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Why Fraud is Now Your Financial Institution’s Competitive Differentiator

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Why Fraud is Now Your Financial Institution’s Competitive Differentiator

Tristan Prince from NOTO and Robert Booker from Opus Advisory Group dive into the exponential cost increase facing firms, driven by AI-enabled fraud.

Fraud used to be a manageable problem, a small “blip” on a financial statement that mainly affected high-net-worth people. Now, however, the volume and frequency of fraud has changed everything and is now the UK’s largest crime, accounting for over 40% of registered offenses. This massive shift means that for financial organisations, fraud is no longer just a risk to be contained, but a competitive differentiator. Customers will judge an institution based on how it treats them after they’ve been victimised, directly impacting customer perception and the bottom line.

NOTO notes that an organisation expecting 100,000 applications could suddenly be hit with 10 million and this surge in volume means that for companies using fraud prevention systems licensed per transaction or application, their operational costs for technology, vendors, and even staff will grow exponentially, even if their core business isn’t. Fraud managers are currently struggling to keep these costs within budget. New legislation from the PSR, which includes reimbursement rules for APP scams, also has a direct and serious financial impact on profitability through potential fines and mandatory reimbursements.

The current reimbursement scheme generally splits the liability 50-50 between the sending and receiving institutions when a customer is defrauded. This shared liability is designed to encourage mutual responsibility across the industry to prevent criminals from using financial products and services for money laundering and other illicit activities. However, the conversation moves to how the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) is tightening accountability.

Booker explains that the ECCTA outlines six reasonable procedures to prevent fraud, the most important of which is establishing tone from the top.

Financial organisations can no longer rely on simple spot fixing or buying a new piece of “shiny kit” to satisfy investigators like the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Instead, accountability must be a pervasive, business-wide culture which involves risk-based fraud assessments and visible championship of fraud prevention at the board level.

Booker stresses that the culture must come from the board and senior leadership and cannot be pushed up from lower or middle management. This top-down approach must include creating and publicising whistleblowing policies to encourage staff to report fraud without fear. In high-pressure scenarios, junior staff can be bullied by senior officials to process payments without question. The new culture, reinforced by education, awareness, and training, needs to encourage reporting and ensure there are consequences for those who breach that culture.

The long-term success of the ECCTA will be measured by a low number of cases, which demonstrates industry-wide compliance and adds that a new government fraud strategy is focused on setting up a financial crime centre where sectors like telecoms, finance, policing, and government will collaborate and share data to minimise fraud and improve technology.

Capital B Buys More Bitcoin, Expands Treasury To 2,925 BTC After Debt Conversions And Equity Raise

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Capital B Buys More Bitcoin, Expands Treasury To 2,925 BTC After Debt Conversions And Equity Raise

Capital B has strengthened its profile as a listed Bitcoin Treasury Company after converting key debt instruments, raising fresh equity, and deploying part of the proceeds into additional bitcoin. 

The group now holds 2,925 BTC with an acquisition value of €269.4 million, at an average cost of €92,096 per bitcoin.

The company confirmed the purchase of 37 BTC for €2.3 million, at a reference price of €60,892 per coin, as part of its ongoing Bitcoin Treasury strategy. This lifted the year‑to‑date “BTC Yield” to 1.25%, with a “BTC Gain” of 35.3 BTC and a “BTC € Gain” of €2.2 million since the start of 2026. Quarter‑to‑date, BTC Yield stands at 0.53%, with a BTC Gain of 15.2 BTC and a euro gain of €0.9 million, according to a company press release. 

Alongside the treasury expansion, Capital B completed major conversions of its OCA B‑01 convertible bonds. Blockstream Capital Partners converted 17,897,600 OCA B‑01 into 32,900,000 ordinary shares, while UTXO Management converted 2,020,372 OCA B‑01 into 3,713,919 shares, at a unit conversion price of €0.544. In total, 36,613,919 new shares were issued through debt set‑off on these instruments.

Both Blockstream Capital Partners and UTXO Management also exercised their rights under legal adjustment measures linked to the free BSA 2025‑01 warrants granted in 2025. 

Blockstream subscribed to 4,700,000 new shares at €0.544 per share for €2.56 million, while UTXO Management took 530,559 shares for €0.29 million, bringing total cash raised under these adjustments to €2.85 million. The company further reported the exercise of 4,464,712 BSA 2025‑01 into 637,816 shares for €0.35 million, with the warrants expiring worthless at midnight on April 10, 2026.

In March, Capital B announced a €3 million capital raise alongside amendments to existing convertible bonds to accelerate its Bitcoin treasury strategy. 

The funding, backed by TOBAM and UTXO Management, could enable the company to acquire roughly 36 additional bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to about 2,880 BTC.

Capital B’s bitcoin is being held for operational needs

Following these transactions, Capital B’s issued share capital stands at 272,210,021 shares, while its fully diluted base reaches 397,622,899 shares when including remaining convertibles, warrants, and free‑share plans. On this basis, the group reports 730 satoshis of bitcoin per fully diluted share, a core metric in its strategy to grow BTC per share over time.

The company stated that an additional 60 BTC is held for operational needs, segregated from the reserve that underpins its Bitcoin Treasury KPIs. Capital B said it will continue to publish BTC Yield, BTC Gain, and BTC € Gain as supplemental indicators for investors who follow its equity‑financed bitcoin accumulation model

Disclaimer: Bitcoin Magazine is owned by Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA). Nakamoto Inc. also owns UTXO Management.

Strategy Drops $1 Bil On Bitcoin—Holdings Cross 780,000 BTC

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Strategy Drops $1 Bil On Bitcoin—Holdings Cross 780,000 BTC

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Strategy has continued its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation with another billion-dollar buy despite the BTC price trading below its cost basis.

Strategy Has Added 13,927 BTC To Its Treasury

As shared by Strategy co-founder and chairman Michael Saylor in a new X post, the treasury company has furthered its Bitcoin buying spree. The new acquisition involved a total of 13,927 BTC, bought for $1 billion or $71,902 per token.

This is a sizeable purchase and a step up from the company’s last two buys of 1,031 and 4,871 coins. Saylor hinted at the purchase being significant in his usual Sunday X post with the company’s Bitcoin portfolio tracker, this time using the caption “Think ₿igger.”

Following this acquisition, Strategy has witnessed its holdings cross the 780,000 BTC milestone. Also, its total investment is approaching the $60 billion mark, with its current value sitting at $59.02 billion.

According to the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Strategy made the new purchase between April 6th and 12th and funded it using sales of its STRC at-the-market (ATM) stock offering.

With 780,897 BTC in Strategy’s wallets, its holdings alone account for about 3.9% of the entire circulating supply of the cryptocurrency. This makes it by far the largest public holder of BTC.

Bitcoin Treasury

The top 10 BTC treasury firms by holdings | Source: BitcoinTreasuries.net

Strategy has continued its Bitcoin accumulation despite the fact that the cryptocurrency’s spot price has been trading below the company’s cost basis of $75,577 since the crash at the start of February. At the current price, the firm’s massive holdings are about 6.3% underwater.

Interestingly, Strategy actually doesn’t need much of a return on its BTC investment to sustain its operations. As Saylor has explained in an X post, the company’s break-even BTC annual rate of return is just 2.05%. “If Bitcoin grows faster than that over time, we can cover our dividends indefinitely without issuing new $MSTR shares,” noted the chairman.

Strategy isn’t the only digital asset treasury firm that has maintained a consistent buying schedule despite the bearish shift in the wider sector. Bitmine, the largest Ethereum treasury company, has also been adding to its reserves week after week.

According to the latest Monday press release from Bitmine, it participated in accumulation of another 71,524 ETH over the past week. This happens to be the largest weekly addition to the firm’s holdings since December 2025 and continues a pattern of larger buys from the last few weeks. Thomas “Tom” Lee, the firm’s chairman, said:

Bitmine has maintained the increased pace of ETH buys in each of the past four weeks, as our base case ETH is in the final stages of the ‘mini-crypto winter.’

After the acquisition, Bitmine’s reserves have grown to 4,874,858 ETH, equivalent to 4.04% of the total Ethereum supply in circulation.

BTC Price

Bitcoin has pulled back from its weekend high as its price has dropped to the $71,100 level.

Bitcoin Price Chart

The trend in the price of the coin over the last five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured image from Dall-E, 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.

ECB sees tokenization as opportunity to build unified European capital market

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ECB sees tokenization as opportunity to build unified European capital market

Tokenization using distributed ledger technology (DLT) offers Europe an opportunity to develop a more integrated digital capital market and address fragmentation in traditional financial infrastructure, said the European Central Bank (ECB) in a Macroprudential Bulletin article published on April 13.

The bank believes the shift could support the EU’s Savings and Investments Union agenda by improving liquidity, reducing costs and enhancing capital allocation, while reinforcing monetary sovereignty through euro-denominated assets and European governance.

A small but fast-growing market

Tokenized finance is still small but is expanding quickly. While still relatively small, tokenized finance is expanding quickly. The global market reached about €38 billion in February 2026, up from €7.4 billion in early 2024.

Growth has been strongest in money market funds and bonds, with more limited but increasing activity in equities and real estate. Secondary trading, however, remains thin.

According to the ECB, much of the appeal revolves around how the technology could simplify processes across the lifecycle of financial assets. Features such as programmable transactions, fractional ownership and instant settlement could reduce issuance costs, automate parts of trading and remove frictions in clearing and settlement.

Over time, shared records could also streamline custody and asset servicing.

Four conditions for scaling up

Tokenization holds many promises, however, the ECB cautions that the benefits will take time to materialize and depend on the level of adoption and deep market liquidity. The biggest gains are likely in areas where assets are less standardized today.

To scale up tokenization, the central bank pointed to several gaps that still need to be addressed.

One is the availability of central bank money on-chain. The Eurosystem’s Pontes project, expected to launch in the third quarter of 2026, is designed to allow transactions on distributed ledgers to settle in central bank money.

Another is interoperability. Without it, tokenised markets risk developing into isolated platforms rather than a unified system, the ECB warns. The Appia project aims to lay the groundwork for a more integrated European framework by 2028.

Developing active secondary markets is also critical. Limited trading today holds back price discovery and investor participation, making this one of the main constraints on growth.

Regulation remains another sticking point, the bank says. While initiatives such as the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime and national frameworks in countries like Germany and France have made progress, differences across jurisdictions continue to complicate cross-border activity.

The ECB stresses the need for a more unified framework to support tokenized financial markets in Europe.

“A coordinated approach to removing such barriers would be the best solution to ensure a level playing field and unlock the potential for scaling DLT across Europe,” as noted in the article. “Further harmonization of corporate and securities law would facilitate the cross-border issuance, holding and settlement of the securities that corporates issue across the EU and would also aid the development of tokenized markets in Europe.”

Risks remain

The central bank also highlights a range of risks associated with tokenization, including the potential for liquidity mismatches, higher leverage through interconnected platforms, and operational vulnerabilities linked to smart contracts.

The transition period, with both traditional and tokenised systems running in parallel, could also present challenges.

The ECB’s message is that the opportunity is real, but not guaranteed. Delivering on it will depend on how quickly Europe can build the necessary infrastructure, deepen markets and harmonize its regulatory framework.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Crypto Exchange Kraken Faces Extortion Attempt After Insider Access Incidents Involving Support Staff

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Crypto Exchange Kraken Faces Extortion Attempt After Insider Access Incidents Involving Support Staff

Crypto exchange Kraken disclosed two insider-related security incidents involving support staff access to limited client data, followed by an extortion attempt by a criminal group, according to a company statement and comments from its chief security officer.

The firm said no systems were breached and no client funds were placed at risk in either case. Both incidents involved inappropriate access to internal support tools rather than core trading infrastructure, and access was revoked once identified.

Kraken’s Chief Security Officer Nick Percoco said the company is facing demands from attackers who claim to possess videos showing internal systems with client data. The group threatened to release the material unless Kraken complies.

“Our systems were never breached; funds were never at risk; we will not pay these criminals,” Percoco said in a public statement, adding that the company will not negotiate with the actors involved.

Kraken said about 2,000 client accounts were potentially viewed across both incidents, representing roughly 0.02% of its global user base. Affected users were notified, and the company said the exposed information was limited to support data rather than sensitive financial controls.

Multiple security breaches at Kraken 

The first incident dates to February 2025, when the company received a tip about a video circulating on a criminal forum. An internal investigation identified a member of the support team as the source of the access. Kraken said it revoked permissions, conducted a review, and implemented additional safeguards.

A second incident emerged later after another tip referenced similar material tied to a different individual. Kraken said it again identified the source, terminated access, and notified impacted users while tightening internal controls.

The situation escalated after the latest access was shut down, when the group behind the videos issued extortion demands. Kraken said the attackers threatened to distribute content to media outlets and social platforms.

The exchange said it is working with law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions and believes there is enough evidence to identify and pursue those responsible. The company also pointed to broader insider recruitment efforts targeting firms across crypto, gaming, and telecommunications.

Security experts have warned that insider threats remain a persistent risk in digital asset markets, where support roles often require visibility into user accounts for troubleshooting. While such access is restricted, it can become a target for coercion or exploitation.

Kraken said it continues to review internal processes, strengthen monitoring systems, and limit access privileges to reduce exposure. The firm emphasized that its core infrastructure remained secure throughout both incidents.

The case comes as the industry faces ongoing security challenges tied to both external attacks and internal vulnerabilities. The combination of high-value assets and global access has made crypto platforms a frequent target for coordinated campaigns.

In a separate disclosure, Galaxy Digital reported a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to an isolated development environment. The firm, founded by Mike Novogratz, said no client data or funds were affected.

Kraken said it will continue cooperating with investigators and industry partners as the case develops. The company framed the incidents as contained events while warning of a wider pattern of insider-focused threats facing technology firms.

Crypto Security Faces New Test As Rogue AI Agents Emerge

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Crypto Security Faces New Test As Rogue AI Agents Emerge

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

Researchers from the University of California set up a trap — a crypto wallet loaded with a small amount of Ether and connected to third-party AI routing infrastructure. One of the routers took the bait. The wallet was drained. The loss was under $50, but the implications reached far beyond the dollar amount.

That experiment was part of a broader study published recently, in which researchers tested 428 large language model routers — 28 paid and 400 free — collected from public online communities.

What they found was alarming. Nine routers were actively inserting malicious code into traffic passing through them. Two were using evasion techniques to avoid detection. Seventeen accessed AWS credentials belonging to the researchers. One stole actual cryptocurrency.

How Routers Became A Security Blind Spot

LLM routers sit between a developer’s application and AI providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. They work as intermediaries, bundling API access into a single pipeline.

The problem is structural. These routers terminate encrypted internet connections — known as TLS — and read every message in plain text before passing it along. That means anything sent through them, including private keys, seed phrases, and login credentials, is fully visible to whoever operates the router.

According to the researchers, the line between normal credential handling and outright theft is invisible from the client’s end. Developers have no way to tell the difference. A router that looks like a legitimate service can silently forward sensitive data to a third party without triggering any alarm.

Co-author Chaofan Shou said on X that 26 routers were found to be “secretly injecting malicious tool calls and stealing creds.”

Crypto

Source: LinkedIn

The study also flagged what researchers called “YOLO mode” — a setting built into many AI agent frameworks that lets agents run commands without stopping to ask users for approval.

A malicious router combined with an auto-executing agent could move funds or exfiltrate data before a developer even notices something went wrong.

Crypto Security: Free Access Used As Bait

Reports from the study indicate that free routers are especially suspect. Cheap or no-cost API access appears to be used as an incentive to get developers to route traffic through infrastructure that may be harvesting credentials in the background.

BTCUSD trading at $70,982 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView

Even routers that start out clean are not safe — the researchers found that previously legitimate routers can be quietly turned malicious once operators reuse leaked credentials through poorly secured relay systems.

The recommended fix for now is straightforward: keep private keys and seed phrases out of any AI agent session entirely.

For the long term, researchers say AI companies need to cryptographically sign their responses so that the instructions an agent executes can be mathematically traced back to the actual model — cutting off the ability of any middleman to tamper with them undetected.

Featured image from Xage Security, 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.

Torab: Binance’s market maker fund freeze impacts the crypto ecosystem, the importance of a transparent strategic reserve, and the shift from L2 to L1 architecture

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Torab: Binance’s market maker fund freeze impacts the crypto ecosystem, the importance of a transparent strategic reserve, and the shift from L2 to L1 architecture

Key takeaways

  • Binance’s decision to freeze market maker funds had significant repercussions for the company and the broader crypto ecosystem.
  • The Move strategic reserve was established to manage token supply transparently and support the ecosystem.
  • Commitment to an existing ecosystem can be crucial for maintaining momentum and achieving long-term success.
  • Significant achievements often require enduring difficulties and making sacrifices.
  • Separating the foundation and labs team in governance structures helps prevent conflicts of interest.
  • Robust governance measures are essential to prevent any individual from having unchecked power over the ecosystem.
  • Transitioning from an L2 to an L1 architecture can enhance performance and user experience.
  • The focus in blockchain development is shifting from L2 scaling solutions to scaling on L1.
  • A successful crypto project depends on building a product that people want to use, not just on VC support.
  • Having a dedicated validator set can capture value more effectively than relying solely on Ethereum.
  • Transparency and trust are critical components in the governance of decentralized organizations.
  • The crypto industry requires leaders to have resilience and a commitment to long-term goals.
  • Addressing currency devaluation through innovative stablecoin solutions is a focus for Movement Labs.

Guest intro

Torab Torabi is CEO of Move Industries, the team behind Move Network, a sovereign L1 blockchain powered by the Move VM. He led the pivotal decision to scrap Movement Labs’ complex L2 architecture in favor of the L1 approach, drastically reducing latency and AWS infrastructure costs while improving the builder experience. Torab champions Movement’s thesis that Move is for Money, targeting the Global South with yield-bearing stablecoins amid currency devaluation.

The impact of Binance’s market maker fund freeze

  • Binance froze market maker funds due to irregularities, impacting the company significantly.

  • What happened is that I believe in March or maybe even earlier than that Binance saw some market maker irregularities they froze the market maker funds I believe it was around $37,000,000 something in that ballpark

    — Torab

  • This action highlights the importance of regulatory compliance and transparency in crypto exchanges.
  • Understanding the implications of Binance’s actions is crucial for market makers and the broader crypto ecosystem.
  • The freeze led to changes in how market makers interact with Binance.
  • Binance’s decision underscores the need for robust security measures in crypto trading platforms.
  • The incident serves as a reminder of the risks associated with centralized exchanges.
  • Market participants must remain vigilant about the potential for sudden regulatory actions.

The role of the move strategic reserve

  • The Move strategic reserve was created to manage token supply transparently.

  • So essentially what we did with those funds is we were able to buy back right around 2% of token supply we actually call it the Move strategic reserve it’s on chain you can take a look at it

    — Torab

  • Token reserves are vital for ecosystem stability and investor confidence.
  • The reserve supports the ecosystem by ensuring a balanced token supply.
  • Transparency in managing token reserves builds trust among stakeholders.
  • The strategic reserve is a proactive measure to address potential market volatility.
  • On-chain transparency allows for real-time monitoring of the reserve’s activities.
  • The establishment of the reserve reflects a commitment to long-term ecosystem health.

Commitment to the existing ecosystem

  • Sticking with the existing ecosystem was crucial for maintaining momentum.

  • From our side we saw that we had some momentum we had real builders we had buy in… it almost felt like treason to just walk away.

    — Torab

  • Continuity in leadership is vital during turbulent times in the crypto market.
  • The decision reflects the importance of commitment to long-term goals.
  • Maintaining momentum helps in achieving significant milestones.
  • The choice to stay demonstrates resilience and strategic foresight.
  • Real builders and buy-in are essential components of a thriving ecosystem.
  • Abandoning the ecosystem would have undermined ongoing efforts and progress.

The importance of sacrifice and resilience

  • Achieving significant goals often requires enduring difficulties and making sacrifices.

  • You’re never gonna attain anything great or be able to achieve anything worthwhile without some type of sacrifice and going through difficulty.

    — Torab

  • Resilience is a key trait for leaders in the crypto industry.
  • Overcoming challenges is part of the journey towards success.
  • Sacrifices made today can lead to greater achievements in the future.
  • Leaders must be prepared to face adversity and remain committed to their vision.
  • The crypto sector demands a mindset focused on long-term success.
  • Personal sacrifices are often necessary to drive innovation and progress.

Governance structures and conflict prevention

  • The governance structure separates the foundation and the labs team to prevent conflicts of interest.

  • In our situation there actually are two complete independent organizations we have the foundation and then we have what we call the labs team which in this case is Move Industries

    — Torab

  • Independent governance structures enhance transparency and trust.
  • Preventing conflicts of interest is crucial for ecosystem integrity.
  • Robust governance measures safeguard against unchecked power.

  • We need a system where if my evil twin took over my body they wouldn’t be able to wreak havoc

    — Torab

  • Transparent governance builds confidence among stakeholders.
  • Clear separation of roles and responsibilities is essential in decentralized organizations.

Transitioning from L2 to L1 architecture

  • The shift from an L2 to an L1 was driven by the need for better performance and user experience.

  • Essentially the easy way to visualize this or to conceptualize it is we just wanted a better experience for builders and for users and so we said okay let’s reverse engineer how do we do that just be your own sovereign L1.

    — Torab

  • Transitioning to L1 architecture enhances scalability and efficiency.
  • The L2 thesis is somewhat dead as the focus shifts to scaling on L1.

  • You saw Vitalik recently… tweet… about basically the L2 thesis is somewhat dead because they wanna scale the L1 theory on L1.

    — Torab

  • L1 solutions offer greater control and flexibility for developers.
  • The decision reflects changing priorities in blockchain development.
  • Sovereign L1 architecture provides a more robust foundation for innovation.

Building products that users want

  • The success of a crypto project ultimately depends on building a product that people want to use, not just on VC support.

  • It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t translate to an actual product that people wanna use… they just haven’t built a product that people wanna use and they don’t have PMF.

    — Torab

  • Product-market fit is crucial for long-term success in the crypto industry.
  • Practical applications are more important than hype or speculation.
  • A focus on user needs drives innovation and adoption.
  • Building a product that solves real-world problems is key to capturing market share.
  • VC support is valuable but insufficient without a compelling product.
  • The crypto market rewards projects that deliver tangible value to users.

Advantages of having a dedicated validator set

  • Having our own validator set allows us to capture value more effectively compared to relying solely on Ethereum.

  • We have our own validator set… by having your own validators and having it settle on Movement as opposed to Ethereum

    — Torab

  • Independent validators provide strategic advantages in blockchain architecture.
  • A dedicated validator set enhances security and decentralization.
  • Capturing value within the ecosystem is more efficient with independent validators.
  • The approach allows for greater control over network operations and governance.
  • Relying on Ethereum can limit scalability and flexibility for some projects.
  • Establishing a layer one solution with independent validators is a strategic move for long-term success.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

U.S. lawmakers take another swing at crypto tax policy with revised bill

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U.S. lawmakers take another swing at crypto tax policy with revised bill

Congressmen Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Max Miller (R-Ohio) re-introduced their Digital Asset Protection, Accountability, Regulation, Innovation, Taxation and Yields (PARITY) Act late last month, seeking to update how the U.S. addresses crypto and taxes.

Congress is going to address taxes (in general) in the coming months, and crypto may end up part of this. It’s pretty important for anyone in the U.S. who owns any crypto at all, given they will have to report on their digital asset holdings and transactions.

The PARITY Act was first released in discussion draft form last December and re-released on March 26 for further review.

The most immediately visible change appears to be the section addressing “de minimis” gains. De minimis exemptions generally allow for certain transactions to be exempted from tax reporting. Under such an exemption, people don’t have to report the transaction, or worry about the tax burden that might otherwise follow.

The industry has long sought a de minimis exemption for small transactions, which could make it easier for individuals to do things like buy coffee without having to report a capital gain or loss on the crypto used in that transaction. The December 2025 version of the PARITY Act began with a section addressing de minimis exemptions for payments made via “regulated payment stablecoins,” with a note saying the threshold would be $200.

While the section did not appear to extend these exemptions to digital assets like Bitcoin BTC$74,439.16, the note went on to say that it pointed to stablecoins specifically because of the GENIUS Act.

The March 2026 version of the text did not explicitly say there should be a de minimis exemption, but portions seemed to address that concern:

“In the case of any sale of a regulated payment stablecoin, no gain or loss shall be recognized on such sale unless the taxpayer’s basis in such stablecoin is less than 99 percent of the redemption value of such stablecoin,” the bill said. It removed the $200 threshold and created a deemed basis of $1 for exchanges, which are separate from sales of the stablecoin.

The latest draft would also apply wash sale rules to digital asset transactions, which is not a particularly controversial position — Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) even included wash sale provisions in her tax bill last year.

This bill would also draw a distinction between “passive staking” and activities like trading.

It’s unclear what the next steps for this bill might be; while there is talk about a reconciliation tax bill, and U.S. President Donald Trump revealed his fiscal year 2027 budget requests, it is far from certain that the reconciliation bill will happen or that crypto will be part of it.

Nevertheless, conversations with industry participants over the past few weeks suggest that there will be a strong push to include crypto in any tax legislation that’s likely to become law.

Editor’s note: This article was originally sent as part of CoinDesk’s State of Crypto newsletter earlier this month.

Bitmine Expands ETH Treasury with Major Purchase, Nears 5% Supply

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Bitmine Expands ETH Treasury with Major Purchase, Nears 5% Supply

Bitmine Immersion Technologies said Monday that it purchased 71,524 Ether over the past week, bringing its total holdings to about 4.87 million tokens.

The company said the position represents roughly 4.04% of the total Ether (ETH) supply, based on about 120.7 million tokens outstanding, as it continues to pursue a target of acquiring up to 5% of global supply. Its balance sheet also includes 198 Bitcoin (BTC) and about $719 million in cash.

Bitmine said the latest purchase marks its fastest weekly pace of Ether accumulation since December 2025.

According to data from CoinGecko, Bitmine is the largest Ethereum treasury company by a wide margin, with SharpLink holding about 868,699 ETH and The Ether Machine holding 496,712 ETH.

It is also one of the few Ethereum treasury companies to increase its holdings over the past 30 days. Exodus Movement was the only other company in the dataset to do so, adding 17 ETH to reach a total of 1,857 ETH.

Chairman Tom Lee said Ether has outperformed traditional assets in recent weeks, citing demand tied to tokenization activity on Wall Street and growing use of public blockchains by AI systems.

Ether is up about 7% over the past month, limiting its year-to-date decline to about 25%, according to CoinGecko data.

A portion of the holdings is staked through MAVAN, the company’s in-house platform, with about 3.33 million ETH currently staked and projected annual rewards of roughly $310 million based on recent yields.

The announcement follows Bitmine’s April 9 debut on the New York Stock Exchange after uplisting from NYSE American, a move that typically signals stricter listing standards and broader access to institutional capital.

Top 10 Ethereum treasury companies. Source: CoinGecko

Related: Ether Machine scraps SPAC merger with Dynamix, citing market conditions

Strategy buys as most treasury companies hold or sell

Bitmine wasn’t the only crypto treasury company to buy in recent days, as Strategy on Monday also disclosed another major accumulation, bringing its Bitcoin’s total holdings closer to 800,000 BTC.

The world’s largest public BTC holder said it acquired 13,927 Bitcoin for $1 billion between April 6 and April 12, at an average price of $71,902 per coin, below its overall average purchase price of $75,577. Strategy now holds 780,897 BTC, purchased for a total of $59.02 billion, with just over 19,000 BTC remaining to reach the 800,000 mark.

Bitcoin treasury activity over the past 30 days shows a divergence between accumulation and selling. Strategy led buying by a wide margin, adding 42,166 BTC, while Japan’s Metaplanet increased its holdings by 5,075 BTC. Smaller additions came from companies like Strive, which added 430 BTC.

Ethereum, Bitcoin Price, Tom Lee, Ether Price, MicroStrategy
Top 10 Bitcoin treasury companies. Source: CoinGecko

In contrast, Bitcoin miners drove most of the selling, with MARA Holdings offloading 15,133 BTC, while Riot Platforms reduced holdings by 2,325 BTC.

Magazine: Asia Express: Phantom Bitcoin checks, China tracks tax on blockchain