🚀 Global crypto owners reached 700 million in April; Crypto.com obtained the restricted dealer registration in Canada

Global crypto owners reached 700 million in April; Crypto.com obtained the restricted dealer registration in Canada; Dubai Finance signed an MoU with Crypto.com to allow crypto payments for fees

Quick Take

• Global crypto owners reached 700 million in April; Crypto.com obtained the restricted dealer registration in Canada; Dubai Finance signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Crypto.com to facilitate government fee payments using crypto
• US spot bitcoin ETFs had a net inflow of US$608 million last week, the fifth consecutive week of net inflows. Spot ether ETFs saw a net inflow of $42 million last week, compared to a net outflow of $38 million the week before.
• On the macro side, the US consumer price index rose 2.3% year-on-year in April, 0.1% lower than Dow Jones consensus estimates and the lowest since 2021. Producer price index declined 0.5% month-on-month, which came as a surprise compared to the estimated increase of 0.3%. Fed Chair Powell mentioned that longer term interest rates are likely to be higher as the economy and policies change. Moody’s credit rating agency downgraded the credit rating of the US government from Aaa to Aa1, mentioning the rising national debt as the main reason. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed an 8% probability of a June rate cut in the US (compared to 17% last week). 
• Notable updates: VeChainThor’s (VET) Galactica mainnet hard fork is estimated to take place on 1 July; the Crypto.com App listed Morpho (MORPHO)
• Notable events in the coming week: US S&P Global Manufacturing and Services PMI, Australia’s RBA Interest Rate Decision

Weekly Market Index

Price and volume indices were up by +1.72% and +7.68%, respectively, while the volatility index was down by -32.82%. 

ETH (+4.43%) and XRP (+4.11%) led the price increase. Chicago Mercantile Group (CME) is expected to launch XRP futures and Micro XRP futures on 19 May. Volatility drop was led by ETH (-51.86%) and APT (-47.30%), which coincided with a weekly adjustment after a spike in volatility the week before ( +112.90% for ETH and +62.65% for APT).

Chart of the Week

According to Crypto.com Research, the total number of global cryptocurrency owners reached 700 million in April, marking a 163% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the past five years. 

The total number of global crypto owners was 65 million in May 2020, increasing by nearly 650 million since. The growth indicates a massive shift towards cryptocurrency adoption on a wider scale.

Weekly Performance

BTC and ETH increased by +1.2% and +4.4%, respectively, in the past seven days. Most other large-cap tokens saw a decline in price, which coincided with Fed Chair Powell’s remarks on higher longer term interest rates and Moody downgrading the US government’s credit rating. 

All key categories decreased in market capitalisation in the past seven days, led by the Layer-2 category. 

Notable Updates

Newly Listed Tokens in Crypto.com App

News Highlights

Crypto.com / Cronos News

• Crypto.com obtained the restricted dealer registration in Canada. It allows the company to continue offering crypto asset products and services in the country while it seeks registration as an investment dealer and membership with the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO).
• Dubai Finance (DOF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Crypto.com to facilitate government service fee payments using cryptocurrencies. The partnership will accelerate the implementation of the Dubai Cashless Strategy through fostering efficient and secure financial transactions through crypto. 
• Crypto.com announced the integration and launch of its platform in Tawasal SuperApp, as part of its partnership with Tawasal Alkhaleej, a leading sovereign player in the artificial intelligence market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This offers nearly 4 million users access to Crypto.com’s products and services.
• Crypto.com and KSNET, South Korea’s most comprehensive payment provider company, announced a partnership to enable cryptocurrency payments for foreign travelers via Crypto.com Pay at leading fashion, beauty, and duty free stores in the country. 

Adoption

• US fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake started to accept bitcoin payments using the Lightning network across its US locations. This chain-wide adoption is the first of its kind in the US fast food industry. 
• Kinexys, JP Morgan’s blockchain unit, Ondo Finance, and Chainlink executed a cross-chain Delivery versus Payment (DvP) transaction. It involved the settlement of a tokenised US Treasury asset between Kinexys Digital Payments’s permissioned blockchain network and the Ondo Chain, marking an expansion of Kinexys’s settlement integrations beyond private chains.

Investment Vehicles

• VanEck launched the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) on the Cboe exchange, which invests in companies operating in the blockchain ecosystem, including miners, exchanges, infrastructure providers, and financial technology platforms.
• VanEck is expected to launch VBILL, a tokenised real-world asset fund offering exposure to US Treasury bills, together with Securitize. The fund will be available on Ethereum, Solana, and other blockchains.
• Thailand’s Ministry of Finance plans to issue ฿5 billion (~$150 million) worth of digital investment tokens to raise funds from the public, and provide investors a chance to earn higher returns than bank deposits. The tokens are expected to launch in the next two months.

Regulations

• Crypto companies in the United Kingdom will need to report customer transactions for users in the UK and other Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) countries from 1 January 2026, as part of the effort to improve crypto tax reporting. This includes information like the user’s full name, address, tax identification number, and crypto used and transferred.

Recent Research Reports

• Research Roundup Newsletter [April 2025]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into ‘The Rise of Crypto Treasury’ and ‘Wall Street On-Chain Part 3: Trading & Liquidity’.
• Wall Street On-Chain Part 3: Trading & Liquidity: This report compares liquidity between popular TradFi assets and major crypto assets, and delves into the development of crypto exchanges.
• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [April 2025]: All asset classes had mixed performances in April, with BTC and Gold leading price increases. Trump reduced tariff rates on imports from most US trading partners and considered lowering tariffs on China.

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