CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.
The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 1982.06, down 0.6% (-12.51) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
One of 20 assets is trading higher.
Leaders: ICP (+1.5%) and BTC (+0.0%).
Laggards: AAVE (-3.6%) and XLM (-2.7%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
Its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is only around $1,100, showing the challenges it has as a low-income economy. Nonetheless, digital and fintech specifically have aspects helping the country with its wider economic development.
Digital Economy Overview
Guinea-Bissau’s digital economy ambitions are closely tied to regional integration efforts within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). As a member of the CFA franc zone, the country shares monetary policy and financial regulation with the wider region through the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). Even though the country is a Lusophone-speaking nation, it has aligned itself with its neighboring West African countries who are predominately Francophone speaking nations.
At the national level, digital transformation is supported by broader development programmes rather than a standalone digital strategy. Initiatives under the World Bank-supported West Africa Regional Digital Integration Programme (WARDIP) aim to expand internet access, improve digital infrastructure, and foster cross-border digital markets
These efforts are critical in a country where connectivity remains limited and digital infrastructure is still developing. The focus is not on rapid innovation, but on building the foundational layers required for digital finance to emerge.
Financial services sector: structurally constrained, gradually evolving
Guinea-Bissau’s financial services sector remains one of the least developed in the region. Banking penetration is extremely low and one of the lowest in Africa, with historic estimates at below 10 per cent, with much of the population operating entirely outside the formal financial system.
The sector itself is small, comprising a handful of commercial banks, including Ecobank and Orabank, operating under regional supervision.
Digital banking services are gradually being introduced, but adoption remains limited due to infrastructure constraints, low income levels, and limited digital literacy.
At the same time, the regional payments architecture, managed by the BCEAO, is undergoing modernisation, including real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems and automated clearing mechanisms. These developments are beginning to create the rails upon which fintech solutions can eventually scale.
Financial inclusion as highlighted is one of the lowest in Africa. Much of the population relies on cash, informal savings and community-based financial practices are common. To top it off, like much of Africa, financial literacy is low and the informal economy is large.
A Small Fintech Ecosystem
Guinea-Bissau’s fintech ecosystem is small. The country has an estimated 5–15 fintech firms operating in the country as of 2026. These are primarily concentrated in payments and mobile money, remittances and basic digital financial services.
The ecosystem is supported by telecom operators, regional banking groups, and international development partners. Unlike more mature markets, local startup activity remains limited, reflecting both market size and funding constraints.
There is no standalone national fintech strategy. Instead, fintech development is embedded within broader economic and digital transformation programmes supported by international institutions. In other words, it is market driven in a market that is already small.
Policy direction in Guinea-Bissau is largely shaped at the regional level. The BCEAO has introduced regulatory frameworks for electronic money, payment service providers, and interoperability across UEMOA member states.
At the same time, the region is advancing towards central bank digital currency (CBDC) experimentation, with plans to pilot a retail digital currency this year.
At the national level, Guinea-Bissau is aligning with these frameworks while working to strengthen governance and financial sector stability, supported by the International Monetary Program (IMF), aimed at improving fiscal management and institutional capacity.
Recent developments reflect incremental but important progress. Much of it has been across the wider West African region given its economic and political ties as part of the UEMOA.
For instance, with partnerships, there have been those between pan-African banks and fintech infrastructure providers such as Ecobank and Hub2. They aim to connect Hub2’s network of more than 200 million mobile wallets to Ecobank’s pan-African digital banking platform. The partnership strengthens payment interoperability across Francophone Africa and expands access to secure, low-cost digital transactions for businesses and consumers.
Also, in 2024, Guinea Bissau successfully launched a blockchain platform—as part of the country’s program with the IMF, under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF)—designed to revolutionize its public wage bill management. It was one of the first of its type in Africa.
Finally, the same year, Pan-African operator Orange has opened an Orange Digital Center (ODC) in the country. Orange’s ODC aims to develop digital skills to promote innovation, strengthening the employability of young people and supporting local entrepreneurship.
Guinea-Bissau’s fintech future will depend fundamentally on infrastructure. Expanding internet access, improving electricity coverage, and strengthening digital identity systems will be essential prerequisites for growth.
In 2026, the country is not yet a fintech destination, but it is part of a broader regional shift towards digital finance.
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Ben Delo, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, said he donated 4 million pounds ($5.1 million) to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, in an opinion piece for The Telegraph Wednesday.
Delo wrote that the contribution was made “since the start of this year” to help build Reform UK into “a genuine alternative party of government.”
The op-ed does not specify whether the donation was made in fiat currency or cryptocurrency, though he also expressed support for a proposed U.K. government moratorium on political donations made in cryptoassets, citing regulatory complexity.
Guidance from the U.K. Electoral Commission, last updated April 7, 2026, states that crypto donations are currently not prohibited under electoral law, but are treated as non-monetary donations and must be valued in pounds at the time of receipt. Parties must also verify donor identity, particularly for contributions above 500 pounds.
The Commission also noted government plans to introduce a moratorium on crypto donations, potentially applying retrospectively to contributions received from March 25, 2026, though no legal changes have yet taken effect.
Late last month, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government announced an immediate moratorium on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, citing concerns that digital assets could be used to obfuscate the origin and motivation behind donations in British politics.
The move placed crypto at the centre of a broader crackdown on foreign interference, signaling that regulators view digital payments as a democratic risk rather than a financial one.
Electoral Commission data does not reveal any contributions listed under Delo or BitMEX.
Delo did not respond to a CoinDesk request for further information.
Farage acknowledged the support on X, writing that “brave people like Ben Delo” were becoming “even more determined” to back Reform UK.
In December, British multi-billionaire Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based entrepreneur who has invested in stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, made a donation of 9 million pounds to Reform.
Ether treasury company Bitmine Immersion Technologies has started trading on the New York Stock Exchange after uplisting from NYSE American as the company expanded its share buyback program.
The Ether (ETH) treasury company’s stock began trading on the NYSE at market open on Thursday under its existing “BMNR” ticker symbol, Bitmine announced Thursday.
Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said it’s a major milestone for the company as the NYSE is considered one of the world’s top exchanges.
“The NYSE is the most prestigious venerable stock exchange with a storied history. The NYSE is the envy of capital markets around the world and Bitmine is proud to be the newest company traded on this exchange.”
NYSE American is designed for small-cap and growing companies. Bitmine’s uplisting to the NYSE suggests the company is gaining momentum, and increases the company’s exposure to larger capital pools.
The process to gain a listing on the NYSE requires a company to meet strict requirements covering financial health, share distribution and corporate governance. Some of the requirements include having more than 400 shareholders and 1.1 million publicly held shares.
A majority of directors involved in corporate governance must also be independent, with no significant financial interest in the company and audit, compensation and governance committees must be formed.
One of the final steps involves filing a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The NYSE review before a listing usually takes about four to eight weeks.
Chris Taylor, the NYSE Group’s chief development officer, said in a statement that Bitmine is a strong addition to the stock exchange.
Related: Ripple to buy back $750M in shares through April: Report
“We are pleased to welcome Bitmine to the New York Stock Exchange,” he said. “With its focus on advancing the Ethereum ecosystem, Bitmine is a strong addition to the NYSE community.”
Meanwhile, Bitmine’s board unanimously expanded the July 2025 share repurchase program from $1 billion to $4 billion, including shares previously repurchased.
“Bitmine’s expanded $4 billion buyback reflects our commitment to shareholders,” Lee said, adding that “there may be a time in the future when Bitmine shares are trading below intrinsic value, and the company wants to be in a position to accretively retire common shares.”
Bitmine stock (BMNR) closed Thursday at $21.08, down more than 64% in six months, according to Google Finance. Last September, analysts told Cointelegraph that treasury companies are using buybacks to boost stock price and legitimacy.
Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?
Quantum computing has become one of the hottest topics lately, thanks to Google saying that a sufficiently powerful machine could exploit legacy blockchains with less firepower than initially estimated.
For XRP holders, a nuanced answer, based on expert takes, is that XRP’s architecture is better positioned than Bitcoin’s. XRP is the digital token operating on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which is a open-source, decentralized blockchain. Ripple is a fintech company that co-founder this ledge.
Let’s discuss in detail, one step at a time.
Every major blockchain shares the same fundamental cryptographic features that include a private key, which is the secret password that you never share but use to sign and execute transactions on the distributed ledger.
For this, a public key is mathematically derived, and from that, your wallet address is generated, which you share with others to receive funds.
The quantum vulnerability that everyone is talking about is that a sufficiently powerful machine running the so-called Shor’s algorithm could theoretically reverse-engineer your private key from the exposed public key, draining your funds.
Typically, your public key is exposed to the network when you send a transaction, and when you receive funds, only your address is on-chain. This is why your account activity, whether you have sent funds, makes you quantum vulnerable, not your balance or how long you have held the address.
This week, XRP Ledger’s validator Vet, ran a quantum vulnerability audit of the entire ledger and found that around 300,000 XRP accounts holding 2.4 billion XRP have never sent any funds. They have so far received only funds, meaning their public keys have never been exposed to the network.
These accounts are therefore quantum-safe by default.
However, there are dormant whale accounts that have transacted before and exposed their public keys, but this happened at least 5 years ago. They are essentially exposed and not active. If a quantum computer comes into existence tomorrow, these whales would be in trouble.
Vet found two such accounts on the entire XRP Ledger, and together they hold 21 million XRP. While that sounds a lot, it’s just 0.03% of the circulating supply.
Note that the vulnerability is based on the assumption that they are dormant and not around for “key rotation” – an XRPL feature that lets you swap your signing key without moving funds at all. Think of it this way: You can change the lock on your house (account) without having to move house. This way, your funds stay safe, no send transaction occurs, and anyone holding your old key is locked out of your account.
“The XRP Ledger is account based and allows for signing key rotation. so you can rotate keys that sign on behalf of an account without switching the account. this is obviously not a perfect solution at all and actual quantum resistant algorithms will eventuell be adopted,” Vet said on X.
Technically, this feature is available for everyone, but the problem arises when people are not around to use it – the so-called long dormant accounts, who may have lost keys, passed away, or simply aren’t paying attention. That is what makes them vulnerable.
Mayukha Vadari, staff software engineer at Ripple, pointed to the “escrow feature” as another defense against quantum risk.
He said that funds locked in escrow with a time lock are safe not because of cryptography, but because of logic — a time lock simply prevents withdrawal until a specified time has passed.
“Time locks aren’t hash based either, you just can’t get in until that time has passed (at least not via quantum – you’d need some other bug for that). Yeah that’s true, can’t stop a blackholing – but the attacker is less incentivized to do that because they don’t get the funds,” Vadari said.
It is worth noting that while the time lock protects the funds specificially, the account that locked those in the escrow can carry quantum risks as any other XRPL account. So, an attacker could potentially take control of the account and cancel or modify the escrow or simply wait for the time lock to end.
The quantum threat to Bitcoin appears worse than that to XRP for two reasons.
First, the sheer scale. A significant portion of early bitcoin was mined using a format called P2PK, which exposed public keys directly in the transaction output – no spend transaction required. This includes Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1 million BTC, which has never moved. Broadly speaking, Google estimates that about 6.9 million BTC are vulnerable, which equates to nearly 35% of bitcoin’s circulating supply, a large figure compared to XRP’s 0.03%.
All of these are sitting ducks for a potential quantum attacker.
Even holders who recognize the threat and want to protect face a structural problem that XRP holders do not. That’s because Bitcoin’s blockchain lacks a key rotation feature, leaving holders with only one option: move funds to a new address whose public key has never been seen. Funds at that new address are quantum-safe.
However, when you move funds from old to new, the transaction sits in the memory pool (a temporary waiting room) for about 10 minutes. During this time, the public key of the old address is exposed. A sufficiently strong quantum machine can exploit this public key within ten minutes. This risk is still largely theoretical, but it points to bitcoin holders’ relative structural vulnerability.
That said, note that Bitcoin developers have already initiated several proposals to develop quantum resistance.
A Drift Protocol insider who lost her savings in the exploited decentralised finance protocol has said the industry needs to grow up if it’s ever going to be ready for everyday investors.
On April 1, hackers drained over $286 million from the Solana-based trading platform. Investigators have since pointed the finger at North Korean cybercriminals.
The incident highlights how decentralised finance still has a long way to go when it comes to its security, which will prevent it from being accepted among traditional finance, according to Ann Irvina Ravinther, former marketing lead at Drift Labs, the firm behind the trading platform.
“Trust needs to recover,” Ravinther told DL News.
“People already in crypto and DeFi are forgiving and think it’s part of progress but at some point the industry needs to mature if it’s going to be ready for retail.”
“Right now, it’s not,” she added.
Ravinther left Drift Labs in February, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Ravinther wrote on X following the hack that she had lost $76,000 in crypto because of the hack. It isn’t clear whether she has managed to recover the funds. She didn’t answer DL News’ questions on the matter.
Security in the DeFi space is a major issue after a number of high-profile hacks last year. Most recently, in November, criminals stole $128 million from decentralised exchange and automated market maker Balancer.
In 2025, criminals stole over $2.5 billion in crypto, according to DefiLlama. So far in 2026, digital larcenists have stolen nearly $456 million.
The DeFi space is still experimental but has become more mainstream as of late, with even a US President Donald Trump-backed protocol, World Liberty Financial, promising to revolutionise the way people handle their money.
Still, security needs to improve if people are to trust DeFi, said Ravinther.
“In the five years that I’ve been in crypto, it is sad that security is still the story,” she wrote on X.
“How is this the future of finance?”
She added in an exchange with DL News: “It’s one of those things you think won’t happen, and then it does.”
David Schwed, a cybersecurity expert chief operating officer of Near protocol infrastructure firm SVRN, told DL News that DeFi protocols aren’t focusing enough on security.
“I don’t see the effort being put in,” he said.
“They don’t have the budgets of the bank, they don’t have the maturity of the bank. They haven’t been running for 50 or 60 years and really understand how to build out a proper security programme.”
The Drift Protocol hack involved social engineering, according to blockchain analysts and security firms.
Cybercriminals for months built relationships with the Drift team, meeting them in person at conferences and pretending to be from a legitimate trading organisation, Chainalysis said.
Hackers then tricked multisig signers into signing transactions they did not fully understand, handing over admin control. The criminals were then able to change protocol permissions and withdraw funds.
The weak point was the humans in control of the project, not a fault in the protocol’s code, as seen with previous hacks.
“The core issue is not the number of signers, but the lack of understanding of transaction intent,” Deddy Lavid, CEO and co-founder of security firm Cyvers, told DL News.
“This is why security needs to move beyond signer-based trust toward transaction-level verification, where every action is evaluated based on what it actually does, not just who approved it.”
Drift Labs did not respond to questions from DL News.
The protocol’s official X page announced Tuesday that it was working with security researchers to put together a recovery plan.
“We recognise the impact this has had across our users and the builders who have integrated with us — many of whom rely on Drift as core infrastructure,” a Wednesday post read.
“We’re actively working on next steps and will share more once details are finalized.”
Mathew Di Salvo is a news correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email at mdisalvo@dlnews.com.
Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) y Anthropic anuncian hoy que Moody’s Agentic Solutions (MAS) estará disponible de forma nativa en el entorno Claude de Anthropic (incluidos Claude Desktop, Claude.ai y Claude Enterprise) a través de una aplicación del Protocolo de Contexto de Modelos (MCP, por sus siglas en inglés) diseñada específicamente para este fin. Las dos empresas incorporan conjuntamente la inteligencia de riesgo de Moody’s, apta para la toma de decisiones, al entorno vanguardista de IA de Anthropic, ofreciendo resultados confiables y auditables a la escala y velocidad que exigen las instituciones reguladas.
“Las instituciones que marcarán el rumbo en un mundo impulsado por la IA serán aquellas que se basen en una inteligencia en la que se pueda confiar, que se pueda defender y sobre la que se pueda actuar”, declaró Cristina Pieretti, directora de Contenido Digital e Innovación de Moody’s. “Moody’s proporciona esa capa inteligente y conectada, apta para la toma de decisiones, que ahora está disponible directamente en el entorno de Claude, donde nuestros clientes ya están trabajando”.
Por otra parte, Moody’s está trabajando en la implementación de Claude Enterprise, Claude Code y Claude Desktop en sus propias operaciones para acelerar el ciclo de vida del desarrollo de productos que impulsa su hoja de ruta de IA.
“Claude está diseñado para tareas que implican riesgos altos y los resultados deben ser defendibles, y eso es exactamente a lo que se enfrentan a diario los equipos de crédito y cumplimiento normativo”, señaló Kate Jensen, directora de Anthropic para América. “Moody’s apuesta de manera decisiva al integrar de forma nativa Moody’s Agentic Solutions en Claude para sus clientes y al implementar Claude en sus propias operaciones”.
Al momento del lanzamiento, los agentes diseñados específicamente por Moody’s darán soporte al análisis de crédito para instituciones financieras (incluyendo la generación de memorandos, comparaciones con pares y evaluaciones de cuadros de mando) así como a flujos de trabajo de cumplimiento normativo que abarcan la elaboración de perfiles de entidades, el mapeo de estructuras de propiedad, la detección de noticias negativas en los medios y la verificación de sanciones. Todo ello se presentará mediante informes interactivos directamente dentro de Claude a través de una integración de MCP dedicada que conecta la inteligencia de Moody’s a nivel de protocolo. Esto permite a los agentes ejecutarse de forma nativa en el entorno de Claude y producir resultados en línea sin que los clientes tengan que cambiar de sistema.
Para un analista de crédito de una institución financiera, los flujos de trabajo que requerían horas de recopilación de datos en múltiples plataformas, reuniendo calificaciones, estudios y datos financieros en un informe fundamentado, ahora pueden ejecutarse de manera conversacional dentro de Claude, con resultados que cuentan con las mismas fuentes, capacidad de explicación y registro de auditoría que exigen los entornos regulados. Para los profesionales de KYC y cumplimiento normativo, los flujos de trabajo de selección de entidades que abarcan el mapeo de la estructura de propiedad, el análisis de noticias negativas en los medios y las verificaciones de sanciones están disponibles como un único flujo de trabajo integrado que se presenta directamente en la interfaz de Claude.
El lanzamiento de hoy es el primero de una serie de flujos de trabajo agénticos de Moody’s previstos para el entorno de Claude, a los que seguirán capacidades adicionales en materia de monitoreo de riesgos e inteligencia de cartera.
Cada agente basa su trabajo en la inteligencia conectada de Moody’s, una arquitectura unificada que abarca 600 millones de entidades, 2000 millones de vínculos de propiedad e inteligencia de riesgo interconectada en los ámbitos crediticio, de cumplimiento normativo y operativo. Los resultados son válidos, explicables y auditables, lo que permite cumplir con los estándares exigidos para la toma de decisiones de alto riesgo en entornos regulados.
Bitcoin pulled back to $71,843 on Friday after a third attempt to breach $73,000 was met with selling on Thursday, a level that has now rejected the price on every rally since the Iran conflict began in late February.
The retreat is modest. Bitcoin is up 7.9% on the week, its strongest weekly performance of the war so far, holding above the 50-day moving average which has turned upward for the first time since the conflict started. Ether held at $2,189, up 6.6% on the week. Solana’s SOL gained 5.1% to $83.09. XRP added 2.8% to $1.34. Dogecoin climbed 2.4% to $0.092. The entire top 10 is green on the weekly chart for the first time in over a month.
But $73,000 is seemingly a wall. The level has capped bitcoin three times since the ceasefire was announced on Tuesday — each attempt producing a rally that faded within hours. The pattern is identical to the pre-ceasefire range, just shifted higher. Instead of grinding between $65,000 and $73,000, bitcoin is now grinding between $70,000 and $73,000.
“We will need to wait for the price to rise above $75,000 before we can speak of the market entering an active bullish phase,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro’s chief market analyst, in a note to CoinDesk. He added that bitcoin remains above the 50-day moving average, reinforcing short-term bullish sentiment, but flagged the repeated rejection at $73,000 as the barrier that needs to break.
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz set the bar higher, saying the key conditions for bitcoin to resume its uptrend are consolidation above $74,000 followed by a break above $80,000. “Breaking through these levels could trigger a new wave of optimism and restore the uptrend,” he said.
The ceasefire that triggered Tuesday’s rally is already fraying. Iran accused the U.S. of breaching three clauses of the agreement.
The Strait of Hormuz remains only partially reopened with “technical limitations.” Oil rebounded from its 15% single-day crash to trade back above $97.
Ether’s setup is similarly range-bound. The token pulled back 4% from its Wednesday peak to $2,189, which Kuptsikevich described as market noise within a $2,000 to $2,400 consolidation zone.
“A breakout beyond this calm consolidation zone would signal the start of a directional move,” he said.
Outside of majors, Algorand dropped 11.4%, Aptos fell 6.1%, and Polkadot lost 6.1%, marking an altcoin divergence that typically appears when traders are rotating rather than entering fresh capital.
The Fear and Greed Index climbed out of single digits for the first time in over a month, meanwhile.
If the ceasefire survives through the weekend and the Strait opens further, $73,000 gets its fourth test with momentum behind it. However, Tehran’s grievances escalate or Trump’s rhetoric shifts, the pullback toward $68,000 to $70,000 is the path of least resistance.
Key Takeaways:
AlphaTON Capital’s deal, announced Thursday, deepens an existing partnership between the two companies. AlphaTON (Nasdaq: ATON), which focuses on privacy-preserving AI systems and decentralized compute, will use the agreement to scale GPU capacity through Vertical Data’s capital-efficient deployment model.
At the center of the agreement is a high-performance GPU cluster built on the Nvidia B300 architecture. Financing will be handled through Vertical Data’s GPUfinancing.com platform, which provides asset-backed, non-recourse funding for infrastructure projects.
Brittany Kaiser, CEO of AlphaTON Capital, said Vertical Data has supported the company through multiple phases of its infrastructure buildout. “This agreement is a vital step in scaling our compute capacity,” Kaiser said.
Kaiser added:
“It ensures that our platform objectives — specifically the convergence of AI, digital assets, and confidential compute — are supported by the most advanced hardware and efficient financing models available today.”
Deven Soni, CEO of Vertical Data, said the deal reflects his company’s approach to delivering end-to-end solutions. “We are pleased to continue working with AlphaTON as they expand their AI infrastructure initiatives,” Soni remarked in the release.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, pending customary closing conditions.
Beyond hardware, the agreement covers managed infrastructure services. Vertical Data will handle operational management and energy efficiency at the data center level, allowing AlphaTON to keep its focus on building privacy-preserving and decentralized AI applications.
That infrastructure directly supports AlphaTON’s work with a roster of blockchain and digital asset partners. The company counts Telegram, Gamee, Animoca Brands, and Midnight Blockchain among the organizations relying on its compute foundation for secure AI applications.
AlphaTON maintains strategic treasury positions in digital assets aligned with that thesis and supports decentralized AI ecosystems designed to give users privacy protections through architecture rather than policy alone.
The $43 million deal is one of the more concrete infrastructure commitments from a Nasdaq-listed AI company operating in the confidential compute space in 2026. Whether the hardware scale-up translates into measurable platform growth for AlphaTON’s partner network will become clearer once the deal closes later this year.
