SEC staff has outlined the conditions under which crypto trading applications and digital wallets may avoid registering as broker-dealers.

Tron Protocol brought in $822 million in fee revenue in the first quarter of 2026, ranking second among networks behind HyperliquidX, according to research. USDT's market value on Tron topped $85 billion in March, representing more than 46% of the global USDT supply, even as the broader market contracted. (CoinDesk)

Bitmine has built a position equal to 4% of Ethereum's total supply after acquiring nearly 5 million ETH over the past nine months. The company says it has reached 81% of its target to own 5% of all ETH, positioning itself as the world's largest Ethereum treasury company. Details inside.

Crypto investment funds logged their best weekly performance since January, supported by a sharp rise in Bitcoin and fresh allocations into Ethereum ETFs.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Trading and Markets on April 13 released new staff guidance describing when certain crypto-related user interfaces can operate without registering as broker-dealers under federal securities laws. The staff said the guidance applies to "covered user interfaces," defined as self-custody software used to interact with crypto. Examples cited include DeFi protocol front-ends, wallet browser extensions and mobile apps. The statement describes a covered UI as an interface delivered through a website, browser extension or other software (including a mobile app), embedded in a wallet or offered as a separate download, that helps users carry out user-initiated crypto asset securities transactions on blockchain protocols or smart contracts using a self-custodial wallet. Under the staff's view, a covered UI can avoid broker-dealer registration only if it satisfies all of the following conditions: it does not take custody of user funds; it does not provide investment advice or trade recommendations; it does not route or execute orders on a user's behalf; it generally charges a fixed-percentage transaction fee; and it exercises no discretion over transactions or market activity. The guidance also says operators should not label trading routes as "best" or "preferred" and should avoid commentary that could be interpreted as investment advice. The SEC emphasized the statement is staff guidance, not a formal rule or binding regulation, and reflects the staff's current interpretation of existing Exchange Act requirements. The statement says the guidance will remain in effect for five years unless superseded by commission-level rulemaking. The release lands amid a broader debate over how U.S. law should treat DeFi developers and the software infrastructure they build. As The Defiant has reported, even after a landmark joint SEC-CFTC interpretive release earlier this year, questions around fully permissionless DeFi remain unresolved. Experts have said regulators have largely focused on centralized intermediaries while pushing the most difficult DeFi issues to future rulemaking. That uncertainty has increased industry concern about how existing securities laws may apply to protocol developers, front-end operators and wallet providers. Lawyers and market observers have also cautioned that early drafts of the CLARITY Act — a pending crypto market structure bill that has not yet become law — leave key issues open and could give agencies wide latitude to define details through future rules. Both the CFTC and SEC have indicated they are working to modernize regulations to better fit on-chain software systems and front-ends within the broader regulatory framework. This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Apr 6–Apr 12, 2026 — #LookonchainWeeklyReport Market Overview Stablecoin inflows brought liquidity back to the market, with the sector expanding by $2.56B over the week. Trading activity on DEXs also picked up, as both spot and perpetual volumes rebounded week over week. Institutional appetite remained firm, highlighted by Strategy's purchase of 13,927 BTC (about $1B). Public companies collectively added 11,928 BTC (about $862M). Stablecoin Market Total stablecoin market capitalization increased by $2.56B. Spot & Perps Trading Volume on DEXs DEX spot and perpetual trading volumes rose week over week. Protocol Revenue Institutional / Whale Activity Four companies increased their Bitcoin holdings by 11,928 BTC (+$862M) last week. Tom Lee (@fundstrat)'s #Bitmine bought an additional 71,524 ETH ($156.35M). Michael Saylor (@saylor)'s Strategy bought another 13,927 BTC ($1B) at an average price of $71,902.

Kraken said it has received a ransom demand from criminals who threatened to publish customer information. The company said the potential exposure from two separate breaches was limited to a very small number of accounts, estimating about 2,000 accounts in total, or roughly 0.02% of its customer base. Kraken said its systems were not compromised, customer funds were never at risk, and it will not pay or negotiate with the perpetrators. Source:

Kraken said a criminal group is trying to "extort" the crypto exchange and has threatened to release videos that purportedly show internal systems and client data. Kraken said its systems have not been breached and customer funds are not at risk.

Dango said all funds taken in a recently disclosed exploit have been recovered and returned in full after the attacker cooperated with the team and accepted a bug bounty. The incident involved the protocol's perpetuals contract, where an attacker withdrew USDC collateral. Dango said the issue was contained quickly, with most funds secured and ultimately recovered. Dango attributed the exploit to a flaw in its insurance-fund donation logic. While the contract allowed users to donate to the insurance fund, it did not validate that the donation amount was positive. The attacker used that gap to manipulate the mechanism and extract funds from the perps contract. Dango said core trading functions were not affected, including order matching, P&L settlement, and liquidations. The attacker managed to bridge about $410,010 USDC to Ethereum, while roughly $1.49 million remained onchain within Dango due to built-in bridge rate limits. Dango said those limits prevented a complete withdrawal and gave the team time to respond. After detecting the issue, Dango paused the chain and coordinated with security partners, including the Security Alliance, and notified major exchanges and stablecoin issuers. In a subsequent update, Dango said the attacker returned the funds and was awarded a bug bounty. The team described the actor as a "white hat," adding that affected users would be made whole and that user funds were not at risk beyond the isolated contract. Dango said it is preparing additional safeguards and expects to resume operations shortly. Its points program has been temporarily postponed. Final Summary: A bug in Dango's insurance-fund logic enabled an attacker to drain funds, though bridge limits capped outflows. The funds were later returned in full by a white hat, leaving users unaffected as the protocol moves toward resuming operations.