XRP hints at 30% spike, Bitcoin ETFs post 9-day inflow streak: Hodler’s Digest, April 19 – 25

Top Stories of the Week

US authorities freeze $344M in crypto linked to Iran

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned several wallets tied to Iran, resulting in authorities freezing $344 million in cryptocurrency.

In a Friday X post, Bessent said that the move by OFAC was part of the US’ efforts to “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.” The US and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran in late February.

“We will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,” said Bessent.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs see 9-day inflow streak as investors show resilience

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have extended their inflow momentum through late April, notching a nine-day streak amid growing investor conviction.

During the period, which spanned April 14 and April 24, total net inflows reached roughly $2.12 billion, with the strongest single-day performance on April 17, when funds attracted $663.91 million. April 14 and April 22 also posted robust gains of $411.50 million and $335.82 million, respectively.

The weakest day came on Friday, with a more modest $14.45 million in net inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT led the day with $22.88 million in inflows. 

Nakamoto taps Bitwise and Kraken for Bitcoin options strategy to hedge risk

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto announced on Friday an actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program designed to generate recurring income from volatility while hedging part of its downside exposure.

Nakamoto said the program has been in place since the first quarter of 2026 and uses a portion of the company’s Bitcoin holdings as collateral for a derivatives strategy managed by Bitwise Asset Management in a separately managed account.

Under the arrangement, a portion of the company’s Bitcoin is held in Kraken’s qualified custody solution and used as collateral for a derivatives strategy managed by Bitwise Asset Management in a separately managed account.

Bank of Korea governor backs CBDCs, deposit tokens in first address

The newly appointed governor of the Bank of Korea, Hyun-Song Shin, has voiced support for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenized deposits in his first public address.

Shin, who began his four-year term after an inauguration ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday, said the central bank will advance the second phase of “Project Hangang,” a Bank of Korea-led pilot project to test a blockchain-based, wholesale CBDC system.

He also pointed to international cooperation efforts, including the Agora Project, an international collaborative initiative launched in April 2024 by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and seven central banks to explore the tokenization of cross-border payments. Shin said these initiatives “will elevate the status of the Korean won in the digital payment environment.”

Kalshi, Polymarket among 27 prediction platforms banned in Brazil

Brazilian authorities have moved to shut down 27 prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket.

The decision, announced Friday, follows a directive from the Ministry of Finance and enforcement by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), according to state-owned news outlet Agência Brasil. Authorities claimed that such services fall outside Brazil’s current legal framework and therefore operate illegally.

“We have been monitoring the evolution of this sector in Brazil, which suffered a period of anarchy because there were no rules, no oversight, from 2018 to 2022,” Finance Ministry executive secretary Dario Durigan reportedly said during a press conference at the Palácio do Planalto.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $77,702, Ether (ETH) at $2,318 and XRP (XRP) at $1.43. The total market cap is at $2.59 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Stable (STABLE) at 26.90%, Humanity Protocol (H) at 25.57% and Chiliz (CHZ) at 21.44%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are 币安人生 (币安人生) at 18.74%, LayerZero (ZRO) at 17.09% and Aave (AAVE) at 15.66%.

Top Prediction of The Week

XRP may rise 30% as traders withdraw 35M tokens from exchanges in a day

XRP (XRP) has rallied more than 30% in the last three months, and fresh technical and on-chain signals suggest the XRP/USD pair may have more upside ahead.

As of Saturday, XRP Ledger (XRPL) had recorded nearly 35 million XRP in exchange outflows in the last 24 hours, logging its sixth-largest daily outflow of the year, according to Santiment.

Large exchange outflows typically suggest investors are moving tokens into private wallets or custody, reducing the amount of XRP immediately available for sale. Earlier this year, these spikes preceded modest rallies in the XRP price.

In March, a similar spike in exchange outflows preceded a roughly 20% rebound in XRP. February’s outflow surge was followed by an even stronger move, with XRP rising about 48&–50%.

Top FUD of The Week

Spain seizes crypto cold wallets in illegal manga piracy raid

Spanish police seized two crypto cold wallets containing about 400,000 euros ($467,000) during a raid on what authorities described as the country’s largest illicit Spanish-language manga distribution platform.

Police in Almería arrested three suspects and confiscated two cold wallets hidden inside a wall thermometer, seized from what authorities called the largest portal for illegal manga distribution that generated over 4 million euros ($4.6 million) over the past decade, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.

The ministry said the website had offered free access to pirated manga since 2014 and generated most of its revenue through advertising.

CFTC sues New York over bid to apply gambling laws to prediction markets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against New York to stop the state from applying its gambling laws to federally regulated prediction market platforms, escalating a growing clash over who has authority to oversee these products.

In a complaint lodged in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the CFTC argued that federal law gives it exclusive authority over these markets, asking the court for a declaratory judgment and a permanent injunction against New York’s enforcement actions.

“CFTC-registered exchanges have faced an onslaught of state lawsuits seeking to limit Americans’ access to event contracts and undermine the CFTC’s sole regulatory jurisdiction over prediction markets,” CFTC Chair Michael Selig said.

Top Magazine Stories of The Week

AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act now

DeFi projects urgently need to combat AI-assisted attacks, with AI-assisted defenses, or they may cease to exist.

How to fix suspected insider trading on Polymarket and Kalshi

Prediction markets provide valuable intel, but can also incentivize insider trading. Here’s how platforms are fighting back.

53 DeFi projects infiltrated, 50M NEO tokens could be ‘given back’: Asia Express

Neo co-founder proposes an overhaul of its $461 million treasury. Pakistan reopens banking to crypto after an eight-year ban.