Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Mortgage your home for dividends? Strategy CEO’s pitch raises eyebrows

On March 10, 2021, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) founder Michael Saylor encouraged investors to use leverage and even mortgage their homes to buy bitcoin (BTC). Five years later, the companys CEO Phong Le is talking about mortgages again, but this time in relation to buying Stretch (STRC) instead of BTC.　　Le talked about STRC, a stock with no guarantees of principal repayment that currently pays variable, 11.5% annualized dividends, on Natalie Brunells popular Bitcoin show.　　“It almost looks like a paycheck, right？ It‘s just coming in,” Le claimed in an incredible comparison of income to STRC’s variable dividends that his board of directors may suspend at any time.　　He also recommended STRC to people who “might have a mortgage to pay, or they might have utility bills to pay, or a car bill.”　　Then came the incredible changeover from Saylor‘s mortgage-for-BTC to CEO Le’s new mortgage-for-STRC. He told brunell:　　I, just last week, bought $250,000 of STRC. The reason I did it was just to sort of go through the experience, which I enjoy doing.　　I have monthly obligations. I have a 1.75% 30-year mortgage, right？ And if I can, instead of paying down that mortgage, put it into an instrument that pays me 11.5%, thats 10x

05-01Industry

KelpDAO commits 2,000 ETH to DeFi united recovery fund for rsETH restoration

ECB held rates at April 30 meeting but Lagarde stressed rising inflation and growth risks from Iran war, signaling June hike possibility.KelpDAO contributed 2,000 ETH from treasury to Aave-led DeFi United recovery planFunding aims to restore rsETH peg support following April 18 bridge exploitDeFi United has raised over $300 million from ecosystem participants to close backing shortfall　　KelpDAO announced April 30 it has completed its committed contribution to the recovery fund, providing 2,000 ETH in treasury funds to the DeFi United recovery plan led by Aave, aimed at restoring peg support for rsETH and promoting the systems return to normal operation. The funding represents a one-time investment intended to restore rsETH to its nominal exchange rate following the $292 million exploit that struck on April 18.　　“As part of that commitment, we are contributing 2,000 ETH from our treasury directly to DeFi United,” KelpDAO stated. The protocol emphasized that its internal commitment before any public statement was that “rsETH holders will not be abandoned,” noting the contribution is a direct manifestation of that pledge.　　Multi-Protocol Recovery Effort　　DeFi United, in collaboration with multiple ecosystem participants including Mantle, Consensys, Arbitrum, Lido Finance, and LayerZero, has formulated a recovery path that includes re-capitalization of the bridging

05-01Industry

Mortgage your home for dividends? Strategy CEO’s pitch raises eyebrows

On March 10, 2021, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) founder Michael Saylor encouraged investors to use leverage and even mortgage their homes to buy bitcoin (BTC). Five years later, the companys CEO Phong Le is talking about mortgages again, but this time in relation to buying Stretch (STRC) instead of BTC.　　Le talked about STRC, a stock with no guarantees of principal repayment that currently pays variable, 11.5% annualized dividends, on Natalie Brunells popular Bitcoin show.　　“It almost looks like a paycheck, right？ It‘s just coming in,” Le claimed in an incredible comparison of income to STRC’s variable dividends that his board of directors may suspend at any time.　　He also recommended STRC to people who “might have a mortgage to pay, or they might have utility bills to pay, or a car bill.”　　Then came the incredible changeover from Saylor‘s mortgage-for-BTC to CEO Le’s new mortgage-for-STRC. He told brunell:　　I, just last week, bought $250,000 of STRC. The reason I did it was just to sort of go through the experience, which I enjoy doing.　　I have monthly obligations. I have a 1.75% 30-year mortgage, right？ And if I can, instead of paying down that mortgage, put it into an instrument that pays me 11.5%, thats 10x

05-01Industry

Alternatives to Cision and Muck Rack: OMI Adds a Decision Layer That Precedes Media Databases

Most PR stacks start with the same assumption: pick a media database, build a list, and start outreach.　　Cision and Muck Rack dominate that workflow. They solve a clear problem—how to find journalists and manage communication at scale. But they dont answer a more fundamental question:　　Which media outlets are worth targeting in the first place？　　That gap has become more visible as media ecosystems grow more fragmented and campaign budgets face closer scrutiny.　　This is where a different category begins to take shape.　　What Cision and Muck Rack Are Designed to Do　　Cision and Muck Rack are media database platforms. Their core value is operational:Access to large journalist and outlet databasesContact discovery and relationship managementOutreach workflows and monitoringCoverage tracking and reporting　　They are built to execute PR campaigns efficiently.　　In practice, teams use them to build media lists, identify relevant contacts, send pitches, and track results. This model works well once the target outlets are defined, but the limitation is upstream.　　Where the Workflow Breaks　　Before outreach begins, every campaign depends on a series of decisions that databases dont structure:Which outlets align with campaign goalsWhich publications actually drive visibility or engagementWhich placements justify their costHow to compare outlets using consistent criteria　　Teams often try to answer these questions using traffic

05-01Industry

US Senate Passes Resolution Banning Senators From Prediction Market Trading

The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution from Senator Bernie Moreno that bars sitting senators from trading on prediction markets. The measure took effect immediately under the chambers internal Standing Rules.　　The voice vote came one week after Moreno introduced the resolution on April 24. It targets event contracts offered by platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi.　　Inside the Prediction Market Ban　　Moreno said the resolution amends Rule XXXVII of the Senate Standing Rules. It bars senators from entering agreements that depend on the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or scope of a specific event.　　Proud to say my bill to ban members of Congress from insider trading on prediction markets just passed the Senate UNANIMOUSLY!　　Serving in Congress is an honor, not a side hustle. Americans deserve to know that their leaders are here for the right reason!　　That language directly captures event contracts on Polymarket and Kalshi. Users on those platforms wager on elections, legislation, economic data releases, and geopolitical outcomes.　　An amendment from Senator Alex Padilla narrowed the text. The change prevents the rule from sweeping in conventional financial products such as insurance policies. Enforcement runs through the Senate Ethics Committee.　　Industry Backs the Move　　Kalshi chief executive Tarek Mansour applauded the rule. He noted that the platform already

05-01Industry

South Korea’s Shinhan Card Partners With Solana to Bring Stablecoin Payments to 28 Million Users

Shinhan Card, South Koreas largest card issuer with 28 million cardholders, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation. The deal covers stablecoin payment technology and joint development of next-generation payment infrastructure.　　This isn‘t a small partnership. It’s one of the largest TradFi-to-crypto collaborations announced in Asia this year, and it puts Solana at the center of how a major Korean financial institution thinks about the future of payments.　　Whats Actually Being Built By Solana & Shinhan　　Shinhan Card and Solana already completed a preliminary proof-of-concept last year. This new MoU expands that work into an advanced PoC on the Solana testnet. The two teams are building real payment scenarios between customers and merchants while testing the networks technical stability under conditions closer to actual use.　　A big part of the work focuses on non-custodial online wallets. Users keep full control over their assets without relying on a third party. That matters because it changes the trust model entirely. Traditional card payments depend on the bank or processor holding everything.　　Non-custodial wallets put that responsibility on the user. Shinhan Card wants to figure out how to make that work safely at the scale of 28 million customers.　　The Hybrid TradFi-DeFi Model　　The partnership goes beyond

05-01Industry

Investor Jack Selby: Markets underpricing the risk of Middle East AI pullback

A potential pullback by Middle East sovereign wealth funds could drain hundreds of billions of dollars from the artificial intelligence boom and threaten key data center projects, according to tech investor Jack Selby.　　Middle East investors — including sovereign wealth funds and government entities — account for roughly a quarter of global investments committed to AI over the next five years, said Selby, managing director of Peter Thiels family office, Thiel Capital. If the war in Iran drags on, and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other countries divert their investments to rebuilding at home, the lost capital could ripple through data centers as well as public and private tech companies, he said.　　“I think markets have underappreciated how important the Middle East region is for capex spending as it relates to AI and AI infrastructure,” Selby told CNBC in an interview. “If the Middle East starts taking some of these projects offline or canceling some of these projects, the impact on the market could be much, much, much larger than what they currently suggest.”　　Selbys warning has implications for high-net-worth investors, family offices and funds betting on the AI trade. A Wall Street Journal report this week about missed revenue targets

05-01Industry

US Senate Passes Resolution Banning Senators From Prediction Market Trading

The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution from Senator Bernie Moreno that bars sitting senators from trading on prediction markets. The measure took effect immediately under the chambers internal Standing Rules.　　The voice vote came one week after Moreno introduced the resolution on April 24. It targets event contracts offered by platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi.　　Inside the Prediction Market Ban　　Moreno said the resolution amends Rule XXXVII of the Senate Standing Rules. It bars senators from entering agreements that depend on the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or scope of a specific event.　　Proud to say my bill to ban members of Congress from insider trading on prediction markets just passed the Senate UNANIMOUSLY!　　That language directly captures event contracts on Polymarket and Kalshi. Users on those platforms wager on elections, legislation, economic data releases, and geopolitical outcomes.　　An amendment from Senator Alex Padilla narrowed the text. The change prevents the rule from sweeping in conventional financial products such as insurance policies. Enforcement runs through the Senate Ethics Committee.　　Industry Backs the Move　　Kalshi chief executive Tarek Mansour applauded the rule. He noted that the platform already blocks members of Congress and polices insider trading internally.　　“I applaud the Senate for passing this resolution to ban Senators and their offices

05-01Industry

Crypto Hacks Hit $650M in April, Biggest Losses Since 2022: CertiK

The post Crypto Hacks Hit $650M in April, Biggest Losses Since 2022: CertiK appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News　　April 2026 turned into a nightmare for the crypto world. According to CertiK, a blockchain security company, the total amount lost to hacks, scams, and exploits this month crossed $650.9 million.　　That makes it the worst month for crypto losses since March 2022, when the industry lost roughly $715 million　　Major Exploits Drove the Losses　　According to CertiKs data, the majority of losses came from exploit-based attacks rather than phishing or scams.　　The largest exploit came from KiloEx, which alone saw losses of about $291.3 million. This was followed by Drift Protocol, with losses of roughly $285.23 million, making it one of the biggest single incidents of the month.　　Meanwhile, other notable attacks included Rhea Finance at $18.47 million, Grinex at $16.23 million, and a contract exploit labeled 0x8B84 with losses of around $6.585 million.　　Wallet Compromises Led the Losses　　Looking at how the money was lost, wallet compromise was the biggest category by far, responsible for over $610 million of the total.　　Price manipulation schemes came second at around $18.88 million, followed by code vulnerabilities at nearly $17 million.　　Meanwhile, phishing attacks, though smaller in total, still caused $3.57 million

05-01Industry

South Korea’s Shinhan Card Partners With Solana to Bring Stablecoin Payments to 28 Million Users

Shinhan Card, South Koreas largest card issuer with 28 million cardholders, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation. The deal covers stablecoin payment technology and joint development of next-generation payment infrastructure.　　This isn‘t a small partnership. It’s one of the largest TradFi-to-crypto collaborations announced in Asia this year, and it puts Solana at the center of how a major Korean financial institution thinks about the future of payments.　　Whats Actually Being Built By Solana & Shinhan　　Shinhan Card and Solana already completed a preliminary proof-of-concept last year. This new MoU expands that work into an advanced PoC on the Solana testnet. The two teams are building real payment scenarios between customers and merchants while testing the networks technical stability under conditions closer to actual use.　　A big part of the work focuses on non-custodial online wallets. Users keep full control over their assets without relying on a third party. That matters because it changes the trust model entirely. Traditional card payments depend on the bank or processor holding everything.　　Non-custodial wallets put that responsibility on the user. Shinhan Card wants to figure out how to make that work safely at the scale of 28 million customers.　　The Hybrid TradFi-DeFi Model　　The partnership goes beyond

05-01Industry