Biden has proposed the highest capital gains tax on stocks and cryptocurrencies in over 100 years. Under the proposal, the highest marginal tax rate for long-term capital gains and qualified dividends would increase to 44.6%, which could greatly affect the financial returns of stock and cryptocurrency investors.

Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission website has listed the Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs of three fund companies, Huaxia, Boshi, and Jiashi, with approval dates all on April 23, 2024. The related funds are not derivative product funds, specifically including:1. Huaxia Bitcoin ETF (BUU163) with share codes of 03042, 09042, and 83042;2. Huaxia Ethereum ETF (BUU164) with share codes of 03046, 09046, and 83046;3. Boshi HashKey Bitcoin ETF (BUU104) with share codes of 03008 and 09008;4. Boshi HashKey Ethereum ETF (BUU105) with share codes of 03009 and 09009;5. Jiashi Bitcoin Spot ETF (BUT244) with share codes of 03439 and 09439;6. Jiashi Ethereum Spot ETF (BUU885) with share codes of 03179 and 09179.

The official X account of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated that the announcement "the Central Bank of Nigeria will freeze Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance user accounts" is not an official release. Previously, according to Cointelegraph, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued an instruction requiring all banks and financial institutions to identify individuals or entities trading with cryptocurrency exchanges and ensure that such accounts receive no debit (PND) instructions within six months.

Nigeria's Central Bank has instructed financial institutions to identify individuals or entities involved with four unlicensed crypto exchanges, including Binance, Bybit, KuCoin, and OKX. The directive also reminds institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges is prohibited. The regulatory authority has warned that any breaches of the directive will result in severe regulatory sanctions and has instructed institutions to put such accounts on Post No Debit instruction for six months. Notably, the circular did not mention any indigenous crypto exchanges, which have been actively pursuing the required licenses.

According to Jinshi news, South Africa has authorized 75 companies as cryptocurrency service providers.

The SEC has requested a New York court to impose $5.3 billion in fines on Terraform Labs and Do Kwon to resolve the civil fraud case against them. The regulator claims that the fines are a "reasonable approximation" of Terraform and Kwon's "ill-gotten gains" from the fraud. Terraform Labs and Kwon were found liable on civil fraud charges earlier this month, when a Manhattan jury concluded that they had misled investors about the stability of their so-called "algorithmic" native stablecoin, Terra USD (UST), and the use cases for the Terra blockchain. The SEC is also seeking injunctions preventing Kwon and Terraform Labs from committing further securities violations.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking public opinion on a revised version of BlackRock's proposed Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) for spot trading. BlackRock proposed the ETF in November 2023 to track the price performance of Ethereum. The SEC postponed its decision on the proposal in January and accepted Nasdaq's revisions on April 19. The revised document discusses the creation and redemption process of the ETF. The SEC has requested comments within 21 days, which will be published on its website.

Hashlabs Mining, a Bitcoin mining infrastructure company, has launched a groundbreaking project that uses specially designed Bitcoin mining equipment to generate heat. The project combines the heat production of water-cooled ASIC mining equipment (WhatsMiner M63S) with the Finnish regional heating system. The heat is transmitted through an insulated pipeline network from a centralized source to multiple buildings, aiming to benefit households from industrial Bitcoin mining.

Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission stated that we have taken action to remove the Binance app from the Google and Apple app stores.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) and Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited issued a notice on the "Margin Rates for Trading Virtual Asset Spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)". It was pointed out that the following risk management arrangements, which refer to the announcement issued on April 17, 2024 (No. ETP/001/24), will take effect on the same day as the launch of the virtual asset spot ETF:

1. The unified margin rate for non-constituent stock types (N-type) - virtual asset spot ETF and virtual asset futures ETF will be set at 30%;

2. The unified margin rate for non-constituent stock types (N-type) - other tools will remain unchanged (i.e. 12%).

Settlement participants should note that their margin rates will be determined based on the N-type unified margin rate and their individual margin multiplier. Settlement participants can retrieve their individual margin multiplier from the "Daily Participant Margin Multiplier Report" (DWH0081C) on the reporting platform.