Cryptosanders👑

Live markets: Bitcoin heads lower late Friday as Warsh takes over at Fed There's no apparent news hitting, but crypto prices are softening in sleepy Friday afternoon trading. As stocks head into the close ahead of the three-day weekend, bitcoin (BTC) has pulled back to $75,800, down 2.4% over the past 24 hours, and its lowest level in May. Ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and XRP (XRP) are down a bit more than bitcoin. Tom Lee earlier in May said if bitcoin could close higher for the month, it would be three straight months in the green and a sure sign of a bull market. Bitcoin began the month at roughly $77,000. There's still more than a week to go in May, but Friday's declines have put that streak in at least some jeopardy. U.S. stocks for the moment are holding onto modest gains; the Nasdaq is higher by 0.3%.

Hyperliquid's USDC deal could supercharge HYPE, pressure Circle, Coinbase margins, analysts say The revenue share deal could shift an estimated $160 million in revenue from Coinbase and Circle into Hyperliquid's ecosystem, Compass Point analysts

📉 Crypto Fear & Greed Index Update Current Sentiment: Extreme Fear (25) 🔴 Yesterday: 28 (Fear) Last Week: 49 (Neutral) Market sentiment continues to weaken as fear increases across crypto. Extreme fear zones often indicate panic selling and high volatility, while smart money watches for potential reversal opportunities. Stay cautious, manage risk, and avoid emotional trades. 🚨📊

📉 Crypto Fear & Greed Index Update Current sentiment remains in Fear Zone at 31 — a sharp drop from yesterday’s 43. Market participants are becoming more cautious as volatility and uncertainty increase. 🔸 Now: 31 – Fear 🔸 Yesterday: 43 – Fear 🔸 Last Week: 38 – Fear 🔸 Last Month: 23 – Extreme Fear ⚠️ Short-term sentiment is weak, but fear zones often create opportunities for smart accumulation. Stay patient and manage risk carefully.

📊 Crypto Fear & Greed Index Update Current Sentiment: Fear (38) 😟 Market sentiment remains cautious as traders stay defensive after recent volatility. • Yesterday: 38 — Fear • Last Week: 39 — Fear • Last Month: 14 — Extreme Fear Despite fear staying in the market, the index has improved significantly from last month’s extreme panic levels. This may indicate slow confidence recovery, but momentum is still weak.

📊 Crypto Fear & Greed Index Update Current Level: 50 — Neutral Yesterday: 40 — Fear Last Week: 33 — Fear Last Month: 12 — Extreme Fear The sentiment has shifted from Extreme Fear → Neutral, showing a steady recovery in market confidence. Buyers are slowly stepping back in, but the market is still not in a strong bullish zone yet.

Crypto Sentiment Update 📊 Current Fear & Greed Index: 26 (Fear) Market sentiment remains cautious, with fear increasing compared to yesterday (33). Short-term trend: Weak sentiment Weekly view: Still in fear zone Monthly context: Recovering from extreme fear (8) For Bitcoin and overall crypto market, this suggests investors are still hesitant. Fear phases often bring volatility, but also potential accumulation zones for long-term players.

Aave Liquidity Freeze Reveals DeFi Exit Risks An attacker drained roughly $292mn in unbacked Restaked ETH (rsETH) from Kelp DAO's cross-chain bridge on 18 Apr and deposited it as collateral on Aave to borrow real assets, primarily Wrapped ETH (wETH). The move triggered 100% utilization across major pools and turned the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol into an effective exit queue, revealing how quickly lender psychology shifts from chasing yield to securing immediate capital access under stress. DeFi refers to financial services, such as lending and borrowing, that run on public blockchains without traditional banks or intermediaries. Aave is the biggest such lending protocol, with roughly $29bn in total value locked (TVL) across multiple chains.

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.