The crypto market has seen a notable uptick in activity this week, with total market capitalization rising by 10% over the past seven days.
This surge reflects renewed investor interest, particularly among large holders, who have strategically accumulated select altcoins.
Uniswap (UNI)
Uniswap’s governance token UNI is one of the tokens crypto whales bought this week. This is evidenced by its large holders’ netflow, up 492% over the past seven days.
The large holders’ netflow measures the difference between the amount of tokens that whales buy and sell over a specified period. When it surges like this, it signals strong accumulation by whales, suggesting growing confidence or a bullish outlook on the asset.
If whale accumulation persists, UNI could extend its rally to $7.10. On the other hand, if demand leans, UNI could shed recent gains and fall to $4.60.
MANTRA (OM)
OM’s recent price downturn has opened the door for strategic accumulation by some of its largest holders. According to on-chain data from Santiment, whale addresses holding between 10 million and 100 million OM tokens scooped up 26 million OM during the week under review.
This accumulation trend follows a dramatic collapse in OM’s price on April 13. The token suffered a flash crash that erased over 90% of its value in less than an hour, wiping out more than $5.5 billion in market capitalization.
The price plunge shook retail sentiment, but whales appear to have viewed it as a discounted entry point, positioning themselves for a potential recovery.
If this trend continues, OM could rally above $1. However, once selloffs resume, its price could fall to $0.022.
Worldcoin (WLD)
Sam Altman-linked WLD is another altcoin that crypto whales bought this week. On-chain data shows that whales holding between 1 million and 10 million tokens have acquired 13 million WLD over the past week.
This group of WLD investors holds 798.06 million tokens at press time, marking their highest recorded balance. If WLD whales increase their accumulation, its price could rally back above $1.
On the other hand, if selloffs continue, it could fall to $0.57.
Welcome to the Asia Pacific Morning Brief—your essential digest of overnight crypto developments shaping regional markets and global sentiment.
Grab a green tea and watch this space. Trump administration officials hold more than $193 million in crypto stakes. House crypto bills drive record stock highs. Korea’s Upbit faces a potential $137 billion penalty for 9.57 million violations.
Trump Officials Hold Millions in Crypto
Nearly 70 Trump officials hold cryptocurrency stakes worth millions, according to a report by The Washington Post. President Trump himself holds at least $51 million in digital assets. Vice President Vance commands bitcoin reserves worth up to half a million dollars.
Seven Cabinet members maintain crypto wallets with significant holdings. Health Secretary Kennedy leads with five million in cryptocurrency investments. Justice Department prosecutors have reduced their pursuit of cryptocurrency crimes.
Trump administration officials hold millions in Crypto. Source: Washington Post
Tech executives like Scott Kupor and David Fogel joined the administration ranks. Ambassadors including Ken Howery and Tilman Fertitta, possess substantial portfolios. PayPal founder Howery holds a minimum of $122 million.
Biden administration officials reported zero cryptocurrency holdings in contrast. Trump’s era marks cryptocurrency achieving unprecedented governmental legitimacy. Digital asset values have doubled recently across markets.
Crypto Stocks and Digital Assets Rise on Bills
House passes crypto bills sparking massive stock surge. Coinbase climbs 3.15% to $410.75, hitting fresh record highs. Circle Internet Group gains 0.81% reaching three-week peaks.
Robinhood Markets jumps 2.13% above $105 breaking previous records. Galaxy Digital Holdings soars 7.38% as investors celebrate regulatory clarity. PayPal Holdings adds 1.22% benefiting from crypto momentum.
Crypto Stocks Performance
Ticker
Company
Price
Change
MSTR
Strategy, Inc.
$451.34
-1%
COIN
Coinbase Global, Inc.
$410.75
3.15%
HOOD
Robinhood Markets, Inc.
$105.45
2.13%
PYPL
PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$73.86
1.22%
CRCL
Circle Internet Group, Inc.
$235.08
0.81%
XYZ
Block, Inc.
$70.73
2.46%
NTHOL
Net Holding A.S.
$46.92
3.12%
GLXY
Galaxy Digital Holdings
$35.79
7.38%
MARA
Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.
$19.97
2.73%
MTPLF
Metaplanet
$9.29
1.2%
RIOT
Riot Platforms, Inc.
$13.33
6.05%
CLARITY Act targets crypto market structure oversight framework. GENIUS Act creates comprehensive stablecoin regulation guidelines nationwide. The Senate already cleared the stablecoin bill last month.
Bitcoin hovers around $119,000, showing minimal daily movement. Ethereum remains stable at $3,480 despite equity optimism. XRP surges 15% approaching its 2018 record high.
Market capitalization exceeds $100 billion for leading exchanges. Digital asset investment firms benefit from legislative progress. Regulatory clarity drives unprecedented stock market performance.
Upbit Could Face $137 Billion Fine
South Korean Lawmaker Min Byung-duk revealed that Upbit could face maximum penalty. South Korea’s largest crypto exchange violated regulations 9.57 million times. Financial Intelligence Unit found ten different violation categories previously.
Know Your Customer violations reached 9.34 million cases alone. Upbit reused old identification images instead of collecting new ones. This basic compliance failure occurred nine million separate times.
Current sanctions include a three-month partial business suspension only. Ten executives and employees received disciplinary actions recently. However, financial penalties have not been imposed yet.
Agricultural Bank received 129.6 million KRW fine for twelve violations. IM Bank paid 4.5 million KRW for single regulatory breach. Upbit’s violations dwarf traditional banking institution cases significantly.
Maximum penalties could reach 183 trillion KRW, equivalent to $137 billion, under current law. This amount exceeds most national government budgets worldwide.
Welcome to the US Morning Crypto News Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to see what data says about the Bitcoin (BTC) price outlook, alongside insights into the current sentiment in the options market. Remember, this being the last Friday of April, monthly options expired today at 8:00 UTC on Deribit.
Strong Market Expectations of Bitcoin Reaching $100,000
Interestingly, Bitcoin traded well above its max pain or strike price of $86,000. Ordinarily, as options near expiration, an asset’s price would tend to gravitate toward its max pain level. While Bitcoin traded for $93,471 minutes before the options expiry, it is now selling for $94,581.
BeInCrypto contacted Bitfinex analysts for insights into the current market outlook and their perspective on what lies ahead for the Bitcoin price in the short term. According to the analysts, Bitcoin’s price could record further upside after clearing option-based resistance.
“Post-expiry, the market is leaning cautiously bullish, and with the $90,000 strike cluster now cleared, there’s less option-based resistance overhead,” Bitfinex analysts told BeInCrypto.
Further, the analysts observed that many traders have rolled exposure to higher strikes, with $95,000 and $100,000 showing increased call open interest for end-April and May expiries.
While this reflects the expected continued upside, the analysts did not rule out a potential short-term chop.
This aligns with Deribit analysts’ statements that the highest open interest for BTC options was around the $100,000 strike price. This indicates strong market expectations of Bitcoin reaching this level.
As BeInCrypto reported, the analysts ascribed this to traders selling cash-secured put options on Bitcoin. These traders also use stablecoins to collect premiums while buying BTC at lower prices.
BeInCrypto also reported that the Cumulative delta (CD) across BTC and related ETF (exchange-traded fund) options on Deribit reached $9 billion. Bitfinex analysts agree, citing rising spot flows and ETF demand.
“Spot flows and ETF demand have picked up significantly for BTC over the past few days and will now continue to dictate if BTC can establish $90,000 as support,” the analysts added.
Meanwhile, these forecasts add to the list of growing bullish bets on Bitcoin’s price, credibly confirming a sentiment shared in the previous US Crypto News publication.
However, despite strong prospects for more Bitcoin price gains, some analysts urge investors to temper their optimism. One is Innokenty Isers, the Chief Executive Officer at Paybis Exchange.
“Current market outlook suggests that Bitcoin price may face more stiff resistance moving forward. In the last two months, the uncertainty around the tariff war triggered an unusual concern for investors as many decided to temporarily steer clear of more volatile assets like Bitcoin,” Isers told BeInCrypto.
Moreover, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has spotlighted the inflationary risks the tariff war may introduce. Nevertheless, Isers acknowledged clear indications of sustained accumulation of BTC by institutional investors and market whales.
This chart shows that the top Bitcoin options by trading volume over the past 24 hours are call options with strike prices of $95,000 and $100,000, ahead of the May 2 expiry.
Byte-Sized Alpha
Bitcoin rebounds 25% in April, shifting market sentiment from fear to greed, per the Crypto Fear & Greed Index readings.
Cardano gained 15% in a week, holding a bullish structure despite a volume dip and early signs of consolidation near key price levels.
USD1 stablecoin, launched by World Liberty Financial, is subject to the EU’s MiCA regulations, which require compliance with transparency, reserve backing, and conflict of interest rules.
Gradient Network’s recent $10 million seed round is the latest signal of accelerating capital deployment in decentralized AI infrastructure.
Backed by Pantera Capital, Multicoin Capital, and HSG, the funding will support the development of Gradient’s decentralized AI runtime stack.
The Shift from Centralized AI to Decentralized Alternatives
The project is launching two core protocols—Lattica and Parallax—to facilitate peer-to-peer data movement and distributed AI inference. This development is not isolated.
According to market data, the decentralized AI sector included 164 companies by the end of 2024. Of those, 104 secured funding. The total market cap is expected to reach $973.6 million by 2027.
Decentralized AI projects aim to challenge the dominance of hyperscalers like OpenAI, Google, and AWS. These firms control the vast majority of AI training, inference, and distribution infrastructure.
AI is rapidly becoming the evolutionary infrastructure of humanity.
But as it grows more indispensable, we’re becoming increasingly dependent on centralized systems.
Privacy erosion, access barriers, and the monopolization of intelligence are no longer hypothetical. They’re…
This distinguishes it from compute rental marketplaces and model repositories.
Why Gradient Network’s Funding Round Stands Out
Pantera and Multicoin have historically invested in infrastructure-level plays. Their participation in this round suggests increased institutional confidence in decentralized runtime models.
By backing protocols like Lattica (for data flow) and Parallax (for inference), investors are betting on infrastructure that enables AI agents—where models dynamically communicate, share context, and run across distributed systems.
Bandwidth, latency, and heterogeneous hardware environments remain complex to coordinate. Gradient’s use of Sentry Nodes attempts to address this, but adoption at scale remains unproven.
Security also raises concerns. Serving models across untrusted devices introduces risks around output manipulation, data leakage, and model poisoning.
While Gradient’s architecture promises privacy-preserving inference, independent audits and long-term resilience will be critical.
Overall, Gradient’s funding reinforces the idea that decentralized AI is not fringe. It joins a growing set of infrastructure projects aiming to make intelligence open, modular, and verifiable.
