3iQ’s Canadian Solana ETF selects Figment as staking provider

Blockchain infrastructure provider Figment has been selected as the staking provider for 3iQ’s newly approved Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF), underscoring Canada’s continued efforts toward adoption of digital asset financial products.

Figment will enable institutional staking for the 3iQ Solana (SOL) Staking ETF, which launches on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 16 under the ticker SOLQ, the companies said in a statement. In addition to 3iQ, Figment provides staking infrastructure solutions to more than 700 clients. 

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), a provincial regulator, green-lighted 3iQ’s SOL fund on April 14. The approval was also extended to other fund managers seeking to offer SOL ETFs, including Purpose, Evolve and CI.

As Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported at the time, the funds are permitted to stake a portion of their SOL holdings through TD Bank, Canada’s second-largest

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OpenAI is building 'X-like social network' to rival Elon Musk — Report

Large language model developer OpenAI is reportedly working on a new social media network, putting the company on a collision course with Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms.

Citing anonymous sources, The Verge reported on April 15 that OpenAI is developing an “X-like social network” that combines ChatGPT’s image generation tools and a social feed, presumably to allow users to share their AI-generated pictures with a broader audience. 

It’s unclear whether OpenAI will spin out a new social media platform or roll the features into ChatGPT, the sources said.

OpenAI has become one of the most powerful technology companies in the world following the overwhelming success of its ChatGPT models. Its first-mover advantage in the AI race allowed it to raise $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation in a funding deal that was spearheaded by

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Bitcoin death cross still present despite rally to $86K — Should BTC traders be afraid?

On April 6, Bitcoin price formed a death cross on a daily chart — a technical pattern where the 50-day moving average (MA) falls below the 200-day MA. Historically associated with trend reversals and long bearish trading periods, this ominous signal has sometimes preceded major market drawdowns.

The latest death cross comes amid growing macroeconomic uncertainty. Equities are reeling from what appears to be the early stages of a tariff war, volatility is rising, and fear continues to dominate investor sentiment. For some investors, Bitcoin’s death cross could be the final blow to hopes of a near-term rally. Early signs of capitulation from short-term holders may already be emerging.

Still, not everyone sees doom ahead.

Bitcoin death crosses history

By definition, a death cross confirms the end of a bullish phase. When the 50-day MA drops below the 200-day MA, it suggests recent price action has weakened relative to

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Trump’s next crypto play will be Monopoly-style game — Report

US President Donald Trump is venturing deeper into the world of digital assets, with a new project blending gaming and cryptocurrency elements, Fortune reported, citing sources familiar with the project.

The project, set to launch in late April, will resemble MONOPOLY GO!, a mobile game where players travel around a board and earn money for constructing buildings in a digital city, according to the report.

Bill Zanker, a member of Trump’s circle and part of the team that helped launch Trump’s memecoin and various NFT collections, is behind the game, Fortune cited the sources as saying. A spokesperson for Zanker denied any similarity to Monopoly, while confirming that Zanker is working on a game, according to the report.

The Monopoly board game is owned by Hasbro, a company that acquired Parker Brothers, its original publisher, in 1991. Zanker

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Red flag? Mantra's TVL jumped 500% as OM price collapsed

The total-value-locked (TVL) on Mantra’s RWA blockchain protocol reached a yearly high despite OM’s 90% price crash.

Mantra TVL surges 500% following OM’s crash

As of April 15, Mantra’s TVL (in OM terms) jumped to 4.21 million OM (~$3.24 million), an increase of over 500% from two days prior, according to data resource DefiLlama.

Mantra’s cumulative TVL chart. Source: DefiLlama.

Interestingly, the TVL rise accompanied a dramatic collapse in OM prices, which plunged over 90% during the weekend. The Mantra team attributed the sell-off to “reckless forced liquidations” initiated by centralized exchanges.

A rising TVL typically indicates that users are locking more tokens into a protocol’s smart contracts via staking, liquidity pools, lending, or farming for yield or network participation.

Analyst DOM spotted “aggressive buying” on crypto exchanges during the 90% OM price

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Bitcoin price recovery could be capped at $90K — Here’s why

After consecutive drawdowns of 17.39% and 2.3% in February and March, Bitcoin’s (BTC) Q2 is shaping up nicely, with a return of 3.77% in April. While fresh yearly lows were formed at $74,500, BTC is currently closer to $90,000 than its new range bottom. 

Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin’s higher time frame (HTF) market structure has achieved its first breakout of 2025, fueling optimism among bulls for significant upward momentum. However, the following factors could limit BTC’s gains over the next two weeks, likely capping its price at around $90,000.

Related: Can 3-month Bitcoin RSI highs counter bearish BTC price ‘seasonality?’

Bitcoin needs spot volume, not just leverage-driven

Cointelegraph identified a cooldown period in the futures market as the BTC-USDT futures leverage ratio dropped by 50%. De-leveraging in the futures market is a positive development over the long term,

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Bitdeer turns to self-mining Bitcoin, US operations amid tariff tumult — Report

Bitcoin miner Bitdeer is reportedly expanding its self-mining operations and investing in United States-based production as looming trade wars rock global supply chains and cryptocurrency markets. 

Bitdeer has begun prioritizing mining Bitcoin (BTC) itself in response to cooling demand for its mining hardware from other miners, Bloomberg reported on April 15.

“Our plan going forward is to prioritize our own self-mining,” Jeff LaBerge, Bitdeer’s head of capital markets and strategic initiatives, reportedly said. 

Additionally, Bitdeer plans to scale US hardware manufacturing in the second half of the year as US President Donald Trump touts plans to penalize foreign imports and promote domestic manufacturing, Bloomberg said.

“This is something we’ve been planning for a long time,” LaBerge said about the manufacturing plans. “We want to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America.”

In April, Trump tipped plans for sweeping tariffs on US imports. The Bitcoin network is

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Ethena Labs exits German market following agreement with BaFin

Synthetic stablecoin developer Ethena Labs is winding down its German operations less than a month after regulators identified “deficiencies” in its dollar-pegged USDe (USDE) stablecoin, signaling heightened scrutiny around crypto assets in Europe’s largest economy.

Ethena Labs reached an agreement with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as BaFin, to cease all operations of its local subsidiary, Ethena GmbH, according to an April 15 announcement.

Source: Ethena Labs

As such, Ethena Labs “will no longer be pursuing MiCAR authorization in Germany,” the company said, referring to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.

The company reiterated that Ethena’s German subsidiary has not conducted any mint or redeem activity for USDe since March 21, the day BaFin halted the stablecoin’s activities. As Cointelegraph reported at the time, the German regulator identified compliance failures and potential

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Crypto podcasters should always assume their audience knows nothing

Opinion by: Blake Cassidy, CEO of Bamboo

Crypto podcasts have been newcomers’ go-to source of information, helping bring crypto into the mainstream. Podcasters must remember, however, that fresh faces are constantly tuning in as they grow.

While you may say, “FOMO, buy the dip, ignore the FUD because WAGMI,” your poor listener — tuning in for the first time just trying to learn crypto — might decide learning Spanish is easier.

Podcasters are more vital to crypto’s adoption rate than ever

Keeping regular listeners engaged is important, but so is making sure newbies, who are only listening because they’re sick of hearing their mates brag about crypto at work, can follow along, too.

You can see this balance pulled off well in some of the biggest crypto podcasts out there. Crypto podcasts that cater to the hodler and the novice enjoy dedicated followings and high view counts, whether the market

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Bitcoin trader doubts breakout 'significance' as BTC price nears $87K

Bitcoin (BTC) eyed new April highs at the April 15 Wall Street open amid skepticism over BTC price strength.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin price faces multiple resistance hurdles

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD seeking to break through $86,000.

Continued strength through the weekend had set up the pair for an attack on levels closer to $90,000, these absent since early March.

Concerns over macroeconomic volatility, with the US trade war at its center, nonetheless kept market participants from calling an end to the Bitcoin bull market correction.

“It’s funny watching sentiment shift so quickly – just days ago everyone was calling for 50k, now they’re rushing to flip bullish at the first green candle. This emotional rollercoaster is exactly why most traders lose money,” trading resource Stockmoney Lizards wrote in

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