The European Securities and Markets Authority is sounding a fresh caution at the potential risks crypto could pose to financial markets. ESMA, the European Union&#8217;s securities watchdog, has once again touched on the issue of crypto regulation, warning that crypto-related risks…

ESMA warns crypto could pose risks to financial stability

Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon saw $1.26 billion in BTC unstaked from its 
platform, plunging the protocol&#8217;s total value locked by 32%.
On April 17, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged several addresses 
that had unstaked 14,929 Bitcoin (BTC) from the staking platform. The security 
firm flagged four addresses that unstaked 299 BTC, 499 BTC, 1,000 BTC and 
13,129 BTC.
One address held a majority of the unstaked assets worth $1.1 billion. With 
BTC prices hovering at $84,400, the total unstaked BTC is worth about $1.26 
billion.
The unstaking event saw Babylon&#8217;s total value locked (TVL) drop by 32%. 
According to data tracker DefiLlama, Babylon&#8217;s TVL dropped from $3.97 billion 
to $2.68 billion during the unstaking.
_Source:__Lookonchain_
## Unstaked Bitcoin may be &#8220;staked back&#8221; to Babylon
Community members are speculating on who was behind the unstaking. One X user 
suspected that the Bitcoin may belong to the Chinese government, while another 
said the move may simply be a rotation, risk-off, or a trader getting liquid.
While it&#8217;s unclear who&#8217;s behind the four addresses cited by Lookonchain, the 
fund movements could be related to a transition initiated by the decentralized 
finance (DeFi) protocol Lombard Finance.
At the time of the unstaking, Babylon Labs retweeted an announcement from 
Lombard, saying it was unstaking Bitcoin as part of a transition to a new set 
of finality providers.
Lombard Finance said it timed the unstaking with the end of Babylon&#8217;s phase 1 
cap 1 on April 24 so users would not miss out on rewards. The protocol said it 
would stake the assets back.
&#8220;All of this BTC will be staked back into Babylon as soon as the unbonding is 
complete,&#8221; Lombard Finance wrote.
Cointelegraph reached out to Babylon Labs for comments but did not get a 
response by publication.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin L2 &#8216;honeymoon phase&#8217; is over, most projects will fail 
&#8212; Muneeb Ali**_
## Bitcoin unstaking follows BABY airdrop
The massive unstaking event follows a Babylon airdrop for early adopters. On 
April 3, Babylon announced the details of its early adopters airdrop program. 
The airdrop was allocated for its Phase 1 stakers, non-fungible token (NFT) 
holders, and developers. The protocol allocated 600 million BABY tokens for 
the airdrop event.
Following the airdrop, $21 million in BTC were unstaked from the protocol. 
Bitlayer co-founder Kevin He previously told Cointelegraph that this was a 
common short-term market behavior representing early redemption. 
Babylon is one of the largest Bitcoin DeFi players in the space, with a TVL 
reaching over $6 billion in December. Babylon co-founder Fisher Yu previously 
told Cointelegraph that the platform allows staking to be a native use case 
for Bitcoin, eliminating the need to trust another party while staking.
_**Magazine:**__**Your AI &#8216;digital twin&#8217; can take meetings and comfort your 
loved ones**_

Babylon total value locked drops 32% as wallets unstake $1.2B in Bitcoin

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Local experts assess that, while useful, regular dollars will not impact the 
use of stablecoins in Argentina, given their unique characteristics and value 
proposition. Instead, some believe that the adoption of these dollar-proxy 
tokens will increase, as they create new investment opportunities. Analysts: 
Argentina Will Keep Embracing Stablecoins After the recent lifting of the 
currency […]

The Upper Hand: Why Stablecoins Will Remain Popular in Argentina After the End of Currency Controls

After falling from its Macro Range, Aptos (APT) has faced rejection from key 
levels. Amid its 15% monthly decline, some analysts suggest that APT’s party 
won’t continue until the $5 resistance is reclaimed. Related Reading: Is The 
Storm Over For Ethereum? Analyst Says ‘Face-Melting’ Rally Comes Next Aptos 
Trades In ‘No Man’s Land’ Over the past two weeks, Aptos has seen its price 
drop to its lowest levels in two years, falling below the $4 mark for the 
first time. The cryptocurrency has been trading within the $5.45-$17 price 
range since 2023, maintaining the Macro Range lows until the March 
corrections. Notably, APT had tested this key level twice before, but closed 
below its Macro Range for the first time last month. Analyst Rekt Capital 
noted that the cryptocurrency has historically developed bases around these 
levels “in the form of downside wicks for three-month periods,” seemingly 
forming one for the third time with its current downtrend. Amid the early 
April recovery, the analyst noted that Aptos was forming a lower timeframe 
bullish divergence as its Relative Strength Index (RSI) was forming Higher 
Lows despite the downside deviation. Nonetheless, he warned about “the dangers 
of a higher timeframe bearish retest for APT.” Since then, Aptos has “followed 
through on that bearish retest and rejected from the previous Macro Range Low, 
treating it as resistance.” After the rejection, APT’s price retraced 26% to 
the $3.9 support, where it “found some liquidity” and bounced to the $4.2-$4.5 
range. “However, still, the confirmation for a trend reversal isn&#8217;t there just 
yet,” he explained, adding that Aptos must reclaim the Macro Range Lows or it 
would risk further bleeding. APT needs to reclaim the $5.44 Range Low level as 
support to confirm that it is ready to resynchronise with its prior range and 
try to position itself to challenge for higher prices. Without that 
confirmation, the risk is a little bit too steep because APT is in the middle 
of no man&#8217;s land. Until then, “it will be important to watch out for signs of 
mounting strength in the meantime,” the analyst added. APT Party Halted? 
Similarly, analyst Sjuul from AltCryptoGems considers that there will be “no 
party on APT” until it reclaims the $5 resistance, which it has been unable to 
recover for the past two weeks. “As long as we stay below the $5 level, 
unfortunately, it&#8217;s just a bearish retest,” he asserted. Meanwhile, another 
market watcher pointed out that APT has been moving within a falling wedge 
pattern for the past five months, with a breakout “imminent.” However, the 
analyst affirmed that this week’s performance could determine whether the 
pattern will break out, as it needs to reclaim the $5 resistance and surge 
above $5.4. Related Reading: On The Brink: Ethereum Challenges Descending 
Channel, Targets $3,000 Price Rekt Capital noted that Aptos has revisited the 
35 Relative Strength Index (RSI) during its recent performance, “which has 
historically been a key region in facilitating basing periods from which price 
would reverse to the upside over time.” With APT at this level, the RSI would 
need to break its multi-week RSI Downtrend to “confirm a sign of emerging 
strength in price, building out a bottoming-out area here. Until then, it is a 
waiting game for the most part.” As of this writing, APT trades at $4.5, a 1% 
decline in the daily timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from 
TradingView.com

Aptos (APT) To Continue Moving In ‘No Man’s Land’ – Can It Reclaim $5?

Belarus and Russia are coordinating plans for digital currency integration as 
Minsk targets a full digital ruble rollout by late 2026. Belarus is getting 
ready to launch its central bank digital currency into full circulation by the 
second half of…