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South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has paid performance bonuses totaling up to 10 billion won ($7.2 million) to its employees for the first time in years, driven by strong financial results, Aju Business Daily reported exclusively. The payout marks the company's first official performance-based bonus distribution of the 2020s. The outlet attributed the bonus to the company's performance, noting that Bithumb's operating profit last year reached 163.5 billion won, a 22% increase from the prior year. This stands in contrast to major competitors like Dunamu, whose operating profits declined amid a broader downturn in the cryptocurrency market, the report added.

The rebound in the ETH/BTC ratio is leading the market's recovery, according to an analysis by CoinDesk. The ratio has bounced to around 0.0313 since its low in January, with ETH rising approximately 4% over the past seven days to outperform BTC. The media outlet explained that growth in on-chain data is behind ETH's rebound. In the first quarter of this year, the number of new ETH users increased by 82% from the previous quarter to 284,000, and total transactions hit a record high of 200.4 million. The supply of ETH-based stablecoins has also reached $180 billion, accounting for a 60% market share. However, CoinDesk added that ETH remains more than 50% below its 52-week high. For the current rebound to transition from a simple short squeeze into a genuine trend reversal, the ETH/BTC ratio must reclaim the 0.035 level.

The Spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) chart analyzes the order book for the BTC/USDT spot trading pair. The upper portion of the chart displays a volume heatmap, while the lower portion shows the CVD. - The volume heatmap (top) tracks trading volume at specific price levels. The background color intensifies when the price lingers in a particular range or moves significantly, with brighter areas indicating potential support or resistance zones. - The CVD indicator (bottom) represents buy and sell orders categorized by trade size. An increase in buy orders causes the corresponding colored line to rise. For example, the yellow line tracks orders from $100 to $1,000, while the brown line tracks large-scale orders between $1 million and $10 million.

Upbit announced it will list Canton (CC) today, with trading set to begin at 6:00 a.m. UTC. The South Korean exchange opened deposit and withdrawal services for the token at 5:00 a.m. UTC. The move follows an initial announcement made yesterday.

A proposal is circulating within the Bitcoin community to freeze certain BTC at the network level to protect against threats from quantum computing, Cointelegraph reported. The discussion focuses on approximately 1.7 million BTC held in early Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) addresses, which are not quantum-resistant. This includes assets widely believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, valued at $74 billion. Jameson Lopp, a Bitcoin Core developer and co-founder of crypto custody firm Casa, noted that if these funds were compromised by hackers, it could have a significant impact on the network's trust and value. However, the proposal has drawn criticism for potentially rendering some existing unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) unusable for users who have not upgraded, a move that critics argue would conflict with Bitcoin's core philosophy of autonomy.

Iran would be forced to significantly reduce its crude oil production within two weeks if the U.S. Navy were to block the country's oil exports, the Financial Times (FT) reported. Satellite data indicates that Iran's storage tanks for crude oil awaiting shipment are currently over 51% full.

On-chain analytics firm Santiment reported that aggressive selling of ETH by retail investors is actually a bullish signal for the asset. The firm noted that investors holding less than 0.01 ETH have sold 1,791 ETH, worth a total of $4.16 million, over the past two days. According to Santiment, these investors perceive the roughly 19% rise in ETH since March 29 as a bull trap. The firm emphasized that this perception, which leads to profit-taking, actually increases the rally's sustainability and is a bullish sign.

President Donald Trump said on April 15 that he is not considering an extension of the ceasefire agreement, according to an ABC reporter. Trump stated that an extension is not necessary, adding that the next two days will be very exciting. When asked if the war would end with an agreement or the destruction of Iran's operational capabilities, the president said both outcomes are possible but that an agreement is better because it would allow Iran to rebuild. He also claimed that Iran has already undergone a regime change and that extremist forces have been eliminated. Trump added that if he were not president, the world would have been shattered.

24-hour crypto futures liquidations The following shows estimated liquidation volumes and position ratios for major crypto perpetual futures over the past 24 hours: - BTC: $135.05 million liquidated (73.93% shorts) - ETH: $96.40 million liquidated (59.84% shorts) - RAVE: $29.35 million liquidated (82.02% shorts)

Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) announced a partnership with South Korean crypto exchange Upbit to host "KBW2026 with Upbit" from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at Walkerhill Hotels & Resorts in Seoul. According to the announcement, the collaboration aims to expand KBW into a premium platform for global institutions and capital, with Upbit joining as the top-tier Presenting Partner. The event will kick off with the "Upbit Institutional Summit," a private session for institutions, on the opening day. The main conference will follow for two days starting Sept. 30, bringing together global industry leaders, investors, and communities to discuss the future of the Web3 industry. Additionally, the main conference name, previously known as "KBW:IMPACT," will be consolidated into the KBW brand this year to strengthen its identity as an independent global entity.

A whale who previously held a 120,000 ETH long position has closed out 113,000 ETH to take profits, according to ai_9684xtpa. The address still holds a 25,000 ETH position with a current unrealized profit of approximately $8.08 million. At the end of March, the investor had endured an unrealized loss of around $15 million.

Officials are discussing a possible extension of the temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Russia reported today, citing Arab diplomatic sources. A proposal is reportedly on the table to extend the truce, which is set to expire on April 22. The U.S. and Iran initially declared a two-week ceasefire on April 8. Delegations from both sides met for negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 11-12 but failed to reach an agreement.

Addresses suspected of manipulating the price of ARIA sold 45.64 million ARIA for 5.42 million USDT around 4:00 p.m. UTC on April 14, triggering a 91% price crash, EmberCN reported. The token, which had recently surged, saw its price plummet from $1.01 to $0.09, with its market capitalization falling from $315 million to $38.5 million. EmberCN noted that the tokens involved in the sell-off were withdrawn from Gate.io to eight private addresses three weeks ago, at the beginning of ARIA's recent price surge.

Polygon (POL) announced the launch of its native liquid staking token, sPOL, aiming to inject 3.6 billion POL ($330 million) into the DeFi ecosystem. Users can stake POL to receive sPOL at a one-to-one ratio.

Kyobo Life Insurance and Ripple are reviewing the operational status of their government bond trading proof-of-concept (PoC) project on a live testnet and discussing future cooperation, the Electronic Times Internet reported. Since signing a partnership last September, the two companies have analyzed the South Korean regulatory environment and reviewed various technical models, including stablecoin settlement and bond tokens. This month, they entered the practical phase, using Ripple's institutional blockchain infrastructure to verify the technical feasibility of the trading structure. The project's core is to validate a 'government bond token' technology that converts real-world financial assets, such as government bonds, into digital tokens for on-chain trading.

The frontend for CoW Swap has been restored and is now available on the official website, Head of Technology Felix Leupold announced on X. Leupold advised users to only use the existing GPv2VaultRelayer contract address for approval signatures. The platform previously experienced a frontend error, which the team had announced it was investigating.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a recent interview with Fox News that while it remains to be seen what will happen with U.S.-Iran relations, he believes Iran is very eager to make a deal.

Mirae Asset Securities is set to become the first South Korean securities firm to enter the retail cryptocurrency business in Hong Kong, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. The company's Hong Kong subsidiary has received final approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for a digital asset retail license. It plans to officially launch a cryptocurrency trading service for individual investors in the city this June through a new mobile trading system (MTS).

The meme coin 币安人生, named after the memoir of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, has climbed to 99th in overall cryptocurrency market capitalization following a surge of approximately 393% over the past seven days. It is currently trading at $0.3475, up 75.55% in the last 24 hours, with a market cap of about $350 million.

Three addresses linked to crypto financial services firm BIT (formerly Matrixport) have fully closed long positions totaling 1,150 BTC and 95,000 ETH, realizing a profit of $48.19 million, Onchain Lens reported. The addresses now only hold a 25x long position in ETH with an unrealized profit of approximately $8.12 million. The average entry price for this position is $2,012.11, with a liquidation price of $894.55.

Despite a recent rise in BTC's price, traders are still heavily favoring bearish bets, according to an analysis. Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33, noted that the funding rate for Binance's BTC perpetual futures has been negative for 11 consecutive days, CoinDesk reported. This indicates that market participants are still betting on a price decline even as prices rise. Lunde also pointed out that an increase in open interest (OI) corresponds with an influx of new short positions. The 30-day average funding rate has now been negative for 46 consecutive days, a trend similar to what was seen during the FTX collapse in 2022 and after China's crypto mining ban in 2021. However, Lunde suggested that such periods of strong risk aversion can present attractive buying opportunities. He explained that an excessive buildup of short positions could be forcibly liquidated, potentially triggering a rally.

RaveDAO (RAVE) has surpassed Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) to rank 22nd in overall cryptocurrency market capitalization after surging more than 6,000% over the past seven days. According to CoinMarketCap, RAVE is currently trading at $16.58, up 107.02% over the past 24 hours, with a market cap of approximately $4.1 billion.

The South Korean government is moving to reform its Basic Pension system to include overseas and virtual assets when determining eligibility, Edaily reported. The measure is designed to prevent high-net-worth individuals from exploiting loopholes to receive payments and to enhance the fairness of the system. Currently, assessments primarily focus on domestic assets, making it difficult to track holdings such as overseas financial assets or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The government is now pursuing an amendment to the Basic Pension Act that would mandate the reporting of foreign income and assets and strengthen links to tax information.

South Korean travel agency Modetour has successfully completed a Proof of Concept (PoC) for a stablecoin-based payment ecosystem, Maeil Business Newspaper reported. The trial confirmed the potential for applying digital assets to payments for travel packages. Stablecoins are gaining attention as an alternative to reduce persistent issues in the travel industry, such as currency exchange costs, card fees, and remittance delays, which stem from its complex payment processes.

Ether.fi (ETHFI) has decided to supply $3 billion worth of ETH in validator liquidity to the Ethereum block trading platform EtherGas (GWEI) over the next three years, Unfolded reported. The project plans to use its current holdings of approximately 2.8 million ETH to secure both staking rewards and Maximal Extractable Value (MEV), which is the additional profit block producers can earn by manipulating the order of transactions. Unfolded added that the concentration of validators among large liquid staking token (LST) operators could become a potential issue.