California Vape Pen Company Gamifies Cannabis Use With Bitcoin Rewards

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies experienced significant drops in value, with Ethereum, Solana, and BNB all seeing declines. Over $500 million in crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with long positions taking the biggest hit.

The Federal Trade Commission has cautioned major payment companies like PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe about their debanking practices. President Trump and his sons have criticized these practices, attributing their entry into crypto to unfair treatment by banks.

Ark Invest, led by Cathie Wood, sold millions of dollars' worth of tech stocks like Nvidia and Meta, reducing exposure to Bitcoin through its Bitcoin ETF. The firm also divested from popular tech stocks like Alphabet and AMD, as well as crypto assets like ARKB and Bullish.

Binance Australia Derivatives has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay a $10 million penalty for exposing 524 retail investors to high-risk crypto derivative products without required consumer protections. The misclassification led to clients incurring $8.66 million in trading losses and paying $3.89 million in fees.

The US government-sponsored mortgage system now allows BTC owners to obtain a crypto-backed mortgage conforming to Fannie Mae standards. Borrowers receive two loans, with BItcoin or USDC as collateral, but must lock up a significant portion of their assets.

Anchorage Digital, the first crypto firm with a U.S. banking charter, will offer institutional custody for TRX on the Tron blockchain. The company plans to later add support for TRC-20 assets and TRX staking, aiming to bridge traditional institutions with the crypto ecosystem.

Tether has enlisted KPMG to conduct a thorough audit of USDT, the largest stablecoin with $184 billion in circulation. The audit aims to review Tether's financial reporting system, internal controls, and asset valuation, addressing concerns over transparency and reserves.

Institutional investors withdrew over $171 million from U.S.-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Thursday, marking the largest single-day outflow in three weeks. This pullback follows a period of robust inflows, with funds attracting over $2 billion between late February and mid-month. The moderation in flows may indicate a pause in institutional accumulation.

Sunil Nellathu Ramakrishnan, a key figure in a transnational trafficking network, was arrested by India's Central Bureau of Investigation for his involvement in cyber-fraud compounds in Myanmar. Victims were coerced into conducting scams and frauds while facing abuse and restrictions on movement.

Bitcoin is trading in a narrow range near $68,000 despite a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, which have climbed to around 4.42%. The surge in yields is driven by factors like oil prices and geopolitical tensions, impacting borrowing costs and risk assets like stocks and crypto.