Syz the moment

The 'ETHness Stakes' Source: Bloomberg, James Seyffart

Former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison Tuesday, punished after pleading guilty to money laundering violations last year. Zhao founded Binance in 2017, and under his leadership, the company grew into crypto’s largest exchange by trading volume—cementing Zhao’s presence as a key business figure in the nascent crypto industry. But the former CEO was forced to step down from Binance last November as part of a $4.3 billion settlement between him, the exchange, and U.S. law officials. U.S. Justice Department officials said that Zhao created a company culture in which Binance’s growth was prioritized over compliance with U.S. financial rules. By serving American customers without the proper controls in place, funds linked to virtual theft and terrorism were able to flow through Binance undetected, officials said. Source: Decrypt

Over the last 3weeks, total crypto fund outflows were $767 million. Last week alone, ~$435 million of crypto assets were removed from these funds, the most since late March. The majority of the outflows were recorded in Bitcoin which saw $423 million of fund withdrawals. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is down 12% in April but is still up 48% year to date. Crypto is taking a breather. Source: The Kobeissi Letter, CoinShares

Source: Win Smart

According to a report by Kaiko Research, BTC’s latest rally is creating about 1500 millionaire wallets daily. However, despite the increase in Bitcoin (BTC) millionaire wallets, Kaiko Research notes that the number of millionaire wallets created daily during the 2021 bull run was closer to 4000, more than double the current number. According to Kaiko Research, low millionaire wallets could be due to the lack of new capital. The report notes, ‘In 2021, there was a huge influx in capital as all manner of bull sought to benefit from the crypto hype. This time around, whales could be taking a more cautious approach, waiting to see if the gains have legs before investing.‘ https://lnkd.in/eabkjiHh

Germany-based Deutsche Boerse announced fully regulated crypto trading platform Deutsche Boerse Digital Exchange (DBDX). The spot trading platform is targeted for institutional clients said the Deutsche Boerse. The new Deutsche Boerse Digital Exchange is the latest step in its digital strategy to deliver a fully regulated and secure environment for institutional trading, settlement, and custody for this digital asset class. The German exchange group last year committed to introduce an integrated digital asset platform as part of its Horizon 2026 program. The initial trading will be request-for-quote basis and gradually moving to multilateral trading. Deutsche Boerse will offer trading venue and Crypto Finance (Deutschland) to provide digital asset clearing and settlement services. source : coingape

The BRICS nations, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, have announced their intention to create an independent payment system based on crypto and blockchain technology. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the primary goal of this initiative is to provide a convenient, cost-effective, and politically neutral platform for governments, businesses, and individuals within the BRICS countries. The decision to develop this innovative payment system comes as part of the BRICS nations’ broader strategy to increase their role in the international monetary and financial system.

The recent approval of bitcoin ETFs, which has enabled record crypto fund inflows, to the tune of $7.7 billion already which blows all of 2021's $5.2 billion inflows (the year when bitcoin hit its previous all time high) away, which also means that the current explosion in crypto is taking place with far less leverage. Annualize that, and you get a shocking number. Source: BofA