Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is working with asset manager Franklin Templeton to expand the use of tokenized financial products for institutional investors.

The companies said Tuesday they will develop a range of blockchain-based investment offerings, including tokenized yield products, tokenized equities and custody services tied to digital assets.

The move comes as large financial firms explore testing tokenized versions of conventional assets. BlackRock, Fidelity and JPMorgan have all expanded blockchain-related financial products over the past two years, particularly tokenized Treasuries and money market funds.

Tokenization refers to representing traditional financial assets such as stocks, bonds or money market funds on blockchain networks, where they can be traded and settled digitally. Supporters argue the approach can reduce settlement times, expand market access and allow assets to move more easily between financial platforms.

The collaboration joins two firms that have taken different routes into tokenized finance. Franklin Templeton has spent years building blockchain-based investment products. Payward has focused on crypto trading infrastructure through Kraken and its xStocks tokenized equities platform, which the company says has processed more than $30 billion in trading volume since starting up in 2025.

The firms plan to explore actively managed tokenized investment products that could trade onchain and become available to institutional investors and, in some jurisdictions, retail Kraken users.

Kraken also plans to integrate BENJI, Franklin Templeton’s suite of tokenized money market funds, into its platform. The funds could serve as collateral or cash management tools for institutional trading clients seeking blockchain-based alternatives to traditional treasury operations.

Analysts view tokenized Treasury funds as one of the fastest-growing sectors in digital assets because they offer yields tied to government securities while operating on blockchain rails. In practice, that can allow institutions to move collateral around the clock instead of waiting for banking hours or multiday settlement periods.

Read more: Kraken parent Payward seeks fresh funding at $20 billion valuation ahead of planned IPO

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said it raised $120 million in fresh funding from investors including Nasdaq Ventures and Deutsche Bank as financial institutions ramp up spending on crypto compliance and security infrastructure.

The fundraising round, led by growth equity firm One Peak, values the London-based company at $610 million, according to a Tuesday press release. The British Business Bank also participated.

The investment comes as crypto markets face a wave of security breaches and exploits that have exposed weaknesses in both decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and centralized platforms. Hackers have stolen nearly $3 billion in crypto assets since the beginning of 2025 through smart contract exploits, phishing attacks and cross-chain bridge breaches, and regulators are pushing exchanges and banks to tighten anti-money laundering controls.

As a result, blockchain analytics firms have become critical infrastructure providers for institutions entering the digital asset industry. Elliptic’s software tracks crypto transactions across dozens of blockchains and flags wallets linked to sanctions, fraud, ransomware or illicit finance.

Banks, exchanges and government agencies use these tools to monitor transactions and comply with financial crime rules. The company said two-thirds of global crypto trading volume flows through exchanges that already use its services.

Demand for those systems has accelerated alongside the growth of stablecoins and tokenized assets, which are increasingly moving into mainstream finance. Stablecoins accounted for roughly $33 trillion in transactions last year, according to the company.

Large financial firms are also exploring tokenized securities and blockchain-based settlement systems, raising the stakes for compliance providers that can monitor activity across public blockchains in real time. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are making attacks cheaper and faster, forcing a rethink of how crypto systems stay secure.

Elliptic said the new funding will be used to expand its AI-driven monitoring and risk analysis tools as institutional adoption of digital assets grows.

“One of the things that we will be accelerating with the funding is our agentic product roadmap,” CEO Simone Maini told CoinDesk. “What that means is building and launching agents that sit on top of Elliptic’s dataset to be able to automate a lot of what is otherwise highly manual, repetitive tasks performed by compliance analysts.

“That means those that that those precious resources can be redeployed to deep diving and investigating financial crime where they need to,” she said.

France’s central bank deputy governor called Tuesday for the “mobilization of all relevant European players, public and private,” to develop tokenized money.

Beau’s comments are in stark contrast with European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde’s recent speech in which she said that “the case for promoting euro-denominated stablecoins is far weaker than it appears.”

While Lagarde described the $310 billion privately-issued stablecoin market, currently dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, as instruments that “risk amplifying the very vulnerabilities we are trying to overcome,” Beau told CoinDesk that private sector solutions are necessary for the region’s economic development.

The different views, however, reveal a growing concern in Europe over the “digital dollarization.” With a stablecoin sector projected to rise to the trillions of dollars in the coming years, a lack of euro-pegged currencies could force European capital into dollar-backed assets, potentially eroding the euro’s global influence and monetary sovereignty.

“To ensure a sound development of tokenized finance in Europe, its payment and settlement asset pillar should be in euro and build on the solid foundation of our current two-tier monetary system,” Beau said in an interview with CoinDesk.

The central banker outlined a “triple objective” for the region, which requires the European Union (EU) to adapt central bank money services, develop “pan-European solutions in tokenized private money issued by regulated financial institutions,” and strengthen the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

Beau’s stance aligns with Qivalis

Beau’s stance aligns with Qivalis, a group of 12 major European banks, including ING, BBVA, and BNP Paribas, which plans to launch a private digital euro later this year.

Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell recently told CoinDesk that without a liquid onchain euro, “the only alternative is the U.S. dollar,” which he described as a “risk to Europe’s financial and digital sovereignty.”

Lagarde agrees with the need for digital asset alternatives to dollar-pegged stablecoins, warning that USDT and USDC pose “financial stability risks” for Europe and could “transmit stress to the underlying asset markets during periods of turmoil.”

However, while Beau advocates for immediate private-sector mobilization to capture market share, Lagarde favors a central bank digital euro, which in previous statements she suggested would be ready by 2029.

Beau noted that the Eurosystem is already moving to provide native settlement options. “A first deliverable will become available by the end of this year, with the opening of our wholesale central bank money service in tokenized form,” he said, referencing projects such as Pontes.

The opposing views between Lagarde and Beau come as U.S. dollar-pegged tokens account for 98% of the stablecoin market.

While Lagarde argues that stablecoins, “do not confer the unconditional finality that central money does,” Beau maintains that public and private efforts “should complement and support each other” to ensure the euro remains a viable settlement instrument in an increasingly tokenized global economy.

Shopping giant eBay has rejected video game retailer GameStop’s ambitious $56 billion takeover offer, leaving the latter to decide whether it wants to walk away, raise the bid or take the fight directly to shareholders.

EBay’s board called the half-cash, half-stock offer “neither credible nor attractive” on Tuesday, per Reuters, citing doubts around financing and arguing the company is better positioned under its current management. The rejection was widely expected. EBay has traded well below GameStop’s $125-per-share bid since the offer surfaced, a sign investors were not convinced the deal could close.

That puts GameStop’s bitcoin position back in the conversation, as CoinDesk reported earlier this month.

The cultish firm holds roughly $368 million worth of bitcoin exposure via a covered-call options strategy. It shifted nearly all of its 4,709 BTC to institutional brokerage Coinbase Prime, as a filing showed in March, turning the position into a receivable rather than directly held bitcoin.

GameStop’s offer was built around $9.4 billion of cash and liquid investments, plus up to $20 billion in debt financing from TD Bank. But that financing is contingent on the combined company maintaining an investment-grade rating, and Moody’s has already warned the deal would be credit negative for eBay. Raising the offer or going hostile would likely make the financing math more challenging.

Cohen has previously framed the eBay deal as “way more compelling than bitcoin,” leaving open the question of whether GameStop’s BTC position could be unwound if more cash is needed.

Selling it would not fund the deal by itself, but it is one of the few discretionary assets GameStop can point to as it tries to convince investors the bid is real.

The market remains skeptical, however. EBay shares slipped about 1% to $107 before the bell Tuesday, still far below the offer price, while GameStop fell 4%.

The deal previously drew pushback from parts of GameStop’s own investor base.

Michael Burry, the investor made famous by The Big Short, sold his stake after the bid and warned that buying eBay could saddle GameStop with debt and dilute shareholders.

Key takeaways

• Cardano (ADA) faces losses below $0.2800 after Sunday’s 4% recovery was capped by the 100-day EMA.
• Negative funding rates and a shift in futures market sentiment signal a bearish outlook.

Cardano futures market turns bearish as sentiment shifts

ADA is dpwn 2% in the last 24 hours and could record further losses in the near term. Cardano’s futures market sentiment is shifting to a bearish stance amid a pullback in the spot price this week. 

According to CoinGlass data, the ADA futures Open Interest (OI) rose by over 4% in 24 hours, reaching $596.40 million, indicating a buildup of positions as traders prepare for a potential sharp move.

However, the negative funding rate of -0.0018% suggests that fewer traders are willing to take long positions on ADA, pointing to a bearish outlook. 

Additionally, the long-to-short ratio stands at 0.7212, showing that active short positions significantly outnumber long positions, further reinforcing the bearish sentiment.

Technical outlook: ADA faces resistance at the 100-day EMA

The ADA/USD 4-hour chart remains bearish and efficient. At the time of writing, Cardano is trading around $0.2743, maintaining a capped tone below the 100-day EMA at $0.2870. 

While ADA is holding above the 50-day EMA at $0.2603, the technical structure remains cautious, suggesting that the broader bearish trend could continue if support fails to hold.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is inching closer to the signal line, with the positive histogram bars contracting. Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has slipped to 59, indicating that bullish momentum is weakening after an overextended move.

If the rally resumes, immediate resistance is seen at the 100-day EMA near $0.2870, with the longer-term 200-day EMA around $0.3696 acting as the next significant barrier.

However, if the bearish trend persists, the 50-day EMA at $0.2603 offers the first notable layer of support.

A daily candle close below this level could signify that the latest rebound is fading and the broader bearish bias is reasserting itself.

Wells Fargo reported larger positions in Ether exchange-traded funds in the first quarter while reshuffling its Bitcoin ETF holdings across several products, according to its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The bank said it raised its holdings in Ether (ETH) ETFs, including BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) and the Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW), according to its latest Form 13F filing released on Monday.

ETHA rose 63.5% from about 672,600 shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 1.1 million shares in Q1 2026, while ETHW increased by 37% from about 186,800 to more than 257,000 shares, showing a broad-based increase across Ether-linked funds.

Bitcoin (BTC) ETF exposure, by contrast, showed a more mixed pattern: positions in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) were slightly reduced, while Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust (BITB) and Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) holdings increased by roughly 24% and 41%, respectively.

The filing suggests Wells Fargo reported larger Ether ETF positions at quarter-end, even as its Bitcoin ETF exposure was more mixed.

Accumulation amid ETH price dip

Wells Fargo’s Ether ETF accumulation came during a period of weakening spot prices. According to CoinGlass data, Ethereum posted two consecutive quarterly declines, falling around 28% in Q4 2025 and 29% in Q1 2026.

Over the same period, spot Ether ETFs saw sustained outflows, totaling roughly $769 million across three straight months of withdrawals.

Ethereum quarterly price performance data, 2025–2026. Source: CoinGlass

Despite the broader downturn, Wells Fargo held around $21.5 million in Ether ETFs in Q1 2026, with ETHA as the largest position at $17.6 million.

Bitcoin dominates holdings, equity rotations favor Strategy over Galaxy

Bitcoin ETFs remain the dominant crypto ETF exposure in Wells Fargo’s portfolio, with IBIT making up the bulk of the exposure at roughly $250 million.

In equities, Wells Fargo made a more pronounced shift in crypto-linked holdings. The bank significantly reduced its stake in Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital (GLXY), cutting its position from about 2.5 million shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 78,600 shares in Q1 2026, a decline of nearly 97% and an estimated $54.7 million reduction in exposure.

Related: Galaxy Digital posts $216M Q1 loss as crypto market slides 20%

On the other hand, Wells Fargo significantly increased exposure to Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder.

The bank raised its stake from about 322,700 shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 726,000 shares in Q1 2026, a gain of around 403,000 shares, or 125%, and an estimated $41.6 million increase in exposure.

Magazine: Strategy reveals why they would sell BTC, Trump Media posts loss: Hodler’s Digest, May 3 – 9

U.S. inflation data came in hotter than expected on Wednesday, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates steady at 350-375bps not only at its June 17 meeting, but also likely through the end of the year.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) year-over-year rose 3.8% in April, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists’ forecasts had been for a rise of 3.7% following March’s 3.3% increase.

On a month-over-month basis, CPI rose 0.6%, above expectations of 0.3% and up from March’s 0.2%.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, rose 0.4% in April versus forecasts of 0.2% and March’s 0.3%. Year-over-year core CPI was higher by 2.8% versus forecasts of 2.7% and March’s 2.6%.

Under pressure this morning, bitcoin BTC$80,860.65 traded at $80,700 following the report, down 1.2% over the past 24 hours.

U.S. stock index futures were down across the board, and the 10-year treasury yield came in higher at 4.44%. WTI crude oil is posing a threat to the markets, and is higher by 3% on the day at $101.

Ahead of the CPI data, markets were pricing in a 98% probability that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged at its March meeting, according to the CME Fed Watch tool.

Kevin Warsh is set to be confirmed as the next Federal Reserve Chair this week, as he is expected to take over from Jerome Powell on May 15.