accelerate

After the US stock market opened, the cryptocurrency market accelerated its decline, with Bitcoin falling below $61,000 and Ethereum briefly dropping below $1,600. According to Coinglass data, nearly $160 million was liquidated across the network in the last hour, with long positions accounting for $156 million, and nearly $1.238 billion liquidated across the network in the last 24 hours. A total of 260,647 people were liquidated globally, with the largest single liquidation occurring on Binance - BTCUSDT, valued at $13.3164 million.

According to CoinDesk, Deribit Chief Commercial Officer Jean-David Péquignot stated that $60,000 is a key structural threshold for Bitcoin. Over the past year, a large amount of institutional funds (including ETF buyers, large holders, and short-term speculators) have bought Bitcoin in the $60,000 to $67,000 range. If the price continues to decline, unrealized losses will increase, and holding costs will rise, especially against the backdrop of rising AI stocks, which may prompt panic selling among investors. The open interest of put options with a strike price of $60,000 on Deribit has a notional value of over $1.2 billion.As Bitcoin approaches $60,000, market makers face Gamma risk from shorting put options and will be forced to sell spot or futures to balance their books, accelerating the decline. In addition, there is still excessive leveraged long positions in the system, and a drop below $60,000 could trigger more liquidations, creating a chain reaction.

Gate announced a strategic partnership with Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure services, to soon launch stock and ETF trading services for Gate users, bridging the investment channel between digital assets and traditional financial markets. Leveraging Gate's global digital asset ecosystem and Alpaca's brokerage infrastructure and market access capabilities, both parties will work together to create a more convenient and efficient multi-asset investment experience. Through this collaboration, Gate will introduce stock trading services, providing users with trading opportunities for over 10,000 stocks and ETFs covering major U.S. securities markets, including assets listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. At the same time, the platform will support fractional share trading starting from as low as $1, offering users a more diversified global asset allocation choice.Gate founder and CEO Dr. Han stated that the financial system is evolving towards greater integration and connectivity. As the connection between digital assets and traditional financial markets continues to strengthen, the demand for efficient access to diverse investment opportunities is growing. By collaborating with Alpaca, Gate will provide users seamless access to real stock market investments while maintaining the convenience and efficiency of the digital asset platform. We believe that multi-asset investment access will become an important component of the next generation of global financial services. In the future, Gate will continue to explore new models connecting digital assets and traditional finance with Alpaca, enhancing global market access capabilities and jointly promoting the development of a more open, efficient, and interconnected multi-asset investment ecosystem.

Analyst Alicharts stated that if Ethereum's weekly closing price falls below $1850, a downward acceleration will become very likely. Through technical analysis, Alicharts believes that Ethereum's downward support levels will appear at the following targets:• First target: approximately $1560 (mid-term structural support);• Second target: close to $1070, marking the lower boundary of a multi-year range.

The tokenized U.S. Treasury fund VBILL under VanEck has officially launched on the DeFi lending protocol Euler. The fund is issued and tokenized by Securitize, allowing investors to use tokenized U.S. Treasuries as collateral for on-chain lending and liquidity operations, while also meeting compliance requirements. This move reflects that DeFi protocols are accelerating their transformation towards institutionalization and compliance to attract traditional financial capital into the on-chain market.Data shows that the scale of tokenized U.S. Treasuries has surpassed $15 billion, growing approximately 150% over the past year. Traditional asset management giants such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Janus Henderson have all launched on-chain Treasury or money market products. Euler has previously integrated Securitize's DS Protocol to support the access of tokenized securities with investor qualification restrictions and transfer rules to the lending market. DeFi protocols like Aave are also laying out institutional-level RWA business. Institutions expect that the asset tokenization market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. Securitize executives stated that as traditional financial institutions enter the crypto space, DeFi protocols must find a balance between openness and compliance requirements.

Cryptocurrency analyst Axel Adler Jr. stated that the inflow of BTC to trading platforms and the outflow of stablecoins from trading platforms simultaneously release a "risk aversion" signal, indicating that selling pressure in the market is increasing. Data shows that the net inflow of BTC to trading platforms over the past 30 days has shifted from an extreme net outflow of 300,000 BTC at the end of March to an inflow of 103,000 BTC, meaning more BTC is being reintroduced to trading platforms in preparation for sale. During the same period, the price of BTC dropped from $80,000 to $73,700.Meanwhile, stablecoins are flowing out of centralized trading platforms at a record pace. The average net flow of stablecoins over the past 30 days has shifted from an inflow of $164 million per day at the end of April to an outflow of $153 million per day. This indicates that the liquidity available for purchasing BTC in the market is decreasing. Axel Adler Jr. pointed out that when BTC flows into exchanges while stablecoins simultaneously flow out of trading platforms, it creates an unfavorable structure of "increased supply and decreased demand," which is a typical risk aversion market condition.He believes that if the net inflow of BTC continues to exceed +100,000 BTC, the market may face a deeper correction; while stable signals would include BTC turning back to a net outflow or stablecoins flowing back into trading platforms.

According to The Information, the U.S. cryptocurrency industry is accelerating its "legalization" strategy in Washington, with several cryptocurrency companies, industry associations, and lobbying organizations establishing a closer coordination network to focus on key legislative issues such as stablecoin regulation, cryptocurrency market structure bills, and ETFs.The report states that with the Trump administration's shift to a friendly attitude towards cryptocurrency and increased support within Congress, the industry is trying to seize the window of opportunity to officially integrate cryptocurrency assets into the U.S. mainstream financial system. Some industry insiders even refer to the current phase as a "critical moment for the cryptocurrency industry to enter the core of the U.S. system."The report also notes that leading organizations like Coinbase and a16z crypto are continuously expanding their policy influence in Washington, promoting a shift in the regulatory framework from "suppression" to "regulation and acceptance" through political donations, lobbying teams, and industry alliances.

According to the Securities Times, the National Development and Reform Commission held a press conference today. At the meeting, Li Chao, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that the commission is planning to introduce supporting documents to accelerate the implementation of artificial intelligence and further strengthen resource guarantees.At the same time, we will continue to promote central state-owned enterprises to open high-value application scenarios, creating benchmark applications for artificial intelligence across various industries, fields, and regions, and accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence into all aspects and links of business management.

As cryptocurrency trading platforms gradually extend from trading single digital assets to traditional asset trading scenarios such as stocks, gold, foreign exchange, and indices, platform competition is shifting from "asset coverage" to "trading entry points, operational paths, and execution efficiency." Whether users can discover opportunities faster, enter the market, and complete transactions is becoming an important measure of the product experience on exchanges.Recently, Bitget announced the launch of the 10-second gold buying challenge, inviting users to record the entire process from opening the Bitget App homepage to completing a XAUUSD gold CFD transaction, with a chance to win rewards if completed in less than 10 seconds. The activity showcases the changes in mobile TradFi trading paths through actual user operations, reflecting that cryptocurrency exchanges are attempting to further streamline and simplify the trading experience of traditional financial assets.According to Bitget, the platform has previously brought TradFi to the first-level entry of the App homepage, covering traditional asset trading scenarios such as gold, stocks, foreign exchange, and indices. Compared to the past, where traditional asset trading typically required completion on independent platforms or through multiple entry points, Bitget aims to allow users to engage with various asset types more directly within the same platform through a unified entry point and optimized mobile processes.

According to Cointelegraph, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden stated that tokenization can reduce settlement costs, speed up processes, and promote competition, provided that trust and interoperability are ensured. Breeden emphasized that even in the context of private sector innovations such as tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins, central bank money will remain the cornerstone of the monetary system. She mentioned that the Bank of England is working with industry, government, and regulators to build a framework that supports innovation without compromising financial stability.Breeden stated that, in addition to traditional bank deposits, people should also be able to make payments using tokenized deposits, regulated stablecoins, and retail central bank digital currencies, and that increased competition in technologies and business models will lower user costs and improve functionality. The Bank of England also proposed on Monday to extend the operating hours of its core settlement infrastructure to nearly 7x24 hours to support cross-border payments and securities settlement.

According to Gate Ventures' latest weekly report, global markets were significantly pressured last week due to inflation data and rising energy prices. The S&P 500 index initially broke through 7,500 points for the first time, but subsequently fell back as both CPI and PPI data exceeded expectations, leading the market to begin pricing in potential interest rate hike risks. Against this backdrop, the cryptocurrency market also weakened, with BTC dropping 8.1% last week and ETH falling 10.2%. The spot BTC ETF recorded a net outflow of $1 billion, and market sentiment returned to the "panic" range.At the industry level, institutional investments in stablecoins and on-chain financial infrastructure are accelerating. JPMorgan is advancing a tokenized money market fund aimed at stablecoin issuers; DTCC will use Chainlink to build an all-weather collateral management network; Hana Bank has acquired a stake in Upbit operator Dunamu for $670 million, further reflecting that traditional financial institutions are accelerating their entry into the cryptocurrency infrastructure sector.In terms of investment and financing, a total of 14 financing deals were completed last week, with a total scale of $1.113 billion, of which financing in the infrastructure sector exceeded $1 billion, dominating the market. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic completed a $120 million financing round, with Deutsche Bank and Nasdaq participating; Bitcoin custody platform Onramp also completed a $12.5 million Series A financing, continuing to expand its institutional-grade custody infrastructure. Overall, in the context of rising macro uncertainty, market funds continue to concentrate on compliance, custody, and institutional-grade services.

According to Cointelegraph, the CEO of SharpLink stated that if the CLARITY Act is passed, market risk appetite rebounds, and the tokenization process accelerates, ETH may rise.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated in his latest blog post that the Bitcoin bull market truly began with the outbreak of war between the U.S. and Iran on February 28. AI capital expenditures, war spending, and countries' investments in physical infrastructure to ensure supply chain security will drive the reckless expansion of fiat credit, and Bitcoin will continue to benefit.Hayes pointed out that Bitcoin has rebounded from a low of $60,000 earlier this year, reiterating that breaking through the previous high of $126,000 is "inevitable." Hayes believes that the scale of this round of AI capital expenditures is unprecedented, with central banks like the Federal Reserve printing more money. The declining trust in dollar assets will shift towards investments in physical infrastructure and commodity reserves, further driving fiat expansion.He expects that once Bitcoin breaks through $90,000, the momentum will accelerate, and he will raise the risk exposure of Maelstrom's portfolio to the maximum. Besides Hyperliquid and Zcash, Hayes' next most favored altcoin is NEAR, which he will explain in subsequent articles regarding how its privacy narrative and Intent architecture create positive cash flow for the protocol. He concluded by stating that while it is currently a bull market, there will eventually be a time to sell, but that time is not now.

According to informed sources, Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency platform Kraken, is conducting a new round of capital financing at a valuation of $20 billion, to which Kraken declined to comment.The company has recently significantly increased its merger and acquisition spending—acquiring the stablecoin-focused payment company Reap for $600 million and the digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for $550 million, both transactions conducted at a $20 billion valuation.Its largest transaction was the $1.5 billion acquisition of the U.S. retail futures platform and CFTC-registered futures commission merchant NinjaTrader in 2025, which provided Kraken with a significant foothold in the U.S. derivatives market.Regarding IPO progress, Payward secretly submitted an S-1 registration statement draft to the U.S. SEC on November 19, 2025. Although reports in March 2026 indicated that the company paused its IPO plans due to unfavorable market conditions, sources stated that the company still intends to go public, but may wait for market improvements.At last week's Consensus conference in Miami, Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that the trading platform is "80% ready" for an IPO.Additionally, Deutsche Börse (DB1) purchased approximately 1.5% of Payward's shares for $200 million through a secondary share sale in April 2026, valuing Payward at $13.3 billion (lower than the previous financing round's valuation of about $20 billion).In November 2025, Kraken completed an $800 million financing in two tranches to push traditional financial products onto the blockchain, with investors including Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital. Subsequently, Citadel Securities also made a strategic investment of $200 million at a $20 billion valuation.