Home Blog Page 385

Ethereum Metrics Signal ETH Price Rally Toward $6K Next

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Ethereum Metrics Signal ETH Price Rally Toward $6K Next

Ether’s (ETH) 33% rally from its sub-$1,800 multi-year lows appears to be cooling, but several key metrics suggest the top altcoin may be primed for a bigger rally toward $6,000 or higher.

Key takeaways:

  • Ether is currently displaying a technical setup similar to past cycles that ignited a massive rally in ETH price. 
  • Supply squeeze potential is growing as increasing accumulation and exchange outflows reduce immediate sell pressure.
  • A rising Coinbase premium reflects the return of US institutional demand.

Ether’s fractal targets a $6,000 ETH price 

Ether is currently bouncing off a multi-year trend line that has historically marked macro ETH price bottoms. Previous instances in April 2025 and mid-2022 resulted in 260% and 130% ETH price rallies, respectively. 

“$ETH is holding a long-term ascending trendline support,” analyst CryptoJack said in a recent X post, adding:

“Will history repeat itself?”

ETH/USD weekly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

A bullish cross from the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator also confirmed the price bottom.

“$ETH weekly MACD bullish cross is now confirmed,” analyst Ash Crypto said in a recent X post, adding:

“The last 2 times this happened, ETH pumped 183% and 75%.”

The weekly RSI is meanwhile recovering from levels that marked previous macro lows, suggesting that Ether’s recent drop to $1,750 was the bottom.

ETH/USD weekly chart. Source: The Moon Show

Ether’s current price action is following a similar pattern, with the price again bouncing off the same structural support, a confirmed bullish MACD crossover, and the RSI’s recovery from oversold conditions.

If history repeats itself, ETH may rally by between 75% and 260% from the bottom, placing Ether’s upside target at $3,000-$6,300.

ETH supply squeeze potential rises

Ethereum’s on-chain metrics reveal a tightening supply dynamic, an occurrence that has previously ignited significant ETH price rallies.

The Binance ERC-20: Stablecoin Whale Activity Index indicator reveals structural supply exhaustion.

The chart below shows that the number of daily accumulation addresses (wallets steadily buying ETH) has increased to 2,434, surpassing the number of exchange depositing addresses (wallets preparing to sell), which has dropped to 2,300. 

This shift suggests that large players have moved from a “wait-and-see” phase into active accumulation, CryptoQuant analyst GugaOnChain said in a recent QuickTake analysis.

“This scenario is extremely positive for the price structure, as it reveals that there are significantly fewer addresses sending ETH to the exchange with the intention to sell than players accumulating or positioned to absorb liquidity,” the analyst said, adding:

“The supply shock is fully underway.”

Binance ERC-20 stablecoin whale activity index. Source: CryptoQuant

This is also seen in increasing exchange outflows, as the ETH net position change among exchanges for the past 30 days fell by 1.4 million ETH on April 2, marking the largest spike in seven months, according to Glassnode data.

The net position change is at -351,300 ETH (30 days) at the time of writing on Thursday.

ETH: Exchange net position change. Source: Glassnode

Such outflows typically indicate strong accumulation by large holders, who move tokens to cold storage or invest in investment products, thereby reducing immediate sell pressure.

This is usually referred to as a “supply squeeze,” conditions that have, historically, preceded sharp upside moves, especially when combined with improving market sentiment.

Ethereum demand recovers

As Cointelegraph reported, Ether futures on Binance have risen to a near two-month high as aggressive buyers stepped into the market over the past week. Buy-taker volume rose above $5 billion, and the current setup leans bullish.

The US market is driving a significant share of this demand, as measured by the Coinbase premium index.

The ETH Coinbase premium index measures the price difference between the ETH/USD pair on Coinbase and Binance.

This metric flipped positive on April 4, rising to 0.055 on April 14, its highest level since October 2025. The index fell to as low as -0.21 in early February and has now recovered to 0.04.

This typically signals increased demand from institutional investors, particularly in the US market.

Ethereum Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuant

Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs have recorded net inflows for 10 consecutive days, totaling $590 million. This marks the longest inflow streak since December 2024, accompanying a 95% ETH price rally in Q4 2024.

Spot Ethereum ETF flows table. Source: SoSoValue

Meanwhile, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest public holder of Ether, increased its holdings last week with another 101,627 ETH purchase, reflecting a return of demand for ETH among institutional investors.

Bitcoin ETF ASX: How It Works and What to Expect

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bitcoin ETF ASX: How It Works and What to Expect

Interest in cryptocurrency investing continues to grow, and many Australians are now exploring easier ways to gain exposure without directly buying digital assets. One of the most accessible options is a crypto ETF ASX, particularly those focused on Bitcoin.

If you’re new to the concept, here’s a clear explanation of how Bitcoin ETFs on the ASX work and what you can expect as an investor.

What Is a Bitcoin ETF?

A Bitcoin ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a fund that tracks the price of Bitcoin and is traded on a stock exchange, just like shares.

Instead of buying Bitcoin directly, you buy units in the ETF, which represents exposure to the underlying asset.

Key Benefits:

  • No need to manage crypto wallets or private keys
  • Trade through a standard brokerage account
  • Regulated investment structure

This makes Bitcoin more accessible to traditional investors.

How Bitcoin ETFs Work on the ASX

A crypto ETF ASX operates similarly to other ETFs but focuses on cryptocurrency.

Two Main Types:

1. Spot Bitcoin ETFs

  • Directly hold Bitcoin as the underlying asset
  • Closely track the actual price of Bitcoin

2. Futures-Based ETFs

  • Track Bitcoin futures contracts instead of the asset itself
  • May not perfectly match Bitcoin’s price

On the ASX, products are typically structured to provide exposure while meeting regulatory requirements.

How You Invest

Investing in a Bitcoin ETF is straightforward.

Steps:

  1. Open a brokerage account (if you don’t already have one)
  2. Search for the ETF ticker on the ASX
  3. Buy units just like you would shares

This simplicity is one of the main reasons investors choose a crypto ETF ASX over direct crypto ownership.

Costs and Fees

While convenient, ETFs come with fees.

Common Costs:

  • Management fees (annual percentage)
  • Brokerage fees for buying and selling
  • Possible tracking differences (small variations from Bitcoin price)

These costs are generally lower than actively managed funds but higher than holding Bitcoin directly.

Risks to Be Aware Of

Like any investment, Bitcoin ETFs carry risks.

Key Risks:

  • Volatility: Bitcoin prices can fluctuate significantly
  • Market risk: Prices depend on overall crypto market conditions
  • Tracking error: ETF performance may differ slightly from Bitcoin

Even though the structure is regulated, the underlying asset remains highly volatile.

Advantages Over Direct Bitcoin Investment

Many investors prefer ETFs for convenience and simplicity.

Benefits:

  • No need to manage digital wallets
  • Reduced risk of losing access to funds
  • Easier tax reporting in some cases
  • Integration with existing investment portfolios

For those unfamiliar with crypto, ETFs provide a more familiar entry point.

Tax Considerations in Australia

When investing in a crypto ETF ASX, tax treatment is similar to shares.

Typically Includes:

  • Capital gains tax (CGT) when you sell
  • Possible distributions depending on the fund

This can be simpler compared to tracking individual crypto transactions.

What to Expect from Performance

Bitcoin ETFs aim to track the price of Bitcoin, but performance can vary slightly.

Influencing Factors:

  • Management fees
  • Market conditions
  • Structure of the ETF (spot vs futures)

Over time, returns should broadly reflect Bitcoin’s price movements.

Is a Bitcoin ETF Right for You?

A crypto ETF ASX may suit investors who:

  • Want exposure to Bitcoin without handling crypto directly
  • Prefer regulated investment products
  • Are already familiar with share trading
  • Want to diversify their portfolio

Final Thoughts

Bitcoin ETFs on the ASX offer a convenient and accessible way to invest in cryptocurrency through a familiar structure. While they simplify the process, they still carry the same underlying risks associated with Bitcoin’s price volatility.

By understanding how a crypto ETF ASX works, including its costs, risks, and benefits, you can decide whether it fits your investment strategy and risk tolerance.

XRP Off-Exchange Activity Just Hit Levels Not Seen Since 2021: Red Flag Or A Setup?

info@uweb3.io
-
0
XRP Off-Exchange Activity Just Hit Levels Not Seen Since 2021: Red Flag Or A Setup?

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

XRP is consolidating around the $1.40 level as the market builds toward what is beginning to feel like a decisive move in either direction. The price has been range-bound for long enough that the next breakout — whenever it arrives — is likely to be significant. An Arab Chain report has just surfaced a behavioral shift in the on-chain data that adds a layer of structural context to the current stillness.

The XRP Exchange Withdrawing Transactions indicator on Binance has dropped to its lowest level since 2021. In practical terms, the number of users moving XRP off the exchange and into private wallets has fallen sharply compared to any comparable period in recent years. A behavior that was routine during previous cycles of elevated activity has nearly disappeared from the data entirely.

That kind of shift does not happen without a reason — and the reason is not always obvious from the number alone. Declining withdrawal activity can mean different things depending on the market context surrounding it. It can reflect reduced conviction among holders who are no longer motivated to take assets into self-custody. It can reflect a consolidation-phase paralysis where participants are simply waiting rather than acting. Or it can reflect the specific kind of pre-move quiet that tends to precede sharp directional shifts in markets that have been range-bound too long.

Which of those explanations fits the current XRP setup is what the data has to answer.

From 8,000 Transactions to 12. That Is Not a Decline — It Is a Near-Complete Stop

The magnitude of the withdrawal collapse is what separates this from a routine slowdown. Arab Chain’s data shows XRP withdrawal transactions on Binance falling from levels exceeding 8,000 in mid-April to approximately 12 in the latest reading. That is not a gradual reduction in activity. It is a near-complete cessation — a 99% contraction in a behavioral metric that reflects how many users are choosing to move their XRP off the exchange and into self-custody.

XRP Ledger: Exchange Withdrawing Transactions | Source: CryptoQuant
XRP Ledger: Exchange Withdrawing Transactions | Source: CryptoQuant

The interpretation the report offers is careful and honest about the ambiguity. Declining withdrawals can mean users are less interested in long-term off-exchange holdings and prefer to keep assets on the exchange for trading. It can also reflect a broader drop in participation where fewer users are doing anything at all. Neither reading is inherently bullish or bearish — but both describe a market that has stopped expressing conviction through action.

What makes the current reading particularly notable is the divergence between the withdrawal collapse and the price. XRP is holding near $1.43, showing little reaction to one of the sharpest contractions in off-exchange activity in four years. The price has not broken down. The activity has nearly disappeared. That combination — stability on the surface, near-silence underneath — describes a market in suspension rather than in motion.

Markets in suspension do not stay that way. The question is what ends the quiet.

XRP Compresses Near $1.40 as Volatility Contracts Into Decision Zone

XRP is trading in a tight consolidation range around the $1.38–$1.45 region, following a sharp breakdown earlier in the quarter that reset the broader structure. The daily chart shows that after the February capitulation, price established a base near $1.20 and has since formed a series of slightly higher lows, suggesting early stabilization but not yet a confirmed trend reversal.

XRP consolidates in a range | Source: XRPUSDT chart on TradingView
XRP consolidates in a range | Source: XRPUSDT chart on TradingView

The current structure reflects compression. Price is coiling just below the declining 50-day and 100-day moving averages, both of which continue to slope downward and act as dynamic resistance. Every attempt to push above the $1.45–$1.50 zone has been rejected, reinforcing it as the key level bulls must reclaim to shift momentum.

Volume has declined notably during this consolidation phase, which is consistent with a market waiting for direction rather than actively positioning. That contraction in activity typically precedes expansion, but it does not indicate direction on its own.

If XRP can break and hold above $1.50, the next target sits near $1.70–$1.80, where prior structure formed before the breakdown. On the downside, failure to hold $1.35 increases the probability of a retest of the $1.20 support zone. The range is narrowing, and the resolution is likely to be decisive.

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.

BIS report warns crypto exchanges’ rapid growth and lack of standardized rules leave users at risk

info@uweb3.io
-
0
BIS report warns crypto exchanges’ rapid growth and lack of standardized rules leave users at risk

Crypto exchanges are increasingly offering bank-like services such as lending and yield products, but without the protection traditional financial institutions provide, according to a report issued Thursday by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

“What looks like a high-yield savings product is, in reality, an unsecured loan to a lightly regulated shadow bank,” said the report, which does not necessarily reflect the views of the BIS, an international financial institution owned by 63 central banks from around the world.

The 38-page report also noted that the crypto industry’s largest participants have evolved beyond simple trading platforms into what it described as “multifunction cryptoasset intermediaries,” bundling services that would typically be separated across banks, brokers and exchanges.

The authors said the biggest concern is how fast “earn” and yield products are growing, and that they are widely marketed to retail users as tools to generate passive income on their crypto assets. While these offerings often promise attractive returns, their structure is closer to unsecured lending than savings, the report said.

“These platforms are effectively taking deposits and recycling them into risky activities — but without the safeguards that make traditional banking stable.”

In many cases, crypto exchange users relinquish control and, sometimes even ownership, of their digital assets to the platform, which then uses the funds for lending, trading or market-making strategies. The returns paid to customers are a share of the profits generated from these activities.

While these arrangements are similar to bank deposits, they lack the insurance traditional finance offers. There may also be a lack of transparency on how the assets are used.

“From the customer’s perspective, these products are generally an unsecured claim on the intermediary,” the report said, warning that users are exposed to the platform’s solvency in the event of losses.

The BIS pointed to the collapse of Celsius Network and FTX as examples of how users are exposed and victims of the weaknesses it says are still rampant within the industry.

“What unraveled at Celsius and FTX wasn’t just poor management, it was a system built on leverage, opacity and deposit-like promises without protection,” the report said.

The report cited the flash crash of October 2025, which triggered an estimated $19 billion in forced liquidations across crypto derivatives markets, saying the slide highlighted how quickly these dynamics can spiral.

Cytora and LexisNexis Risk Solutions Announce Strategic Relationship to Enhance Risk Selection and Automation for U.S. Commercial Insurers

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Cytora and LexisNexis Risk Solutions Announce Strategic Relationship to Enhance Risk Selection and Automation for U.S. Commercial Insurers

Cytora and LexisNexis® Risk Solutions have announced a strategic relationship to embed best-in-class data and advanced analytics from LexisNexis Risk Solutions directly into the Cytora platform to help U.S. commercial insurance companies scale their ability to assess, predict and manage risk.

For U.S. commercial insurers, a centralized and automated approach to underwriting can help deliver unparalleled insight into risk selection. Commercial insurers leveraging Cytora’s configurable, LLM-powered platform can tailor essential information from LexisNexis Risk Solutions to their own unique underwriting criteria, helping to enhance speed and accuracy in critical processes such as submission triage and entity resolution.

This approach empowers commercial insurers to automatically enrich submissions with crucial external information, minimizing manual lookups and reducing friction across underwriting workflows. As a result of the collaboration, commercial insurers can substantially improve the speed of their risk decisioning. 

 Cytora’s platform digitizes each incoming risk, augments it with external data sources, evaluates it against configured rules and routes it for automated or manual underwriting. LexisNexis Risk Solutions brings industry-leading data analytics solutions to provide a more thorough picture of risk, as well as proprietary linking technology for individual business entity resolution, to help ensure that risk information is transformed into decision-ready assets across the entire policy lifecycle, from new business to claims and renewals. 

The incorporation of U.S. commercial business firmographics data via LexisNexis® Commercial Data Prefill represents the first step in integrating additional LexisNexis Risk Solutions commercial insurance products into the Cytora platform.   

Juan de Castro, COO at Cytora, said: “This collaboration marks a significant milestone in Cytora’s mission to build one of the world’s most comprehensive data ecosystems for insurers. LexisNexis Risk Solutions is renowned for providing essential information and advanced data analytics to the insurance industry. By integrating their robust risk data directly into our platform, we are providing our commercial insurance clients with the intelligence needed to accelerate their decision-making and enhance control over risk selection. Together, we can enable underwriters to operate on a more complete, tailored view of the client risk profile, helping to optimize operational efficiency and drive profitability across all lines of business.” 

David Zona, senior vice president and general manager, U.S. commercial and life insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said: “Working with Cytora represents a strategic leap forward, specifically benefitting U.S. commercial insurers. By combining cutting-edge AI with unparalleled data intelligence, we can transform underwriting from a reactive process into a proactive, insight-driven discipline and at the same time deliver innovation at scale through precision risk assessment, while reducing friction. This empowers our mutual commercial insurer customers to help streamline critical processes, leverage sophisticated data analytics to best understand granular and book-of-business risk and accelerate their decision-making using highly automated workflows to drive sustainable growth.”

The partnership follows the launch of Cytora Autopilot,  a major new agentic AI capability for its digital risk processing platform that will enable insurers to automate end to end risk workflows for the first time, solving the longstanding challenge of fragmented risk processes, and the extension of a partnership with Arch Insurance to include its London Market operations.

JPMorgan (JPM) says persistent security flaws curb DeFi’s institutional appeal

info@uweb3.io
-
0
JPMorgan (JPM) says persistent security flaws curb DeFi’s institutional appeal

Persistent security vulnerabilities and stagnant total value locked (TVL) are weighing on decentralized finance’s (DeFi) institutional appeal, according to Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan (JPM).

TVL refers to the total value of crypto assets deposited in DeFi protocols, and is commonly used as a gauge of the size, usage and overall health of the ecosystem.

The KelpDAO exploit, which the bank said erased about $20 billion in TVL within days, exposed structural risks.

An attacker breached a cross-chain bridge, minted $292 million in unbacked rsETH and used it as collateral to drain lending protocols, leaving roughly $200 million in bad debt. Contagion spread beyond directly affected platforms, underscoring how DeFi’s interconnectedness can amplify shocks.

“Much as traditional investors shift towards cash in uncertain times, crypto participants have responded to recent exploits by seeking refuge in stablecoins,” wrote analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou in the Wednesday report.

Hacks and exploits remain a central risk for crypto because they directly undermine trust in systems that rely on code rather than intermediaries. Smart contract bugs, phishing and cross-chain bridge flaws can expose large pools of locked assets, with attackers often needing to exploit just a single weak point to trigger outsized losses.

These vulnerabilities are amplified by the complexity and interconnectedness of blockchain infrastructure. Cross-chain bridges, for example, expand functionality but also increase the attack surface, and have been responsible for billions of dollars in losses because they rely on complicated designs, shared infrastructure and sometimes weak validation mechanisms.

Beyond the immediate financial damage, repeated exploits erode confidence across the ecosystem. Each major hack can drive users and institutions away, prompt stricter regulation and slow adoption, making security a foundational constraint on crypto’s growth.

The bank’s analysts noted hack losses this year are tracking 2025 levels, with infrastructure and bridge exploits still the primary vulnerability despite gains in smart contract auditing.

Growth also remains muted. While TVL has partially recovered in dollar terms, it is largely unchanged in terms of ether (ETH), suggesting limited organic expansion and raising questions about DeFi’s ability to scale for institutional use, the report said.

In periods of stress, investors continue to rotate into stablecoins. Following the exploit, capital flowed from DeFi lending into Tether’s USDT, which benefits from deeper liquidity and faster off-ramps, reinforcing its role as a preferred flight-to-safety asset, the report said.

Read more: The $292 million Kelp DAO exploit shows why crypto bridges are still one of the industry’s weakest links

Tether freezes $344 million in USDT on Tron tied to ‘illicit activity’

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Tether freezes $344 million in USDT on Tron tied to ‘illicit activity’

Tether, the crypto company best known for issuing the world’s largest stablecoin, said Thursday it has frozen $344 million worth of USDT tokens across two wallets on the Tron blockchain after receiving requests from U.S. authorities.

The freeze was carried out after authorities flagged the addresses for alleged links to illicit activity, the company said in a blog post on Thursday. The action prevented further movement of the funds.

The company did not specify the nature of the activity or who controlled the wallets. Blockchain analytics firm AMLbot said the addresses appeared in scam-related documents and posts.

The move comes as debate around the role and responsibility of stablecoin issuers in stopping funds linked to illegal money transfers is back in the spotlight. The Financial Action Task Force recently warned that stablecoins are increasingly used for illicit transactions, including sanctions evasion and money laundering. Public blockchains allow transactions to be traced, while issuers retain the ability to freeze assets under certain conditions.

The issue came into focus this month following the $285 million exploit of Drift Protocol, in which attackers moved hundreds of millions of USDC stablecoin and bridged funds across chains. Critics argued that Circle (CRCL), the issuer of USDC, could have acted faster to freeze assets and limit losses, while the company said it only takes such actions when legally required or at request by law enforcement and authorities.

Tether said it works with law enforcement when wallets are tied to sanctions evasion or criminal networks, and has supported more than 2,300 cases globally across 340 agencies in 65 countries.

The company is also pushing deeper into the U.S. market. It launched the USAT token compliant with federal stablecoin regulation, issued in partnership with federally regulated crypto bank Anchorage Digital, with the effort led by former White House crypto advisor Bo Hines.

Tether is also preparing for a full audit of its reserves for the first time, a long-promised step as the firm seeks to improve transparency and align more closely with tighter regulatory expectations toward stablecoins.

UPDATE (April 23, 15:30 UTC): Adds context about Tether’s U.S. expansion.

The market repriced DeFi in just 48 hours

info@uweb3.io
-
0
The market repriced DeFi in just 48 hours

Until last Friday, April 17, lending stablecoins into Aave, widely considered the gold standard of DeFi, paid 2.32% APY. The Federal Reserve’s overnight rate was 3.64%. Taken at face value, the market was pricing an unregulated, open-source smart contract as a lower credit risk than the United States Treasury.

In 48 hours, that ended. The market did in real time what no regulator, auditor, or commentator had managed to do: it repriced DeFi credit risk.

The mispricing

Rank the dollar-credit options by yield before last weekend, and the hierarchy made no sense. Treasury overnight: 3.64%. Ledn’s investment-grade Bitcoin-backed ABS senior tranche, priced in February at BBB-: 6.84%. Strategy’s STRC perpetual preferred: 11.50%. U.S. credit cards: 21% against a 4% default rate. And Aave, sitting well below it all: 2.32%.

Something had to give. Luca Prosperi argued earlier this year that DeFi stablecoin rates should carry a 250–400 basis-point premium over the risk-free rate, implying 6.15–7.76%. The Bank of Canada’s April 2nd report took the opposite view, citing Aave’s 0.00% non-performing loan rate as proof that DeFi’s architecture delivers defaultless lending through strict collateral requirements and price-based enforcement.So what does this all mean? Either DeFi had solved credit risk, or the market had stopped pricing it.

Only one side could be right. Last weekend, we found out which.

The 1/1 problem

On April 18th, an attacker exploited Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered cross-chain bridge to mint roughly 116,500 unbacked rsETH tokens — about 18% of the circulating supply, worth around $292 million. The synthetic tokens were moved into Aave as collateral. The attacker borrowed an estimated $190–230 million of real assets against collateral that, when it mattered, didn’t exist. Aave’s incident report acknowledged the protocol functioned as designed; the shortfall is structural, not technical. Kelp and LayerZero have since publicly blamed one another for the 1/1 validator configuration that made the exploit trivial.

The contagion was instant. DeFi protocols are interoperable by design, and “looping” — borrowing on one platform and redepositing the proceeds as collateral on another — means a hit to Aave is a hit to everything built on top of Aave. Roughly 20% of Aave’s historical borrow volume has come from recursive leverage. Within 48 hours, $6–10 billion in net outflows left Aave. Utilization on WETH, USDT, and USDC pools hit 100%. Depositors couldn’t withdraw. Borrowers couldn’t source stablecoin liquidity. Stranded users borrowed another $300 million against their own locked stablecoin deposits at 75% LTV, often at a loss, just to access cash.

Rates responded accordingly. Aave stablecoin deposit APYs went from 3–6% pre-exploit to 13.4% within two days. Morpho’s USDC vault, which powers Coinbase’s consumer loan product, jumped from 4.4% APR on April 18th to 10.81% the next day as the liquidity scramble rippled outward. Total DeFi TVL across the top 20 chains fell by more than $13 billion.

No bankruptcy, no court, no recourse

Here is the part that won’t make headlines, and that allocators need to understand.

There is no bankruptcy law inside a DeFi protocol. If you withdraw first, you keep everything. If you are among the last, you don’t — and you may absorb a disproportionate share of the losses. Regulated lenders have a legal duty to halt operations the moment they realize they cannot cover liabilities, and bankruptcy courts can claw back from parties who benefited unfairly. The Celsius, BlockFi and FTX wind-downs were grueling, but creditors recovered assets, and the people responsible faced a judge.

In DeFi, there is no process. There is no court. There is no recovery. There is no one to hold accountable.

That has direct consequences for risk sizing. If you can estimate the total loss but cannot predict how it will be distributed, you cannot estimate your own exposure. It may be zero. It may be everything. It depends on how fast you moved, and on how fast the people next to you moved.

What happens next

DeFi is not going away. The architecture has real utility, and permissionless markets have always existed — across every asset class and in every era. But they have never been risk-free, and they have always carried a premium over their regulated equivalents. The 48 hours following the April 17 incident reminded the market that the same rule applies onchain.

Institutional allocators sizing DeFi exposure for the coming year should take the signal seriously. The 2.32% Aave APR before last weekend did not reflect the underlying risk, and the market has now adjusted. Where DeFi rates settle from here is for the market to decide. But the mispricing is over. Last weekend proved it.

Bigly Sales on How Voice AI Is Fundamentally Changing Insurance Sales

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bigly Sales on How Voice AI Is Fundamentally Changing Insurance Sales

At InsurTech NY, Thomas Ryan from Bigly Sales explained that the company is focused on automating the sales process in the insurance industry. For Ryan, the problems are clear across almost every industry: nobody is good at follow-up, and speed-to-lead is critically important.

Bigly Sales is solving these key automation issues by providing a consistent platform that uses voice-enabled AI to ensure the right message is delivered the right way, every single time. The advantage of this platform is that it provides full data visibility, enabling users to A/B test and continuously improve both sales and marketing efforts. Ryan noted that coming to InsurTech NY made sense since it is the “insurance capital of America” and where all the big insurance companies are located.

Ryan acknowledges that AI is a major buzzword, and admits there is some hype surrounding it. However, he strongly believes AI is set to fundamentally change the sales process and “everything”. Rather than replacing human activity, Ryan sees AI as expanding the possibilities, allowing people to do more things and to do them more efficiently. 

To illustrate this power, Ryan offers a stunning example: for one customer, Bigly Sales recently completed 2 million calls in a single month. Critically, the AI platform then provided a granular analysis of every call, detailing common questions, objections, and why people didn’t qualify (DNQs). Ryan stresses that this level of in-depth data is now available simply by querying the system and getting an answer in seconds.

Thailand Considers Opening Door Wider To Crypto Futures in Licensing Revamp

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Thailand Considers Opening Door Wider To Crypto Futures in Licensing Revamp

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

Kraken and Coinbase moved first. Both crypto exchanges rolled out perpetual futures tied to equities for non-US users earlier this year, part of a broader push toward round-the-clock, multi-asset trading. Now Thailand is adjusting its own rulebook to keep pace.

A Shift In How Licenses Are Granted

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has put forward a proposal that would allow licensed digital asset companies to apply for derivatives licenses directly, without having to set up entirely separate legal entities.

The change, now open for public comment, is part of a wider licensing revamp aimed at making it easier for crypto firms to offer futures products to retail investors. The consultation period closes May 20.

Under current rules, a crypto company that wants to offer derivatives must establish a new entity — a requirement that adds time, cost, and complexity. The proposed revision would remove that hurdle.

Source: SEC Thailand

Companies would still need to meet additional requirements tied to conflict-of-interest management and regulatory oversight, but the structural barrier to entry would be gone.

The SEC said the changes are designed to give investors more tools for managing risk and building out their portfolios.

Global Push Behind The Proposal

Thailand’s move comes as momentum behind crypto derivatives builds across multiple markets. On Tuesday, Blockchain.com launched perpetual futures trading inside its self-custody wallet, allowing users to take leveraged positions using Bitcoin as collateral without moving funds to a third-party exchange.

The product, built on the Hyperliquid network, gives access to more than 190 markets with leverage of up to 40x.

Image: Adobe Stock

In the US, regulatory movement is also underway. A senior official at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said recently that the agency is working toward enabling crypto perpetual futures and could act within weeks.

Exchanges aren’t waiting. Kraken’s parent company, Payward, recently agreed to acquire Bitnomial, a US-regulated derivatives venue, with an eye toward giving American clients access to perpetual futures products once approvals come through.

BTCUSD trading at $77,752 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView

Bringing Standards In Line With Global Norms

Thailand’s SEC said the proposed rules would align its derivatives exchanges and clearing houses with international standards — a detail that points to longer-term ambitions beyond just opening up licensing.

Earlier this year, the regulator also put forward separate proposals for tighter scrutiny of the funders behind crypto firms, signaling that the broader push to expand the market comes alongside a tightening of oversight at multiple levels. The licensing revamp sits within that same pattern: wider access, stricter controls.

Whether the final rules reflect that balance will depend, in part, on what the industry submits before the May 20 deadline.

Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView

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.

1...384385386...1,272Page 385 of 1,272