[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | Goldman Sachs exits XRP and Solana-related ETFs, trims some Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF holdings

Goldman Sachs reduced its crypto ETF holdings in the first quarter of 2026 and fully exited XRP and Solana-related ETFs, Odaily reported.

According to filings, Goldman Sachs held about $154 million in XRP-related ETFs from Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and 21Shares in the fourth quarter of 2025, but liquidated all of those positions in the first quarter.

It also disposed of all holdings in Solana-related products, including the Grayscale Solana Trust ETF, Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, and Fidelity Solana Fund.

However, it still maintained large Bitcoin ETF positions. Goldman Sachs held about $690 million in BlackRock’s IBIT and about $25 million in Fidelity’s FBTC, with both positions down roughly 10% from the previous quarter.

For Ethereum ETFs, its holdings in BlackRock’s ETHA fell about 70%, shrinking to around 7.2 million shares worth about $114 million.

In crypto-related equities, Goldman Sachs increased its stakes in Circle, Galaxy Digital, Coinbase, Robinhood, and PayPal, while reducing holdings in mining and infrastructure names such as Strategy, Bit Digital, Riot Platforms, and IREN.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is reviewing whether Hana Bank’s indirect ownership of a stake in Dunamu violates guidelines restricting financial institutions’ virtual asset investments, PANews reported, citing iNews24.

The FSC’s virtual asset division said Hana Bank’s structure—indirectly holding Dunamu shares through the acquisition of a stake in Kakao Investment—will be reviewed under the same standards applied to investments in virtual asset exchanges.

The South Korean government has maintained administrative guidelines restricting financial institutions from holding, purchasing, or investing in virtual assets since 2017. If a violation is found, Hana Bank may face difficulty completing the transaction.

Hana Bank previously announced its plan to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, but it was reportedly done without prior consultation with financial authorities. Relevant legislation has not yet been established, and discussions in the National Assembly may follow.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies acquired an additional 71,672 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to 5,278,462 ETH, PANews reported.

As of May 17, 2026, Bitmine’s ETH holdings account for about 4.37% of the total ETH supply. The combined value of its crypto, cash, and other investment assets was estimated at about $12.6 billion.

Bitmine has staked more than 89% of its ETH holdings, or 4,712,917 ETH, worth about $10.3 billion at current prices. The company expects to generate roughly $289 million in annual staking rewards.

Bitmine previously said it aims to hold 5% of the total ETH supply by 2026 under its so-called “5% alchemy” strategy.

Fear of a global bond sell-off is continuing after the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury rose above 5%, the highest level in 20 years, Odaily reported.

Japan’s 10-year government bond yield climbed to 2.8%, the highest in 30 years, while South Korean stocks plunged intraday, triggering a circuit breaker. Gold prices also fell below $4,500.

Investors believe bond market pressure may persist as long as tensions in the Middle East continue to raise concerns over disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Priya Misra, a portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said rising long-term yields are spreading globally and the possibility of further Fed rate hikes has become a key market variable.

Bitcoin has broken below the long-held range around $80,000 and fallen under $78,000, QCP Capital said in a market report, according to Odaily.

QCP said the “long gamma” effect created by IBIT options had previously suppressed volatility, but support weakened after more than $4 billion worth of IBIT options expired last Friday.

The report said rising U.S. Treasury yields, a sharp climb in the dollar-yen exchange rate, and concerns over possible Japanese FX intervention are weighing on investor sentiment. It also noted that with no concrete details emerging from a meeting between President Trump and China’s leader, and with oil prices rising alongside sticky inflation, markets are pricing in a 50% to 60% chance of an additional 25bp Fed rate hike before next January.

QCP said the crypto market is likely to remain range-bound for now unless there is clear change in tariff policy or U.S.-Iran developments.

According to Whale Alert, 25,655 ETH was transferred from an anonymous wallet to Bybit.

The transfer was worth about $54.33 million. Large inflows to exchanges are commonly watched as an indicator of potential selling pressure.

Odaily, citing on-chain analyst Ai Yi, reported that wallet address 0xB4d…B186a sold another $15.46 million worth of WBTC.

The address has sold a total of $35.73 million worth of tokens over the past three days. It has frequently interacted with block builder Titan Builder and is currently estimated to hold on-chain assets worth $125 million.

About 95% of its holdings consist of ETH and WBTC, leading the market to monitor the possibility of further sell pressure.

Tether is investing in financial platform Rempaye, Odaily reported.

The investment aims to integrate USDT as a settlement layer into Rempaye’s key payment rails, enabling low-cost, near-real-time payments across Africa and Asia while expanding stablecoin infrastructure.

Standard Chartered is pursuing the acquisition of Zodia Custody’s crypto custody business. Zodia’s shareholders and creditors have accepted a non-binding proposal, and if the deal is completed, the business will be integrated into Standard Chartered’s existing systems.

According to Bloomberg, Zodia’s digital asset custody business would be able to offer services in new markets including the U.K. and Australia. Zodia’s infrastructure business is expected to be spun off as an independent SaaS company called Zodia Solutions, and participation by existing investors is still under discussion.

BNB Agent SDK has officially launched on the BSC mainnet, Odaily reported.

The SDK supports AI agents in carrying out identity verification, commercial collaboration, automated payments, and data storage on-chain.

The SDK consists of four modules: identity and trust based on ERC-8004, commerce and custody based on ERC-8183, autonomous payments combining MPP and x402, and memory and storage based on BNB Greenfield. Initial partners include Google, AWS, Virtuals, Binance Pay, Trust Wallet, Binance Wallet, and United Stables.