Bitstamp has partnered with Spanish banking giant BBVA to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum trading in Spain. This move allows BBVA’s retail customers to buy and sell crypto directly through the bank’s mobile app. Bitstamp, now owned by Robinhood, provides the regulated infrastructure and liquidity behind the service. The partnership marks a big step in making crypto more accessible through traditional banks, offering users a secure and simple way to invest in digital assets without leaving their banking platform.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is in the spotlight as he recently hinted at major changes to expect ahead of the Ouroboros Leois update. Among the key things to expect, according to Hoskinson, is that AI agents may be deployed for stress-testing Ouroboros Leois.
Charles Hoskinson on the Cardano Ouroboros Leios
The Cardano Founder disclosed this in an X post, raising discussions within the community. Hoskinson announced a testnet for the Leios protocol, a research initiative to boost Cardano’s transaction throughput. This initiative is part of a broader 2025 roadmap, as Cardano aims for scalability and quantum resilience.
Notably, the Cardano founder explained that the Leois testnet will be populated by thousands of AI agents to trade amongst each other. This strategy is important to stress-test the network’s speed, security, and scalability before involving tangible assets or users. It is also an exciting opportunity for Cardano Decentralized Applications (DApps) to leverage high-speed trading with AI.
Simply explained, AI agents are software programs that use machine learning models to process real‑time data and make fast decisions. These agents function as decision-makers. They process input from their environment, evaluate it using sophisticated algorithms, and act promptly to meet objectives.
The Ouroboros Upgrade: Key Takeaways
Ouroboros Leios is a significant redesign of Cardano’s Ouroboros consensus, still in prototyping. This transformative upgrade is designed to achieve scalability and throughput, pushing Cardano beyond its current limits.
It targets faster block processing to scale Cardano for global DApps and paves the way for advanced Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Leois also ensures the efficiency of the Cardano blockchain while maintaining decentralization and protocol security.
Full development could take another year or two, reflecting Cardano’s methodical, research-driven approach.
Can Cardano Leios Compete With Ethereum Pectra
Like Cardano, the Ethereum network is close to launching a new update called Pectra. The upgrade is expected to increase the network’s scalability and security. Pectra promises to make staking even greater and adds a few usability boosts.
Pectra faced many challenges, including failing to finalize on the Holesky and Sepolia testnets. However, developers soon devised a strategy to stabilize the Holesky testnet environments, hastening the upgrade.
Hopes remain high that Pectra can revitalize Ethereum and pave the way for innovations throughout the EVM stack. Lower fees would benefit the Ethereum network and its Layer-2 solutions, such as Optimism.
Pectra rivals Cardano’s Ouroboros Leios, with an expected mainnet launch in May. Both upgrades offer promise; thus, many are watching to see their overall impact, but not really which network emerges as the winner.
The SEC just postponed two of Grayscale’s ETF applications, specifically those concerning Solana and Litecoin. This latest announcement adds to the Commission’s recent series of decisions to push back several altcoin ETFs from different asset managers.
Several prominent ETF analysts also declined to publicly comment on this delay. In the long run, SEC approval is still very likely, even if it takes a few months to be finalized.
Nonetheless, when the Commission postponed Grayscale’s Solana and Litecoin ETF applications, reactions have been muted.
“Institution of proceedings does not indicate that the Commission has reached any conclusions with respect to any of the issues involved. Rather, the Commission seeks and encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule change,” the SEC claimed in its delay filing.
Previously, analysts claimed that a Litecoin ETF is more likely than any other altcoin product, but didn’t comment on today’s events.
The market is also anticipating a Solana ETF, but progress isn’t coming yet. At this point, the market is starting to price in these delays.
Last week, Litecoin rallied after the SEC delayed an ETF filing, defying bearish assumptions. So far, neither of the underlying tokens has seen much of a price move after the Commission’s announcement.
Still, there are plenty of reasons to be bullish about approval in the long term. Less than a week ago, the SEC met with representatives from BlackRock to discuss ETF regulations.
These talks included high-level associates from the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF issuer; the Head and Director of both Digital Assets and Regulatory Affairs were present.
In other words, the SEC is delaying things, but it’s probably going to approve several of these altcoin ETFs in the end. The Commission is seeking industry feedback on long-term implications, but it hasn’t given an outwardly negative sign yet.
Of course, the industry would love speedy SEC approval for all these ETF filings. However, as the recent rate cuts saga clearly indicates, it doesn’t need things like this to maintain profitability.
The crypto market has a lot of solid fundamentals right now, which will benefit these assets, even if the Commission keeps dragging its feet for months.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao made a rare public appearance in Hong Kong Sunday, revealing he rarely trades cryptocurrency despite founding the world’s largest exchanges.
The appearance was particularly noteworthy as Zhao recently denied reports he would attend another Hong Kong crypto event on April 8. His presence at both the BNB Super Meetup and the MVB 9th event generated significant attention in the crypto community.
CZ talking with Justin Sun at a BNB event in Hong Kong. Source:X(joezhoublack)
Market Concerns and Investment Advice
“The industry is not particularly healthy right now,” Zhao said during the BNB Super Meetup, criticizing excessive focus on meme coins. “We’re putting too much attention on quick gains.”
In a surprising admission, Zhao said, “I don’t speculate much. I don’t trade crypto much. I haven’t bought any meme coins.”
Zhao, worth approximately $66.6 billion, suggested several dozen to “over a hundred” cryptocurrencies could potentially outperform Bitcoin long-term, while emphasizing Bitcoin remains the most stable investment.
For newcomers, he recommended a disciplined approach “I strongly recommend young people invest a small amount each month that you can afford to lose,” he advised, endorsing dollar-cost averaging. “There’s no bad time to enter the market, but how you enter is very important.”
Past Mistakes
Zhao acknowledged mistakes in Binance’s approach to DeFi, admitting he failed to give proper attention to the BNB ecosystem while dealing with US legal issues.
“We didn’t focus enough on the BNB ecosystem. This was a big mistake.”
When asked about BNB’s future value, Zhao avoided specific predictions but emphasized that expanding use cases would naturally increase its value.
Personal Life
Zhao revealed numerous countries now seek his blockchain advice, including the UAE, United States, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan. “Now countries need us, and we can support them,” he said.
In a separate interview with Tron founder Justin Sun, Zhao discussed his digital education project aimed at providing free content to children worldwide. “With about $300 million, we could digitize 18 years of education across 30 subjects,” he explained.
Before the Super Meetup, Zhao appeared alongside Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin at BNB Chain’s MVB 9th event, where 16 projects were selected for an acceleration program.
When asked about his daily routine, Zhao said he typically works from bed due to back problems and enjoys kitesurfing in his free time. “Most of my time is spent working from bed because my back isn’t great,” he shared.
He completed a four-month prison sentence in September 2024 after pleading guilty to U.S. federal charges related to money laundering. Binance paid $4.3 billion in fines, while Zhao personally paid $50 million.
