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U.S.-listed pharmaceutical company NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: NBY) has announced its rebranding to Stablecoin Development Corporation (SDEV) and a significant purchase of SKY, the governance token for the Sky protocol. The company now holds approximately 2.06 billion SKY, which accounts for about 8.78% of the total supply, and is also staking its holdings. More than half of the tokens were acquired on the open market at an average price of around $0.065, while the rest were obtained through a financing agreement.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has submitted two proposed rules to the White House for review, one concerning digital assets and another on disclosures for hedge funds and private equity funds, Bloomberg reported. The proposals are currently under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In a speech last week, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins previewed a broad digital asset proposal. The plan is expected to include an "Innovation Exemption" clause, which would allow digital asset firms to operate for a period without registering as regulated entities like brokers or exchanges.

MoonPay has open-sourced its Open Wallet Standard (OWS), a new protocol designed to allow AI agents to execute multi-chain transactions without exposing private keys. More than 15 organizations, including PayPal, OKX, Ripple, Tron, the Ethereum Foundation, the Solana Foundation, Base, and Circle, contributed to the standard's launch. The standard supports eight chain families, including EVM, Solana, Bitcoin, Cosmos, TON, and the XRP Ledger, through a single interface. It is also compatible with existing AI payment protocols such as x402 and MPP.

The Jerusalem Post reported, citing a source, that Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is the official leading negotiations with the U.S. This contradicts an earlier report from Iran's state-run news agency, Fars, which stated there had been no communication with the U.S.

The odds of Iran agreeing to a ceasefire by April 30 have surpassed 50% on the prediction market Polymarket, currently standing at 51%.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will continue to bomb Iran if negotiations with the country fail.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced that it will temporarily suspend deposit and withdrawal services for Peaq (PEAQ) due to a network issue.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has reached a 15-point agreement with Iran, which includes a provision that Iran will not possess nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz will be managed jointly, adding that the strait will soon be opened if this approach is successful.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) has announced a significant expansion of its at-the-market (ATM) offering program to raise up to $44.1 billion. The program includes plans to issue an additional $21 billion in common stock, $21 billion in new perpetual preferred stock (STRC), and $2.1 billion in a new class of stock (STRK) that offers cumulative dividends and an optional conversion to common stock. While the newly disclosed documents do not mention Bitcoin purchases, MicroStrategy has historically used various stock sale programs to acquire BTC.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated in his annual letter that tokenization could help improve the structure of the financial system by enhancing asset issuance, trading, and accessibility, thereby accelerating investment participation. He noted that half of the world's population uses digital wallets on their mobile phones, suggesting this technology could eventually make investing in various companies as easy as making a payment. Fink emphasized that as market access expands through technological advancements and financial education, more people will be able to share in the benefits of economic growth.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $71,000. BTC is trading at $71,058.93 on the Binance USDT market.

Bitcoin could surge rapidly if it breaks through the $72,000 level, as there is no significant resistance until $82,000, Bitfinex said in a recent report. The firm noted that an "Air Gap"—a vacuum zone with relatively thin order books and resistance—exists between these two price points. According to the report, BTC fell from a high of $76,000 last week to $68,000 amid the release of U.S. economic data and tensions in the Middle East. However, despite this short-term volatility, it has remained above its March opening price, in contrast to the more volatile S&P 500 index. Bitfinex concluded that the future price direction will be determined by whether macroeconomic indicators and the geopolitical landscape continue to impact risk assets and if upward momentum can be sustained.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened higher today. - S&P 500: +1.43% - Nasdaq: +1.56% - Dow Jones: +1.65%

French and Spanish police have arrested the final suspect in the January 2025 kidnapping and assault of Ledger co-founder David Balland, DL News reported. The arrest follows a weeks-long joint investigation. Spain's Civil Guard stated that the suspect was considered dangerous, requiring a large-scale operation. The agency added that with this arrest, all members of the criminal organization responsible for kidnapping Balland and his colleague have now been identified and apprehended. The group reportedly cut off one of Balland's fingers while demanding a ransom of approximately $11.5 million in Bitcoin. At the time of the incident, police rescued the two victims and arrested 10 individuals at the scene. The newly arrested suspect is currently undergoing extradition from Spain to France at the request of a French court.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao announced via Binance Square that he has completed the draft of his memoir. He revealed the English title will be "Freedom of Money," while the Chinese title is '币安人生,' which translates to 'Binance Life.' Memecoins with both names already exist. Zhao previously emphasized that the titles are unrelated to any memecoins or listing plans and that he has never invested in such assets.

Coinbase and Circle are poised to become major beneficiaries of the growing stablecoin market through their USDC partnership, Bernstein said in a report. According to Cointelegraph, Bernstein suggested that USDC's high liquidity and regulatory compliance could give it an edge in the AI payments market. The report noted that stablecoin growth is already being driven by demand for cross-border payments, remittances, card-linked services, and internet banking, describing AI payments as an additional upside factor rather than a core driver. However, Bernstein characterized AI payments as a long-term growth opportunity with limited current adoption. The report added that Stripe and Tempo's AI payment protocol processed around $5,000 in its first week, while Coinbase's x402 handled approximately $24 million over the last 30 days.

Nasdaq has announced a partnership with digital asset trading platform Talos to build a collateral token management solution. The exchange operator plans to integrate Talos's crypto infrastructure into its risk management platform, Calypso, to enhance the institutional management of cryptocurrencies.

Austan Goolsbee, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said a situation could arise where a rate hike is necessary.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that negotiations with Iran could be possible within five days or sooner. He added that he does not know what the Iranian media is talking about, stressing that the most recent talks with Iran took place last night and that the Iranian side is eager to negotiate. This follows earlier reports that Iran had stated there was no direct contact with the U.S., nor any communication through intermediaries.

U.S. President Donald Trump told CNBC that intense negotiations with Iranian authorities are underway. He described the current situation in Iran as a phase of "Regime Change" and expressed hope for making substantial progress in the talks.

Brazil's new finance minister, Dario Durigan, who took office on March 20, is expected to postpone a public consultation on applying a financial transaction tax (IOF) to certain cryptocurrency trades, CoinDesk reported, citing Reuters. The decision is reportedly aimed at avoiding contentious tax discussions with Congress ahead of the presidential election this October. The debate is based on a draft proposal that would classify some crypto transactions as foreign exchange deals, potentially subjecting them to a tax rate of up to 3.5%. However, industry groups have argued that taxing stablecoins as foreign currency may be unconstitutional. The discussions gained momentum after the country's central bank included some stablecoin activities under its foreign exchange regulations.

Digital asset investment products saw a total net inflow of $230 million last week, marking the fourth consecutive week of inflows, according to the latest weekly fund flow report from CoinShares. Bitcoin led the activity with $219 million in inflows, while Ethereum (ETH) experienced a net outflow of $27.5 million. Additionally, Solana (SOL), Chainlink (LINK), and Hyperliquid (HYPE) also recorded net inflows. By country, the United States led the inflows. CoinShares explained that investor sentiment appears to have weakened after the U.S. interest rate decision and FOMC meeting, as the market interpreted the Federal Reserve's stance as a hawkish hold. The firm noted that while strong inflows were observed at the beginning of the week, outflows occurred following the FOMC announcement.

Cryptocurrency mining firm Core Scientific (CORZ) announced it has secured an additional $500 million loan from JPMorgan. This brings its total loan financing to $1 billion, following a previous $500 million loan from Morgan Stanley. The funds are slated for developing data centers, purchasing equipment, acquiring real estate, and securing new power agreements to meet the growing demand for AI. Core Scientific is in the process of diversifying from a Bitcoin mining-focused company into an AI infrastructure provider.