Bitcoin | Crypto

Users paid $9.7 billion in on-chain fees in the first half of 2025, up 41% year over year and the second-highest total on record. 1kx projects more than $32 billion in on-chain fees for 2026, driven by accelerating application growth. That growth has pushed the word “revenue” into every crypto investor pitch deck, every sector […] The post Crypto traders spend $9.7B on fees as the next Bitcoin drawdown will expose which on-chain costs are real appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Morgan Stanley launched its spot Bitcoin ETF on Apr. 8 on NYSE Arca, calling MSBT the first cryptocurrency ETP from a US bank-affiliated asset manager and pricing its sponsor fee at 0.14%, the lowest Bitcoin ETP sponsor fee. By Apr. 16, Farside Investors' data showed cumulative net inflows of $116 million across seven trading sessions. […] The post Morgan Stanley’s $116M Bitcoin ETF debut is tiny next to $1.9T, and that’s why Wall Street will notice appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin's network just recorded its lowest activity in eight years, and the price has barely flinched. CryptoQuant flagged that active BTC addresses hit their lowest level since 2016 on Apr. 8. At the same time, Glassnode's latest 24-hour reading puts active addresses at 661,313, a number that, set against a price near $78,000, produces one […] The post Bitcoin network activity just hit an 8-year low — has Wall Street replaced retail in the market? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin foreshadows fresh market mayhem as it appears that the US-Iran war has returned, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz oil route. Bitcoin (BTC) sought to protect $75,000 into Sunday’s weekly close as crypto surfed fresh uncertainty over the US-Iran war. Key points: Bitcoin price action sinks from ten-week highs amid fears that the US-Iran war has returned in full force. Read more

The SEC has approved a rule change that eliminates one of Wall Street's most recognizable barriers for small traders: the old $25,000 minimum tied to pattern day-trading restrictions. Regulators signed off on FINRA's proposal to scrap a framework that long made it harder for smaller investors to make rapid-fire stock trades, replacing it with a […] The post SEC removes huge pattern day trader barrier to allow retail investors to day trade Bitcoin with just $2k margin appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Alcoa is nearing a deal to sell its idle upstate New York Massena East smelter to NYDIG as US industrial sites increasingly shift toward Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. US aluminium giant Alcoa is reportedly nearing a deal to offload its long-idle Massena East smelter in upstate New York to Bitcoin mining firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). The company is in advanced discussions and expects the transaction to close “in the middle part of this year,” CEO Bill Oplinger told Bloomberg on Friday. The site, located along the St. Lawrence River, has been inactive since 2014 after Alcoa shut it down amid rising energy costs and global competition. Built for 24/7 heavy industrial operations, aluminum smelters come with pre-existing substations, transmission lines and high-capacity grid connections. That makes them attractive targets for Bitcoin miners and data center operators, who often spend years securing similar infrastructure approvals from scratch. Read more

Charles Schwab announced this week that it will begin selling Bitcoin and Ethereum directly to its 39 million brokerage clients. They will appear in the same account view as stocks, ETFs, and retirement funds, in the same app, under the same brand, one click from the S&P 500 index fund a customer bought for their […] The post Charles Schwab is bringing Bitcoin to its 39 million clients – but without the protections they expect appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The average block time at publication is about 9.8 minutes, falling slightly short of the 10-minute block target, according to CoinWarz. The Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty, the relative challenge of adding new blocks to the BTC blockchain, fell on Saturday, amid public mining companies selling record amounts of BTC to cover operating expenses. The Bitcoin mining difficulty fell to about 135.5 T, a modest decrease of about 1.1% over the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinWarz. Mining difficulty is also projected to increase in the next adjustment period. CoinWarz said: Bitcoin miners have faced mounting challenges over the past year, as reduced block rewards, rising energy prices, a crypto bear market and geopolitical shocks create economic headwinds for miners.  Read more

Kevin Warsh is set to become the first Federal Reserve chair with disclosed crypto holdings, and the first whose policy instincts could still squeeze the sector harder than his predecessors. Most Americans don't follow Fed personnel drama closely, but they feel its aftershocks every month through mortgage rates, savings yields, and the temperature of equity […] The post Why Kevin Warsh should become Bitcoin’s most impactful Fed chair yet appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Iran's Friday announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened during the current ceasefire triggered one of the sharpest oil reversals of the year. Brent crude fell 12.95% to $86.52, and WTI dropped 14.26% to $81.19, both their lowest levels since Mar. 11 and the largest single-day declines since Apr. 8. US stocks surged, […] The post Bitcoin now has just 4 days before ceasefire deadline risks price reversal with Hormuz closed again appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Quantum computing has long served as Bitcoin’s most cinematic threat. It has the right ingredients for a high-drama warning, strange machines, broken cryptography, and the possibility of a future rewrite of digital trust. Yet the greater danger facing Bitcoin today looks far more ordinary and far more commercial. It is artificial intelligence, and the pressure […] The post New research shows Bitcoin must retake $80k or risk BTC miner shut down in competition with $4B in AI revenue appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin rallied hard after Iran said it was reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. Bitcoin hit the highest level since February, oil prices dropped, Wall Street notched another record, and the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.24%. But here’s the catch: markets acted as if the reopening had solved the core standoff […] The post All eyes on Bitcoin this weekend as Iran is already disputing the US narrative on the Hormuz deal appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Rep. Sheri Biggs purchased up to $250,000 worth of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF last month, padding a position she entered into last July.

Nearly a billion dollars in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours as the Bitcoin price rallied above $78,000. Bitcoin (BTC) rallied above $78,000 to hit another 10-week high on Friday as crypto and equity markets reacted to cooling tensions in the US and Israel war in Iran. The rally above range highs also resulted in a large liquidation of leveraged Bitcoin positions. More than $660 million in short positions were liquidated, with Bitcoin accounting for $353 million of that total. Ether (ETH) followed with $160 million in short liquidations. Related: Three things Bitcoin must do to hold highs above $76K: Analysts Read more

Bitcoin climbed toward $80,000 after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was fully open to commercial traffic for the remainder of the ceasefire period, easing pressure on one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints and triggering a broader risk-on move across markets. The largest cryptocurrency rose 5% on the news to as high as […] The post Bitcoin price jumps towards $80,000 after Strait of Hormuz shipping route declared open appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin spiked above $77,000 as stock indices set records, following word that Iran's Strait of Hormuz is open during the ceasefire.

Bitcoin price rallied above $77,000 amid cooling geopolitical tensions and record-high back-to-back closes for the S&P 500. Bitcoin (BTC) refreshed February highs on Friday as attention focused on the upcoming weekly close and a longer-term rally to $88,000. Key points: Bitcoin hits its highest levels in ten weeks as markets abandon geopolitical nerves. Read more

Bitcoin surged above $77,000 as oil futures fell 10% after Iran’s foreign minister declared the Strait of Hormuz open for the remainder of the ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran. Update (4.17.26 6:43 PM UTC): This article has been updated to reflect updated BTC prices and rally data. Iran’s foreign minister said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial vessel traffic for the remainder of the current ceasefire, prompting quick market reactions. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a Friday X post. Read more

Analysts say reclaiming $76,000, sustained spot market buy volume and consistent inflows to the Bitcoin ETFs are the necessary components required for a rally to new highs. Bitcoin (BTC) struggles to reclaim price highs above $76,000, but analysts say that the uptrend may continue if key conditions are met. Bitcoin’s 8% climb over the last three days saw it reclaim key levels, including the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $71,000. “$76K is the level that decides everything,” analyst Crypto Patel said in a Wednesday post on X, adding: Read more

Bitcoin price has entered the breakout stage of a classic bullish reversal pattern and is now eyeing a run toward $90,000. Bitcoin (BTC) appears on track to hit $90,000 in the coming weeks as whales accumulated about 20 times the cryptocurrency’s daily new supply in the past weeks. Key takeaways: Whales bought roughly 270,000 BTC in the past 30 days. Read more