QCP Capital and Further Ventures Announce Partnership for Middle East Crypto Expansion Both companies plan to develop new institutional digital offerings, while QCP is set to open an Abu Dhabi shop.

Kraken Releases Own Crypto Wallet, Joining Competition With Coinbase, MetaMask According to a blog post shared with CoinDesk, the new Kraken Wallet will be the first from a major exchange to be open-sourced.

Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s Crypto Project, Is Building a Layer-2 Chain The human-focused blockchain network will be based on the OP Stack, a framework for building Ethereum-based layer-2 chains.

Zignaly Announces Cosmos-Based ZIGChain, $100M Ecosystem Fund ZIGChain’s ecosystem fund is backed by DWF Labs.

Bitcoin Tumbles Below $60K, Ether Under $3K; Correction Not Over, Says Strategist Large bitcoin investors haven’t started to buy the dip yet, suggesting that the correction may continue for a while, an LMAX Group strategist noted.

Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs Likely Not Available for Mainland Chinese Investors: Bloomberg Investors in mainland China won’t likely be allowed to buy into the newly approved Hong Kong-listed spot bitcoin ETFs, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence reported, weakening excitement over the funds even further.

Bitcoin Miners Are Set for a Coiled Spring Rally Miners face uncertain times as the halving changes Bitcoin’s economics. Which groups are best positioned for the future? Dan Weiskopf, at Tidal Financial Group, gives a run-down.

Time to Take the Reins on Tokenization, or Risk Missing Out Tokenization can revolutionize the way transactions are processed. But, for institutions, the highest potential lies in the digital assets themselves, says Nadine Chakar, Global Head of Digital Assets at DTCC.

Why Bitcoin’s ‘Monetary Maximalists’ Oppose ‘JPEG Enjoyers’ (and Why They’re Wrong)

DeFi Firm Usual Labs Raises $7M Round Led by Kraken Ventures and IOSG Ventures The firm has received a commitment of $75 million in total value locked for the launch of its stablecoin USD0.

Tokenized Credit Platform Centrifuge Plans Institutional RWA Lending on Coinbase’s Base, Raises $15M in VC Investment CFG, the protocol’s native token, spiked as much as 14% after the announcement before paring gains and outperformed other DeFi tokens.

Bitcoin’s Outperformance Means Some of Expected Post-Halving Rally May Have Come Early: JPMorgan Recent weakness in bitcoin mining stocks ahead of the reward halving offers an attractive entry point for investors, the report said.

First Mover Americas: BTC Post-Halving – Remember the Macroeconomy: Goldman Sachs The latest price moves in bitcoin (BTC) and crypto markets in context for April 17, 2024. First Mover is CoinDesk’s daily newsletter that contextualizes the latest actions in the crypto markets.

UK Lawmakers Call for Govt to Develop Crypto, Blockchain Skills Pipeline Member of Parliament Lisa Cameron called for the government to ensure that all stages of education and the workplace develop digital skills.

Buy Bitcoin Miners Ahead of the Halving, Bernstein Says Bitcoin’s bullish trajectory is expected to resume after the halving once mining hashrates have adjusted to the lower rewards and ETF inflows resume, the report said.

P2 Ventures Commits $50M Via Hadron FC to Startup Founders in Polygon Ecosystem P2 was spun out out of Polygon Labs last year and now is allocating funds and mentorship to support project founders, including those focused on the Polygon blockchain ecosystem. A Hadron FC contributor said the community offered the right “capital and vibes.”

Ether Options Show Bias for Weakness Over 3 Months Ether’s 90-day puts trade more expensive than calls on Deribit for the first time since January, according to Amberdata.

Goldman Cautions Against Extrapolating Previous Bitcoin Halving Cycles for Price Predictions Bitcoin’s fourth mining reward halving is just two days away.

U.S. Senators Lummis, Gillibrand Take on Stablecoin Legislation With New Bill U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) are taking another swing at crypto-specific legislation, with a narrowly tailored bill seeking to define how stablecoins – cryptocurrencies that maintain a value with some other asset, like the U.S. dollar – will operate in the U.S.

The Solution for Stablecoin Regulation