US Treasury Opens Cyber Threat Intelligence Sharing to Crypto Firms Amid Cooling Institutional Activity

The U.S. Treasury has opened a new channel for sharing cyber threat intelligence with eligible digital asset firms, a move that underscores Washington’s focus on hardening crypto market infrastructure even as institutional activity shows signs of cooling across major derivatives and ETF venues.

In a notice carried by PANews, the Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) said it will provide qualified digital asset companies and industry associations with the same cybersecurity threat information long available to traditional financial institutions, at no cost. The program is aimed at helping firms better identify, prevent, and respond to attacks targeting customers and networks—an escalating risk as crypto platforms become more intertwined with mainstream finance.

Treasury framed the initiative as part of implementing recommendations from the President’s Working Group report on digital asset markets titled ‘Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.’ Officials also tied the effort to principles in the ‘GENIUS’ bill, highlighting the idea that ‘strong cybersecurity’ is foundational to ‘responsible innovation’ in the sector.

The security push arrives as market indicators suggest some institutional traders are stepping back. Data cited by Odaily showed that activity on CME Group’s ($CME) Bitcoin (BTC) futures has continued to soften: average daily open interest in March fell below $8 billion, sliding to roughly $7.2 billion in early April—the lowest level since February 2024. Open interest has declined for five consecutive months, while March trading volume came in at about $163 billion, nearly half of the peak recorded in January 2025.

Analysts have pointed to the unwinding of ‘basis trades’—a popular institutional strategy that typically involves buying spot Bitcoin ETF exposure while shorting CME futures to capture the price spread. As BTC retreated from around $120,000 to below $70,000, annualized basis yields compressed to about 5%, not far above the roughly 4.5% ‘risk-free’ rate. Once funding costs and counterparty considerations are included, the trade’s appeal has diminished, contributing to reduced leverage and thinner institutional participation, according to commentary referenced by The Block.

ETF flows also reflected softer near-term sentiment. Lookonchain data cited by Odaily showed net outflows of 2,242 BTC from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs and 23,158 Ether (ETH) from U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs over the latest reporting day, alongside outflows from Solana (SOL) ETF products. While single-day flows can be noisy, sustained redemptions often coincide with de-risking across crypto and broader macro-sensitive assets.

Broader risk signals were evident in derivatives liquidations as volatility spiked. Coinglass data showed approximately $101 million in crypto positions were liquidated over a one-hour period, dominated by short liquidations at roughly $97.1 million versus about $3.5 million in long liquidations. Bitcoin accounted for around $80.4 million of the total, followed by Ethereum at about $11.8 million—suggesting a sharp, upward price move that forced bearish positioning to unwind.

Elsewhere in the ecosystem, Telegram-linked The Open Network (TON) said it has completed a major performance upgrade. Telegram founder Pavel Durov said TON’s transaction confirmation time has been cut to ‘sub-second’ levels following improvements based on Catchain 2.0. According to Odaily, block production is now six times faster and overall network performance has improved by roughly tenfold, reducing confirmation times from about 10 seconds to near-instant processing—an upgrade positioned as important for payments and app responsiveness. Durov described the release as the first step in a seven-phase “Make TON Great Again” plan, with a further fee reduction—by about six times—targeted in subsequent stages.

Law enforcement efforts also remained in focus. In an international operation led by the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA), authorities from the U.S., U.K., and Canada froze more than $12 million tied to crypto fraud, according to a report cited by Cointelegraph and carried by Odaily. The effort, dubbed ‘Operation Atlantic’ and launched in March, involved the U.S. Secret Service alongside Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Securities Commission. Investigators said the probe centered on ‘approval phishing,’ a scam tactic that tricks users into approving malicious transactions that grant attackers access to wallet assets. Authorities said they identified more than 20,000 victims and estimated total losses at about $45 million.

Product development continued even as regulators globally scrutinize certain crypto-adjacent markets. Cointelegraph reported that Binance’s wallet has introduced an in-app prediction market feature via Predict.fun, allowing users to access markets directly from the Binance Wallet application. The rollout comes as prediction platforms including Polymarket face rising regulatory attention over controversial betting-style markets, putting a spotlight on how large exchanges and wallets integrate such functionality.

In sum, the day’s developments highlighted a market balancing two forces: policy efforts to institutionalize ‘cyber resilience’ and law enforcement cooperation on one hand, and signs of reduced leverage and cooling institutional engagement on the other. For traders and builders alike, the message is increasingly clear—security, compliance posture, and infrastructure reliability are becoming as central to crypto’s trajectory as price action.