Payward completes acquisition of Bitnomial and obtains full derivative brand license from CFTC

Blockchain trading platform Ekiden announced the completion of a seed round financing of $2 million, with a valuation of $20 million. This round of financing is led by Unicorn Factory Ventures and P2 Ventures, with participation from angel investors who have previously invested in GSR, Pyth, Aptos, LayerZero, and Cube Exchange. Ekiden focuses on introducing institutional level transactions onto the chain, providing efficient and secure blockchain transaction solutions.

According to Arkham's disclosure, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has an estimated net worth of $200 million to $350 million in 2026, with on chain assets of approximately $42 million (420 million). Its sources of wealth include BitMEX equity, family office Maelstrom fund, and potential undisclosed token investments. Despite the decline in BitMEX's valuation from its peak of $500 million, it remains its core asset source. Arthur Hayes was sentenced in 2022 for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and was pardoned by Trump in 2025.

US law firm Gerstein Harrow LLP has filed a restraining order with the New York District Court, attempting to prevent the transfer of 30766 Ethereum tokens (worth over $73 million) frozen due to a $292 million attack on the Kelp protocol by the Arbitrarum DAO. The law firm stated that its clients received default judgments against North Korea in three cases in 2010, 2015, and 2016, demanding a total of $877 million in damages and punitive damages, and asserting their right to claim compensation for North Korean related assets. Kelp DAO was attacked by the Trader Raitor group under Lazarus Group on April 18th.

While ETF inflows have resumed, the recovery has yet to match last fall’s peak. What to know : U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs have attracted $3.29 billion over the past two months, bringing cumulative net inflows since their January 2024 launch to $58.72 billion, still below the $61.19 billion peak reached in October. The current rebound in ETF demand has not yet fully offset the $6.38 billion in outflows seen between November 2025 and February 2026, underscoring that the recovery from last fall’s peak remains incomplete.

[Exodus Discloses Decline in Asset Holdings and Transaction Volume] According to Globenewswire, U.S.-listed crypto wallet provider Exodus released its Q1 2026 financial report, revealing holdings of approximately $123 million in digital assets and cash, including 628 BTC and 1,861 ETH. The Exodus Pay payment feature was launched in April across all 50 U.S. states and select global markets. Due to market price fluctuations, digital asset losses amounted to approximately $36.4 million, while transaction processing volume dropped to around $1.18 billion, a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 22%.