The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency handed Coinbase a national bank 
trust charter last week — a major regulatory win that came as the crypto 
exchange&#8217;s CEO was ramping up pressure on Congress to finalize long-stalled 
digital asset legislation. Related Reading: XRP Eyes $17 After Massive 
Breakout—Is A 1,100% Surge Next? Armstrong Reverses Course On Clarity Act 
Brian Armstrong, who pulled Coinbase&#8217;s backing from the Digital Asset Market 
Clarity Act back in January, is now calling on lawmakers to pass it. In a post 
on X, Armstrong said the bill, as it stands after months of negotiation, is 
strong enough to move forward. &#8220;It&#8217;s time to pass the Clarity Act,&#8221; he wrote. 
His change of heart follows an op-ed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in 
the Wall Street Journal, in which Bessent urged Congress to act without 
further delay. Armstrong said Coinbase agreed with the Treasury chief&#8217;s 
position. We agree. Thank you @SecScottBessent for saying it. It&#8217;s time to 
pass the Clarity Act. Grateful for all the bipartisan work among Senators and 
staff over the past several months to make this a strong bill. 
https://t.co/jHoZ1bfLVZ pic.twitter.com/YBKebDkq8B — Brian Armstrong 
(@brian_armstrong) April 10, 2026 Three months ago, the story looked very 
different. Armstrong had objected to the bill&#8217;s language, and his withdrawal 
of support was enough to push Senate Banking Committee members to delay a 
scheduled markup vote. Issues around stablecoin yield, tokenized equities, and 
ethics provisions were among the sticking points holding things up. 
Negotiations Inch Toward A Deal Progress has been slow but appears to be 
moving. Coinbase&#8217;s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said last week that 
lawmakers were very close to reaching an agreement. The Senate Agriculture 
Committee already approved the bill in January, clearing one of two key 
hurdles. The Senate Banking Committee has yet to schedule its own markup, 
which must happen before the full chamber can vote. Both panels are 
responsible for different parts of the bill — one covering securities rules, 
the other commodities regulations. Getting the bill through will require 
alignment from both sides of a complicated regulatory divide. Crypto 
executives and banking industry representatives have all had a hand in shaping 
the current draft through direct talks with administration officials. Crypto&#8217;s 
Reach In Washington Continues To Grow Coinbase is not the only company that 
has benefited from a friendlier political climate. Paxos, Ripple Labs, BitGo, 
Circle, and Fidelity Digital Assets all received similar charter approvals in 
December. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Hype Hits Ceiling, Sharp Drop Risk 
Emerges: Analyst Reports indicate Armstrong met personally with US President 
Donald Trump before Trump publicly called for quick action on crypto market 
structure rules. Ripple executives have also been part of White House 
discussions on the bill. Whether the Senate Banking Committee moves quickly 
remains to be seen. But with the Treasury Secretary, the White House, and now 
Coinbase&#8217;s CEO aligned behind the legislation, the pressure on Congress to act 
is real. Featured image from Thana Prasongsin/Getty Images, chart from 
TradingView

Crypto Regulation Heats Up As Coinbase CEO Supports CLARITY Act

First Lady Melania Trump’s unexpected White House address forcefully denying 
any ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and her unprecedented call for 
congressional hearings for his victims has sparked a political firestorm. In a 
surprise April 9 announcement, the first lady addressed reporters at the White 
House to categorically dismantle rumors regarding her past. She […]
The post Melania Trump’s surprise Epstein denial fails to halt 99% crash of 
her memecoin appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Melania Trump’s surprise Epstein denial fails to halt 99% crash of her memecoin

Bitwise Asset Management filed another amendment to its pending U.S. spot 
exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Hyperliquid’s HYPE token this week, 
reconfirming its BHYP ticker and 0.67% management fee as Bloomberg senior ETF 
analyst Eric Balchunas signaled a launch could be imminent. Key Takeaways: 
Bitwise filed a second amendment for its BHYP ETF on April 10, […]

Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF Filing Updated — Launch Could Be Near, Analyst Says

The Bitcoin price went into the weekend firing on all cylinders after the 
release of weaker-than-expected inflation data in the United States. 
Interestingly, an analyst has come forward with data and a fresh angle on the 
influence of the US on BTC and the general cryptocurrency market. US 
Institutional Players: Major Catalysts Behind BTC&#8217;s Latest Rally Crypto 
analyst Burak Kesmeci revealed in a post on the social media platform X that 
the Coinbase Premium Index has been a major indicator steering the Bitcoin 
price over the past two years. The Coinbase Premium Index is an on-chain 
metric that measures the difference between the BTC price on the US-based 
Coinbase exchange (USD pair) and the global Binance exchange (USDT pair). 
Related Reading: Why A Bitcoin Price Breakdown To $50,000 Could Be Important 
For Long-Term Bullishness Typically, when the metric&#8217;s value increases or 
moves into the positive territory, it implies rising demand from US investors, 
who are willing to pay more than other global investors to purchase the 
flagship cryptocurrency. On the other hand, the Coinbase Premium Index falling 
below the zero mark means that US investors are buying less than investors in 
other parts of the world. Ultimately, the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index 
offers insight into the sentiment of US investors (mainly institutional 
players) and how it differs from that on global exchanges like Binance. 
According to Kesmeci, this indicator has a direct relationship with the 
Bitcoin price, suggesting that US investor demand plays a huge role in the BTC 
market dynamic. The analyst wrote on X: Looking at the chart, this 
relationship is quite clear: during periods when the index stayed positive, 
Bitcoin rose from 41K to 126K, while in periods when it turned negative, it 
declined from 126K down to the 60K range. Kesmeci noted that this trend can be 
seen in the the recent price action, as the &#8220;easing of the negative pressure&#8221; 
in the Coinbase Premium Index has sparked the positive rally seen by the 
Bitcoin price. After the index turned positive over the past few days, the 
price of BTC followed with a run up to above $73,000. The analyst published 
further data to show that the Coinbase Bitcoin Premiun Index are quite green 
on an hourly basis. &#8220;We can confirm with data that the locomotive carrying 
Bitcoin from 66K to 73K is the positive sentiment of US investors (especially 
whales),&#8221; Kesmeci concluded in the follow-up post. Bitcoin Price At A Glance 
As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $73,330, reflecting an 
over 1% jump in the past 24 hours. Related Reading: Is XRP Safer Than Bitcoin? 
This Analyst Explains The Real Quantum Risk For Holders Featured image from 
iStock, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s $73K Rally Driven By US Investors, Analyst Says

In the past week, the Bitcoin market rose by almost 10%, representing a 
significant rally amid recent bearish struggles. Notably, the leading 
cryptocurrency has now reclaimed the $73,000 price zone for the first time 
since mid-March, translating to a mild bullish undertone for most investors. 
However, traders in the derivatives market remain largely unconvinced of a 
bullish recovery, given the rise in short positions during this period. 
Related Reading: Bitcoin Battles Key Levels: Will $70,000 Hold Or Trigger A 
Fresh Decline? Bitcoin Open Interest Jumps $350M, But Volume Lags According to 
market analyst Amr Taha, Bitcoin’s price gain was accompanied by a similar 
rise in leverage across major exchanges, indicating a boost in futures 
traders&#8217; activity. However, a different on-chain data suggests that new market 
calls are dominated by bearish positioning rather than bullish ones. For 
context, data from the [BTC]: Open Interest Change By Exchange 7D Chart shows 
that Binance registered a $350 million increase in open interest on April 9, 
marking its highest level recorded since March 20. Meanwhile, Bybit followed 
with $299 million in new contracts, while OKX also recorded $200 million in 
new contracts. Amid these impressive figures, more data from the BTC: Binance 
Cumulative Net Taker Volume/OI [USD] 24H chart shows that net take volume on 
the world’s largest exchange failed to rise to the same levels. For context, 
the net taker volume measures the difference between aggressive buying and 
aggressive selling in the futures market. Therefore, a positive net taker 
volume suggests more aggressive buying, and there is greater bullish pressure 
in the market. However, Amr Taha’s observations indicate that aggressive 
buying activity accounted for only a small portion of the open interest boost 
observed on April 9. This suggests that most traders are placing negative bets 
on the premier cryptocurrency or opting for passive limit bids rather than 
aggressive market participation. Either way, there is an apparent lack of 
bullish conviction in the futures market despite Bitcoin’s recent rally. As a 
result, the sustainability of the upward move increasingly depends on genuine 
spot demand rather than leveraged derivatives positioning. Related Reading: 
Bitcoin Spikes Above $72,000 On Easing War Tensions, But CPI Threatens 
Reversal Bitcoin Price Overview At the time of writing, Bitcoin is valued at 
$72,837, up 0.34% over the last 24 hours. In tandem, the daily trading volume 
had experienced a similar slight rise of 3.85%. Despite the encouraging rally 
over the past week, the maiden cryptocurrency remains deep in a bear market, 
with its market price 42.08% below the cycle high of $126,200 recorded in 
October, 2025. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview

Cryptocurrency price in GBP