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Judge continues Nevada ban on Kalshi sports markets

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Judge continues Nevada ban on Kalshi sports markets

A state judge in Nevada extended a temporary ban on prediction market provider Kalshi’s sports-related contracts in the Silver State on Friday.

Judge Jason Woodbury in the First Judicial District Court told attorneys at a hearing in the Carson City courthouse that he would also grant the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s request to impose a preliminary injunction against Kalshi banning it from offering some of its prediction markets until a broader court case from the state gaming regulator could be resolved. He extended the temporary restraining order he first granted on March 20 by two weeks to sort out the language of the injunction, Reuters reported Friday.

The judge’s original temporary restraining order blocked Kalshi from offering sports, entertainment and election-related bets.

The judge said buying a contract on a baseball game on Kalshi was “indistinguishable” from placing a bet on a state gaming platform, Reuters reported.

“So I find based on the arguments that ​have been presented that it is a gaming activity that is prohibited for any non-licensee ​to engage in,” he said.

Spokespeople for Kalshi and the Nevada Gaming Control Board did not return requests for comments.

State regulators have moved to block prediction market providers in much of the U.S., arguing that these companies’ sports-related products appear to be gambling products that should be regulated at the state level. Kalshi and other prediction market providers argue that they are federally regulated designated contract markets offering swaps, a type of derivative product, and therefore are not subject to state regulators.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, helmed by Chairman Mike Selig, has taken a stance agreeing with these companies. It filed an amicus brief in an appeals court case earlier this year, and sued Arizona, Illinois and Connecticut on Thursday alongside the Department of Justice, arguing that it is the proper regulator and alleging that the states are infringing on its role.

The hearing took place the same day as another hearing at a federal court in Arizona. In that hearing, Kalshi had filed to block state regulators from filing to block the prediction market provider’s products in the state. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes had previously filed an information alleging criminal charges against Kalshi.

According to the court docket, District Judge MIchael Liburdi heard arguments and is considering the motion.

Myriad Traders Predict US Boots in Iran After Downed Fighter Jet Prompts Rescue Mission

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Myriad Traders Predict US Boots in Iran After Downed Fighter Jet Prompts Rescue Mission

In brief

  • Myriad traders are becoming increasingly confident that the U.S. will put boots on the ground in Iran before the end of this month.
  • Meanwhile, they expect Iran’s current ruling regime to remain in place by October.
  • At the same time, Myriad traders penciled in an 83% chance that WTI crude oil futures hit $120 per barrel before falling to $55.

Traders grew confident on Friday that U.S. military personnel will physically enter the terrestrial territory of Iran after an American fighter jet was reportedly shot down.

On Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, users penciled in a 90% chance that the U.S. will put boots on the ground before the end of this month. That marked a sharp increase compared to a 60% chance the day before.

The U.S. began conducting search and rescue operations after what appeared to be an F-15 aircraft was shot down over Iran, per CNN. Citing unnamed sources, the outlet reported that a pilot had been rescued while the status of a second crew member remained unclear.

The U.S.-Israel war with Iran began 35 days ago, and putting American boots on the ground would represent a major escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has put significant strain on the global economy and caused the worst oil supply disruption in decades.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall became the latest lawmaker to express concerns about the human costs associated with American troops entering Iran. So far, the U.S. has confirmed that 15 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the conflict began.

“As far as boots on the ground, I sure hope not,” Marshall said, per The Topeka Capital-Journal, noting that his son is currently serving in the military. “I’m hoping that this war comes to a very quick end with minimum casualties for Americans.”

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that Operation Epic Fury is nearing an end, with “core strategic objectives [that] are nearing completion.” 

Trump has claimed that regime change in Iran has already happened, but Myriad traders see things differently. They foresaw a 75% chance on Friday that Iran’s current ruling regime would remain in place by October, which is around 180 days from now.

Following the assasination of Iran’s senior leaders, a hard-line government has solidified, per The Washington Post. That group offers little hope of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East, the outlet reported, citing regional and Western officials.

In a Truth Social post on Friday, the president asserted that “with a little more time” the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil flows, could be easily reopened. He raised the prospect of physically taking the oil and making “a fortune.”

On Thursday, WTI crude oil futures rose 0.47% to $112.07 per barrel, approaching their highest level in four years, according to Trading Economics. On Friday, Myriad traders penciled in an 83% chance that they would rise to $120 before falling to $55.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, is also becoming more costly. Although Brent crude futures for June delivery changed hands around $109 on Thursday, the commodity’s spot price has flared to its highest level since 2008 at $141, per CNBC, which cited S&P Global data.

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USDC Deposits Spike To $778M—Largest Since Bitcoin ATH

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USDC Deposits Spike To $778M—Largest Since Bitcoin ATH

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

On-chain data shows the Exchange Inflow indicator has shot up for USDC, something that could be relevant for Bitcoin and other digital assets.

USDC Exchange Inflow Has Hit The Highest Level In Months

As highlighted by CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn in a new post on X, the Exchange Inflow recently observed a surge for Circle’s stablecoin, USDC. The “Exchange Inflow” here is an indicator that keeps track of the total amount of a given asset that’s being transferred to wallets connected to centralized exchanges.

Generally, one of the main reasons why investors deposit their tokens to these platforms is for selling-related purposes, so a spike in the metric can indicate elevated demand for swapping the cryptocurrency. In the case of assets like Bitcoin, this can naturally have a bearish effect on the price.

For a stablecoin like USDC, however, there is no such effect as its price is by definition stable around the $1 mark. That said, exchange inflows related to the asset can still matter for the wider sector.

Often, investors stash their capital away in the form of these fiat-tied tokens when they want to wait for an opportune moment to enter the volatile side. Once traders feel that the time is right, they deposit their stablecoins to exchanges, swapping them for Bitcoin or any digital asset of their choice. This shifting can naturally provide a buying boost to the target cryptocurrency.

As the chart below, shared by Maartunn, shows, the USDC Exchange Inflow has observed a massive spike during the past day, implying exchanges have received a large amount of the stablecoin.

USDC Exchange Inflow Vs Bitcoin Price

The value of the metric seems to have shot up during the past day | Source: @JA_Maartun on X

The latest deposit spree has seen the inflow of 778,566,191.65 USDC, the largest level since September 2025. Back then, the large spike led into Bitcoin’s run to the new all-time high (ATH) above $126,000 in early October. It now remains to be seen whether the new surge in the indicator is a sign of market buying.

Since stablecoins are often used for injecting capital into the volatile side of the sector, their supply is considered as a measure of the sector’s liquidity waiting on the sidelines. An indicator called the Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR) compares the market cap of Bitcoin against this liquidity to estimate how much room the cryptocurrency might have to grow.

As the analyst pointed out in another X post, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of the BTC SSR has declined into the green zone recently.

Bitcoin SSR

The trend in the RSI of the Bitcoin SSR over the last few years | Source: @JA_Maartun on X

Based on the trend, Maartunn explained, “There is still a large amount of stablecoin liquidity relative to Bitcoin’s market cap, suggesting buying power remains on the sidelines.”

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $66,600, up 1% over the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin Price Chart

Looks like the price of the coin has shown stale action recently | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com

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FIFA Inks World Cup Prediction Market Deal With ADI Predictstreet

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FIFA Inks World Cup Prediction Market Deal With ADI Predictstreet

In brief

  • FIFA appointed ADI Predictstreet as its first official prediction market partner for the 2026 World Cup
  • Fans can forecast match outcomes and tournament statistics using FIFA’s official historical data.
  • The platform runs on ADI Chain’s blockchain infrastructure, powered by ADI, which rose to a new all-time high price Friday.

FIFA has named ADI Predictstreet as its first official prediction market partner, signing a multi-year agreement covering the 2026 World Cup. The collaboration will introduce prediction markets to FIFA’s global fan engagement strategy for the expanded 48-team tournament across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

According to FIFA and ADI Predictstreet, the platform will let fans forecast match outcomes, tournament statistics, standout players, and key moments throughout the 104-match competition across 16 host cities. ADI Predictstreet will also present FIFA’s free-to-play bracket challenge.

“FIFA is committed to continually enhancing the fan experience and embracing innovation that brings supporters closer to the game,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, in a statement. “By partnering with FIFA, ADI Predictstreet will be introducing an exciting new way for fans around the world to engage with football, using insight and interaction to deepen their connection with our competitions.”

Rather than team up with an established prediction market platform like Polymarket or Kalshi—as the NHL and MLB have done—FIFA has picked a partner in ADI Predictstreet that has yet to publicly launch its platform. ADI Chain is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network that is focused on the MENA region spanning the Middle East and North Africa. According to a press release, Predictstreet will expand beyond sports to other topics in the future.

According to a press release, the platform will “operate in alignment with FIFA’s regulatory and integrity frameworks,” with real-time monitoring for any suspicious activity among traders.

Prediction market platforms have been scrutinized for enabling insider trading, much as traditional sports betting platforms have, with major platforms recently making moves to shore up potential vulnerabilities amid growing interest from regulators and lawmakers.

“The FIFA World Cup is where billions of people share one moment at the same time. With this historic announcement of the first consumer-facing ecosystem project on ADI Chain, ADI Predictstreet gives fans a way to partake in the history of football at a scale nobody has done before—all powered by ADI Chain’s infrastructure,” said ADI Foundation CEO Andrey Lazorenko, in a statement.

The ADI token, launched last December alongside the network mainnet, popped to a new all-time high price of $4.54 on Friday, per CoinGecko, showing a 12% rise over the last week.

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Kraken launches opt-in rewards program for xStocks tokenized equities

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Kraken launches opt-in rewards program for xStocks tokenized equities

Kraken introduces rewards up to 1% for users holding xStocks, extending yield opportunities beyond traditional dividend structures.

Kraken launched an opt-in rewards program for xStocks on Thursday, offering users up to 1% rewards by holding tokenized U.S. equities and ETFs. The rewards program addresses a gap in traditional equities markets, which typically lack accessible yield mechanisms beyond dividends. xStocks, Kraken’s 24/7 permissionless onchain equities products, enable crypto-native investors to access U.S. stocks and ETFs outside traditional market hours.

The opt-in structure allows users to choose participation in the rewards program without mandatory enrollment. xStocks were designed to bring familiar equity products into decentralized ecosystems where many investors already transact, extending traditional market access into crypto environments that operate around the clock.

Sources: Kraken Blog | Kraken Support | Kraken xStocks

This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.

Generali Hong Kong Automates Health Claims with CoverGo’s AI Agent

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Generali Hong Kong Automates Health Claims with CoverGo’s AI Agent

Generali Hong Kong has partnered with global insurtech platform CoverGo to deploy a new Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) AI Agent. The technological deployment is designed to heavily automate the insurer’s health claims operations, accelerating processing times while simultaneously enhancing data accuracy and the overall customer experience.

Processing health insurance claims traditionally involves navigating a maze of highly varied, unstructured documents. CoverGo’s IDP AI Agent tackles this operational bottleneck by automatically processing these files and transforming them into structured, decision-ready data in real time.

The system is capable of ingesting and handling a wide array of document types, including:

  • Claim forms

  • Medical reports

  • Invoices

  • Receipts

By embedding artificial intelligence directly into the claims workflow, the AI agent can accurately extract relevant information and automatically identify and map complex medical diagnosis codes, such as ICD and benefit codes, alongside other supporting claim details. When combined with CoverGo’s wider claims capabilities, this specific data structuring allows insurers to streamline and automate the entire claims lifecycle.

Driving operational excellence

For Generali Hong Kong, the immediate and tangible impact of the technology is a stark reduction in manual data entry and minimized processing delays.

Cecilia Chang, CEO of Generali Hong Kong, emphasized the strategic importance of the deployment for the firm’s broader goals.

“At Generali Hong Kong, we continuously explore technology that can help us improve the overall claims experience for our customers and enhance operational efficiency,” Chang stated. “The deployment of this solution supports our ongoing efforts to streamline claims handling through AI-enabled capabilities, reflecting our focus on driving operational excellence.”

Tomas Holub, CEO and founder of CoverGo, highlighted the broader industry implications of the new partnership.

“We are proud to support Generali Hong Kong in advancing its claims transformation,” Holub commented. “This collaboration demonstrates how AI agents can streamline insurance operations – automating processes, improving accuracy, and enabling insurers to scale exceptional customer service while reducing cost.”

CoverGo currently operates as a leading global AI, no-code insurance platform for health, life, and P&C. The company provides digitisation and automation services to a growing roster of major global clients, including AXA, Bupa, Sun Life, and Prudential.

Bitcoin Breaks 5-Month Losing Streak With $68K March Close: What’s Next?

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Bitcoin Breaks 5-Month Losing Streak With $68K March Close: What’s Next?

Bitcoin (BTC) closed March in green, ending the longest monthly losing streak since 2018. Data suggests that the coming months may prove to be profitable for BTC.

Key takeaways:

  • Bitcoin ended March 2% higher, marking the first green monthly close in six months.

  • A similar streak in 2018/2019 led to an over 316% BTC price rebound over five months.

  • Bitcoin price faces stiff resistance at $70,000-$72,000, where key trend lines converge.

Past multi-month downtrends were followed by 300% price gains

Historical price data from CoinGlass confirms Bitcoin printed its first green monthly candle in six months, closing March 2% higher after five straight months of losses.

“This is a massive dose of hopium,” analyst Ash Crypto said in an X post on Wednesday.

The analyst was referring to a possible shift in momentum, which might lead to a sustained recovery, as seen in previous cycles.

Related: Crypto Fear & Greed Index stuck on ‘extreme fear,’ but is there a silver lining?

The last time this happened was in 2018/2019 when BTC closed February 2019 in green, after six consecutive red months, as shown in the figure below.

This led to a reversal with over 300% returns the following five months, as Bitcoin recovered from the 2018 bear market.

“Last time BTC dumped 6 months in a row, it pumped the following 5 months in a row that came after!” trader Satoshi Flipper said in a Wednesday post on X.

Bitcoin monthly percentage returns. Source: CoinGlass

If history repeats itself, the reversal may continue in April, suggesting that BTC price may have bottomed at $60,000.

Bitcoin’s bullish monthly close is a ”catalyst for fresh inflows into early April,” Trader Caleb said, adding:

“April starts with momentum.”

Bitcoin has a well-established tendency for significant price swings in April.

Since 2013, April has been a green month for eight of the past 13 years, with average returns of about 12.2%

However, Bitcoin also tends to move in the opposite direction to March in April, and this is true for nine out of the past 13 years. 

In recent years, Bitcoin dropped in April after closing March in green, three out of four times between 2021 and 2024. 

Therefore, while the end of past multi-month drawdowns suggests a rebound is due, data demonstrates that BTC price could also slide in April.

Watch these Bitcoin price levels next

Data from TradingView shows BTC price up 2.5% on the day to trade at $68,470 as the $69,000-$70,000 resistance remains in place.

Analysts expect Bitcoin’s range-bound price action to continue for longer, with important price levels to look for in case of a breakout. 

These include the $70,000-$72,000 supply zone, coinciding with the 50-day simple moving average (SMA), the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) and the 1w–1m cohort cost basis. 

This is also where investors acquired approximately 650,000 BTC, marking a potential point of sell pressure, according to the cost-basis distribution data from Glassnode.

Breaking above this level could see BTC/USD revisit the $76,000 range high and eventually the $80,000 psychological level.

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Zooming out, trader Sheldon Diedericks said Bitcoin could “push into resistance” at $83,000 on the monthly time frame, a key support level from April 2025. The 200-day EMA is also close to this area.

BTC/USD monthly chart. Source: X/Sheldon Diedericks

On the downside, the 200-week EMA at $68,300 and the 200-week SMA at $59,400 remain key levels to watch. Below that, the next major level is Bitcoin’s realized price around $54,000.

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s bear market bottom could be formed once BTC price drops toward or below its realized price.