altcoins broadly outpaced Bitcoin on the day. Zcash (ZEC) led the charge, surging 23% to $332.

AI-sector tokens also posted strong gains: Render climbed 8% to $2.04, Bittensor’s TAO rose 7% to $332, and NEAR Protocol gained 8% to $1.34. Internet Computer climbed 9% to $2.50.

Among large caps, Avalanche gained 6.5% to $9.19, Sui rose 6% to $0.92, Solana added 5% to $84, and XRP gained 4% to $1.35.

Morgan Stanley Launches Bitcoin ETF

Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF began trading on NYSE Arca on Wednesday under the ticker MSBT, making the bank the first major U.S. institution to issue a spot Bitcoin ETF under its own name.

The fund carries a 0.14% annual fee, undercutting BlackRock’s IBIT at 0.25% and every other spot Bitcoin ETF currently on the market. Coinbase provides BTC custody, while BNY Mellon handles cash custody and administration.

The debut comes on the heels of strong demand for existing ETFs.SoSoValue data showed U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $471 million in net inflows on April 6, the largest single-day intake since late February. Spot Ethereum ETFs attracted $120 million, reversing prior outflows.

Looking Ahead

Despite the sharp bounce, Bitcoin remains trapped in a multi-month range, trading between support at $62,000 and resistance at $75,000 since early February, a range defined largely by the geopolitical overhang from the Iran conflict.

Whether the rally continues depends on the ceasefire’s durability. Iran confirmed the two-week pause but cautioned that reopening the Strait of Hormuz faces “technical limitations” and requires coordination with its military. The country’s Supreme National Security Council stressed the agreement does not imply an end to the broader conflict.

Bitcoin BTC$71,689.42 has pulled above $70,000 on news of the Iran ceasefire, but the rally is, for now, fairly cautious.

There may be good reasons for that.

One of the more reliable signals for gauging where bitcoin may be headed comes from tracking margin long positions on Bitfinex. These positions, which reflect bullish bets funded with borrowed capital, still remain elevated at 80,057 BTC, around the highest level in more than two years, according to TradingView data.

The data suggests these long positions are not being unwound despite the price being more than 15% higher since bottoming at $60,000 two months ago. This suggests that, in aggregate, market participants may not view the recent rally as sufficient confirmation that risks have fully subsided.

Historically, Bitfinex margin long positions have functioned as a contrarian indicator. They tend to build during periods of market stress and are reduced as prices rise. For example, long positions were sharply reduced near local bottoms during the yen carry trade unwind in August 2024, when bitcoin fell to $49,000, and again in April 2025 amid tariff tensions under President Trump, when bitcoin dropped to $76,000.

Muted U.S. institutional demand

At the same time, the Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index is fluctuating between a premium and a discount, pointing to a lack of consistent buying pressure from U.S. investors.

The index, which tracks the price difference between bitcoin on Coinbase and the broader global market, is often used as a proxy for institutional demand.
Its indecisive positioning suggests that U.S. flows are not strongly supporting the rally, raising questions about the move’s sustainability.

Muted rally for crypto stocks

Underscoring the caution, crypto-related stocks are all firmly in the green on Wednesday, but the gains are rather modest given how far they’ve been punished previously.

Among the names: Coinbase (COIN) is up 1.5%, Circle (CRCL) 0.6%, Galaxy Digital (GLXY) 0.6% and Strategy (MSTR) 3%.

Broader risk markets are showing no such caution: the Nasdaq is higher by 2.5% and S&P 500 by 2%.