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AI Traffic to US Retailers Jumps 393% in Q1 as Agentic Shoppers Outspend Humans
In brief

Adobe data shows AI-driven shopping traffic surging into the mainstream.

AI-assisted shoppers now outperform traditional retail consumers.

Report signals rapid shift toward agent-led commerce in U.S. retail.
The dead internet is more alive than ever.

A year ago, retailers were debating whether to block AI bots from crawling their websites. That calculation just got a lot harder. New data from Adobe Analytics shows AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites grew 393% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, and shoppers arriving from those sources are now spending more, staying longer, and buying at higher rates than everyone else.

Adobe reported that AI traffic from Q1 2026 grew 393% year over year, with March alone up 269% YoY. “This continues the momentum that was observed during the most recent holiday season (Nov. to Dec. 2025) where AI traffic was up 693% YoY,” the company wrote.

In March 2025, AI traffic converted 38% worse than standard non-AI sources like paid search and email.

This is the opposite of what is happening with the content creation industry. A new UNESCO report found that generative AI is on its way to cause revenue losses of 24% for music creators and 21% for audiovisual creators by 2028.

By March 2026, Adobe reports AI traffic was converting 42% better—a new record, according to the company, which tracks over one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites. Revenue per visit from AI referrals was 37% above non-AI traffic as of last month.

According to Adobe, just one year ago, regular human traffic was worth 128% more.

Source: Adobe

The engagement data also shows that once a shopper arrives at a retail site via an AI assistant, they spend 48% more time on the page, browse 13% more pages per visit, and show a 12% higher engagement rate than visitors from other channels. “AI is quickly becoming the primary interface between consumers and their favorite brands,” Vivek Pandya, director of Adobe Digital Insights, wrote in the report.

Adobe surveyed more than 5,000 U.S. consumers alongside its traffic data. Thirty-nine percent said they’ve used AI for online shopping, and 85% of that group said it improved their experience. Trust is also climbing: 66% of respondents said they believe AI tools provide accurate results—a figure that helps explain why conversion rates are surging instead of flattening.

AI is serious business

AI traffic is becoming a pretty big deal for service providers who are doing anything they can to control who provides the views and referrals in the ecommerce ecosystem.

Amazon and Perplexity had a spat in federal court over whether AI agents can make purchases on third-party platforms without the platform’s explicit consent. A San Francisco judge issued a preliminary injunction in March blocking Perplexity’s Comet browser from shopping on Amazon after the e-commerce giant argued the agent disguised automated sessions as human browser traffic. Perplexity called Amazon’s legal push “bullying,” arguing that agentic shopping would bring Amazon more transactions, not fewer.

OpenAI launched an “Instant Checkout” feature inside ChatGPT in September 2025. The same month Salesforce estimated that AI agents influenced more than 20% of all global online retail sales during the 2025 holiday season.

Now, with OpenClaw, AI agents can buy things more easily, be it via API connections, MCP servers, skills, integrations, or users activating browser control.

Adobe’s report also flags a structural problem that’s going to matter more as this traffic grows: a significant portion of U.S. retail websites aren’t fully readable by the models generating that traffic.

Homepages scored an average of 75% on Adobe’s AI Content Visibility Checker, meaning roughly a quarter of their content is invisible to LLMs. Individual product pages came in at 66%—a more critical gap, since that’s where purchase decisions happen. The best-performing retailers scored 82.5% on homepage visibility; the lowest-performing hit just 54.2%.

“Consumer adoption of these AI tools is not slowing down,” Adobe wrote, “and businesses need to ensure their digital front doors are optimized for AI to remain relevant in today’s environment.”

McKinsey projects that agentic commerce—AI systems that research, compare, and purchase autonomously—could drive $1 trillion in U.S. retail revenue by 2030, so it’s no wonder why AI companies want to be the ad companies of the agentic era.
April 19, 2026
The 10 Public Companies With the Biggest Bitcoin Portfolios

For many years, the idea that publicly traded corporations might buy Bitcoin for their reserves was considered laughable. The top cryptocurrency was considered too volatile, too fringe to be embraced by any serious business.

That taboo has been well and truly broken, with a number of major institutional investors buying up Bitcoin in recent years.

The floodgates first opened when cloud software company MicroStrategy bought $425 million worth of Bitcoin in August and September 2020. Others followed suit, including payments processor Block and electric car manufacturer Tesla.

Per BitcoinTreasuries, public companies holding Bitcoin now account for 5.39% of the total supply of 21 million $BTC. These are the biggest holders as of this writing.

1. Strategy

Strategy, a prominent business analytics platform turned Bitcoin treasury company, has adopted $BTC as its primary reserve asset. The company is perhaps better known as MicroStrategy, but changed its name in February 2025 with co-founder Michael Saylor citing the “power and positivity” of “strategy.”

The firm, which produces mobile software and provides cloud-based services, has aggressively pursued a Bitcoin buying spree, scooping up millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency. As of this writing, it holds 780,897 $BTC in reserve, equivalent to $59 billion and more than 3.7% of the total amount of Bitcoin that will ever be issued.

In the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call, Saylor claimed that the company’s adoption of a “Bitcoin strategy” had enabled it to deliver 10x to 30x the performance of rival enterprise software companies in the business intelligence sector. The company typically reveals Bitcoin buys on a weekly basis, though it routinely skips a week at the end of each quarter.

Unlike other executives who typically shy away from discussing their personal investments, Saylor has made it public that he personally purchased 17,732 $BTC—currently worth over $1.3 billion, and still holds them as of September 2024. It’s something of an about-face for the Strategy co-founder, who in 2013 claimed that Bitcoin’s days were numbered.

“We’re at the beginning of the stage of rapid institutional adoption of digital property in the form of Bitcoin,” Saylor said during the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call. He added that in the future, Bitcoin won’t compete against other crypto assets, but against, “gold, art, equities, real estate, bonds, and other types of store-of-value money in wealth creation, wealth preservation, and the capital markets.”

Perhaps the loudest Bitcoin proponent out there, Saylor has already said the firm will be “buying the top forever.” He has previously said the firm could ultimately buy 7% of the total $BTC supply, and recently reassured investors in MSTR that it could withstand a Bitcoin drawdown to as much as $8,000, just refinancing its debt along the way.

“If you think it’s going to zero, then we’ll deal with that,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s going to zero, and I don’t think it’s going to $8,000 either.”

2. Twenty One Capital

The Jack Mallers-led Twenty One Capital (XXI) holds 43,513.12 Bitcoin according to its public balances on the Bitcoin blockchain. That’s about $3.3 billion worth, as of this writing.

The firm, which launched via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partner in December, worked with stablecoin giant Tether, crypto exchange Bitfinex, and Japanese investment firm SoftBank to build its Bitcoin treasury.

Unlike other treasury firms that may accumulate Bitcoin for their balance sheets while operating non-crypto businesses, Twenty One’s primary focus remains on acquiring $BTC and providing Bitcoin-related services to help differentiate itself from others.

The firm pledges a long-term focus with plans not to “outperform inflation,” but instead “render the concept of inflation irrelevant.”

3. Metaplanet

Metaplanet, a Tokyo-listed firm nicknamed the “Asian Strategy,” now holds 40,177 Bitcoin, worth over $3 billion at the time of writing.

Outside of its Bitcoin operations, the company owns and operates a hotel that is being rebranded to the “Bitcoin Hotel,” and claims that it is the first and only publicly listed Bitcoin treasury company in Japan.

Following in Strategy’s footsteps, the firm has aggressively added to its Bitcoin holdings. Last September, it achieved its 2025 goal of owning 30,000 $BTC while leapfrogging the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company to take over the third spot on this list.

Though its short-term goal has been achieved, it has a long way to go to reach its 2027 goal of owning more than 210,000 Bitcoin—nearly $16 billion worth at the time of writing.

The company added President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump to a Strategic Advisory Board in early 2025. Later that year, it took up residence in the United States, expanding with the creation of a subsidiary in Miami, Florida. In March 2026, it broadened its Bitcoin strategy, adding an investment arm with roughly $25 million expected to be invested into Bitcoin companies.

4. MARA

Bitcoin mining company MARA (formerly Marathon Digital), unsurprisingly, is also a large holder of Bitcoin, with around 38,689 $BTC—more than $2.9 billion worth—in its corporate treasury at the time of writing.

The company, which originally aimed to build “the largest Bitcoin mining operation in North America at one of the lowest energy costs,” originated as a patent holding firm (and was often referred to as a patent troll) before its pivot into crypto mining.

But as Bitcoin miners began to pivot towards providing AI infrastructure, so did MARA. As part of that move, the firm announced a shift in its strategy in March 2026, saying that it might sell some of its Bitcoin treasury to fund other initiatives. That strategy was put to use quickly, as the firm sold 15,133 $BTC valued at $1.1 billion to help buy back debt.

“While Bitcoin mining remains the foundation of our platform, we have expanded our footprint in energy generation and are investing in research and development to establish a presence in AI and adjacent markets, creating additional revenue opportunities over the long term,” its most recent 10K filing reads.

5. Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company

Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR) is another soon-to-be public entity that will launch with more than 30,000 $BTC when its transactions finalize, expected to take place in late Q1 or Q2 of 2026.

The firm, which will be led by early Bitcoiner and $BTC whale Adam Back—who has denied being pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, amid high-profile accusations—is the result of a merger between BSTR and the Cantor Fitzgerald-linked special purpose acquisition company, Cantor Equity Partners I.

As part of the merger, Back and founding shareholders will contribute 25,000 Bitcoin to the company, with another 5,021 Bitcoin provided via an in-kind PIPE, or private investment in public equity.

“We are putting unprecedented firepower behind a single mission: maximizing Bitcoin ownership per share while accelerating real-world Bitcoin adoption,” Back said of the firm, in a statement.

In addition to its 30,031 Bitcoin, the firm also announced it could raise up to $1.5 billion in funding for more purchases.

6. Riot Platforms

Another crypto mining outfit, U.S.-based Riot Platforms, holds 15,680 $BTC—worth nearly $1.2 billion at today’s prices.

With its valuation surging from below $200 million in 2020 to highs of over $6 billion in 2021, the Nasdaq-listed company went on an aggressive expansion drive. In April 2021, it spent $650 million on a one-gigawatt Bitcoin mining facility in Texas, eventually expanding further in 2022 before rebranding to Riot Platforms to diversify its business model in 2023.

The company also reached a settlement with Bitcoin mining firm, Bitfarms, as it attempted a hostile takeover of the rival in 2024.

Amid Bitcoin’s drawdown in late 2025, the firm indicated that it may have to sell more of its Bitcoin holdings than previously anticipated to “generate the liquidity required to fund our ongoing operations and working capital needs.” It collectively sold around $450 million worth in Q4 and Q1 2026, combined as it pivoted to serve AI demand alongside other Bitcoin miners.

7. Coinbase

Arguably the best-known crypto firm in this list, crypto exchange Coinbase went public in a landmark direct listing on the Nasdaq in April 2021.

Ahead of its listing, in February 2021, Coinbase revealed that it held $230 million in Bitcoin on its balance sheet. As of its most recent 10-K filing, it holds 15,389 $BTC in its treasury for investment as of December 31, 2025. That’s about $1.17 billion worth.

The firm has added more than 8,500 $BTC since the end of 2024 when it held 6,885. And its CEO, Brian Armstrong, says it’ll keep adding in the future.

“Coinbase is long Bitcoin,” he posted on X in October.

Coinbase is long bitcoin.

Our holding increased by 2,772 $BTC in Q3. And we keep buying more.

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 30, 2025

It continues to innovate with Bitcoin, announcing its own wrapped Bitcoin product, cbBTC, in late 2024. Coinbase also restarted Bitcoin lending services in January 2025.

8. Strive Asset Management

Financial services firm Strive Asset Management joined the top 10 public holders in January 2026 when it pushed its holdings above 13,000 $BTC. That number stands at 13,678 $BTC, valued above $1 billion, as of this writing.

The firm, co-founded by former Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, raised $750 million in May 2025 to buy Bitcoin. Previously, it had encouraged famed meme stock firm and video game retailer, GameStop, to shove its holdings into the largest crypto asset by market cap. GameStop bought more than $500 million worth of Bitcoin in 2025, and in 2026, revealed that it put its funds into a covered call option strategy with Coinbase.

After raising a massive fund to buy $BTC, Strive also acquired a smaller Bitcoin treasury firm—Semler Scientific—in an all-stock deal that gave it access to the healthcare technologies firm’s Bitcoin, around 5,048 $BTC at the time of the deal.

9. Hut8

Canadian Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 holds 13,696 $BTC, worth over $1 billion at current prices according to its last $BTC-denominated update.

In June 2021, the company was listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the HUT ticker, with the company’s SEC filing noting that it’s “committed to growing shareholder value by increasing the number and value of our Bitcoin holdings.” In November 2023, the firm merged with fellow mining company US Bitcoin, with the post-merger firm billing itself as an “energy infrastructure company targeting Bitcoin mining and data centers.”

The company announced a $150 million investment last June to expand its AI compute push to meet demand, and its stock nearly doubled in the weeks following the presidential election. Its wholly owned subsidiary, American Bitcoin—which was co-founded by President Trump’s son, Eric Trump—has also gone public as a Bitcoin miner and treasury firm.

HUT8 stock soared once more in December 2025 after the firm inked a $7 billion Google-backed AI data center deal. Shares in American Bitcoin, its wholly owned subsidiary, hit their lowest mark post-IPO when they dipped in late March.

10. CleanSpark

U.S. Bitcoin mining firm CleanSpark holds 13,363 $BTC as of March 26, worth approximately $1 billion at today’s prices.

Ahead of the 2024 Bitcoin halving, the firm expanded its operations, snapping up three Bitcoin mining facilities in Mississippi for $19.8 million and adding up to 2.4 EH/s to its mining capacity. The company also added a third facility in Dalton, Georgia to its lineup, with a further 0.8 EH/s.

While other public companies on the list have made it a habit of buying Bitcoin for their treasuries, CleanSpark CFO Gary Vecchiarelli said in February 2025, “We continue to invest in ourselves because why buy Bitcoin at current spot prices when we can mine it for $34,000?”

Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2022 and last updated with new details on April 19, 2026.

This list is maintained via a mix of regulatory filings, information shared by the companies themselves, on-chain data, and rankings like BitcoinTreasuries.net. In situations where data is unclear or incomplete, we have made numerous attempts to reach out to the firms and seek clarification. Where we could not gain clarification, we’ve used our best judgment regarding inclusion. We will continue to update this ranking based on new information and moves ahead.

Additional reporting by Daniel Phillips and Stephen Graves

April 19, 2026
Wayans Brothers Reveal the Only Way ‘White Chicks’ Sequel “Can Happen”

Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans are open to a White Chicks sequel, but under one condition.

The brothers, who also returned for the new Scary Movie installment, recently opened up about potentially revisiting the cult classic during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“I’ll put it this way: we’re game,” Marlon said. “We want to know if people want to come out and laugh, and [if] they come see Scary Movie, then I definitely…”

Shawn continued, “If this movie does well, a White Chicks 2 can happen.”

The 2004 comedy follows two disgraced FBI agents who go undercover, transforming themselves from African-American men into blonde, white women, in an effort to protect a pair of socialites from a kidnapping plot. Marlon and Shawn starred and co-wrote the film with their other brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who served as the director.

While the Him actor seems down for a potential White Chicks follow-up more than two decades later, Marlon previously detailed the challenges of making the original movie and getting into character every day on set.

He said, via People, on Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon 3 livestream last year that they spent “seven hours in makeup every day, and then we work 14 hours after the seven hours because we produced a movie. If you’re gonna produce the movie, you gotta push your call time, so that means you have no turnaround. Turnaround is usually 12 hours.”

“We only got 3 hours every night, so after work, we were still there,” Marlon continued of the grueling process. “Taking the makeup off, that took an hour.”

You’ll just have to wait and see if the brothers team up for a White Chicks sequel, but until then, Marlon and Shawn can be seen together in Scary Movie 6, which hits theaters on June 5, after being absent from the three previous installments.

April 19, 2026
Oscar Isaac Once Said He Wanted the Freedom to Take on Any Role. ‘Beef’ Shows He’s Earned It

I don’t think we appreciate Oscar Isaac enough.

That thought lingers while watching Season 2 of Netflix’s “Beef,” which arrives to positive reviews and, once again, widespread praise for its performances. It’s safe to say that creator Lee Sung Jin has built a knack for giving actors rich and layered material. But even within an ensemble primed for Emmy attention, Isaac stands apart.

And yet, somehow, this evokes a feeling from the industry and on social media that this is “business as usual” – another great Oscar Isaac performance, another moment that will be admired. Still, it doesn’t seem like a collective “unanimous” sentiment that the industry must reward.

Hollywood has no shortage of actors we collectively agree are underappreciated. Bring up names like Ben Foster, Margo Martindale, Paul Giamatti, Keith David, Nia Long or James McAvoy (and hundreds more), and you’ll find near-universal consensus: How are they not bigger? How are they not more awarded?

Isaac is among those names, too.

It would be easy to reduce this to a familiar truth: Latino actors remain undervalued in Hollywood. That’s part of the story, but it’s not the whole story.

I keep thinking back to a Variety Awards Circuit Podcast conversation I had with Isaac in October 2021, when he was promoting Paul Schrader’s “The Card Counter.” It was still the height of COVID-19, and like many conversations at the time, it drifted between the personal and the philosophical — life, art and representation.

At the time, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” was rolling out in theaters and on streaming, in the hybrid format that studios adopted during the height of the pandemic. Naturally, it prompted a broader discussion about visibility and Isaac offered a perspective that didn’t make the cut. Still, I went and revisited, and it has stayed with me ever since:

“It’s a challenging time because representation is important,” he said at the time. “But for me, what I found really moving wasn’t necessarily my personal story being represented. What moved me was seeing someone Latino being allowed to do everything. That meant everything to me. Like when I found out Raúl Juliá originated ‘Betrayal’ on Broadway as an Englishman — Harold Pinter’s play. The first time it premiered in the United States, a Puerto Rican actor played that role. That meant so much to me — much more than seeing a play about Cuban refugees, which is important, too.”

That idea — the freedom to do everything — is the key to understanding the true representation that the underrepresented seek, and to Isaac’s career.

Yes, Latino stories matter. Latino characters matter. They are not mutually exclusive. Isaac’s artistry has never been confined to identity. His career has been defined by range and a refusal to be boxed in.

For many, the first real jolt came with Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” (2011), where Isaac played Standard, a recently released ex-con who could have easily been reduced to a one-note archetype. Instead, Isaac infused him with vulnerability and desperation, turning a small supporting role into something memorable.

Then came Joel and Ethan Coen’s underrated masterpiece “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013), where Isaac delivered what remains one of the greatest unrecognized performances of the 21st century — a portrait of artistic failure that felt so raw and lived-in. By any reasonable metric, it should have earned him an Oscar nomination, if not the win.

He followed with J.C. Chandor’s crime drama “A Most Violent Year” (2014) and Alex Garland’s sci-fi flick, “Ex Machina” (2015), the latter reinventing the “mad scientist” archetype into something seductive, terrifying, and killer dance moves.

Still, the Oscars looked away.

Television tried to correct the course. In HBO’s 2015 miniseries “Show Me a Hero,” Isaac portrayed Yonkers Mayor Nick Wasicsko, who fought to desegregate public housing. He steered the man with an aching humanity, earning a Golden Globe trophy. The Emmys, however, would shut out the series entirely.

And yet, Isaac has continued to adapt. He moved fluidly between prestige and blockbuster fare — from Poe Dameron in the contemporary “Star Wars” trilogy, beginning with “The Force Awakens” (2015), to the villainous turn in “X-Men: Apocalypse” (2016), to Marvel’s “Moon Knight” (2022) on Disney+. His only Primetime Emmy nomination would come in 2022, alongside his longtime friend Jessica Chastain in the miniseries adaptation of “Scenes From a Marriage.”

The resumé is there. The respect is there. But the awards, consistently, are not.

Which brings us back to “Beef.”

Netflix

The first season of Lee’s anthology series swept the 2023 ceremony, winning eight Emmys, including outstanding limited or anthology series, along with acting prizes for Steven Yeun and Ali Wong (the first Asians to win their respective categories). Season 2 enters the year with similar ambitions.

The story centers on a young couple (Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny) whose lives become entangled with their volatile boss and his wife (Isaac and Carey Mulligan) after witnessing a disturbing incident at an elite country club. What unfolds is a tightly wound spiral of power, resentment and control.

Isaac plays Josh Martín, a man driven by insecurity and status anxiety, constantly performing a version of himself for those he believes hold power. It’s a slippery, psychologically complex role and one that requires both restraint and explosion. Isaac does deliver both.

Across the sophomore season — and especially in the final two episodes, “The Hour of Separation” and “It Will Stay This Way and You Will Obey” — Isaac peels back Josh’s layers with surgical precision. And while the performance is undoubtedly funny at times and unsettling in others, it ultimately becomes deeply tragic and, honestly, redemptive.

Even in moments of dark absurdity (his sexual “activities” at the laptop), Isaac never loses the character’s core. That’s what separates him in the show. And that’s what has always separated him from his peers in the business.

Best of all, he’s a Latino actor playing a character where we can see that he is Latino, but it’s not the crux of why Josh exists in this story. He just simply — is — in the story.

And still, there’s a lingering question: Will it matter?

Because if history is any indication, Isaac’s work in “Beef” may be admired, even celebrated — but not fully recognized. Only one Latino actor has won the lead actor (limited) award – Jharrel Jerome for the 2019 Ava DuVernay crime drama “When They See Us.” Since then, the only Latino performers recognized in the category have been Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”) and, coincidentally, Isaac with his 2022 nomination.

His final moment in the series, staring directly into the camera, is among the most compelling reasons why he’s so great. It’s as if he’s asking the audience — and the industry — to finally see him.

The truth is, Oscar Isaac has been doing this level of work for more than a decade. Since his 2022 Emmy-nominated year, Isaac has been quietly creating, and no one has noticed we hadn’t seen him on our screens for three years (he had two voice roles in between). We wouldn’t see him until he took on the titular role in Guillermo Del Toro’s monster epic “Frankenstein.” We shouldn’t have Isaac’s three-year hiatuses. This is a guy who does the work and is ready to do it, but somehow the industry hasn’t caught up.

I hope with “Beef,” that will force them to look, and realize: There’s more meat on that bone.

The Emmy Awards timeline begins with nomination-round voting from June 11–22, followed by the announcement of nominees on July 8.

April 19, 2026
Molly Shannon Says Will Ferrell Predicted That Actors ‘Are Eventually Going to Be Replaced by Robots’ During Early ‘SNL’ Days: We ‘Die Laughing About it Now’

Molly Shannon is reflecting on her decades-long friendship with Will Ferrell — and a surprisingly prescient comment he made early in their careers.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Shannon recalled meeting Ferrell in the mid-1990s while she was working at what she described as a “cappuccino, scone place” in Los Angeles. Introduced through the Groundlings comedy troupe, the two immediately connected. “We clicked right away,” she said, remembering serving him a scone and a latte. “We’ve been friends ever since. 30 years.”

Both were hired in 1995 on “Saturday Night Live,” where they became part of a defining era for the long-running sketch series. Shannon created characters including Sally O’Malley, while the pair also collaborated on projects like “A Night at the Roxbury” and “Superstar.”

But Shannon said one early conversation on “SNL” stood out. While she was enthusiastic about landing the job, Ferrell was more cautious about its longevity.

“I don’t know. Who knows how long this is going to last?” he told her at the time. “I just think it’s not going to last long, and I think actors are eventually going to be replaced by robots, and they’re not going to need human actors anymore.”

Shannon said she initially dismissed the idea as overly pessimistic, recalling that she told him, “You’re being so dark.”

Ferrell, she added, joked he would be fine either way. “He said, ‘I could have a job working as a dog groomer or as a UPS driver or as a coach and still be happy.’”

Looking back, Shannon said, “But Will was right,” adding that the two “die laughing about it now.”

April 19, 2026
Tether CEO Issues Bullish Bitcoin Post as Price Stabilizes at $75,000

Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin firm, has reaffirmed his bullish stance on Bitcoin, sparking reactions as all eyes appear to be on Bitcoin following the recent market rally.

In his post, Ardoino declared that Bitcoin is resistant after a viral artwork shared by Satoshigallery sparked the attention of the crypto community.

The image features a striking human-form statue forged from steel, and the sculpture was shared with a caption that says, “You can bend the steel but not its meaning.”

Although the statement was not extremely clear, Ardoino has related it to Bitcoin’s nature, interpreting the image as a representation of Bitcoin’s resistant nature.

Ardoino stirs debate

Ardoino’s interpretation of the image has received mixed reactions across the crypto community as some commentators agreed that the image is significant in representing Bitcoin’s true nature as being resistant.

However, others have criticized the leading cryptocurrency as some named it as a scam even as Bitcoin continues to show signs of a major recovery.

Nonetheless, the criticism was outweighed by more supportive remarks from other commentators as one user described the piece as one of the most concept-connecting sculptures they had ever seen.

Also, another commentator further stressed that everything else eventually bends, suggesting that Bitcoin endures even in the face of pressure.

Bitcoin stabilizes at $75,000

Ardoino’s bullish comment about Bitcoin has come following a recent price rally that has seen the asset surpass the long-lost $75,000 level.

While this has reignited market optimism, investor confidence is growing stronger, and experts are reaffirming their bullish stance on the asset.

While the rally has cooled and cryptocurrencies are currently showing mixed price action, Bitcoin remains stable around the $75,000 mark.

April 19, 2026
Justin Sun Makes an Unusual Offer to the Hacker Involved in the $290 Million Hack

While the turmoil caused by the KelpDAO-related security vulnerability crisis in the DeFi ecosystem continues, a notable statement came from Justin Sun, a leading figure in the cryptocurrency world.

Sun, in a statement on social media, directly challenged the perpetrator, offering to negotiate. “KelpDAO hacker, how much do you want? Let’s talk. Of course, with the help of KelpDAO,” Sun said, arguing that the situation needed to be resolved before it escalated further.

In his statement, Sun pointed out that the attack could have serious consequences for both Aave and KelpDAO, saying, “It’s not worth risking both Aave and KelpDAO because of this hack.” He also alluded to the alleged theft of approximately $300 million in assets, adding, “You can’t spend $300 million anyway,” sending an indirect message to the attacker.

Related News A Bullish Signal Seen in XRP for the First Time in Three Months

Sun’s move has brought back into focus the “white-hat consensus” method seen in previous major DeFi attacks. As you may recall, the exploit on KelpDAO’s rsETH bridge resulted in billions of dollars worth of ETH being withdrawn from Aave, creating significant liquidity pressure on the protocol.

*This is not investment advice.

April 19, 2026
Satellite images reveal Israel expanding Gaza military sites

Images show Israel building permanent military bases in Gaza as US-backed reconstruction plans stall.

The United States has proposed plans to rebuild Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that was flattened by two years of Israeli bombardment. It has been touted as the centrepiece of a US-Israeli vision for a post-war Gaza, but satellite images suggest the project has stalled before even breaking ground.

An Al Jazeera Digital Investigations Unit examination of Planet Labs and Sentinel Hub satellite imagery revealed that Israeli military fortifications are expanding at a relentless pace across Gaza, particularly in Rafah.

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Analysis of imagery from February 25 to March 15 confirmed that while rubble removal has essentially ceased in Beit Hanoon in the north and Rafah, Israeli forces are systematically entrenching a permanent military reality across the devastated enclave.

While civilian reconstruction has slowed, Israeli military construction has accelerated. Satellite imagery from March 10 shows extensive clearing and fortification at the strategic al-Muntar hilltop in Shujayea, a neighbourhood in Gaza City, and outposts in Khan Younis in Gaza’s south.

In central Gaza, Sentinel imagery from March 15 revealed ongoing work on a trench and dirt berm reaching as far as the Maghazi camp near Deir el-Balah. In Juhor ad-Dik, new roads now link established military sites to newly levelled areas, suggesting the creation of permanent outposts.

These findings align with a late 2025 investigation by Forensic Architecture that identified 48 Israeli military sites within Gaza – 13 of which were built after an October “ceasefire”. These sites have evolved into permanent bases with paved roads, watchtowers and constant communication links to Israel’s domestic military network.

Satellite images captured from February 20 to March 10, 2026, reveal significant engineering and expansion work at an Israeli military outpost in eastern Gaza City [Planet Labs]

The ‘New Rafah’ illusion

At the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos in January, Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, showcased AI-generated visions of a “New Rafah” featuring skyscrapers and luxury resorts. Trump further promoted this “Middle East Riviera” through a 20-point plan, promising $10bn in funding via the Board of Peace, which he has established as a potential rival of the United Nations.

However, the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has warned that the “New Rafah” plan is a mechanism for demographic re-engineering and forced displacement.

The plan involves dividing Gaza into population blocks and closed military zones. Palestinians would be confined to “cities” of residential caravans, each packing roughly 25,000 people into a single square kilometre (0.4sq miles). These “cities” are to be surrounded by fences and checkpoints, and access to essential services would be contingent upon passing Israeli-US security screenings – a model Euro-Med likened to ghettos.

Satellite images of an Israeli military site in Khan Younis show continuous development, paving and construction of fortifications in March 2026 [File: Planet Labs]

A new, permanent border

Gaza’s “yellow line” “ceasefire” boundary is being transformed into a permanent frontier. In Beit Lahiya in the north, satellite images from March 4 show the construction of a dirt berm along the “yellow line” and another running parallel to it and constructed more than 580 metres (634 yards) into what the “ceasefire” designates as land where Palestinians are supposed to live – a significant encroachment beyond the designated line.

In December, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir defined the line as a “new border”. Defence Minister Israel Katz later declared Israel would “never leave Gaza”, promising to establish military-agricultural settlements.

Al Jazeera’s investigation further documented that Israel has secretly moved concrete boundary markers hundreds of metres deeper into areas designated for Palestinians.

Traces of Israeli military vehicles operating beyond a dirt berm on the ‘yellow line’ in northern Gaza are seen on March 10, 2026, in clear violation of ‘ceasefire’ demarcations [File: Sentinel Hub]

A bloody ‘ceasefire’

Despite the October “ceasefire”, violence persists. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported 750 deaths and more than 2,090 injuries since the “ceasefire” began, bringing the total death toll since the October 2023 start of Israel’s genocidal war to more than 72,300. An independent study in The Lancet medical journal suggested the actual death toll could be significantly higher. It estimated more than 75,000 deaths from “direct violence” by early 2025 alone.

An Al Jazeera analysis found that Israel has launched attacks on 160 out of the 182 days of the “ceasefire”. These attacks often involve incursions aimed at levelling areas designated for Palestinian habitation.

Efforts to document these developments are facing unprecedented hurdles. This month, Planet Labs announced an “indefinite” ban on images from conflict zones after a US government request. Other providers, like Vantor, have imposed similar restrictions, severely limiting the ability of media and human rights groups to monitor the situation in Gaza.

As of this month, humanitarian assessments by aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, have given the Trump reconstruction plan a failing grade, saying it has failed to “demonstrate a clear impact on conditions inside Gaza”.

(Al Jazeera)

April 19, 2026
Tesla is rolling out its Robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston

Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi footprint across Texas by introducing availability in both Dallas and Houston. As announced in a post on X, the EV maker is rolling out its Robotaxis to small sections of the Texas cities, as detailed by two maps of its new service areas.

The first Robotaxi rides started in Austin, Texas where Tesla is headquartered, but the service’s launch was paired with a “Tesla Safety Monitor,” or a supervising human in the passenger seat. Earlier this year, Tesla began to transition away from including safety monitors, leaving its Robotaxis to operate unsupervised and fully autonomous. In the latest announcement on X, Tesla also showed off a 360-degree panning shot with no safety monitor, but the company hasn’t stated if its Dallas and Houston service will have in-car human supervision. It’s worth nothing that Tesla previously admitted that some of its Robotaxis are sometimes driven remotely by human operators.

With the Robotaxi expansion into Dallas and Houston, Tesla is encroaching on Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing service that entered the same markets in February of this year. Looking ahead, Tesla is also targeting the Bay Area market in California for its Robotaxi expansion. While the company has received approvals to operate a ride-hailing service in California, it still doesn’t have authorization for autonomous taxis in the state yet.

April 19, 2026
Elizabeth Warren Accuses SEC Chair Paul Atkins of Potentially Lying to Congress
In brief

Elizabeth Warren accused Paul Atkins of potentially misleading Congress about the SEC’s falling enforcement activity.

New data showed the SEC brought far fewer cases under the Trump administration than historical averages.

Warren says the decline raises concerns about investor protection and political favoritism.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the highest-ranking Democrat on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, formally accused the head of the SEC this week of potentially lying to Congress—an illegal act punishable with imprisonment.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Warren told SEC Chair Paul Atkins she believes the regulator may have intentionally misled the Banking Committee during a February 12 hearing, when Atkins was pressed about the SEC’s plummeting number of new enforcement actions under the second Trump administration.

Atkins responded to Warren’s question at the time by saying he disagreed “with the premise” of her inquiry. When Warren followed up on the matter at a later point in the hearing, Atkins said he wasn’t sure what data the senator was referencing.

Last week, however, the SEC released its enforcement data for 2025, which showed the regulator only brought 456 new enforcement actions last year—200 of which were filed by the outgoing Biden administration. The 256 cases brought by the Trump SEC pale in comparison to the 765 enforcement actions brought on average by the SEC every year over the last decade.

“The data showing a sharp decline in enforcement actions under your watch, significant reduction in staff and the sudden leadership changes all raise serious questions about the Commission’s willingness and capacity to protect investors and the markets,” Warren said.

The SEC declined comment when reached by Decrypt.

The crime of making a materially false statement to a congressional committee is punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison. Such a charge would need to be brought by the Department of Justice, however, and it is very unlikely the Trump DOJ would pursue such a case against a member of the Trump administration.

Should Democrats retake Congress in November’s midterms, however, Warren could end up well-positioned to make Atkins’ life much more difficult in the medium-term. The crypto-skeptical lawmaker is likely to become the next chair of the Banking Committee should Democrats win back the Senate, an outcome currently standing at 55% odds on Polymarket.

The SEC’s enforcement statistics are currently a hot-button issue for Democrats, given how they play into a larger narrative about the Trump administration’s appetite to pursue potential bad actors in financial markets—even those who may have ties to the president’s family and inner circle.

The SEC under Trump has proudly touted its decrease in enforcement actions, tying the trend to a de-emphasis on crypto cases. Atkins has repeatedly argued the Biden-era SEC overzealously pursued cases against companies in the novel sector, a trend he has aggressively reversed.

But the SEC’s enforcement rates have also dwindled across other sectors, including the traditional securities market. Further, the regulator has come under scrutiny for its treatment of entrepreneurs in the Trump family’s orbit. In Wednesday’s letter, Warren referenced a Reuters report detailing how the SEC’s head of enforcement resigned last month in part due to frustrations over the agency’s handling of fraud cases touching on President Trump’s inner circle.

Atkins personally resisted pushes to pursue such cases, according to the report.

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April 19, 2026