News linked to both this project and an event.
Republican fintech entrepreneur Michael Carbonara has sold 10 Bitcoins for $800,000 to fund his Congressional campaign, demonstrating a pro-cryptocurrency stance in this key battleground where the electoral landscape is shifting. Beyond the election, Carbonara believes blockchain can help governments increase transparency in the use of taxpayer funds. (Decrypt)
A recent exchange report published by CoinDesk shows that Gate continues to maintain a leading global position in both spot and derivatives markets. In April, Gate's spot trading volume reached $39.3 billion, while its derivatives trading volume hit $350 billion. Combining both spot and derivatives, its total trading volume ranked fourth globally. Meanwhile, Gate also secured the fourth spot in the global derivatives exchange ranking, holding a 9.86% market share and maintaining its position as a top-tier trading platform worldwide.The report indicates that despite a general decline in overall derivatives market activity, the open interest on centralized exchanges saw a counter-trend increase of 16.9% in April, reaching $105 billion—a new high since February this year. Gate ranked fourth among global retail trading platforms in terms of open interest, with a 9.45% market share, reflecting its ongoing advantages in liquidity depth, trading activity, and competitiveness within the derivatives market.Beyond trading services, the CoinDesk report also highlighted multiple advancements in Gate’s products and ecosystem. Gate has become the first centralized exchange to integrate Polymarket, allowing users to participate in prediction market trading directly through the Gate App using USDT. Currently, Gate has established a systematic framework focusing on the convergence of AI and Web3, progressively forming an AI ecosystem comprising Gate.AI, Gate for AI Agent, GateRouter, and GateClaw. This positions Gate to accelerate its evolution into a key gateway for next-generation AI and on-chain interactions.
Recently, HTX announced the strategic upgrade of its brand IP, Huobao. This upgrade breaks the conventional definition of mascots, marking Huobao’s official evolution from a “visual identity” to an “emotional totem”—a heartfelt connection for global users and HTX’s digital avatar—continuously fostering deep resonance and value transmission between the brand and its community. Huobao’s comprehensive evolution also reflects HTX’s commitment to strengthening and upgrading user services. Beyond the rational world of crypto, HTX strives to offer global users warmer companionship and an ultra-refined service experience. Additionally, Huobao HTX (@HTX_huobao) has launched several reward campaigns on X, giving users the chance to win all-expenses-paid trips—including flights and hotel stays—to the Huobao Birthday Fantasy Carnival. On the day of the birthday celebration, even more generous perks await unlocking.
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.
Odaily News The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released the final draft of its crypto asset framework. The new rules are scheduled to bring most crypto activities under the regulatory scope of the Financial Services and Markets Act by October 25, 2027. According to the proposal, any institution holding customer crypto assets for more than 24 hours or possessing the ability to revoke customer permissions will be considered a regulated custodian and must hold a full safeguarding license. Validators and node operators offering value-added functions such as staking rewards or reward reinvestment will lose their technical exemption. Furthermore, stablecoin issuers operating within the UK must control the entire lifecycle from issuance to redemption. Relevant institutions are required to submit authorization applications between September 30, 2026, and February 28, 2027.
HashKey Group Chairman Xiao Feng stated in an exclusive interview with the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po that Hong Kong’s issuance of the first batch of stablecoin licenses represents a significant milestone for the local digital asset market. He noted that this move further accelerates Hong Kong’s tokenization of fiat currency and completes a critical piece of infrastructure—clearing and payment systems—for its digital financial ecosystem. Beyond facilitating cross-border payments and trade settlements, Hong Kong-issued stablecoins will also serve as core mediums of exchange for digital asset transactions. Xiao Feng added that, in the long term, their greater value lies in enabling micro, cross-border, and programmable payments among AI agents, while synergizing with real-world assets (RWA), on-chain clearing, and other use cases—thereby helping Hong Kong secure a more pivotal role in the global evolution of digital assets and digital finance. He also emphasized that HashKey’s trading platform will adhere to principles of openness and regulatory compliance, supporting stablecoin issuers and related products that meet supervisory requirements to jointly foster healthy ecosystem development. Currently, HashKey is actively engaging in substantive cooperation discussions with licensed stablecoin issuers and welcomes institutions planning to launch compliant stablecoins in Hong Kong to establish partnerships. As a core participant in Hong Kong’s digital asset market, HashKey will leverage its existing licensed and compliant framework, fiat on-ramps, and industry resources to support compliant stablecoins across listing, liquidity provision, payment scenario expansion, and the implementation and refinement of related applications—driving orderly industry ecosystem development.