[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | U.S. CFTC and SEC Strengthen Coordination on Prediction Market Regulation

U.S. CFTC and SEC Strengthen Coordination on Prediction Market Regulation

Odaily reported that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are strengthening coordination over the regulatory scope of prediction markets.

According to Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino, the two agencies have also maintained the same stance in recent investigations into suspicious trading related to the Iran conflict.

Gasparino said that while prediction markets are generally considered to fall under the CFTC’s jurisdiction, the SEC could also become deeply involved if the related prediction contracts are legally deemed securities.

He added that, beyond currently disclosed cases, regulators may launch additional enforcement actions targeting prediction markets in the future.

BlackRock Pursues Two Ethereum-Based Tokenized Money Market Funds

Odaily, citing Bloomberg, reported that BlackRock is seeking to launch two tokenized money market funds aimed at investors holding cash in stablecoin form.

BlackRock has filed documents to introduce a digital share class for its BlackRock Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund, which has approximately $6.1 billion in assets.

The fund primarily invests in cash, U.S. Treasuries, and securities with remaining maturities of 93 days or less. The tokenized securities will be issued on the Ethereum blockchain and will operate alongside traditional share classes.

U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs See $146 Million in Net Outflows

Wu Blockchain, citing SoSoValue data, reported that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net outflows of $146 million on May 8, U.S. Eastern Time.

On the same day, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs posted total net inflows of $3.57 million. Spot ETF fund flows are widely used as a key indicator of institutional buying and selling demand.

South Korea Plans to Tax Crypto Gains at 22% Starting Next January

According to Odaily, South Korea plans to impose a 22% tax on crypto gains exceeding 2.5 million won starting next January.

Officials have confirmed that the schedule is expected to proceed as planned. However, implementation could still be delayed as some politicians are calling for the tax to be abolished.

South Korea has postponed the implementation of crypto taxation several times in the past, and the latest plan is part of efforts to finalize the country’s tax framework for digital asset investors.

Bank of England Governor Says Stablecoins Need International Regulatory Standards

According to Odaily, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said at a Bank of England-hosted conference on financial imbalances that international regulatory standards must be established if stablecoins are to become part of the global payments system.

Bailey warned that some U.S. stablecoins may not be quickly redeemable for dollars during times of crisis, highlighting liquidity risks. He explained that if stablecoins become widely used for cross-border payments, funds could flow into jurisdictions with stricter redemption obligations, increasing the risk of bank runs.

His remarks underscore a difference in regulatory approach from the policy direction of President Trump’s administration, which has sought to expand stablecoin use.

Seven Major Bitcoin Mining Pools Join Stratum V2 Working Group

Odaily reported that seven major Bitcoin mining pools—AntPool, Foundry, F2Pool, SpiderPool, DMND, MARA Foundation, and Block—have joined the Stratum V2 working group.

The group will jointly develop an open standard communications protocol for mining pools. Stratum V2 aims to reduce concentration in the Bitcoin mining industry by enabling miners to choose their own block templates under a standard not controlled by any single pool.

According to public data, Foundry currently accounts for about 30% of the global Bitcoin mining pool hashrate, while AntPool accounts for about 17.7%.

Meanwhile, CoinWarz projected that Bitcoin mining difficulty will be adjusted upward again in mid-May. CoinShares said that under current market and energy cost conditions, about 20% of miners are operating unprofitably.

U.S. Court Approves Transfer of Frozen Arbitrum ETH Linked to North Korea Hack

A U.S. federal court in Manhattan has approved a plan to move approximately $71 million worth of Ether frozen on Arbitrum in connection with a North Korea-linked hacking case to an Aave LLC wallet.

According to Odaily, Judge Margaret Garnett approved Aave’s asset recovery plan while preserving the legal claims of plaintiffs who are victims of terrorism. Following the decision, the existing freeze order directed at Arbitrum DAO was modified, and execution of the transfer will require an Arbitrum on-chain governance vote.

Trading Volume Surges in Tokenized Stocks and RWA Markets

According to CoinGecko data, spot trading volume for tokenized stocks reached $15.12 billion in Q1 2026, surpassing the $14.84 billion recorded in the second half of 2025.

Wu Blockchain reported that the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market grew from $5.42 billion at the start of 2025 to $19.32 billion by the end of Q1 2026, an increase of 256.7% over 15 months.

During the same period, spot trading volume for tokenized gold reached $90.7 billion, already exceeding the full-year total for 2025, while RWA perpetual futures trading volume climbed to $524.79 billion, far above the $313.02 billion recorded for all of 2025.

Strategy Bought 56,000 BTC in April

Odaily, citing BitcoinTreasuries.net data, reported that Strategy (MSTR) purchased 56,000 BTC in April.

This was 28 times the combined amount of BTC purchased by all other listed companies during the same period. Strategy is one of the most prominent public companies to adopt Bitcoin as a primary treasury asset.

BTC Breaks Above $81,000

According to Odaily, BTC rose above $81,000 based on OKX market data.

BTC was trading at $81,048, up 0.94% over the past 24 hours.

$165 Million in Crypto Futures Liquidations Over 24 Hours

According to CoinAnk data, total liquidations across the crypto futures market reached $165 million over the past 24 hours, as reported by PANews.

Long liquidations totaled $47.576 million, while short liquidations reached $118 million. Bitcoin (BTC) liquidations came in at $10.2297 million, and Ethereum (ETH) liquidations totaled $15.107 million.

Futures liquidations are an indicator of forced position closures during periods of heightened price volatility, and a larger amount of short liquidations is generally interpreted as selling positions being squeezed during a short-term upward move.