Decentral Block Post

Key points:

Bitcoin is witnessing a tussle between buy and sell volume as BTC/USD hits its highest levels since the start of March.

BTC price action is making traders increasingly wary due to the pace of recent gains.

$100,000 is likely to remain out of reach for the short term, multiple commentators say.

Bitcoin (BTC) headed into key resistance after the April 25 Wall Street open as doubts over the BTC price breakout persisted.

An official of the Swiss National Bank dismissed calls for the institution to add Bitcoin to its reserves as a hedge against the ongoing macroeconomic turmoil.

According to an April 25 Reuters report, Swiss National Bank Chairman Martin Schlegel said that “cryptocurrency cannot currently fulfil the requirements for our currency reserves” during a shareholder meeting in Bern earlier today. The comments come amid mounting pressure from the local crypto industry to add Bitcoin (BTC) to the central bank’s reserves.

Campaigner Luzius Meisser, a board member of cryptocurrency broker Bitcoin Suisse, told Reuters that “holding bitcoin makes more sense as the world shifts towards a multipolar order.” He claimed that the need is even more dire now that “the dollar and the euro are weakening.”

This is not the first time Schlegel has pushed back against the idea. Reports from early March quoted Schlegel saying that he doesn’t want to make Bitcoin a reserve asset in Switzerland, citing a lack of stability, liquidity concerns and security risks.

Related: Swiss canton of Bern votes to study Bitcoin mining feasibility

Decentralized AI startup Nous Research has raised $50 million in a Series A round led by crypto venture giant Paradigm, marking one of the largest investments at the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence to date.

According to an April 25 report from Fortune, the funding round values Nous at a $1 billion token valuation. Previous investors include Distributed Global, North Island Ventures, and Delphi Digital, who contributed to Nous’s earlier $20 million seed rounds.

Operating since 2022, Nous Research is stepping into the spotlight with the latest fundraising to develop open-source AI models powered by decentralized infrastructure.

The company leverages the Solana blockchain to coordinate and incentivize global participation in training its AI models, aiming to challenge centralized giants like OpenAI and DeepSeek.

Related: Angels from Citadel, Jane Street, JPMorgan back $20M raise for Theo network

The crypto industry is bracing for a significant shift in regulatory tone following Paul Atkins’ swearing-in as chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21. A former SEC commissioner with deep roots in deregulatory philosophy, Atkins replaces Gary Gensler, whose combative stance toward crypto defined much of the agency’s recent legacy.

In the latest episode of Byte-Sized Insight with Cointelegraph, key industry figures weigh in on the implications of this leadership change and what it might unlock for innovation, investment and clarity for digital assets.

Crypto’s “golden age” continues

Chris Perkins, president of CoinFund, spoke with host Savannah Fortis and described his excitement regarding the new SEC chair, predicting a reduction in regulatory uncertainty under the new administration. 

“We were under this regulatory reign of terror, you know, under the Biden administration,” said Perkins. “Investors in assets, they’re very comfortable taking market risk... but they’re not comfortable taking reputational risk, and along with that is regulatory risk.”

He pointed out how it was not only investors and companies who were nervous under the last administration, but also developers in the crypto space who had been targeted for their work.

As the Russian government is considering a ban on cash-to-cryptocurrency transactions, some major local crypto exchange platforms have experienced police raids.

Mosca, a crypto-to-cash exchange located in the Moscow International Business Center, was raided on April 23 in connection with fraud by one of its customers, Mosca’s development head Dmitry Titarenko confirmed to Cointelegraph.

“Law enforcement agencies have carried out a standard procedure of checking our customer data,” Titarenko told Cointelegraph at the local crypto event Blockchain Forum 2025.

The Mosca office raid followed online reports linking several arrests of some Mosca customers to a crypto robbery involving a victim reportedly giving fraudsters a massive cash deposit worth millions of dollars.

Cash-to-crypto ban to protect investors?

The police raid on Mosca came the next day after Evgeny Masharov, a member of the Russian Civic Chamber, proposed banning crypto exchangers from accepting cash from their customers to buy cryptocurrencies like Tether USDt (USDT).

Bitcoin adoption among United States financial institutions could see a major boost after the US Federal Reserve withdrew its guidance discouraging banks from engaging with cryptocurrency.

On April 24, the Fed withdrew its 2022 supervisory letter that served as guidance to deter banks from engaging in crypto and stablecoin activities. The withdrawal spurred a notable uplift in Bitcoin (BTC) investor sentiment.

The 2022 guidance initially warned that crypto may pose risks to investors and the stability of the US financial system.

The Fed’s move means that “banks are now free to begin supporting Bitcoin,” said Michael Saylor, co-founder of the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holding firm, Strategy, in an April 25 X post.

The Fed’s decision “is a significant development, as it will simplify the path to institutional adoption,” according to Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of blockchain regulatory firm Fideum.

US President Donald Trump’s memecoin team denied social media rumors that holders of the Official Trump (TRUMP) token need at least $300,000 to participate in an upcoming dinner with the president. 

On April 25, the official X account of the Trump memecoin clarified that there is no $300,000 requirement to join the memecoin project’s dinner event featuring the US president.

The rumor stemmed from community members citing the Solana blockchain explorer showing holders on the token’s contract address. At the time of writing, the explorer shows that the 220th-largest holder has 33,114 TRUMP, worth more than $400,000. However, the memecoin team said the explorer doesn’t reflect their criteria. 

“People have been incorrectly quoting #220 on the block explorer as the cutoff. That’s wrong because it includes things like locked tokens, exchanges, market makers, and those who are not participating. Instead, you should only be going off the leaderboard,” they wrote. 

Related: SEC task force met with Trump-supporting firms to discuss crypto regulation

An executive at major stablecoin issuer Circle denied reports that the company is looking to obtain a US federal bank charter.

In an April 25 X post, Circle’s chief strategy officer and head of global policy, Dante Disparte, denied that the company is interested in obtaining a US federal bank charter or acquiring an insured depository institution.

Instead, he said that Circle intends to comply with future US regulatory requirements for payment stablecoins, “which may require registering for a federal or state trust charter or other nonbank license.” He also urged lawmakers to reach regulatory clarity for stablecoins sooner rather than later.

The statement followed recent reports that major cryptocurrency firms, including stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto custodian BitGo, were considering applying for bank charters or licenses. Other firms cited as seeking such licenses included publicly traded US-based crypto exchange Coinbase and stablecoin issuer Paxos.

Related: Circle’s EURC grows as trade war pushes euro higher — Analyst

Central banks, particularly China, may start to shift away from US Treasurys, exploring alternatives such as gold and Bitcoin, according to Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s head of thematics and active ETFs.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Jacobs said that geopolitical tensions and rising global uncertainty are accelerating diversification strategies among central banks.

He pointed to a long-term trend where countries have been reducing their reliance on dollar-based reserves in favor of assets like gold and, increasingly, Bitcoin (BTC).

“This whole diversification away from traditional assets and into things like gold and also crypto [...] probably began three, four years ago,” Jacobs explained.

He said that recent geopolitical fragmentation has intensified the push toward alternative stores of value.

Key takeaways: 

SUI is up 23% in the past 24 hours and 73% weekly, outperforming top-cap cryptocurrencies.

The launch of the Grayscale SUI Trust and the xPortal/xMoney Mastercard partnership boosted investor confidence.

SUI’s TVL is up 40%, and daily DEX volumes surge by 177%, signaling strong ecosystem trust and utility.

Sui (SUI) price was up 23% in one day, to trade at $3.67 on April 25. This is part of a prevailing rebound that began on April 21 and has seen Sui rise more than 73% over the last seven days.

The emerging blockchain industry lags behind the artificial intelligence sector in terms of job creation, but this hiring gap may narrow by 2030.

Blockchain remains one of the smallest sectors in the tech industry, with about 300,000 global jobs, compared to 1.5 million in AI and machine learning and 25 million in software development, according to a new Bitget Research report shared with Cointelegraph.

The blockchain sector added around 20,000 new jobs in 2024, according to job listings aggregated from platforms like LinkedIn, Web3 Jobs and Crypto Job List.

While blockchain-based jobs had an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45%, outpacing most traditional tech sectors, it trails the AI industry’s 57% CAGR, according to the report.

The AI industry’s maturity and larger share of venture capital investment are the main reasons behind the hiring discrepancy, Vugar Usi Zade, chief operating officer of Bitget exchange, told Cointelegraph:

Key Takeaways:

BTC liquidation levels, onchain data and chart setups converge at the $100K target.

Profitability has surged, suggesting a rebound in market confidence.

BTC breakout patterns point to $100K as a short-squeeze and euphoria magnet.

Bitcoin (BTC) is flashing multiple technical and onchain signals suggesting that a rally to $100,000 is possible by May. Here are five charts making the case for a near-term breakout.

The tide of capital once destined for raw spot Bitcoin has begun to flow through institutional canals, spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), structured products and wrapped exposure, and while the water is rising fast, the waves aren’t quite the same. 

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, pointed out on X that there is a large movement in leveraged long ETFs and, at the same time, safer bets like gold and cash. Suppose one had to choose if Bitcoin (BTC) was a risk-on or risk-off asset. In that case, it may come down to how investors interpret its narrative, whether they see it as digital gold or another speculative vehicle.

Bitcoin’s ETF ecosystem has entered a new phase of capital absorption. On April 23, 2025, daily inflows surpassed $912 million, setting a record for the year. This seemingly marked a dramatic return to bullish sentiment just weeks after prolonged outflows.

But this surge is not just a simple return to form. What is taking shape is a strategic redistribution of investor positioning, one with structural implications that could temper the speculative heat familiar from past crypto bull cycles.

Bitcoin, in 2025, is no longer a monolithic asset. It is a spectrum of exposure. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was declared the “best new ETF product” by etf.com. From IBIT to derivatives, trusts and leveraged vehicles, the market is now defined by access mechanisms just as much as by price. That access may be soaking up energy that once fueled altcoin seasons, meme runs and vertical spot rallies.

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron called for a fundamental shift in how decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols manage liquidity, labeling the sector’s ongoing liquidity crisis as “self-inflicted.”

In an exclusive interview, Boiron outlined Polygon’s vision for sustainable DeFi, emphasizing chain-owned liquidity and transparent economic models as the path forward.

Boiron criticized DeFi protocols for fueling a cycle of “mercenary capital” by offering sky-high annual percentage yields (APYs) through token emissions. “It’s just renting liquidity; it’s not real loyalty,” he told Cointelegraph, noting that such strategies lead to fleeting liquidity that vanishes when yields drop or token prices falter. This reliance on short-term hype, he argued, undermines the sector’s stability and deters institutional adoption.

Chasing DeFi stability over hype

To break that cycle, Boiron urged protocols to prioritize fundamentals over flashy returns. “Sustainable DeFi needs models where liquidity sticks around for the right reasons,” he said, pointing to Polygon’s POL token as a blueprint for achieving this.

Polygon’s approach centers on chain-owned liquidity, where protocols build treasuries to directly own liquidity positions rather than relying on external providers. Unlike token emissions, which Boiron said attract liquidity quickly but dilute token value, owned liquidity offers long-term stability and capital efficiency.

Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, to a low-security US federal correctional institution

Bankman-Fried was moved to the low-security Terminal Island federal correctional institution. Previously, he was located at the Victorville medium-security facility, a notoriously violent place, according to prison consultant firm Elizabeth Franklin-Best.

Samuel Goldfaden, a partner at the crypto-centric lawfirm, DLT Law told Cointelegraph that while his previous facility was violent, BankmanFried had been held in a safer part of the facility, adding:

In “good” company

Terminal Island is located in San Pedro, California and houses involved in financial crime. According to Franklin, notable inmates at the facility include ormer stockbroker Anthony Elgindy (wire fraud, racketeering, securities fraud and extortion) and internet music entrepreneur Mouli Cohen (wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion

New York ttorney Aaron Brogan told Cointelegraph that Bankman-Fried’s “non-violent record may well have been incorporated into a risk score” which led him to this low-security facility. His alleged autism, on the other hand, was unlikely to have had an influence despite layers playing it as a card:

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea regained its position as the leading platform for digital collectible trading, even as overall market activity declined.

Data tracker NFTScan shows that OpenSea has held the top spot in NFT marketplace trading volume for the last 30 days. According to the data, OpenSea holds more than 40% of the market’s trading volume, while Blur, its largest competitor, is at 23%. NFT platform Magic Eden has a 7.69% market share, while OKX NFTs have a 5% market share. 

The data tracker also shows that in the last month, almost 70% of the wallets transacting with NFTs engaged with OpenSea. More than 610,000 wallets used OpenSea. In the last three months, OpenSea had over 2.1 million wallets engaging with its platform. 

By comparison, wallets engaging with Magic Eden, Blur and OKX NFT reached a combined market share of 17%, about 103,000 wallets. In the last three months, the platforms had a total of 380,000 wallets trading NFTs on their platforms. 

OpenSea regained NFT dominance amid platform developments

In the last quarter of 2024, OpenSea promoted the launch of its new platform OS2. OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer said they would “reimagine everything,” and that a new version would come in December.  

When Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple had the idea to make the documentary film Vitalik: An Ethereum Story, they were actually filming another documentary, and over the course of their filmmaking journey, they ended up capturing both a deeper, human look at the world of crypto and an end product that serves as a use case for the future of crypto filmmaking.

When crafting a documentary, filmmakers will typically start with a vision of what they’d like to explore, a vision often saddled with a set of assumptions, only to shatter that vision once filming begins, creating an entirely new direction for the project.

It’s a creative evolution that filmmakers Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple also experienced while making the documentary feature This Is Not Financial Advice, during which they realized they had an entirely different film on their hands.

“While we were making that film, we wanted to interview Vitalik Buterin,” Ingrasci said to me during a recent interview. “We got connected to him, but as soon as we met him, we were really inspired by his unique form of tech optimism and how he broke stereotypes we’d had of the crypto space. He was a billionaire but very humble, funny, quirky and truly committed to his values of decentralization. That was very inspiring for us — so much so, we thought we should make a piece about Vitalik or about the Ethereum community at large.”

The planning commission of Vilonia, Arkansas, unanimously rejected a proposal to establish a cryptocurrency mining facility within the city limits, following strong opposition from residents.

According to local reports, the decision came after weeks of community pushback, where citizens voiced concerns over potential noise pollution, increased energy consumption and the overall environmental impact associated with crypto-mining operations.

During public meetings, Vilonia residents expressed concern that the mining operation could disrupt the town’s quiet atmosphere and strain local infrastructure.

Many pointed to examples from other regions where similar facilities led to rising electricity costs and constant noise from mining rigs.

“I just want to ask, like, did we make a mistake moving here? We’re not asking these people to come here. I grew up here. I graduated from Vilonia, and we [are] Arkansas, the natural state, not Arkansas, the Bitcoin state,” one community member told THV11.

More than 19,800 CloneX digital avatars developed by non-fungible token firm RTFKT Studios have reappeared after Cloudflare blacked out the NFTs for apparently violating its terms of service.

“This content has been restricted. Using Cloudflare’s basic service in this manner is a violation of the Terms of Service. Please visit cfl.re/tos to learn more,” the message read on April 24.

RTFKT’s head of tech, Samuel Cardillo, has refuted claims that it missed a payment, attributing the issue to changes happening with RTFKT’s “current Cloudflare setup.”

NFT content creator Wale Swoosh earlier speculated that RTFKT may have subscribed to an inadequate Cloudflare plan for high-traffic image serving. Cloudflare offers a range of web infrastructure services.

Most of the CloneX NFTs have started to reappear, according to Cardillo, who added that Cloudflare has fixed the issue.