News linked to this event type.
According to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, in response to growing discussions in Hong Kong about “Middle Eastern capital flowing into the city,” Mr. Chan Ho-lam, Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong SAR Government, stated that there has indeed been an increase in client inquiries regarding how to transfer funds to Hong Kong or open accounts here. He emphasized that exchanges between Hong Kong and the Middle East are two-way: a licensed virtual insurance company based in Hong Kong has already expanded its operations into Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; Hong Kong’s tokenized funds have been listed on Middle Eastern wealth management platforms; and Asian investors can purchase Islamic bond ETFs in Hong Kong—providing Middle Eastern investors with a familiar and trusted market. Mr. Chan stressed that the Hong Kong government is actively promoting fintech and digital assets. It is currently formulating legislative proposals for licensing regimes covering digital asset trading and custody services, aiming to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework and position Hong Kong as a global hub for digital asset innovation.
Odaily News: Sonic Labs co-founder and Flying Tulip founder Andre Cronje posted on platform X, stating that his team is continuing to investigate the L0/rsETH incident. Preliminary reports indicate that approximately $200 million worth of rsETH was stolen, possibly due to a private key leak or configuration error. The related assets were subsequently deposited into Aave as collateral to borrow ETH (due to insufficient rsETH liquidity).Andre Cronje pointed out that the affected positions are technically still overcollateralized. However, if bad debt occurs, Aave's token mechanism and Safety Module will serve as the first line of defense to absorb the risk. Nevertheless, Aave has no mechanism to subsidize user losses, as doing so could trigger a bank run. Currently, Aave holds approximately $7 billion in ETH with an outstanding borrowing amount of around $100 million, so the overall impact of this incident is limited. Furthermore, prioritizing user liquidity, Flying Tulip has withdrawn all its ETH from Aave to its fund management wrapper contract. This action was taken because Aave's available liquidity had fallen below its set minimum threshold.
Odaily News The Ethereum restaking protocol Kelp has officially confirmed suspicious cross-chain activity involving rsETH. It has currently paused the rsETH contracts on the mainnet and multiple L2s and launched an investigation into the attack. It is also collaborating with LayerZero, Unichain, as well as audit firms and security experts to conduct a root cause analysis (RCA). A post-mortem report will be released subsequently.
Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital, stated that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list—the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List—has historically included 518 Bitcoin addresses, which collectively received 249,814 BTC and sent 239,708 BTC, leaving a current net balance of approximately 9,306 BTC—valued at roughly $707 million at current market prices. Thorn also noted that OFAC sanctions represent only one of several U.S. tools for intercepting illicit assets, and the CLARITY Act would further expand the Treasury Department’s related authorities.
Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng responded on X to ZachXBT, thanking him for reporting the matter to Binance and confirming that the platform is currently investigating it. Binance stated it remains committed to fulfilling its responsibilities and investigating all forms of market misconduct. Earlier, on-chain investigator ZachXBT posted that the abnormal price movements of the RAVE token originated from Binance, Bitget, and Gate exchanges, and called on all three platforms to take action. He also offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the identification of those involved.
Regarding the KelpDAO hack, Aave tweeted that the rsETH markets on Aave V3 and Aave V4 have been frozen. Aave stated that its contracts were not exploited and that this incident is related to the exploit of Kelp DAO’s rsETH cross-chain bridge. The freeze will prevent new rsETH deposits and rsETH-backed lending. Aave is currently reviewing lending activity involving rsETH on the platform following the exploit and has indicated that, should the protocol accumulate bad debt as a result, it will explore options to cover the deficit. Earlier reports indicated that Kelp DAO’s cross-chain bridge was hacked, resulting in the theft of approximately $292 million worth of rsETH, exposing Aave V3 to bad debt risk.
According to CoinDesk, Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-based cross-chain bridge was attacked, with the attacker withdrawing 116,500 rsETH—worth approximately $292 million at current prices, or roughly 18% of its circulating supply. This incident has become the largest DeFi attack of 2026 to date. In response, Aave, SparkLend, and Fluid have frozen rsETH-related markets, and Lido Finance has suspended new deposits into its earnETH product. Kelp DAO stated it is jointly investigating the incident with LayerZero, auditing firms, and external security experts.
According to Cointelegraph, Poland’s parliament failed again on Friday to override President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the cryptocurrency regulation bill, with 243 votes against and 191 in favor—falling short of the required 263 votes. The bill aims to align Poland with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework; however, Poland remains the only EU member state yet to implement MiCA. The president rejected the bill citing excessive regulation, insufficient transparency, and undue burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while the finance minister warned that regulatory inaction would turn the market into a “haven for fraudsters.” Additionally, Poland’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Zonda, has become embroiled in political controversy: Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused it of links to Russian criminal networks. Zonda’s CEO denied the allegations and stated the company would pursue legal action.
According to Sing Tao Daily, two mainland Chinese men holding Two-way Permits—Wang Bochuan (27 years old, business consultant) and Xu Zilan (24 years old, salesperson)—were charged with raping a woman on November 4, 2025, at Regal Hotel Mong Kok (23 Tai Nan Street). Both defendants faced one count of rape and have been in custody since mid-November 2025—over five months. The case was mentioned today (April 18) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, where the prosecution’s application to withdraw the charges was granted. One defendant applied for costs of the proceedings; the prosecution opposed the application, stating that both defendants had admitted to having sexual intercourse with the complainant and only agreed to provide their mobile phone passwords to police for investigation in the month following their charge. Based on this, the prosecution sought further legal advice before deciding to withdraw the charges. The judge ruled that the defendant had not incriminated himself and approved the application for costs. It has been confirmed that the two individuals were formerly BD staff at ME (formerly MetaEra).
According to CoinDesk, Liz Truss—former UK Prime Minister and the shortest-serving in British history—said in an interview that the UK economy is on a “very negative trajectory,” with high taxation, excessive regulation, and energy costs making entrepreneurship “a risk rarely worth the reward.” She attributed inflation and wealth inequality to “currency devaluation” and noted that discussions about monetary policy within government have become “taboo”—a phenomenon she described as “quite alarming.” Truss said she is “very interested” in Bitcoin, viewing it as a vital tool for countering currency devaluation and resisting centralized financial control. She revealed she first encountered Bitcoin during her tenure as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She is now actively building CPAC UK and plans to host a three-day conference bringing together entrepreneurs and activists to advance a movement for “sovereignty and freedom,” declaring outright: “There are only two options—either sink or radically transform.”
Odaily Seer Channel monitoring shows that Polymarket has launched a new market: "Anthropic, developer of Claude, next funding round deadline." The current probability of completion before the end of June is temporarily quoted at 22%; the probability before the end of December is temporarily quoted at 81%.The contract rules for this event are: If the specified company publicly and formally announces the completion of its next funding round before the specified date (Eastern Time), the market will be settled as "Yes." Otherwise, the market will be settled as "No." Eligible announcements must clearly confirm the completion of the new funding round, which can be through official announcements from the specified company (e.g., press release) or its investors, regulatory filings, or consensus from credible media reports. Informal announcements, statements from anonymous sources, or leaks are not eligible. If the specified company is unable to complete a new funding round due to acquisition, merger, or absorption by another entity, the market will be settled as "No." The primary settlement sources for this market will be official announcements from the specified company and official company documents, such as SEC filings; however, credible consensus reporting may also be used.Odaily Seer Channel continues to monitor prediction markets, seeing changes before they are priced in.
According to Decrypt, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, formally wrote a letter this week to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, accusing him of deliberately misleading Congress during a February 12 congressional hearing regarding the agency’s declining enforcement actions. The SEC’s latest data shows that it initiated only 456 new enforcement actions in fiscal year 2025—of which just 256 were filed under the Trump administration—far below the past decade’s annual average of 765. Warren stated that the sharp decline in enforcement actions, significant staff reductions, and sudden leadership changes have severely undermined public confidence in the SEC’s willingness and ability to protect investors.
Odaily News: The Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) announced the acquisition of the Digital Energy Council, marking its first expansion into the energy policy sector.The Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) is a global industry advocacy organization with members including numerous crypto and fintech companies. It primarily promotes digital asset regulation, technological innovation, and policy communication, dedicated to building bridges between governments and the industry. Previously, the organization has played a significant role in U.S. policy lobbying.The Digital Energy Council focuses on energy issues related to the digital economy, particularly the impact of crypto mining, data centers, and high-performance computing (HPC) on power systems, with a core focus on energy supply, grid stability, and national security.Following this integration, this energy division will focus on advancing policy directions, including energy development, grid resilience, U.S. competitiveness, and critical infrastructure security.
According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) submitted a proposed rule change (File No. SR-NYSE-2026-17) to the SEC on April 9, 2026, seeking to introduce Rule 7.50 and amend related provisions to permit the trading of eligible securities in tokenized form on the exchange. The proposal builds upon the Depository Trust Company’s (DTC) three-year tokenization pilot program and follows the framework of Nasdaq’s similar rules, which have already received SEC approval. Under the proposal, tokenized securities must share the same CUSIP number, ticker symbol, and shareholder rights as their traditional counterparts to be traded on equal footing and at the same priority level within the same order book. Initially, the rule will apply only to constituents of the Russell 1000 Index and ETFs tracking major indices; the settlement cycle will remain T+1, and existing regulatory requirements will apply equally to tokenized securities.
Odaily News: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that a cryptocurrency company linked to "Russian mafia and intelligence agencies" is funding political opponents and influencing domestic crypto regulatory legislation. During a parliamentary vote on Friday, Tusk pointed out that some Polish politicians are obstructing crypto regulatory legislation to serve a company named Zondacrypto, which is alleged to provide "financial support" to political figures and has ties to Russia.Tusk further claimed that the company sponsored the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) event held in Poland last year, during which former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem publicly supported President Karol Nawrocki's campaign.Tusk bluntly stated that the company's funding sources not only involve "funds related to the Russian mafia (Bratva)" but may also be connected to Russian intelligence agencies.Meanwhile, President Nawrocki won the election last June, with his camp receiving support from former U.S. President Donald Trump. The President's Office responded that it is not opposed to crypto regulation itself but opposes the "flawed regulatory model" proposed by the government.This controversy arises amidst the political tug-of-war in Poland over the crypto regulatory bill. The bill aims to align with the EU's MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) framework. However, the President previously vetoed the relevant bill and blocked parliament from overriding the veto in December, stalling the regulatory process. (The Block)
According to Decrypt, U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins launched the official podcast “Material Matters” on April 17, with its inaugural episode featuring Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, who publicly articulated a pro-innovation regulatory stance. Atkins stated that the United States should become the world’s top destination for innovation and characterized the current moment as “a pivotal turning point for U.S. markets.” Uyeda criticized the SEC under former Chair Gary Gensler for straying from its core mission, while Peirce emphasized that regulation should remain open to innovators.
According to CoinDesk, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure publicly stated on April 17 that Europe needs more euro-denominated stablecoins and strongly encouraged EU banks to explore launching tokenized deposits. Lescure explicitly backed the Qivalis consortium—a group of 12 European banks including BBVA, ING, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas—that plans to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026, aiming to counter U.S. dominance in digital payments. He also noted that the current scale of euro-pegged stablecoins remains far smaller than that of dollar-pegged stablecoins—a situation he described as “unsatisfactory.” This statement marks a clear departure from France’s previous hardline regulatory stance: former Finance Minister Le Maire had declared that private stablecoins “have no place in Europe,” while Bank of France Governor Villeroy de Galhau has repeatedly warned that stablecoins pose risks of monetary privatization.
According to CoinDesk, Payward, Kraken’s parent company, announced the acquisition of digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million in cash and stock. The deal values Payward at approximately $20 billion. Bitnomial is the first crypto-native platform in the U.S. to hold all three key regulatory licenses: a Designated Contract Market (DCM), a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), and a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM). Following the acquisition, Payward will instantly obtain all regulatory authorizations required to operate a full derivatives business in the U.S., significantly accelerating its path to compliance compared to building such capabilities organically. Post-integration, the combined platforms will launch spot margin, perpetual futures, and options products for U.S. customers. Through Payward Services’ B2B infrastructure, these regulated U.S. derivatives offerings will be made available to banks, fintech firms, and brokers via a single API. This acquisition marks Payward’s second major deal following its $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader in 2025. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
According to The Block, Bitcoin rose approximately 6% this week, briefly reaching $76,300—the highest level in nearly two months—yet the Crypto Fear & Greed Index remains at 21 (“Extreme Fear”). Multiple institutional analysts characterize this rally as “liquidity-driven” rather than a structural strengthening. Glassnode notes that while spot demand and ETF inflows have improved, the recovery lacks depth, institutional participation remains cautious, and options market positioning continues to favor downside protection. Bitfinex attributes this price increase primarily to concentrated buying by “Strategists” (who purchased 13,927 BTC last week), rather than an organic rebound in demand. Analysts broadly view $75,000 as a critical support level; if structural buying wanes and this level fails to hold, prices could retreat to the $70,000–$71,000 range. On the macro front, the Federal Reserve’s policy trajectory and the June FOMC meeting are seen as the next key risk catalysts.
Odaily News After Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh submitted documents to the Senate disclosing his assets, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out that he did not fully reveal his wealth status. Two personal assets, each listed as worth "over $50 million," belong to a financial instrument named the "Juggernaut Fund."Elizabeth Warren stated that Warsh is the first Federal Reserve Chair nominee who does not meet ethical standards and is also the first nominee during Trump's current term who is unethical. According to a spokesperson for the Senate Banking Committee, the Congressional Research Service has confirmed Kevin Warsh's "non-compliant" status, and he currently indeed does not meet ethical standards. As of now, Kevin Warsh has declined to comment. (Politico)