Crypto News. April 18, 2026

Apr 18, 2026

Kraken parent Payward to acquire Bitnomial for up to $550M in cash and stock, gaining a fully CFTC-licensed US derivatives stack

Payward@Payward

We're acquiring @Bitnomial. The first fully CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange built from the ground up for crypto. Not retrofitted. Not adapted. Built for this. Pair that with Kraken's global client base, @NinjaTrader's reach, and Payward's liquidity - and regulated crypto

12:52 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 33.8K Views

7 Replies · 19 Reposts · 112 Likes

Circle launched USDC Bridge, a native burn-and-mint crosschain transfer product with upfront fees and auto-handled destination gas

USDC@USDC

Introducing the USDC Bridge. A direct way to move USDC crosschain. Built and operated by Circle, USDC Bridge gives you a predictable, transparent way to move USDC between chains: → Native burn-and-mint transfers → Clear fees upfront, with live status and progress → No route

1:00 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 184K Views

181 Replies · 168 Reposts · 1.49K Likes

X cashtags have driven an estimated $1B in global trading volume since launching Tuesday, per Nikita Bier

Nikita Bier@nikitabier

Based on aggregated data from our trading pilot, X has driven a estimated $1 billion in trading volume globally since launching on Tuesday night.

Nikita Bier @nikitabier

𝕏 has always been the best source of financial news for traders and investors. Billions of dollars are allocated every day based on what people read on Timeline. Today we're launching our new Cashtags feature in the US and Canada on iPhone, bringing real-time financial data to

2:56 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 468K Views

1.11K Replies · 435 Reposts · 4.06K Likes

Polymarket V2 exchange goes live April 22 with ~1 hour of downtime at 11am UTC, collateral moving to pUSD and V1 shutting down post-migration

Polymarket Developers@PolymarketDevs

Polymarket's V2 exchange upgrades go live April 22nd. The upgraded exchange is now open to all for testing. 🚨 If you use our API or clients, there's migration work to do before then: → Upgrade your SDK/ API integration → New exchange contract addresses & order struct →

4:12 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 80.5K Views

59 Replies · 79 Reposts · 619 Likes

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure urged European banks to expand euro stablecoins and tokenized deposits, backing the ING/UniCredit/BNP Paribas consortium launching in H2 2026

CoinDesk@CoinDesk

NEW: French Finance Minister calls for more euro-denominated stablecoins and urges EU banks to explore tokenized deposits.

2:36 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 17.8K Views

33 Replies · 48 Reposts · 248 Likes

Flare opens voting tomorrow on FIP.16, which would cut FLR inflation from 5% to 3%, capture MEV at the protocol level, and redirect revenue to buybacks and burns

Flare ☀️@FlareNetworks

FIP.16 is live. Burns, buybacks, a 0% net inflation target, and the first time activity on @FlareNetworks has a direct path back to token holders. Vote, build, signal. Window's open, not forever. FIRE up. 🔗portal.flare.network/proposal/view/…

1:14 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 23.9K Views

35 Replies · 121 Reposts · 424 Likes

Sen. Blumenthal pressed DOJ and Treasury on Binance’s post-2023 compliance monitor amid reports the exchange enabled billions in Iran-linked sanctions evasion

Solid Intel 📡@solidintel_x

INTEL: SENATOR PRESSES DOJ AND TREASURY OVER STATUS OF BINANCE MONITORS AFTER $1.7 BILLION IN IRAN-LINKED CRYPTO FLOWS

11:10 AM · Apr 17, 2026 · 5.75K Views

6 Replies · 6 Reposts · 50 Likes

Circle hit with class action lawsuit from Drift investors over failure to freeze ~$230M in USDC tied to the $280M Drift exploit; Drift expected to switch from USDC to USDT after relaunch

Cointelegraph@Cointelegraph

⚡️ NEW: Circle faces a class action lawsuit over its failure to act as North Korean hackers moved $230M in stolen USDC following the Drift Protocol hack.

2:00 AM · Apr 17, 2026 · 28.4K Views

43 Replies · 34 Reposts · 312 Likes

Strategy proposed doubling STRC dividend frequency to semi-monthly, same annual yield but smaller ex-div drawdowns

Michael Saylor@saylor

Strategy is proposing to pay semi-monthly dividends on $STRC, instead of monthly. No change to the annual dividend obligations or dividend rate. These proposed changes are intended to stabilize price, dampen cyclicality, drive liquidity, and grow demand.

8:06 PM · Apr 17, 2026 · 27.2K Views

155 Replies · 179 Reposts · 1.19K Likes

Hong Kong’s Flow Capital to bring its $150M private credit fund onchain via DigiFT by end of month, targeting an additional $30M in tokenized shares this year

Cointelegraph@Cointelegraph

🇭🇰 NEW: Flow Capital to tokenize $150M private credit fund on the blockchain, per Bloomberg.

11:33 AM · Apr 17, 2026 · 18.6K Views

38 Replies · 26 Reposts · 173 Likes

Russia-linked exchange Grinex halted trading after a ~$15M USDT hack, with funds swapped to ETH and TRX to dodge Tether freezes

Cointelegraph@Cointelegraph

🇷🇺 NEW: Russia-linked sanctioned crypto exchange Grinex has suspended operations after $13M worth of assets were stolen in a cyber attack.

4:20 AM · Apr 17, 2026 · 19.2K Views

25 Replies · 19 Reposts · 109 Likes

NEAR Intents and near[.]com resumed services after pausing as a precaution following the Rhea Finance exploit

NEAR Intents@near_intents

NEAR Intents and near.com have resumed services. NEAR Intents and near.com were not at risk from the incident involving @rhea_finance. The pause was a precautionary measure to assess transactions that may have been linked to the exploit and to

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