Former Treasury chief warns of bond risks, Circle faces hack lawsuit, and public miners offload BTC. Bitcoin hovers at $74K amid USD 441 million in liquidations, while AI and Meme sectors lead gains.Today’s crypto market showed a clear split in performance. Bitcoin and Ethereum remained range-bound near key support levels, while selected sectors such as AI, Meme, and BRC-20 delivered powerful upside moves as capital rotated into higher-volatility themes. Based on the latest market data, Bitcoin edged lower into the $74,000 range, while Ethereum pulled back but continued to hold above $2,300. Overall market sentiment remained cautious. Although price action in major assets was relatively stable, on-chain and derivatives data showed a sharp increase in liquidations. Total liquidations across the market exceeded USD 441 million over the past 24 hours, with short liquidations slightly above long liquidations. This suggests that the recent sector rallies were accompanied by aggressive position clearing. As the probability of the Federal Reserve holding rates unchanged in April climbed to 99.5% and new macro data continued to shape liquidity expectations, the market entered a consolidation phase that appears to be building toward the next directional move. At the same time, Trump’s comments in favor of lower interest rates and the modest gains in the three major US equity indexes continued to provide a degree of support for risk assets. Even so, market participants remained highly cautious as extreme liquidation pressure kept short-term positioning fragile.

Crypto Markets Overview

The crypto market overview suggests that sentiment remains firmly in Extreme Fear, with today’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index at 21. That number is slightly lower than yesterday’s 23, which shows that the broader market environment is still weak and uncertainty remains elevated. Bitcoin is currently trading near $74,000 and slipped 0.14% over the past 24 hours. This reflects an ongoing battle between profit-taking near recent highs and buying interest around support levels, especially as the average 8-hour funding rate turned negative at -0.0015%, pointing to a modest rise in bearish positioning. Ethereum was comparatively weaker. It fell 1.12% while staying above the $2,300 threshold, and its average funding rate across the market stood at just 0.0005%, which indicates that leveraged demand has cooled sharply. Even so, the AI and Meme sectors stood out as the strongest parts of today’s market, posting gains of 12.48% and 12.03% respectively. Tokens such as ORDI and MUBI delivered explosive advances, with some names posting near-doubling or stronger moves. This shows that capital is rotating away from large-cap assets and into niche segments with higher volatility and higher return expectations. Liquidation data also suggests that if Bitcoin drops below $70,681 or breaks above $78,028, either move could trigger more than USD 1 billion in liquidations. That level of leveraged positioning leaves the market highly sensitive to unexpected headlines and vulnerable to sharp short-term swings.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Former US Treasury Secretary Warns Of US Bond Market Collapse Risk And Calls For Emergency Planning

Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently issued a stark warning over the potential for a crisis in the US Treasury market. He urged the US government and relevant fiscal authorities to prepare an emergency contingency plan for a severe shock in Treasury demand and to keep it ready as a short-term intervention tool if market conditions deteriorate. In an interview with Bloomberg, Paulson said there is no reliable way to know when the market might hit what he described as a “wall” of debt pressure. However, he stressed that the fallout would be severe and potentially destructive once that point is reached, which is why preparations should begin well in advance. As the foundation of the global financial system, the US Treasury market plays a central role in pricing risk across the world, so any instability in that market could send shockwaves through the broader global economy. US national debt is now approaching USD 39 trillion. Economists have long warned that rising debt levels and growing interest expenses could create a self-reinforcing “doom loop,” in which investors demand higher yields, borrowing costs increase further, and fiscal deficits continue to widen. If the Federal Reserve is eventually forced to become the primary buyer of Treasurys in order to stabilize the system, that outcome could intensify inflation concerns and push capital toward non-sovereign assets such as Bitcoin, which is often viewed as a form of digital gold during periods of monetary stress.

Stablecoin Issuer Circle Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over USD 280 Million Drift Protocol Hack

Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, is now facing a class action lawsuit brought by investors in Drift Protocol. The plaintiffs claim that Circle failed to freeze funds stolen during the protocol exploit on April 1 of this year. According to the court filing, the attackers moved roughly USD 230 million worth of USDC from the Solana network to Ethereum within a matter of hours through Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, or CCTP. Circle is accused of taking no action during that period and is alleged to have acted negligently while also enabling the transfer of the stolen assets. Some industry figures and research institutions, including ARK Invest, have argued that freezing funds without a formal court order would undermine the rule of law and create room for arbitrary enforcement. Even so, the plaintiffs argue that Circle demonstrated its technical ability to intervene when it froze other wallets in a separate civil matter one week before the exploit. Most of the stolen funds have now reportedly been converted into Ether and routed through privacy infrastructure for laundering. The progress of this case could become an important legal test for the boundaries of control and responsibility held by crypto infrastructure providers over assets moving through their underlying systems.

Report Shows Publicly Listed Miners Sold More BTC In Q1 2026 Than in All of 2025

According to the latest industry report published by TheMinerMag, publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies sold more Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2026 than they did in all of 2025 combined, as operating conditions across the sector continued to tighten. Several major miners, including MARA, Riot, and Bitdeer, collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC during the first three months of the year. That figure marks the largest quarterly liquidation wave since the collapse of Terra-Luna in 2022. The mining sector is now facing a dual squeeze from rising computing costs and hashprice falling to historic lows. Revenue per PH/s has dropped below the breakeven level for many older mining machines, and roughly 20% of mining operations are currently estimated to be unprofitable. While miners have been forced to reduce reserves in order to cover daily operating expenses and absorb rising energy costs, corporate buyers led by Strategy have continued to accumulate on weakness. Analysts expect that unless Bitcoin posts a meaningful recovery in the first half of the year, higher-cost mining operators may face further capitulation and a deeper round of structural adjustment across the industry.

Trending Tokens:

• $KITE (Kite AI)

The rise of the agentic economy has placed Kite AI at the forefront of decentralized intelligence after its high-profile alignment with PayPal Ventures. The project is catalyzing market interest through its specialization in AI payments and autonomous agent infrastructure, which were also central themes at the recent Seoul developer gathering. Through collaboration with notable ecosystems such as Monad and Avalanche, Kite AI is laying the groundwork for the open AI economy. Its April 2026 event during Korea Build Week highlighted growing institutional demand for decentralized intelligence solutions that can connect AI agents with onchain financial rails. Investors are watching the platform closely because it provides high-signal exposure to agent infrastructure and cross-chain intelligence. This strategic alignment with both traditional fintech players and crypto-native innovators signals that AI-driven decentralized applications are moving into a more mature stage.

• $PROS (Pharos Network)

Pharos Network has attracted significant capital attention after securing the USD 44 million Series A round to accelerate its institutional-grade Layer 1 infrastructure. The project is targeting a USD 50 trillion real-world asset and traditional finance opportunity through its deep-parallel execution architecture. Backed by global financial names such as Sumitomo Corporation and Chainlink, Pharos is validating the feasibility of high-frequency institutional financial flows onchain. Recent updates around the momentum of its AtlanticOcean testnet further underscored its ability to onboard millions of unique addresses and support real-time compliance. Its strategic partnership with an energy giant around solar-backed assets also demonstrates a clear commitment to linking tangible value with decentralized efficiency. As the mainnet launch approaches, Pharos is increasingly being viewed as the backbone of a modular and financial-grade onchain economy.

• $ORDI (ORDI)

The Bitcoin ecosystem is going through a renewed narrative cycle, and ORDI is emerging as one of the main beneficiaries of rising interest in BRC-20 assets. As a representative Ordinals-based asset, ORDI has become a direct proxy for market attention on Bitcoin-native token experimentation. Its current momentum is being supported by broader engagement with the Bitcoin ecosystem and by continued interest in assets tied to Ordinals and BRC-20 standards. Recent heat around the token reflects a clear pickup in market focus, even without relying on an expanded project framework. ORDI is trending because it offers a simple and recognizable way to express exposure to the BRC-20 and Ordinals theme. That positioning has made it one of the more visible high-beta names within the broader Bitcoin ecosystem narrative. Its sustained relevance in market discussion reflects continued investor interest in Bitcoin-native digital asset experimentation.

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