Circle Ventures said it is purchasing AAVE tokens, calling it direct support for DeFi infrastructure. The firm stated that Aave is helping shape the future of onchain finance and that buying the token is a way to back the builders and community behind the protocol.

Bitcoin treasury firm Strive said it acquired an additional 789 BTC for $61.43 million at an average price of $77,890 per coin. As of April 24, 2026, the company reported total holdings of 14,557 BTC in its strategic reserve, expanding its bitcoin exposure.

Bitcoin has surrendered yesterday's advance, falling back below $77,000.

The Solana Foundation said it has published an update on the network's quantum-resistance roadmap. Solana's two main validator-client teams, Anza and Firedancer, independently identified the post-quantum digital signature scheme Falcon as the preferred migration path and have completed initial implementations, with code now available on their respective GitHub repositories. The update also highlighted Blueshift's Solana Winternitz Vault, which has been live in production for more than two years and is among the few quantum-resistant primitives currently deployed on active blockchain networks. The vault was cited earlier this year in a Google Quantum AI whitepaper. The foundation said quantum computing is a credible threat but still several years away, so an immediate migration is not necessary. It added that research, infrastructure work, and ecosystem coordination are already in place to enable a rapid activation when needed, with minimal expected impact on network performance. (Source: Foresight News)

Circle has minted 500,000,000 USDC on the Solana network.

Solana has released a new roadmap detailing how it plans to address the long-term risks quantum computing could pose to blockchain security. The network said a practical quantum threat is still years away, but its ecosystem has already completed extensive research and engineering groundwork. Independent verification client teams Anza and Firedancer—which together account for the majority of Solana's staked supply—reported that, after separate evaluations, they reached the same conclusion: the chain will need a post-quantum digital signature scheme that keeps signatures compact and supports high-throughput environments. The two groups have jointly selected the Falcon scheme and have published initial implementations on GitHub. Solana also pointed to an existing option already running in its ecosystem. The Solana Winternitz Vault, built by Blueshift, has been live for more than two years and provides a direct quantum-resistant path. Earlier this year, Google Quantum AI cited the Vault in a whitepaper as a leading example of forward-looking post-quantum work. According to Solana, its quantum roadmap includes continued research and assessment of Falcon and other alternatives; deploying post-quantum schemes for new wallets once quantum computing becomes a credible threat; and migrating existing wallets to the selected scheme. The network said the migration is manageable, can be completed quickly, and is not expected to meaningfully affect performance.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company has revised its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), ending Azure's cloud exclusivity and allowing OpenAI to sell its products across rival platforms. The update weighed on Microsoft shares as traders pointed to the loss of an Azure-only advantage for OpenAI's flagship artificial intelligence offerings. Altman said Microsoft will remain OpenAI's primary cloud partner, but the licensing arrangement is now nonexclusive. OpenAI can make its models available through Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle and other competitors. The revised terms also reshape the money flows. OpenAI will continue supplying Microsoft with models and products through 2032 and will pay a revenue share to its largest backer through 2030. Microsoft will no longer remit a revenue share to OpenAI, eliminating an expense line for the software company. MSFT fell as much as 5% intraday before trimming losses, with the stock still trending lower into the close. Investors had viewed OpenAI workloads as a structural differentiator for Azure. Removing exclusivity potentially opens that business to AWS, Google Cloud and Oracle, all of which have been courting leading-edge AI labs. Some analysts pushed back on the bearish read. CFA Palwinder Singh said the selloff ignored Microsoft's ongoing upside as OpenAI's largest equity holder, citing its 27% stake valued at $135 billion. Singh argued the pullback could be an opportunity for investors focused on fundamentals rather than headlines. Microsoft also retains ChatGPT's intellectual property rights through 2032 alongside its equity stake. Investors now face a trade-off: whether the end of revenue-share payments and continued access to OpenAI models can offset the loss of cloud exclusivity, a dynamic with potential implications across the broader AI sector, including Altman-linked ventures such as Worldcoin.

Canada's push to bar cryptocurrency from political donations advanced Friday after lawmakers gave Bill C25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, second-reading approval in the House of Commons and sent it to committee for review. In Canada's legislative process, a successful second reading indicates broad agreement with a bill's main principles before detailed clause-by-clause study and potential amendments. Bill C25 would ban political contributions made in crypto, as well as money orders and prepaid payment products, classifying them as funding tools that are difficult to trace. The prohibition would cover the federal political system, including registered parties, electoral district associations, candidates, leadership and nomination contestants, and third parties running election advertising. Under the proposal, recipients would have 30 days to return illegal crypto donations or remit them to the Receiver General, Canada's counterpart to the U.S. Treasury. Kevin Lamoureux, the Liberal parliamentary secretary to the government's House leader, acted as the bill's main defender in debate. His opening remarks focused on AI deepfakes, foreign interference, and administrative penalties; crypto was not mentioned in the official transcript. When asked by a Liberal colleague to choose among three priorities—foreign interference in nominations, political financing transparency, or artificial intelligence—Lamoureux selected AI. Conservative MPs raised questions about political financing rules and how new restrictions would be enforced. The topic did not become a central flashpoint, and Conservatives supported sending the bill to committee. Other opposition parties criticized separate aspects of the legislation without making crypto a core issue. The muted debate also reflects crypto's limited footprint in Canadian federal politics. Elections Canada has technically allowed crypto donations since 2019 by treating them as non-cash, in-kind contributions similar to property. No major federal party has publicly accepted crypto, and recent elections have not disclosed such contributions. Bill C25 revives language from an earlier proposal, Bill C65, which included the same crypto provisions but died when Parliament was prorogued in January 2025. Canada's Chief Electoral Officer first urged tighter oversight of crypto donations in 2022, then shifted in November 2024 to recommending an outright ban, citing pseudo-anonymity and the difficulty of verifying donors' identities. International approaches diverge. In the United States, the Federal Election Commission has allowed crypto donations since 2014. The United Kingdom moved the other way earlier this year, passing a ban on crypto political donations amid concerns digital assets could obscure the source of foreign funds in British politics.

BitMine Immersion Technologies has extended its Ethereum accumulation streak, lifting total holdings above 5 million ETH and underscoring its growing footprint as an institutional holder. In its latest round, the company bought 101,901 ETH at an average price of $2,369, an outlay of more than $240 million. BitMine said this was its most aggressive weekly purchase since December 2025. Company disclosures put BitMine's Ethereum holdings at about 5.078 million ETH, roughly 4.21% of Ethereum's circulating supply. Total crypto and cash holdings are estimated at around $13.3 billion. Outside ETH, BitMine reported a smaller Bitcoin position of about 200 BTC and cash reserves of nearly $940 million. Staking remains central to the firm's Ethereum strategy. BitMine said roughly 3.7 million ETH is currently staked across its validator network. It estimates annual staking revenue at about $264 million under current conditions, with projections rising to roughly $363 million if all holdings were staked. The company has ramped up buying through April, with multiple large acquisitions in quick succession. It also disclosed that the Ethereum Foundation recently sold nearly $24 million worth of ETH directly to BitMine, pointing to continued institutional participation. BitMine's leadership said Ethereum is increasingly being treated as a strategic store of value during periods of global uncertainty, a view that has guided the firm's ongoing purchases and longer-term positioning. BitMine's latest buying wave has pushed its ETH treasury beyond 5 million tokens, reinforcing its role as a major institutional participant in Ethereum's evolving landscape.