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Bitcoin ETFs Post Strong April Inflows as Ether Turns Positive

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Bitcoin ETFs Post Strong April Inflows as Ether Turns Positive

US-listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) finished April in the green as Bitcoin rallied throughout the month.

Bitcoin ETFs drew $1.97 billion in inflows in April, well above March’s $1.37 billion, marking their highest monthly inflows of the year, according to SoSoValue data.

With inflows in March and April offsetting outflows in January and February, Bitcoin ETFs now show about $1.47 billion in net inflows for 2026. The cumulative net inflows to the products since they launched have topped $58 billion.

Monthly spot Bitcoin ETF flows in 2026. Source: SoSoValue

The April inflows came alongside a 12% rise in Bitcoin, its strongest monthly gain since April 2025, when it rose more than 14%, according to CryptoRank.

April’s data comes ahead of the 13F filing season in May, when major financial institutions will disclose their holdings in crypto ETFs for the first quarter of 2026.

ETFs post $490 million in late-month outflows

Late-month redemptions were not enough to offset April’s inflows. The ETFs saw around $490 million in outflows during three days in late April.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) was the dominant driver of gains in April, bringing around $2 billion in net inflows. On the other hand, Grayscale Investments’ Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) was the biggest loser, with net outflows totaling around $280 million.

Daily spot Bitcoin ETF flows by issuer since April 27, 2026. Source: Farside

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust ETF (MSBT), which began trading on April 8, generated around $194 million in inflows, with no single day of outflows over the month.

The first month of gains for Ether ETFs since October 2025

April’s positive trend extended to some altcoin ETFs, with Ether (ETH) funds logging their first monthly inflow since October 2025, at $356 million versus about $570 million in October 2025.

Still, Ether ETFs remain in negative territory after four months of 2026, with about $413 million in net outflows year to date, according to SoSoValue. The cumulative net inflows since launch stood at about $11.9 billion.

Monthly spot Ether ETF flows since October 2025. Source: SoSoValue

XRP funds also surged in April, logging their strongest month since December 2025 with $81.6 million of inflows. The ETFs saw about $124 million in net inflows across the first four months of 2026, while total cumulative inflows stand at around $1.3 billion.

Related: Bitcoin risks extended retreat as April rally was futures-driven: CryptoQuant

Dogecoin (DOGE) ETFs rallied in April as well, logging $2 million of inflows, accounting for roughly 21% of total cumulative inflows of about $9.6 million.

Meanwhile, Solana (SOL) ETFs saw $38.7 million in April inflows, the smallest monthly total on record, compared with cumulative inflows of about $1 billion.

Magazine: Your guide to surviving this mini-crypto winter

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Ex-Royal Mint Executives Launch Fintech to Modernise Physical Gold Investment

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Ex-Royal Mint Executives Launch Fintech to Modernise Physical Gold Investment

Goldwise, a UK-based fintech founded by former executives of The Royal Mint, has launched a new trading platform designed to modernise how savers and investors access physical precious metals.

Through an intuitive mobile app, the platform enables users to buy, manage, and sell fractional amounts of physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

The company was founded by Jatin Patel and Gareth Tucker, who previously led the transformation and scaling of The Royal Mint’s precious metals division, driving significant growth and successfully launching a gold-backed exchange-traded product. The pair identified a clear gap in the market: growing demand for physical precious metals, coupled with persistent customer frustration regarding outdated bullion dealer models and a lack of access on modern wealth platforms.

Solving the physical metals problem

While precious metals have long been viewed as a reliable store of value, the methods of accessing them have largely failed to keep pace with modern digital investing.

Currently, investors face two imperfect options:

  1. Financial products like ETFs or tokenised gold, which offer price exposure but lack direct physical ownership.

  2. Traditional bullion dealers, which often feature outdated buying processes, high mark-ups, large minimum purchases, and limited flexibility.

“Investing in most asset classes has become simple, digital and accessible – but physical precious metals have been left behind,” said Tucker, Co-founder of Goldwise. “Customers still face outdated buying experiences, marked-up pricing and limited trading functionality. Goldwise was built to change that, making precious metals investing easy, secure and efficient for all.”

The Goldwise Engine

At the core of the new platform is the ‘Goldwise Engine’, a proprietary, enterprise-grade infrastructure. This engine manages customer onboarding, institutional pricing and execution, payments, allocation, custody, and recordkeeping by connecting directly to the global precious metals ecosystem.

This technology enables fractional trading of investment-grade, London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)-approved bars from as little as £5 (0.001 troy ounces). The platform also supports 24/7 trading, conditional orders, and real-time portfolio tracking.

To ensure security, all customer physical metal holdings are reconciled daily and stored in insured, audited institutional vaults located in London, Zurich, and New York—the exact same facilities utilized by major metals banks and brokers. Customer funds are also safeguarded under FCA-regulated e-money arrangements.

A dual-distribution model

The Goldwise Engine currently powers two distinct distribution channels:

  1. The Goldwise App: A direct-to-consumer mobile experience (currently available on iOS, with Android and web platforms launching soon).

  2. Goldwise Connect: A precious-metals-as-a-service infrastructure solution. This turn-key solution enables wealth platforms and financial institutions to easily embed physical precious metals trading into their own offerings.

“One of the biggest frustrations for savers and investors is that physical precious metals are rarely available through their existing banking or wealth platforms in amounts and fees they can afford,” Patel explained. “Goldwise is here to change that.”

Looking ahead, Goldwise plans to scale across Europe, the US, and Asia. Over the next 18 months, the fintech also intends to expand its offering to include whole coins and bars for both vaulting and physical delivery, automated recurring purchases, and options for customers to earn interest on uninvested cash or a yield on their precious metals holdings. To support this next stage of growth, Goldwise will soon launch a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube.

Brazil Central Bank Bars Virtual Assets From eFX Payments

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Brazil Central Bank Bars Virtual Assets From eFX Payments

Brazil’s central bank, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), has barred the use of virtual assets in certain regulated international payment and transfer services, tightening rules for cross-border payment providers operating under the country’s eFX framework.

On Thursday, BCB published Resolution BCB No. 561, amending existing rules for eFX, a regulated category covering international payments and transfers. The resolution states that payments or receipts between an eFX provider and its foreign counterparty must be carried out exclusively through a foreign exchange transaction or movement in a non-resident Brazilian real account, with the use of virtual assets prohibited.

The restriction also applies under transitional rules for eFX providers that are not yet listed among approved provider categories. Those firms may continue providing eFX only if they apply for authorization from the central bank by May 31, 2027, but their payments and receipts must still use foreign exchange transactions or non-resident real accounts, not virtual assets. 

The rule does not amount to a blanket ban on crypto transfers in Brazil. Instead, it closes off the use of crypto and stablecoins inside the regulated eFX channel, reinforcing the central bank’s effort to keep cross-border payment flows within supervised foreign exchange rails.

English translated excerpt of the BCB Resolution No. 561. Source: BCB 

Brazil tightens oversight of crypto-linked cross-border flows

Brazil has been moving to fold virtual assets into its financial and foreign exchange rulebook as stablecoins become a larger part of the country’s crypto activity. 

In November 2025, the central bank detailed new rules for virtual asset service providers, including authorization requirements and rules for services involving virtual assets in the foreign-exchange market.

The central bank’s push follows concern over the use of stablecoins for payments and cross-border transfers. In February, Reuters reported that BCB Governor Gabriel Galipolo said that crypto use had surged in the country over the previous two to three years, with about 90% of flows linked to stablecoins. He said that raised concerns around taxation, money laundering and asset backing.

Related: Spain emerges as leading EURC retail market in Europe, Brighty data shows

The eFX rule comes as Brazil’s central bank has also signaled concern over stablecoins issued by companies outside its regulatory perimeter. In a technical note sent to Congress and seen by Cointelegraph Brasil, the central bank said stablecoins issued by entities not subject to BCB supervision could face a ban or strict conditions in the domestic market.

The document said real-denominated stablecoins issued outside BCB supervision may pose risks to regulatory equality and monetary sovereignty, while foreign-currency stablecoins raise concerns around jurisdiction, capital flows and fragmentation of the payments system. 

Magazine: AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act now

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Crypto Pig-Butchering Crackdown: 9 Scam Centers Busted

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Crypto Pig-Butchering Crackdown: 9 Scam Centers Busted

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

The US, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Chinese authorities have cracked down on multiple cryptocurrency pig-butchering scam centers that have taken millions of dollars from American victims.

276 Arrested, 6 Indicted In Global Crackdown

On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that an unprecedented collaboration between the FBI, the Dubai Police Department, and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security had led to the crackdown of at least nine crypto scam centers targeting Americans.

Earlier this month, the FBI revealed that US victims had lost $11.4 billion to crypto fraud in 2025, representing a 22% increase over 2024. As reported by Bitcoinist, phishing, extortion, and investment schemes remained the most reported scams, with older Americans suffering roughly $7.7 billion in losses.

The international crackdown was led by the Dubai Police, under the UAE Ministry of Interior, which arrested 275 individuals last week, including three people charged in the Southern District of California with federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. Meanwhile, the Royal Thai Police arrested an additional person, bringing the total of detentions to 276.

According to the DOJ, Thet Min Nyi, Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra, Lisa Mariam, and two other fugitive co-conspirators have been charged with federal fraud and money laundering and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Specifically, a grand jury in the Southern District of California indicted Thet Min Nyi and a fugitive co-defendant in March, charging them with wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and criminal forfeiture allegations.

In April 2026, Awang, Chandra, their fugitive co-defendant, and Mariam were also charged with wire fraud conspiracy, based on the crypto investment fraud schemes of two alleged scam organizations, Sanduo Group and Giant Company.

“These scammers thought they were safe half a world away,” said US Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “But their world has changed. Global crime now faces global justice.”

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division emphasized that “the charges and arrests announced today reflect an international consensus that scam centers are unwelcome everywhere and must be rooted out.”

“Scam center organizers and fraudsters who defraud Americans and others will face justice in American courts and in courts around the world. In contemporary society, fraud is borderless, and law enforcement activity to combat it and eliminate it is as well,” he added.

Crypto Pig-Butchering Centers Busted

In 2025, FBI agents in San Diego opened an investigation after identifying multiple companies and individuals operating scam centers that conducted crypto investment fraud. Law enforcement authorities discovered that the six defendants managed, worked for, and recruited others to work at three companies that operated multiple alleged scam centers.

According to the indictment and other court records, the defendants seemingly engaged in crypto fraud schemes through “pit-butchering” scams, in which scammers gain a victim’s trust before exploiting them financially.

“The defendants targeted citizens of the United States and other countries by cultivating trust and affection with the victims, based on the charging documents and court filings,” the DOJ explained. “After that, the scammers promoted investments in cryptocurrencies and assisted victims in setting up accounts and transferring cryptocurrency to investment platforms that, unbeknownst to the victims, were false.”

Notably, the scammers encouraged victims to invest more by touting their alleged returns from the fake crypto investments, asking them to borrow money from friends and family or take out loans.

FBI agents have identified multiple victims in the US through complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). After analyzing the complaints and crypto records, investigators have identified millions of dollars in losses from these crypto investment schemes.

The Dubai Police Department, through its parallel investigation, helped disrupt the scam operations, the DOJ noted, highlighting its close collaboration with international law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle transnational criminal networks.

The announcement also underscored the Royal Thai Police (RTP) Immigration Bureau, Foreign Affairs, and Anti-Cyber Scam Center, and Meta Platforms’ assistance in the investigation.

crypto, TOTAL

The total crypto market capitalization is at $2.53 trillion on the one-week chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

PayPal Elevates Crypto to Core Business in Strategic Reorganization

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PayPal Elevates Crypto to Core Business in Strategic Reorganization

The payments giant will fold PYUSD, Braintree, and merchant processing into a new Payment Services & Crypto division, marking the first time digital assets have a dedicated home within the company.

PayPal Holdings is restructuring around three operating divisions, and crypto is getting its own pillar.

The payments giant on Wednesday said it would reorganize into Checkout Solutions & PayPal, Consumer Financial Services & Venmo, and Payment Services & Crypto, according to a press release.

The new Payment Services & Crypto unit will fold the company’s Braintree processing arm, small and medium business merchant services, value-added services, and digital asset operations, including the PYUSD stablecoin, into a single offering aimed at merchants. Jeff Pomeroy will run the division on an interim basis.

The reorganization marks the first time PayPal has given crypto a dedicated home inside its corporate structure, signaling a deeper commitment to digital assets after years of measured experimentation. PYUSD, the company’s dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Paxos, now sits alongside the merchant rails that could distribute it at scale.

The move comes as stablecoins push further into mainstream payments. B2B stablecoin payments grew more than 730% year-over-year in 2025, and PayPal has been positioning itself for the agentic payments era, joining Circle, Base and Ripple as a backer of MoonPay’s Open Wallet Standard for AI agents earlier this year.

PayPal President and CEO Enrique Lores said the company needs to “recommit to our fundamentals” by aligning around three businesses, simplifying operations, and sharpening accountability.

Shares of PYPL rose more than 2% following the announcement.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

BTC price bounces as big tech earnings fuel optimism; short-term pressures remain: Crypto Daily

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BTC price bounces as big tech earnings fuel optimism; short-term pressures remain: Crypto Daily

This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter ‘Daybook.’ Sign up here, if you haven’t already.

Bitcoin climbed to $77,400, turning higher with other risk assets after earnings reports from the largest U.S. tech companies helped steady markets.

The gains came after Apple (AAPL) joined peers with an earnings report that improved sentiment across the industry. The companies, which include Google parent Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN), all reported double-digit revenue growth earlier this week.

The earnings reports helped risk assets rise as renewed confidence in the AI growth story pulled investors back into equities and crypto, though the bounce so far reflects relief buying rather than conviction that a new rally has begun.

In a note shared with CoinDesk, crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin said the market is dealing with “short-term pressure with still-mixed structural factors,” including reduced rate-cut hopes, ETF outflows and higher geopolitical risk.

Crypto prices held this week even as oil surged and spot bitcoin ETFs saw more than $400 million of outflows as April came to a close.

Oil remains a key factor. Higher crude prices from the Iran conflict and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could feed inflation, making central banks less willing to cut interest rates. That can weigh on crypto and other risk assets by making cash and bonds more attractive.

The Federal Reserve kept rates at 3.50% to 3.75% this week, though the four dissenting voices are the most since 1992. Mercado Bitcoin said the decision and the absence of clear rate-cut signals led markets to reprice policy expectations.

“In the short term, the market should remain volatile and highly reactive to economic data,” the company’s head of research, Rony Szuster, said. “In the medium term, the structure remains dependent on the stabilization of institutional flows and the path of global monetary policy.”

Jerome Powell’s chairmanship at the Fed ends on May 15, and Kevin Warsh is expected to chair the June FOMC meeting,which could induce volatility given Warsh’s favor for tightening monetary policy.

The key test remains at $80,000. A break could draw new buyers, while a failed move may trigger selling if leveraged longs unwind. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today. For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”

What’s trending

Today’s signal

The weekly plot of the bitcoin price is testing rejection at the $80,000 resistance zone, with RSI showing early signs of a bullish divergence — the price printed a lower low while the RSI held higher — though unconfirmed on a weekly close.

A failure to break above keeps the price range-bound between the 200-day exponential moving average of about $68,000 and that level.

Premarket data (CoinDesk)

Bitcoin Is In An Institutional Support Zone: Here Are The Three Metrics Funds Need Before They Jump In

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Bitcoin Is In An Institutional Support Zone: Here Are The Three Metrics Funds Need Before They Jump In

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Bitcoin is holding above $75,000 as the bullish momentum that drove it toward $79,000 over recent sessions has begun to slow. The recovery is real but not yet decisive — and as the market consolidates, a GugaOnChain report is drawing attention to a specific price zone that institutional participants appear to be watching with increasing focus.

The report identifies the $65,000 to $70,000 range as a zone of potential liquidity capture — the area where institutional accumulation has historically concentrated during corrective phases. With Bitcoin’s three-day pullback bringing that range back into realistic view, the framework for identifying whether smart money is actually positioning there has returned to the radar.

The analytical approach the report outlines is not a single signal but a convergence of three. The first rests on a metric that measures retail pain. When recent Bitcoin buyers are forced to sell at a loss — when the holders who bought in the past few months are capitulating at prices below their entry — the STH-SOPR falls below 1.0. That reading is not merely a bearish signal. It is the specific condition that has historically marked the moment when institutional participants begin filling positions, absorbing the cheap liquidity that retail panic produces.

The bleeding of weak hands and the buying of smart money are not opposites. In markets, they tend to happen at the same time, and identifying when they are occurring simultaneously is the framework the report is built around.

Two More Signals. When All Three Align, the Move Becomes Inevitable

The STH-SOPR reading confirms retail pain. But pain alone is not enough to validate institutional accumulation — it must be accompanied by the capital and the positioning that transforms a support test into a directional shock. The second and third pillars of the GugaOnChain framework provide those confirmations.

The stablecoin supply ratio tracks the firepower waiting on the sidelines. When large inflows of USDT arrive on Binance — the exchange that processes the largest share of global Bitcoin volume — it signals that institutional capital has been loaded and is ready to deploy.

That influx must coincide with a specific divergence in order flow: retail traders opening leveraged short positions in derivatives while institutions silently accumulate the actual asset in spot markets. The CVD captures that split in real time. When derivatives show aggressive shorting while spot buying quietly dominates, the structure for a squeeze is forming beneath the surface.

The funding rate completes the picture and provides the trigger. When the 30-day funding rate reaches persistent negative readings between -0.015% and -0.020%, short sellers have become dangerously overleveraged. They have borrowed heavily to bet against the price — and in doing so, they have created the directional fuel that makes a violent short squeeze not just possible but mechanically inevitable when institutional buying begins in earnest.

Bitcoin: Funding Rates | Source: CryptoQuant
Bitcoin: Funding Rates | Source: CryptoQuant

The convergence of all three — retail capitulation in spot, stablecoin firepower confirmed on Binance, and extreme negative funding guaranteeing overleveraged shorts — is the framework that filters noise from signal. When they align simultaneously, the directional shock the report describes does not arrive gradually. It arrives all at once.

Bitcoin Tests Range High As Recovery Meets Overhead Resistance

Bitcoin is trading around $76,000, pressing into a resistance zone that has repeatedly capped upside attempts since the February breakdown. After establishing a base between $64,000 and $68,000, the price has trended higher in a controlled recovery, forming a sequence of higher lows that reflects improving short-term structure. However, that recovery is now confronting a critical inflection point.

Bitcoin consolidates above $75K level | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Bitcoin consolidates above the $75K level | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView

The $74,000–$76,000 region stands out as a clear supply zone. It previously acted as support before the breakdown and is now functioning as resistance, with multiple rejections confirming the presence of sellers. This aligns with the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, both trending downward and converging above the current price, reinforcing the broader bearish bias.

Momentum is slowing as the price approaches this level. Recent candles show smaller bodies and reduced follow-through, suggesting that buyers are losing strength as they encounter overhead supply. Volume patterns support this interpretation. The spike during the February selloff marked capitulation, but the subsequent recovery has occurred on relatively moderate volume, indicating limited conviction behind the move.

Structurally, Bitcoin remains range-bound between $64,000 support and $76,000 resistance. A decisive break above this zone would shift momentum and open a move toward $80,000, while rejection here risks a rotation back into the lower range.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

Coinbase’s Institutional Investment Arm Taps Superstate to Launch Tokenized Credit Fund

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Coinbase’s Institutional Investment Arm Taps Superstate to Launch Tokenized Credit Fund

Coinbase Asset Management has selected Superstate FundOS to issue on-chain shares of Coinbase Stablecoin Yield Fund (CUSHY).

Coinbase Asset Management, the licensed investment manager and wholly owned subsidiary of Coinbase, has selected Superstate FundOS to issue an on-chain share class of its Coinbase Stablecoin Yield Fund (CUSHY), a stablecoin credit offering expected to launch in Q2 2026.

Per a press release today, April 30, CUSHY will be the first external fund issued using FundOS from inception. Robert Leshner’s Superstate built FundOS while operating its own tokenized funds, USTB and USCC, which together hold over $1 billion in AUM, per the release.

Per a blog post from Coinbase, CUSHY captures yield from three sources — asset-based lending to both crypto-native and traditional borrowers, liquid digital-economy credit instruments, and structural returns from tokenization incentives and on-chain market positions.

FundOS is a turnkey operating system for tokenized funds that gives asset managers a direct path to bring funds on-chain. Through FundOS, CUSHY investors will be able to tokenize shares on Solana, Ethereum, and soon Base, and deploy them in supported DeFi protocols, the release states.

The on-chain share class runs alongside traditional fund infrastructure — extending how CUSHY can be accessed, collateralized, and transferred. The fund is administered by Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services via the Omnium platform.

The launch reflects accelerating institutional appetite for yield-bearing on-chain products. As The Defiant has reported, tokenized RWA markets are projected to hit $400 billion by 2030, and analysts have predicted that more than half of the 20 biggest asset managers would launch RWA tokens by end of 2026.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Scout AI Raises $100M to Build ‘AI Brain’ for Autonomous Warfare

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Scout AI Raises $100M to Build ‘AI Brain’ for Autonomous Warfare

Defense tech startup Scout AI closed a Series A funding round with $100 million to develop its foundation model for autonomous military systems. 

Founded in 2024 and based in Sunnyvale, Scout AI develops AI defense systems that it says focus on software that translates individual user input into coordinated, autonomous action across robotic fleets.

On its site, the company says its tech can be used to turn robots from passive systems into “autonomous agents.”

The latest funding round will be used to expand development of Fury, its flagship model designed for tactical deployment across air, land, sea and space operations.

The vendor framed the fund raise as furthering the U.S.’s dominance in the robotics industry, with Scout CEO Colby Adcock saying in a statement that the round is a signal to “every patriot in Silicon Valley.”

“The most important frontier in AI is the physical world, and it should be pursued in service to the men and women who defend this country,” Adcock said in a release. “Some AI companies are stepping back from defense. We’re stepping up, and we’re bringing on the best engineers in the world for the mission.” 

Related:Humanoid Bots to Start Airport Pilot in Japan

The company describes itself as a specialist AI lab focused on military autonomy rather than a defense manufacturer, with an emphasis on developing the reasoning layer for large-scale unmanned systems.

Since its founding, the vendor has secured $11 million in contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, launched its Ox autonomous vehicle orchestrator, and demonstrated a strike mission executed by AI agents running autonomous off-road vehicles and drones.

“The funding round reflects continued investor appetite for defense-focused AI, as autonomous and “uncrewed” systems become an increasingly significant area of military technology development.

The Trump administration has repeatedly pushed for the use of AI and robotics to further American dominance across industries, including defense. In its AI Action Plan, released last July, the White House notably called for removing regulatory barriers to AI innovation and opposed states with “burdensome” AI regulations. 

More recently, in January the defense department released its 2026 Artificial Intelligence Strategy, aligning itself with the White House’s AI agenda. The document positions the military as an “AI-first” force and emphasizes rapid adoption of AI and digital tools to enhance capabilities.

The round was co-led by Align Ventures and Draper Associates. Also participating were Decisive Point, Booz Allen Ventures, BVVC, Neman Ventures, Evolution VC Partners, Heraclitus Capital Management, Sigmas Group, Disruptive Founders Fund and Vaughn Capital Partners.

Related:Accenture Showcases Humanoid Robot Warehouse Pilot

Bitcoin edges above $77,000 but institutional activity suggests downside hedging

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Bitcoin edges above $77,000 but institutional activity suggests downside hedging

Bitcoin BTC$77,153.68 rose more than 1.2% during the European morning to reach just shy of $77,500 for a lift of about 1.7% in the last 24 hours.

The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), also ticked higher, up around 0.95%.

Bitcoin’s gains came on above-average volume, with 24-hour activity running 15% above its seven-day average, indicating steady participation, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model.

Derivatives markets may tell a more cautious story. Open interest in the June 26 $76,000 put option surged 22.5%, pointing to increased demand for downside protection near current price levels. The spike suggests institutional participants are positioning defensively, either locking in gains or preparing for potential declines.

Furthermore, bitcoin worth over $770 million has been sent to exchanges in the last week, analyst Ali Martinez post on X, citing data from Santiment. This action is generally regarded as a pre-sale step, pointing to the possibility of considerable selling pressure in the near future.

Bitcoin’s tight correlation with the CD20 — showing only a 0.15% deviation — suggests macro forces, rather than crypto-specific catalysts, continue to drive price action. The index, which captures a large share of the digital asset market value, reinforces that BTC is trading as part of a broader risk complex rather than independently.

Technical levels at $76,200 and $77,000 remain critical as traders balance constructive price trends against defensive derivatives positioning.

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