Stablecoin

DeFi recorded $169 million in losses across 34 protocols in Q1, with incidents including a $40 million key compromise and Resolv's $24.5 million breach. While many current attacks focus on access control and key management, Circle is moving early on post-quantum cryptography, as networks face slow upgrade cycles and address-reuse exposure.

Ethena said on April 6, 2026 that it plans to broaden the reserve mix backing its USDe synthetic dollar token to reduce concentration risk. The protocol is finalizing overcollateralized stablecoin lending deals with Anchorage Digital, Maple Institutional, and Coinbase Asset Management, while also proposing additional RWA exposures and basis strategies beyond BTC and ETH perps.

Coinbase said it will support the DAI-to-USDS migration, with an automated conversion scheduled between 4 May and 6 May 2026 at an approximate 1:1 ratio. The exchange will disable DAI trading on 4 May, pause deposits and withdrawals from 4–6 May, and convert eligible balances with no fees, while excluding users in certain EEA jurisdictions.

Santiment data shows Tether (USDT) wallets on Ethereum declined by 72,841 addresses over 48 hours, a 0.54% drop. The article argues such contractions are uncommon and may reflect reduced participation from smaller investors, while Bitcoin trades near $69,600 amid what some analysts describe as a rare “bottom discovery range.”

The IMF says crypto tokenization represents a structural change to financial market "plumbing", warning it could amplify liquidity stress as settlement, margining, and compliance are embedded in code. The report argues that atomic settlement, 24/7 trading, and automated margin calls may accelerate shocks beyond regulators' response speed, while fragmented liquidity across chains can worsen slippage and risk management. It also notes emerging-markets exposure, where large flows of crypto tokens and dollar-pegged stablecoins could undermine local monetary policy tools.

Sen. Bill Hagerty said the CLARITY Act could enter the Senate Banking Committee work period starting April 14 and clear the panel by late April 2026. Separately, Sen. Cynthia Lummis said the stablecoin portion is "99% resolved," with leaders aiming for a full Senate vote before May. The FDIC is also set to finalize federal stablecoin issuance rules on April 7 following the GENIUS Act signed in July 2025.

Polymarket said it launched Polymarket USD on April 6, 2026, replacing bridged USDC.e as the 1:1 USDC-backed collateral used across its prediction markets. The platform is also shipping CTF Exchange V2 with a rebuilt order book, lower gas costs, faster matching, and EIP-1271 support for smart contract wallets. Polymarket added that API traders and bot operators may need SDK and integration updates during a rollout expected to take two to three weeks.

Polymarket said on Monday it will rebuild key parts of its exchange stack over the next 2-3 weeks, including new contracts, a new order book and a new collateral token. The platform plans to launch Polymarket USD, a 1:1 USDC-backed stablecoin, and add EIP-1271 support to improve interaction for smart contract and multi-sig wallets.

Polymarket is overhauling its exchange infrastructure and plans to introduce Polymarket USD, a platform-native token backed 1:1 by USDC. The rollout is expected over the next two to three weeks and includes CLOB v2, new smart contracts, and a collateral migration from USDC.e. The changes arrive as U.S. prediction markets see improving legal clarity around event-based contracts.

Bernstein rated Figure Technology Solutions "Outperform" and set a $67 price target, nearly double its recent level around $32. The analysts pointed to March loan originations of $1.2 billion, up 33% month over month, and first-quarter originations of $2.9 billion as its tokenized credit marketplace scales. Figure shares are down more than 20% year to date after a Nasdaq debut last September that valued the company at nearly $800 million.