Cryptopolitan

Crypto ATMs continue facing growing legal pressure across the United States, with Tennessee emerging as one of the latest states to move toward criminalizing their operation. The legal pressure reflects a growing national effort to limit decentralized, street-level access to digital currencies amid concerns about financial control, regulation, and fraud.

On April 24, Tennessee lawmakers passed a law making it illegal to operate cryptocurrency ATMs, signaling a broader crackdown on these devices across the U.S. A similar action is taking place in Minnesota as legislators are working on a bill that would completely outlaw virtual currency kiosks, demonstrating that several states are independently targeting the same access points. 

Tennessee bans ATMs while Minnesota regulates access

🚨 BOOM: Tennessee lawmakers PASS legislation authorizing LETHAL force when a criminal storms your property and starts unleashing havoc, in several cases

This is a citizens-first policy!

You shouldn’t have to WAIT to defend what you own 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Mm5fkuB0FI

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 24, 2026

The law goes beyond regulation by making it illegal to operate cryptocurrency ATMs and designating infractions as Class A misdemeanors, the same category as crimes like simple drug possession or domestic abuse under Tennessee law. Sponsors like Jay Reedy and Cameron Sexton contended that the machines have become a crucial tool for con artists, noting that victims rarely get their money back after a transaction is complete. 

Tennessee took strong action to ban cryptocurrency ATMs completely. The Tennessee General Assembly passed House Bill 2505, which effectively outlawed the machines statewide by requiring operators to deactivate any kiosks that allow customers to purchase digital assets like Bitcoin with cash by July 1. 

On April 13, 2026, Governor Bill Lee signed the legislation into law, citing an increase in fraud cases involving these kiosks, especially those targeting senior citizens who are frequently coerced into making irreversible payments.

A similar strategy emerged in Minnesota, where lawmakers introduced Senate File 3868 to impose strict regulations on virtual currency kiosks rather than outright prohibit them. The proposal outlined a regulatory paradigm that prioritizes consumer protection over prohibition, requiring kiosk operators to provide thorough risk disclosures. The lawmaker’s proposal imposed a $2,000 daily transaction limit for new clients. The proposal also guarantees complete reimbursement to fraud victims within a specified 72-hour window.

Minnesota’s framework permits kiosks to continue operating under stricter compliance requirements and disclosure standards, unlike Tennessee’s law, which criminalizes operators. These actions demonstrate that states are independently pursuing various enforcement tactics while, taken together, focusing on the same issue.

Crypto ATMs trigger fraud fears and industry pushback

The growing evidence that cryptocurrency ATMs have emerged as a significant conduit for fraud, especially scams targeting older Americans, is a major factor driving this policy convergence. A Cryptopolitan report, dated January 11, 2026, revealed that the FBI said $240 million of the $333 million Americans lost to cryptocurrency ATM fraud disappeared in the first half of 2025, twice as much as they lost in the first half of 2024. 

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2025 annual report,  scammers routinely trick victims, typically older adults, into depositing money into Bitcoin ATMs under pretenses, such as posing as law enforcement or threatening legal action, resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

The report revealed that law enforcement authorities have identified the irreversible nature of these transactions as a critical issue, as victims usually cannot recover funds once they are sent. 

Even as regulators tighten regulations, industry participants and proponents of cryptocurrency are resisting the increasing number of prohibitions. More than 85 companies are attempting to increase real-world cryptocurrency payments and financial access, according to a recent Cryptopolitan piece on the Ripple and Mastercard relationship. 

The report further noted that proponents contended that ATMs and other cryptocurrency infrastructure are essential for onboarding customers who don’t have access to conventional banking institutions. 

Another Cryptopolitan report revealed that cryptocurrency firms are quickly marketing digital assets as alternatives to conventional financial systems, particularly in regions or demographics that banks do not sufficiently serve. According to the report, Industry voices cautioned that complete prohibitions may restrict innovation and decrease the number of access points available to regular users.

Your bank is using your money. You’re getting the scraps. Watch our free video on becoming your own bank

The Brazilian government officially banned 27 prediction platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket. The National Monetary Council (NMC) issued Resolution No. 5,298, prohibiting derivative contracts based on non-economic events like sports, political elections, and cultural outcomes.

Telecommunications regulator Anatel was instructed to shut down the domains of the affected platforms in late April 2026, rendering them inaccessible to users within Brazil. The Brazilian government describes these platforms as gambling schemes disguised as financial instruments. 

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration also attributes the rising household debt, in part, to unregulated online gambling. Finance Minister Dario Durigan emphasizes that the ban aims to protect citizen savings and curb rising household debt. 

The 27 platforms were initially targeted for offering “illegal wagering,” before the CMN clarified that trading in derivatives remains legal only if tied to approved economic benchmarks (such as exchange rates or interest rates) and conducted by authorized firms. Polymarket has been blocked for offering unlicensed binary event contracts. At the same time, Kalshi was included in the sweep due to new restrictions on non-financial event contracts, despite having recently partnered with Brazilian brokerage XP International in March 2026.

Durigan says prediction markets contravene betting regulations 

According to Finance Minister Durigan, prediction markets based on elections, sports, and cultural events contravene regulations and lack federal oversight. The Brazilian Central Bank also emphasizes that these platforms bypass authorized financial frameworks, potentially threatening the stability and transparency of the national financial system. Economic Reforms Secretary Regis Dudena also agrees that these platforms bypass Congress-approved regulations, operating in a “gray area” that lacks consumer protection.

However, industry experts and critics highlight significant drawbacks regarding the Brazilian government’s focus on protection. They warn that such a broad ban stifles a thriving digital finance sector that could offer unique hedging tools and crucial data for forecasting. Banning regulated platforms like Kalshi (which has partnered with a local brokerage) may also drive users toward even less transparent offshore platforms. 

Meanwhile, the move to ban prediction markets positions Brazil alongside Colombia and Argentina in classifying them as unregulated gambling rather than financial trading. Presidential Chief of Staff Miriam Belchior emphasizes that the ban aims to protect families from exposure to harmful practices.

However, Cryptopolitan notes that losing these prediction markets could affect market intelligence during critical events such as elections. Prediction markets are often valued for their ability to aggregate information more accurately than traditional polls.  

NMC defines underlying assets for derivative trading 

The NMC’s resolution establishes a clear boundary between financial trading and what the government characterizes as “gambling disguised as finance.” Derivative contracts are now limited to pre-defined economic and financial benchmarks, including price indices (e.g., inflation rates), interest rates, and exchange rates. The definition provides the legal basis for the current crackdown on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.

On the other hand, trading in permitted derivatives remains legal only if conducted by firms authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) and in compliance with strict secondary regulations. The Brazilian Ministry of Finance and the CMN frame this as a vital step to ensure that the financial system is not used to facilitate “potentially destructive” gambling habits that worsen household debt.

However, it is important to note that the regulatory approaches of Brazil and the U.S. toward prediction markets diverged significantly in 2026. They are moving in opposite directions regarding the legality of non-economic event contracts. Brazil’s CMN has adopted a restrictive, categorical approach that effectively bans event-based prediction markets. At the same time, the U.S. CFTC has pivoted toward a more permissive though highly regulated framework in 2026 under Chairman Michael Selig.

Specifically, the CFTC classifies event contracts as “swaps” under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) because their value depends on an event happening. On February 4, 2026, the CFTC withdrew a prior 2024 proposal that would have categorically banned contracts on elections and sports as “gaming.” The Commission now considers sports and certain political contracts permissible for trading on authorized platforms like Kalshi. 

Meanwhile, a new Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) was issued on March 12, 2026, to establish standards for these markets rather than banning them. The only requirement is that these prediction platforms adhere to strict principles regarding market manipulation and trade protection.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

The Trump administration has taken New York to court as the fight over prediction markets gets uglier, wider, and a lot more political.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a case Friday in Manhattan federal court, accusing the state of stepping into a market that federal law puts under Washington’s control.

The clash centers on lawsuits filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Coinbase (COIN) and Gemini (GEMI). Letitia says both companies ran prediction-market products that should be treated as gambling under state law. The CFTC says New York is trying to regulate contracts that belong inside the federal system for commodity derivatives.

The federal complaint says Letitia’s April 21 lawsuits cut into the national rulebook Congress created for derivatives markets, including event contracts.

The CFTC already filed similar cases on April 2 against Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois, so the agency is clearly trying to stop states from building their own walls around prediction markets.

New York leaders defend state gambling laws as the CFTC claims federal power

Letitia and New York Governor Kathy Hochul answered the lawsuit with a joint statement that put the fight squarely on consumer protection. Both Democrats accused President Donald Trump’s Republican administration of “prioritizing big corporations” over residents and customers in New York.

They said:

“New York’s gambling laws are designed to protect consumers, whether they are placing bets in a prediction market or a casino. When gambling platforms, including prediction markets, violate our laws, we will not hesitate to hold them accountable. We look forward to continuing to defend our laws in court.”

Prediction markets let people place money on future results. Those results can include sports, elections, and other public events. The products are built around event contracts, where the payout depends on what happens later.

These markets got much more attention after the 2024 US presidential race, when their live odds were seen as more accurate than polls before Donald won. That popularity brought more users, more money, and more legal pressure.

Letitia says Coinbase and Gemini needed licenses from the New York State Gaming Commission before offering those products in the state. She also described their event contracts as “quintessentially gambling” because users cannot control the final outcome, and some results may depend on chance. 

Her office also objected to both platforms being available to people aged 18 to 20, while New York requires mobile sports-betting customers to be at least 21.

Gemini is led by billionaire twins Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, with the former as CEO and the latter as president. Kalshi filed its own case against the New York Gaming Commission in October to block the state from banning event contracts before such a ban could happen, though that case is still pending.

Trump reviews federal employee betting after Polymarket case draws DOJ charges

The court fight is landing at the same time that Trump is talking about another risk in prediction markets: government workers using private information to make money. Trump said Thursday that he would review federal employees placing wagers on event-betting sites.

He was asked about federal authorities arresting a US Army soldier connected to an operation involving Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, allegedly winning $400,000, as Cryptopolitan reported previously.

“I’ll look into it,” Trump told reporters. He also said he has never liked the idea of event-betting platforms.

“Well, you know, the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino,” Trump said. “And you look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe and every place they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually.”

Trump compared the soldier case to Pete Rose, the baseball figure who received a lifetime ban over sports betting. “Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team,” Trump said.

Trump has said Pete should be placed in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

If you want a calmer entry point into DeFi crypto without the usual hype, start with this free video.

Sam Altman and OpenAI got a major pre-trial win on Friday after a federal judge cut Elon Musk’s fraud claims from his lawsuit over the company’s structure and mission.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made the ruling in Oakland, California, just before the fight went to a jury. The trial of course still goes ahead, but now it centers on breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment, not fraud.

Jury selection starts Monday, and opening statements are expected Tuesday. Now Elon’s lawsuit says OpenAI, Sam, Greg Brockman, and Microsoft (MSFT) misled him and the public after OpenAI created a profit-making arm in 2019, after Elon had already left the board.

He says the company walked away from the nonprofit promise behind its 2015 launch. Elon had asked to drop the fraud and constructive fraud claims before trial because he said it would “streamline the case.”

He also said jurors should focus on whether OpenAI still serves humanity or has turned into a “wealth machine.” A Reuters calculation puts Elon’s damages demand at $150 billion, with the money meant to go to OpenAI’s charitable arm.

Judge cuts fraud claims as Elon keeps two core claims against OpenAI and Sam

The lawsuit began much wider than the case now heading into court. Elon filed 26 claims in November 2024 against OpenAI, Sam, and Greg. Before Friday’s ruling, only four claims were still alive.

Those were fraud, constructive fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of charitable trust. Now the two fraud-based claims are gone, leaving the jury with the charitable trust and enrichment arguments.

Elon says OpenAI was supposed to stay a nonprofit forever. His complaint says the people behind it promised to build artificial intelligence for public benefit, not private gain. OpenAI later changed its structure so it could run a for-profit subsidiary.

That business is now valued at more than $850 billion, which is exactly why this courtroom fight is not some small tech grudge. There is real money, real control, and real market power sitting under every legal filing.

The personal history makes it sharper. Elon Musk and Sam Altman helped start OpenAI in 2015 with other tech figures who worried about the power of artificial intelligence. Back then, they were on the same side. Now they are rivals.

Elon started xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI. He also recently combined xAI with SpaceX in a deal that valued the merged business at $1.25 trillion.

The trial starts in federal court in Oakland, across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco, where OpenAI is based.

If Elon wins, he says he does not want the money for himself. He wants the court to send all “ill-gotten gains” back to OpenAI’s nonprofit side. He also wants Sam and Greg removed from their roles. On top of that, he wants the court to undo OpenAI’s profit-focused restructuring.

OpenAI and Elon fight in court while both sides chase bigger market plans

The timing is not quiet. Elon is preparing SpaceX for a public listing that could become a record IPO. OpenAI is also looking at a possible market debut in the fourth quarter. In investor papers sent out earlier this year, OpenAI named Elon’s lawsuit as a “risk to business.”

OpenAI has called Elon’s lawsuit “baseless.” In an X post earlier in April, the company called it a “harassment campaign that’s driven by ego, jealousy and a desire to slow down a competitor.” Elon has fired back in the same public arena.

In August, he wrote on X, “Scam Altman lies as easily as he breathes.” Sam answered in February with his own post: “Really excited to get Elon under oath in a few months, Christmas in April!”

X, formerly Twitter, and xAI also actually sued OpenAI and Apple in 2025 over alleged anticompetitive conduct.

A hearing in that case is set for May in Texas. In February, a federal judge in California also dismissed a separate xAI case that accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets.

There’s a middle ground between leaving money in the bank and rolling the dice in crypto. Start with this free video on decentralized finance.

Industry group NC Blockchain is urging Senator Thom Tillis to push the Clarity Act forward, warning that a ban on stablecoin yield could drive capital abroad. The Clarity Act is facing intense lobbying from the North Carolina Bankers Association (NCBA), which is pushing for a total ban on stablecoin yields.

The North Carolina Blockchain & AI Initiative argues that NCBA’s position does not reflect the views of all local financial institutions, noting that some are in favor of the ongoing technological advancements. However, the NCBA campaign specifically targets Sen. Tillis because he is a key Republican negotiator and represents the state where many concerned community banks are headquartered. 

Meanwhile, the current draft, brokered by Senators Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, bans passive yields but permits activity-based rewards, such as those tied to transactions or loyalty programs. Consequently, the NCBA is urging banks to call Sen. Tillis’s office to oppose the current compromise. The association argues that even “activity-based” rewards permitted in the current draft of the Clarity Act will cause deposit flight to stablecoins.

Notably, Senator Tillis has caved in to intense lobbying from the banks. He recommends that the Senate Banking Committee delay the markup of the Clarity until May 2026. However, the Digital Chamber is demanding immediate legislative action, citing that failure to pass the bill by the end of May could indefinitely shelve the legislation.  

Digital Chamber argues that legislative clarity is overdue

The Digital Chamber, crypto advocacy groups, and firms like Coinbase are arguing that legislative clarity is overdue. The Digital Chamber specifically notes that it has been over 270 days since the House passed its version of the bill. The Clarity Act’s markup was originally scheduled for late April but was postponed until May 2026 to allow time for negotiations.

Lawmakers like Senator Cynthia Lummis have also warned that further delays could push the bill past the 2026 legislative window, potentially shelving the federal crypto market structure rules for years. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) also delivered an ultimatum at a Washington event on April 22, declaring that the Clarity Act must clear Congress by the end of May. He argues that this deadline is Congress’s last real chance to deliver long-awaited regulatory certainty to the U.S. crypto industry.

A 21-page report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers further criticizes the continued bank lobbying as “greed or ignorance.” It cites economic reports suggesting that stablecoin yield would displace only a marginal 0.02% (~$2.1B) of total bank loans, which challenges the banking industry’s position that imposing an estimated $800 million in costs on consumers is justified. The NC Blockchain initiative suggests that bank fears of “deposit flight” are overstated.

Industry group frames the yield ban as counterproductive

The Industry group frames the yield ban on stablecoins as counterproductive and redundant given the existing framework. NC Blockchain argues that “shadow banking” concerns are already solved by the GENIUS Act, which brought stablecoin issuers under federal oversight with strict reserve, capital, and risk management requirements.

The industry group further emphasizes that a ban on stablecoin yield risks pushing capital offshore or into opaque structures beyond U.S. regulatory reach, rather than reducing systemic risk. It argues that banning yield would cede leadership to other jurisdictions (such as the UAE and the EU) that are developing frameworks for yield-bearing digital assets. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also warned that regulatory delays could push digital asset innovation toward Singapore and Dubai, which are courting U.S. crypto capital. That capital still moves even without the Clarity Act, just without U.S. legal protection, institutional guardrails, or the U.S. SEC and CFTC’s clarity. The NC Blockchain initiative says moving the bill to markup under Scott’s leadership is the only way to provide the legislative “greenlight” that North Carolina’s tech and banking sectors need to collaborate effectively.

Meanwhile, Polymarket odds of the Clarity Act passing in 2026 moved from 38% to 46% following Moreno’s statement on April 22. Encouraging, but nowhere near confident. However, the FDIC and the OCC are already moving forward with rules to operationalize the GENIUS Act’s framework for issuers.

There’s a middle ground between leaving money in the bank and rolling the dice in crypto. Start with this free video on decentralized finance.

Trump’s Treasury Department has kept a short-term waiver for Russia oil in place after the EU questioned why Washington was easing pressure on Moscow while the war in Ukraine is still draining lives, money, and fuel routes.

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said he raised the issue on Friday with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, after Washington allowed more deliveries and sales of sanctioned Russian crude already sitting on ships.

The new Treasury license covers Russian oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of April 17. It runs until May 16 and replaces an earlier 30-day waiver that expired on April 11.

The permission does not apply to deals tied to Iran, Cuba, or North Korea. So this is not a clean sanctions retreat, but it still gives buyers room to handle Russia barrels at sea.

EU officials push Bessent as Washington keeps Russia oil cargoes flowing through May 16

Sefcovic told reporters that US officials said the relief was tied to poorer countries that depend heavily on imported oil. Those countries were said to be under serious pressure after the Strait of Hormuz became largely blocked during the shaky ceasefire between the US and Iran.

His comment was direct. “My clear understanding was that this will not be repeated in the future, and it was also done because several countries with the lower incomes have been in an extremely… difficult situation,” Sefcovic said.

Bessent gave senators a similar reason this week. He said the waiver was extended for another 30 days after several exposed countries asked Washington for help. Those requests came during the IMF and World Bank spring meetings last week.

The US first paused parts of its Russia oil restrictions in early March, after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. Iran did that after US and Israeli strikes. Washington’s aim was to keep crude supply moving and stop prices from running harder after the Gulf war pushed oil above $100 a barrel.

On April 13, the US renewed the waiver until May 16. Then, on April 19, the Trump administration renewed permission for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea for roughly one more month. That came even as lawmakers accused the administration of being too soft on Moscow.

The Treasury Department said the reason was supply. “As negotiations (with Iran) accelerate, Treasury wants to ensure oil is available to those who need it,” a Treasury spokesperson said.

That answer landed awkwardly because Bessent had said only two days earlier that Washington would not renew the Russian oil waiver. He also said the US would not extend a separate Iranian oil waiver that was set to expire on Sunday.

Ukraine hits Russia oil sites as Moscow loses export volumes and revenue

The waiver has not handed Russia the kind of payday Moscow may have wanted. Ukraine has been hitting Russian port and energy infrastructure since March 21, using long-range strikes to disrupt loading points and slow the flow of oil onto tankers.

Kyiv’s goal is simple enough. If Russia cannot load barrels, it cannot fully cash in when crude prices jump. That matters because oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel during March and April as the Gulf war squeezed global supply fears.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes cost Russia at least $2.3 billion in oil revenue in March. “In March alone, Russia’s oil revenue losses from our long-range capabilities are estimated at no less than $2.3bn. In just one month. We continue this work in April,” Volodymyr said in a video address on Sunday, April 19.

Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service cited S&P Global Platts figures showing Russia oil transhipments fell by 300,000 barrels a day in March. Flows of refined products also dropped by 200,000 barrels a day.

April may have hurt Moscow even more. Russian business newspaper Kommersant said exports had dropped to “their lowest levels since the summer of 2024.” It also said, “By the end of the month, they could fall to their lowest since 2023.”

Reuters alleges that weak exports forced Russia to cut crude production by 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a day in April. 

Sweden’s military intelligence chief Thomas Nilsson told reporters recently that Russia would need oil to stay above $100 a barrel for the rest of the year just to cover this year’s budget deficit.

Your bank is using your money. You’re getting the scraps. Watch our free video on becoming your own bank

Prediction market traders on Kalshi pushed Kevin Warsh’s chances of becoming Federal Reserve chair sharply higher after the Department of Justice ended its inquiry into Jerome Powell.

The new pricing gives Kevin an 86% chance of Senate approval by May 15. Traders also give him more than a 97% chance of confirmation by June 1.

Before the Powell inquiry was dropped Monday morning, the same May 15 contract was sitting near 30%. That is a massive jump, and it came right after one political roadblock disappeared.

Kalshi traders push Kevin’s odds higher after the DOJ clears a key Senate roadblock

As Cryptopolitan reported before, Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, had made the end of the Powell case a condition. Thom backed Kevin for the Fed chair job, but he said he would not vote to advance the nomination while the criminal inquiry into Powell was still alive.

Kevin, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace Powell, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Friday that she did not think the Senate should go forward with Kevin’s confirmation yet.

The Kalshi contracts changed fast because traders saw the DOJ decision as a direct boost for Kevin. The May 15 odds went from about 30% to 86%, while the June 1 odds climbed past 97%. That pricing now says bettors expect the Senate to act soon, unless the fight around Powell turns into a bigger battle over the Fed itself.

The dropped inquiry did not end the political fight. Elizabeth and Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, sent a letter to US Attorney Jeanine Pirro after Jeanine announced that the DOJ was walking away from the case. They warned that the decision still left room for the investigation to return later.

They wrote, “Your announcement leaves the door wide open for you to relaunch the criminal probe against Chair Powell, or future baseless investigations into Powell or other Fed Governors and a future Fed Chair, should it once again become politically expedient for you to do so.”

Elizabeth and Dick also asked Jeanine what would be needed to reopen the case. Their letter asked, “From your perspective, what are the types of ‘facts’ that would warrant reopening the investigation?” 

They also asked whether Trump or anyone else in his administration had been told about the decision to stop the inquiry. The Senators also requested more information about the DOJ’s referral to the Fed’s inspector general.

Powell faces new questions as Trump keeps pressure on the Federal Reserve

Powell may still remain at the Federal Reserve for a while, even if he does not complete the governor term that ends in January 2028.

Trump has threatened to fire Powell if he does not leave on his own after his term as chair expires. Powell is expected to face questions on Wednesday during his regular press conference after the FOMC meeting.

The White House released a statement Friday after Jeanine ended the inquiry. It said, “American taxpayers deserve answers about the Federal Reserve’s fiscal mismanagement, and the Office of the Inspector General’s more powerful authorities best position it to get to the bottom of the matter.”

The statement also said, “The White House remains as confident as before that the Senate will swiftly confirm Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chairman to finally restore competence and confidence in Fed decision-making.”

Powell first revealed the grand jury matter in January through a rare Sunday night video. He said, “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”

Powell also said, “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

A federal judge later tossed out two DOJ subpoenas sent to the Fed, which badly damaged the criminal case. US District Judge James Boasberg wrote, “A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower rates or resigning.”

James also wrote that the government had “essentially zero evidence” to suspect Powell of a crime.

Your keys, your card. Spend without giving up custody and earn 8%+ yield on your balance with Ether.fi Cash.

A sudden rise in crypto-linked kidnappings in France is colliding with a growing debate over data security. Pavel Durov had claimed that leaks of personal data may be putting digital asset holders at risk. In an X post, he highlighted that there have been 41 kidnappings of crypto holders in France in just 3.5 months of 2026.

Telegram founder alleges that sensitive user data is making investors easier targets. This includes information held by tax authorities. He also pointed to a major breach involving France’s Agency for Secure Documents. Reports suggest that data from around 19 million people was exposed. This means that names, addresses, and phone numbers have been leaked. 

France charges 88 in crypto kidnapping cases 

French authorities seem to be framing the situation more cautiously. Officials had reportedly confirmed that more than 40 crypto kidnappings or attempted abductions have been recorded since January. This marks a sharp increase from last year. According to police, the trend gained momentum in 2025. Last year saw around 30 such cases reported.

“The modus operandi and targeting methods vary,” said Philippe Chadrys of France’s judicial police. He noted that many operations are directed by networks operating from abroad. The incidents range from short-term abductions to more violent cases involving torture and ransom demands.

In one recent case, a woman and her 11-year-old son were kidnapped in Burgundy. They were later freed after a large-scale police operation. In another case, suspects in the town of Anglet reportedly targeted a crypto investor but mistakenly abducted the wrong individuals before being arrested.

And we’re forgetting something major: 23 million accounts compromised, 250 million records exposed, and over 300 services breached since the start of the year…

At this point, we’re basically a digital sieve. https://t.co/xq5FMuIkJ7

— Seb (@seblatombe) April 24, 2026

Meanwhile, some cases have turned particularly brutal. In 2025, David Balland was kidnapped with attackers cutting off one of his fingers while demanding ransom. He has been a prominent figure in the crypto industry. However, he was later rescued, but the case pointed out how far criminal groups are willing to go.

French prosecutors reportedly said they have now charged 88 individuals in connection with crypto-related kidnappings. This includes minors across at least a dozen cases.

Durov’s claims have added fuel to worries that data exposure could be adding to the threat. He even warned that expanding government access to digital identities and encrypted communications could worsen the situation if systems are compromised. He asserts that tax officials are directly selling data. However, the source still remains unverified, but the major issue remains the same that leaks are real.

Mass data leaks in France

French data protection groups report millions of compromised records across multiple breaches. It has affected everything from public services to private companies. The scale of exposure has led some experts to warn that sensitive financial and personal data may already be circulating among criminal networks.

Authorities say crypto-related kidnappings often follow a similar pattern. Cases show that victims are identified as holding digital assets, abducted, and pressured to transfer funds under duress. Unlike traditional bank accounts, crypto wallets can be accessed instantly if private keys or passwords are revealed. This makes them attractive targets for extortion.

Seb, President of the French Federation for Data Protection, in a post mentioned that France is set to become the 2nd most hacked country in the world in 2026. He added that this is a scathing reality check as Europe prepares to impose widespread identity scanning. Over 300 French services affected, 23 million accounts compromised, over 250 million data records exposed, he further added.

He dropped a list, which suggests that  France Titres (ANTS) saw over 11.7 million accounts exposed. The State Payment and Services Agency leaked the banking details and social security numbers of millions of French people.

The crypto market remained turbulent after a few days of recovery. Bitcoin price has surged almost 10% over the last 30 days. BTC is trading at $77,601 at the press time. Ether saw a week of decline, shedding 5% of its gain. ETH price stood at $2,315 at the press time.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

Euro stablecoins have surged 1,200% under MiCA as regulatory clarity attracts institutional capital into euro-denominated digital assets. Controlled reserve management (requiring 100% fiat-backing for EU stablecoin issuers) has boosted investor confidence by nearly 50%.

While the 1,200% growth has not been uniform across all euro-denominated digital assets, it reflects a massive shift in market structure following the implementation of MiCA. Consequently, the striking growth is notably concentrated in MiCA-compliant tokens that have absorbed liquidity from their unregulated rivals. Major financial players like Société Générale and Deutsche Börse are already using euro stablecoins for tokenized fund management and wholesale payments.

Additionally, traditional banks now account for nearly 40% of new e-money token (EMT) issuers, driving active crypto usage among lower-income brackets (retailers). However, this usage is mostly flat or on the decline. The European stablecoin market has consolidated into a high-stakes race between crypto native issuers and banking consortia, leaving a vacuum now filled by a few dominant players.

MiCA’s ‘E-Money Token’ classification changes stablecoin demand 

The strict classification of euro-pegged stablecoins as “E-Money Tokens” has fundamentally changed their demand. Clear rules requiring at least 30%-60% of fiat-backed reserves to be held as bank deposits have increased institutional trust. Regulated EMTs now account for approximately 25% of all stablecoin transaction volume in the EU. 

Consumer interest in euro-backed stablecoins has also risen significantly, driven by increased demand. Search activity for these assets has risen by 313% in Italy and ~400% in Finland. MiCA has established uniform rules across all 27 EU member states, allowing “passporting” (the ability to operate across all 27 EU member states with a single license). However, flows are notably concentrated in jurisdictions like Malta, Germany, and the Netherlands. These countries lead in MiCA license issuance.

Major players like UniCredit, BBVA, and BNP Paribas have also formed the Qivalis consortium to launch a shared, MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin rail by late 2026. The consortium of 12 major European banks is targeting institutional settlement and treasury operations. Their goal is to create a default euro stablecoin for global crypto markets, leveraging their existing massive depositor base. They are responding to the narrowing stablecoin market in 2026 amid full MiCA enforcement. Many non-compliant giants, such as Tether’s USDT and EURT, were forced to exit the EU.

Circle’s EURC dominates the European stablecoin market

As of April 2026, Circle’s EURC dominates the European stablecoin market, holding over 50% of the euro stablecoin market share. The company secured its French EMI license early, allowing it to “passport” EURC across all 27 EU member states. The EURC is now deeply integrated into physical commerce via Ingenico’s 40 million POS terminals. It is also embedded into institutional settlement via the Stellar network. Consequently, the EURC token has seen transaction volume grow by over 1,100%.

Société Générale-FORGE’s EURCV has also recorded over 340% growth in transaction volume. The EURCV token focuses on tokenized bond settlement and wholesale payments. It recently expanded its multichain strategy to the Stellar network and XRP Ledger to tap into cross-border payment ecosystems.

The rise of MiCA-licensed euro-backed stablecoins is also fueling a massive capital rotation as investors migrate from unregulated offshore stablecoins to on-chain RWAs. These euro stablecoins are projected to reach 40% market share in the RWA sector as the year progresses. Market share is particularly important, as regulators expect tokenized real estate in the EU to reach €500 billion by 2027. Additional MiCA-aligned tokens gaining traction include EURI (Member Finance), EURQ (Quantoz), and EURE (Monerium).

However, while the growth rate of euro stablecoins has been dramatic (exceeding 1,200% in transaction volume for specific tokens), the euro stablecoin market still lags behind the $300 billion U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin market. Nevertheless, the trend indicates a new, stable, and compliant environment for European digital assets. Euro stablecoins account for nearly 13% of the total global payments activity.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

The DeFi Education Fund (DEF) and 35 co-signatories, including a16z crypto, Aptos Labs, Uniswap, Chainlink, Paradigm, Solana Policy Institute, and Phantom, among others, have petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its recent staff guidance on DeFi interfaces into durable notice-and-comment rulemaking. 

In another development, Ethereum developer Tom Lehman published a draft proposal, EIP-8182, on X. The proposal calls for native private transfers to be embedded into the Ethereum protocol.

Both events are likely going to impact how the SEC rulemaking matches the pace of innovation in the crypto space.

What did the SEC’s April guidance on DeFi interfaces say?

The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets issued a staff statement on April 13 that exempts certain crypto trading interface operators from registering as broker-dealers.

The exemption covered operators of front-end interfaces connecting to DeFi protocols through which users control their own funds.

The guidance permits covered UI providers to receive transaction-based compensation from users without having to register as broker-dealers.

Why are DeFi stakeholders pushing for formal rulemaking now?

The April 13 guidance from the SEC is an interim staff statement that will be considered withdrawn after five years from its publication date unless the Commission states otherwise or makes it a rule.

The DEF and its co-signatories are asking the Atkins SEC to lock that position down through formal rulemaking so that it cannot be undone by a future commission with different policy priorities. Anyone who lived through the SEC under Gary Gensler would understand the urgency to implement formal rules.

The signatories cautioned that regulatory ambiguity could become a drag on blockchain development and reduce market access for investors.

How does Ethereum’s own privacy architecture complicate the current guidance?

If adopted, the EIP-8182  draft proposal would make private transfers a native feature of Ethereum itself.

The proposal would add a shared shielded pool directly into Ethereum as a system contract, with a ZK proof-verification precompile.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been down this path before in April 2025. Back then, Vitalik proposed that wallets should integrate privacy tools like Railgun so that users could manage shielded balances without adding any third-party tools.

The pool that is being proposed in EIP-8182 would carry no admin key, no governance token, and no on-chain upgrade mechanism. It would just evolve through Ethereum’s hard-fork process.

As the Ethereum network considers this proposal, there is also the perspective of how native privacy at the protocol level would impact the category of non-custodial interfaces the Commission has just attempted to define.

A shielded pool built into Ethereum would make it relatively harder for any future regulator to draw broker-dealer lines around front-end wallets offering private sends as a default feature.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

Today, April 24, Giancarlo Lelli, an Italian researcher, was awarded a one-Bitcoin prize after the world’s largest demonstration of the possible quantum attacks elliptic curve keys could face. 

This type of attack could not only threaten Bitcoin but also Ethereum, leading to a possible loss of more than $2.5 trillion in digital assets protected by elliptic curve cryptography (ECC).

Over the last couple of years, there have been speculations about the security risks that quantum computers pose to elliptic curve cryptography. It has been described severally as a theoretical and distant problem, but that reality seems a lot less distant after today’s success.

What Lelli actually did

Elliptic curve cryptography is the math behind crypto wallets being able to handle user funds without revealing the private keys. To break through it, Lelli made use of Shor’s algorithm alongside a powerful quantum computer to derive the private key from its public key.

By using a variant of Shor’s algorithm, Lellii was able to derive the private key across a search gap of 32,767 by targeting the Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem (ECDLP). This allowed him access to the mathematical formula that supports the security systems that secure Bitcoin.

The most notable part of this accomplishment is the accessibility itself. Project Eleven’s bounty program, launched last year, was created to break elliptic curve keys ranging from 1 to 25 bits by April this year. 

Lelli was able to achieve this task on cloud-accessible hardware, no special equipment, no institution funding his research, and nothing illegal. He was able to carry out the attack with equipment available to any motivated researcher today.

How fast is the gap closing?

The last recorded public break was a 6-bit demonstration by Steve Tippeconnic in September 2025 using IBM’s 133-qubit quantum computer. Lelli’s recent accomplishment, however, has expanded that factor by 512 in just seven months.

Aside from the practical success, the theoretical aspect is also growing as fast, with Google’s April 2026 whitepaper putting the requirement for a full 256-bit (Bitcoin’s scale) attack at about 500,000 physical qubits, down from the initial estimate of several million. 

Building on the white paper, a subsequent paper from Caltech and Oratomic brought the number to as low as 10,000 qubits in a neutral-atom architecture.

What Lelli’s success signifies is a practical side to the theoretical findings. Proving that the hardware aspect and the theoretical aspect are both moving in the right directions. While the jump from 15 bits to 256 bits still remains large, the possibilities look closer than ever, and could now be only a matter of time

Who should be worried?

Major users at risk are wallets whose public keys are already on-chain. An estimated 6.9 million Bitcoins are stored in such addresses, including Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated 1 million Bitcoins, which have been left untouched since the network’s inception. 

In response to this possible threat, Bitcoin developers have begun reviewing multiple proposals. Cryptopolitan has reported on some solutions, such as BIP-360, which looks to introduce a quantum-resistant transaction format, while BIP-361 looks to phase out older systems and freeze tokens that fail to migrate.

Additionally, an Ethereum post-quantum security team has also been formed in an attempt to find and replace vulnerable parts of the Ethereum crypto network. 

While many are taking recent developments seriously, a few still believe it to be a fire alarm that people are overreacting to, making Lelli’s result all the more important. His success shows just how much the attack class is progressing, showing that it is moving much faster than we could have predicted.

Still letting the bank keep the best part? Watch our free video on being your own bank.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is trying to make the digital euro cheaper and easier to roll out by settling the technical rules early. It signed deals with three European standards bodies, ECPC, nexo standards, and the Berlin Group, so the digital euro can use open payment standards that already exist. 

Those agreements cover key parts of how the digital euro would work in real life. CPACE, built by ECPC, handles contactless payments through near-field communication between a device and a terminal.

ECB locks in open standards before digital euro issuance

Nexo standards link merchant systems to the back-end systems of payment service providers and acquirers, and those rules are already used for payment acceptance and cash machine transactions. 

The Berlin Group framework lets people pay with an alias like a phone number, and it also supports balance checks, reconciliation across mobile devices, and payment acceptance in cases where a digital euro payment starts inside a merchant app on a smartphone.

The ECB said using open standards that are already available to the market should cut adoption costs and help firms line up their systems early. That matters because Europe still does not have one open payment standard that works across terminals everywhere. Instead, the region still leans heavily on proprietary systems controlled by international card schemes and global digital wallets. For the ECB, that is both a cost problem and a dependency problem.

The bank wants the digital euro to work in a more uniform way across the euro area. By relying on standards that are already widely used in Europe, the ECB says payment acceptance should get simpler, the user experience should stay more consistent, and European payment schemes should find it easier to grow beyond their domestic markets.

In practice, that means a national card scheme could enter point-of-sale settings outside its home country without merchants needing technical upgrades to their POS terminals.

The ECB also said the upside from these standards work could show up before the digital euro is even issued. Once EU lawmakers pass the digital euro Regulation, market players would get more certainty that these standards will apply across the euro area because the digital euro would carry legal tender status.

The ECB said these standards were chosen together with market participants in the Rulebook Development Group and that they fit the goals of the Eurosystem payments strategy. More standards may be added later, but only if the ECB’s Governing Council signs off.

Questions over digital euro costs still hang over the project

While the ECB is building the rails for the digital euro, it is still keeping a tight lid on what the project has cost. Four days ago, Nicholas Anthony of the Cato Institute said the ECB refused to hand over spending details after weeks of talks and a public records request tied to its central bank digital currency work.

Nicholas said the bank asked him for identification to check whether he was an EU citizen under Article 2(1) of Decision ECB/2004/3.

Nicholas said he told the ECB he was not a European citizen and asked for the request to be handled under Article 2(2), which says noncitizens can use the same process to seek information.

He later got this reply from the ECB: “Having examined your request, we concluded that, regrettably, at this juncture, it is not possible for the ECB to process it.” The bank also said it had “exercised its discretion not to process” the request because he was not a European citizen.

That did not settle anything. Maya Thomas of Big Brother Watch then made the same request as a European citizen, and that request was also rejected.

After extending the deadline, the ECB still would not say how much had been spent on research and development for the digital euro. It argued that the release of the figures would expose the commercial interests of contractors and the bank, the ECB’s internal finances, confidential information, and personal data.

Nicholas pointed out that ECB officials have already put out parts of the spending picture in public announcements. 

Based on those figures, he estimated that at least €1.12 billion has already been set aside for the digital euro, with another €2.62 billion expected in the launch year. Though one separate estimate put the full bill as high as €18 billion.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

Nvidia climbed back above a $5 trillion market value on Friday and finished the session at a new closing record, putting the chipmaker back at the top of the global stock market.

The stock surged by as much as 4.2% during the day, and that single rally added over $200 billion to Nvidia’s value. At its session high, the company was worth about $5.12 trillion, based on Google Finance data.

The buying came during a strong day for chip stocks. Intel’s earnings helped lift sentiment across semiconductors, while Oklo’s nuclear power deal gave investors another reason to keep watching companies tied to AI power demand.

Nvidia ended Friday at $208 per share, its highest close ever. That price is still below the stock’s $212.19 intraday record from October 29, 2025, but not by much.

Nvidia uses April’s chip rally to erase its weak first quarter and widen its lead over Alphabet

Nvidia is now worth about $1 trillion more than Alphabet, which sits in second place by market cap. That gap matters because it shows how far AI hardware has pulled ahead of the rest of Big Tech in public markets.

The stock did not start the year like this. During the first three months, Nvidia fell 6.4%, and traders had a real reason to question whether the AI trade was cooling.

April changed the picture fast. Over the past month, Nvidia shares gained 20%, helped by the wider rebound in semiconductor stocks. Over the past 52 weeks, NVDA is up 101%. 

The S&P 500 gained 32.2% in the same period, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF rose 57.4%. That is not a small lead. That is the kind of gap that keeps Nvidia glued to every trading desk screen.

The next big date is May 20, when Nvidia reports earnings. Analysts expect the company to post diluted profit of $1.70 per share, compared with $0.77 a year earlier. That would be a 120.8% jump. Nvidia has beaten analyst forecasts in three of its last four earnings reports and missed once.

For the full year, analysts expect NVDA to report $7.77 in earnings per share, up 70% from $4.57 in fiscal 2026. They also expect earnings to reach $10.31 in fiscal 2028, which would be a 32.7% increase from the year before.

Wall Street still leans hard toward the stock. Out of 49 analysts covering Nvidia, 44 rate it Strong Buy, three have Moderate Buy, one has Hold, and one has Strong Sell. The average price target is $268.80, which points to 34.6% upside from current levels.

Nvidia builds its quantum software case while NIO and DeepSeek work around U.S. chips

The latest stock strength also came after Nvidia released Ising, a group of open-source AI models built for quantum computing work. The models deal with two hard problems in the field: calibration and error correction.

Ising can cut qubit calibration from days to hours. It also gives 2.5 times faster real-time decoding and 3 times better accuracy than pyMatching.

Ising works with CUDA-Q and NVQLink. IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and major labs have already adopted it. That puts NVDA deeper into quantum software, not just AI chips. For investors, the point is simple. Nvidia is trying to keep its platform central in more than one next-generation computing market.

China’s AI side is doing the same thing. DeepSeek released a preview version of V4 on Friday. The model has been adapted to run on Huawei chips, which fits China’s plan to rely less on U.S. hardware. 

Cryptopolitan reported in February that DeepSeek had said that it did not send the new model to American chipmakers for tuning. Instead, it gave early access to local firms such as Huawei, even though it had worked with Nvidia’s technical staff before.

A few hours after the V4 preview, Huawei said the model is fully supported on Ascend 950-based supernode clusters. Huawei also said its chips were used for part of V4-Flash training. DeepSeek trained its older V3 and R1 models on Nvidia chips, but it did not say whether V4 used them too.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.

China is tightening the gate around its technology sector and making it harder for firms to take U.S. money. The new line from Beijing is: If a Chinese tech company wants funding that comes from America, it may now need state approval first.

Bloomberg reported Friday that this policy is part of a wider reaction to Meta Platforms’ takeover of Manus. That deal was worth $2 billion earlier this year. After the December announcement, Beijing opened an investigation into possible illegal foreign investment and the export of technology.

Beijing tightens control over U.S. money entering China tech

Several state bodies have spent the past few weeks telling private firms to turn down capital from the U.S. unless officials clearly approve it first. One of the main agencies involved is the National Development and Reform Commission, a powerful planning body with broad influence over policy.

The message has already reached companies such as Moonshot AI, which is considering an IPO, and StepFun, another startup working in AI.

The same kind of limit is also being applied to ByteDance Ltd. The Beijing company owns TikTok and is still the most valuable startup in the country. It also runs one of China’s best-known AI chatbots. Regulators do not want ByteDance to allow secondary share sales to American investors unless the government signs off on it.

Beijing simply wants to stop U.S. investors from picking up stakes in sectors it sees as sensitive and tied to national security. The Manus deal pushed that fear into the open. It also put the National Development and Reform Commission at the center of a broader investigation. That review now involves several agencies, including China’s Ministry of Commerce.

This could leave China’s tech sector even more cut off from the kind of venture money that helped build it over the last 20 years. A lot of that backing came from American pensions and endowments. 

The funding pipeline mattered for growth, hiring, product development, and overseas expansion. Now the state is putting more barriers in front of it.

The pressure does not stop there. Beijing has also restricted red chips, which are Chinese firms set up overseas, from seeking listings in Hong Kong. That matters because the red-chip route helped Chinese companies raise foreign money for years by going public outside the mainland. That old playbook now looks far less reliable.

Foreign carmakers rush into China with new software and electric models

While Beijing is shutting some doors in tech finance, foreign car brands are trying to win ground in China by pushing harder on software, electric cars, and driver-assist systems. The timing is not random.

Carmakers from the U.S., South Korea, and Germany rolled out fresh plans around the Beijing auto show, which opened on Friday, as they try to fight weak sales in the biggest auto market on earth.

General Motors is trying to rebuild Cadillac’s position in China. Will Stacy, vice president of Cadillac China at GM, said, “We have plans to really build this brand and return [to] where we used to be in terms of volume and [market] share.”

On Wednesday, Cadillac unveiled its first model for China with driver-assist features. The vehicle is the three-row VISTIQ, a luxury electric SUV priced at 468,000 yuan, or about $68,000, and 508,800 yuan for a higher trim.

The VISTIQ can handle highways, city roads, and self-parking through advanced driving support software. That system was developed with Momenta, a Chinese startup focused on autonomous driving. The partnership shows how foreign brands still need local tech ties if they want to stay relevant in China.

Hyundai also made its move on Friday by formally launching its all-electric IONIQ brand in China. The Korean company is treating this as its biggest local expansion plan so far.

Volkswagen is doing the same on a large scale. On Tuesday, the German automaker said it will start adding AI-powered voice control to cars in China in the second half of the year. Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen China CTO, said, “The car should be like a companion.”

He also said the company’s in-car AI agent will use technology from Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu to build a tool with “personality” that can predict what drivers need. Volkswagen also showed four vehicles in Beijing on Tuesday, including the ID. UNYX 09, which it developed with Xpeng in just two years.

Your keys, your card. Spend without giving up custody and earn 8%+ yield on your balance with Ether.fi Cash.

Trump’s team has locked down $344 million in digital coins that US officials say had ties to Iran, pulling a huge pile of stablecoin money into Washington’s latest sanctions fight.

The freeze hit two Tether wallets. It came while talks over the war stayed messy, the ceasefire remained fragile, and the global economy kept paying for the fallout.

According to CNN, and US officials said the money trail led through Iranian crypto platforms, private wallet layers, and addresses tied to the Central Bank of Iran.

The White House is trying to hurt Tehran’s cash channels while negotiators still fail to land a deal. Nobody in Washington has said the freeze will force Iran to change its war plans or soften its negotiating stance.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department was sanctioning several wallets tied to Iran, and he said officials would keep chasing Tehran’s overseas cash lines. The Iranian mission at the United Nations gave no comment.

Treasury traces Iran-linked stablecoins through exchanges and central bank wallets

Tether said on Thursday that it helped the US government freeze $344 million held across two crypto addresses after several American agencies sent information about conduct they viewed as illegal.

That matters for crypto markets because USDT is not just another token sitting in some dusty corner. It is one of the main rails traders use to send dollar value around the world, and the issuer can freeze tokens when authorities bring a case.

A US official told CNN that investigators had information tying the coins to Iran. The official said blockchain analytics teams found links to the Iranian government, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and payments that passed through extra addresses before touching wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran.

CNN said it had not confirmed on its own that the two Tether wallets belonged to Iran or carried state-linked funds.

The same US official said the Central Bank of Iran has relied on harder-to-read crypto paths for cross-border payments. The official said Tehran has used digital assets while trying to support the rial and keep trade going under tight restrictions.

The Treasury also said it keeps regular contact with US and foreign banks, along with digital asset exchanges, as part of its sanctions work.

Chainalysis says Iran’s crypto pile reached $7.8 billion in 2025

Governments under heavy sanctions have leaned on crypto because banks are harder to use when Washington and its allies watch every wire.

Iran, Russia, and North Korea have all used digital assets to bring in money, pay partners, and work around blocked payment routes. Crypto is not secret fairy dust, and blockchain records can still be traced. But it gives sanctioned states more doors than the normal banking system.

Chainalysis, the crypto-tracing company, said Iran’s crypto holdings reached $7.8 billion in 2025. The company said that growth ran faster for most of the year than it did in 2024. It also alleges that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held about half of Iran’s blockchain assets in the final quarter of 2025, matching the group’s large role across the country’s wider economy.

For the frozen Tether wallets, Chainalysis said those addresses were active years ago and often sent large sums, sometimes reaching tens of millions of dollars, mostly to private wallets. The company said that style looked like patterns seen in known IRGC crypto wallets.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday backed the idea of the US joining currency swap deals with allies in the Persian Gulf and Asia as those countries look for financial cover from the Iran war.

Scott said talks on US dollar swap lines are not new. In a post on X, he said they are part of regular talks the Treasury Department has had with partner countries for years.

Scott also said the possible swap deals show the US dollar’s central role in global finance and what he called the strength of America’s economic shield.

Your keys, your card. Spend without giving up custody and earn 8%+ yield on your balance with Ether.fi Cash.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded its criminal investigation into Jerome Powell on Friday. The ruling relieves the head of the central bank of urgent legal pressure while highlighting broader ramifications for Washington’s institutional independence and political accountability. 

The Fed chair was essentially exonerated of any misconduct after officials concluded that the evidence in the Federal Reserve investigation did not satisfy the requirements for criminal prosecution. After reviewing testimony, records, and documents about the Federal Reserve building renovation project, they concluded there was no need for further criminal enforcement. 

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro stated that the Federal Reserve Inspector General has been ordered to conduct an independent investigation into building cost overruns that implicate taxpayer exposure. Pirro pointed out that the Inspector General has the power to assess the Federal Reserve’s accountability and to write a thorough report on the matter. She also confirmed that her office has concluded its criminal investigation while the Inspector General conducts its evaluation.

Pirro further added that the inquiry may be reopened if new information warrants it.

Powell probe closure clears path for Fed transition

The Justice Department’s closure of its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell transferred any lingering oversight to administrative review procedures. It officially eliminated federal criminal exposure related to the charges.  The closure of the investigation also eliminated a political barrier related to the larger Federal Reserve leadership transition process.

The ruling also cleared a pathway for Kevin Warsh, who has been proposed as a possible replacement to head the central bank under President Donald Trump. Lawmakers postponed consideration of Fed appointments while the criminal investigation was ongoing, citing concerns about moving forward amid unresolved legal scrutiny.

Noah Buffam, Director of FICC Strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto, commented that Warsh’s policy position is seen as marginally more dovish than Jerome Powell’s. 

Buffam pointed out that Powell concentrated more on core inflation, eliminating food and energy, while Warsh stressed reduced and median inflation metrics.  According to Buffam, the markets saw this discrepancy as evidence in favor of a quicker rate cut.  

Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, also commented that with the DOJ investigation now closed, Warsh can effectively be viewed as the Chair-in-Waiting.

Markets rally as Fed uncertainty fades post-investigation

Financial markets surged across a variety of asset classes following the Justice Department’s closure of its investigation. On-chain data revealed that Investors instantly repriced expectations for monetary policy stability. The Nasdaq Composite added 355.86 points during the session, increasing 1.46 percent to 24,794.36. The Nasdaq U.S. 500 Large Cap index increased 0.66 percent to 3,710.61, while the Nasdaq-100 climbed 1.75 percent to 27,251.97. 

The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average barely moved. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index increased 4.2%, while the MSCI World Index increased 0.4%. Strong gains in technology-heavy names and risk assets supported the surge.

TradingView data showed the U.S. dollar declined during the session, trading at $98.543, down 0.2%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index lost 0.2% as traders adjusted positions amid reduced political and policy uncertainty around Federal Reserve leadership.

The wide risk repricing was prolonged by currency markets and fixed-income assets, with most currencies appreciating vs the US dollar. The British pound increased 0.4 percent to $1.3518, the Japanese yen climbed to 159.35 per dollar, and the euro increased 0.3 percent to $1.1718. 

The trend of cryptocurrency markets was varied, with Ether falling 0.1 percent to $2,322.98 and Bitcoin rising 0.2 percent to $78,032.27. 

 U.S. Treasury markets also experienced a dramatic reaction as rates fell across the curve. The 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to 4.30 percent, and the 2-year yield fell six basis points to 3.78 percent.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

The Trump administration’s Intel (INTC) stake has grown into a $28 billion paper gain after Intel surged to a fresh all-time high.

Back on August 22, 2025, Cryptopolitan reported that the U.S. government had bought a 10% holding in Intel at $20.47 a share, a position worth about $8.9 billion at the time.

Now, after a huge run in the stock, that U.S. position is sitting on a gain of about 315%.

On Friday, Intel surged by 28% and traded as high as $85.22, setting a new record for the stock. The rally pushed Intel to its strongest one-day performance since October 29, 1987. It also lifted the stock’s gain for the year to about 120%.

Intel also climbed 22.6% in another reading that took it above the peak it reached during the dot-com era in 2000. Truly just… outstanding!

Intel turns strong earnings into a market shock

Yesterday, Cryptopolitan reported that Intel saw $13.58 billion in revenue for the quarter, beating the $12.42 billion that Wall Street expected. Earnings per share came in at $0.29, far above the $0.01 forecast. 

Revenue was also up 7.2% from the $12.67 billion that Intel reported a year earlier. For the next quarter, Intel said it expects revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion in the second quarter. Analysts had been looking for about $13 billion.

And then of course, we’ve got the whole matter of Tesla and SpaceX picking Intel’s 14A process for the Terafab AI chip project. That gives Intel an outside customer for a future manufacturing node that the market is watching closely.

At the same time, Intel’s Data Center and AI business posted year-over-year growth. Those two things landed together. The foundry build-out is still expensive and still one of the biggest financial variables in the Intel story, but the new customer link gave traders another reason to bet on Intel in the near term.

For a long stretch, Intel looked like it was losing ground in the fight for AI hardware demand. Other chip companies got most of the attention, and Nvidia led much of that run. But perhaps that money is now flowing back into Intel in a serious way.

Intel lifts the whole chip sector as AI spending keeps rolling

The rally did not stop with Intel. U.S. chip stocks surged to new highs on Friday after Intel’s stronger-than-expected forecast boosted confidence in the wider AI trade.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.2% to a record and was on track for its 18th straight day of gains. The index is now up more than 47% this year.

That broader rise has been tied to the spending binge from major tech companies building more AI infrastructure. Chip names have been among the biggest winners from that wave of spending. The earnings outlook shows how wide the gap has become.

The semiconductor group is expected to post 109.2% earnings growth for the first quarter, based on LSEG data. The wider S&P 500 information technology sector is expected to grow earnings by 48.2%. Both numbers are strong, but the chip group is in a different league.

Other stocks joined the Friday jump. AMD climbed 13.7%. Arm gained 12%. Nvidia, now the most valuable company in the world, added 1.6%. Last year, a lot of the rally in chip names came from demand for Nvidia’s graphics chips, which are used to train large AI models on huge piles of data.

Earlier this year, many AI and other Big Tech stocks came under pressure. Investors started asking whether all the spending would really turn into better revenue, fatter margins, and stronger cash flow soon enough.

Even with that concern, valuations have cooled from earlier extremes. The S&P 500 tech index now trades at about 22 times forward 12-month earnings, down from about 31.8 last year. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was last around 26.6 times forward earnings, compared with about 20.7 times for the S&P 500.

Still letting the bank keep the best part? Watch our free video on being your own bank.

Business activity picked up in April, but Americans are paying more for almost everything, and most say things are only getting worse.

The U.S. composite PMI is at 52.0 this month, a three-month high that suggests a slight recovery following a sluggish March, according to new data from S&P Global.

However, the average price of goods and services increased at its quickest rate since July 2022, a signal that should concern both consumers and legislators.

On paper, the report’s manufacturing section appeared solid. The manufacturing PMI reached its highest level in 47 months at 54.0.

However, economists advise being cautious. Much of that growth came not from people actually buying more, but from companies rushing to stock up before prices climb further or supply chains buckle.

Surveys were filled with phrases like “panic buying” and “emergency buying,” language that points to fear, not confidence.

Services told a quieter story. The services PMI edged up to 51.3, but that is still the second-lowest reading of the past year. New orders barely grew.

Businesses and households across tourism, financial services, and other sectors are holding back spending. People are waiting to see what happens next, weighed down by geopolitical tensions and stretched budgets.

Supply chains under pressure

Supply chains are showing real strain. Delays from factory suppliers in April were the worst since August 2022.

Shipping difficulties related to continuing hostilities overseas account for a portion of that.

A portion of it stems from businesses purchasing excess inventory just to be safe, which further restricts supply and drives up costs.

The report’s pricing information is uncomfortable to read. Inflation in manufacturing products reached a ten-month high. The service sector’s price rises hit a 45-month high.

Input costs rose at their fastest rate in 11 months. Taken together, the inflation picture is getting harder to dismiss.

Regular Americans are feeling it. A new Fox poll found that 70% of respondents believe the economy is getting worse, up sharply from 55% a year ago.

Only 26% said conditions have improved. The pessimism cuts across party lines. Even among Republicans, 56% described the state of the economy as bad.

Approval ratings fall as energy costs rise

President Trump’s economic approval rating has taken a hit. It dropped to 30% in April, down from 38% in March.

The consumer price index rose 3.3% in March, slightly above the level when he took office.

Roughly one in four Americans approves of how he is handling the cost of living. One major driver of that frustration is energy costs, pushed higher by the ongoing conflict with Iran.

That conflict is also shaping what comes next for the broader economy.

The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade on Iran, while Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed oil prices toward $90 a barrel.

The prospect of gasoline hitting $5 a gallon is now a real concern for both the White House and the Federal Reserve.

For the Fed, the situation is getting harder to navigate.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global, said that if inflation keeps moving in the direction the PMI data suggests, it becomes much harder for the central bank to make a case for cutting interest rates.

The gap between what the numbers show and what people feel is hard to ignore. A manufacturing PMI of 54.0 normally signals solid growth.

However, rather than being motivated by actual customer demand, this reading is being driven by defensive actions taken by businesses to create buffers against uncertainty.

There might not be enough actual demand to sustain the trend when stockpiling eventually decreases.

For the time being, the Fed is torn between an economy that appears to be doing well and inflation that is being driven up more by fear than by growth.

Any discussion of rate cuts will remain firmly on hold until that changes.

Your keys, your card. Spend without giving up custody and earn 8%+ yield on your balance with Ether.fi Cash.

KuCoin has introduced direct crypto payments via Mastercard’s global network, enabling eligible Australian users to make everyday crypto purchases. The crypto platform has partnered with Immersve to enable crypto-backed spending at merchants that accept Mastercard, including on Google Play and Apple Pay.

KuCoin says the initiative advances its commitment to trust-first infrastructure and the real-world utility of digital assets. USDC can be used through the integration to fund everyday purchases in real time at the point of sale. The service supports 37 USDC pairs, and digital assets are converted to fiat currency at checkout before the Mastercard settlements. 

Meanwhile, KuCoin continues to invest in resilient infrastructure to strengthen security, transparency, and compliance for users and partners, while expanding real-world crypto usage. The initiative focuses on accountability to reinforce confidence in the digital assets ecosystem. 

KuCoin CEO says initiative increases Mastercard acceptance in Australia

BC Wong, the CEO of KuCoin, has claimed that the partnership increases Mastercard acceptance among Australian users. The initiative makes digital assets useful in the real world by providing secure rails, ensuring user-first protections, and clear compliance standards.

Wong also discloses that the launched product builds on KuCoin’s AUSTRAC DCE registration, reflecting the company’s commitment to responsible innovation. The solution empowers users to spend their assets easily as crypto becomes an everyday utility within global finance. 

James Pinch, the Australian Managing Director of KuCoin, has also noted that utility is the turning point for digital asset adoption among everyday users in a fast-moving market like Australia. He adds that KuCard helps connect digital assets to real commerce through a familiar Mastercard payment experience. The card further supports broader adoption while reinforcing the importance of governance and responsible innovation. 

“Australia is a fast-moving market for digital asset adoption. For everyday users, utility is the turning point.”

–James Pinch, Australian Managing Director of KuCoin

Jerom Faury, the CEO of Immersve, also believes that collaborating with Mastercard and KuCoin is a major step toward mainstream adoption of digital assets for everyday purchases. He notes that Immersve is building the bridges between Web3 and traditional finance on a global scale that enable individuals to spend crypto everywhere Mastercard is accepted. He calls it a “game-changer for everyone.”

Senior Mastercard VP says initiative pushes crypto utility boundaries

Christina Rau, the senior vice president of digital commercialization of Mastercard, noted that the partnership with KuCoin and Immersve reflects his company’s ongoing commitment to responsible innovation in the Web3 space. He emphasizes that this collaboration helps make digital assets truly usable in everyday life by enabling the safe and compliant spending of digital assets at scale.

KuCoin is rolling out the new product in Australia, where users can earn up to 2% cashback on transactions depending on their VIP tier and trading volume. However, the product is currently virtual-only, meaning there is no physical card or ATM access at this stage. However, the move marks a major step in the practical application of crypto in Australia. It positions KuCoin as a direct competitor to other local payment service providers, such as CoinJar.

Meanwhile, Axis One Markets Pty Ltd is authorized to provide certain financial services in respect of KuCard on behalf of Immersve. KuCard is issued solely by Immersve, which is also responsible for all associated disclosures and obligations under the Australian financial services license. However, the services are limited to the scope of the Corporate Authorized Representative agreement between Axis and Immersve. 

However, Immersve has distanced itself from the financial services and products issued by Echuca Trading Pty Ltd. The company advises users to read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Financial Services Guide (FSG), Target Market Determination (TMD), and any other disclosure documents before using such financial products or services. Immersve also aims to ensure adherence to local anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) standards.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.