
Good afternoon,
Bitcoin is slipping toward $75,000 as markets react to Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh’s hearing and stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations. Meanwhile, the Kelp DAO exploiter has begun moving stolen funds across chains following an ETH freeze on Arbitrum, DoorDash is bringing stablecoin payments at scale through a Stripe-backed blockchain initiative, and South Korea’s central bank has signaled plans to push forward with CBDCs and deposit tokens.
More news below! 👇


If you work in fintech or finance, you already have too many tabs open and not enough time.
Fintech Takes is the free newsletter senior leaders actually read. Each week, I break down the trends, deals, and regulatory moves shaping the industry — and explain why they matter — in plain English.
No filler, no PR spin, and no “insights” you already saw on LinkedIn eight times this week. Just clear analysis and the occasional bad joke to make it go down easier.
Get context you can actually use. Subscribe free and see what’s coming before everyone else.
News Roundup
Artificial Intelligence
Nearly Half of New Streaming Music Is AI-Generated, Says Deezer—But Nobody’s Listening (Decrypt)
AI-Powered Tools Bring Real-Time Analysis to Onchain Perpetuals Trading (Cointelegraph)
Palantir Faces Backlash Over AI-Driven Military Doctrine (Decrypt)
OpenAI Releases Codex ‘Chronicle’ Feature for Enhancing Context (9to5Mac)
Alibaba Drops Qwen 3.6 Max Preview—Its Most Powerful Model Yet (Decrypt)
Playdate Gaming Handheld Maker Bans Generative AI Tools for Development (Decrypt)
This Frankenstein AI Merges Claude Opus, GLM and Qwen—And Outperforms Top Models (Decrypt)
Decentralized, Centralized, & Traditional Finance
DeFi Losses Top $600 Million in Weeks as Kelp DAO Exploit Drags TVL to One-Year Low (The Block)
Amazon Will Invest Up to $25 Billion More in Anthropic as AI Demand Surges (Decrypt)
DeFi Protocols Launch Joint Escape Hatch for Aave ETH Lenders and Loopers (The Defiant)
Lido Faces $21.6M rsETH Exposure, Considers $3M Loss Buffer After Exploit (Lido Finance)
Jeff Bezos Nears $10 Billion Funding for AI Lab, FT Says (Bloomberg)
RedotPay Integrates SUI and USDC-Sui to Power Stablecoin Payments Across 100+ Countries (Blockonomi)
Arbitrum Freezes 30,766 ETH Linked to KelpDAO Exploit in Emergency Action (The Block)
Justin Sun-Linked Wallet Withdraws $274M USDT from AAVE After Freeze (Crypto Briefing)
SpaceX to Woo Wall Street With Three-Day Analyst Meet this Week (Reuters)
Bank of Korea's New Chief Vows to Push CBDC, Deposit Tokens; Leaves Out Stablecoins (The Block)
European Banks Tap Fireblocks for MiCA-Compliant Euro Stablecoin (Cointelegraph)
Kelp DAO Exploiter Begins Moving Stolen Funds Across Chains After Arbitrum ETH Freeze (The Block)
UK Sets Out Plan to Integrate Payments Rules Covering Stablecoins and Tokenized Deposits (The Block)
DoorDash is Bringing Stablecoin Payments to Masses with Stripe-Backed Blockchain (CoinDesk)
Block’s Cash App Launches Accounts for Young Kids—Without Bitcoin Access (Decrypt)
Pompliano's ProCap Financial Partners With Kalshi to Incorporate Prediction Market Data in Research (The Block)
SparkLend Attracts $1.4B in Inflows as Aave Sees Capital Flight After rsETH Incident (Blockworks Research)
Exchanges
Philippines SEC Flags dYdX, Six Crypto Platforms as Unauthorized (Cointelegraph)
Binance and Upbit Set to List CHIP as Synthetic Dollar Protocol Gains Exposure (Binance)
Coinbase Suspends Multiple Perpetual Futures to Streamline Derivatives Offering (Coinbase Markets)
Traders ‘Disappointed’ With Crypto Exchanges’ Messy Customer Benefits Disclosures (DL News)
New York Attorney General Sues Coinbase, Gemini for 'Illegal Gambling' on Prediction Market Platforms (The Block)
Exchange-Traded Funds
Grayscale's Amended Hyperliquid ETF Filing Drops Coinbase as Custodian, Names Anchorage (The Block)
Morgan Stanley’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Tops $139M in Assets Within Nine Days (Bitcoin Magazine)
On Apr. 20, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $238.37 million in net inflows.
U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs recorded $67.77 million in net inflows on Apr. 20.
U.S. XRP spot ETFs posted $3 million in net inflows on Apr. 20.
U.S Solana spot ETFs logged $3.28 million in net inflows on Apr. 20.
Oil, ETFs, and the TradFi Perp Land Grab (CoinDesk)
Infrastructure
Sonic’s Road to Quantum Resistance (Sonic Labs)
Optimism Bills 'Privacy Boost' as Turning Point for Enterprises on Ethereum (Decrypt)
Markets
RaveDAO Token Crashes, Sheds $6.6 Billion in Value as Exchanges Probe Alleged Manipulation (Decrypt)
Prediction Markets Expect Prolonged Strait of Hormuz Disruption—And Oil Traders Are Betting Big (Decrypt)
Bitcoin Surges to $76,000 Despite Tension Rising Over Iran Negotiations (DL News)
Bitcoin Slides Toward $75,000 Amid Warsh Hearing, Stalling U.S.-Iran Talks (CoinDesk)
Polymarket Taps Bitget Wallet's Over 90 Million Users with Integration (The Block)
Almost 80% of Japan's Institutional Investors Plan to Buy Crypto Within 3 Years, Survey Finds (CoinDesk)
Circle Tops Crypto Stocks With 30% Gain as Stablecoin Growth Outpaces Coinbase Slump (The Block)
Kalshi Eyes Crypto Expansion with Perpetual Futures Trading (The Block)
Meme Coins
Dogecoin Foundation, MoonPay Team to Donate 1 Million DOGE to Dog Charity (Decrypt)
Mining
Core Scientific Plans $3.3 Billion Debt Offering, With Proceeds to Help Repay Credit Facility Loans (The Block)
Non-Fungible Tokens
Pokémon TCG Marketplaces Near Record as Tokenized Collectibles Show Staying Power (The Block)
Politics & Regulation
Lose Your Job to AI? New York Lawmaker Proposes 'AI Dividend' Stimmy (Decrypt)
Senate Crypto Bill Faces April Setback Amid Growing Pressure to Get Legislation Through (The Block)
Fed Chair Nominee Pressed on Potential Conflicts of Interest, Independence (Cointelegraph)
Group of 39 Firms Urge EU to Fast-Track DLT Rules, Warn of Lagging the US (Cointelegraph)
Iran Fires on Ship That Fell Victim to Crypto Scammers (DL News)
Bipartisan PACE Act Looks to Open Fed Payment Rails to Nonbanks, Draws Crypto Support (The Block)
Other News
Inside the ‘Fake Police Raid’ That Forced a $1M Bitcoin Transfer (Cointelegraph)
Fake Delivery Driver Targets French Crypto Worker in Armed Home Invasion (Cointelegraph)
Scammers Demand Crypto 'Clearance' Fees From Ships Near Strait of Hormuz (The Block)
Grandson of Mob Boss John Gotti Sentenced for Funneling Stolen COVID Funds Into Crypto (Decrypt)
Securitize Names Former IMF Representative to Board (The Block)
Check This Out!
DeFi hacks continue to rise, with over 500 incidents and more than $17B stolen since 2016, as losses have accelerated in recent years. Security remains the sector’s biggest risk.

Source: DeFi Llama
Meme of the Day

Source: Bold Leonidas
Rate Today’s Edition
What do you think of today's edition?
Share this newsletter, claim your reward! 🎁
Participate in the On & Off Chain referral program by sharing the newsletter with your friends to claim your reward:
✌️2 referrals: A personal shoutout in On & Off Chain
Must be subscribed

