Cryptopolitan

Decentralized finance helped Russia’s favorite stablecoin, A7A5, reach trillions of rubles in annual turnover, according to a top manager of the sanctioned project.

The role of such cryptocurrencies has been growing for Russian trade under Western sanctions, the latest of which specifically targeted digital coins tied to the ruble.

A7A5 handles transactions worth over 7.5 trillion rubles

Integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) has allowed the Russian fiat-pegged stablecoin A7A5 to process 7.5 – 8 trillion rubles ($100-106 billion) in cross-border transfers within a year.

The revelation was made by the project’s Director for International Development, Oleg Ogienko, who shed light on the mechanisms that enabled the coin’s growth.

The crypto executive spoke at a financial forum this week organized by the PSB bank, which is backing the project. He was quoted by the business news portal RBC as stating:

“DeFi has become our salvation. It was the bridge to decentralized finance that allowed the stablecoin to scale. Without it, there would be neither liquidity, nor the instrument currently in use.”

Ogienko noted that while only around 1.65 trillion rubles’ worth of digital financial assets (DFAs) are issued in Russia, global transactions on public blockchains involving Russian users exceed 20 trillion rubles (over $266 billion).

As defined in Russian law, DFAs are a category that encompasses a range of products, such as tokenized securities, based on private blockchains and offered by approved issuers.

The closed nature of this Russian DFA market model remains the main impediment to liquidity inflows into the sector, Ogienko argued.

In contrast, A7A5 operates on the Tron and Ethereum networks and is listed on both centralized and decentralized exchanges.

This has allowed it to become the largest non-dollar stablecoin since its launch in early 2025 and the 19th largest overall.

According to data from DeFiLlama, its capitalization now exceeds $548 million, accounting for nearly half of the market of cryptos linked to fiat currencies other than the Greenback.

Despite the differences with Russian DFAs, the financial authorities in Moscow classified A7A5 as a digital financial asset last September, permitting Russian businesses to use it in international settlements.

Thus, besides DeFi, the significant demand from Russian firms facing foreign trade restrictions imposed over the war in Ukraine became the other major factor contributing to A7A5’s success.

Russian stablecoin recognized as tool for sanctions evasion

Reportedly created by the Russian company A7, the leading ruble-pegged stablecoin is now issued by the Kyrgyzstan-based entity Old Vector, which claims to be “fully independent.”

However, it’s still supposedly backed by ruble deposits at the sanctioned PSB, formerly Promsvyazbank, and its transactions are processed by the Tokeon platform, which is part of the PSB Group.

These and other organizations linked to cryptocurrency, such as the recently hacked exchange Grinex, have been hit with multiple sanctions by Western governments.

In its latest, 20th package of sanctions, the European Union specifically targeted stablecoins tied to the Russian national currency, like A7A5 and RUBx, as well as the digital ruble itself.

Meanwhile, the head of the Central Bank of Russia noted on Tuesday that the role of digital assets in cross-border settlements has grown.

At the same time, Governor Elvira Nabiullina made it clear that the monetary authority remains opposed to their use for domestic payments.

Russia is preparing to legalize and comprehensively regulate crypto transactions this spring, including investment, trading, and taxation.

Commenting on the legislation currently considered in parliament, Oleg Ogienko highlighted a proposal to permit the issuing of Russian digital assets and rights on public blockchains.

Once that happens and the geopolitical situation improves, giving Russia access to the global crypto system, he expects the country’s digital-asset market to grow exponentially.

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

GlassWorm, a known malware, has put 73 harmful extensions into OpenVSX’s registry. Hackers use it to steal developers’ crypto wallets and other data.

Security researchers found that six extensions have already turned into active payloads. The extensions were uploaded as fake copies of well-known listings that weren’t harmful. According to a report from Socket, the bad code comes in a later update.

GlassWorm malware attacks crypto devs

In October 2025, GlassWorm first appeared. It used invisible Unicode characters to hide code intended to steal crypto wallet data and developer credentials. The campaign has since spread to npm packages, GitHub repositories, the Visual Studio Code Marketplace, and OpenVSX.

A wave hit hundreds of repositories and dozens of extensions in the middle of March 2026, but its size caught people’s attention. Several research groups noticed the activity early on and helped stop it.

The attackers appear to have changed their approach. The latest batch doesn’t embed malware right away; instead, it uses a delayed activation model. It sends a clean extension, builds an install base, and then sends a bad update.

“Cloned or impersonating extensions are first published without an obvious payload, then later updated to deliver malware,” Socket researchers said.

Security researchers found three ways to deliver the malicious code across the 73 extensions. One way is to use a second VSIX package from GitHub while the program is running and install it using CLI commands. Another method loads platform-specific compiled modules like [.]node files that contain the core logic, including routines for getting more payloads.

A third way uses heavily obfuscated JavaScript that decodes at runtime to download and install malicious extensions. It also has encrypted or fallback URLs for getting the payload.

The extensions look a lot like genuine listings.

In one case, the attacker copied the icon of the genuine extension and gave it a name and description that were almost the same. The publisher name and the unique identifier are what set them apart, but most developers don’t look closely at these things before installing.

GlassWorm is built to go after access tokens, crypto wallet data, SSH keys, and information about the developer environment.

Crypto wallets are continuously under attack from hackers

The threat goes beyond just crypto wallets. A different but related incident shows how supply chain attacks can spread through devs infrastructure.

On April 22, the npm registry hosted a bad version of Bitwarden’s CLI for 93 minutes under the official package name @bitwarden/cli@2026.4.0. JFrog, a security company, found that the payload stole GitHub tokens, npm tokens, SSH keys, AWS and Azure credentials, and GitHub Actions secrets.

JFrog’s analysis found that the hacked package modified the install hook and binary entrypoint to load the Bun runtime and run an obfuscated payload, both during installation and while running.

According to the company’s own records, Bitwarden has more than 50,000 businesses and 10 million users. Socket linked that attack to a bigger campaign tracked by Checkmarx researchers, and Bitwarden confirmed the connection.

The problem relies on how npm and other registries operate. Attackers exploit the time between when a package is published and when its contents are checked.

Sonatype found about 454,600 new malicious packages infesting registries in 2025. Threat actors looking to gain access to crypto custody, DeFi, and token launchpads have begun targeting registries and releasing malicious workflows.

For developers who installed any of the 73 flagged OpenVSX extensions, Socket recommends rotating all secrets and cleaning their development environments.

The next thing to watch is whether the remaining 67 dormant extensions activate in the coming days, and whether OpenVSX implements additional review controls for extension updates.

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After nearly 60 years of coordinated oil strategy with the world’s most powerful producers, the United Arab Emirates has decided to leave OPEC+ on May 1, 2026. The action coincides with a shift away from collective control toward a national energy strategy driven by geopolitical concerns, particularly disruptions stemming from the US-Iran dispute. 

The UAE joined OPEC in 1967 through Abu Dhabi, and it remained a member even after the United Arab Emirates was established in 1971. It has actively supported the stability of the world oil market and improved communication between producing countries at this time. 

The decision to exit OPEC followed an internal assessment of the UAE’s production capacity and long-term policy direction, indicating a deliberate change rather than an abrupt split. According to officials, the change was primarily motivated by evolving market conditions and the need for greater flexibility in the output strategy. 

The limitations of OPEC+ cooperation in responding quickly to evolving global energy risks are evident in volatility across vital supply routes, such as the Strait of Hormuz, and in broader regional tensions. 

UAE prioritizes flexibility and national energy strategy

The UAE said its decision to leave OPEC is part of a broader economic and strategic shift aimed at giving it greater flexibility in managing oil output. The government said in a statement that the move “enhances the UAE’s ability to respond to evolving market needs” and reflects its “long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile.”

The government also said, “The time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates and our commitment to our investors, customers, partners, and global energy markets.” 

The action to withdraw is also consistent with efforts to enhance output while preserving lower-carbon production, as well as greater investment in domestic energy capacity. By leaving OPEC+, the UAE presents itself as a trustworthy, independent supplier that can modify supply to meet changes in global demand. 

The nation made it clear that it will continue to support market stability despite Brexit, portraying the move as a policy change rather than a departure from international energy cooperation. 

The government further made it clear that its commitment to the stability of the world market will not change as a result of the withdrawal. The statement stated, “This decision does not alter the UAE’s commitment to global market stability or its approach based on cooperation with producers and consumers.” 

According to the UAE, its future production strategies would be “guided by responsibility and market stability, taking into account global supply and demand.” To support economic growth and diversification, it plans to continue collaborating with partners to expand its resource base. 

Energy alliances fragment under geopolitical pressure

The UAE’s exit marks a structural shift in OPEC+ cohesion, with analysts characterizing the move as a major setback for an organization that has traditionally relied on coordinated supply management to influence international oil markets.

The alliance’s ability to maintain collective control over output and pricing in an increasingly complex energy landscape is called into question by the departure of one of its major producers, highlighting growing internal friction. 

The fragmentation is occurring amid serious supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, where a significant portion of global oil flows have been affected, highlighting how geopolitical instability is eroding the effectiveness of integrated energy frameworks. 

ABN AMRO’s report published on 25 March 2026 revealed that, according to energy flow assessments, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has significantly impacted global oil and gas flows, eliminating an estimated 16–20 million barrels per day of crude and processed products from international markets. 

The persistence of supply gaps highlights how geopolitical escalation is overwhelming short-term stabilization mechanisms and reinforcing energy insecurity across importing economies.

This remains evident even amid coordinated releases of 412 million barrels from the International Energy Agency’s member countries’ reserves and partial sanction waivers that permit limited Iranian and Russian cargo flows.

The disruption of global crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz has highlighted sharp variations in energy dependency: Asian nations like Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan depend on the Strait for more than 60% of their oil imports, while others risk even greater vulnerability, reaching 75%. 

According to a Cryptopolitan report, dated Feb 17, 2026, the crisis has also shown that nations are increasingly relying on bilateral supply adjustments with the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve at 415 million barrels, China’s stocks at about 1.3 billion barrels, and global onshore inventories at 2.58 billion barrels. 

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Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, Inspector of Cyber and Information Space and Germany’s highest-ranking officer in the domain, has dashed the prospects of deploying Palantir software in its flagship military cloud project.

The military leader cited concerns over data sovereignty and the US firm’s operational model, saying that he does not see that happening right now.

The decision comes at an uncomfortable period for American tech companies that have included patronage from international governments as part of their revenue channels while burning through capital ahead of highly anticipated stock market listings.

Why is Germany shutting Palantir out of its military cloud?

Germany’s armed forces are building a secure private cloud for data processing and AI applications, a project it considers indispensable to modern digital defense.

Palantir, through its Maven platform, already serves NATO and several member states. Germany, a member state, also uses intelligence outputs, as Daum acknowledged. 

However, the vice admiral pointed out that external parties, namely representatives of Palantir, are operating this technology, and that granting a private US firm access to Germany’s national database is, for him, currently inconceivable.

Germany has reportedly shortlisted three candidates for the project, and two are based in Germany, while one is headquartered in France. The companies are Almato, Orcrist, and ChapsVision, respectively. Their software is expected to be tested this summer, with a contract to be awarded before year-end.

Palantir’s political profile is a major reason for Germany’s reservations. Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has previously flagged concerns about Palantir’s co-founder Peter Thiel’s minority stake in German drone manufacturer Stark Defense.

That contract was only cleared after the ministry received assurances that Thiel held no operational authority over the company.

Is Germany’s caution part of a wider pushback against US AI dependency?

Berlin’s decision may not be in isolation, as research by Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) showed that governments worldwide are racing to achieve what they call “AI sovereignty,” driven by fears of overreliance on a small number of providers and their home countries.

The United Kingdom has reportedly committed £500 million to a sovereign AI unit, while France and Brazil are building domestic regulatory frameworks with similar intent. China itself is another major AI powerhouse, ranking very close to the United States.

However, Washington seems to be fighting such AI independence from coming to fruition, as reported in February, a State Department cable signed by Secretary Marco Rubio instructed diplomats to lobby against foreign data sovereignty laws, stating that they could disrupt AI and cloud services provided by US firms.

The cable singled out the EU’s GDPR as unnecessarily burdensome, and recent developments suggest that framing has hardened European resolve rather than softened it.

Can US AI firms afford to lose international government business?

Germany’s procurement stance comes at a time when some of the US AI sector’s largest players prepare for public listings while carrying losses that dwarf their revenues.

SpaceX’s AI division accounted for 61% of the company’s $20.74 billion in total capital expenditure in 2025 while running an operating loss of $6.4 billion, according to Reuters.

None of the three major AI IPO candidates, SpaceX, OpenAI, or Anthropic, expects to reach profitability before the end of the decade.

OpenAI’s situation is particularly strained ahead of a planned listing as early as the fourth quarter of this year. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company missed internal targets for both weekly active users and annual ChatGPT revenue last year, after Google’s Gemini captured market share.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has warned internally that the company may struggle to fund future computing contracts if revenue growth does not accelerate, while some board directors are not exactly pleased with CEO Sam Altman’s strategy of locking up $600 billion in future data center commitments.

If other sovereign powers continue to route defense and critical infrastructure business toward domestic or European alternatives, the addressable markets these firms are selling to investors will contract before they ever fully materialize, which can be disastrous to their respective bottom lines.

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The Korean National Tax Service (NTS) revealed that it has successfully recovered $23 million (33.9 billion won) in overdue taxes from wealthy individuals hiding money overseas. The announcement was also framed as a demonstration of the extent of its reach, which leveraged its international ties and cooperation. 

The agency has also unveiled a plan to go after cryptocurrency investors using artificial intelligence (AI) as part of a new data-sharing agreement that provides the NTS with information from hundreds of jurisdictions worldwide. 

South Korea goes after $23 million in evaded taxes

The Korean National Tax Service (NTS) announced that since July 2025, and through its collaboration with tax authorities in three different countries, it has collected 33.9 billion won (approximately $23 million) from five major tax evaders. 

Tracking individuals who hid money abroad used to be very difficult, but now the NTS exchanges information with 163 jurisdictions worldwide and uses automatic data exchange with 119 countries to find accounts. 

In a recent case, a professional sports player in Korea left the country for an overseas team without paying taxes. The NTS identified the player’s hidden assets through international information-sharing. The athlete eventually paid the full amount through a local representative. 

In another instance, a foreign business operator left Korea during a tax audit. The NTS traced their financial accounts and luxury vehicle to a third country and requested the government’s assistance in seizing the assets. 

The individual paid their taxes to avoid losing the assets. The NTS even entered an overseas bankruptcy court in Indonesia to claim money from a developer who owed billions of won. 

What is the new crypto tracking system?

A public bid is currently open for a “Virtual Asset Integrated Analysis System” that will enable the NTS to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to analyze transaction patterns. If the AI detects unusual trading activity that appears to be tax evasion, it will flag the account for an audit. The project is worth 3 billion won (approximately $2.02 million). 

According to the official bidding documents, the system will be built between April and November 2026, with a pilot launch scheduled for November 2026. 

By 2027, the NTS will also automatically receive crypto transaction data from 56 countries under a new global reporting framework.

Attorney Sinyoung Choi of Cha & Kwon Law Offices warned that this system will remove the “anonymity” of crypto. She also stated that the burden of proof is on the taxpayer. If the AI identifies an unreported transaction, it could result in penalties. 

However, Cryptopolitan recently reported that the opposition People Power Party (PPP) met with the heads of the five major Korean exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, to discuss canceling the tax. 

PPP Floor Leader Song Eon-seok argues that because the government abolished the Financial Investment Income Tax (FII Tax) on stocks, it is unfair to tax crypto investors. He claims that taxing crypto but not stocks is a “double taxation problem.”

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According to CBS News, Kyle Holder, a 73-year-old woman from New York, lost all of her $300,000 retirement savings in three months after replying to a WhatsApp message that advertised a crypto investment course.

A WhatsApp message turns into a costly crypto scam

Holder got the message she didn’t ask for in December 2024, when she was recovering from an injury that had kept her from working as an occupational therapist. She told CBS News that she saw it as a chance to “use my time, start something new, and make money, to carry me into my older years.”

The victim was then put in touch with someone who went by the name “Niamh” and said she was a single mother. Niamh and a supposed customer service representative helped Holder set up crypto wallets and move tokens. After the victim invested a small initial amount, they returned large gains. This is a classic tactic in investment fraud known as “pig butchering.”

Over the following two months, Holder sent a total of $300,000 to 14 different crypto wallets. When the money stopped appearing in her wallet, she confronted Niamh directly about whether she had been defrauded. Niamh averted blame, telling Holder she had made “a fatal mistake” by sending assets to a wrong address.

The victim fell into severe depression and was after all brought to a hospital by social services. She now lives in an assisted care facility supported by Medicaid.

IRS traces wallets to $5 million criminal network

The IRS Criminal Investigation New York Field Office traced the 14 wallet addresses back to five wallets used to funnel ~$5 million stolen from multiple victims.

IRS agent Harry Chavis said that investigators believe the criminals used AI tools available on the dark web to scrape personal information and identify vulnerable targets. “They’re using these dark AI tools to write scripts to literally go specifically to the victim,” Chavis said.

Chavis urged victims not to let shame stop them from contacting authorities. He continued, “These are highly sophisticated scams and anyone can be a victim.”

FBI data shows crypto fraud losses hit $11 billion in 2025

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 453,000 cyber-related fraud complaints in 2025. The total losses reached $21 billion, according to the bureau’s latest annual report. Investment scams accounted for 49% of those complaints.

Cryptocurrency-related fraud was the costliest category. A total of $11 billion in losses was recorded across 181,565 complaints. The FBI identified 22,364 complaints tied to AI tools with combined losses of $893 million.

The pattern extends beyond anonymous online schemes.

In a separate case sentenced on April 23, a federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands gave Sze Man Yu Inos a 71-month prison term for a bitcoin wire fraud scheme that targeted older women across Saipan, Guam, Washington, and California. Prosecutors said Inos built personal relationships with victims before soliciting money under false investment pretenses, resulting in $769,355 in ordered restitution.

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection says common indicators of AI-driven scams include unsolicited contact and messages that push urgency or demand secrecy. The Federal Trade Commission has stated that any business requesting cryptocurrency payments is not legitimate, and that guaranteed investment returns in crypto markets are a red flag.

Victims can file reports through the FBI’s IC3 portal or the FTC’s Report Fraud website. Federal agents say early reporting improves the chances of tracing stolen funds and identifying perpetrators.

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After a two-year regulatory pilot, the Israel Capital Market Authority has made a cautious move toward regulating digital assets by approving its first shekel-pegged stablecoin framework, BILS. The action highlights the growing demand for regulated, fiat-backed digital currencies amid the global stablecoin market, which has surpassed $320 billion.

The Israel Capital Market Authority authorized the introduction of BILS, to be launched by licensed provider Bits of Gold under regulatory supervision in Israel. The token will enable cross-border shekel transfers, smart contract execution, foreign exchange with major stablecoins like USDC, and liquidity provision. 

The stablecoin market is currently valued at over $320 billion and processes approximately $46 trillion in transactions annually. Stablecoins have also evolved from a crypto-native product to a payment and settlement infrastructure. 

Regulatory sandbox enables controlled stablecoin testing phase

According to the Israel Capital Market Authority, the government’s broader digital asset strategy aligns with the draft stablecoin law, which will be made available for public comment. It stated that the approval came after a two-year procedure in which Bits of Gold tested stablecoin issuance in a controlled setting while operating under a regulatory sandbox.

Yuval Rouach, founder and CEO of Bits of Gold, said that the regulators evaluated issuance procedures, client asset custody, risk management systems, business continuity planning, cybersecurity protections, and adherence to financial regulations during the pilot.

The framework mandates that the stablecoin be fully backed by the Israeli shekel on a 1:1 ratio, with reserves held in separate accounts within Israel.

“The approval represents a milestone not only for our company, but for the evolution of financial infrastructure. BILS creates a direct bridge between the Israeli shekel and the global digital assets economy, enabling real-time payments, on-chain trading and programmable financial applications based on a regulated local currency.”

-Yuval Rouach, Bits of Gold founder and CEO.

The authority’s head, Amit Gal, stated that the action promotes technological innovation while preserving financial stability, safeguarding customers, and lowering systemic risks.

Against this backdrop, the approval puts Israel in line with a broader global trend in which governments are progressively influencing stablecoins as regulated parts of financial infrastructure rather than unregulated cryptocurrency assets.

The emergence of sovereign-backed stablecoins like BILS suggests a move toward more state-integrated digital currency systems as international organizations such as central banks and international financial authorities demand greater regulation. 

Global regulators align on stablecoin oversight frameworks

Similar legislative strategies are being explored in other countries, including the UK, where legislators have established a framework for stablecoins denominated in sterling.

On November 10 of last year, the Bank of England proposed a regulatory framework for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins that categorizes digital tokens by their use for financial market settlement, corporate transactions, and payments. 

According to the bank, the framework assigns less regulation to non-systemic tokens used in restricted cryptocurrency trading activities, while placing extensively used stablecoins under joint supervision by the Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Stablecoin regulation is increasingly being portrayed as a cross-border policy concern, according to a recent Cryptopolitan report dated April 20, 2026. Global institutions have warned that fragmented national approaches could increase vulnerabilities in interconnected financial markets. 

The report noted that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) warned that stablecoins do not yet have the structural protections necessary to serve as widely used payment methods without posing systemic risks. The BIS argued that if stablecoin adoption picks up, issuers may draw liquidity into new digital channels, prompting deposit withdrawals from existing banking channels and shifting credit intermediation in favor of non-bank financial firms that are more vulnerable to market stress.

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Bitcoin’s weekend crash to below $77,000 in minutes exposed a fragile market structure dependent on institutional liquidity that disappears during off-market hours. Cascading liquidity events over the weekend due to “brittle” order books triggered nearly $100 million in long liquidations almost instantly.

The plunge and subsequent long liquidations were not just a result of bad news, but a mechanical failure of a market that has become increasingly “bifurcated” between deep liquidity weekdays and “ghost-town” weekends.

Professional analysts at OwMarket and Binance argue that Bitcoin has yet to bridge the “Liquidity Sensitivity” gap. They emphasize that the OG token remains a high-beta risk asset on weekends, sensitive to geopolitical or macro noise when the “institutional floor” is absent.

Meanwhile, more analysts are currently focusing on a high-volatility corridor between $74,000 and $82,000 where dense clusters of leveraged positions are most vulnerable to the next market “hunt.” They are also monitoring structural warning signs to predict when the next “cascade” is imminent. 

Notably, a 20-30% increase in open interest (OI) over 48 hours without a corresponding price move typically precedes a major deleveraging event within 72 hours. On the other hand, perpetual swap rates exceeding 0.1% (longs overleveraged) or falling below -0.05% (shorts overleveraged) also serve as early warning signals of liquidations.

Standard deleveraging event spirals into broader market ‘air pocket’

The weekend Bitcoin drop vividly illustrates how structural gaps can turn a routine correction into a volatile plunge. In this environment, the lack of active institutional market makers on weekends allowed a standard deleveraging event to spiral into a broader market “air pocket.” 

Specifically, automated systems triggered forced closures of leveraged long positions as prices breached psychological levels like $77,000, creating a self-reinforcing downward loop in a market with a few active buyers to absorb the flow. The resulting mechanical selling overshadowed any organic demand, as Bitcoin behaved more like a “liquidity outlet” for cash rather than a “digital gold” safe haven. 

Analysts at Kaiko Research also note that Bitcoin is increasingly behaving like a split system: deep and efficient during U.S. weekday hours (driven by ETFs), but brittle and high-risk on weekends. That leaves positions exposed to a “Monday Catch-up” effect, in which markets aggressively reprice as soon as institutional liquidity providers return. 

Meanwhile, Kaiko and the BIS have also noted that thin liquidity and high leverage create a “reflexive loop.” Thin books create large price gaps, which trigger more liquidations, further hollowing out the books as market makers pull back to protect capital.

Analysts warn that a daily close below the $74,000-$74,259 level (described as a critical “line in the sand” and technical “supply wall”) would threaten a deeper setback toward the $60,000 psychological floor.

Macro sensitivity forces Bitcoin to trade in tandem with tech stocks

Macro sensitivity stemming from a strengthening U.S. dollar following the nomination of Kevin Warsh to the Fed has intensified the “risk-off” sentiment, forcing Bitcoin to trade in tandem with high-beta tech stocks rather than decoupling.

Viewed as an inflation hawk, Warsh has signaled a preference for “monetary discipline” and a smaller Fed balance sheet. That has provided a “structural floor” for the U.S. dollar (DXY), which, as global liquidity tightens, puts downward pressure on Bitcoin. 

Meanwhile, the failure of the U.S.-Iran peace talks in Pakistan (and the subsequent U.S. Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz) spiked oil prices toward $95-$110/barrel. However, rather than seek Bitcoin as a hedge, institutional managers have treated it as a liquidity source, selling it alongside tech stocks to cover broader portfolio risk.

Because Bitcoin is now heavily integrated into the same “risk-on-risk-off machinery” as equities via spot ETFs, it is increasingly sensitive to the same macro signals as software and semiconductor stocks.

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Russia’s finance ministry has come up with a mechanism to tax crypto-related income that will complement upcoming rules for digital currency transactions.

Under the proposed scheme, non-residents will transfer a significantly larger share of their profits to the Russian state than investors and earners residing in the country.

Moscow to tap into money made on Russia’s regulated crypto market

The Russian Ministry of Finance (Minfin) has prepared amendments to the country’s Tax Code to sort out the taxation of transactions involving digital assets, the local press unveiled.

The draft legislation has been approved by the federal government’s commission on legislative activity on Monday, the business daily Vedomosti reported, quoting sources present at the meeting.

The proposal aims to align national tax rules with the massive bill “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” recently passed on first reading by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

After much deliberation, Russia finally decided to regulate rather than ban cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin through a package of laws scheduled for adoption by July 1, 2026.

The push is part of a plan to bring this and other sectors of the Russian economy out of the shadows, which was announced by the executive power in Moscow last year.

A dedicated new article will determine the payment of personal income tax on profits from the sale or other disposal of digital assets, such as exchanges for fiat money.

The positive difference between revenues from crypto transactions and expenses, such as acquisition costs, intermediary fees and storage expenses, will form the tax base.

Services provided by digital depositories and exchanges will be exempt from VAT. The same applies to what the document calls “related services” pertaining to trading and issuance.

Russia to use progressive scale for personal income tax on crypto

In the absence of proper regulations, many cryptocurrency transactions in Russia were largely untaxed until now, with only a few exceptions.

Mining became the country’s first regulated crypto activity in late 2024. Companies and sole proprietors engaged in the business are required to register with the Federal Tax Service (FNS).

Since January 1, 2025, income from cryptocurrency mining received by legal entities is subject to corporate income tax at a rate of 25%.

Individual entrepreneurs and private citizens mining digital coins are required to pay personal income tax according to a progressive scale, between 13 and 22%. However, the tax rate for non-residents is much higher, at 30%.

These rates will apply to other crypto transactions as well, although with some specifics. For example, income derived from mining will be reported as part of the general income, while profits from investment and trading will form a separate tax base.

Intermediaries such as brokers and trustees will be responsible for withholding and transferring taxes owed by their clients to the state budget.

Whether crypto investors will be treated fairly is an open question

Vladimir Gruzdev, chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, believes the amendments will curb tax evasion and boost transparency in the crypto space.

According to Alexey Istomin, partner at the Pareto Legal firm, the Minfin’s taxation mechanism treats digital financial assets like traditional financial instruments without increasing the tax burden.

“For the most part, the new bill aims to close existing gaps in the taxation of cryptocurrency and certain transactions involving it,” added Denis Polyakov, head of digital economy practice at GMT Legal.

Others warn, however, that there are more pressing issues to solve. Russia needs to first “find someone to tax,” remarked Dmitry Machikhin, founder and CEO of the compliance platform BitOK.

Commenting to Vedomosti, he emphasized that the proper conditions that would convince crypto owners to emerge from the shadows are yet to be created.

Russia’s upcoming crypto framework has been criticized for being overly restrictive. It legalizes cryptocurrencies but admits only the largest coins to the regulated Russian market.

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More than 600 Google (GOOGL, GOOG) employees told Sundar Pichai on Monday to keep the Pentagon away from Google’s AI for classified work.

The letter came from workers inside DeepMind and Google Cloud, who pointed to a report from The Information that said Google and the US Department of Defense were in talks over using Gemini inside classified systems.

Google employees outline numerous reasons to block Gemini from secret Pentagon work

The letter started with a direct warning to Sundar, who the workers are telling, “We are Google employees who are deeply concerned about ongoing negotiations between Google and the US Department of Defense. As people working on AI, we know that these systems can centralize power and that they do make mistakes.”

The employees said they believe their closeness to the technology gives them “a responsibility to highlight and prevent its most unethical and dangerous uses.”

“We ask you to refuse to make our AI systems available for classified workloads. Otherwise, such uses may occur without our knowledge or the power to stop them,” said Google employees. The letter then explained that they want AI to help people, not support harm. They named lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance as core fears. They also said the risks go beyond those two areas, because classified work can hide what is really happening.

Their argument was if Google accepts secret military workloads, workers may have no way to check the use, question it, or stop it, and the only real guarantee is to reject classified work before the deal is done.

They also warned that the wrong choice could damage Google’s name, business, and place in the world. The employees said their own safety and critical infrastructure face active threats, while lives and civil rights are already at risk from bad use of technology built by people like them.

Trump’s Pentagon is forcing its way into massive AI access for US military

Pentagon leaders have said the military must be free to use commercial AI for “all lawful uses.” Officials say that phrase gives the government room to use the technology in different cases while staying within US law and military rules.

AI workers do not see that as enough protection. Their concern has grown because of Trump’s own language and actions. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump threatened to bomb “every” bridge and power plant in Iran. Experts told The Post that such an attack would break international law. His administration’s strikes on boats it claims were carrying drugs have also been challenged by international law experts.

The Google letter landed while other AI firms are already tangled in Pentagon fights. Anthropic, the private company behind Claude, had its technology placed inside US military systems last year. Those tools helped sort data and identify possible targets.

Then the Pentagon cut Anthropic off from all Defense Department work in February. The company had tried to add contract terms saying its AI could not be used for mass surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons.

Anthropic and the government are now in court over whether that cutoff was legal. That case has pulled more attention toward Google and OpenAI, because both work with the US military.

OpenAI is private, so there is no stock ticker. It signed a deal in February to provide AI for classified workloads soon after Anthropic was removed. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, has said he is confident the government contract blocks use for US mass surveillance and lethal autonomous weapons.

Google has been here before. In 2018, workers protested a Pentagon project that used Google AI to identify objects in drone footage. Hundreds signed a petition against that work, and Google later chose not to renew the deal.

After that fight, Google created a pledge saying its AI technology would not be used for weapons or surveillance. But the company has spent recent years looking for more military contracts. Last year, Google dropped those limits. In December, it signed a deal that lets the Defense Department use Gemini.

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Nvidia hit a new record after rising 4% to $216.61, lifting its market cap to an all-time high of $5.26 trillion.

The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,173.91, while the Nasdaq also hit a new closing high at 24,887.10.

Nvidia is still trailing chip peers this year, with the stock up 15% versus a roughly 46% gain for the Philadelphia Semiconductor index.

Oil prices jumped as U.S.-Iran talks stalled, with WTI at $96.37 and Brent at $108.23.

Ripple is expanding its institutional presence in South Korea through a partnership with KBank, the country’s first internet-only lender and Upbit’s exclusive banking partner.

The agreement, signed on April 27 at KBank’s headquarters in Seoul, will test blockchain-based cross-border remittances across selected international routes. KBank CEO Choi Woo-hyung and Ripple Asia-Pacific Managing Director Fiona Murray signed the agreement.

According to a report by The Korea Herald, the deal will test whether blockchain-based remittance systems can improve speed, cost efficiency, and transparency compared with traditional correspondent banking networks.

Ripple KBank pilot targets UAE and Thailand corridors

Ripple and KBank are testing the remittance model in several stages. The first phase examined a wallet-based remittance service through a separate app interface. The second phase, now underway, connects KBank customer accounts and internal systems to test the stability of on-chain transfers.

📢Breaking: Kbank, South Korea's first pure online bank, and @Ripple form a strategic partnership with POC to better understand stablecoin-based transactions and try Ripple's SaaS-based digital wallet by Palisade.

Image: April 27 Signing Ceremony with Fiona Murray… pic.twitter.com/iawsx1BpvZ

— 🌸Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) April 27, 2026

The test focuses on remittance paths linked to the UAE and Thailand. The bank is using Ripple’s Palisade SaaS-based wallet. The test now involves settling payments with a stablecoin, rather than XRP.

This enables the bank to pilot blockchain payments without the risks associated with price fluctuations of crypto assets for compliance-intensive projects. Murray said KBank has led the way in digital banking in Korea and is an innovator.

The deal is Ripple’s second with a Korean institution this month. Ripple signed a deal with Kyobo Life Insurance to tokenize government bond settlement on April 15.

KBank’s crypto links add strategic weight

KBank’s role in South Korea’s crypto market gives the partnership wider importance. The bank is the exclusive banking partner of Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume. Korean rules require crypto exchange users to link verified bank accounts, with major exchanges paired exclusively with one bank.

This structure helped KBank expand its user base from about 2 million in 2020 to 15 million by the end of 2025. The partnership connects Ripple with a major digital bank already tied to South Korea’s crypto-trading infrastructure.

In addition, the KBank deal comes as South Korea prepares its Digital Asset Basic Act. The framework is expected to classify stablecoins as payment instruments and introduce requirements for cross-border digital asset activity.

As this process continues, major Korean financial institutions have been moving into blockchain infrastructure projects. Ripple is positioning Palisade, Ripple Custody, and its RLUSD stablecoin within that institutional activity.

Ripple expands Korea strategy beyond remittances

Ripple’s Korea strategy now includes banking, insurance, custody, tokenization, and settlement testing. The Kyobo Life agreement marked Ripple’s first partnership with a Korean insurer. The project aims to support near-real-time Korean treasury settlement and explore stablecoin-based payment rails.

Outside Korea, Ripple has also partnered with Aviva Investors to tokenize fund structures on the XRP Ledger. According to a Cryptopolitan report, Aviva Investors had $345 billion in net assets under management as of 2025. The partnership aims to support tokenized fund issuance and management on XRPL through 2026 and beyond.

Ripple has also worked with Convera to expand blockchain-based payment settlement for businesses. That partnership combines Convera’s foreign exchange and payment network with Ripple’s stablecoin and blockchain settlement rails.

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Western Union will roll out its dollar-backed stablecoin, USDPT (U.S. Dollar Payment Token), next month on the Solana blockchain, initially as a settlement tool for agent partners rather than a fully-fledged retail consumer product.

The launch had already been planned for the first half of 2026 since last year, and it brings Western Union closer to its goal of contributing further to restructuring cross-border settlement architecture globally. The company also aims to release two other innovative products, namely The Digital Asset Network (DAN), and the USD Stable Card.

Plans to launch the USDPT stablecoin were revealed in October 2025, as reported by Cryptopolitan. CEO Devin McGranahan confirmed the timeline during the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call on April 24. “At the foundation of our strategy is USDPT, our U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin,” McGranahan told analysts, “It is no longer a question of if Western Union will be active in digital assets; it is now how fast we can scale.”

NEWS: During its Q1 earnings call, @WesternUnion said its @Solana-based U.S. dollar stablecoin $USDPT is in final-stage preparation and expected to launch next month as an alternate to SWIFT for cross-border settlements. pic.twitter.com/vR9VgTUtuV

— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) April 27, 2026

Western Union’s USDPT focuses on settlements first

USDPT will not launch as a retail product. McGranahan said the token will serve as an alternative to SWIFT for settling transactions between Western Union and its agent network in select countries. On-chain settlement would allow transfers to process 24/7, including on weekends and banking holidays when traditional banks go offline.

The USDPT token will be issued by the Anchorage Digital Bank, a federally chartered crypto custodian. Western Union first disclosed the partnership with Anchorage and Solana in October 2025, along with the stablecoin reveal, and has since filed a trademark for “WUUSD,” per the Crypto Times report.

The company has claimed that USDPT will allow it to capture revenue that would have otherwise flowed to third-party stablecoin issuers, including income from issuance, exchange spreads, transaction fees, and float on reserves.

The Digital Asset Network and USD Stable Card companion products

The Digital Asset Network (DAN) will connect crypto wallets to Western Union’s retail and agent footprint through a single API. The company said the first DAN partner would go live the week of April 27, with seven or more partners expected to activate throughout the rest of 2026. “Through DAN, millions of wallet users will be able to move from digital assets into local currency using Western Union’s retail network,” McGranahan said. Western Union operates in more than 200 countries with hundreds of thousands of agent locations, giving the network a distribution advantage that most crypto-native stablecoin projects lack.

The second product is the USD Stable Card, a payment card that lets consumers hold stablecoins and spend them globally. The card is planned for launch later in 2026 across dozens of markets. The Stable Card is expected to act as an easy-to-assess method to spend stablecoins, particularly in inflation-sensitive markets. Western Union has not disclosed the specific launch markets or its card network partner for the Stable Card.

Western Union enters competitive field

Dollar-pegged stablecoins now exceed $300 billion in total market capitalization, and the GENIUS Act, signed into law in 2025, has given U.S.-issued tokens a clearer regulatory footing. Western Union is not the only legacy payments company building on Solana. PayPal’s PYUSD, issued by Paxos, has grown into the multi-billion dollar range. Fiserv is rolling out its own Solana-based stablecoin, FIUSD. MoneyGram has also integrated Circle’s USDC on the Stellar blockchain for its mobile app, and Visa has expanded stablecoin settlement support to Solana.

Solana processed $650 billion in adjusted stablecoin volume in a single month earlier this year, making it one of the fastest-growing settlement networks by transaction volume.

The pilot rollout during the launch in multiple select countries will be the first test of whether USDPT can significantly reduce settlement costs and processing times enough to justify the infrastructure shift and make an impact on the competition. The identities of the initial agent partners and DAN’s first wallet integration, along with The Stable Card’s launch markets and network partner, remain undisclosed.

Those details will determine whether Western Union’s stablecoin strategy reaches meaningful scale and achieves the impact intended by the company since the launch announcement.

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Spark has announced that it closed the first quarter of 2026 in profit, reporting gross protocol returns of $31.5 million and a treasury of $46.1 million.

The protocol shared the numbers from its Q1 2026 financial report, and so far, the second quarter has been going well for Spark after it emerged as the unlikely beneficiary of the worst crisis to hit its largest competitor in years.

Aave, the dominant force in decentralized lending, suffered a severe blow on April 18 when attackers exploited a vulnerability in Kelp DAO’s LayerZero V2 cross-chain bridge. The attackers minted approximately 116,500 unbacked rsETH tokens worth around $293 million and used them as collateral to drain real wrapped Ether from Aave’s pools.

The attack led to a loss that is estimated to be between $124 million and $230 million in bad debt and set off a flight of more than $15 billion in deposits from the protocol in the days that followed.

So far, the DeFi ecosystem has rallied to Aave’s aid with a multi-party recovery initiative dubbed DeFi United. The initiative has since drawn contributions from across the ecosystem and raised over $304 million toward restoring rsETH’s backing.

Aave has raised $304 million in ETH commitments toward its recovery. Source: DeFiUnited.eth

How did Spark turn a rival’s crisis into a moment of validation?

Spark made a governance decision on January 29 to halt all new rsETH supply, citing low and heavily concentrated utilization. This was about the same period that Aave launched its rsETH E-Mode with a loan-to-value ratio of 93%. 

Spark was criticized at that time for that decision, with users of ETH circular leverage strategies accusing the protocol of being overly conservative and abandoning growth. 

However, when Aave suffered an exploit three months later, Spark recorded zero direct losses. Its SparkLend TVL went up from $1.88 billion to over $3.4 billion as capital moved away from Aave to its platform from users seeking a safer harbor.

Spark’s SPK token has gone up by 33% since April 18, trading around $0.036.

The protocol announced on April 23 on X that its USDT Savings Vault had crossed $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) in just roughly seven months after launch.

Can Aave engineer the kind of comeback that Bybit managed last year?

The DeFi United initiative has drawn comparisons to Bybit’s recovery from a $1.4 billion theft by North Korea’s Lazarus Group in February 2025.

Bybit restored its reserves within 72 hours through partner support and processed over 350,000 withdrawal requests in the first 12 hours.

However, Aave’s situation is a bit different and more complex. DeFi United is not a bilateral backstop arrangement between a platform and its partners. It is a decentralized, multi-DAO coalition attempting to coordinate collateral restoration across multiple networks, pending governance votes and third-party technical actions by the likes of KelpDAO and the Arbitrum Security Council. 

Key commitments include 25,000 ETH from the Aave DAO, 30,000 ETH from Mantle, and 30,765 ETH released by the Arbitrum DAO. 

Stani Kulechov, Aave’s founder, personally pledged 5,000 ETH. The Solana Foundation’s president, Lily Liu, said her organization is lending USDT to Aave for the first time, citing cross-network DeFi stability as the motivation.

Circle also announced that it was purchasing AAVE tokens, framing the investment as a backing of the ecosystem and the community built around it. Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin joined DeFi United with up to 30,000 ETH in financial support.

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Galaxy Digital will post Q1 results before opening hours on Tuesday. The investment company will give a lagging indicator of the overall crypto market performance. 

Galaxy Digital (Nasdaq: GLXY) is expected to post weakened results in Q1, with negative earnings per share. Q1 was a challenging period for crypto markets, with multiple indicators softening further. The quarter was exacerbated by several high-profile hacks and an overall fearful sentiment. 

Reminder that Galaxy will release Q1 2026 financial results before market open on Tuesday, April 28.

CEO and Founder @novogratz, along with members of management, will host a conference call to provide an update on activities and results. pic.twitter.com/8EBjBhYwsi

— Galaxy (@galaxyhq) April 27, 2026

Mike Novogratz’s fund has been active during previous boom cycles and has supported the growth of Solana. Now, the fund will face a reckoning with the weakened market. 

Ahead of the news, GLXY shares traded at $24.90, with a minimal net gain for the year to date. The stock is still up by over 62% for the past 12 months. 

Galaxy Digital faces expectations of weaker profits

The upcoming report may reveal earnings per share of negative $0.93, indicating Galaxy Digital has struggled to remain profitable. The weakening crypto market led to nine downward revisions of the Q1 result for the past three months. 

Galaxy Digital adds to the overall negative sentiment of the crypto market. Despite this, GLXY shares are still considered undervalued. At the same time, GLXY stock comes with a mostly positive rating and buy recommendations. 

Firm Rating Price Target Date of Last Action Chardan Buy (Initiated) $35.00 April 27, 2026 Canaccord Genuity Buy $50.00 April 24, 2026 Rosenblatt Buy $39.00 April 23, 2026 Piper Sandler Overweight $36.00 April 21, 2026 BTIG Buy $50.00 April 14, 2026 Goldman Sachs Neutral $21.00 April 8, 2026

The results of Galaxy Digital may change the general sentiment and outlook for both crypto investors and mainstream stock buyers. The Q1 results will also show how successfully Galaxy Digital managed to pivot from its less successful crypto projects.

GLXY shows slower trading of its tokenized version

As Cryptopolitan reported, Galaxy Digital was among the first Nasdaq-listed companies to tokenize its native GLXY shares. 

About six months after the listing, GLXY shares show limited on-chain activity. In April, the company retired over 30K shares from its on-chain offerings. The biggest problem is the lack of adoption and trading, as only 81 holders hold a Solana version of the Galaxy common stock.

The company has only tokenized 0.0075% of its shares on Solana, more as a proof of concept than a viable trading venue. The shares are also not accessible to crypto natives to trade, mint, or redeem. 

Ahead of the report, Galaxy Digital holds over $609M in crypto assets, with 4.56K BTC and 42,000 ETH. The fund invested in multiple tokens from previous bull markets, including Terra (LUNA).

As of April 2026, the Galaxy Digital assets are mostly in the red, as the portfolio contains multiple tokens with no viable projects. Galaxy Digital has shifted from crypto to an AI play, currently building its 1.6 gW Helios campus for AI computation. 

The campus inherits the Galaxy Digital mining facilities in Texas and has the advantage of established energy infrastructure and contracts. The company has secured $1.4B in financing for its AI pivot, expected to complete the first stage of the Helios project.

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The European Union has been cautioned that the restrictive nature of the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation will harm the bloc’s global competitiveness when it comes to stablecoin development and proliferation. 

Despite the digital euro facing heavy skepticism, euro-dominated stablecoins have experienced an increase in popularity due to increased regulatory clarity. Meanwhile, the digital euro’s pilot has been delayed until late 2027, as the ECB tries to cut costs by using open standards and officials refuse to disclose the project’s current spending.

Is the digital euro failing before it even launches?

A new report from Blockchain for Europe, co-authored by former ECB Director General Dr. Ulrich Bindseil, warns that the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework is too restrictive.

The paper argues that the overly strict requirements are weakening the EU’s competitiveness and pushing business outside the bloc, risking placing Europe on the wrong side of the regulatory “Laffer curve.” 

Erwin Voloder, Director of Research & Strategy at Blockchain for Europe, is proposing targeted reforms to ensure MiCA supports a globally relevant euro stablecoin ecosystem.

Policymakers are being urged to consolidate recent growth in digital assets rather than relying on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that critics argue is dead on arrival. 

The ECB recently signed agreements with three European standards bodies, namely European Card Payment Cooperation  (ECPC), nexo standards, and the Berlin Group. The goal is to reuse existing open payment standards for contactless payments, merchant system links, and alias-based transactions. 

The ECB argues that using open standards will cut adoption costs for banks and merchants, ensuring a uniform user experience across the euro area. 

ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone stated that this “provides a European free alternative to current proprietary standards,” making it easier for new providers to enter the market.

Cryptopolitan recently reported that the Cato Institute’s Nicholas Anthony was denied access to spending records after the bank refused to process his request because he was not an EU citizen.

A subsequent request from a European citizen was also rejected. Based on limited public figures, estimates suggest at least €1.12 billion (approximately $1.28 billion) has already been set aside for the project, with another €2.62 billion (approximately $2.99 billion) expected in the launch year.

A pilot for the digital euro is not expected to start until the second half of 2027, with a 12-month timeline involving only a limited number of banks and merchants.

Meanwhile, the ECB has confirmed that if issued, the digital euro will be free for basic services, but the central bank has no plans to let people make programmed payments for regular bills to avoid competing with commercial banks.

Are euro stablecoins actually taking over the market?

According to TRM Labs’ Q1 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index, global retail crypto activity slowed for the second consecutive quarter. Total volume fell to $979 billion, down 11% from the previous year.

However, data shows that the volume of euro-denominated stablecoins from January 2025 to March 2026 grew from $69 million to $777 million. TRM Labs attributes this growth directly to MiCA regulatory clarity, which has reduced uncertainty for issuers and users.

EUR stablecoin volume has exploded since January 2025. Source: TRM Labs

Circle’s EURC now holds over 50% of the euro stablecoin market share after securing an early French EMI license, allowing it to operate across all 27 EU member states. Cryptopolitan reported that transaction volume for EURC has surged over 1,100%, while Société Générale-FORGE’s EURCV has seen growth of over 340%.

EUR stablecoins have grown in capitalization relative to USD stablecoins. Source: TRM Labs

Ten major European banks, including BNP Paribas, ING, and UniCredit have formed a consortium to launch a euro-backed stablecoin by mid-2026 through a new entity called Qivalis.

The consortium has already applied for an electronic money institution license with the Dutch Central Bank to provide a regulated, euro-pegged alternative to U.S. dollar stablecoins.

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India and New Zealand signed an historic free trade deal this Monday to expand market access and strengthen economic ties between the two countries.  This deal comes as India seeks to accelerate efforts to modernize its domestic economy through a massive digital infrastructure growth push.

India is at a once-in-a-generation inflection point. The global economic power structure is undergoing a major transformation, and the South Asian country is quickly becoming the center of it. As geopolitical uncertainty mounts under the circumstances of the Iran War, more countries than ever appear to be rushing into economic partnerships with India.

Last Monday, India and South Korea announced a significant upgrade to their bilateral trade agreement, and this Monday, the Indian government announced a free trade agreement with New Zealand. This deal comes after 9 months of negotiations and includes a 15-year commitment from New Zealand’s government to invest $20 billion USD in India. It serves New Zealand by decreasing their trade reliance on China.

As India quickly moves to boost external economic growth, efforts to further the country’s internal growth engine are also blossoming. A large piece of this includes India’s upgraded digital public infrastructure strategy, or “DPI,” as policymakers have titled it. NITI Aayog, which is essentially India’s central policy think tank, recently announced a two-phase strategy for DPI over the next decade. This new outline serves the purpose of assisting India in becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) expansion

NITI Aaayog released a new report titled “DPI 2047: The Roadmap to Prosperity.” This new two-phased roadmap for India’s digital public infrastructure outlines the next phase of growth (known as DPI 2.0, DPI 3.0) after the first phase (DPI 1.0) laid down foundational systems. DPI 1.0 was successful in creating a verifiable digital ID for over 1 billion Indian citizens, expanding financial access and opportunity for the country’s massive population.

DPI 2.0, which is focused on the next decade leading up to 2035, aims to transition this foundational infrastructure into a digital ecosystem that creates widespread, inclusive, socio-economic growth. It will focus on implementing interoperable systems across industries like healthcare, finance, employment, agriculture, and commerce by leveraging technology.

DPI 3.0 will focus on fostering innovation and further growth within the new economy created through the success of DPI 2.0. It is less defined as of now, but is focused on the decade between 2035 and 2047, and generally aims to position India as a global exporter of digital infrastructure systems and frameworks.

India’s external & internal growth serving Viksit Bharat 2047

The expansion of India’s digital public infrastructure is just one component of Viksit Bharat 2047, India’s vision of transforming the country into a developed economy by 2047. The dual-track external and internal growth that we are seeing today is all in service of this extensive, long-term initiative. By strengthening the country’s domestic capacity, India is simultaneously attracting newfound levels of foreign investment, positioning itself as an increasingly central player in global trade. The new trade deal with New Zealand is just another benchmark in India’s aggressive (and attractive) push for foreign investment in its blossoming economy.

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After many days of waiting, Iran has finally picked up the phone and made a call to the Oval Office, in order to offer what was allegedly called a permanent ceasefire deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, stop the war forever, but… leave the nuclear argument for at least a decade.

According to a report from Axios, a US official and two briefed sources told them on Sunday night that Tehran made it clear to Trump that they want a faster track that deals with the sea blockade first, because the talks are stuck and the nuclear file is a mess inside Iran’s own leadership.

Iran asks mediators to open Hormuz now, while Tehran delays the uranium fight

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi brought the plan into weekend talks in Islamabad, telling mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar that Iran’s leadership has not agreed on how far it can go on US nuclear demands.

But if the US ends the blockade before Iran gives ground on uranium, Trump loses the main tool he has been using to squeeze Tehran’s oil income.

Trump is expected to meet his top national security and foreign policy team in the Situation Room on Monday, and the meeting will center on Iran, the deadlocked talks, and what comes next. One source said the team will go through the failed diplomacy and the options still on the table.

Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he wants the naval blockade to continue because it is choking Iran’s oil exports. He said pressure on Tehran could bring results within weeks.

“When you have vast amounts of oil pouring through your system … if for any reason this line is closed because you can’t put it into containers or ships … what happens is that line explodes from within. … They say they only have about three days before that happens,” Trump said.

The weekend talks worsened after Abbas went to Pakistan and returned without progress. Cryptopolitan previously reported that the White House said Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would meet Abbas in Islamabad, but Iran did not confirm the meeting. Trump then pulled the trip.

The blockade traps crews, tankers, and cargo as clashes keep the strait closed

After the Pakistan track stalled, Abbas went to Muscat on Sunday for talks with Omani officials about the Strait of Hormuz. He later returned to Islamabad for another round. On Monday, he was expected in Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At sea, the human cost is getting uglier. Around 2,400 seafarers are stuck on more than 105 tankers in the closed strait, tanker trade group Intertanko said. Its managing director, Tim Wilkins, told the BBC’s Today program that crews are stranded off Iran’s coast with no clear way home.

Tim said there is a “huge amount of anxiety, stress, and fatigue on board” because crews are rationing basics, handling food and water, and dealing with garbage while they wait. He added, “Many are stuck on board with no certainty as to when they’ll be able to return home.”

Iran says the Strait of Hormuz cannot reopen because the US and Israel committed “blatant violations of the ceasefire.” The ceasefire has not stopped trouble in nearby waters.

Last week, Iran said it seized two cargo ships in the strait for “inspection.” Other vessels reported attacks while trying to sail through the area.

The US has also intercepted several ships since it imposed a blockade on maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on April 13. That blockade is now the center of the fight. Iran wants shipping lanes reopened before the nuclear question is settled. Trump wants the chokehold to stay until Tehran gives way on enrichment and uranium stockpiles.

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China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is insisting that Meta’s acquisition of the AI startup Manus is dead in the water despite the fact that the deal closed in December of 2025. 

For decades, U.S. capital has played a significant role in China’s technology sector, but now the country is prohibiting foreign investment to prevent U.S. investors from gaining stakes in sensitive technologies linked to China’s national security. 

What happened with the Meta-MANUS deal? 

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has ordered Meta to unwind its $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus. The commission now prohibits foreign investment in the Manus project and requires all parties to withdraw the completed transaction. 

Meta finalized its acquisition of the China-founded, Singapore-based AI agent startup in December 2025, but then Manus, created by Butterfly Effect, developed AI agents capable of executing complex tasks such as resume screening and creating stock analysis websites with minimal human intervention. 

The deal has already closed, and Manus investors exited the company following Meta’s takeover.

The NDRC’s statement did not explicitly name Meta but stated it would “prohibit the foreign investment in the acquisition of the Manus project” and “require the parties involved to withdraw the acquisition transaction.” 

Manus restructured internationally prior to the acquisition, following a $75 million fundraising round led by U.S. venture firm Benchmark in May 2025. The startup shut down its China offices, laid off dozens of employees, and moved its operations to Singapore without seeking Chinese regulatory approval. 

Manus’ parent company, Butterfly Effect, reincorporated in Singapore, potentially bypassing both U.S. investment restrictions on Chinese AI firms and Chinese regulatory constraints on domestic AI companies transferring IP and capital overseas.

But despite these international restructuring efforts, the NDRC’s office for reviewing the security of foreign investments launched an investigation into the sale in January 2026, just days after Meta completed the acquisition. 

Executives are restricted from leaving China

Manus’ two co-founders, CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao, were summoned to Beijing for meetings with regulators in March. However, following these meetings, both executives, who are typically based in Singapore, were barred from leaving the country. 

Sources familiar with the matter say that despite the exit bans on the two executives, Manus staff have already moved into Meta’s Singapore offices, with projects continuing. 

As China continues to show its determination to prevent U.S. firms from acquiring AI talent and intellectual property from Chinese entities, Washington is simultaneously trying to cut off Chinese tech firms’ access to advanced U.S. chips. 

Since a trade truce was forged between Presidents Trump and Xi following their October 2025 meeting in Busan, South Korea, Beijing rapidly enacted laws to punish foreign entities that shift supply chains away from China. 

The country also tightened its rare-earth licensing regime, banned foreign AI chips from state-funded data centers, and restricted U.S. and Israeli cybersecurity software in Chinese companies.  

China’s Premier Li Qiang signed two regulations in April 2026 that allow authorities to deny entry, expel, and seize the assets of foreign entities found in violation of Chinese economic policies. 

Cryptopolitan recently reported that Chinese regulators, including the NDRC, have instructed several private technology firms to reject U.S. investment in funding rounds unless explicitly approved by the government. 

AI startups Moonshot AI and StepFun have reportedly received such instructions, and even TikTok owner ByteDance requires government approval for secondary share sales to U.S. investors. 

The Trump administration imposed its own restrictions earlier this year, limiting American investment in certain Chinese AI, semiconductor, and quantum firms, citing security concerns.

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