Cryptocurrency Billionaire Christopher Harborne Once Made a ￡5 Million Political Donation to Nigel Farage

April 29 — Crypto media and data platform Blockworks has closed a Series A extension funding round at a $192 million valuation, the company announced today. The round was co-led by ParaFi Capital and Rec VC, with participation from institutional crypto investors including Coinbase Ventures, MoonPay, Flowdesk, Auros, and others. Blockworks said the new capital will primarily fund the buildout of its crypto data infrastructure, investor relations capabilities, and information disclosure tools. The firm also plans to further consolidate the currently fragmented crypto data market. Additionally, more than 20 founders and operators from across the crypto industry joined the round as individual investors, representing projects such as Solana, EigenLayer, LayerZero, Arbitrum, Polygon, Kraken, Pyth Network, ZKsync, Celestia, and Berachain.

On April 29, Binance Futures will launch the USD?-M AIGENSYNUSDT perpetual contract at 14:15 UTC, supporting up to 20x leverage. The announcement notes that AIGENSYN refers to the Gensyn project—a decentralized machine intelligence protocol built to unify data and computing power into a single open network.

April 29 — Multiple media reports: After the UAE announced its withdrawal from OPEC, Russia has made clear there are no current plans to exit OPEC+, emphasizing that maintaining alliance stability is critical for the global energy market. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said while the UAE’s exit has increased market uncertainty, Russia does not believe this will collapse the OPEC+ mechanism. In today’s highly volatile global energy market, OPEC+ remains a key tool to cushion oil price swings. Market analysts generally link the UAE’s withdrawal to long-running disputes with Saudi Arabia over production quota baselines and regional influence. They note ongoing Middle East tensions and rising risks to critical energy transit routes — including the Hormuz and Malacca Straits — have further widened OPEC’s internal rifts. For Russia, sustaining OPEC+ cooperation has practical perks. Data shows Russia’s daily oil production stood at ~9.167 million barrels as of March 2026 — down f

April 29 (Press TV) — A senior Iranian security official said Tuesday the U.S. is attempting to disrupt Iran’s oil exports through a maritime blockade around the Strait of Hormuz, adding Iran will respond with “unprecedented” military action. Earlier reports noted former President Donald Trump instructed aides to explore a long-term maritime blockade against Iran to further weaken its financial and energy export capabilities. The news sent WTI and Brent crude oil prices jumping nearly 4% in intraday trading. Markets fear an escalation in the Middle East could threaten key energy shipping lanes like the Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Mandeb, pushing global energy prices higher.

On April 29, Andre Cronje told Cointelegraph in an interview that many DeFi protocols today aren’t “truly decentralized” — instead, they function more like “for-profit companies run by teams” that rely heavily on upgradeable contracts, multisigs, off-chain infrastructure, and human operational controls. He noted the industry still overfocuses on smart contract audits, missing operational risks that mirror Traditional Finance (TradFi). Recent attacks, he argued, stemmed not from code vulnerabilities but off-chain infrastructure, permission mismanagement, and social engineering. The discussion comes amid a spike in DeFi security incidents. In April, protocols including Flying Tulip, Drift Protocol, and Kelp were breached: Drift lost roughly $280 million, while Kelp saw losses of around $293 million. In response, Flying Tulip rolled out a “Withdrawal Circuit Breaker” that delays or queues withdrawal requests during abnormally large outflows, giving the team roughly 6 hours to rea

April 29th – Securitize, the Beleld-backed tokenization platform, announced a partnership with global stock transfer agent giant Computershare. The deal lets U.S. public companies issue on-chain tokenized equity (Issuer-Sponsored Tokens, or ISTs) outside the existing stock system. Under the arrangement, investors can now choose to hold stocks via a traditional securities account OR directly hold the corresponding on-chain equity assets in a digital wallet. Computershare will remain the transfer agent, handling shareholder registry management, dividend distributions, stock splits, and other corporate actions. Reports note the structure’s key goal is to steer clear of the “wrapped shares” model common in the traditional crypto space. Unlike derivative tokens that merely represent claims to stocks, ISTs directly stand for true equity ownership—not off-chain stock mapping certificates. Carlos Domingo, Securitize’s executive, said ISTs aren’t derivative products layered on existing