Hidden Momentum: These Tokens Just Took Off With Over 42% Gains

Hello and welcome to Crypto Intel, the twice-weekly newsletter covering the latest updates, breaking news, and exciting opportunities in the crypto world.

Big bets are being placed. New market doors are creaking open. And everyday life is starting to look just a little more crypto-shaped. Some shifts are loud. Others, almost silent. But this week, it's the steady moves that could end up meaning the most.

Momentum isn't always a headline—it's a buildup. And right now, the pressure is mounting in ways that could reset the playing field for the months ahead.

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📈 Market-Moving News

On the surface, everything looks calm. But beneath it, major forces are moving.

From balance sheets to new trading lanes to everyday transactions, crypto's foundation is quietly getting stronger. Sometimes, it's the moves no one's shouting about that end up changing everything.

Bitcoin

₿ Strategy Adds Another $1.42B of Bitcoin, Now Holding Over 553,000 BTC

Strategy (MSTR) has once again doubled down on Bitcoin, purchasing 15,355 BTC last week at an average price of $92,737 per coin. Funded through recent common and preferred stock sales, the company's Bitcoin stack now totals a staggering 553,555 BTC—worth more than $52 billion at the current price of around $95,000. Strategy's Executive Chairman Michael Saylor continues to frame Bitcoin accumulation as a treasury reserve strategy, betting on the asset's long-term supremacy.

This latest move comes after Strategy sold over $4 million in Class A common stock and more than 435,000 shares of preferred stock (Series STRK) between April 21 and April 27. Despite already holding more Bitcoin than any other publicly traded company, Strategy shows no signs of slowing down. The company's total average purchase price now stands at $64,459 per BTC, cementing its lead among institutional Bitcoin holders.

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Shares of MSTR rose 1.5% in pre-market trading after the announcement, tracking alongside a modest uptick in Bitcoin's price over the weekend. Analysts note that Strategy's purchases tend to act as a sentiment booster for Bitcoin bulls, offering validation that institutional conviction in Bitcoin's long-term value remains strong even amid volatile markets.

Strategy's growing stack is both a flex and a potential risk. While it's easy to cheer another $1.42 billion Bitcoin bet, it also locks the company into Bitcoin's market fate more tightly than ever. For investors, Strategy's moves can signal bullish momentum, but also serve as a reminder: conviction cuts both ways when the market turns.

ETFs

📈 ProShares Wins SEC Nod for Three XRP Futures ETFs

ProShares is launching three new XRP-linked ETFs this week after receiving tacit approval from the SEC, marking a milestone moment for XRP exposure in traditional markets. The new products—an Ultra XRP ETF (2x leverage), a Short XRP ETF, and an Ultra Short XRP ETF (-2x leverage)—will allow traders to bet both ways on XRP's price with futures contracts. This follows Ripple's landmark victory over the SEC earlier this year, clearing the biggest legal hurdle facing XRP.

While the approval only covers futures-based ETFs for now, several spot XRP ETF applications are currently pending, with Grayscale's filing facing a key decision deadline on May 22. The SEC's willingness to greenlight futures ETFs so soon after Ripple's court win suggests a broader softening toward crypto financial products, though full spot approvals may still take time.

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ProShares' XRP ETF launch follows Teucrium's earlier success with a 2x XRP ETF, which debuted to strong trading volumes in early April. At the same time, CME Group is preparing to launch XRP futures alongside BTC, ETH, and SOL next month—an expansion that could bring even more institutional players into the XRP market.

The bottom line: Futures ETFs can turbocharge volatility just as easily as they provide access. While this is a step forward for XRP's market maturity, retail investors should remember that leveraged products amplify both gains and losses. For now, the news is a bullish signal about crypto's creeping normalization—but caution is still the name of the game.

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Adoption

🛒 Spar Supermarkets to Accept Bitcoin Nationwide in Switzerland

Spar supermarkets are expanding Bitcoin payments across Switzerland after a successful pilot in Zug and Kreuzlingen. Shoppers will be able to scan QR codes powered by DFX Swiss's OpenCryptoPay platform at checkout, paying directly via the Lightning Network. This move represents one of Switzerland's first nationwide retail rollouts for Bitcoin payments—a major milestone in crypto's push into everyday commerce.

The pilot program revealed that Bitcoin payments could be quick, seamless, and integrated with minimal technical friction. Rahim Taghizadegan, director of Bitcoin Association Switzerland, confirmed the system's ease of use, noting that simple QR scans allowed for "immediate and easy registration" by cashiers. As adoption scales, Spar aims to deploy Bitcoin payment options across all its Swiss locations.

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Meanwhile, Bitcoin's broader role in Switzerland remains hotly debated. Swiss National Bank officials recently dismissed Bitcoin's viability for national reserves, citing volatility, while citizen-led initiatives are pushing for constitutional changes to make Bitcoin a part of the Swiss national treasury. With over 600 businesses already accepting Bitcoin, Switzerland remains at the forefront of real-world crypto integration even if top financial authorities remain cautious.

For Bitcoin holders, Spar's expansion is another proof point that real-world adoption is moving faster than many think. However, retail integration doesn't guarantee price growth overnight. It's a long game, but every new checkout terminal accepting sats chips away at crypto's "speculation-only" narrative.

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⏩ Future Forward

The pieces are moving—stealth launches, sudden pivots, and low-key shifts are reshaping the field. If you're paying attention, the next breakout is already taking form.

Crypto Conferences:

💎 Global AI and Web3 in Healthcare Symposium 2025 (Apr 29, 2025)

💎 Tokenized Capital Summit 2025 (Apr 29, 2025)

💎 VC Founders Summit 2025 (Apr 29, 2025)

Upcoming Airdrops:

🎁 Quai Network (QUAI) Airdrop (May 4, 2025)

🎁 Beincom (BIC) Airdrop (May 15, 2025)

🎁 BADAI Airdrop (May 25, 2025)

Upcoming Token Launches:

🚀 AIVA (AIVA) IDO on Seedify (Apr 30, 2025)

🚀 Fleek (FLK) Public Sale (May 1, 2025)

🚀 GamersXP (GMXP) IDO on Spores (May 7, 2025)

Which event are you most excited for? Let us know!

🧠 Crypto Know-How

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to keep a steady price—usually by being tied to something like the US dollar. Think of them like digital dollars that live on the blockchain, aiming to stay at $1 no matter what.

Some stablecoins are backed by real cash in a bank, others by crypto, and some use algorithms to try and balance their value. The idea is to make it easy to move money around without worrying about big price swings like Bitcoin or Ether.

Stablecoins are great for trading, saving, or sending money fast. But not all of them are created equal—always check how a stablecoin is backed before trusting it with your funds.

That's a wrap for this run—see a move we missed? Drop us a line and let us know what you're tracking. Thanks for riding shotgun with us, and we'll see you in the next drop.

Everything Else

• Caitlin Long slammed the Fed for keeping anti-crypto policies favoring big-bank stablecoins, even after relaxing other crypto rules.

• Senators Warren and Schiff called for an ethics probe into President Trump's meme coin dinner, raising concerns over pay-to-play and foreign influence risks.

• Crypto ETPs recorded their third-largest inflows on record last week, pulling in $3.4 billion as Bitcoin reclaimed the $90K mark.

• Monero spiked 51% after investigators traced a suspicious $333M Bitcoin theft swap into XMR across multiple exchanges.

• Coinbase urged the SEC to lift its crypto ownership ban for staff, arguing that real use is critical for building better regulations.