Author: James Wilson

Strategy’s CEO has promoted its high-yield STRC stock as a way to cover personal expenses, drawing attention to the risks tied to its dividend structure. Summary Phong Le has promoted STRC as an income source for everyday expenses, citing its 11.5% variable dividend while acknowledging he invested $250,000 personally. Company disclosures from Strategy state dividends are not guaranteed and can be suspended, with no assurance of principal repayment. Le said about 80% of STRC holders are retail investors, identifying them as individuals managing mortgages, utility bills, and other financial obligations. According to comments made by Phong Le on Natalie Brunell’s…

Riot Platforms reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $167.2 million. This compares with $161.4 million in the same quarter last year. Summary Riot generated $167.2 million in Q1 revenue as data center income reached $33.2 million. AMD doubled its contracted Riot data center capacity to 50 megawatts after exercising an option. Riot sold 3,778 BTC in Q1 and later transferred another 500 BTC to NYDIG. The company produced 1,473 Bitcoin during the quarter. That was lower than 1,530 Bitcoin produced in the first quarter of 2025. Riot recorded its first quarter of data center revenue at $33.2 million. The amount included…

Bakkt has completed its acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research, a stablecoin payments infrastructure firm.  Summary Bakkt issued over 11.3 million shares to complete its acquisition of DTR. DTR brings stablecoin payments technology and compliance tools into Bakkt’s institutional platform. Bakkt shares recovered after the deal closed, rising from Wednesday’s earlier decline. The deal brings DTR’s agentic payments technology and compliance tools into Bakkt’s regulated institutional platform. The company said the combined platform will support institutions and fintechs seeking faster digital payments. Bakkt aims to build a 24/7 digital settlement layer using stablecoin technology. Stablecoin settlement becomes core focus Bakkt said…

Dogecoin posted strong gains over the past week, outperforming many top crypto assets.  Summary Dogecoin whale transfers above $100K reached 739 in one day, Santiment data showed. Whale wallets holding at least 100M DOGE now control a record 108.52B tokens. DOGE’s RSI crossed 70 as price neared resistance, raising short-term pullback risks. The token traded near $0.109, with steady daily volume and rising market cap. Short-term momentum has pushed prices higher despite a broader mixed market. On-chain data from Santiment showed a sharp increase in whale transactions. The network recorded 739 transfers above $100,000 in one day. Large holders now…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on April 29 that the United States has seized almost $500 million in Iranian crypto assets under Operation Economic Fury, including a $344 million Tether freeze on two Tron addresses, while saying Iran’s currency has fallen 60 to 70% against the dollar and the country is in the middle of a currency crisis. Summary Bessent said Operation Economic Fury has seized roughly $350 million in crypto assets plus an additional $100 million seized separately, bringing the total close to $500 million as part of a broader campaign targeting Iranian bank accounts, retirement funds, and overseas…

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig confirmed the agency is deploying AI tools to review crypto registration applications and monitor trading data, the first major US financial regulator to use artificial intelligence to compensate for a workforce cut of more than 20% under the Trump administration’s federal staffing reductions. Summary CFTC AI tools will flag incomplete applications, reject blank filings, and send inadequate submissions to the back of the queue without human review, with staff trained on Microsoft Copilot and in-house surveillance tools under development. The CFTC’s Chicago enforcement office has no active lawyers left following a string of departures and retirements,…

XRP Las Vegas 2026 opened today, April 30, as Ripple covered the Las Vegas Strip with “Raise the Standard” billboards and Steven Zeiler of Yellow Network posted live from the floor calling XRP “only a step on the trajectory to becoming a global reserve currency. Summary XRP Las Vegas 2026 runs April 30 to May 1 and draws Ripple executives, regulators, and institutional investors, coinciding with the listing of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on OKX and a formal Ripple-OKX partnership announced April 29. White House advisor Patrick Witt hinted at major new developments for the national Bitcoin strategic reserve in the…

Bitcoin has failed to sustain a move above $78,000 in the 24 hours following Wednesday’s FOMC decision, with three straight sessions of Bitcoin ETF outflows totalling over $490 million signalling that institutional allocators are pausing rather than adding exposure as uncertainty over the Fed’s direction deepens. Summary Bitcoin ETF products logged $137.77 million in net outflows on April 29, ending a nine-day inflow streak worth $2.1 billion, with every active issuer printing negative for the first time in the streak — including IBIT at $54.73 million and FBTC at $36.13 million. Glassnode data show Bitcoin is “trapped” below its True…

Meta has begun paying select creators in USDC stablecoin on Solana and Polygon via Stripe, marking Facebook’s first crypto payout program four years after the company shut down its Libra project under regulatory pressure. Summary Meta USDC creator payouts launched April 29 for select creators in Colombia and the Philippines, with eligible users able to link a MetaMask, Phantom, or Binance wallet and receive earnings in Circle’s USDC directly. Stripe handles the backend and provides tax reporting for the transactions. Meta emphasized it is not issuing its own stablecoin and is using Circle’s existing USDC, which has a market cap…

The dollar index is heading for its biggest monthly drop since June 2025 as U.S.–Iran ceasefire hopes unwind the war premium, even while oil and Fed bets keep it range‑bound. Summary The dollar index is heading for its steepest monthly drop since June 2025 as traders unwind safe‑haven positions following a U.S.–Iran ceasefire agreement. Jinshi News reports the index fell about 1.8% in April, though a late rebound driven by higher oil prices and shifting Federal Reserve expectations has pared some losses. Manulife portfolio manager Nathan Tuft expects the greenback to decline from here but remain “range‑bound” as markets balance…