Cryptosanders👑

Ethena's USDe Sees $1.6bn Outflows as Kelp DAO Fallout Spreads Across DeFi Ethena's USDe stablecoin has recorded roughly $1.6bn in net outflows over the past five days as the fallout from the Kelp DAO exploit pushes users to unwind positions across decentralized finance (DeFi). Ethena is a DeFi protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain, mainly known for its synthetic dollar, USDe, which is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg with the US dollar. USDe supply has dropped to about $4.3bn on 23 Apr, according to data from DeFiLlama. Once the third-largest stablecoin, it now ranks sixth by circulating supply. At the same time, borrowing costs on Aave – DeFi's second-largest protocol with a total value locked (TVL) of over $14bn – have jumped to around 13 to 16% in recent days, up from roughly 2 to 3% just a week earlier, based on Sandmark analyst data.

Robinhood Wins Singapore Brokerage Nod: Bloomberg Robinhood has won preliminary approval from Singapore regulators to roll out brokerage services in the city-state, Bloomberg reported on 23 Apr, as the US retail trading platform continues to expand internationally. The clearance from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) covers areas including securities dealing, exchange-traded derivatives, custody, financing products and collective investment schemes, with Singapore set to become the company's Asian hub. Robinhood, a California-based brokerage and trading firm, has been pushing beyond its home market as it looks to build its "super app" strategy. The term is used broadly to describe an approach that bundles several services into one platform, often centred on investing, shopping or messaging.

CLARITY Act, With Time Running Out for Senate Passage, Gets Industry Lobbying Push More than 100 crypto firms and trade groups urged US senators to accelerate work on the CLARITY Act, warning that further delays could leave American companies trailing overseas rivals and revive regulation through enforcement actions. The push comes as the bill, one of the sector's most closely watched market-structure proposals, faces a narrowing path through Congress. The legislation passed the House of Representatives in July last year but has remained stalled in the Senate Banking Committee for more than 10 months. The CLARITY Act would establish a broader federal framework for digital assets, including oversight responsibilities for US regulators and rules for crypto market participants. Research from crypto exchange Galaxy Digital estimated there is now only a 50% chance the bill clears Congress and becomes law in 2026, and that's only if a mark-up is completed by mid-May. Beyond then, the chances of the bill's passage grow considerably worse, Galaxy said.

#SOL/USDT

📊 Market Sentiment Update The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is currently at 29 – Fear. 🔹 Yesterday: 27 (Fear) 🔹 Last Week: 12 (Extreme Fear) 🔹 Last Month: 12 (Extreme Fear) Sentiment is slowly recovering from extreme fear, but the market is still cautious. This phase often signals early accumulation zones, not full bullish confirmation yet. Fear is easing → Watch for stabilization before strong upside moves.

The $292 million Kelp exploit: how it happened, and what it means for DeFi Aroughly $292 million exploit over the weekend has rattled the crypto industry, exposing vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure and raising concerns about knock-on effects across lending protocols. While investigations are still ongoing, early analysis suggests the attack centered on Kelp’s rsETH token — a yield-bearing version of ether (ETH) — and the mechanism used to move assets between blockchains.

Russian Crypto Exchange Grinex Pauses Operations After $13mn Hack Russian crypto exchange Grinex has paused all operations after a hack that saw approximately 1bn roubles ($13mn) stolen from user funds, according to a statement posted on Telegram. Grinex, the successor to the previously sanctioned exchange Garantex, said it believes the attack was carried out by foreign intelligence services of unfriendly states.

Hong Kong's Flow Capital Tokenizes $150mn Private Credit Fund: Bloomberg Hong Kong-based Flow Capital Partners plans to tokenize its $150mn private credit fund on a Singapore blockchain platform by the end of April, tapping rising stablecoin liquidity, Bloomberg reported. The firm will offer tokenized access via DigiFT, a Singapore-based regulated digital asset exchange, according to Bloomberg. It aims to raise an additional $30mn this year, scaling the fund to $250mn. The move positions Flow Capital among a small but growing group of asset managers bringing private credit onchain. Private credit typically delivers stronger returns than the roughly 5% available in blockchain-based money market funds, though it carries higher risk. Flow targets a 12% net return and says its focus on collateral-backed lending helps manage downside. The launch arrives as private credit markets face pressure from higher interest rates, rising defaults and liquidity constraints. Still, stablecoin supply has grown 37% to about $320bn over the past year, according to DefiLlama, creating fresh demand for tokenized yield products.

Kraken Parent Payward Buys Bitnomial for $550mn US Derivatives Push Payward, the parent company of major crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire US-based derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550mn in cash and stock. The move aims to create a fully regulated, end-to-end crypto derivatives business for US clients. Bitnomial, headquartered in Chicago, operates as one of the few crypto-native firms holding the complete set of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) licences. These include a designated contract market for listing contracts, a derivatives clearing organization for clearing trades and a futures commission merchant for intermediating customer positions. The acquisition grants Payward immediate access to this compliant infrastructure.

Warsh Nomination Adds Uncertainty to Fed Balance Sheet Path Kevin Warsh's delayed Senate confirmation hearing is injecting fresh uncertainty into the Federal Reserve’s approach to its balance sheet just as the central bank has resumed modest expansion through reserve management purchases (RMPs). After concluding its balance sheet run-off in December 2025, the Fed's total assets stood at approximately $6.7tn as of early April 2026. Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair when Powell’s term ends on 15 May, has long advocated for a smaller central bank footprint. Warsh served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and played a prominent role as the central bank's liaison to capital markets during the 2008 global financial crisis. His Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing is now set for 21 Apr after a short delay related to paperwork.

Bitcoin Hits Two-Month High as Oil Slumps, Crypto Stocks Rally Bitcoin climbed to its highest level in more than two months on 17 Apr, as a sharp decline in oil prices eased inflationary concerns and boosted risk appetite across global markets. The leading cryptocurrency traded near $78,000 in US session trading, up roughly 5% over the past 24 hours. That marked its strongest performance since early February, according to major exchange data. The move coincided with Brent crude oil falling more than 10% to around $89 per barrel at 16:30UTC, returning prices to those seen at the end of the first week of the conflict in March. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil trade passes daily, has been a focal point of supply disruption fears.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index Update 📊 Current sentiment: 21 — Extreme Fear Slight drop from yesterday (23) → fear increasing Last week (16) shows continued panic zone Lower than last month (26) → confidence still weak Extreme fear usually signals panic selling, but this is where smart money often starts accumulating. Short term: High volatility, risky market Long term: Potential accumulation zone Better to wait for confirmation before big moves

Ethereum Maintains Commanding Lead as Smart Contract Platforms Enter Selective Consolidation Phase Crypto’s recent market drawdown has done more than reset token prices. It has exposed a deeper question: what is the actual underlying health of the smart contract platform sector? General-purpose smart contract platforms function as the foundational base-layer networks on which decentralized applications are built. They provide the essential infrastructure for decentralized finance (DeFi), trading venues, payments, token issuance, gaming and a growing range of onchain services. Stablecoins circulate across these networks, developers deploy code on them, and users interact through transactions that consume block space and generate fees for validators or the protocol. In practice, these platforms operate as the core operating systems powering crypto’s expanding application economy.

SIX Brings €2tn in Equities Data Onchain via Chainlink in Push Beyond Tokenization Trials Global financial market infrastructure provider SIX has moved to make data on Swiss- and Spanish-listed stocks worth over €2tn accessible via Chainlink. The integration allows regulated equity market data to feed directly into decentralized applications and smart contracts, enabling products such as tokenized indices and structured instruments anchored in traditional markets, the companies announced on 15 Apr. The development signals a shift in the institutional blockchain narrative, from proof-of-concept pilots toward live market infrastructure.

Pakistan Reverses Banking Ban for Crypto Firms Pakistan has lifted its ban on crypto firms being able to open bank accounts in the country, according to a circular by the State Bank of Pakistan. The South Asian country recently changed its stance on crypto and announced a licensing framework for firms dealing with digital assets. Pakistan also granted statutory powers to its crypto regulator, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), to help it oversee the sector.

eToro Buys Crypto Wallet Zengo To Expand Self-Custody eToro (ETOR) has acquired self-custodial crypto wallet provider Zengo, as the multi-asset investment platform moves to deepen its capabilities in digital assets and onchain infrastructure. The deal brings Zengo’s non-custodial wallet technology into eToro’s financial trading ecosystem, giving users greater control over their assets while expanding access to decentralized finance (DeFi) products. The acquisition comes as brokers increasingly look to bridge traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto-native systems, positioning self-custody as a core feature rather than a niche offering. The acquisition sum was not disclosed.

Trump-Backed WLFI Moves To Unlock 62bn Tokens, Opening Path to Liquidity World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-backed crypto project, has proposed a structured unlock of more than 62bn WLFI tokens, introducing multi-year vesting schedules for early supporters and insiders amid reports of WLFI-backed borrowing and looping activity. The proposal, published on 15 Apr, would apply to roughly 62.3bn locked tokens and includes a potential burn of up to 10% of allocations held by founders, team members and partners. If fully implemented, that would remove about 4.5bn WLFI tokens from circulation, permanently reducing total supply. World Liberty Financial is a decentralized finance (DeFi) project whose governance token, WLFI, is used for governance voting. The proposal follows reports of a looping strategy involving the use of WLFI as collateral to borrow and redeploy stablecoins within its own ecosystem.

Paris Blockchain Week Sidesteps Bitcoin’s 40% Slide to Champion Tokenization Paris Blockchain Week opened on 15 Apr with speakers largely sidestepping Bitcoin’s (BTC) steep decline since its October 2025 peak. Instead, officials and executives zeroed in on regulatory clarity, stablecoins and tokenization of real-world assets as the foundation for institutional onchain adoption. Despite BTC at near $74,000, down roughly 40% in the past six months, the opening sessions at the Carrousel du Louvre largely overlooked the current malaise in the industry. The unifying thread across discussions centred on Europe’s MiCA framework delivering early legal certainty that pulls activity onshore and accelerates the convergence of traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized infrastructure (DeFi).

📊 Crypto Market Update – Fear & Greed Index 🔴 Index Value: 23 ⚠️ Sentiment: Extreme Fear Yesterday: 21 (Extreme Fear) Last Week: 17 (Extreme Fear) Last Month: 23 (Extreme Fear) The market is still dominated by fear, showing low confidence among traders. However, historically, these zones often act as accumulation phases, where smart money starts entering quietly. Rising volume → potential reversal Strong support hold → short-term bounce Continued panic → more volatility Extreme fear persists, but it can also signal hidden opportunities for long-term investors. Patience is key right now.

📊 Crypto Market Update – Fear & Greed Index 🔴 Index Value: 23 ⚠️ Sentiment: Extreme Fear Yesterday: 21 (Extreme Fear) Last Week: 17 (Extreme Fear) Last Month: 23 (Extreme Fear) The market is still dominated by fear, showing low confidence among traders. However, historically, these zones often act as accumulation phases, where smart money starts entering quietly. Rising volume → potential reversal Strong support hold → short-term bounce Continued panic → more volatility Extreme fear persists, but it can also signal hidden opportunities for long-term investors. Patience is key right now.