The FDIC is scheduled to hold a board meeting on April 7, 2026 to finalize initial federal rules for stablecoin issuance under the GENIUS Act. The law requires 1:1 backing with cash or short-term U.S. Treasuries and bars issuers from paying interest, even as issuers already keep over 80% of a $250 billion-plus reserve pool in Treasuries and repos. The framework also sets staged deadlines through 2028 and raises open questions on redemptions, state-federal authority, and operational risks.

On April 2, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted Coinbase conditional approval to establish "Coinbase National Trust Company" as a federally chartered trust company focused on digital-asset custody. Coinbase executives said the charter does not turn the firm into a commercial bank, but it would place custody operations under a single federal framework instead of a state-by-state licensing model. The approval remains conditional, with Coinbase still required to meet OCC requirements before it can launch operations under the charter.

Prediction markets are moving into major Asian economies, betting on large retail demand even as strict gambling rules and unclear legal definitions create hurdles. Polymarket is reporting over $1 billion in weekly volume and has added Chinese-language support, while regional entrants like PredicXion are building markets around local events. Across markets such as China, Japan, South Korea and India, the key question remains whether authorities classify these platforms as gambling or as information tools.

An Oobit study of 1,000 U.S. crypto holders found that 35% have lost access to a wallet or account, most often due to human error rather than hacking. The leading causes were forgotten passwords or login failures (33%), lost seed phrases (21%), and losing 2FA access (20%), while platform bankruptcies accounted for 16%. Among those locked out, more than 1 in 10 said a single incident cost them over $5,000, and the median reported loss was 30% of total crypto holdings.

Tether has given potential investors a 14-day window to commit to a funding round that targets a $500 billion valuation, with the company signaling the process could be delayed again if commitments do not arrive. The firm is also pursuing a Big Four audit and pointing to investments beyond USDT, while its USDT circulation is cited at about $184–187 billion alongside discussion of a U.S.-regulated stablecoin effort.

A Google whitepaper sets a 2029 target for migrating away from today’s cryptography, warning that quantum advances could undermine widely used schemes. Computer scientist Guy Zyskind says blockchains should accelerate post-quantum moves such as lattice-based cryptography and encrypted mempools, but adds that upgrades cannot prevent quantum adversaries from decrypting historical on-chain data later.

Drift Protocol, a Solana-based perpetual futures DEX, was hit by an attack that pushed DRIFT down about 40% over the following 24 hours and sent DRIFT perpetual funding above 6,000% in the immediate aftermath. Coinbase separately received conditional OCC approval for a national trust charter, while X announced a new account-lock for first-time crypto mentions that requires identity verification to regain posting access.

Telegram's Wallet said on April 2 that it will use Lighter to support native leveraged perpetual trading, letting users trade crypto as well as stocks, metals, and oil with up to 50x leverage. The wallet reports more than 150 million registered users, about 25 million of whom are active, while Telegram has over 1 billion users. Lighter's LIT token rallied about 30% and retested $1 after the integration update.