Autor Cointelegraph by Amin Haqshanas

Brazilian authorities have moved to shut down 27 prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket.The decision, announced Friday, follows a directive from the Ministry of Finance and enforcement by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), according to state-owned news outlet Agência Brasil. Authorities claimed that such services fall outside Brazil’s current legal framework and therefore operate illegally.“We have been monitoring the evolution of this sector in Brazil, which suffered a period of anarchy because there were no rules, no oversight, from 2018 to 2022,” Finance Ministry executive secretary Dario Durigan reportedly said during a press conference at the Palácio do Planalto.The crackdown follows Resolution 5.298 issued by Brazil’s National Monetary Council (CMN) on Friday, which takes effect in early May and sharply limits what prediction market platforms can offer. Under the new rules, contracts tied to sports, politics, entertainment, or social events are banned, as authorities consider them closer to gambling than financial investments.Only contracts linked to economic indicators, such as inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, or commodity prices, will remain allowed and fall under financial market oversight.Related: Kalshi bans 3 US politicians for betting on their own election racesBrazil flags prediction platforms as debt riskDurigan claimed that prediction markets could deepen household debt and expose users to financial harm. “At a time when we are working to reduce debt levels among families, small businesses, and students, we must also prevent new forms of harmful indebtedness,” he said.The blocked platforms include a mix of international and Brazil-focused services, with major names including Kalshi, Polymarket, PredictIt, Robinhood (via its forecasting feature) and Fanatics Markets.Banned prediction markets in Brazil. Source: Agência BrasilBanned prediction markets in Brazil. Source: Agência BrasilOther affected platforms include ProphetX, Hedgehog Markets, Novig, Polyswipe, PRED Exchange and Stride, alongside several Brazil-focused services such as Palpita, Cravei, Previsao, and MercadoPred.Related: Prediction market battle gets closer to Supreme CourtMore countries ban prediction marketsA growing number of jurisdictions have moved to ban prediction markets, often folding them into gambling or financial regulations. Several European nations, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have blocked or penalized platforms operating without authorization.In the United States, the situation is more fragmented, with an ongoing tug-of-war between federal regulators and individual states over prediction markets.Magazine: How to fix suspected insider trading on Polymarket and KalshiCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have extended their inflow momentum through late April, notching a nine-day streak amid growing investor conviction.During the period, which spanned April 14 and April 24, total net inflows reached roughly $2.12 billion, with the strongest single-day performance on April 17, when funds attracted $663.91 million. April 14 and April 22 also posted robust gains of $411.50 million and $335.82 million, respectively.The weakest day came on Friday, with a more modest $14.45 million in net inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT led the day with $22.88 million in inflows. In contrast, Fidelity’s FBTC recorded outflows of $1.69 million, while Bitwise’s BITB and ARK 21Shares’ ARKB saw withdrawals of $8.85 million and $9.02 million, respectively. Other funds, including Grayscale’s GBTC and smaller products, reported largely flat flows.The April streak is the first nine-day run for spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs since a similar run in October, when inflows surged, including $1.21 billion on Oct. 6 and $875.6 million on Oct. 7.Spot Bitcoin ETFs see 9-day inflow streak. Source: SoSoValueSpot Bitcoin ETFs see 9-day inflow streak. Source: SoSoValueThe sustained inflows also come alongside a strengthening Bitcoin market, with BTC currently trading at $77,516.55, up 10.73% over the past month, according to data from CoinMarketCap.Related: Bitcoin ETFs Surpass March Inflow Streak With $1.9BBitcoin ETF investors hold firmThe recent steady stream of capital has pushed flows back into positive territory for 2026, with cumulative total net inflows reaching $58.23 billion.This trend comes even as Bitcoin remains about 35% below its record high reached in early October, ETF analyst Nate Geraci wrote in a recent post on X. He said this pattern suggests that ETF investors are taking a longer-term approach rather than reacting to short-term volatility. The continued inflows during a market drawdown point to a more resilient investor base, often described as “diamond hands” in crypto circles.“ETF investors proving to be longer-term allocators,” he wrote.Related: Spot Bitcoin ETFs Gain $411M as Goldman Files ETF PlanEther ETFs see strong inflowsUS spot Ether (ETH) ETFs also maintained a strong inflow streak from April 14 through April 22, posting nine consecutive days of net positive flows. However, the streak was broken on April 23, when funds recorded net outflows of $75.94 million.During the nine-day run from April 14 to April 22, total inflows were consistently solid, with the strongest single-day performance on April 17, when Ether ETFs attracted $127.49 million. Other standout sessions included April 22 with $96.44 million and April 20 with $67.77 million.Magazine: AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act nowCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has raided multiple sites suspected of running illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading operations.The financial services and markets watchdog said Wednesday that it worked alongside HM Revenue & Customs and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit to inspect eight locations linked to illegal crypto trading. Officials issued cease-and-desist notices on site, ordering operators to halt activity immediately, while gathering evidence tied to ongoing criminal investigations.“Unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating in the UK are doing so illegally and pose a financial crime risk,” Steve Smart, the FCA’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said.P2P crypto trading allows individuals to buy and sell digital assets directly, bypassing centralized exchanges. In the UK, such activity requires registration under anti-money laundering rules. The FCA said no peer-to-peer crypto traders or platforms are currently registered with the regulator.Related: Stratiphy reopens tax-free route to crypto ETNs for UK investorsFCA expands crypto crackdownThe raids mark the FCA’s first operation of this kind focused on P2P crypto trading, but follow a series of enforcement steps against the sector. Previous actions include prosecutions tied to illegal crypto ATM networks and arrests linked to unlicensed exchanges.Earlier this month, authorities in the UK and other countries, including the US and Canada, froze millions of dollars linked to crypto scams as part of a coordinated enforcement effort called Operation Atlantic. The operation, carried out in March, was led by agencies including the UK’s National Crime Agency, the US Secret Service and Canadian law enforcement and securities regulators.Source: NCAOfficials said the operation identified more than 20,000 victims across the three countries and secured over $12 million in suspected criminal proceeds. Investigators also traced more than $45 million in additional stolen crypto linked to fraud networks.“These raids mark a shift under the incoming FSMA crypto regime, unregistered OTC desks are no longer an AML-registration gap, they’re an unauthorised regulated activity, and enforcement will look more like traditional finance,” Slav Demchuk, CEO at AMLBot.com, told Cointelegraph.He added that unregulated OTC brokers are one of the most consistent chokepoints in illicit flows, including “Iran-linked evasion corridors where actors cut off from regulated exchanges use informal desks to move USDT and BTC in and out of fiat.”Related: UK plans payments rule changes for stablecoins, tokenized depositsUK FCA pushes ahead with crypto rulebookEarlier this month, the FCA opened a consultation on guidance for its upcoming crypto regulatory regime, which is expected to take effect in 2027. The guidance will cover key areas including stablecoins, trading platforms, custody and staking.Companies are expected to be able to apply for authorization from September 2026, with full compliance required once the framework is implemented.Magazine: Singapore isn’t a ‘crypto hub’ — it’s something better: StraitsX CEOCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Volo has disclosed a security breach that resulted in the loss of approximately $3.5 million in digital assets, marking the latest incident in a series of exploits targeting DeFi platforms.In a Wednesday post on X, the team said the attack affected select vaults and involved assets including Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Matrixdock Gold XAUm and USDC (USDC). “We detected the attack, immediately notified the Sui Foundation and ecosystem partners to contain the damage, and froze the vaults to prevent any further exposure,” the team wrote.The protocol added that around $28 million in total value locked across other vaults is safe, with the exploit limited to three isolated vaults and no shared vulnerability identified. It also revealed plans to absorb the losses rather than pass them on to users, though details of any remediation plan have yet to be finalized.Volo is a liquid staking DeFi platform on the Sui blockchain, allowing users to stake their Sui (SUI) tokens and receive voloSUI (VSUI) in return. DeFi is already on edge, as the exploit comes as another liquid restaking protocol, Kelp, was hacked for approximately $293 million over the weekend, which has had a ripple effect across the broader ecosystem.Related: Kelp DAO attacker moves $175M in Ether after exploit: ArkhamVolo freezes a portion of lost fundsIn two separate updates, Volo said it has frozen or blocked roughly $2 million of the stolen funds so far. In the first update, the protocol said that roughly $500,000 linked to the breach has already been frozen. In a later update, the team claimed it had successfully blocked an attempt by the attacker to bridge 19.6 WBTC, effectively removing those funds from the hacker’s control.“We are now working with ecosystem partners to determine the best path to return these funds to Volo,” the protocol wrote.Volo recovery updates. Source: VoloCrypto hacks claim $17 billion in 10 yearsAs Cointelegraph reported, more than $17 billion has been stolen in crypto over the past decade, with private key compromises identified as one of the major contributing attack vectors, according to DefiLlama.Related: ZachXBT asks MemeCore to explain valuation and token supplyRoughly 22.3% of incidents are linked to brute-force key compromises, 18.2% to unknown methods and 10% to phishing attacks on multi-signature wallets. The findings show that many of the biggest losses stem from wallet security and user-side weaknesses rather than protocol bugs.Magazine: 53 DeFi projects infiltrated, 50M NEO tokens could be ‘given back’: Asia ExpressCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy

UK fintech platform Stratiphy has launched a new offering that gives investors a practical tax-free route back into crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) for UK investors after a series of regulatory shifts effectively shut investors out.In October 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority lifted its four-year ban on retail access to crypto ETNs tied to assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). These products could initially be held in standard stocks-and-shares Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), offering tax-free exposure.However, that changed at the start of the new tax year, when HM Revenue & Customs ruled that new purchases of crypto ETNs would no longer qualify for those ISAs. Instead, eligibility was limited to Innovative Finance (IF) ISAs, a niche wrapper typically used for peer-to-peer lending, and no platform offered both, resulting in a dead end for investors seeking access.Stratiphy’s launch now reopens that route by offering three ETNs issued by 21Shares, covering Bitcoin, Ether and a blended Bitcoin-gold product, according to the Financial Times.Source: Stratiphy’s websiteCointelegraph reached out to Stratiphy for comment, but had not received a response by publication.Related: Coinbase rolls out UK crypto-backed loans as FCA shapes rulesUK platforms offer crypto ETNsCrypto ETNs are already available through platforms such as Interactive Investor, Freetrade and Revolut. However, none currently offer IF ISAs, and those accounts fall outside the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme, per the FT.Trading 212, one of Europe’s largest online investment platforms, also reportedly allowed UK retail customers to trade crypto ETNs without the required regulatory permission. The company later sought the proper authorization after being contacted by regulators.An October 2025 research report by IG Group predicted that the UK crypto market could expand by up to 20% following the relaunch of crypto ETNs. The study found that around 30% of UK adults would consider investing in crypto through ETNs, largely due to the perceived safety and regulatory oversight these products offer.Related: UK plans payments rule changes for stablecoins, tokenized depositsUK FCA opens consultation on crypto rulesAs Cointelegraph reported, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on guidance for its upcoming crypto regulatory framework, which is expected to take full effect on October 25, 2027. The regulator is seeking industry input on rules covering areas such as stablecoin issuance, trading, custody and staking.The guidance is part of a wider set of consultations released since late 2025 and aims to prepare firms for the new regime, under which crypto companies will need FCA authorization.Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter BrandtCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy