Mastercard has teamed up with Lobstercash and Crossmint to facilitate AI agent payments via existing credit and debit cards, integrating into current financial systems with no new wallets needed. This partnership allows AI to automate transactions, enhancing efficiency and security.

Between 2026-04-17 09:15 and 2026-04-17 09:30 (UTC), ETH fluctuated within the 2351.53 to 2376.99 USDT range. The 15-minute return recorded +0.65%, with a swing of 1.08%. Within this range, buying pressure significantly strengthened, with trades dominated by medium-sized orders, which increased market attention and amplified short-term volatility. The main drivers behind this anomaly are continued inflows of institutional capital into ETH spot ETFs, especially with cumulative net inflows over the past 4 days exceeding $212 million. On April 17 alone, the ETF added an additional $9.5 million in inflows, and spot buy orders expanded in sync within 15 minutes. Leveraged long positions in the derivatives market are the second-largest catalyst. From April 14 to 17, ETH futures open interest grew 26% week over week, indicating that capital via multiple paths is simultaneously betting on an upside move. The funding rate being neutral suggests the leveraged structure is temporarily healthy. In addition, global macro market risk appetite has rebounded (geopolitical tensions easing, and the Federal Reserve keeping rates unchanged), driving a broad rebound across mainstream risk assets, and the crypto market has attracted liquidity accordingly. At the industry level, major financial institutions are advancing filings for ETFs and trust products. Mining companies have increased their ETH holdings and also maintained active staking activity, further reinforcing medium- to long-term market expectations. Multiple factors overlap and resonate, amplifying volatility. On-chain transfers remain generally stable, and there is no abnormal concentration of fund flows migrating between exchanges. What needs attention is that although the current market is lifted by the resonance of institutional capital and leverage, the continuous growth of futures positions combined with the spot price failing to rise above the 2400 USDT area will bring the risk of forced liquidation. Meanwhile, if ETF subscription inflows slow down or macro liquidity reverses, ETH spot support could weaken. Please focus on tracking ETF net inflows, changes in futures open interest, the macro news backdrop, and nearby support and resistance levels, and stay alert to short-term volatility and potential abrupt adjustments. For more real-time market information, please keep watching.

Lido's LDO buyback program prompted a significant purchase of 4.5 million LDO tokens by a whale for $1.86 million, alongside 10,000 AAVE tokens for $1.15 million, sourced from Wintermute and FalconX, respectively.

Flow Capital Partners plans to launch tokenized shares of its $150 million private credit fund via Singapore's DigiFT, aiming to raise an additional $30 million by year-end. This initiative supports Singapore's Project Guardian, enhancing liquidity in private credit markets.

Nexters and Velop announced that their mobile MMORPG Chaos W has achieved over 470k pre-registrations ahead of its Q2 2026 launch. The game's hybrid model combines RTS and RPG elements, utilizing a fixed supply economy and accessible pre-registration via Telegram, aiming for global market growth.

Gate News message, according to an announcement from the LeverFi project team, the LeverFi (LEVER) token will soon be swapped for a new Sedunia (SED) token. Gate will delist the LeverFi (LEVER) trading service on April 18, 2026 at 11:00 (UTC+8), including the LEVER_USDT spot trading pair and quantitative grid. At the same time, Gate has suspended deposits for LEVER. Users need to complete the token swap themselves via the channels specified by the project team; it is recommended to withdraw LEVER tokens to your personal wallet before April 21. Any ongoing LEVER quantitative trading strategies must be adjusted in advance, otherwise they will be forcibly stopped before the delisting.

SenseTime Group is raising HK$3.25 billion through a share placement in Hong Kong, issuing 1.7 billion shares at an 8.6% discount. Funds will support its AI infrastructure and research, while the stock has seen a year-to-date decline of 9.6%.

HIVE Digital Technologies plans to raise $75 million via 0% exchangeable senior notes to enhance GPU procurement and data center growth. Following the announcement, its stock dropped 11.5%, underperforming the mining sector.

Canva AI 2.0 transforms Canva from a design tool to a comprehensive work operations platform. It uses generative AI to streamline workflows, enabling users to create and edit designs via natural language, automate tasks, and integrate with various applications.

Sky, the decentralized finance protocol formerly known as MakerDAO, launched its stablecoin USDS and yield-bearing sUSDS on Avalanche via Skylink, a unique crosschain bridge. The bridge began with a 5 million daily transfer cap, expected to increase by April 27.