MarketWhisper

A Chainalysis report says that organizations such as Russia and Iran use cryptocurrencies to buy low-cost drones and parts, and use blockchain transparency to trace the flow of funds. The Russian side raised $8.3 million for drone procurement, while Iran found transaction records between its Revolutionary Guards and a Hong Kong supplier. The report emphasizes that blockchain can reveal evidence of sanctions violations and promote compliant oversight of cryptocurrencies.

Wall Street is facing the most extreme bearish sentiment since 2020. The CNN Business Fear and Greed Index has fallen to 9. Trading volume for put options on S&P 500 ETFs has hit a new high, and the long-versus-short ETF trading ratio is approaching its historical low. Although history suggests that extreme bearishness may signal a reversal, rising geopolitical uncertainty is making the market outlook even harder to predict.

Senior trader Peter Brandt remains bearish on his prediction for Bitcoin, saying there will be no new all-time high in 2026 and that it may not appear until the second quarter of 2027. He predicts this fall will once again test as low as $60,000 or even lower, and notes that the current market is being pressured by geopolitics and high interest rates. Multiple analysts have also warned that Bitcoin’s current trend is concerning and could fall to $45,000.

Ripple Prime announced that it will integrate Hyperliquid into HIP-3 trading pairs, offering on-chain perpetual contract trading for assets such as gold, silver, and crude oil. This integration allows institutional clients to trade around the clock without switching platforms under a unified margin framework, reducing capital friction while also improving trading liquidity and compliance. This change strengthens Hyperliquid’s position as a diversified exchange.

Recently, there has been a surge in phishing attack cases targeting Pi Network. Scammers send fake 2FA links aimed at users who have already completed the second mainnet migration, attempting to steal their 24-word seed phrase. These phishing pages resemble the official interface and exploit users’ trust in official operations to carry out the scam. Experts recommend that if a user has leaked their seed phrase, they should immediately transfer their assets and stop using the old wallet to protect their assets.

The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) released version 2.1 of the “VARA Exchange Services Rules Manual,” introducing a regulatory framework for exchange-traded derivatives of cryptocurrencies, mainly aimed at licensed virtual asset service providers. The framework’s core requirements include customer assessment, leverage controls (limited to 5x), asset segregation, clear disclosure of risks, and regulatory intervention powers, with the goal of protecting retail investors’ safety and raising market governance standards.

Ant Group’s Shanghai Yunjin successfully acquired a 50.55% equity stake in Yao Cai Securities under the Ant Group umbrella. The transaction value was HK$2.814 billion, and it completed a reorganization of the board of directors. This move has been interpreted as Ant’s strategic layout in Hong Kong’s stablecoin market, indicating that it plans to expand digital financial services. The appointment of the newly added directors shows its intent to integrate Yao Cai into its global wealth management blueprint.

China 360 Digital Security Group has found a high-risk vulnerability in the AI agent tool OpenClaw, affecting more than 170,000 instances worldwide. The vulnerability exploits a design flaw in the MEDIA protocol to bypass security policies, allowing attackers to steal sensitive server information using only chat group member permissions. Security authorities have issued a warning, advising immediate emergency response measures to prevent data breaches.

Recently, the npm core package axios was hit by a supply-chain attack. The attacker compromised the lead maintainer’s account and published a malicious version that injects cross-platform malware. The attack process was carefully planned, including the release of bait versions. Affected users should check their lockfile and downgrade to a safer version, and rebuild their systems to prevent resource leakage. It is recommended that cryptocurrency and Web3 developers check and update sensitive credentials and take measures to protect against future attacks.

Maryland resident Jonathan Spaletta was arrested for two hacking incidents against Uranium Finance in 2021, with losses exceeding $54 million. Spaletta faces charges of computer fraud and money laundering, with a maximum sentence of 30 years. The stolen funds were converted into collectibles such as Pokémon cards and Ancient Roman coins, showing his money-laundering method. Victims have not been compensated to date, and the case is still ongoing.

Google’s quantum AI team published a white paper stating that future quantum computers could crack the ECDLP-256 elliptic curve cryptography with fewer resources, posing a threat to cryptocurrency security. It recommends immediately initiating a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration, avoiding the reuse of wallet addresses, and paying attention to policy choices for abandoned addresses. Google proposed a zero-knowledge proof to securely disclose the vulnerability, and set 2029 as the deadline for quantum-resistant migration to ensure the industry is sufficiently prepared.

American Bitcoin Corp. (ABTC), the mining company run by Eric Trump, the son of U.S. President Donald Trump, announced that its Bitcoin reserves have exceeded 7,000 BTC, with a market value of approximately $473 million to $475 million. However, the stock price has plummeted by 90% since going public, mainly due to share dilution and non-cash accounting losses. ABTC’s mining capacity has increased to about 89,000 ASIC mining machines, but market performance continues to disappoint investors.

The US-Israeli coalition continues to carry out military actions against Iran, and Israel carried out 170 airstrikes against Tehran within 24 hours. A Kuwaiti oil tanker was hit by an Iranian drone attack, raising concerns about energy supply and pushing oil prices above $100 per barrel. Experts are concerned about Trump’s threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure, saying it could violate international law. Global markets came under pressure as tensions escalated, especially as demand increased for oil and safe-haven assets.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a new order allowing broker-dealers to use diversified stock baskets from the S&P 500 and the Russell 1000 indexes as eligible collateral for securities lending, expanding the range of eligible collateral and improving market liquidity. The new rule sets strict risk management standards and applies only to qualified institutional investors.

After MicroStrategy’s floating-rate perpetual preferred shares STRC were listed in the UK, the tax treatment for investors is completely different from that in the U.S. UK investors must face income tax of up to 39.35%, while STRC’s cash dividends are treated as foreign dividends. Choosing to hold via a 21Shares ETP or an ISA account can effectively reduce the tax burden: the former avoids income tax, and the latter is tax-free within the annual limit, making it a better way to hold.

More than 40 U.S. Democratic lawmakers have urged strengthening insider-trading oversight for government employees engaged in trading on prediction markets, pointing to multiple suspicious cases showing abnormal betting behavior. In the letter, they call on the CFTC and OGE to issue guidance to ensure compliance with existing laws. This move is also linked to efforts to advance legislation related to digital-asset regulation, emphasizing synchronized progress between regulatory oversight and judicial review.

The U.S. Senate will consider the “Digital Asset Market Transparency Act” (CLARITY Act). The bill’s biggest concession is a comprehensive ban on earning passive income from stablecoins, but it will provide activity-based incentives to make up for it. In addition, the bill explicitly grants a liability shield for DeFi developers, and it establishes the jurisdiction of the CFTC and SEC. If the bill is not passed before May, it may be pushed back to 2026. This bill is important for clarifying crypto market regulation and, at the same time, it will affect how stablecoins are positioned.

Leveraged Shares on March 30 filed with the SEC to launch a reverse Bitcoin ETF, offering two leverage ratios: -1x and -2x. The product is designed to inversely replicate Bitcoin’s price movement on a daily basis, but it carries risks such as volatility decay and liquidity mismatch. The SEC’s review will especially focus on risks of market manipulation and investor protection; if approved, it will help bring crypto derivatives into the mainstream market.

After Pi Network’s second mainnet migration, about 119,000 users completed KYC verification, resulting in more than 1.12 million PI tokens flowing into centralized exchanges and creating short-term selling pressure. Technical analysis shows that $0.1736 is a key support level, and the Protocol 21 upgrade on April 6 will affect token stability and application expansion.

Federal Reserve Chair Powell, in his Harvard speech, emphasized the need to remain cautious and hold off, noting that monetary policy has limited effects on shocks from the supply side and that it is not yet appropriate to act hastily. The market response was mixed: U.S. Treasury yields fell, while tech stocks came under pressure. He reiterated the Fed’s 2% inflation target and said he is concerned about the growth of federal debt, maintaining its independence and not providing a timeline for a policy shift.