A new survey by crypto investment platform Bitpanda has revealed that fewer than 20% of European financial institutions currently offer cryptocurrency services, despite increasing investor interest and regulatory clarity in the region.
The survey, which polled 10,000 retail and business investors across 13 European countries, found that over 40% of business investors already hold cryptocurrencies, while another 18% plan to invest in the near future. However, only 19% of surveyed financial institutions believed their clients had a strong demand for crypto products, highlighting a significant 30% gap between actual adoption and perceived interest.
Additionally, just 19% of European banks and financial institutions provide crypto-related services. However, the landscape may be shifting, with 18% of the surveyed institutions planning to expand their digital asset offerings, particularly in areas such as crypto transfers.
US Senate Votes to Revoke IRS DeFi Broker Rule
The US Senate has passed a resolution to overturn a controversial Biden-era rule that would have required decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms to report transaction details to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The motion will now go to former President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.
The Senate approved the resolution with a 70-28 vote, following a similar decision by the House earlier in March. The rule, known as the IRS DeFi broker rule, sought to impose stricter reporting requirements on DeFi platforms, including filing gross proceeds from crypto sales and disclosing details about transaction participants.
Critics argued that these regulations would stifle innovation in the crypto industry by imposing excessive compliance burdens on decentralised platforms. Supporters of the rule, however, contended that repealing it could create a tax evasion loophole.
The White House’s AI and crypto advisor, David Sacks, has previously stated that Trump supports repealing the rule, adding to expectations that the resolution will be finalised in the coming days.
Hyperliquid Delists JELLY Token Perpetual Futures Amid Market Manipulation Concerns
Crypto exchange Hyperliquid has delisted perpetual futures tied to the JELLY token after detecting suspicious market activity involving the trading instrument. The decision was announced by Hyperliquid’s ecosystem nonprofit, the Hyper Foundation, on March 26.
According to the company, affected users—except those with flagged addresses—will be reimbursed automatically in the coming days based on on-chain data. The exchange also confirmed that its primary liquidity pool, HLP, recorded a positive net income of approximately $700,000 in the past 24 hours.
The issue reportedly began when a trader opened a $6 million short position on the JellyJelly token before deliberately triggering self-liquidation by artificially inflating the token’s price on-chain.
Industry experts warned that without intervention, Hyperliquid could have faced full liquidation if the JellyJelly token reached a $150 million market cap. The decision to delist the contracts has raised concerns about the exchange’s governance structure, as it was made by a small number of validators, leading to accusations of centralisation.
Gracy Chen, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, criticised Hyperliquid’s handling of the incident, warning that its actions could put the platform on track to become “FTX 2.0.” She further suggested that despite presenting itself as a decentralised exchange, Hyperliquid operates more like an offshore centralised exchange.
As regulatory scrutiny over the crypto industry continues to grow, events such as these underscore the challenges exchanges face in maintaining transparency, security, and investor trust.
