Crypto Vesting

Sovereign wealth funds and other institutions were accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) during April 2025, while retail traders were exiting the markets via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and spot markets, according to John D’Agostino, the head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional.

During a recent appearance on CNBC, the Coinbase executive likened Bitcoin to gold and said that many institutional buyers bought BTC as a hedge against currency inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty. The Coinbase executive said:

“Bitcoin is trading on its core characteristics, which again are similar to gold. You’ve got scarcity, immutability, and non-sovereign asset portability. So it’s trading the way people who believe in Bitcoin would like it to trade.”

“When you do the work, there’s a very short list of assets that mirror the characteristics of gold. Bitcoin is on that shortlist,” the executive added.

Governments and financial institutions are

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Official Trump (TRUMP) jumped 52% on April 23 after the announcement of an exclusive in-person dinner for the top tokenholders with US President Donald Trump. For some crypto advocates, this marks the end of the bear market, especially as Bitcoin (BTC) bounced back above $93,000, but others raise suspicions on how sustainable the TRUMP memecoin rally really is.

From a purely performance perspective, the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin has been a disappointment. After soaring above $75 on launch day, its gains quickly disappeared as investors noticed the high concentration of tokens and the short-term vesting period. 

At first sight, it is difficult to justify TRUMP’s current market capitalization of $2.6 billion, given that 80% of the supply was allocated to founders and entities controlled by Trump.

Official Trump (TRUMP) market capitalization, USD. Source: CoinMarketCap

For comparison, well-established projects such

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Traders are embracing diametrically opposed exchange-traded fund (ETF) strategies in a bid to navigate one of the most unpredictable financial markets in recent history, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence. 

The year-to-date has seen record inflows to ETFs providing leveraged long exposure to volatile assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies, as well as funds holding risk-off assets such as cash and gold, the data shows. 

“[T]here’s basically record flows going into leveraged long ETFs but also cash and gold ETFs as people buy the dip and hedge the dip at the same time. May the best degen win!,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said in an April 23 post on the X platform.

Leveraged ETFs are funds that aim to multiply the daily performance of assets like stocks or crypto, often by two or three times.

In 2025, leveraged long ETFs attracted net inflows of roughly $6 billion, according

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SOL Strategies, a Canadian investment company, issued $500 million in convertible notes to buy and stake in Solana (SOL) tokens.

The $500 million issuance was made to a singular investor, ATW Partners, a New York-based investment firm. The company provides growth equity and structured capital to companies across public and private markets, a spokesperson for SOL Strategies told Cointelegraph.

A spokesperson for SOL Strategies said the company is focused on building institutional-grade infrastructure for Solana, rather than reacting to short-term price volatility.

According to an April 23 announcement, the yield generated from staking will accrue back to both SOL Strategies and ATW Partners. SOL Strategies is a publicly traded company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Its share price has risen 25.3% on the day, according to Google Finance.

Related: Astra Fintech commits $100M for Solana growth in Asia

SOL

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United States exchanges are betting big on cryptocurrency derivatives as market turbulence from US President Donald Trump’s looming trade war propels demand for the financial instruments. 

Since late 2024, exchanges including Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group have been listing new types of crypto derivatives and mulling multibillion-dollar acquisitions as they vie for control of the burgeoning market. 

In April, the stakes became even higher after Trump’s unveiling of sweeping tariff plans sent financial markets into a frenzy and spiked crypto derivatives trading volumes. 

“Institutional and sophisticated retail traders are increasingly turning to crypto derivatives platforms to navigate macroeconomic risks and uncertainty brought on by escalated tariff policies and global trade tensions,” David Siemer, CEO of asset manager Wave Digital Assets, told Cointelegraph. 

Consequently, US exchanges are “experiencing record-breaking surges in trading activity and are expanding their investment offerings with the promise of regulatory clarity,” Siemer said.

Net open interest

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Key Takeaways: 

XRP has gained 25% since April 7, and its open interest has risen by 32%.

Positive spot market activity contrasts with a neutral futures funding rate, highlighting a tug-of-war between traders.

Analysts still have double-digit price targets for XRP.

XRP’s (XRP) price fell to a year-to-date low of $1.61 on April 7, but has gained 25% over the past two weeks as the broader crypto market recovered and XRP open interest surged.

XRP futures open interest. Source: CoinGlass

The altcoin’s open interest surged 32% from $3.14 billion to $4.13 billion between April 21 and 23, signaling the return of derivatives traders. Futures OI increasing alongside the price indicates a bullish sentiment, but data from the Velo painted a different picture. 

Based on the negative aggregated premium on open interest, the XRP futures market continued to bid against an XRP

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The Alabama Securities Commission, a financial regulator for the US state, dropped its lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, which accused the company of violating securities laws by offering staking services to clients.

The regulator cited the ongoing work between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the crypto industry to develop clear crypto regulations as the primary reason for dropping the litigation, according to the April 23 legal filing shared by Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal.

The filing read:

“The SEC has announced the formation of a new task force to, among other things, provide guidance for the promulgation of rules regarding the regulation of cryptocurrency products and services.”

“Due to the foregoing, the Commission believes it would be apt to allow policymakers time to consider regulatory constructs,” the filing continued.

The Alabama Securities Commission filed its lawsuit against Coinbase in June 2023,

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Officials with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) crypto task force met with the El Salvador National Commission on Digital Assets (CNAD) to discuss regulation and a proposed cross-border sandbox.

In an April 22 memo, the SEC’s crypto task force reported meeting with officials from El Salvador, Perkin Law Firm, and former Goldman Sachs partner Heather Shemilt as part of the commission’s outreach to the industry. The representatives discussed US-El Salvador cross-border collaboration on crypto regulation at a time when the relationship between the two countries was in the national spotlight over immigration and US deportations to an El Salvador prison.

According to the meeting notes, El Salvador’s national commission agreed to collaborate with the SEC to establish a sandbox pilot program, capped at $10,000 for each scenario. The program proposed allowing brokers licensed in the US to obtain a digital asset license in

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Luxury hospitality platform Dorsia is rolling out crypto payments for clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and six Arab nations.

The payments feature is being enabled through a partnership with MoonPay, the companies told Cointelegraph. With the integration, users will be able to book luxury travel experiences and complete transactions directly in USDC (USDC) and Solana-based tokens through the Dorsia app.

“[…] integrating crypto payments is a natural next step in aligning with the evolving preferences of our members,” Marc Lotenberg, founder and CEO of Dorsia, said in an interview.

Dorsia is the latest luxury firm to turn to crypto services for high-net-worth individuals. The industry has been highly active in the Web3 space over the past few years, exploring crypto on-ramps and customer engagement features, such as non-fungible tokens and metaverses.

Luxury carmakers Lamborghini and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/ferrari-bitcoin-payments-europe-july-2024"

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