News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: Hong Kong-based crypto payment company RedotPay announced the addition of support for SUI and USDC-Sui within its application. Users can now spend and transfer funds in over 100 countries globally using its card and payment services. This integration, built on the Sui network developed by Mysten Labs, enables support for native USDC, marking an expansion from cross-chain assets to native assets.RedotPay stated that it currently has over 7 million users, with an annualized payment volume exceeding $10 billion. (TechinAsia)
Odaily News The x402 protocol, incubated by Coinbase, has announced the launch of a unified platform called Agent.market, positioned as an "AI Agent App Store" for centrally showcasing and integrating various tools and services built on the protocol. According to the introduction, Agent.market already covers seven major categories at launch: inference, data, media, search, social, infrastructure, and trading. It integrates service providers including OpenAI, Bloomberg, CoinGecko, LinkedIn, X, and AWS Lambda, and supports permissionless integration.Erik Reppel, Engineering Lead at Coinbase Developer Platform, stated that the platform is essentially "an app store for agents." Currently, there are approximately 69,000 active agents on the x402 network, which have cumulatively completed over 165 million transactions, with a transaction volume reaching $50 million. Most services on Agent.market adopt a pay-per-use model, with some charging an "agentic premium" for AI agents. However, costs can be reduced through subscriptions in high-frequency usage scenarios. Meanwhile, the "agent economy" based on x402 is lowering customer acquisition and integration costs for businesses, unlocking previously constrained demand due to API keys, subscriptions, and micro-payment mechanisms.The x402 protocol is named after the HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status code, enabling websites, APIs, and AI agents to conduct instant micropayments via blockchain and traditional payment channels. The protocol is governed as an open standard by the x402 Foundation under the Linux Foundation and has received support from over 20 technology and crypto institutions including Cloudflare, Stripe, Amazon Web Services, Google, and Visa. (The Block)
Mizuho Financial Group, Nomura Holdings, Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC), and Digital Asset Holdings have jointly launched a proof-of-concept experiment on blockchain-based collateral management enhancement. This experiment will leverage the Canton Network—a blockchain platform designed specifically for institutional finance—to explore digital collateral management using Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs). The experiment will test JGB rights transfers and ledger updates via blockchain under a multi-tiered account management structure, and will explore enabling 24/7, real-time collateral transactions while preserving the existing legal attributes of issued securities. It will also cover cross-border scenarios and assess alignment with relevant laws, regulations, and rules. This project is part of the “Payment Enhancement Project (PIP)” supported by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), aiming to improve cross-border collateral management efficiency, reduce operational costs for financial institutions and investors, and strengthen the international competitiveness of Japan’s financial markets.
Bitget, in collaboration with data research firm Block Scholes, has jointly released a report analyzing the correlation trends between crypto assets and traditional financial markets under macroeconomic event-driven conditions, based on Q1 2026 market data. The report notes that as Bitcoin’s correlation with major stock indices has risen to one of the highest levels since the end of 2025, traders’ demand for real-time cross-market allocation is increasing. Data shows that Bitget’s CFD business volume has demonstrated sustained growth: daily trading volume stood at approximately $2 billion at launch, rose to $4 billion shortly thereafter, and surged beyond $6 billion during periods of heightened market volatility. According to the report, this shift reflects how some users are progressively integrating crypto assets, equities, and commodities into a unified trading framework for coordinated management—rather than treating them as entirely separate trading strategies. The report further highlights that, against the backdrop of continuously strengthening multi-asset correlations and increasingly pronounced macro-driven trading characteristics, Unified Exchanges (UEX)—platforms that integrate crypto assets and traditional financial instruments within a single account system—are drawing growing attention from active traders and are gradually becoming a key venue for cross-asset allocation.
According to the official announcement, HTX (formerly Huobi) has launched perpetual contracts for AAPL/USDT, META/USDT, and PIVERSE/USDT on April 20, with a maximum leverage of 20x. Additionally, HTX is hosting an “AAPL, META, PIVERSE Contract Trading Party” from 17:00 on April 20 to 17:00 on April 27 (UTC+8), with a total prize pool of $20,000. During the event, users who register and trade AAPL/USDT, META/USDT, or PIVERSE/USDT perpetual contracts—accumulating a total effective trading volume of ≥$5,000—will share the prize pool based on their trading volume ranking. New contract traders completing trades in AAPL/USDT, META/USDT, or PIVERSE/USDT perpetual contracts will also receive exclusive benefits.
According to an official announcement, Coinbase has launched its crypto-backed lending service in the UK, enabling users to borrow USDC in under one minute using BTC, ETH, and cbETH as collateral. The service is powered by Morpho, an open-source lending protocol built on Base. Coinbase stated that this product first launched in the U.S. in January 2025. As of April 14, 2026, loans facilitated via Coinbase’s integration with Morpho have exceeded $2.17 billion in USDC. Users can monitor their loan health, historical annualized interest rates, and liquidation alerts directly within the Coinbase app. Interest rates are dynamically adjusted based on market conditions.
According to South Korean media outlet DigitalToday, Korean crypto venture capital firm Hashed Ventures announced raising KRW 3 billion (USD 2.2 million). The investment was led by Hecto Innovation and Hecto Financial—both subsidiaries of Hecto Group. The new capital will be allocated to Hashed Ventures’ “Hashed Venture Investment Fund No. 3,” with a focus on supporting new business areas including digital asset wallets and stablecoin-based payment and settlement solutions.
Odaily According to a report released on the 19th by Windward, a UK-based maritime analysis company, Iran briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz before closing it again. In the past 36 hours, 35 ships have turned around and headed back while attempting to exit the strait. The report states that after Iran announced the reopening of the strait on the 17th, ship responses that day were relatively cautious. On the 18th, traffic through the strait was initially sparse but then rapidly increased, with ships rushing to pass through before the situation deteriorated. A total of 35 ships transited the strait that day, including 8 entering (comprising 4 oil tankers, 2 bulk carriers, and 2 other cargo ships) and 27 exiting (comprising 8 oil tankers, 3 bulk carriers, 15 other cargo ships, and 1 passenger ship). (Xinhua News Agency)
Odaily News On-chain data indicates that Kelp DAO's rsETH bridge protocol based on LayerZero is suspected of being exploited by hackers, resulting in a loss of 116,500 rsETH, valued at approximately $292 million.
According to Cointelegraph, X’s newly launched Cashtags feature—introduced this Tuesday—has generated approximately $1 billion in trading volume within two days. The feature allows users to select specific assets or contract addresses when posting; clicking the tag displays real-time price charts and related posts. Currently, Cashtags is available exclusively to iPhone users in the U.S. and Canada. Canadian online brokerage Wealthsimple has already integrated the feature, enabling users to jump directly to its trading platform; however, no U.S.-based brokerages have yet connected. Additionally, X’s peer-to-peer payment system, X Money, is also under development and plans to offer features including interest-bearing accounts and cashback debit cards. X Money has already secured money transmission licenses in over 40 U.S. states. These initiatives form part of Elon Musk’s strategic vision to transform X into a “super app.”
Odaily News USDC has officially announced the launch of its cross-chain bridge, USDC Bridge. Built and operated by Circle, it supports cross-chain transfers based on a native burn-mint mechanism.According to the announcement, the bridge supports upfront fee display and real-time status tracking, eliminates the need for manual path selection, and can automatically handle destination chain gas fees.
Odaily News According to a post by X Product Lead Nikita Bier on the X platform, based on aggregated data from the trading pilot, since the launch of Cashtags on Tuesday evening, social platform X has driven approximately $10 billion in transaction volume globally. This data comes from the platform's initial pilot phase, demonstrating the significant pull effect on market liquidity and user engagement after integrating social platforms with trading functionalities.
Xie Jiayin, Bitget’s Head of Chinese-speaking Markets, revealed significant progress across multiple core business areas. In terms of liquidity, Bitget ranked first globally among centralized exchanges (CEXs) in net fund inflows over the past seven days. Its BTC reserves grew 86% year-on-year to 36,700 BTC. According to TokenInsight’s report, Bitget’s derivatives and spot liquidity both ranked among the top two globally. Strategically, the platform continues advancing its transformation into UEX, a comprehensive exchange. This quarter, Bitget completed a full app redesign, fully launched CFD trading—supporting 79 assets with up to 500x leverage—and expanded its U.S. stock token offering to 263 tickers. Per CoinGlass data, Bitget leads the industry in U.S. stock futures open interest, and its CFD daily trading volume exceeded $6 billion. On the product front, Bitget launched IPO Prime, an innovative token sale platform. Its inaugural offering is preSPAX—a digital token mirroring the listing gains of SpaceX. Additionally, Bitget completed a three-layer reconstruction of its AI trading engine and introduced GetClaw, a cloud-based AI trading assistant enabling users to execute automated live trades via natural-language commands. For its VIP ecosystem, Bitget established a $5 million Protection Fund and distributed nearly 1,000 preSPAX tokens to VIP users in two free airdrops: the first round (760 tokens) was distributed on April 16, and the second round (190 tokens) will be distributed on April 20.
According to an official announcement, crypto-financial technology company Superstate has launched FundOS—a next-generation fund operating system—opening its fund-on-chain infrastructure to asset management firms to support the tokenization of private funds, mutual funds, and ETFs. Superstate states that FundOS enables fund managers to select fund types, underlying blockchains, supported DeFi use cases, and whether to enable stablecoin-based subscriptions and redemptions. It integrates with existing fund managers, custodians, and service providers via its portal, APIs, and workflows. The system is already deployed for USTB and USCC, collectively managing over $1 billion in assets, and has also been adopted by Invesco US.
According to official announcements, Pumpcade—a live-stream prediction market and meme coin issuance platform—has secured $5 million in seed funding. Investors include Jump Crypto and Foundation Capital. Pumpcade is a Solana-based platform for instant meme coin creation and trading, integrated into the Pump.fun chat system and enabling one-click prediction market creation during live streams. Earlier, on April 2, Pump.fun led a $1 million pre-seed round for Pumpcade.
According to The Block, the Washington-based think tank Cato Institute published a critique of the U.S.’s current Bitcoin tax policy. Researcher Nick Anthony pointed out that the existing tax framework—which classifies Bitcoin as “property” rather than “currency”—requires users to calculate capital gains or losses for every single transaction, including routine, small-value purchases. This makes tax filing extremely cumbersome and effectively hinders Bitcoin’s adoption as a payment instrument. In response, the Cato Institute proposed several reform measures, including fully eliminating capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency payments and introducing a de minimis exemption threshold for small transactions. The report also referenced the existing Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act—a bill that would exempt crypto transactions under $200—but Anthony argued that this threshold is too low to reflect real-world consumer spending levels. Currently, the Trump administration has expressed support for establishing a de minimis exemption for cryptocurrency transactions and will continue evaluating related legislative options.
It is reported that Bybit Alpha has now launched trading for $UNC and $BULL. Both $UNC and $BULL are trending Solana-based meme projects. $UNC surged over 241% intraday, with its market cap briefly exceeding $21 million; it is currently trading at approximately $0.02.
Odaily News Ripple announced a partnership with South Korea's major insurance institution, Kyobo Life Insurance, to explore government bond tokenization settlement based on the Ripple Custody platform. The goal is to compress the T+2 settlement cycle for South Korean government bonds to near real-time execution. Both parties stated that they will focus on evaluating the technical and regulatory feasibility of tokenized government bond settlement. Specific transaction scale, launch timeline, and bond types involved have not been disclosed yet, and the overall initiative is still in the pilot exploration phase. Additionally, Kyobo Life will also explore stablecoin-based payment solutions, but specific currencies and implementation timelines have not been clarified. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News According to an official announcement, Binance Futures will launch the GENIUSUSDT U-based perpetual contract at 11:30 (UTC+8) on April 16, 2026. This contract supports up to 20x leverage. Copy trading for this contract will be available within 24 hours of its launch.
Odaily News As the U.S. midterm elections approach, the White House is accelerating efforts to promote a crypto market structure bill to ease the long-standing disputes between the banking industry and the crypto sector.Reports indicate that multiple parties, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt, and related policy figures, have recently publicly called for advancing this bill. The U.S. Council of Economic Advisers has also released a report addressing the banking industry's concerns about the crypto sector.Analysts suggest that, based on the timing, the current period may be a critical window for promoting relevant legislation, but uncertainty remains regarding whether the bill can be smoothly passed. (The Hill)