Decentral Block Post

A court in India has ordered the encrypted email service Proton Mail blocked in the country for refusing to share information with authorities.

In an April 29 hearing of the High Court of Karnataka, Justice M Nagaprasanna ordered the government to “block forthwith” domain names associated with Proton Mail, citing authority under the country’s Information Technology Act of 2008. The order stemmed from a complaint filed in January by a New Delhi-based design firm, alleging that some of its employees received offensive emails through the service.  

It’s unclear whether the ban will take effect or face other possible challenges in court. The Proton team reported in March 2024 that Indian authorities had similarly proposed ordering the service blocked in response to alleged “hoax bomb threats,” but it continued to operate in the country.

The crackdown on Proton Mail appeared to be part of a larger global trend to pursue action against platforms based on users’ activities, such as the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France in part for allegedly failing to moderate illicit content. Cointelegraph reached out to Proton for comment but did not receive any response at the time of publication.

Related: Crypto projects prepare to battle for privacy in Switzerland

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed deciding on whether to greenlight two proposed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding Dogecoin and XRP, filings show. 

The US regulator has delayed its deadline for ruling on the proposed ETF listings until June, according to two filings reviewed by Cointelegraph. 

The filings were responses to March requests from US exchanges NYSE Arca and Cboe BZX Exchange to list Bitwise’s Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF and Franklin Templeton’s XRP (XRP) ETF, respectively. 

They came on the same day that Nasdaq, another US exchange, asked for permission to list a 21Shares Dogecoin ETF. 

Dogecoin is the world’s most heavily traded memecoin, with a market capitalization of around $26 billion as of April 29, according to data from CoinGecko. XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger blockchain network. It has a market capitalization of approximately $133 billion, CoinGecko data shows.

Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange with 100 million users, has announced a partnership with Avalanche to support community initiatives across India, one of the fastest-growing areas for crypto and Web3 developers.

The partnership will see at least $10 million doled out in mini-grants, scholarships, hackathons, and workshops to the Web3 community in the country. The initial focus will be in Delhi and Bangalore. Delhi is the most populous city in India, and Bangalore is known as the local “Silicon Valley.”

Cryptocurrency activity in India has surged over the past two years. According to CoinSwitch, a local exchange, crypto investment across the country accelerated in 2024, with the highest concentrations in Delhi (20.1%), Bengaluru (9.6%), and Mumbai (6.5%). Youth 18- to 35-years-old now account for nearly 75% of the country's crypto investors. While Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) remained popular choices, Dogecoin (DOGE) attracted the most investment in 2024, with other memecoins like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe (PEPE) also gaining significant traction.

Related: India has no plans to regulate crypto sales and purchases

India's tech market

The growth of India’s crypto ecosystem coincides with a wave of global exchanges either reentering the market or actively exploring a return. In February 2025, Bybit registered with local authorities and restored services in the country. In the same month, Coinbase began discussions with regulators seeking a comeback in the Indian market.

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin tends to rally significantly when low leverage meets stronger-than-expected retail sales and hawkish Federal Reserve signals.

In three separate 7-week periods, Bitcoin rose 50% to 84%.

Upcoming speeches from Fed Chair Jerome Powell could benefit Bitcoin price.

Bitcoin (BTC) price rallies are frequently linked to investors’ inflation concerns or data that surpasses expectations for economic growth, yet clear signals of an impending rally are rare. However, a combination of three independent events has historically coincided with BTC price surges of 50% or more.

Update (April 29 at 8:54 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include comments from Bunq's CEO to Cointelegraph.

Europe’s second-largest neobank, Bunq, is expanding into cryptocurrency, citing growing retail investor demand for digital assets worldwide.

The Amsterdam-based neobank announced the launch of Bunq Crypto on April 29, a new offering enabling its users to invest in over 300 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).

Starting April 29, Bunq users in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Belgium will be able to access cryptocurrencies directly through the Bunq app, according to an announcement.

Bunq CEO Ali Niknam told Cointelegraph that the move was driven by growing client demand for digital assets. "We believe that now many, many people, the large majority, are interested in crypto, and we believe that they're interested in buying crypto through an environment that they can trust, and they can relate to and they can recognize," he said.

Key Takeaways:

Fidelity Digital Assets’ report said that multiple Ethereum onchain metrics suggest ETH trades at a discount.

The BTC/ETH market cap ratio is at mid-2020 levels.

Ethereum's layer-2 active addresses hit new highs at 13.6 million.

Fresh data from Fidelity Digital Assets hints at a cautiously optimistic outlook for Ethereum, suggesting its dismal Q1 performance could be an opportunity. According to their latest Signals Report, Ether (ETH) dipped 45% during Q1, wiping out it post-US election gains after peaking at $3,579 in January.

The United States exchange Nasdaq has asked regulators for permission to list a 21Shares exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding the popular memcoin Dogecoin, regulatory filings show. 

The move follows 21Shares’ April 10 filing of its initial proposal to launch its Dogecoin ETF, shortly after similar applications from rivals Bitwise and Grayscale. The asset manager has also sought regulators’ permission to list ETFs holding other cryptocurrencies, including Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Polkadot (DOT). 

Nasdaq must gain approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before it can list and trade the fund. The request amounts to a regulatory review process that could determine whether Dogecoin becomes accessible to a broader range of investors through an ETF structure.

Crypto ETFs scheduled for SEC review. Source: Eric Balchunas/Bloomberg

Related: 21Shares files for spot Dogecoin ETF in the US

Onslaught of altcoin ETFs

Fund issuers requested to list dozens of altcoin ETFs after US President Donald Trump instructed the SEC to take a friendlier stance toward cryptocurrencies after his second term began in January. 

The United Kingdom’s Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, have proposed new crypto rules aimed at “support[ing] innovation while cracking down on fraudsters.”

In an April 29 notice, the UK government announced draft rules for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), that would bring “crypto exchanges, dealers and agents” in line with regulations, as many residents were “exposed to risky firms and scams.” It cited discussions with US government officials, including a proposed US-UK cross-border sandbox from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Hester Peirce.

“Today’s announcement sends a clear signal: Britain is open for business — but closed to fraud, abuse, and instability,” said the notice. “The government will bring forward final cryptoasset legislation at the earliest opportunity, following engagement on the draft provisions with industry.”

Related: UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’

Treasury and Reeves said the UK was committed to making the country a “global hub for digital asset technologies,” referencing the goals of the previous government under the Conservative Party. A 2023 consultation paper from Treasury proposed “bringing a wide range of cryptoasset activities” — including trading and issuing stablecoins — in line with UK regulations.

Opinion by: Felix Xu, co-founder of ARPA Network and Bella Protocol

AI has been a dominant narrative since 2024, but users and companies still cannot completely trust it. Whether it’s finances, personal data or healthcare decisions, hesitation around AI’s reliability and integrity remains high.

This growing AI trust deficit is now one of the most significant barriers to widespread adoption. Decentralized, privacy-preserving technologies are quickly being recognized as viable solutions that offer verifiability, transparency and stronger data protection without compromising AI’s growth.

The pervasive AI trust deficit 

AI was the second most popular category occupying crypto mindshare in 2024, with over 16% investor interest. Startups and multinational companies have allocated considerable resources to AI to expand the technology to people’s finances, health, and every other aspect.

For example, the emerging DeFi x AI (DeFAI) sector shipped more than 7,000 projects with a peak market cap of $7 billion in early 2025 before the markets crashed. DeFAI has demonstrated the transformative potential of AI to make decentralized finance (DeFi) more user-friendly with natural language commands, execute complex multi-step operations, and conduct complex market research.

Key points:

Bitcoin’s most recently-moved supply segment is increasing as higher prices see an influx of “speculative capital.”

“Hot supply” has doubled in just five weeks versus local lows in March.

Active address numbers have yet to mimic a classic bull market comeback.

Bitcoin (BTC) short-term holders (STHs) are back in the game as a “speculative capital” enters the market.

Cryptocurrency compliance firm Bitrace found that $649 billion worth of stablecoins flowed through addresses classified as high-risk in 2024, according to an April 29 report.

Bitrace defines high-risk blockchain addresses as those used by illegal entities to receive, transfer or store stablecoins.

Crypto compliance firms typically score crypto wallet addresses based on their likelihood of involvement in illicit activities. The higher the risk, the higher the likelihood of foul play, and the less likely compliant crypto businesses are to accept the assets.

Per the report, the amount accounted for roughly 5.14% of all stablecoin transaction volume in 2024. This is down 0.8% from 5.94% the previous year, but significantly higher than the 2.8% reported in 2022 and 1.63% in 2021.

Proportion of high-risk stablecoin transactions. Source: Bitrace

Related: Americans lost $9.3B to crypto fraud in 2024 — FBI

Tron USDT tops high-risk transactions

Tron-based USDt (USDT) dominates high-risk stablecoin transactions, with Bitrace data indicating that well over 70% of the volume moved on the network. The remaining high-risk stablecoin transactions are mostly Ethereum-based USDt and a small amount of USDC (USDC).

Key takeaways:

Ether’s price was rejected at $1,860, but $1,800 must hold for a $2,000 breakout.

Strong Ethereum ETF inflows signal high institutional demand.

Ethereum’s $51.8B TVL and 30% DEX weekly volume rise show robust network strength.

A bull flag pattern on the ETH’s four-hour chart targets $2,100.

The United States’ rejection of a central bank digital currency has not halted the progress of CBDCs globally, but their success has been questionable so far, according to a former Binance executive.

Global CBDC projects have not failed, but they have also not become what they were anticipated to be, according to Olga Goncharova, CEO at the consulting firm Rizz Go and former director of government relations in the Commonwealth of Independent States at Binance.

“CBDCs were conceived as a technological breakthrough, but so far they look like expensive imitations of existing traditional fiat currencies that citizens and businesses already use through online banking and payment apps,” Goncharova told Cointelegraph at the Blockchain Forum in Moscow.

Olga Goncharova during a panel on Web3 geopolitics at the Blockchain Forum 2025 on April 23. Source: Blockchain Forum

Though some of the CBDC-like creatives date back to the 1990s, modern initiatives are yet to offer users a real added value compared to traditional payment channels, she said.

CBDC leaders like China struggle with adoption

“Today it is clear that the expectations around CBDCs were overestimated,” Goncharova claimed, adding that none of the jurisdictions worldwide have succeeded in the mass adoption of retail CBDCs.

The Beijing city administration has announced a plan for local blockchain development and implementation over the next two years.

According to an April 29 announcement, the plan was jointly developed by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee, the Cyberspace Administration Office, the Bureau of Government Services and Data, the Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and the Bureau of Commerce. The implementation is expected to start this year and continue until 2027.

The announcement. Source: Beijing government

The Beijing Blockchain Innovation and Application Development Action Plan recognizes blockchain as a “critical foundational technology for industrial digitalization and vital digital infrastructure.”

Notably, the objectives also include plans to “enhance the value extraction from digital assets through blockchain,” which may indicate crypto mining. The announcement also claims that the city has already invested heavily in this area of research:

“Beijing has significantly progressed in autonomous blockchain technology development and application scenarios.“

Related: An overview of China’s digital yuan

A16z Crypto led a $25 million investment round into Miden, an independent blockchain project spun out of Polygon Labs.

Miden closed its $25 million seed rounds led by a16z Crypto, 1kx, and Hack VC, with participation from Finality Capital Partners, Symbolic Capital, P2 Ventures, Delta Fund, MH Ventures, as well as from angel investors, including MakerDAO’s Rune Christensen and EigenLayer’s Sreeram Kannan.

Miden is a zero-knowledge (ZK) proof-powered blockchain focused on high scalability through its hybrid consensus mode, which moves transaction execution from the mainnet on “edge devices,” referring to users’ devices.

Designed for institutions that value confidentiality, Miden enables applications to execute both public and private transactions with full privacy, according to an April 29 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Execution on edge devices can help with the “bottlenecks that limit traditional chains,” said Bobbin Threadbare, the co-founder at Miden and former engineer at Meta, adding:

The first 100 days of the administration of US President Donald Trump have deeply impacted the crypto industry, starting with his own memecoin and culminating in a Bitcoin reserve and a spate of blockchain policymaking. 

Trump’s trade war with the entire world has had the largest short-term impact on crypto markets, as crypto prices have wavered amid macroeconomic worry and uncertainty. Higher prices on electronics mean Bitcoin (BTC) miners are finding it harder to break even, and de-dollarization concerns abound. 

Still, crypto markets have shown some resilience and cause for optimism in the administration’s crypto-friendly policies. A number of pro-crypto leaders have been appointed to key government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The crypto industry’s long-awaited regulatory framework is also imminent.

Trump’s first 100 days have seen remarkable changes for the crypto industry, and it appears that things are only getting started. Here’s a look at what’s happened so far.

Jan. 20 — Trump’s first 100 days kick off with a memecoin

On Jan. 20, while Trump was sworn into office in the rotunda of the Capitol Building, his family’s crypto investment firm, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), launched its second token sale of WLFI tokens.

USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has received in-principle approval (IPA) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the company announced on April 29.

The approval moves Circle closer to obtaining a full Financial Services Permission (FSP) license, allowing it to operate as a regulated money services provider in the United Arab Emirates, the firm said in an official press release.

Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s Co-Founder and CEO, said the approval “advances our strategy to establish deep roots in markets embracing the onchain economy.” He added:

“It also underscores Circle’s enduring commitment to global stablecoin oversight—strengthening trust, compliance, and adoption worldwide, while laying a resilient foundation for the internet financial system.”

Comments from Circle CEO and Chief of Market Development at ADGM regarding the regulatory nod. Source: PR

Related: Circle files for Initial Public Offering planned for April

Bitcoin mining firm Phoenix Group announced the addition of 52 megawatts (MW) worth of mining capacity to its capabilities in Ethiopia.

According to an April 29 announcement, with this latest addition, Phoenix’s Bitcoin mining capacity in Ethiopia reaches 132 MW. The firm’s global capacity now reportedly exceeds 500 MW.

Phoenix’s co-founder and CEO, Munaf Ali, said the firm’s strategy relies on “securing prime locations with abundant, low-cost energy.”

“Initiatives like our latest expansion in Ethiopia are pivotal steps, not only creating significant value today but also solidifying our position,” he said.

Related: Arkansas city rejects crypto mining proposal after community pushback

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin’s price consolidates as the market awaits President Trump’s 100-day speech.

Over $4.7 billion in BTC has been withdrawn from exchanges since April 22, reducing supply and boosting price sensitivity to demand.

Trump’s crypto policy clarity could spark a BTC surge, but tariffs may cap gains.

Traders say Bitcoin price must clear key hurdles above $95,000 before continuing the uptrend to $100,000 and beyond.

BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) bought nearly $1 billion worth of Bitcoin on behalf of its clients on April 28, with continued inflows providing “structural support” for Bitcoin’s price appreciation, according to market analysts.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF bought $970 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) on April 28, its second-largest day of inflows on record after scooping up $1.12 billion of BTC on Nov. 7, 2024, Sosovalue data shows.

IBIT ETF Inflows, all-time chart. Source: Sosovalue 

IBIT’s near $1 billion investment brought total net inflows to US spot BTC ETFs to just above $590 million, with all other ETFs realizing net negative outflows or remaining flat. ARK Invest’s ARKB ETF recorded the highest outflows of $226 million.

Related: Bitcoin treasury firms driving $200T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back

“Nearly *$1bil* into iShares Bitcoin ETF today.. 2nd largest inflow since Jan 2024 inception. I still remember when there was “no demand,” Nate Geraci, the president of ETF Store advisory firm, wrote in an April 29 X post.

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin supply in profit has climbed back above 85%, nearing the classic euphoric area.

Onchain data shows strong accumulation from new and momentum buyers with minimal profit-taking.

Bitcoin could rally toward $110,000–$115,000 helped by a “max buying” zone.

Bitcoin (BTC) is charging toward a potential new all-time high near $115,000, as a surge in profitable supply signals growing bullish momentum and a classic setup for market euphoria.

DeFi protocol Loopscale has recovered nearly half of the funds stolen during a major exploit over the weekend, as white hat negotiations with the attacker show signs of progress.

In an April 29 update posted to X, Loopscale confirmed that approximately 19,463 Wrapped SOL (WSOL) (worth roughly $2.88 million) have been returned to its wallets since April 28.

The first two returns included 10,000 WSOL (~$1.48 million) and 4,463 WSOL (~$660,000), following an earlier recovery of 5,000 WSOL (~$740,000).

“Our pursuit of an amicable resolution regarding Saturday’s incident continues to make progress,” the team wrote.

Loopscale updating community on negotiations progress. Source: Loopscale

Related: DeFi platform KiloEx to compensate users impacted by $7.5M hack

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, faces a 20-year prison sentence as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks a severe penalty for his role in a multibillion-dollar fraud.

The DOJ on April 28 filed the government’s sentencing memorandum against Mashinsky, recommending a 20-year prison sentence for his fraudulent actions, which led to billions of dollars in losses for Celsius customers.

The 97-page memo mentioned that Celsius users were unable to access approximately $4.7 billion in crypto assets after the platform halted withdrawals on June 12, 2022.

“The Court should sentence Alexander Mashinsky to twenty years’ imprisonment as just punishment for his years-long campaign of lies and self-dealing that left in its wake billions in losses and thousands of victimized customers,” the DOJ stated.

Mashinsky’s personal benefit was $48 million

In addition to the investor losses, the DOJ noted that Mashinsky has personally profited from the fraudulent schemes in his role.

Key points:

Bitcoin has beaten out three key resistance levels in a single weekly candle.

The weekly close defended the 2025 yearly open, but a subsequent dip below it is making analysis question the strength of the BTC price breakout.

BTC/USD remains in a “critical zone” pending fresh support confirmations.

Bitcoin (BTC) has broken through three key resistance levels in a week, but its biggest reclaim battle continues.

Decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator 1inch has launched on Solana, marking a significant step toward its vision of a “unified multichain” decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the integration enables users to trade over 1 million Solana-based tokens directly through the 1inch decentralized application (DApp), benefiting from maximal extractable value-protected swaps, optimized rates and open-source smart contract infrastructure.

The move brings 1inch’s Fusion protocol to Solana for the first time. Fusion enables users to define their ideal swap parameters, which are then executed by competing professional market makers, or “resolvers,” using Dutch auction mechanics.

Combined with Solana’s ultra-fast block times, the setup promises more efficient and seamless trading execution than other networks.

A 1inch representative told Cointelegraph that users could expect “minimal fees” when executing swaps on Solana. “Users may expect costs of less than one cent,” they said.

The concept of a Russian ruble stablecoin received special attention at a major local crypto event, the Blockchain Forum in Moscow, with key industry executives reflecting on some of the core features a ruble-backed stablecoin might require.

Sergey Mendeleev, founder of the digital settlement exchange Exved and inactive founder of the sanctioned Garantex exchange, put forward seven key criteria for a potential “replica of Tether” in a keynote at the Blockchain Forum on April 23.

Mendeleev said a potential ruble stablecoin must have untraceable transactions and allow transfers without Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.

However, because one of the criteria also requires the stablecoin to comply with Russian regulations, he expressed skepticism that such a product could emerge soon.

The DAI model praised 

Mendeleev proposed that a potential Russian “Tether replica” must be overcollateralized similarly to the Dai (DAI) stablecoin model, a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin that maintains its one-to-one peg with the US dollar using smart contracts.

A trio of major Abu Dhabi institutions, including the Emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, have teamed up to launch a new dirham-pegged stablecoin.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ, the United Arab Emirates’ largest bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), and the massive conglomerate the International Holding Company, have partnered to launch the stablecoin, pending regulatory approval, the three companies said on April 28.

The trio said the stablecoin would be regulated by the UAE’s central bank and backed by the country’s currency, the dirham. It will also support use cases such as machine-to-machine and artificial intelligence.

Source: IHC

The goal is to place the UAE at the “forefront of global blockchain innovation,” while also strengthening the digital infrastructure, according to ADQ.

If it gets the nod from regulators, the new stablecoin will operate on the ADI blockchain, created by the ADI Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping established financial systems and governments advance and adopt blockchain technology.

The founders of the crypto fintech firm Bankera used funds from the project’s 2018 initial coin offering to purchase luxury properties worldwide, according to a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

The OCCRP reported on April 28, citing leaked company records and bank statements, that nearly half of the funds from Bankera’s 100 million euro ($114 million) ICO were transferred to a bank in the Pacific Island country of Vanuatu that was purchased by the project’s founders, Vytautas Karalevičius, Justas Dobiliauskas and Mantas Mockevičius.

Soon after, the Vanuatu bank reportedly began issuing millions of euros in loans to companies owned by the trio to build a luxury real estate portfolio — including a villa in the French Riviera and high-end property in Lithuania, where the project was founded.

Bankera’s three founders. Source: Bankera

The leaked records and statements reportedly show that the funds were used to underwrite loans to other companies, which were then used to purchase high-end real estate. 

The Vanuatu bank also loaned millions more directly to the three founders for “personal use,” according to the OCCRP report.