Orca token went vertical on Friday as the network flipped Raydium and a crucial network vote entered its final stretch. Orca (ORCA) price jumped to a high of $3.4345, marking its highest level since March 22 and double from its…

Orca price goes vertical as crucial vote enters final stretch

Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO of cryptocurrency payment firm MoonPay, is calling on US 
lawmakers to leave a path open to state-level regulators when passing 
legislation on stablecoins.
In an April 18 X post, Soto-Wright said he wanted Congress to &#8220;keep state- 
regulated issuers in the game&#8221; when it comes to stablecoin regulation, 
referencing efforts in the House of Representatives and Senate to create a 
federal regulatory framework. Lawmakers are considering whether to pass the 
Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS 
Act, in the Senate and the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a 
Better Ledger Economy, or STABLE Act, in the House.
&#8220;While the cryptocurrency industry has called for federal legislation for 
years, it has been these state regulators who have provided and continue to 
provide regulatory clarity and supervision to ensure consumer protection and 
enable growth in the sector,&#8221; said Soto-Wright. &#8220;As federal legislation now 
approaches the finish line, it is essential to preserve viable state pathways 
for PSIs [permitted stablecoin issuers] that place the state regulators who 
meet the standards set out in GENIUS and STABLE on equal footing with federal 
regulators.&#8221; 
_April 17 letter from MoonPay CEO to congressional leadership. Source:__Ivan 
Soto-Wright_
The MoonPay CEO&#8217;s comment echoed those of the Conference of State Bank 
Supervisors (CSBS), which wrote to leadership on the House Financial Services 
Committee in an April 1 letter and recommended a similar state-level approach. 
Both the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee voted 
to advance the bills in March and April, respectively, paving the way for a 
full floor vote.
_**Related:**__**Lawmaker alleges Trump wants to replace US dollar with his 
stablecoin**_
The STABLE Act, a companion bill modeled after the GENIUS Act, proposed 
regulating payment stablecoins by limiting them to &#8220;permitted payment 
stablecoin issuers,&#8221; allowing for &#8220;state qualified&#8221; ones. Soto-Wright said the 
GENIUS bill &#8220;stacks the deck&#8221; for permitted stablecoin issuers through federal 
regulators over state-level ones and the Federal Reserve to be the &#8220;sole 
federal regulator for all state PSIs.&#8221;
## Trump family-backed venture launched its own stablecoin
It&#8217;s unclear whether the bills have the necessary votes to pass both chambers 
before being signed into law by US President Donald Trump. The president and 
his family members have also backed the launch of their own stablecoin through 
World Liberty Financial, despite allegations of conflicts of interest and 
potential complications getting the bills through the House and Senate. 
World Liberty Financial, which launched in September 2024, has already 
received roughly $600 million &#8212; largely through token sales &#8212; from investors 
including Tron founder Justin Sun, market maker DWF Labs, venture capital firm 
Oddiyana Ventures, and investment platform Web3Port. According to the project, 
its USD1 stablecoin was not tradable as of March 24.
_**Magazine:**__**Trump &#8216;s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider 
trading questions**_

MoonPay CEO calls on Congress to keep state authority over stablecoins

Tokenized stocks are on track to exceed $1 trillion in market capitalization 
in the coming years as adoption accelerates, two industry executives said at 
the TokenizeThis conference in New York.
The total addressable market for tokenized stocks &#8212; a type of tokenized real- 
world asset (RWA) &#8212; is difficult to project but is &#8220;definitely a bigger 
trillion-dollar market,&#8221; Arnab Naskar, STOKR&#8217;s CEO, said during an April 16 
panel at the event.
In 2025, demand for the instruments has &#8220;exploded&#8221; from institutions ranging 
from Web3 wallets to neobanks to traditional financial services firms, 
according to Anna Wroblewska, Dinari&#8217;s Chief Business Officer.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve had an enormous influx of demand from a much broader scope of potential 
partners than you might even imagine [&#8230;] it&#8217;s actually been really 
interesting,&#8221; Wroblewska said.
_Tokenized stocks are still a small portion of the total RWA market. 
Source:__RWA.xyz_
 _**Related: **__**Tokenization can transform US markets if Trump clears the 
way**_
## Small but growing market share
As of April 18, tokenized stocks comprise around $350 million in cumulative 
market capitalization, according to data from RWA.xyz.
This represents only a sliver of the total RWA market, which is worth upward 
of $18 billion, the data shows.
But this could change as tokenized stocks capture a growing share of the US 
equities market, Wroblewska said. The US stock market has an aggregate value 
of more than $50 trillion, according to Siblis Research.
There is a &#8220;huge appetite for US public equities&#8230; even individual investors 
globally want exposure to US capital markets. Tokenization makes it fast and 
cheap,&#8221; Wroblewska said.
She added that tokenized US Treasury Bills are already in high demand for 
similar reasons. They currently comprise nearly $6 billion in total market 
cap, RWA.xyz data shows.
Meanwhile, Coinbase is considering making tokenized shares of its stock 
available on Base, its Ethereum layer-2 network.
Collectively, tokenized RWAs represent a $30 trillion market opportunity 
globally, Colin Butler, Movement Labs&#8217; global head of institutional capital, 
told Cointelegraph in an August interview.
&#8220;Tokenization will become a mirror of the market. If the user experience is 
better, faster, and cheaper, people will default to tokenized assets,&#8221; 
Wroblewska said.
_**Magazine: **__**SEC &#8216;s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered**_

Tokenized stocks could top $1T in market cap — Execs

Strategy chairman Michael Saylor, a vocal promoter of Bitcoin, stoked renewed 
chatter among crypto circles with his recent enigmatic tweet. Thursday&#8217;s 
message stating merely &#8220;Bitcoin is Calling&#8221; left many asking if a forthcoming 
significant purchase looms. Related Reading: Is Shiba Inu On Track To Dethrone 
Dogecoin? Here’s What The Experts Say Strategy&#8217;s Shopping Spree On Bitcoin 
Goes Unabated In The Face Of Market Uncertainty The company recently acquired 
3,450 Bitcoin at a price of $285 million. This was done after a short one-week 
break from their consistent acquisition pattern. Strategy has been steadfast 
in its aggressive acquisition strategy despite the fact that nearly all of its 
crypto acquisitions since November 18 have been made at higher-than-current 
market prices, according to reports. Image: Open Access Government Saylor&#8217;s 
post might be a tease regarding another future purchase, given his history of 
sending such sarcastic remarks ahead of new acquisitions. The post also 
appeared to urge his 4.2 million followers to purchase BTC, which he has 
frequently called &#8220;the future of money.&#8221; Bitcoin is Calling. 
pic.twitter.com/0jo19Qbr5q — Michael Saylor (@saylor) April 17, 2025 Bitcoin 
Bet Pays Off With Massive Stock Gains Strategy&#8217;s shares have trounced the 
performance of America&#8217;s largest technology stocks, Saylor&#8217;s Wednesday filing 
showed. The crypto-focused firm has posted an astonishing 130% gain over the 
last year. These returns more than dwarf the returns of Tesla (57%), NVIDIA 
(30%), Apple (17%), Meta (4%), and Alphabet (2%). There is a @Strategy to beat 
the Magnificent 7. pic.twitter.com/TlD57hW0w0 — Michael Saylor (@saylor) April 
15, 2025 Some top tech firms actually lost value during the same period. 
Amazon and Microsoft saw drops of 2% and 7% respectively. These comparisons 
highlight the significant rewards Strategy has reaped from its heavy crypto 
investment strategy. Saylor Continues Bold Bitcoin Claims The chairman of 
Strategy has issued some provocative comments on BTC in recent weeks. Only two 
weeks ago, he asserted that the price volatility of the top crypto asset 
actually proves its utility instead of constituting a disadvantage. When 
someone brought up Bitcoin&#8217;s link with risky assets, Saylor contended this is 
so because Bitcoin is &#8220;the most liquid, salable, and accessible asset on the 
planet.&#8221; A day earlier than that remark, he underscored Bitcoin&#8217;s singular 
status among commodities by noting that there are no tariffs on it. His remark 
highlighted its digital nature and liquidity as central to what makes it 
functionally decentralized. Saylor has established himself as one of Bitcoin&#8217;s 
most vocal proponents. His tweets tend to center on the fact that there are 
only 21 million coins in existence, which he recently referred to as &#8220;the most 
important number in finance.&#8221; He has also likened Bitcoin to chess, although 
the meaning behind this comparison wasn&#8217;t elaborated in coverage. Image: 
Blockzeit Related Reading: Could 1,000 XRP Buy You Happiness? This Analyst 
Thinks So The chairman&#8217;s most recent statement comes as Strategy maintains its 
focus of continuing to buy Bitcoin for the long term, no matter what happens 
in the short term. With the company&#8217;s shares outperforming technology giants 
and Saylor&#8217;s ongoing public support, most crypto observers are now looking to 
see if another significant purchase of crypto comes after his cryptic 
&#8220;calling&#8221; tweet. Featured image from Getty Images/Joe Raedle, chart from 
TradingView

‘Bitcoin Is Calling’ – Saylor Stirs The Market With Cryptic Clue

Bitcoin ETFs snapped back with a $108 million inflow on Thursday, April 17, 
recovering nearly two-thirds of the prior day’s outflow thanks to strong 
entries into Blackrock and Fidelity products. Ether ETFs, meanwhile, were 
frozen in place with no net flows. Blackrock and Fidelity Lead Bitcoin ETFs 
Rebound A day after hemorrhaging $170 million, bitcoin […]

Bitcoin ETFs Bounce Back After Midweek Dip With $108 Million Inflow

Bitcoin has spent the past week locked in a sideways range after rejecting 
from a swing high. Volatility has dried up, and price action remains muted as 
the market coils tighter. Traders are now watching key intraday levels for 
potential…