Stablecoin impasse causing DeFi, ‘ethics’ concerns grow

Tech  Stablecoin impasse causing DeFi, ‘ethics’ concerns grow  Just when U.S. crypto supporters think theyve extinguished one digital asset market structure fire, new blazes ignite, and the smoke is making the finish line even harder to see.  The Senate Banking Committee has yet to schedule a markup session for its CLARITY Act digital asset market structure bill, despite recent claims that the long-running stablecoin ‘yield/rewards’ fight between crypto stakeholders and the banking sector had been resolved.  On April 21, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) poured cold water on hopes that Banking would hold a markup session this month, suggesting May was a far better bet. Tillis, who has been working with fellow Committee member Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) on a bipartisan stablecoin compromise (the text of which has yet to be made public), said more time was needed to ensure all stakeholders views received ample consideration.  Accordingly, stakeholders on both sides of this debate have been airing their concerns/grievances with Banking members. Crypto In Americas Eleanor Terrett reported that the North Carolina Bankers Association asked their employees to call Tillis to insist on “an airtight prohibition” of digital asset platforms like Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) offering “any interest or yield-like payments tied to the holding, retention, or balance

04-29

Nigerias Greenafrica Claims $100k Top Prize as Hedera Hackathon Draws 45,000 Participants

Other top winners included Egypt‘s Carboni Renewable Energy Certificate Platform, which took second place overall, and Mexico’s Effisend X Africa, an AI-powered payment routing system, in third. Organizers noted that the 2025 submissions shifted toward pragmatic infrastructure, including systems for cross-network payments and secure medical record management.  Coinciding with the awards, The Hashgraph Association announced the formation of a new investment committee. The body is designed to provide multi-million-dollar commitments to strategic partnerships, offering capital and mentorship to developers in emerging markets.  “Any strong, innovative and responsible technical ecosystem begins with education,” said Paolo Tasca, executive chairman at Exponential Science. “We have seen that approach materialize at scale, with participants advancing from learning to the development of meaningful infrastructure.”  The hackathon was co-funded by The Hashgraph Association and Exponential Science in partnership with Orange Digital Center and operated by Dar Blockchain. Supporting partners included Sygnum Bank and the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The Hashgraph Association confirmed the event will return in 2026, with details on location and tracks to be released at a later date.

04-29

Jerome Powell likely chairs final FOMC meeting, Kevin Warsh to succeed

Tech  Jerome Powell likely chairs final FOMC meeting, Kevin Warsh to succeed  Jerome Powell is likely chairing his last FOMC meeting today, with Kevin Warsh set to take over next month. The market for Powell stepping down by May 14 sits at 5% YES, while the May 31 contract trades at 97% YES.  Market reaction  The May 14 contract spiked from 2% to 50% at 11:40 AM yesterday but quickly settled back to 5%. Traders briefly priced in an immediate exit, then reverted. The May 15 contract jumped to 73.5% YES, up from 26% just a day ago, a 47.5-point surge reflecting increased expectations of Powells departure in that window. The June 30 contract sits at 98.4% YES, with traders betting on Warsh stepping in well before then.  Why it matters  Powell‘s departure and Warsh’s anticipated confirmation would change who controls monetary policy direction. Warsh, a former Fed governor who left the board in 2011, has been publicly skeptical of the Feds post-2020 inflation response, and his appointment could shift rate-setting priorities.  What to watch  In trading terms, $12,518 in actual USDC moved the May 14 market, with $3,604 needed to swing it 5 points. That thin liquidity means a single large order can cause sharp moves, as

04-29

Hana Financial, POSCO, and Upbit operator Dunamu sign deal to pilot blockchain payments

South Koreas Hana Financial Group, POSCO International, and Dunamu have signed a trilateral agreement to deploy a blockchain-based remittance system, with real trade transactions set to begin through POSCO International.Hana Financial, POSCO International, and Dunamu have signed an agreement to test a blockchain remittance system using real trade transactions.The companies said the system, powered by Dunamus GIWA Chain, will combine payment messaging and settlement into a single real-time process.POSCO International is expanding its digital finance efforts while Dunamu continues to face regulatory scrutiny over its planned stock swap with Naver Financial.  According to a Wednesday announcement from the companies, the agreement formalizes a move from testing to live deployment, allowing POSCO International to process actual cross-border fund flows using the new system.  The signing took place on Tuesday at Hana Financial Groups headquarters in Seoul, following a proof-of-concept completed earlier this year by Hana and Dunamu.  Results from that pilot, as disclosed by the firms, showed that blockchain infrastructure could reduce both settlement time and transaction costs when compared with the traditional SWIFT framework, where payment instructions and fund transfers occur in separate stages.  By combining these steps into a single process, the new system is designed to handle remittances in real time.  GIWA Chain

04-29

Visa (V) Stock Surges Over 5% on Record-Breaking Q2 Results

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.31, surpassing the consensus estimate of $3.10, while revenue reached $11.2 billion versus expectations of $10.75 billionFiscal second-quarter revenue increased 17% compared to the same period last year — representing the strongest expansion rate in over two yearsPayment volumes climbed 9%, international cross-border transactions jumped 12%, and total processed transactions increased 9%The company unveiled a fresh $20 billion stock repurchase authorization and approved a quarterly dividend payment of $0.670Shares climbed more than 5% during extended trading hours following Tuesdays market close at $309.10, down 0.1%  The payment processing giant exceeded Wall Street expectations across the board in its fiscal second quarter, reporting results after markets closed on Tuesday, April 28.  VISA $V Q226 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS  Net Revenue: $11.23B (Est. $10.74B) ; +17% y/y  Adj. EPS: $3.31 (Est. $3.10) ; +20% y/y  Payments Volume: +9% y/y  Cross-Border Volume: +12% y/y  Processed Transactions: 66.1B (Est. 66.39B) ; +9% y/y  Adjusted earnings per share registered at $3.31, marking a significant increase from $2.76 in the year-ago period and beating the Streets $3.10 projection. Total revenue climbed to $11.2 billion, representing a 17% year-over-year gain and the most robust growth trajectory since 2022. The analyst community had forecast $10.75 billion.  On a GAAP basis, net

04-29

AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Database in 9 Seconds

Tech  AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Database in 9 Seconds  PocketOS‘ founder Jeremy Crane announced that an AI coding agent destroyed his company’s production database and backups in nine seconds. The agent, using Anthropic‘s Claude Opus 4.6 model on the Cursor platform, triggered Railway infrastructure provider’s GraphQL API with a single call during a routine task. Crane notes in his viral post on the X platform that the agent later produced a text confessing its errors. The agent admitted that while user approval is required for destructive commands, it made incorrect assumptions to resolve authentication inconsistencies. This incident highlights the risks of granting AI-based tools access to production environments.  An AI agent (Cursor + Claude Opus 4.6) deleted our production database in 9 seconds using a Railway API call with zero confirmation. Then, when asked why, the agent wrote this → https://t.co/BPLs15jvdM  — JER (@lifeof_jer) April 26, 2026  PocketOS has been operating since 2020 as a software platform managing reservations, payments, and vehicle tracking for car rental businesses. According to Crane, when the agent encountered an issue in the staging environment, it tried to fix it by deleting the database volume, but this operation also affected production data. The volume deletion via GraphQL mutation on Railway

04-29

Jerome Powell likely chairs final FOMC meeting, Kevin Warsh to succeed

Tech  Jerome Powell likely chairs final FOMC meeting, Kevin Warsh to succeed  Jerome Powell is likely chairing his last FOMC meeting today, with Kevin Warsh set to take over next month. The market for Powell stepping down by May 14 sits at 5% YES, while the May 31 contract trades at 97% YES.  Market reaction  The May 14 contract spiked from 2% to 50% at 11:40 AM yesterday but quickly settled back to 5%. Traders briefly priced in an immediate exit, then reverted. The May 15 contract jumped to 73.5% YES, up from 26% just a day ago, a 47.5-point surge reflecting increased expectations of Powells departure in that window. The June 30 contract sits at 98.4% YES, with traders betting on Warsh stepping in well before then.  Why it matters  Powell‘s departure and Warsh’s anticipated confirmation would change who controls monetary policy direction. Warsh, a former Fed governor who left the board in 2011, has been publicly skeptical of the Feds post-2020 inflation response, and his appointment could shift rate-setting priorities.  What to watch  In trading terms, $12,518 in actual USDC moved the May 14 market, with $3,604 needed to swing it 5 points. That thin liquidity means a single large order can cause sharp moves, as

04-29

Mezo, Anchorage, and Bullish Ally to Launch Institutional Bitcoin Yield Vaults

Mezo, a decentralized Bitcoin-native finance firm, is pleased to launch Mezo Prime, a product that provides seamless access to Bitcoin yield and lending on Mezo for institutional holders and corporate treasuries. Anchorage is the first digital bank in the United States to get the first position for being a federally chartered as a digital assets bank. The basic purpose of this massive amalgam is to ensure easy access to institutional Bitcoin Yield vaults for daily usage purposes.  Mezo Prime has the ability to remove the hindrance of users handicaps for the utility of Bitcoin at work. Before this, institutional holders and corporate treasuries were reluctant and unable to put Bitcoin to proper working order. From the other perspective, Mezo Prime is basically giving users a secure opportunity for spending Bitcoin with protected vaults, along with Anchorage and Bullish.  Mezo Prime Unlocks Institutional Bitcoin Yield with Secure Segregated Custody  Matt Luongo, co-founder of Mezo and CEO of Thesis, expressed his thoughts. He said, “Over a million Bitcoins sit on corporate balance sheets today, and almost none of its working. Mezo Prime changes that segregated custody through Anchorage Digital Bank, no rehypothecation, and real yield from protocol activity. We built this for the CFOs and

04-29

Canada Moves to Ban Crypto ATMs to Combat Fraud

Crypto  Canada Moves to Ban Crypto ATMs to Combat FraudCanada plans to ban crypto ATMs after regulators link them to rising fraud cases.FINTRAC identifies crypto ATMs as a key channel used in scam-related transactions.Bill C-25 advances to restrict crypto donations in federal political campaigns.  Canada is moving toward stricter controls on crypto access points and political use cases, as federal authorities outline plans to ban crypto ATMs and limit digital asset donations in elections. The measures, detailed in the Spring Economic Update 2026 and ongoing legislative activity, correspond to a broader shift toward tightening oversight where regulators have identified fraud and transparency risks.  Officials have pointed to crypto ATMs as a key channel for scams, while lawmakers are advancing proposals to restrict the use of digital assets in political financing.  Canada Targets Crypto ATMs Over Fraud Concerns  According to a CBC News report, the federal government has proposed a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency ATMs, describing them as a primary method scammers use to defraud victims and process illicit funds. The country currently hosts nearly 4,000 machines, the highest number per capita globally.  Investigations cited in the report found that these machines have become a central tool for fraud schemes. FINTRAC reached a similar conclusion in a

04-29

Give it Some Time: Why Author of 700% XRP Forecast Sees Bitcoin in a Healthy Reset Phase

Bitcoin  ‘Give it Some Time’: Why Author of 700% XRP Forecast Sees Bitcoin in a Healthy Reset Phase  Amid tense anticipation ahead of the FOMC meeting and Q1 2026 GDP data, Bitcoin (BTC) is consolidating in the $76,300-$77,750 range. Against this backdrop, a comment from trader DonAlt has drawn particular attention – a figure whose XRP forecasts in 2024-2025 resulted in a sevenfold increase.  This time, instead of calling for new “rockets”, the expert trader offers the market a dose of cold-blooded patience.  Why Bitcoins best move right now is doing nothing  DonAlt, whose structural analysis of XRP allowed him to predict the rally to $3.66, now assesses Bitcoins condition as “kind of alright”. Despite recent volatility, he notes that BTC showed a solid reaction at support levels.  ASTEROID Whales Pivot to New Memecoins but Lose All of Their Money  Ripple CEO on XRP: ‘Lock In’  Resistance from here looks “so-so”, the trader sums up briefly – the market may simply need more time. His stance contrasts with the broader tension ahead of the FOMC meeting, where a rate hold is expected with 99% probability.  While retail participants speculate on whether BTC will hold key support at $75,200, institutional interest remains risk-off. Bitcoin ETF funds continue to see outflows

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