Block Shares Jump on Strong Quarter Despite Bitcoin Dip

Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block rose 7.9% in after-hours trading as its Q1 earnings surpassed analyst estimates, despite posting its first loss in three years. Block’s Q1 earnings came in at 85 cents per share, beating the Zacks consensus estimate of 68 cents per share. Investors responded positively, driving Block shares to $75.70 after hours,…

BNY to Launch Institutional Bitcoin, Ethereum Custody for Investors in UAE

BNY has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Finstreet and ADI Foundation to develop institutional digital asset custody services for clients in the United Arab Emirates. The initial focus is on Bitcoin and Ether custody for Finstreet’s existing clients, with plans to later extend to ADI Foundation’s blockchain infrastructure, the world’s largest custodian said in a Thursday…

Coinbax wins $20,000 PitchFest prize at Consensus Miami for stablecoin compliance

MIAMI – Coinbax won the $20,000 grand prize at Consensus Miami’s PitchFest after pitching a system designed to help banks and financial firms manage compliance for stablecoin payments. The company, founded by former Jack Henry executive Peter Glyman, builds programmable escrow infrastructure that adds controls to wallet-to-wallet crypto transactions. The software is meant to reduce…

US Treasury ‘Privately Demanded’ Binance Comply with Monitoring Deal: Report

Update (May 7 at 9:47 PM UTC): This article has been updated to include a statement from Binance. The US Department of the Treasury reportedly demanded that Binance follow a monitoring program put in place by a 2023 deal between authorities and the cryptocurrency exchange, following reports that the company facilitated $1 billion to entities…

Bitcoin Slips Below $80K As Spot ETF Inflows Top $1B

Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped to $79,800 on Thursday after being rejected at a key dynamic resistance level. The pullback occurred despite the weekly spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows surging past $1 billion for the first time since January, but technical data suggests the correction may be short-lived.  Bearish divergences point to where BTC price…

Polygon Reduces Block Production Time to 1.75 Seconds

Blockchain layer-2 (L2) network Polygon reduced its average block time by 250 milliseconds to 1.75 seconds, marking its first block-time reduction since genesis as the network pushes deeper into stablecoin payments and settlement infrastructure. Polygonscan shows that the latest blocks on the network were created in 1.75 seconds. The upgrade means that Polygon can process…

Germany Mulls Crypto Tax Overhaul, 1‑Year Exemption at Risk

Germany is preparing to change how it taxes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from 2027, potentially ending one of Europe’s most generous long-term holding exemptions as it seeks to raise additional revenue and tighten tax compliance. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said at an April 29 press conference on the 2027 federal budget that the government wants…

Amazon’s new AI wallet: AWS, Coinbase, and Stripe build payment rails for bots

Amazon Web Services (AWS) rolled out a new payments infrastructure for AI agents on Thursday which is built in partnership with Coinbase and Stripe. AWS explained that autonomous software agents will be allowed to buy APIs, web content, MCP servers and other online services in real time using stablecoins. It added, however, that future versions…

XRP May Soar to $12 as Price Holds Cycle Bottom Zone for Months

XRP (XRP) is testing a key long-term support level that has historically preceded major rebounds, according to a monthly chart shared by analyst MikybullCrypto. Key takeaways: XRP has jumped by roughly 30% from its February lows. Multiple fractals suggest the price is bottoming out, supported by strong XRP ETF inflows. XRP chart hints at rebound…

Core Scientific Q1 Loss Hits $347M As Mining Revenue Falls

Core Scientific (CORZ) reported a $347.2 million first-quarter net loss as its Bitcoin self-mining revenue fell sharply and high-density colocation became its largest revenue source.  In its earnings report published Wednesday, the company reported a net loss of $1.06 per diluted share for the quarter. A year earlier, Core Scientific reported diluted earnings of $1.24…