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What One Finance App Could You Not Do Without?

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What One Finance App Could You Not Do Without?

In the fast-paced world of financial technology, our smartphones have become central to how we manage our personal finances. During the MoneyLive conference, attendees were asked one simple yet revealing question: “What one finance app could you not do without?”

For many of the attendees at MoneyLive, the answer was clear. Monzo was repeatedly cited as the essential tool for daily financial management. One attendee noted that their commercial retail Monzo bank account is with them “all the time,” while others highlighted it as their primary app for writing and tracking all finance-related tasks in a single place.

This sentiment aligns with broader industry findings; Monzo has been recognized as a top mobile app specifically for budgeting and tracking money. Its popularity among MoneyLive attendees stems from the convenience of having a central hub that is opened almost every day.

The power of consolidation was a major theme. Some attendees pointed to their main bank accounts not just for traditional services, but because they support open banking as this technology allows users to bring all their various accounts into one central place, providing a holistic view of their financial health.

Whether it is a challenger bank like Monzo, a specialized tool like Splitwise, or a traditional app like Barclays, the consensus among MoneyLive attendees is that the best finance apps are those that seamlessly integrate into their daily routines and simplify complex financial tasks.

What’s next for Bitcoin ETFs? Analyst weighs in – DL News

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What’s next for Bitcoin ETFs? Analyst weighs in – DL News

  • Bitcoin ETFs saw healthy inflows month-to-date after several weeks of outflows.
  • Japan could be the next major market to launch Bitcoin ETFs.
  • The “outlook looks promising,” said Alexandre Schmidt of CoinShares.

Can Bitcoin exchange-traded funds sustain the momentum they’ve shown in the past month?

That’s the main question that Alexandre Schmidt, research analyst at CoinShares has been grappling with.

“After several weeks of outflows, crypto ETFs saw some healthy inflows month-to-date,” Schmidt told DL News. “All these factors point to ETFs being well and alive — whether we will see elevated levels of activity remains to be seen, but in my view the outlook does look promising.”

Despite showing signs of “absurd strength” at times, Bitcoin ETF demand has proven fragile. Heavy selling hit the sector in November of 2025, and flows turned choppy toward year-end.

The trend then flipped decisively negative in early 2026 with billions sold as a new conflict in the Middle East unravelled, even though the past four weeks have recorded inflows, according to data from DefiLlama.

For Schmidt, in fact, the wildcard is the Middle East conflict.

If fighting between Iran, Israel, and the US becomes protracted, the macro repercussions could last far longer than the immediate geopolitical shock.

And that could have a broad effect over assets like Bitcoin.

“The immediate impact I can think of is higher inflation triggered by higher oil prices, which in turn could reduce the chances of rate cuts during 2026,” Schmidt said. “As a result, market liquidity could be reduced and fewer flows going towards assets such as Bitcoin.”

Hello! This chart will be available in a few moments

Bitcoin’s price has struggled over the past few months.

Indeed, while traders previously deemed interest rate cuts as a foregone conclusion this year, they’re now increasingly buying into the idea that central banks may hike interest rates in 2026.

High interest rates are usually seen as a bad omen for risk-on assets as it discourages investors to bet on them.

That said, Schmidt acknowledged that the conflict in the Middle East could increase Bitcoin’s utility as people in affected regions use it to move currency out of Iran and other impacted areas.

Watch Japan

Even so, don’t expect any major records in Q2, said Schmidt.

“Activity in Bitcoin and crypto is somewhat muted in relation to last year,” Schmidt told DL News. “Breaking any significant milestones is unlikely in the near future.”

But he cautioned that “in a volatile world we always need to keep our minds open to sudden shifts in money flows and investor behaviour.”

Hyperliquid token buyback reserve hits $1bn

As for sovereign Bitcoin ETF buyers, Schmidt can’t immediately think of any countries investing in Bitcoin ETFs.

But he’s watching Japan closely.

While newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi doesn’t appear to have strong crypto views, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has a positive stance on crypto assets.

Schmidt explained that he recently returned from meetings with Japanese investors, where he observed a strong push to regulate crypto in the country and eventually launch ETFs there.

That would be a significant market development, he said, “as appetite for crypto is strong among Japanese investors, especially retail.”

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email him atpsolimano@dlnews.com.

Crypto Week Ahead

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Crypto Week Ahead

The final week of March is shaping up to be a volatile one, with the FTX Recovery Trust set to distribute $2.2 billion to creditors on Tuesday and the key U.S. monthly nonfarm payrolls statistic due Friday, when many equity markets worldwide will be closed for Good Friday.

The war in the Middle East, now in its fifth week, is also critical. The conflict has disrupted major energy infrastructure and transport in the region, in turn leading to higher inflation expectations and a meaningful shift in monetary policy expectations, Luke Deans, a senior research associate at Bitwise, told CoinDesk.

“Bitcoin, a highly reflexive and liquidity-sensitive asset, typically responds earlier to shifts in risk appetite and has repriced lower since October 2025,” Deans said. “This suggests that digital assets began reflecting tighter financial conditions ahead of many traditional risk assets.”

Global macro forces, he added, remain the primary drivers of risk sentiment. While liquidity will certainly play a role, the market backdrop remains fragile given the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

What to Watch

(All times ET)

  • Crypto
  • Macro
    • March 30, 9:30 p.m.: China NBS Manufacturing PMI for March (Prev. 49.0); Non-Manufacturing PMI (Prev. 49.5)
    • March 31, 5:00 a.m.: Eurozone Inflation Rate YoY Flash for March (Prev. 1.9%); Core (Prev. 2.4%)
    • March 31, 9:00 a.m.: U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-20 Home Price Index YoY for January (Prev. 1.4%)
    • March 31, 9:45 a.m.: U.S. Chicago PMI for March (Prev. 57.7)
    • March 31, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence for March (Prev. 91.2)
    • March 31, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. JOLTS job openings for February (Prev. 6.946M)
    • March 31, 07:50 p.m.: Japan Tankan Large Manufacturing Index for Q1 (Prev. 15)
    • April 1, 8:15 a.m.: U.S. ADP Employment Change for March (Prev. 63K)
    • April 1, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI for March (Prev. 52.4)
    • April 2, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for week ending March 28 (Prev. 210K)
    • April 3, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls for March est. 48K (Prev. -92K)
    • April 3, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. Unemployment Rate for March est. 4.5% (Prev. 4.4%)
    • April 3, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. ISM Services PMI for March (Prev. 56.1)
  • Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
    • March 30: Nano Labs (NA), pre-market

Token Events

  • Governance Votes & Calls
    • Stake DAO CRV and BAL are voting on their bi-weekly gauge to allocate CRV and BAL inflation across various liquidity pools. Voting ends March 31.
    • SuperRare DAO is voting to consolidate its treasury management under the RareDAO Foundation by migrating remaining balances and officially concluding its legacy Network Engagement and Grants programs. Voting ends March 31.
    • Aventus DAO is voting to simplify AVT emissions to a flat daily rate, increase the node staking requirement, and replace ongoing fees with an upfront appchain token allocation. Voting ends March 31.
    • Unlock DAO is voting to transfer 3 ETH to its Base multisig to swap for USDC to cover current and future operational expenses. Voting ends April 2.
    • Aavegotchi DAO is voting to elect nine multi-sig signers, maintain a 5-of-9 signature threshold, and set their quarterly compensation at $1,000 paid in GHST. Voting ends April 2.
    • Arbitrum DAO is voting across two proposals to transition its Code of Conduct and Procedures into living documents managed by OpCo, and to upgrade to ArbOS 60 Elara. Voting ends April 2.
    • SSV Network DAO is voting across two proposals to integrate ENS names for core protocol contracts to enhance security against phishing, and to establish a soft fee floor for public operators to ensure economic sustainability. Voting ends April 3.
    • Lisk DAO is voting to test the Degov.ai governance platform ahead of Tally’s shutdown by executing a 0 LSK transfer. Voting ends April 7.
  • Unlocks
    • April 1: SUI$0.8833 to unlock 1.10% of its circulating supply worth $38.29 million.
    • April 2: Ethena (ENA) to unlock 2.18% of its circulating supply worth $16.05 million.
    • April 6: Hyperliquid (HYPE) to unlock 2.66% of its circulating supply worth $379.31 million.
  • Token Launches
    • March 30: BASED token generation event to occur.
    • March 31: edgeX (EDGE) token generation event to occur.
    • March 31: WorldLand (WL) to be listed on KuCoin, Gate, and others.
    • April 1: Orexn (OXN) enters a phased exchange listing period after the token generation event.

Conferences

Nonprofit European Crypto Initiative gets Ethereum-focused rebrand – DL News

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Nonprofit European Crypto Initiative gets Ethereum-focused rebrand – DL News

  • The European Crypto Initiative has rebranded to the European Ethereum Institute.
  • The Brussels-based nonprofit thinks the blockchain is becoming more relevant.
  • It isn’t clear whether Ethereum will have a significant role within the EU’s future.

Crypto nonprofit the European Crypto Initiative has rebranded to become the European Ethereum Institute, with the advocacy group claiming the blockchain will have a central role in the continent’s digital economy.

The move reflects the nonprofit’s conviction that Ethereum is simply the best network to build upon.

“If Europe wants to take a serious view on the future of public blockchain infrastructure, Ethereum is the place it has to engage with,” Marina Markežič, the organisation’s executive director, told DL News. 

As the world’s largest economy, the US, races ahead with crypto-friendly legislation, heavily focusing on stablecoins, the EU is in the process of pushing ahead with a digital euro. It isn’t clear how much of a role public blockchains will play in Europe’s future digital economy.

Gold standard of blockchains

Brussels-based EEI pushes to help shape the EU’s crypto regulation — specifically for public blockchains to be used in the union.

The nonprofit said its rebrand comes as Ethereum becomes a more important crypto network and the union advances with key legislation looking to regulate the crypto space.

“Europe’s most consequential regulatory decisions right now — the MiCA review, the Digital Omnibus package, the GDPR reform, the Settlement and Market Integration Package, and the digital euro — will all shape how public blockchains function in Europe,” Markežič said.

The nonprofit added in a statement: “Ethereum is the gold standard of public blockchain infrastructure — decentralised, permissionless, credibly neutral, and battle-tested at scale.”

Open or closed digital economy?

Ethereum has piqued the interest of Wall Street titans in recent years mainly because stablecoins — digital tokens typically pegged to the dollar — are playing an increasingly bigger part in traditional payment infrastructure.

Major companies and banks are now debuting, or at least researching, the tokens. US President Donald Trump signed legislation to regulate the assets last year.

Larry Fink

But stablecoins have a smaller market in the EU; the union is instead more interested in a central bank digital currency — a centralised project that some in the crypto space argue is the very opposite to the ethos of permissionless blockchains.

Still, the EEI argues that permissionless blockchains — specifically Ethereum — are what the EU needs to build a fair and functioning digital economy.

“A new internet is being built on it right now, and Europe needs to be part of it,” the nonprofit said.

Mathew Di Salvo is a news correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email at mdisalvo@dlnews.com.

Committee Hearing for Fed Chair Nominee is Expected Around Mid-April

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Committee Hearing for Fed Chair Nominee is Expected Around Mid-April

The Senate Banking Committee is reportedly planning to hold its hearing on the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair as soon as the week of April 13, according to a report from Punchbowl News citing two sources familiar with the matter.

In a report on Sunday, Punchbowl’s sources said the hearing date is “fluid” and that the final deadline depends on Warsh submitting all of his paperwork to the banking committee.

Current Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term is set to end on May 15, but he has previously said he will remain chair until his successor is officially confirmed. A nomination hearing in mid-April helps chart a more visible path to Warsh’s successful confirmation.

Source: Brendan Pederson

Warsh to push for change at Fed

Warsh’s first stint at the Fed was between 2006 and 2011, when he served on the Board of Governors after being nominated by former President George W. Bush.

This time, Warsh is set for the top role, and the 55-year-old has said he would push for “regime change” in how the Fed conducts its policy on interest rates and balance sheet management.

Related: David Sacks’ 130-day term as Trump’s crypto and AI czar has ended

“Their hesitancy to cut rates, I think, is actually … quite a mark against them,” Warsh told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in July last year, adding:

“The specter of the miss they made on inflation, it has stuck with them. So one of the reasons why the president, I think, is right to be pushing the Fed publicly is we need regime change in the conduct of policy.”

However, Warsh’s nomination has faced political resistance. Senator Thom Tillis has said he would oppose Fed nominees until a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into Powell is resolved.

In January, the DOJ opened an investigation into Powell over the expenses relating to a multi-year renovation project at Fed office buildings.

Trump’s pick for the Fed chair has also been met with pushback from Senator Elizabeth Warren, who sent a strongly-worded letter to Warsh last Wednesday.

Senator Warren accused Warsh of having learned “nothing” from his “failures” during his previous stint at the Fed, which included the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession. 

Warren also said Warsh will ultimately serve as a “rubber stamp for President Trump’s Wall Street First Agenda.”

“Your eagerness to bail out Wall Street, including through taxpayer-assisted megamergers, was not surprising, given the seven years you spent as a Morgan Stanley mergers and acquisitions executive prior to joining the George W. Bush administration,” Warren said.

Magazine: Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF undercuts BlackRock, SBF pardon unlikely: Hodler’s Digest, Mar. 22 – 28