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U.S. crypto markets on Thursday reflected a combination of sustained institutional buying, heightened regulatory and law-enforcement activity, and growing scrutiny of prediction-market products. Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) extended their inflow streak, while U.S. agencies reported major cryptocurrency seizures tied to Southeast Asian fraud networks and states moved to challenge prediction-market operators.
U.S.-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net inflow of $223 million on April 23 U.S. Eastern Time (ET), according to data cited by Odaily. This marked seven consecutive trading sessions of net subscriptions.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led with $167 million in inflows. ARK Invest and 21Shares’ ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) added $71.22 million. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) was the main outlier, posting $16.92 million in net outflows.
Total net assets across U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs were reported at $102.79 billion, about 6.59% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization. Cumulative net inflows since launch reached $58.21 billion.
Market participants cited the persistence of large-allocator buying—particularly from major asset managers—as a key factor for near-term Bitcoin supply dynamics and broader risk appetite.
In stablecoins, Tether reportedly minted 3 billion USDT over the past week. Traders often interpret such issuance as a potential precursor to higher liquidity inflows, though issuance alone does not guarantee immediate deployment into crypto markets.
Blockchain analytics cited by Lookonchain said Abraxas Capital received roughly 2.89 billion USDT from Tether Treasury over the same period, highlighting the scale at which large entities can reposition capital quickly.
Morgan Stanley is launching a “stablecoin reserve portfolio” intended to help stablecoin issuers manage reserves in a more regulated format, according to reporting carried by PANews citing Cointelegraph. The product is structured to align with the proposed U.S. GENIUS Act framework, using a government money market fund-like design so reserve assets can be held in more mainstream instruments.
The initiative adds to signs that large financial institutions are preparing for a more formal stablecoin regime as policy discussions accelerate in Washington.
On the enforcement front, the U.S. Department of Justice said it seized more than $700 million in cryptocurrency during a crackdown on fraud operations based in Southeast Asia, PANews reported Thursday.
U.S. authorities said an FBI fraud unit charged two Chinese nationals, identified as Huang Xingshan and Zhang Wenjie, alleging they managed a scam compound in Myanmar where trafficked workers were allegedly forced to run fake investment platforms targeting U.S. victims. Officials said that after the Myanmar military shut the compound, the defendants moved operations to Cambodia before being arrested in Thailand.
Authorities also shut down 503 Telegram channels and scam websites tied to the network, including a recruitment channel with more than 6,000 followers that allegedly lured people to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs. Investigators said recruits were then used to impersonate figures such as JPMorgan Chase customer service employees and New York police officers to support scam scripts.
Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Cambodian senator Kok An and 28 associated individuals and entities over alleged links to crypto investment fraud operations.
OFAC said the network controlled a nationwide set of so-called scam compounds using relationship-based manipulation and fake crypto investment platforms to persuade victims to send funds. The action followed a reported Cambodian police raid in the border city of Poipet, where Kok An has previously faced allegations of involvement in scam hubs.
U.S. authorities also seized more than 500 domains connected to scam operations, underscoring the expanding role of infrastructure takedowns alongside asset freezes.
Regulatory and legal pressure also extended to prediction markets. Wisconsin filed lawsuits against Kalshi, Coinbase, Polymarket, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, arguing that event-based contracts offered through prediction-market style services constitute unlicensed gambling under state law, according to PANews citing CoinDesk.
The platforms generally position their products as regulated contracts or market-based forecasting tools, but Wisconsin’s complaint contends that the underlying activity matches the state’s legal definition of betting.
Industry watchers said the dispute could hinge on whether such contracts fall under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight or state gambling statutes, potentially escalating into a broader federal court battle.
Tokenization continued to draw attention. DeFiLlama data showed the market capitalization of active real-world assets (RWA) rising from $4.1 billion to $25.2 billion in a little over a year. Growth was driven primarily by tokenized funds, commodities, and expansion of private credit products, reflecting deeper institutional experimentation with on-chain representations of traditional financial assets.
Policy optics remained in focus after the White House said President Trump is scheduled to speak Saturday at a cryptocurrency conference in Florida. With the U.S. president set to address a crypto-focused audience, markets are watching for signals on regulatory posture, enforcement priorities, and industry development.
Outside the U.S., Japan-based Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet said it will issue ¥8 billion (about $52 million) in zero-coupon ordinary bonds to fund additional BTC purchases, continuing a corporate playbook of using debt instruments to expand crypto reserves.
In Washington, Senator Cynthia Lummis said bipartisan support is forming in Congress to advance a digital asset market structure bill, which typically aims to clarify oversight authority, trading rules, and registration frameworks. If momentum holds, clearer rules could become a meaningful macro input for crypto markets that have priced in U.S. regulatory uncertainty.
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