The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

On April 29, Coinbase announced it will list several U.S. stock perpetual contracts, including: AMD-PERP (Advanced Micro Devices) ARM-PERP (ARM) INTC-PERP (Intel) MU-PERP (Micron) SNDK-PERP (SanDisk) Coinbase noted the perpetual contract markets will officially go live for trading subject to meeting market liquidity conditions, and will be available to retail and institutional users in supported regions.

April 29th — As stablecoin use grows and regulatory frameworks become clearer, cryptocurrency point-of-sale (POS) terminals are speeding up adoption in offline retail settings. Sectors like hotels, restaurants, luxury goods, and cross-border retail are starting to test digital asset payments in physical stores. Recent reports note that the recent partnership between WalletConnect and Ingenico marks a key example of crypto payments in physical retail. The solution lets consumers pay with crypto assets, while merchants don’t need to hold the digital assets directly—cutting down on operational complexity. Stablecoins are emerging as a key driver of offline payment adoption, the article notes. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are better suited for retail payments because they cut down on price swings during settlement and give merchants an experience closer to traditional fiat currency payments. Regulatory clarity is also fueling industry growth, moreover. The EU’s Mi

On April 29, cross-chain protocol ZetaChain revealed details of a $334,000 exploit—after previously dismissing a bug bounty researcher’s report of the underlying issues as “intended behavior.” Per its official post-incident report, the attack exploited three seemingly independent, low-risk design flaws: - The Gateway contract allowed anyone to send arbitrary cross-chain instructions - Receivers could call nearly any contract, with overly narrow blacklist restrictions - Some wallets had long-unrevoked unlimited approvals The attacker leveraged these gaps to direct the Gateway to transfer tokens directly to their controlled address. The exploit spanned 9 transactions across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and BSC; stolen funds came from ZetaChain-controlled wallets, and user assets were unaffected. The official statement emphasized the attack was premeditated: the attacker deposited funds via Tornado Cash three days prior, pre-deployed a dedicated Drainer contract, and exec

April 29 — Per OnchainLens monitoring, a BlackRock-linked address has deposited 1,473 Bitcoin (valued at $114.34 million) and 5,738 Ethereum (valued at $13.38 million) into Coinbase.

On April 29, Tether led a $14 million Series A funding round for Latin American digital wallet platform Belo, with participation from Titan Fund, The Venture City, Mindset Ventures, and G2. Belo announced it plans to use the new capital to expand into Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay—while continuing to strengthen its presence in Brazil, focusing on serving freelancers, remote workers, and users of cross-border fund transfers. Founded in 2021 and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Belo currently boasts over 3 million users across Latin America. Its core product is a crypto-powered digital wallet that lets users hold and transfer local currencies, plus stablecoins (which the platform refers to as “digital dollars”). Recent reports show stablecoins have surged in popularity in emerging markets like Latin America in recent years, primarily for inflation hedging, cross-border remittances, and avoiding high-cost foreign exchange systems. Belo combines payment, cu

On April 29, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that the first batch of PredictIt market exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could launch in the U.S. as early as next week. New York-based issuer Roundhill has filed an effective amendment with the SEC under Rule 485(b), setting the effective date for its six PredictIt market ETFs as May 5. The lineup includes a Republican/Democratic 2028 presidential election ETF, plus Senate and House ETFs tied to the November 2026 midterms. Seyffart expects similar products from GraniteShares and Bitwise—both previously filed with regulators—to launch around the same time. The analyst added that this development underscores the ongoing trend of "the financialization of everything and ETF-ization." In March, total trading volume on top prediction market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi hit a record $24.3 billion.