US Admiral hails BTC as a strategic tool, EU investors eye crypto-banks, and SK biddings for tracing software as BTC rebounds to $77K amid recovering sentiment. Today's crypto market moved in a sideways consolidation pattern as institutional accumulation support intersected with ongoing macroeconomic pressure. The broader market remained focused on long-term positioning by institutional capital and on the aftereffects of recent onchain security incidents. According to the latest data, Strategy once again demonstrated strong purchasing power during the first three weeks of April by generating a Bitcoin gain of 47,079 BTC, worth roughly USD 3.6 billion at current prices. This development once again reinforced long-term confidence among corporate holders in Bitcoin-denominated treasury exposure. At the same time, the total stablecoin market capitalization has surpassed USD 320 billion and reached a new all-time high. That suggests potential buying power across the market remains elevated and continues to provide liquidity for future expansion. However, macro pressure has not eased. CME data shows the probability of the Federal Reserve holding rates unchanged in April stands at 100%, which means the high-rate environment is still likely to weigh on risk assets in the near term. In addition, the nearly USD 300 million hack that hit a smaller crypto project over the weekend has raised fresh concern across traditional finance. Analysts noted that incidents of this kind could temporarily weaken Wall Street's willingness to deepen its integration with blockchain-related infrastructure. Even with those headwinds in place, Bitcoin has now recovered above the average cost basis of short-term holders, indicating that investors who entered over the past three months have largely moved back toward breakeven and that support near the market floor is becoming increasingly firm.

Crypto Markets Overview

The crypto market is currently showing a cautious wait-and-see structure. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stands at 32, placing sentiment in the Fear zone. Bitcoin is still trading within a narrow range around $77K, while Ethereum continues to hold above the key $2,300 level. Both assets are showing relatively solid downside resilience at current levels. From a leverage perspective, the eight-hour average funding rate across the broader market has turned negative for both Bitcoin and Ethereum, at -0.002% and -0.0004% respectively. This suggests short-term hedging demand from the bearish side is slightly stronger. Liquidation intensity data shows that if Bitcoin breaks above $80,768, short positions worth as much as USD 883 million across major exchanges could face liquidation. On the downside, if Bitcoin falls below $73,721, long liquidations could expand to USD 1.676 billion. Institutional flow remains notably persistent. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have now recorded six consecutive days of net inflows, with USD 11.84 million added yesterday. Spot Ethereum ETFs have shown even stronger momentum, showing 9 straight days of net inflows with USD 43.35 million added in a single day. BlackRock's ETHA stood out in particular, with cumulative historical net inflows reaching USD 11.943 billion. This suggests professional investors are using the current consolidation phase to continue building positions.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

US Admiral Calls Bitcoin A Tool Of US Power Projection

US Navy Admiral Samuel Paparo expressed strong support for Bitcoin during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, describing it as a highly valuable computer science tool whose relevance now extends well beyond economics. In his view, Bitcoin carries strategic value that can support US national security interests. Paparo said Bitcoin's proof-of-work model plays an important role in cybersecurity applications because it imposes a high cost on attackers attempting to compromise the network, which strengthens defensive capacity at the technical level. His remarks echoed earlier views from a member of the US Space Force, who argued that Bitcoin can be used to secure many forms of data, messages, and command signals. That line of thinking further strengthens Bitcoin's position as a strategic national asset rather than a purely financial one. The United States already holds the world's largest sovereign Bitcoin reserves and the largest share of Bitcoin hashrate, while lawmakers are also advancing related legislation aimed at formalizing domestic mining supply chains and strategic reserve policies. The goal is to reduce supply chain risk and respond to rising technological competition from other countries. Paparo also emphasized during the hearing that Bitcoin is a real peer-to-peer and zero-trust system for transferring value. In his view, any technology that supports the broader instruments of US national power should be considered beneficial. His comments show that Bitcoin's strategic relevance in US defense thinking and national power projection is becoming more visible.

Survey Finds European Investors May Switch Banks For Better Crypto Access

A new survey released by Börse Stuttgart Digital shows that the quality of crypto-related services is becoming an increasingly important factor in how European investors choose their banking providers. Around 35% of respondents said they would consider switching their primary bank if another institution offered stronger cryptocurrency investment services. The survey covered 6,000 investors across Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, and it reflects how digital assets are moving closer to the center of mainstream financial relationships. Nearly one in five respondents also said they expect their main bank to provide crypto access within the next three years. Although regulatory uncertainty and a lack of investor knowledge remain the main barriers to wider adoption, the full rollout of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation has already improved trust. Nearly half of respondents said the framework increased their sense of safety and confidence toward digital assets. Spain led the group with crypto ownership close to 28%, followed by Germany and Italy. This suggests that demand for regulated crypto infrastructure and bank-grade digital asset services continues to rise across Europe under a more compliance-driven environment. The trend is putting pressure on traditional banks to reassess their digital asset strategy over the coming years. Otherwise, they may risk losing core investment clients to competitors that move faster. As MiCA provides greater transparency and legal certainty, institutional crypto service offerings are becoming a new competitive battleground for the banking sector.

South Korea Tax Agency Opens Bidding For Crypto Tracing Tool

South Korea's National Tax Service has officially launched a government tender for virtual asset transaction tracing software licenses as part of its effort to strengthen enforcement against tax evasion involving cryptocurrencies. The procurement budget is approximately 146.5 million won, or about USD 99,500. According to officials familiar with the plan, the tracing software will allow tax investigators to monitor crypto transactions in real time and visually track fund transfers between specific wallet addresses and major exchanges. The system is also expected to support investigations into hidden assets, offshore tax evasion, and unreported inheritance or gift transfers. The move is widely seen as part of South Korea's technical preparation for the crypto tax regime currently scheduled to take effect in 2027. Under that framework, gains above 2.5 million won would be subject to a total 22% tax rate. While the policy remains politically controversial in South Korea, with debate centered on fairness and concerns over double taxation, the tax authority is continuing to expand its enforcement infrastructure. It is also developing AI-based monitoring systems and improving its ability to analyze large volumes of transaction data. The broader goal is to identify possible tax evasion with greater precision across high-volume data flows. This shows that South Korean regulators are taking an active technology-based approach to oversight and are moving to ensure that virtual assets are monitored with a level of tax scrutiny similar to that applied to traditional assets. The process marks another step toward bringing the crypto market into a more formal and enforceable tax compliance framework.

Trending Tokens:

• $ARX (Arcium)

Arcium has become a focal point in privacy-first AI infrastructure since the launch of Arcium Agent Skills. The framework gives AI agents the context they need to build and deploy encrypted applications directly on Solana. By integrating technologies such as multi-party computation and fully homomorphic encryption, the project bridges the gap between decentralized intelligence and data sovereignty. Recent project updates also highlighted compatibility with major agents such as Claude and Codex, which expands the practical utility of parallel confidential computing. Market participants are closely watching Arcium's ability to attract developers who want to build trustless and verifiable execution environments. As the AI narrative shifts toward specialized agent tooling, the project's $14 million funding round and its strategic position in the Solana ecosystem have made it an important infrastructure player. The addition of 15 curated patterns and intent-based routing also streamlines the development process for complex encrypted circuits. This expansion in capability points to a more mature trusted computing landscape in high-throughput blockchain environments.

• $BLEND (Fluent)

Fluent is gaining strong market attention as it prepares for mainnet launch with meaningful liquidity already committed. The protocol recently secured $50 million in day-one liquidity through partnerships with institutional participants including K3 Capital and Yield Network. That capital will form the initial supply of USDnr, Fluent's native stablecoin, and ensures decentralized applications can function from the first day of network activity. As a zkWASM execution layer for Ethereum, Fluent allows developers to build with multiple programming languages such as Rust and TypeScript while maintaining scalability. The success of this liquidity bootstrapping phase reflects institutional confidence in the project's technical architecture and market strategy. Market interest is also driven by Fluent's potential to address fragmentation in development tooling across different Layer 2 solutions. For that reason, the project is increasingly seen as an important player in the modular rollup space, with a clear focus on developer flexibility and deep initial liquidity. 

• $REYA (Reya Network)

Reya Network has renewed market momentum after releasing a comprehensive product roadmap designed to establish it as Ethereum's dedicated trading layer. The roadmap sets out three strategic pillars, which include Trader Excellence, Ubiquitous Markets, and the continued buildout of ReyaChain infrastructure. Key technical milestones include a high-performance orderbook capable of handling 200,000 transactions per second and the integration of zk verifiability. Through a based-rollup architecture secured by Ethereum validators, the protocol addresses the trust and performance requirements of institutional and high-frequency traders. Its transition from Voltz Protocol into this modular Layer 2 framework reflects a broader push to capture a larger share of the global derivatives market. Traders are especially encouraged by the prospect of removing MEV and gas fees, which creates a fairer trading environment for all participants. With more than $122 billion in all-time volume, the move toward a fully verifiable onchain execution environment positions the protocol as a leading contender in institutional-grade crypto finance. The future addition of synthetic exposure to equities such as AAPL and TSLA also broadens the platform's appeal to a more global audience.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.