News linked to both this project and an event.
According to CoinDesk, BNY Mellon—the world’s largest custodian bank, with $59 trillion in assets under custody—has announced a partnership with Finstreet and the ADI Foundation to launch digital asset custody services in the UAE, operating under the regulatory framework of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Initially, the service will focus on custody for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with plans to later expand to stablecoins and tokenized assets.
according to Gate Ventures' latest weekly report, the global market performance is generally stable, but inflationary pressures and policy divergences are rising simultaneously. The S&P 500 topped the 7,200 mark for the first time. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged but showed major internal divisions. Compounded by volatile oil prices due to supply shocks in the Strait of Hormuz, market expectations of "stagflation" have intensified. Against this backdrop, the crypto market remains in a consolidation pattern, with BTC largely flat and ETH experiencing a slight pullback. ETF fund flows are diverging, and market sentiment remains cautious.At the industry level, the CLARITY Act has clarified the boundaries for stablecoin yields, further promoting a clearer regulatory framework. EURC is seeing rapid growth in Spanish retail payment scenarios, indicating that localized stablecoin applications are coming to market. The Solana ecosystem is advancing its post-quantum signature scheme, Falcon, reflecting the industry's forward-looking layout for long-term security. In terms of investment and financing, 15 deals were completed this week, with a total volume of $167 million, representing a 205% increase week-over-week. The infrastructure track continues to dominate. Among these, Four Pillars completed a Series A funding round to strengthen institutional-grade research and infrastructure capabilities. Belo secured $14 million in a funding round led by Tether, accelerating the expansion of its stablecoin payment network in Latin America. Overall, capital continues to concentrate towards infrastructure and cross-asset platforms, driving the industry's accelerated evolution towards institutionalization and multi-asset integration.
SoFi Technologies has announced the expansion of its stablecoin, SoFiUSD, to the Solana network, attracted by its low costs, high throughput, and rapid settlement capabilities.Launched in 2025 as a fully reserved US dollar-pegged stablecoin, SoFiUSD was initially deployed on Ethereum, designed to provide banks, fintech companies, and enterprises with near real-time settlement infrastructure available 24/7.As the regulatory framework gradually becomes clearer, banks and financial institutions are accelerating their entry into the stablecoin赛道, competing with major issuers such as Tether and Circle.
Odaily Odaily PaperImperium, the head of MegaETH, disclosed on X platform that documents from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York show that a U.S. court has issued an injunction against the Arbitrum DAO, prohibiting it from transferring approximately $71 million in ETH assets that were previously frozen during the KelpDAO hacking incident. In response, on-chain detective ZachXBT posted on X platform, stating that certain U.S. law firms are using his investigative work and on-chain forensics to help victims of some hacking incidents file legal claims. However, this practice may actually slow down or hinder victims from receiving compensation or recovering funds.ZachXBT added that in previous hacking incidents involving the Lazarus Group, such law firms often stepped in after on-chain fund tracking or freezing was completed, proposing subsequent legal actions that were weakly related to the crypto incidents themselves. Similar "free-riding claims" strategies were used in events like Harmony and Bybit. He called on the crypto community to establish a DAO to resist such practices.
: MegaETH lead PaperImperium disclosed on X platform a court document from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, showing that a U.S. court has issued an injunction against the Arbitrum DAO, prohibiting it from transferring approximately $71 million worth of ETH assets that were previously frozen in the KelpDAO hacking incident. The plaintiffs are attempting to use these funds to enforce outstanding judgment compensation in cases related to North Korea's involvement in terrorism, kidnapping, and other matters spanning several years. They have also filed a motion to serve legal notice to the Arbitrum DAO via alternative means, treating it as an accountable "partnership." The court document further notes that the Arbitrum DAO has a Security Council governed by ARB holders, which has the authority to take action in emergencies. As a result, relevant members who refuse to comply may face legal consequences such as contempt of court. Market observers believe that this case could set an important precedent for the U.S. judicial system to directly constrain DAO governance structures, further highlighting the compliance pressure faced by DeFi protocols under real-world legal frameworks.
: Yunfeng Financial has announced the completion of a strategic investment in cross-border payment service provider WooshPay, with the specific amount undisclosed. WooshPay is a financial infrastructure platform regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department. Yunfeng Financial stated that this investment aims to expand the digital payment market and integrate its digital asset infrastructure platform AlphaToken, advancing "AI+Web3" asset tokenization and compliant settlement-related businesses. According to further disclosure, Yunfeng Financial has received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to provide virtual asset trading services, supporting users in trading digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum on its platform.
the Ethereum Protocol Support Team has announced the launch of Ethereum Protocol Fellowship Cohort 7 (EPF7). The application channel is now open, with a deadline of May 13th.This program is designed to cultivate engineers capable of participating in Ethereum core protocol development, focusing on the network's core attributes including censorship resistance, open-source nature, privacy, and security. Key areas of focus include client implementations, protocol specifications, testing, and cutting-edge research.EPF7 will adopt a "small-scale, high-density" model, reducing participant numbers to enhance the depth of mentorship and the quality of project contributions, while strengthening collaboration opportunities with the core development team. The project runs from June to November. Selected participants will receive mentorship support from the Ethereum core developer community. Some participants will also receive monthly grants to focus on protocol development work. The program goals include nurturing long-term contributors for the Ethereum core research and development team, and driving participants towards producing substantive results in client development and protocol research.It is reported that the EPF team will host an online information session on May 6th at 15:00 UTC to further introduce project details and answer application-related questions.
Bitcoin remained near $76,000 on Thursday. After the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, market attention quickly shifted to internal policy divergence and macroeconomic uncertainty. Analysts noted that Bitcoin remains suppressed below the key resistance range of $78,000 to $79,000, lacking short-term breakout momentum.Thomas Perfumo, Chief Economist at Kraken, stated that the market is currently more focused on policy uncertainty stemming from internal "divisions" within the Federal Reserve rather than the inaction itself. This is particularly true against the backdrop of Chairman Jerome Powell's continued tenure and the potential expectation of Kevin Warsh succeeding him, creating a lack of clear policy transition.Glassnode data shows that Bitcoin remains "trapped" below the True Market Mean, with resistance concentrated in the $78,000 to $79,000 range and support lying between $65,000 and $70,000. While selling pressure has eased, demand remains insufficient to support a sustained upward breakout.On the macro front, the Fed has shown rare, severe internal disagreements, interpreted by the market as rising uncertainty over the inflation path. Analysts from institutions like Bitget Wallet and 21Shares point out that the expectation of "higher rates for longer" is suppressing risk asset performance, pushing the crypto market into a wait-and-see phase.Regarding capital flows, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs have recorded net outflows for three consecutive days, with a single-day outflow of approximately $138 million on April 29. Ethereum ETFs saw outflows of about $87.7 million over the same period. Although individual products still saw inflows, the overall trend indicates cooling institutional demand.Meanwhile, CME open interest and ETF assets under management have stabilized but have yet to show strong signals of capital return. In the derivatives market, short positions in perpetual contracts have reached an all-time high, suggesting a potential squeeze if sentiment improves. However, the current market remains dominated by a low-volatility, low-confidence consolidation structure.Overall, Bitcoin is caught in a tug-of-war between an improving support structure and weak demand. Sustained ETF outflows, policy uncertainty, and macroeconomic risks collectively suppress its ability to break through the key resistance range. (The Block)
AllUnity, a joint venture backed by DWS, Flow Traders, and Galaxy Digital, announced the expansion of its Euro-denominated stablecoin EURAU, which complies with the EU's MiCA regulatory framework, to the Solana blockchain network. This move aims to enhance the efficiency of on-chain Euro transfers and support compliant financial applications.EURAU was first launched on Ethereum in July last year, backed by 100% reserves and issued under the EU's e-money regulatory framework. By integrating with Solana, AllUnity seeks to leverage its high-performance network to achieve faster settlement speeds and lower transaction costs, enabling businesses and developers to complete on-chain Euro transfers within seconds.This mechanism can be widely applied in areas such as cross-border payments, transaction settlement, lending, and corporate treasury management. For instance, payment companies can execute real-time payments to overseas contractors without waiting days for traditional bank transfers to settle. (CoinDesk)
According to the Ethereum Foundation’s official website, its Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) allocated a total of $9.856 million in Q1 2026, with funding concentrated on core infrastructure areas including cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, security audits, and protocol research. Key funded projects this quarter include: - In the ZK domain: formal verification of zkVMs, GPU-accelerated R1CS witness generation, and intermediate representation optimization for LLZK; - In security: cryptanalysis of Poseidon, cross-platform canonical signing libraries for ERC-7730, and specification-compliance testing for ePBS; - In node and client development: Erigon zkEVM extensions, Besu HSM compliance integration, and the multi-node validator Vero; - Additionally, privacy tools (Kohaku SDK, Tor bridge extensions), continued operations of the Layer 2 transparency platform L2BEAT, and R&D for the Lighthouse client’s transition to the Fusaka fork. On ecosystem development, ESP simultaneously supported Ethereum developer events in Seoul, Hong Kong, Vancouver, and Buenos Aires, advanced updates to the Ethereum climate impact assessment, and backed policy research initiatives by the European Decentralization Institute (EDI).
Odaily Bitcoin remained consolidating above $77,000 on Wednesday, with markets cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. According to market data, Bitcoin fluctuated within the range of approximately $75,689 to $77,837 during the session, and is currently trading around $77,100.This FOMC meeting is seen as a pivotal event. Markets widely expect interest rates to remain unchanged, but the real focus is on whether Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will signal a "higher-for-longer" hawkish stance. Additionally, this meeting may be his last as Fed Chair, with markets simultaneously pricing in uncertainty regarding policy direction and potential power transitions.On the capital front, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a reversal after nine consecutive days of net inflows. SoSoValue data shows that on April 28, ETFs recorded net outflows of approximately $89.68 million. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT saw a single-day outflow of about $112 million. Meanwhile, Ethereum ETFs also logged net outflows of $21.8 million.On-chain data also signals caution. CryptoQuant noted that on April 27, exchange net inflows reached 9,905 BTC, the largest single-day inflow in nearly 30 days. Exchange reserves have also rebounded recently. If these inflows are not quickly absorbed, prices could retest the support range of $74,000–$75,000.On the macroeconomic front, fluctuations in crude oil prices and shifts in the Middle East energy landscape continue to influence inflation expectations. Some analysts believe this could limit the Fed's room for future easing. Meanwhile, market liquidity continues to weaken, with institutional trading volumes and perpetual contract activity both at low levels. This means any policy surprise could amplify price volatility.Overall, Bitcoin remains in a "low liquidity + high event risk" structure and may continue to oscillate within the $72,000 to $80,000 range in the short term, awaiting further clarity on the Fed's policy path. (The Block)
According to CertiK, Syndicate Protocol suffered an exploit due to a security breach in the Commons cross-chain bridge. The attacker exploited the vulnerability to acquire approximately 18.5 million SYND tokens, which were subsequently sold for roughly $330,000. The related funds have already been transferred to the Ethereum network via the cross-chain bridge. Syndicate’s official response states that it is investigating the security incident involving the Commons bridge. The team is tracking the attack and collaborating with security firms. It is also evaluating various options to compensate affected users. Syndicate holds sufficient token reserves to assist users who lost SYND.
A research report released by a16z Crypto states that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into the foundational layer of a new global financial infrastructure, giving rise to a new generation of “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) models. Unlike the previous wave of BaaS, this new model is built on onchain infrastructure and integrates account management, payments, foreign exchange, and credit functions via self-custodial wallets—significantly reducing reliance on traditional intermediaries. The report classifies blockchains into three categories: general-purpose public chains (e.g., Solana and Ethereum), purpose-built chains optimized for payment use cases (e.g., Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc), and compliance-focused networks designed for regulated institutions (e.g., Canton). On the regulatory front, following the passage of the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers are competing aggressively for national trust charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), aiming to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails and secure a central position within the payments stack. The report also notes that stablecoins have made significant progress in the “middle mile” of cross-border payments; however, liquidity bottlenecks between stablecoins and local fiat currencies remain unresolved in emerging markets. Looking ahead, as stablecoin scale grows, the onchain credit market is poised to become the next major opportunity after payments—providing capital to borrowers underserved by traditional financial systems. Moreover, the widespread adoption of stablecoins is expected to further reinforce the U.S. dollar’s global dominance.
According to The Block, OSL Group has announced a partnership with Circle’s affiliated entities to expand USDC integration across its payment and trading platforms. Through OSL Global, users can exchange USD for USDC at a 1:1 ratio and trade BTC, ETH, SOL, USD, and USDT pairs in a dedicated USDC trading zone. Meanwhile, OSL has adopted USDC as its unified margin asset and integrated USDC into its payment services to support compliant digital dollar settlement and payment use cases. OSL also stated that it plans to support Circle’s tokenized money market fund, USYC, subject to regulatory requirements and platform eligibility criteria.
According to CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency market weakened overall on Friday, with BTC hovering near $77,800—its upward momentum since Wednesday’s rally from $65,000 notably slowing. ETH traded at $2,300, down approximately 0.8% over the past 24 hours, underperforming BTC. Market pressure stems primarily from two sources: First, Japan’s March Corporate Services Price Index rose 3.1% year-on-year—above expectations—and core inflation accelerated, raising market expectations that the Bank of Japan may signal an interest rate hike at its next policy meeting; a stronger yen could trigger unwinding of global risk-asset carry trades. Second, the ongoing Iran conflict continues disrupting oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz; WTI crude futures have surged over 40% since the outbreak of hostilities, reaching $96 per barrel. The U.S. Department of Defense warned that mine clearance will take at least six months, implying persistent global inflationary pressures and further constraining the Federal Reserve’s room to cut interest rates.
According to the Belarusian state news agency BELTA, Alexander Yegorov, First Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, revealed at the “Digital Banking–2026” conference that Belarus has adopted Decree No. 19, formally establishing a regulatory framework for crypto banks. Under the decree, crypto banks will support 26 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), TON (Toncoin), Solana (SOL), and multiple stablecoins. They will also be authorized to conduct 11 types of operations, such as crypto deposits, crypto lending, crypto staking, crypto collateralization, crypto transfers, issuance of proprietary tokens, and crypto storage and exchange. Yegorov stated that the current list of supported cryptocurrencies and permitted operations is not final and will be continuously updated and refined in response to investor demand and emerging ideas.
Odaily News Aurise Foundation announced the launch of the yield-bearing gold token XAUE on Ethereum, designed to serve as a yield-bearing treasury for Tether Gold (XAU₮). XAUE targets compliant institutional participants, introducing crypto-native yield to traditional non-yielding gold through quantitative strategies and institutional lending, transforming it into a programmable and capital-efficient on-chain asset.Current ecosystem partners Aurelion and Antalpha have jointly contributed 16,052 XAU₮ (approximately $76 million) to XAUE. The protocol employs an exchange rate growth model, where the gold value pegged to each XAUE increases as yields accumulate, and it will integrate with more decentralized finance protocols such as DEXs in the future.
According to the Financial Times, UK-based startup Stratiphy will offer both cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and innovative finance ISAs (IF ISAs), enabling investors to hold crypto assets within capital gains tax-free accounts. Stratiphy provides three ETNs issued by 21Shares—the largest European crypto ETP issuer—which track Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a Bitcoin-and-gold composite product. The platform currently manages approximately £4 million in assets and serves around 2,000 clients. In October last year, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority lifted its four-year ban on retail investors purchasing exchange-traded notes (ETNs).
Odaily News According to Etherealize's latest research report, which proposes the "Productive Money" theory, if Ethereum captures the combined monetary premium of approximately $31 trillion currently held by gold and Bitcoin, its implied price could exceed $250,000, far above the current level of around $2,300.The report points out that ETH not only possesses traditional monetary attributes such as scarcity, verifiability, and censorship resistance but can also generate an annualized yield of about 2%–4% through staking, achieving an "interest-bearing" monetary characteristic, thereby distinguishing it from non-productive assets like gold and Bitcoin.Furthermore, within the DeFi system, ETH serves a triple demand source as a "collateral asset + fee-burning mechanism + staking lock-up," forming a mechanism for supply contraction and value accumulation. The report believes that with the development of on-chain finance and asset tokenization, ETH is expected to simultaneously possess the dual attributes of a "store of value + productive asset."However, the report also notes that ETH's path to achieving this valuation still faces multiple uncertainties including regulation, technology, and competition. Its long-term value revaluation depends on the market's recognition of its monetary properties.
Odaily News The Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) has passed the "Digital Currency and Digital Rights Bill" in its first reading, marking a crucial step towards the legalization of crypto assets in the country. According to the bill, the Bank of Russia will become the core regulatory body for the crypto market, responsible for issuing licenses, approving or prohibiting related transactions, and defining the legality of transactions.The bill intends to recognize cryptocurrencies as "property" but explicitly prohibits their use as a means of payment within the country, with the ruble remaining the sole legal tender. However, against the backdrop of Western sanctions, crypto assets can be used for cross-border trade settlements, including scenarios such as service payments and intellectual property transfers.Furthermore, the bill allows Russian residents to legally invest in crypto assets through licensed institutions, but will implement an investor classification system, setting up tests and annual investment quota limits (with a suggested cap of 300,000 rubles) for ordinary investors. Initially, only high-market-cap mainstream assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum will be permitted for trading, with a whitelist to be established by the central bank.The bill is expected to be formally passed and take effect no later than July 2026. However, some lawmakers and banking industry figures have criticized it for being overly strict in regulation, potentially affecting market activity and even leading to funds remaining in the gray market. Simultaneously, supporting legislation is also planned to introduce criminal penalties, with illegal crypto transactions potentially punishable by up to 7 years in prison. (Cryptopolitan)