Category: Business

“The Federal Reserve officially approves Kraken Financial as the first digital asset bank with direct access to the United States’ payment systems,” the popular Bitcoin curation account @DocumentingBTC posted on X this week, racking up over 3,000 likes. The post set off a wave of commentary about what it means when a crypto company gets the same kind of Fed access that traditional banks have guarded for decades.

Bitcoin is trading near $70,000. Some market watchers think the Kraken news is exactly the kind of institutional plumbing upgrade that could push prices toward $100,000.

What Happened To Kraken

The Kansas City Fed approved Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution, for a limited-purpose Federal Reserve master account on March 4. The term is one year. The access is restricted. But the symbolism is hard to miss.

Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi told Fortune that Kraken went through Wyoming to get a Special Purpose Depository Institution charter rather than the OCC route other crypto firms have tried. Kraken’s head of policy Jonathan Jachym told Reuters the approval is “a great testament to regulatory rigor and cooperation,” adding that it “promotes principles of both safety and soundness, and innovation.” The account lets Kraken hold balances at the Fed and settle in U.S. dollars on Fedwire, bypassing the correspondent banks that crypto firms have relied on for years.

The reaction on X was not universally positive. “ICBA and 42 state banking associations objected to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s approval of a master account for Kraken Financial,” the Independent Community Bankers of America posted on their official account. Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, demanded the Kansas City Fed explain its legal authority for the decision.

One anonymous trader on X captured the skeptics’ view: “Kraken’s Fed approval… isn’t pure adoption; it’s assimilation. Don’t mistake integration for decentralization.”

Why It Matters For Bitcoin’s Price

The Kraken news lands at a moment when institutional money is already flowing back into bitcoin. Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $789 million last week, the highest weekly total since February. BlackRock continues to lead those flows.

Charles Schwab, which serves roughly 39 million brokerage clients, recently published a risk-sizing framework showing that an aggressive portfolio model could hold up to 8.8% in bitcoin under certain return assumptions. Schwab stopped short of calling it a recommendation, but the signal caught attention across crypto X. Pete Rizzo, the Bitcoin historian and former CoinDesk editor, posted that “$11 trillion Schwab just told 40 million clients to add bitcoin to their portfolios,” a characterization that got over 2,000 likes even if it overstated what Schwab actually said.

Kevin Olsen, a payments industry educator who runs the Payments Professor YouTube channel, analyzed the Kraken approval in a video and predicted this is “merely the first of many approvals, signaling a permanent shift in how electronic banking and crypto institutions interact with sovereign financial rails.”

Bitcoin has gained about 3% this week, bouncing between $70,300 and $73,200. The $75,000 level is the next test.

The Bull Case

Pierre Rochard, CEO of Bitcoin Bond Company and a longtime Bitcoin advocate, put it bluntly on X: “No four-year halving cycle has ever had a consistent bid from institutional and sovereign wealth quite like what we’re seeing in 2026.” His argument is that the old four-year boom-bust pattern is breaking because institutions are now permanent buyers, not tourists.

The numbers back him up. Morgan Stanley launched its own low-fee bitcoin ETF (MSBT) on April 8, charging just 0.14%. “Morgan Stanley just handed Bitcoin to 16,000 wealth advisors managing $6.2 trillion in client assets,” posted Garry Krug, head of BTC strategy at aifinyo. “Their recommended allocation for growth portfolios: 2-4%.”

Wall Street price targets for year-end 2026 are stacking up. Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick is at $100,000. TD Cowen has a $140,000 target tied to bitcoin treasury companies. Bernstein is at $150,000. Tom Lee at Fundstrat has floated $200,000 to $250,000. The Kraken approval feeds directly into every one of these theses because it removes a layer of friction between institutional dollars and the crypto ecosystem.

The Bear Case

The one-year term on Kraken’s account tells you something. The Fed is treating this as a trial, not a verdict.

“TD Cowen has cut its Strategy price target by 20.5% to $350, projecting the company’s Bitcoin gains will fall to $7.87 billion in 2026 from $10.17 billion in 2025,” CoinMarketCap reported. That is the same TD Cowen with a $140,000 bitcoin target cutting its bet on the biggest corporate bitcoin holder. Mixed signals, to say the least.

Not everyone on X is buying the institutional narrative either. “Expecting under $50K by November 2026,” one trader posted, arguing that short-term rallies to $80,000 or $90,000 will give way to a deeper correction. Another anonymous account pegged their year-end target at $52,500, citing historical pattern analysis.

Then there is the political risk. Waters’ investigation could lead to legislation restricting crypto companies from accessing Fed payment systems. The ICBA has 42 state banking associations backing its opposition. If Congress moves to pull the plug on Kraken’s experiment, the bullish narrative flips overnight.

What To Watch Next For Bitcoin Price

The big question is whether Kraken stays alone or other firms follow. Jachym has said the approval shows the regulatory path exists for any well-capitalized digital asset company willing to go through the process.

Bitcoin sitting at $70,000 with that $75,000 barrier overhead. A break through on heavy volume, combined with continued ETF inflows and more broker launches like Morgan Stanley’s MSBT, would be the kind of technical confirmation that turns Wall Street’s $100,000-plus targets from speculation into consensus.

A ten-figure volume threshold is a challenge in the fast-paced world of decentralized finance that can only be met by systems that offer real value. Unstoppable Private Wallet recently declared that the custom THORChain interface they built has surpassed the $1 billion swap volume mark. In a time when the entire marketplace has been dealing with “bearish” sentiment for almost a year, this gateway has experienced a surge of activity. This increase represents a shift in users’ attitudes and actions toward obtaining cross-chain liquidity.

The Appeal of “Zero-Fee” Architecture

This surge of $1 billion has been generated primarily by disruptive fees that are generally charged within their Fee system. Many businesses on the front-end charge additional fees called “interface fees” that generally range from 0.1% to 0.5% on top of the protocol gas fees. Consequently, the result is often higher transaction fees for consumers accessing our service. A key feature of Unstoppable’s pricing strategy is that it offers no fees for all transactions, an intentional strategy to seize on a greater share of the long-term market.

The ability to connect directly with customers through an interface has attracted large-volume traders. This is evidenced by dashboard metrics showing that the average swap exceeds $90,000 in value.

Privacy and the “No-Wallet” Onboarding

In addition to cost considerations, THORChain‘s innovative architectural design is addressing a common user issue: the need for a “wallet signature” before viewing trading quotes on most DeXes. This update streamlines the user experience, making it easier to access quotes without needing any sort of pre-approval. Conversely, users of Unstoppable’s website can enter detailed transaction parameters without requiring a connection at the outset of the process. This provides a privacy-centric user experience that aligns with Unstoppable’s position as a private wallet provider.

Additionally, the positions of “No KYC (Know Your Customer)” and “No Surveillance” are a clear nod to the fundamental spirit of cryptocurrency. The increasingly sharp regulation of centralized exchanges by international regulatory bodies has rendered non-custodial, decentralized solutions e.g. a DEX (decentralized exchange) such as THORChain is the last refuge of users looking to conduct independent financial transactions. THORChain’s official documentation states that the protocol is based on continuous liquidity pools, allowing the exchange of one native asset for another, such as Bitcoin for Ethereum. This process does not rely on wrapped tokens or centralized bridges, which are commonly exploited.

Resilience in a Bear Market

This $1 billion milestone implies significantly high volume in what would otherwise be considered a bearish market. Users have demonstrated organic usage rather than speculative mania by moving large amounts of capital into and out of positions. These actions are driven by portfolio rebalancing and efficient position management, with minimal slippage and no user interface costs.

This successful interface illustrates an emerging trend in DeFi protocols being separated from their front ends. THORChain offers liquidity to each protocol but the access point to each protocol determines how the user will experience the protocol. Unstoppable demonstrates that there is still a huge need for professional and permissionless trading tools regardless of market conditions by offering low or no fees and high levels of privacy.

Conclusion

With the THORChain interface reaching $1 billion in total volume processed, this milestone is much more than a vanity metric; it serves as a strong proof-of-concept for the next generation of DeFi interfaces. Unstoppable has shown its commitment to enhancing the user’s financial bottom line and their privacy ahead of maximizing short-term fees. This has firmly established Unstoppable’s position within the ecosystem.

This has really locked Unstoppable’s place in the ecosystem. Now that the market is heading back into a bullish phase, the infrastructure they built to support the next wave of growth has been put through some serious testing. It held up well, and it is now ready to handle transaction volumes that are significantly larger, by an order of magnitude really.

World Liberty Financial has come under heavy scrutiny, with many throwing the word “scam” on Crypto Twitter, over its recent $WLFI Markets lending position and the sudden disappearance of the Trump family from the WLF team member page.

Speculations are that the Trump family is attempting to distance itself from World Liberty Financial. But the team is claiming otherwise.

The crypto project was launched in the fall of 2024, with the U.S. President and his sons, Eric, Trump Jr., and Barron, displayed on the team member page as co-founders, including Chase Herro, Zak Folkman, and the Witkoff family.

World Liberty was touted as a financial platform that would bridge the gap between traditional banking and decentralized finance. In March 2025, the team completed a third phase of $WLFI token sale, raising a total of $550 million, according to reports. $WLFI, which only became tradable in September 2025, doubles as the governance token of the platform.

After the presale, however, it was observed that the positions of the Trump family were reduced to “Web3 Ambassador.” And now? The team member page on the website has been removed, with some speculating that the Trumps are trying to distance themselves from the project.

Just at the bottom of the page, there is now a disclosure that Trump and his sons do not hold any formal operational role in World Liberty Financial, despite their known affiliation with the crypto project.

“None of Donald J. Trump, his family members or any director, officer or employee of Trump Organization or of DT Marks LLC is an officer, director or employee of, WLF Holdco LLC or World Liberty Financial LLC,” it reads.

To add weight to these claims, speculators also pointed to Eric Trump deleting several $WLFI-related posts on Twitter earlier this year, as Cryptopolitan reported.

Eric Trump, co-founder of $WLFI, deleted several $WLFI-related posts on X. Following the move, $WLFI briefly fell more than 8%, while the USD stablecoin $USD1 temporarily depegged to 0.9802 USDT. https://t.co/5W4apuqsb3 pic.twitter.com/7dUMJPApEh

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 23, 2026

“This is clearly FUD,” says Zach Witkoff

World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff dismissed these observations as FUD, saying both Donald and Eric Trump are still engaged with the project, and even tweet about the project weekly. Regarding the missing team page, Zach mentioned that the website was redesigned months ago. “This is clearly FUD,” he said.

Hey @Eljaboom we redesigned the website months ago. Don and Eric tweet about the project weekly and even have @worldlibertyfi in their twitter bios. This is clearly FUD.

— Zach Witkoff (@ZachWitkoff) April 11, 2026

Eric Trump’s Twitter bio says he’s an advocate for World Liberty Financial, while Donald Trump Jr.’s still says he’s a co-founder.

Although the Trump family is not directly involved in the management of World Liberty, according to the webpage, they own a significant 38% stake in the WLF Holdco LLC, through DT Marks DEFI LLC. WLF Holdco LLC holds all of the rights to net protocol revenues from the WLF protocol. Previously, in March 2025, the stake was as high as 60%, according to Reuters.

DT Marks DEFI LLC also holds 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens, and is entitled to receive 75% of the net revenue from the $WLFI token sale, including interest earned on the reserve assets backing $USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial.

WLF loan deal sparks fresh controversy

Another point of controversy on World Liberty Financial stems from its recent stablecoin loan deal on DeFi protocol Dolomite, whose co-founder advises WLF, which saw $WLFI token decline by 10%, Cryptopolitan reported on Friday.

The WLF team deposited 5 billion $WLFI tokens, worth $440 million, to borrow $75 million worth of $USD1, although Arkham reports it was $150 million USDC. Part of the concern was that the World Liberty Financial team used its own tokens as collateral to drain Dolomite’s lending pool, so much so that many depositors were not able to withdraw.

To defuse concerns, the team said being an anchor borrower allows them to generate yield that makes $WLFI Markets compelling for everyone else. “No, we are nowhere near liquidation — and frankly, even if markets moved dramatically against us, we’d simply supply more collateral,” they wrote.

The last line was particularly concerning for many people, who argued that deploying more volatile governance tokens as collateral could have more detrimental consequences, with some recalling past incidents with Terraforms Lab and FTX.

Even more retarded, instead of repaying stablecoin debt, they would deposit more $WLFI as collateral.

Sure, liquidation price decreases but it makes the problem worse, not better in the longer termhttps://t.co/h3YdBMY2ha

— Ignas | DeFi (@DefiIgnas) April 10, 2026

$WLFI currently trades at $0.07989, a 1.4% decline in the last 24 hours. The token is down over 44% YTD.

$XRP, the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has completed a golden cross on its short-term charts, but the timing of the bullish signal raises questions. The 50 MA rose above the 200 MA on the two-hour chart, indicating a golden crossover.

However, the timing has traders being cautious amid weak spot demand and softer futures activity implying that any potential recovery still lacks strong conviction, even as ETF flows begin to turn modestly positive.

$XRP ETFs saw inflows of $9.09 million on April 10, according to SoSoValue data, the largest since early February.

However, the broader market environments remain subdued, with weak spot activity and thinner derivatives participation continuing to restrict upside follow-through.

At the week’s start, Santiment reported that average wallets that have been active on $XRP Ledger over the past year are down an average of -41% on their investments. This is the lowest MVRV (Mean Value to Realized Value) for $XRP traders since the FTX crash in November 2022.

Breakout or fakeout?

$XRP‘s price is attempting to stabilize after a sharp move to a high of $1.396 earlier in the week. The appearance of a short-term golden cross remains noteworthy, but the question is whether this is real strength or a fakeout.

While $XRP saw a sharp price move at the week’s start, the lack of follow-through and weak broader structure, indicating cautious sentiment, caused its price to retreat. The price move could not yield a breakout above the daily MA 50 at $1.38, which has capped $XRP‘s price since late March, indicating that bears are actively guarding this level.

However, positivity remains as tight range trading near current levels shows buyers are at least attempting to build a support base, which might deter a further downward move.

Traders are watching $1.29 as the next $XRP support in the short term, resistance at $1.38 (the daily MA 50) for a meaningful breakout and another support at $1.28, below which the breakout would be considered failed.

Bitcoin demand is set to expand rapidly as Morgan Stanley deploys its 16,000 advisors and launches a low-cost ETF, driving institutional inflows and strengthening crypto’s position in mainstream portfolios.

Key Takeaways:

• Morgan Stanley’s 16,000 advisors unlock major bitcoin demand, driving powerful new inflows.
• Morgan Stanley launched a 14 basis point ETF, triggering aggressive fee compression across issuers.
• Bitcoin gains credibility as Morgan Stanley issues funds, accelerating institutional adoption.

Morgan Stanley ETF Launch Drives Bitcoin Demand and Fee Compression

Bitcoin’s institutional evolution is accelerating as product innovation from major brokerages reshapes market structure and investor participation. Global investment bank Morgan Stanley deepened its digital asset strategy on April 10 by launching a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The initiative introduces a three-fold market impact that influences pricing, demand generation, and legitimacy across the digital asset ecosystem.

Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals, shared his thoughts on social media platform X on April 10: “The new Morgan Stanley crypto ETFs (starting with their first, bitcoin, with ETH and SOL to come) will have a three-fold impact on the market.” He outlined the first impact tied to competitive pricing dynamics, emphasizing that Morgan Stanley’s 14 basis point fee advantage will likely accelerate competitive pressure across issuers. Widely regarded as a leading figure in financial planning, Edelman is the founder of Edelman Financial Engines and a three-time Barron’s top-ranked independent advisor. He stated: “They will attract assets from other crypto ETFs because they are cheaper.”

The second effect centers on new inflows driven by trust and distribution strength. Morgan Stanley’s extensive advisory network now plays a direct role in crypto allocation strategies. Edelman explained:

“Because these ETFs come from a trusted name in the financial services industry, they will bring new asset flows to crypto as Morgan Stanley’s 16,000 financial advisors allocate to them.”

This internal channel enables large-scale onboarding of new investors, broadening total addressable demand rather than simply reallocating existing capital pools.

Institutional Backing Accelerates Bitcoin Adoption and Market Confidence

The third impact underscores institutional validation and its influence on investor perception. By issuing its own crypto ETFs, Morgan Stanley signals a deeper commitment than merely listing third-party products. Edelman noted:

“These new ETFs help legitimize crypto by virtue of having one of the nation’s largest brokerage firms issue their own funds (which is much bigger statement than merely putting others’ funds on their platform).”

This endorsement reduces skepticism and strengthens bitcoin’s role within diversified portfolios.

The combined effects establish a reinforcing cycle that could accelerate adoption across the United States. Lower fees attract capital, advisor-driven allocations generate new inflows, and institutional backing enhances credibility. Edelman concluded:

“The result; broader adoption of crypto by investors nationwide.”

These dynamics position bitcoin for sustained growth as traditional finance continues integrating digital assets into mainstream investment frameworks, reinforcing its transition from alternative asset to core portfolio allocation.

In the cryptocurrency market, weekly active user data remains one of the most important metrics revealing the true level of usage of blockchain networks.

According to recently released data, competition is intensifying, particularly between Layer-1 and Layer-2 ecosystems, while some networks continue to attract millions of users.

At the top of the list was $BNB Chain, which stands out with its extensive ecosystem and low transaction costs. The network maintained its leadership by reaching 17 million weekly active users, registering a 4.5% growth in the last 30 days. In second place is Solana, known for its high transaction speed. Solana’s weekly active user count reached 9.9 million, although a recent 3.5% decrease was noted.

Taking third place, TRON reached 6.9 million active users, showing a growth of 3.8%. The high volume of stablecoin transfers, in particular, continues to support TRON’s user base.

The projects included in the complete list are ranked as follows:

1. $BNB Chain ($BNB) – 17 million (4.5%)
2. Solana (SOL) – 9.9 million (3.5%)
3. Tron (TRX) – 6.9 million (3.8%)
4. Aptos (APT) – 4.6 million (8.1%)
5. Sei Network (SEI) – 3.7 million (-32.7%)
6. Polygon (POL) – 3.3 million (23.9%)
7. Ethereum (ETH) – 3.2 million (-17.0%)
8. World Mobile Chain (WMTX) – 2.9 million (3.7%)
9. Base – 2.5 million (18.8%)
10. Bitcoin (BTC) – 2.4 million (-3.6%)
11. Avalanche (AVAX) – 1.3 million (3.6%)
12. PancakeSwap (CAKE) – 1.3 million (-8.2%)
13. Litecoin (LTC) – 1.3 million (-0.4%)
14. Arbitrum One (ARB) – 1.2 million (44.7%)

*This is not investment advice.

Bitcoin may be entering a phase of seller exhaustion. After bottoming near $60,000 on Feb. 5, the asset has spent more than two months consolidating, gradually grinding higher toward the $70,000 level. This came alongside macro uncertainty with the Middle East conflict pushing oil prices well above $100 a barrel.

Data from CheckonChain suggests that selling pressure is beginning to ease. Realized losses are currently around $400 million per day, still elevated compared to previous years, but trending lower in recent weeks.
Realized losses had spiked to as much as $2 billion on Nov. 21 and Feb. 5, reaching levels not seen in several years and surpassing those seen during the 2022 bear market, according to the data.

“Spot markets are shifting from aggressive selling to net buy side pressure, realized profits and losses are both declining,” said CheckonChain.

Glassnode data reinforces this trend. On a seven-day moving average, realized profits are around $300 million per day, near twelve-month lows. This suggests that investors who accumulated bitcoin at $60,000 are now marginally in profit and beginning to take some gains.

Meanwhile, the realized profit-to-loss ratio has risen to 1.4, its highest level since January, according to Glassnode data. This metric, which compares the value of coins moved at a profit to those moved at a loss, shows that realized profits now outweigh losses.

These indicators point toward a market where selling pressure is fading, raising the likelihood that bitcoin is approaching a phase of seller exhaustion.