[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | SEC Approves Higher Position Limits for Nasdaq ISE Options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Nasdaq ISE’s proposal to raise the position and exercise limits for options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) from 250,000 contracts to 1 million contracts.

According to PANews on the 30th, the SEC said IBIT has sufficient liquidity and market size, and therefore the higher limits would not increase the risk of market manipulation.

The SEC explained that the 1 million-contract limit represents about 7.474% of total shares outstanding, and even if all contracts were exercised, it would amount to only 0.278% of total bitcoin in circulation.

The new threshold is in line with position limits applied to major ETF options such as EEM, FXI, and EFA.

Nasdaq ISE had previously submitted a proposed rule change seeking to increase trading limits for IBIT options.

According to PANews, citing data compiled by SoSoValue, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded total net outflows of $138 million on April 29 (U.S. Eastern Time). This marked the third consecutive trading day of net outflows for spot bitcoin ETFs.

The product with the largest net inflow that day was MSBT, which saw $10.8149 million in inflows. MSBT’s cumulative net inflows were reported at $164 million.

By contrast, the largest net outflow came from BlackRock’s IBIT. IBIT saw $54.7251 million leave the fund, and according to the report, its cumulative net inflows currently stand at $23.3928 million.

As of press time, the total net asset value of spot bitcoin ETFs stood at $99.267 billion. The ETF net asset ratio was 6.55% of bitcoin’s total market capitalization, while cumulative net inflows were tallied at $58.073 billion.

Recent capital flows into and out of spot bitcoin ETFs are being closely watched as a gauge of institutional demand. The latest outflows may be interpreted as a near-term headwind for investor sentiment.

Analysts said that as the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury rose to 5%, pressure on risk assets such as bitcoin could intensify.

On the 30th, PANews, citing CoinDesk, reported that rising long-term Treasury yields and the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance are weighing on liquidity and sentiment in the crypto market.

Diana Pires, chief business officer at sFOX, said that as long as Treasury yields remain elevated and the Fed maintains a tight policy stance, capital is more likely to favor yield and safety over risk assets. She added that such conditions could continue to pressure crypto through reduced liquidity and weaker market momentum.

Pires also said inflation has not yet convincingly returned to the Fed’s target level, and with the Fed offering no near-term signal of rate cuts, investors may prioritize stable returns over volatility-driven opportunities.

Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus, noted that rising long-term Treasury yields and a stronger dollar have in the past tightened financial conditions and weighed on crypto valuations.

Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21Shares, said that while the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady was expected, opposition from three officials to a rate-cut direction weakened hopes for easing. He described this as a classic hawkish signal and said bitcoin is reacting sensitively to the shift.

Analysts at ING said the dissent could be interpreted as a warning sign for the future path of monetary policy. Markets had previously hoped for rate cuts this year, but the latest development suggests the Fed is not easily embracing that expectation internally.

Brent crude oil prices have exceeded $120 per barrel.

Watcher.Guru reported via X on the 30th that Brent crude had risen above $120. The surge in oil prices is seen as a factor that could heighten inflationary pressure and dampen investor sentiment across risk assets.

According to U.S. media reports, President Trump is expected to receive a briefing on Thursday from U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper regarding potential military action plans against Iran.

According to the reports, the options under review include short-duration, high-intensity airstrikes targeting Iranian infrastructure, partial control of sections of the Strait of Hormuz, and special operations missions to secure Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

The briefing is seen as part of an effort to review options for increasing military pressure amid stalled negotiations with Iran. As the Strait of Hormuz is a critical route for global oil shipments, any possibility of control measures there could raise volatility in international oil prices and broader risk-asset markets.

The reports added that Gen. Cooper had presented similar material to President Trump on Feb. 26.

A South Korean court has suspended the effect of the Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU) six-month partial business suspension order against Bithumb until a ruling is issued in the main lawsuit. Bithumb had filed both an administrative lawsuit and a request for suspension of execution before the sanctions were to take effect, and the court granted the request.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Administrative Court approved Bithumb’s request for a stay of execution. As a result, the FIU’s six-month partial business suspension order will remain suspended until the court issues its ruling in the main case.

Earlier, the FIU had imposed a six-month partial business suspension and a fine of KRW 36.8 billion in March this year, concluding that Bithumb had violated obligations to prohibit transactions with unreported virtual asset service providers, conduct customer verification, and restrict certain transactions.

The partial suspension bars new customers from making external virtual asset deposits and withdrawals. It is considered one of the strongest sanctions that can be imposed on a KRW-market crypto exchange in South Korea.

The sanctions were originally scheduled to take effect on March 27, but Bithumb filed an administrative lawsuit and a request for suspension of execution on March 23. With the court granting the request, the sanctions have remained on hold to date.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the FIU has appealed to the Seoul Administrative Court against a court decision that overturned a three-month partial business suspension order imposed on Dunamu.

The key issue is whether Dunamu took sufficient measures to block transactions with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers. The court had previously found it difficult to conclude that Dunamu intentionally or negligently failed to take necessary action, citing measures such as requiring customers to submit written pledges and operating a crypto transaction monitoring system.

The FIU had determined last year that Dunamu violated regulations by engaging in transactions with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers and failing to meet customer verification obligations, and therefore imposed a three-month partial business suspension order. Dunamu later filed for a stay of execution.

Visa has expanded the networks supported by its stablecoin settlement pilot program to five additional networks — Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, and Tempo — according to PANews citing Decrypt on the 30th. This brings the total number of supported networks to nine.

According to the report, Visa’s annualized blockchain settlement volume has reached $7 billion, up 50% from the previous quarter. Visa said its partners are building businesses in a multichain environment and that its own services will reflect that trend.

Visa is currently operating more than 130 stablecoin-linked card projects across over 50 countries. Previously, Visa had supported the Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar networks.

Shinhan Card has partnered with the Solana Foundation to begin a proof-of-concept for a Solana blockchain-based stablecoin payment system. The two sides are currently running the POC on the Solana testnet, centered on real customer-to-merchant payment scenarios.

According to The Block, a key focus of the pilot is to verify the security and stability of non-custodial wallets to determine whether Shinhan Card can adopt the technology at scale. Shinhan Card also plans to build its own DeFi service environment using oracle technology to connect real transaction data with blockchain networks.

The initiative is also moving in step with South Korea’s broader effort to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. Shinhan Card said it will evaluate the benefits of introducing the technology in line with the government’s upcoming Digital Asset Basic Act.

PayPal has carried out a strategic restructuring, reorganizing its business into three core divisions and creating a new integrated segment called “Payment Services and Cryptocurrency,” which includes its crypto operations.

According to PANews on the 30th, PayPal has streamlined its structure into three businesses: Payment and Checkout (PayPal), Consumer Financial Services (Venmo), and Payment Services and Cryptocurrency. The newly formed Payment Services and Cryptocurrency division will oversee payment processing and platform functions, Braintree, payment processing for small and medium-sized merchants, value-added services, and the PYUSD stablecoin. Jeff Pomeroy has been appointed interim head of the unit.

PayPal President and CEO Enrique Lores said the restructuring is intended to accelerate execution of the company’s long-term growth strategy, simplify decision-making, and foster innovation. He added that the company aims to improve synergies across business units and enhance operational efficiency to support sustainable growth.

PayPal plans to provide more details on its new operating model during its earnings release on May 5.

According to PANews, Sui-based perpetuals platform Aftermath Finance suffered an attack on April 29, resulting in losses of more than $1.14 million.

According to an analysis report from GoPlus, the attacker gained administrative control over the add_integrator_config function and then exploited a sign mismatch vulnerability in the calculate_taker_fees function to repeatedly withdraw tokens. Aftermath Finance said it currently estimates the loss at $1.14 million and is focused on recovering the funds.

In a subsequent update, Aftermath Finance said that with support from Mysten Labs and the Sui Foundation, it plans to fully compensate all users. The company added that the incident was not due to a security flaw in the Move contract provisions themselves.