The bank raised its reported IBIT holdings by 174% in the first quarter while 
also adding exposure to select Bitcoin, Ether and Solana-linked funds.

JPMorgan lifts Bitcoin ETF exposure in Q1, led by BlackRock’s IBIT

AARP urged senators to preserve Section 205 of the CLARITY Act as 
cryptocurrency kiosk scams draw concern. The group cited more than 13,460 
complaints and $389 million in reported losses tied to the machines. AARP 
Backs Section 205 Ahead of CLARITY Act Markup AARP, the nation’s largest 
nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for 125 million […]

AARP Backs CLARITY Act Ahead of Senate Banking Markup

PancakeSwap&#8217;s integration of real-time exploit detection enhances security, 
potentially boosting user trust and setting a new DeFi standard.
The post PancakeSwap integrates Hypernative Labs for real-time exploit 
detection appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

PancakeSwap integrates Hypernative Labs for real-time exploit detection

T3 Financial Crime Unit says it has frozen over $450 million tied to suspected 
illicit activity as stablecoin compliance pressures intensify.

Tether’s T3 Crime Unit says it has frozen $450M in suspected illicit crypto

Bitcoin price traded below $80,000 as investors braced for the US Senate 
CLARITY Act markup vote that could see sudden swings toward key BTC price 
levels.

Analysts are watching these Bitcoin price levels ahead of CLARITY Act vote

Ethereum is consolidating between $2,250 and $2,450 as the market searches for 
the catalyst or the structural shift that forces a decisive move in either 
direction. The price is holding but not breaking — and CryptoQuant analyst 
MorenoDV has identified a divergence in the derivatives data across two of the 
largest exchanges in the world that adds a specific risk dimension to the 
current setup that most participants are not watching. Related Reading: XRP 
Holds Key Level, But Binance Flow Data Signals Weakening Demand The analysis 
examines the Estimated Leverage Ratio — the measure of how much derivatives 
exposure is being built on top of the ETH reserve base held by each exchange. 
A higher ratio does not automatically signal danger, but it does describe a 
more sensitive market structure: more open positions relative to available 
reserves means more potential volatility per unit of the underlying asset, and 
a lower tolerance for adverse price movements before liquidation dynamics 
begin to take hold. Since the October 10 crash, Binance&#8217;s ETH reserves have 
declined approximately 5.9% — from 4.037 million to 3.8 million ETH. Over the 
same period, OKX reserves have collapsed by approximately 82.3%, falling from 
861,000 to just 152,600 ETH. Despite that dramatic reserve reduction, OKX&#8217;s 
Estimated Leverage Ratio now sits at approximately 5.6 — meaning derivatives 
exposure on that venue is 5.6 times the ETH reserve base supporting it. 
Binance, by contrast, maintains its leverage ratio well under 1x. The same 
Ethereum price. Two very different risk structures. MorenoDV&#8217;s analysis 
examines what that divergence means for the market — and who benefits from it 
and who is exposed by it. The Exchange That Criticized Binance Is Now Running 
the More Extreme Leverage Imbalance MorenoDV&#8217;s analysis names the structural 
risk with precision. When the Estimated Leverage Ratio rises because open 
interest is expanding while reserves are simultaneously shrinking — which is 
exactly what the OKX data describes — the market structure becomes fragile in 
a specific and documented way. Liquidation cascades become more likely. Sharp 
wicks appear with less provocation. Forced deleveraging can accelerate a move 
that would otherwise be orderly. The issue is not that traders are using 
leverage — leverage is a permanent feature of derivatives markets. The issue 
is that the leverage is sitting on a reserve base that has shrunk by 82% since 
October, leaving far less underlying ETH to absorb stress when it arrives. The 
narrative dimension MorenoDV identifies adds a layer that the numbers alone do 
not capture. Following the October 10 crash, Binance faced significant 
scrutiny — including from OKX leadership. Today, based purely on the ETH 
Estimated Leverage Ratio, OKX is the venue carrying the more extreme 
derivatives imbalance relative to its available reserves. The exchange that 
pointed fingers is running the more stretched structure. Related Reading: A 
Quiet Rotation Into Altcoins May Already Be Underway: Altseason Hopes Return 
The honest calibration of the analysis matters. ELR is not a solvency metric. 
A high ratio does not mean OKX is in danger or that a crisis is approaching. 
What it means — specifically, from a market-risk perspective — is that 
Ethereum&#8217;s derivatives market on OKX is significantly more sensitive to 
adverse price movements than the equivalent structure on Binance. When 
volatility arrives, the venue with 5.6x leverage on a depleted reserve base 
will feel it differently than the one holding under 1x. Ethereum Price Action 
Holds Critical Support Ethereum continues trading in a narrow consolidation 
range near $2,260 after failing to produce a decisive breakout above the 
$2,400 region. The daily chart shows ETH entering a period of compression, 
with price action flattening after the strong recovery from February lows 
around $1,800. Momentum has clearly cooled, and traders now appear to be 
waiting for a catalyst capable of forcing direction. From a technical 
perspective, ETH remains in a constructive but fragile structure. Price 
continues holding above the 200-day moving average near the $2,150–$2,180 
region, which has acted as dynamic support during the recovery phase. That 
level has become increasingly important because it converges with the rising 
short-term trend structure. Losing it would likely expose ETH to a deeper 
downside toward the psychological $2,000 area. Related Reading: XRP Breaks 
$1.46 Despite $434M In Futures Selling – Discover What Comes Next However, 
upside progress remains constrained. The 50-day and 100-day moving averages 
are converging around current price levels, while the long-term 200-day moving 
average above $2,600 continues to slope downward, signaling that the broader 
market structure has not fully transitioned back into a bullish regime. Volume 
also remains relatively muted compared to the surge seen during February&#8217;s 
capitulation and subsequent rebound. Lower participation during consolidation 
often precedes expansion. For ETH, the market appears to be coiling around 
support while waiting for confirmation of its next major move. Featured image 
from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com

JPMorgan lifts Bitcoin ETF exposure in Q1, led by BlackRock’s IBIT

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