[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | U.S. Senate to Vote on Kevin Warsh Fed Chair Nomination as Markets Watch FOMC Rate Decision

The U.S. Senate will hold a floor vote on April 29 on Kevin Warsh’s nomination as chair of the Federal Reserve. On the same day, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will announce its latest rate decision, and Jerome Powell is scheduled to hold a press conference afterward, leaving markets focused on both the possibility of a leadership change at the Fed and the direction of monetary policy.

According to Odaily, Republican Senator Thom Tillis withdrew his plan to block the confirmation process for Warsh over the weekend after the Justice Department concluded its investigation related to Powell. The Senate Banking Committee then advanced Warsh’s nomination to the full Senate by a 13-11 vote.

According to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee website, the vote is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on April 29.

Later the same day, the FOMC will release its latest interest rate decision. Powell is expected to appear at a post-meeting press conference, which could potentially be his 63rd and final one as Fed chair.

Powell’s term as Fed chair ends on May 15, but his term as a Fed governor runs through Jan. 31, 2028. Markets are closely watching whether Powell will remain on the Board of Governors after stepping down as chair.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $263 million in net outflows, ending a nine-session streak of net inflows.

On April 28, PANews, citing SoSoValue data, reported that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw total net outflows of $263 million the previous day in Eastern Time.

The largest outflow came from Fidelity’s FBTC, which lost $150 million in a single day, bringing its cumulative net inflows to $10.883 billion.

Grayscale’s GBTC also posted net outflows of $46.6259 million. GBTC’s cumulative net outflows now stand at $26.262 billion.

As of the time of reporting, the total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at $101.234 billion. ETF net assets accounted for 6.57% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization, while cumulative net inflows reached $58.301 billion.

Before this reversal, spot Bitcoin ETFs had posted net inflows for nine consecutive trading sessions, raising expectations of improving market demand.

The White House has signaled a “major announcement” in the coming weeks regarding President Donald Trump’s strategic Bitcoin reserve initiative.

According to PanNewsLab, Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Digital Assets Presidential Advisory Council, said at the Bitcoin 2026 event that, following Trump’s executive order signed last year on a strategic Bitcoin reserve, the administration has been considering ways to protect and integrate digital assets—especially Bitcoin—on the government balance sheet.

He said a more specific announcement on the matter would come within the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, related legislation is being reintroduced in Congress. Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative Nick Begich are reviving the former BITCOIN Act under the new name “American Reserve Asset Modernization Act,” which proposes purchasing 1 million Bitcoin over five years in a budget-neutral manner.

Begich had also separately reintroduced the legislation, saying it would codify Trump’s executive order into a permanent strategic Bitcoin reserve framework.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Mike Selig said at the Bitcoin 2026 conference that U.S. digital asset regulation has entered a new phase.

According to Odaily, the two agencies said they are working together on a cryptocurrency regulatory framework and aim to ensure that related businesses remain and grow within the United States.

They explained that their jointly announced token classification guidance distinguishes among digital commodities, collectibles, and tokenized securities. Based on this framework, they plan to establish clearer and more forward-looking rules.

Atkins said the SEC is preparing to introduce an “innovation exemption,” which could within weeks allow companies to test on-chain tokenization and securities tools in a regulated environment.

The remarks suggest that U.S. regulators are accelerating efforts to establish rules for digital assets and asset tokenization.

Visa is partnering with WeFi, an on-chain banking company founded by former Tether CEO Reeve Collins, to support digital asset payments on its network.

According to Odaily, WeFi provides infrastructure that allows users to directly manage their assets and private keys through self-custodial wallets while still using those assets at merchants that accept Visa payments.

The service will initially launch in selected markets across Europe, Asia, and Latin America, with expansion to other regions subject to regulatory approvals.

WeFi CEO Maksym Sakharov said stablecoins are integrated directly into the infrastructure and settled in the backend, allowing users to spend their assets without having to separately convert them.

The partnership is seen as part of a broader push to connect traditional payment networks with on-chain financial infrastructure.

Two wallets linked to Galaxy Digital deposited a total of 45,000 ETH into centralized exchanges including Binance, Bybit, and OKX over the past 15 hours.

On April 28, PANews, citing Lookonchain monitoring, reported that the transferred amount was worth about $104 million.

Large exchange deposits are commonly interpreted as a sign of rising sell-side liquidity and could be viewed as a short-term supply overhang for Ethereum.

Coinone has launched legal action against sanctions imposed by South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The exchange filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court seeking to overturn the partial business suspension order and requested a stay of execution to suspend the measure’s effect.

According to panewslab.com, the key restriction bars newly registered users from depositing to and withdrawing from external exchanges. Existing users are unaffected, and new users can still use trading functions other than deposits and withdrawals.

Earlier, the FIU said an on-site anti-money laundering inspection found transactions with unreported operators, failures in customer due diligence, and violations of transaction restriction obligations, leading to a three-month partial suspension and a 5.2 billion won fine against Coinone.

With this lawsuit, all three of South Korea’s major crypto exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone—are now engaged in legal disputes with regulators. Previously, Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, won a first-instance ruling granting its request for a stay of execution.

According to CryptoQuant data, stablecoin inflows to the Binance platform have exceeded $6 billion over the past two months.

Odaily said such inflows may be interpreted as a sign of growing sidelined buying power on the exchange. However, the original report did not provide evidence of direct inflows into any specific asset or actual conversion into purchases.

According to PANews, total net inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs reached $23.387 million on April 24 Eastern Time.

The largest inflow that day went to BlackRock’s ETHB, which attracted $32.252 million. By contrast, BlackRock’s ETHA recorded net outflows of $7.714 million.

As of the time of reporting, the total net asset value of spot Ethereum ETFs stood at $13.791 billion. The ratio of ETF net assets to Ethereum’s market capitalization was 4.91%, and cumulative net inflows totaled $12.099 billion.

A whale wallet was seen moving 725 BTC to Kraken. Exchange deposits are commonly interpreted as a sign of potential sell pressure.

According to Whale Alert, 725 BTC was transferred from an unknown wallet to the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. The transfer was worth about $55.19 million.

However, the transfer alone does not confirm an actual sale. It could also reflect an internal wallet movement or a custody reallocation.