In March 2026, China's Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) processed about $214 billion (1.46 trillion yuan) in settlements, as Russia and Iran increased reliance on the yuan amid deeper sanctions pressure. Reports also say Iran is seeking yuan or cryptocurrency payments tied to Strait of Hormuz transits, while sanctioned entities received $154 billion in crypto in 2025.

On April 23, 2026, blockchain investigator ZachXBT said a Discord call in which Dritan Kapllani Jr. displayed an Exodus wallet helped link him to a broader social-engineering theft network exceeding $19 million. The investigator connected the shown Ethereum address to a March 14, 2026 Bitcoin theft of 185 BTC (about $13 million at the time) and alleged the wallet later received roughly $5.3 million, with nearly $1.6 million spent or laundered within six weeks.

Ethena's ENA fell nearly 4% on May 13, touching about $0.11 as Bitcoin dropped below $79,000 and broader risk appetite weakened. Despite the pullback, on-chain signals pointed to a 5-week peak in ENA whale activity and the strongest daily network growth in more than three months. Technical indicators suggested downside risk toward $0.10, while a rebound in BTC could help stabilize ENA.

Jane Street reduced its spot Bitcoin ETF holdings in the first quarter of 2025 while increasing positions in Ethereum ETFs and Galaxy Digital. The changes were reported in the firm's Q1 2025 13F filing and reflect holdings as of March 31, 2025, pointing to a shift in how it expressed crypto-linked exposure.

U.S. Treasury yields moved higher on Wednesday after April wholesale inflation data came in above expectations. The 10-year yield rose to 4.49% at its session high while the producer price index jumped 1.4% month over month and 6% year over year. The move followed a separate report showing April consumer inflation running above forecasts, raising questions about the Fed's policy path.

U.S. producer prices rose 6% year-over-year in April 2026, exceeding a 4.9% forecast as energy-related costs lifted the headline reading. The PPI increased 1.4% month-over-month, with gasoline up 15.6% and energy goods up 7.8%. President Donald Trump told reporters that Americans' financial strain was "not even a little bit" a factor in his push for an Iran nuclear deal.

CertiK said in a May 12 report that North Korea-linked hackers have stolen an estimated $6.75 billion in cryptocurrency across 263 incidents since 2016. The firm said the threat is shifting toward fewer, higher-impact breaches driven largely by social engineering and supply-chain compromise, citing 2025 losses of $2.06 billion out of $3.4 billion and 2026 losses of $620.9 million so far.

In the first quarter of 2026, Wells Fargo increased its holdings in ether ETFs while adjusting several bitcoin ETF positions and reshaping crypto-linked equities. By March 31, its stake in BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) rose about 63% to roughly 1.1 million shares, and it also expanded exposure to Strategy while sharply cutting Galaxy Digital.