Crypto is trying to shake off “extreme fear” just as Hong Kong’s HKDAP stablecoin, Tether’s new wallet and big Binance-linked flows redraw the market’s risk map.
Summary
- BTC and ETH post modest weekly gains as macro tensions ease, but sentiment stays in “extreme fear.”
- Hong Kong’s first HKD stablecoin licences, Tether’s new wallet and a Paxos Labs funding round underline institutional stablecoin bets.
- Large on‑chain flows around Binance‑linked assets signal aggressive positioning despite fragile risk appetite.
Temporary easing of macro risks has driven a selective rebound across risk assets, with Gate Ventures noting the S&P 500 up 3.48% on the week and the Nasdaq higher by 4.12%, even as WTI crude dropped more than 14%. In crypto, the firm’s latest weekly report cited Bitcoin rising about 2.5% and Ethereum 3.9%, alongside roughly $786 million of net inflows into spot BTC ETFs and $187 million into spot ETH ETFs, even as market sentiment remains locked in “extreme fear.”
According to Gate Ventures on X, “crypto markets rebounded last week, with BTC up 4.6% and ETH up 6.4%, although sentiment remained firmly in Extreme Fear at 11,” underscoring how flows remain cautious despite price relief. The report highlighted Toncoin as one of the week’s stand‑out performers, gaining 15.9% on the back of network upgrades, while pointing to Hong Kong’s first stablecoin licences for Anchorpoint and HSBC as evidence that “capital and narratives” are coalescing around assets with stronger fundamentals and regulatory support.
In Hong Kong, Anchorpoint Financial Technology — a joint venture backed by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands — has secured a stablecoin issuer licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority under the city’s new Stablecoins Ordinance and plans to launch a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, HKDAP, in the second quarter of 2026. Anchorpoint said it “targets to issue the regulated Hong Kong dollar‑backed stablecoin HKDAP (i.e. HKD At Par) with a phased approach from the second quarter of this year,” with each token backed 1:1 by high‑quality, highly liquid HKD‑denominated reserves in line with HKMA rules.
Animoca Brands’ group president Evan Auyang has framed a regulated HKD stablecoin as core market plumbing rather than a speculative bet, arguing that “stablecoins are the bridge between native and enterprise Web3” and that “mainland assets going global need a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin.” He added that such a coin is “crucial for Hong Kong’s financial infrastructure” and would support “games, trade, and 24/7 financial settlement,” tying HKDAP directly to Web3 gaming and cross‑border commerce.
Stablecoin issuer Tether, meanwhile, has launched tether.wallet, a self‑custody digital wallet designed to put its global payments and funding rails directly in users’ hands. In its announcement, Tether said the product aims to bring its “global financial infrastructure directly in the hands of users,” extending its reach from back‑end settlement into consumer‑facing tools.
Paxos Labs, a spin‑off from regulated stablecoin issuer Paxos, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Blockchain Capital with participation from Robot Ventures, Maelstrom and Uniswap Labs, to power white‑label stablecoin infrastructure. Paxos CEO and Paxos Labs chief executive Chad Cascarilla said the firm will focus on helping large enterprises “create and manage their own branded stablecoins,” signalling persistent institutional demand for programmable money even through risk‑off cycles.
On the trading side, Binance Wallet has rolled out perpetual contract trading and an “Alpha points” campaign running from April 14 to April 28, 2026, with users who reach $1,000 in perp volume during the event earning 3 Alpha points and rewards due by May 12. At the same time, on‑chain watchers are tracking heavy flows around Binance‑linked assets, including Binance Life and Binance Coin.
On‑chain analyst Yu Jin flagged a suspected Binance Life controller cluster withdrawing 50.5 million Binance Life tokens — around $16.08 million — from Binance via six wallets, accumulating 197 million tokens in total, or roughly 19.7% of supply worth about $62.58 million. Separately, data firm Onchain Lens reported that over three days, 15 newly created wallets withdrew about 138.26 million Binance coins from Binance, worth around $30.78 million, suggesting sizeable, concentrated positioning in the broader Binance stack even as Gate Ventures characterizes wider market flows as cautious.
