Weekly Crypto Round-up for April 12 – April 18, 2025

A comprehensive overview of the week's events, updates and movements in the crypto space to stay up-to-date on the most important crypto stories and market-shaping events.

1. KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Bybit partners with Avalon Labs to offer Bitcoin yield to its users
• South Korea blocks 14 crypto exchanges on the Apple Store
• Ethena Labs is winding down operations and exiting Germany
• Bitwise Inc lists four crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the London Stock Exchange
• MANTRA faces crisis after forced liquidations and initiates token buybacks
• Sui partners with Greece's ATHEX for a ZK-powered onchain fundraising platform

2. CONTENT

⛓️ Bybit announces a partnership with Avalon Labs to integrate a CeDeFi (Centralized-Decentralized Finance) protocol into its Bybit Earn platform. The goal is to enable users to earn a fixed 8% yield on their Bitcoin holdings. This collaboration allows users to lend Bitcoin at a fixed rate, facilitated by the use of FBTC tokens, which represent the value of Bitcoin within Avalon's DeFi ecosystem .

This integration is a significant step towards merging the security and reliability of centralized finance with the flexibility and high-yield opportunities of decentralized finance.

🌏 South Korea has intensified its crackdown on unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges by blocking 14 crypto exchange applications from the Apple Store. This action, announced by the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) on April 11, targets exchanges that are allegedly operating without proper registration. Among the affected exchanges are KuCoin and MEXC, which were also targeted in a previous ban by Google Play on March 26. The FSC has published a list of 22 unregistered platforms, with 17 already blocked on Google's marketplace.

This move by the FSC and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is part of a broader effort to enforce stricter regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges operating within the country.

🌐 Ethena Labs, the issuer of the synthetic stablecoin USDe, has announced its exit from the German market and the closure of its local subsidiary, Ethena GmbH. The decision follows enforcement actions by Germany's financial regulator, BaFin, which identified significant deficiencies in Ethena's compliance with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR).

BaFin's concerns included issues with asset reserves, capital adequacy, and the classification of Ethena's yield-bearing token, USDe, as a potential unregistered security.

️ 💲 Bitwise has listed four crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the London Stock Exchange in an attempt to give institutional investors exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum in various formats, including staking. These products remain off-limits to UK retail investors, highlighting the cautious approach of regulators towards mainstream crypto adoption.

This move is part of Bitwise's broader strategy to expand its crypto investment offerings globally, following recent regulatory shifts in the US. The company's initiatives, such as the proposed Dogecoin and Aptos ETFs, indicate a growing interest in diversifying crypto investment vehicles.

📉 On April 13, Mantra’s OM token crashed, dropping 90% in a matter of hours, from over $6 to around $0.50. The meltdown was sparked by a wave of forced liquidations that hit during thin trading hours, made worse by heavy leverage and a lopsided distribution of tokens. Analysts call it a perfect storm of DeFi risk: not enough liquidity, too much leverage, and too few wallets holding too much power.

The team’s response came quick, with Mantra’s CEO denying any insider sell-offs and promising buybacks and token burns to try and steady the ship. But the damage to investor confidence - and to OM’s reputation - is already done. It’s a harsh reminder that in crypto, even well-known projects aren’t immune to cascading failures when tokenomics and market dynamics spiral out of control.

📊 The Athens Stock Exchange is building its Electronic Book Building (EBB) system on Sui. In partnership with Mysten Labs, they’ve wrapped up the technical design to bring public capital markets fully onchain with a key twist: zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). This means companies can run public fundraising processes with more privacy for investors while still keeping everything secure, auditable, and compliant. We’re witnessing a real-world use case of how blockchain can upgrade how markets work without blowing up the rules.

If successful, this could set the tone for how other national exchanges think about tokenizing market infrastructure. It’s a quiet but powerful signal that serious players are betting on crypto rails to rebuild legacy finance from the inside out.

3. MARKET MOVES

📈 In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin's price moved +0.06% to $84.66k and trading volume moved -22.89% to $20.89b.

The crypto market remains as dynamic as ever, with new opportunities coming up every day. Whether you’re a seasoned trader, an investor or a beginner, this is your chance to stay ahead in the world of crypto.

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The information does not constitute financial advice or recommendation and should not be considered as such. All content, including opinions and analyses, is intended for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as solicitation or recommendation for any investment decisions. We encourage you to conduct your own research prior to investing.