Backpack opens claims process for former FTX EU users

Crypto exchange Backpack has initiated the first phase of the claims process for former FTX users in Europe.

According to an April 1 announcement, users will need to create an account on the exchange, submit Know Your Customer information, and connect it to their FTX EU claim account.

Backpack has not set a deadline for this phase of the claims process and has yet to provide a timeline for when distributions will begin. Users will face a withdrawal fee of €5 ($5.39) for claims under €2,000 ($2,158) and 0.25% for amounts above it.

Source: Armani Ferrante

Backpack acquired FTX EU in January 2025 to offer crypto derivatives, including perpetual futures, throughout Europe. The acquisition marked the end of a lengthy battle to buy the European arm of the bankrupt exchange.

Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante said at the

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Crypto miner backs US senator's efforts to incentivize using flared gas

Texas Senator Ted Cruz proposed a bill aimed at incentivizing crypto miners to use flared gas for energy generation in the state.

In an April 1 notice, Cruz said he had introduced the Facilitate Lower Atmospheric Released Emissions, or FLARE, Act in the US Senate, aiming to make Texas “the number one place for Bitcoin mining.” Bitcoin (BTC) miner MARA Holdings endorsed the proposed legislation on X, claiming it would reduce emissions and “unlock stranded energy.”

April 1 draft of FLARE Act. Source: Ted Cruz

According to the text of the bill, the FLARE Act proposed amending the US Internal Revenue Code to incentivize market participants — including digital asset miners — that could “capture gas that would otherwise be flared or vented and to use such

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Circle officially files for Initial Public Offering with SEC

Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group has filed an S-1 registration statement for an initial public offering in the US, an April 1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows.

The USD Coin (USDC) issuer is planning to list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CRCL,” the filing shows.

Circle’s prospectus does not detail the number of shares to be offered or what the IPO target price will be.

The IPO filing also showed that Circle brought in $1.67 billion in revenue for 2024 — marking a 16% year-on-year increase — while its EBIDTA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization) fell 29% to $284.8 million.

Circle’s financials over the last three years ended Dec. 31. Source: SEC

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it

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Trump-affiliated crypto mining venture mulls IPO — Report

American Bitcoin Corp., a Trump family-backed crypto mining operation, has plans to raise additional capital, including through an initial public offering (IPO), according to an April 1 report by Bloomberg. 

On March 31, Hut 8 — a publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) miner — acquired a majority stake in American Bitcoin (formerly American Data Centers), whose founders include Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. 

After the deal announcement, Hut 8 transferred its Bitcoin mining equipment into the newly created entity, which is not yet publicly traded. 

While American Bitcoin will focus on crypto mining, Hut 8 plans to target data center infrastructure for use cases such as high-performance computing. The deal “evolves Hut 8 toward more predictable, financeable, lower-cost-of-capital segments,” Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, said in a statement.

“So you can see this in the long

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Ethereum's weekly blob fees hit 2025 lows

The Ethereum network’s main source of income from layer-2 (L2) scaling chains — “blob fees” — has sunk to the lowest weekly levels so far this year, according to data from Etherscan. 

In the week ending March 30, Ethereum earned only 3.18 Ether (ETH) from blob fees, according to Etherscan, or approximately $6,000 US dollars as of April 1. 

This figure marks a 73% drop from the prior week and a more than 95% decline from the week ending March 16, when Ethereum’s income from blob fees exceeded 84 ETH, Etherscan said in an X post. 

Source: Etherscan

Related: Ethereum fees poised for rebound amid L2, blob uptick

Post-Dencun growing pains

In March 2024, Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade migrated L2 transaction data to temporary offchain stores called “blobs.”

The upgrade cut costs

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Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

Kristin Smith, CEO of the US-based Blockchain Association, will be leaving the cryptocurrency advocacy group for the recently launched Solana Policy Institute.

In an April 1 notice, the Blockchain Association (BA) said Smith would be stepping down from her role as CEO on May 16. According to the association, the soon-to-be former CEO will become president of the Solana Policy Institute on May 19.

The association’s notice did not provide an apparent reason for the move to the Solana advocacy organization nor say who would lead the group after Smith’s departure. Cointelegraph reached out to the Blockchain Association for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith’s April 1 announcement. Source: LinkedIn

Smith, who has worked at the BA since 2018 and was deputy chief of staff for former Montana Representative Denny Rehberg, will

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Ethereum prints 4 consecutive red monthly candles, but data points to an ETH/BTC bottom

Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), registered four consecutive red monthly candles after the altcoin dropped 18.47% in March. The altcoin’s current market structure reflects a sustained bearish trend not seen since the bear market of 2022.

With each monthly close taking place below the previous month’s low, analysts are beginning the debate about whether ETH is approaching a bottom or if there is more downside ahead for the altcoin.

Ethereum/Bitcoin ratio hits new 5-year low

On March 30, the Ethereum/Bitcoin ratio dropped to a five-year low of 0.021. The ETH/BTC ratio measures ETH’s value against Bitcoin (BTC), and the current decline underlines Ether’s underperformance against Bitcoin over the past five years.

In fact, the last time the ETH/BTC ratio dipped to 0.021, ETH was valued between $150-$300 in May 2020.

Ethereum/Bitcoin 1-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Data from the token terminal <a data-ct-non-breakable="null"

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GoMining launches $100M Bitcoin mining fund for institutional investors

GoMining, a platform that allows users to mine Bitcoin (BTC) through data centers, is launching a $100 million Bitcoin mining fund for institutional investors. Custodied by Bitgo, the fund promises annual distributions from mining yield and a strategy that focuses on Bitcoin rewards and reinvestment.

GoMining’s Alpha Blocks Fund comes as more companies have added Bitcoin to their balance sheets, capturing enthusiasm surrounding the resurgence of the world’s top cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Companies that have done so, including Japan’s Metaplanet and medical technology company Semler Scientific, have seen their stock prices increase.

“Unlike passive equity investments, the Alpha Blocks Fund offers direct exposure to mined Bitcoin via a fully managed, compounding hashrate strategy,” a GoMining spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

“BTC rewards are reinvested to increase the fund’s hashrate and improve miner efficiency — creating real, yield-driven

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US lawmaker will reintroduce crypto retirement bill to help Trump agenda

For the second time, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is set to reintroduce a bill aimed at allowing Americans to add cryptocurrency to their retirement savings plans.

In a March 31 Fox News interview, Sen. Tuberville said he planned to reintroduce his “Financial Freedoms Act” legislation after two failed attempts to get the legislation through Congress in 2022 and 2023. In announcing the bill, the Alabama senator said he wanted to help US President Donald Trump’s perceived role as a “crypto president.” 

“Give people a chance to breathe for once […] let them do what they do best [which] is invest their money,” said the senator. 

The Financial Freedom Act, which Tuberville first introduced in the US Senate in May 2022, proposed scaling back regulations with the Department of Labor over the types of investments used in 401(k) retirement plan fiduciaries. The senator said

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Grayscale files S-3 for Digital Large Cap ETF

Asset manager Grayscale has filed to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding a diverse basket of spot cryptocurrencies, US regulatory filings show.

On April 1, Grayscale submitted an S-3 regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is required to convert the non-listed fund to an ETF. 

The Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, which was created in 2018 but is not yet exchange-traded, holds a crypto index portfolio comprising Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Cardano (ADA). 

As of April 1, the fund has more than $600 million in assets under management (AUM) and is only available to accredited investors (entities or individuals with high net worth), according to Grayscale’s website.

The <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1729997/000095017025047994/gdlc_s-3_032525.htm" rel="null" target="null"

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