China may shift from US Treasurys toward gold, crypto — BlackRock exec

Central banks, particularly China, may start to shift away from US Treasurys, exploring alternatives such as gold and Bitcoin, according to Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s head of thematics and active ETFs.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Jacobs said that geopolitical tensions and rising global uncertainty are accelerating diversification strategies among central banks.

He pointed to a long-term trend where countries have been reducing their reliance on dollar-based reserves in favor of assets like gold and, increasingly, Bitcoin (BTC).

“This whole diversification away from traditional assets and into things like gold and also crypto […] probably began three, four years ago,” Jacobs explained.

He said that recent geopolitical fragmentation has intensified the push toward alternative stores of value.

Jacobs referenced growing concerns about the freezing of $300 billion in Russian central bank assets following its invasion of Ukraine, suggesting that such

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Blockchain needs regulation, scalability to close AI hiring gap

The emerging blockchain industry lags behind the artificial intelligence sector in terms of job creation, but this hiring gap may narrow by 2030.

Blockchain remains one of the smallest sectors in the tech industry, with about 300,000 global jobs, compared to 1.5 million in AI and machine learning and 25 million in software development, according to a new Bitget Research report shared with Cointelegraph.

The blockchain sector added around 20,000 new jobs in 2024, according to job listings aggregated from platforms like LinkedIn, Web3 Jobs and Crypto Job List.

Total workforce in tech industry. Source: Bitget Research

While blockchain-based jobs had an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45%, outpacing most traditional tech sectors, it trails the AI industry’s 57% CAGR, according to the report.

The AI industry’s maturity and larger share of venture capital investment are the main reasons behind the hiring discrepancy, Vugar Usi Zade, chief operating officer of Bitget exchange, told

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The sentiment engine of Bitcoin ETFs is rewiring market structure

The tide of capital once destined for raw spot Bitcoin has begun to flow through institutional canals, spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), structured products and wrapped exposure, and while the water is rising fast, the waves aren’t quite the same. 

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, pointed out on X that there is a large movement in leveraged long ETFs and, at the same time, safer bets like gold and cash. Suppose one had to choose if Bitcoin (BTC) was a risk-on or risk-off asset. In that case, it may come down to how investors interpret its narrative, whether they see it as digital gold or another speculative vehicle.

Bitcoin’s ETF ecosystem has entered a new phase of capital absorption. On April 23, 2025, daily inflows surpassed $912 million, setting a record for

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Polygon CEO: DeFi must ditch hype for sustainable liquidity

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron called for a fundamental shift in how decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols manage liquidity, labeling the sector’s ongoing liquidity crisis as “self-inflicted.”

In an exclusive interview, Boiron outlined Polygon’s vision for sustainable DeFi, emphasizing chain-owned liquidity and transparent economic models as the path forward.

Boiron criticized DeFi protocols for fueling a cycle of “mercenary capital” by offering sky-high annual percentage yields (APYs) through token emissions. “It’s just renting liquidity; it’s not real loyalty,” he told Cointelegraph, noting that such strategies lead to fleeting liquidity that vanishes when yields drop or token prices falter. This reliance on short-term hype, he argued, undermines the sector’s stability and deters institutional adoption.

Chasing DeFi stability over hype

To break that cycle, Boiron urged protocols to prioritize fundamentals over flashy returns. “Sustainable DeFi needs models where liquidity sticks around for the right reasons,” he said, pointing to Polygon’s POL

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Sam Bankman-Fried moved to a low-security prison — so what?

Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, to a low-security US federal correctional institution

Bankman-Fried was moved to the low-security Terminal Island federal correctional institution. Previously, he was located at the Victorville medium-security facility, a notoriously violent place, according to prison consultant firm Elizabeth Franklin-Best.

Samuel Goldfaden, a partner at the crypto-centric lawfirm, DLT Law told Cointelegraph that while his previous facility was violent, BankmanFried had been held in a safer part of the facility, adding:

“Sam Bankman-Fried spent most of his detention in the more secure dorm units of MDC Brooklyn, reportedly alongside other high-profile inmates such as Sean P. Diddy to ensure his safety.“Terminal Island FCI review. Source: Elizabeth Franklin-BestIn “good” company

Terminal Island is located in San Pedro, California and houses involved in financial crime. According to Franklin, notable inmates at the facility include ormer

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OpenSea regains NFT market lead as rivals fall behind in user activity

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea regained its position as the leading platform for digital collectible trading, even as overall market activity declined.

Data tracker NFTScan shows that OpenSea has held the top spot in NFT marketplace trading volume for the last 30 days. According to the data, OpenSea holds more than 40% of the market’s trading volume, while Blur, its largest competitor, is at 23%. NFT platform Magic Eden has a 7.69% market share, while OKX NFTs have a 5% market share. 

The data tracker also shows that in the last month, almost 70% of the wallets transacting with NFTs engaged with OpenSea. More than 610,000 wallets used OpenSea. In the last three months, OpenSea had over 2.1 million wallets engaging with its platform. 

By comparison, wallets engaging with Magic Eden, Blur and OKX NFT reached a combined market share of 17%, about 103,000 wallets. In the last

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‘Vitalik: An Ethereum Story’ is less about crypto and more about being human

When Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple had the idea to make the documentary film Vitalik: An Ethereum Story, they were actually filming another documentary, and over the course of their filmmaking journey, they ended up capturing both a deeper, human look at the world of crypto and an end product that serves as a use case for the future of crypto filmmaking.

When crafting a documentary, filmmakers will typically start with a vision of what they’d like to explore, a vision often saddled with a set of assumptions, only to shatter that vision once filming begins, creating an entirely new direction for the project.

It’s a creative evolution that filmmakers Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple also experienced while making the documentary feature This Is Not Financial Advice, during which they realized they had an entirely different film on their hands.

“While we were making that film, we wanted

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Arkansas city rejects crypto mining proposal after community pushback

The planning commission of Vilonia, Arkansas, unanimously rejected a proposal to establish a cryptocurrency mining facility within the city limits, following strong opposition from residents.

According to local reports, the decision came after weeks of community pushback, where citizens voiced concerns over potential noise pollution, increased energy consumption and the overall environmental impact associated with crypto-mining operations.

During public meetings, Vilonia residents expressed concern that the mining operation could disrupt the town’s quiet atmosphere and strain local infrastructure.

Many pointed to examples from other regions where similar facilities led to rising electricity costs and constant noise from mining rigs.

“I just want to ask, like, did we make a mistake moving here? We’re not asking these people to come here. I grew up here. I graduated from Vilonia, and we [are] Arkansas, the natural state, not Arkansas, the Bitcoin state,” one community member told

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RTFKT’s CloneX avatars reappear after issue blacks out NFTs

More than 19,800 CloneX digital avatars developed by non-fungible token firm RTFKT Studios have reappeared after Cloudflare blacked out the NFTs for apparently violating its terms of service.

“This content has been restricted. Using Cloudflare’s basic service in this manner is a violation of the Terms of Service. Please visit cfl.re/tos to learn more,” the message read on April 24.

RTFKT’s head of tech, Samuel Cardillo, has refuted claims that it missed a payment, attributing the issue to changes happening with RTFKT’s “current Cloudflare setup.”

NFT content creator Wale Swoosh earlier speculated that RTFKT may have subscribed to an inadequate Cloudflare plan for high-traffic image serving. Cloudflare offers a range of web infrastructure services.

Source: Wale Swoosh

Most of the CloneX NFTs have started to reappear, according to Cardillo, who added that Cloudflare has

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North Korean hackers set up 3 shell companies to scam crypto devs

A subgroup of the North Korea-linked hacker organization Lazarus set up three shell companies, two in the US, to deliver malware to unsuspecting users.

The three sham crypto consulting firms — BlockNovas, Angeloper Agency and SoftGlide — are being used by the North Korean hacker group Contagious Interview to distribute malware through fake job interviews, Silent Push Threat Analysts said in an April 24 report.

Silent Push senior threat analyst Zach Edwards said in an April 24 statement to X that two shell companies are registered as legitimate businesses in the United States.

“These websites and a huge network of accounts on hiring / recruiting websites are being used to trick people into applying for jobs,” he said.

“During the job application process an error message is displayed as someone tries to record an introduction video. The solution is

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