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Monthly payment volume for crypto cards surpassed $100 million last November, according to an analysis by Unfolded. The firm noted that this figure was near zero at the start of 2023 and later peaked at over $125 million. By payment volume, Ether.fi's (ETHFI) Ether.fi Cash holds the largest market share, with more than 10 other providers, including Cypher and Gnosis Pay, also commanding significant shares. Unfolded explained that this suggests real-world usability in everyday spending is expanding rapidly, regardless of price cycles, and could signal an inflection point for the acceleration of mainstream crypto on-ramps.

The U.S. National Football League (NFL) has requested that prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, stop offering certain event contracts it deems vulnerable to manipulation, ESPN reported. Following consultations with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the NFL sent an official letter to the platforms. The letter asks them to halt trading on contracts for events where individuals could easily manipulate the outcome, such as commentator remarks, player signings, coach firings, and in-game injuries. CFTC Commissioner Michael Selig said that if a league raises manipulation concerns about a proposed contract, the agency can prohibit its listing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview on March 30 that there is no set timeline for ending the war with Iran. He added that the U.S. is leading military efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that U.S. President Donald Trump's top priority is Iran's enriched uranium.

Chainlink Labs, the developer of the blockchain oracle Chainlink (LINK), and institutional digital asset custody firm Anchorage Digital have launched a U.S. lobbying group called the Blockchain Leadership Fund (BLF) to promote more favorable cryptocurrency and blockchain policies. The two companies will participate as founding contributors. The BLF will operate as a hybrid political action committee, supporting policymakers who advance clear and innovative crypto policies through direct contributions and independent expenditures.

Peter Schroeder, Global Marketing Lead at Circle, the issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin USDC, said the cryptocurrency processed over one billion transactions in March alone. He added that this marks the first time a single stablecoin has handled more than one billion transactions in a single month.

Coinbase announced it will list EDGEX for spot trading.

Mitsubishi Corporation, one of Japan's five largest general trading companies, plans to adopt JPMorgan's blockchain for corporate payments, Cointelegraph reported. The company intends to use the blockchain-based payment system for fund transfers between its global offices, which will enable near-instant settlements.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed mixed today. - S&P 500: -0.39% - Nasdaq: -0.73% - Dow Jones: +0.11%

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated it has not held any negotiations with the U.S. during the 31 days of the war, Walter Bloomberg reported.

BlackRock Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Rick Rieder said he expects the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates, Walter Bloomberg reported.

Ethereum (ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin stated that even if a service provider the size of Binance were to successfully launch a 51% attack on the network, it would have to absorb billions of dollars in slashing penalties, according to Wu Blockchain. Explaining how the ETH staking model contributes to network security, Buterin said that in the event of a 51% attack, mechanisms such as a minority soft fork, slashing, and inactivity leaks would immediately burn billions of dollars, inflicting losses on the attacker. He argued that based on monetary value alone, Ethereum currently maintains an almost excessive level of security. Buterin noted that while approximately 30 million ETH is currently staked, a 51% attack is theoretically possible with 10 million ETH but would realistically require 15 million ETH. At a price of around $3,200 per ETH at the time, this would necessitate $48 billion. He added that, in his personal view, security would still be sufficient even if this barrier were lowered to $4.8 billion. Note: This brief has been updated based on Buterin's full interview, following an initial report by Wu Blockchain.

U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bill Cassidy have introduced the Mined in America Act, a bill designed to encourage Bitcoin mining within the United States. The legislation includes provisions to establish a certification program for mining facilities and pools and to phase out the use of mining equipment linked to hostile nations. It also aims to support the development of mining hardware by American manufacturers. Furthermore, the bill seeks to codify President Donald Trump's executive order on maintaining strategic Bitcoin reserves.

Jack Dorsey's payment company Block, formerly Square, has automatically enabled Bitcoin payments for millions of its merchants in the U.S., CoinDesk reported. The feature is instantly active on existing payment systems with no additional setup required. When a customer pays, the Bitcoin is automatically converted to U.S. dollars, and the service will be fee-free until 2026. This allows merchants to accept Bitcoin without exposure to price volatility or the burdens of custody. The move is part of Block's 'Square Bitcoin' strategy, aimed at integrating cryptocurrency payments into everyday commerce.

Global payments infrastructure provider Nium has launched a platform to help businesses issue stablecoin-based cards through Visa and Mastercard. According to Cointelegraph, this enables merchants on existing card networks to spend their digital dollar balances.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $67,000. BTC is trading at $66,983.91 on the Binance USDT market.

Lookonchain reported that BlackRock deposited 3,061 BTC ($206.5 million) and 35,642 ETH ($73 million) to Coinbase Prime. Coinbase Prime is a prime brokerage platform that handles large-scale transactions and custody for institutional investors.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

Cryptocurrency custody firm BitGo has expanded its support for Canton Coin, the native token of the real-world asset tokenization blockchain Canton Network, Cointelegraph reported. In addition to its existing custody services, the company has added over-the-counter (OTC) trading and on-chain payment functions, providing storage, trading, and settlement on a single platform.

The Bugscoin (BGSC) Foundation announced it will resume its buyback program starting in the second quarter of this year. The foundation had previously stated it would use 100% of its operating profit for buybacks beginning in the third quarter of 2025, but it recorded an operating loss of $1.86 million in the fourth quarter of that year. The foundation explained that a large-scale buyback conducted in September of last year was the primary cause of the operating loss. It added that starting in the second quarter of this year, after returning to profitability, it will move the bought-back BGSC from centralized exchanges (CEX) to the foundation's wallet each quarter and will release verifiable on-chain data. The foundation also noted that it is pursuing a token merger with the decentralized exchange (DEX) ADEN, which was acquired by Gate Ventures. Bugscoin generates its operating profit from a portion of user trading fees on major exchanges and recorded an operating profit of $7.7 million between the second and fourth quarters of last year.

Organizations with ties to Russia and Iran are using cryptocurrency to procure low-cost military drones and components, according to a report from Chainalysis. The report noted that pro-Russian groups have raised more than $8.3 million since 2022. On-chain transactions have also been detected that match the approximate $2,200 price of drones from KB Vostok, a sanctioned Russian firm. These groups are increasingly using stablecoins over Bitcoin for their price stability. On the Iranian side, fund flows linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have also been identified, with inflows to associated wallets surging during the war.

The Donald Trump administration is pursuing a plan to ease regulations on the inclusion of alternative assets in 401(k) retirement plans through the U.S. Department of Labor. According to a draft rule posted on the department's website, the new regulation aims to strengthen legal protections for companies, reduce the risk of class-action lawsuits, and make it easier to include alternative assets such as cryptocurrency, private credit, private equity, and real estate. Fiduciaries will be required to review the suitability of investments based on criteria including performance, fees, liquidity, and valuation. The move is expected to encourage greater participation from companies that have been hesitant to introduce alternative assets due to concerns over legal risks.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) latest joint guidance on cryptocurrency has improved but still leaves key regulatory standards unclear, according to lawyers from the firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In an op-ed for CoinDesk, the lawyers argued that the SEC has not clarified the contractual obligation requirements for an investment contract when applying the Howey Test, instead continuing to rely on facts and circumstances. They also noted that the guidance fails to clearly reflect the standards from the Ripple case precedent for secondary market transactions, which could lead to ongoing confusion in determining a token's security status. The lawyers emphasized the need for active industry feedback to establish clear and sustainable regulatory boundaries.

Whale Alert reported that 250 million USDC has been minted at the USDC Treasury.

On-chain data analytics firm Glassnode noted that smaller investors began selling into Bitcoin's recent rebound toward $76,000. The firm added that without broader buying pressure from wallets of all sizes, the rally's sustainability is limited.

The ETH supply held by crypto investment firm DAT is projected to surpass 5% of the total circulating supply by March 2026, Unfolded reported.