Weekly: the end of the Powell era, the confiscation of $500 million from Iran, and a record number of hacks in April

Last week, the market looked stronger than it had just recently. Bitcoin rose to $79,000, Ethereum also added in price, and a sense of movement appeared on the charts again. But along with that, the topics that do not let you relax quickly returned to the feed: the conflict around the CLARITY Act, the end of Jerome Powell’s term, new risks in DeFi, quantum security, Iran, AI, and a record number of attacks in April.

Bitcoin approached $79,000

Bitcoin closed April with a gain of 11.87%, and this is already the ninth green April in its history. On April 27, the asset broke through $79,000 against the backdrop of steady inflows into spot ETFs and de-escalation in the Middle East, although after the Fed’s decision to keep the rate at 3.5–3.75%, the price briefly dipped to $75,200. 

There is also important context behind the move itself: Wintermute allows for a scenario of $80,000 in the event of further de-escalation, while CryptoQuant reminds of the dense liquidity zone between $76,000 and $80,000. This is where the breakeven points for spot ETF buyers and short-term large holders converge, so the market near this range may behave nervously. At the same time, Santiment recorded the accumulation of about 40,000 BTC by whales with balances from 10 to 10,000 BTC over two weeks, while Coinbase believes that the market structure is recovering, although it is still too early to talk about a full reversal.

Large players are once again shaping the mood around BTC

Within the Bitcoin block itself, last week was also eventful. According to Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, Donald Trump’s administration is preparing a major statement regarding the strategic bitcoin reserve and wants to move forward on this issue in the coming weeks. At the same time, Strategy continues to set the tone with its purchases, while Jack Dorsey’s Block is promoting the idea of bitcoin as a tool for everyday use through Bitkey, Cash App, Proof of Reserves, and NFC payments.

There was also a less positive story: investors in Eric Trump’s mining company American Bitcoin, according to estimates, lost about $500 million, while the company itself, after loud statements about leadership in the industry, turned out to have a very limited operating base. For the market, this is yet another reminder that a loud political or public brand does not guarantee a strong business economy.

Quantum security no longer sounds like a topic for later

The quantum topic came to the forefront again last week: Paradigm researcher Dan Robinson proposed a model for protecting old bitcoin wallets, including coins from the Satoshi era, through the PACTs mechanism, that is, proof-of-address-control timestamps. The idea is aimed at the long-term protection of assets that are potentially considered the most vulnerable to future quantum attacks.

At the same time, research company Project Eleven awarded the 1 BTC Q-Day Prize for breaking a 15-bit ECC key using a quantum computer. 

Ethereum is holding confidently, but without a breakthrough

For Ethereum, the picture turned out more restrained: the asset closed April with a gain of 7.3% and was trading around $2,300. Coinbase Institutional and Glassnode consider the altcoin market generally neutral, and regarding ETH they speak more about a phase of hope after the capitulation in February 2026 than about a full recovery. That is, the fundamentals are improving, but the dynamics are still weaker than Bitcoin’s.

Despite this, there is movement within the ecosystem, namely, in Ethereum they proposed EIP-8182, an initiative that can bring private transfers to the protocol level. The pump.fun team announced the burning of PUMP tokens worth about $370 million, and an old Ethereum ICO participant activated 10,000 ETH almost 11 years later. 

Powell is leaving, while the CLARITY Act is still stalling

One of the main topics of the week is the end of Jerome Powell’s term. On May 15, 2026, his term as Chair of the Fed expires, and Powell himself has already confirmed that this was his last press conference in this role. For the crypto market, this is an important moment not only symbolically, because a change in Fed leadership always affects expectations regarding rates, liquidity, and overall risk appetite.

At the same time, US senators presented the final stablecoin yield rules for the CLARITY Act, and the bill itself moved closer to a vote. But the situation did not become any simpler: the banking and crypto sectors continue to argue over whether it is possible to pay a reward simply for holding stablecoins, while the Senate simultaneously banned senators and their staff from participating in prediction markets. That is, the market once again sees a familiar picture: the framework seems to be taking shape, but with tension and without a sense of final clarity.

Stablecoins are already putting pressure on banks, platforms, and politics

Stablecoins were once again in the spotlight last week. Moody’s believes that even in the event of legalized yield, short-term pressure on banks will be limited. At the same time, future BIS head Pablo Hernández de Cos directly questioned the very definition of stablecoins as money, instead equating them more with ETFs or securities.

DoorDash is building payment infrastructure on stablecoins for more than 40 countries, Tether froze more than $344 million in USDT in coordination with US authorities, and Pornhub switched from USDT to USDC. Separately, US senators expressed concern about Tether’s influence on the Secretary of Commerce. These are all signs that stablecoins have long since moved beyond the experimental phase and are now putting pressure on the interests of banks, the state, and major payment players at the same time.

AI is going deeper and deeper into finance, security, and infrastructure

OpenAI, according to industry sources, is working on its own smartphone with a launch in 2028. Anthropic on the Jupiter platform surpassed its previous $1 trillion valuation ahead of a potential IPO, Microsoft lost the exclusive right to sell OpenAI models, and the US allocated $100 million for an AI program to search for Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz. These are no longer just tech news, but an indication of how deeply AI is entering military, corporate, and platform infrastructure.

Separately, the story with PocketOS was very interesting, where an AI agent deleted a production database and all backups in 9 seconds. And Elon Musk in federal court once again returned to the Terminator scenario theme, explaining that he once participated in the creation of OpenAI as a non-profit structure precisely to contain risks. 

April became the worst month for DeFi in terms of losses

In April 2026, the crypto market, and especially DeFi, recorded 28 incidents with total losses of more than $635 million. This is the highest figure in the entire history of DeFi. Separately, TRM Labs stated that hacker groups from North Korea are responsible for approximately 76% of all crypto market losses from hacks in 2026, or about $577 million, and this amount is tied only to the two major attacks of April, on KelpDAO and Drift Protocol.

Against this backdrop, Wasabi Protocol lost more than $5 million as a result of a hack, while ZetaChain partially suspended network operations after an attack on team wallets. At the same time, DeFi United presented a plan to restore rsETH backing after the KelpDAO exploit. 

Iran, Web3 games, and a few more signals

The US confiscated nearly $500 million in crypto assets from Iran as part of Operation Economic Fury. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, this concerns undermining Iran’s financial resources through the freezing of assets, accounts, and the intensification of international pressure. 

Another story that conveys the mood of the week well is Web3 games. According to Caladan, 93% of projects in this sector are classified as dead, despite $12–15 billion in venture inflows in 2020–2026. This is a very harsh reminder that not every Web3 segment withstands the test of time, even if it once had a strong narrative and a lot of money at the start.

Kursoff’s opinion

Last week, the market looked strong, but this strength still does not look simple. Bitcoin approached $79,000, but near $80,000 a zone is already gathering where those who have been sitting at a loss for a long time may begin to exit more actively. 

In such weeks, it is important to look not only at the price, but also at where exactly systemic tension is accumulating. Because it often explains the market better than the green candle on the chart itself.