Today in crypto, lawmakers in Arizona have passed two bills that could allow the state to establish a crypto reserve. Coinbase announced the launch of its Bitcoin Yield Fund for institutional investors. Meanwhile, Bitget has issued legal letters to users it accuses of manipulating token contracts.
Arizona legislature moves forward with Bitcoin reserve bills
Lawmakers in the Arizona House of Representatives have voted to pass two bills that could allow the state to adopt a reserve using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
In a third reading on April 28 of the Senate Bill 1025 (SB1025), a proposal to amend Arizona’s statutes to allow for a strategic BTC reserve, 31 members of the Arizona House voted in favor of the bill, with 25 opposed. A similar bill, SB1373, to establish a state-level digital assets reserve, passed with 37 lawmakers in favor and 19 voting nay.
“This bill basically takes the approach that probably 15 other states are considering the same legislation nationwide that allows the treasurer to invest up to 10% into, probably mainly Bitcoin but other things as well,” said State Representative Jeff Weninger on SB1025. “I think this probably would start as a ‘may’ for the foreseeable future, but as things continue to pivot towards Bitcoin and these things, would have that already in place in the future.”
Coinbase to launch yield-bearing Bitcoin fund for institutions
Coinbase, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, is launching the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund on May 1, aiming to offer Bitcoin exposure for institutional investors outside the US.
The fund targets an annual net return of 4% to 8% on Bitcoin holdings, according to an April 28 blog post by Coinbase.
“To address the growing institutional demand for bitcoin yield, Coinbase Asset Management is excited to introduce the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund (CBYF),” the company wrote.
The fund is backed by multiple investors, including Aspen Digital, a digital asset manager based in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The yield will be generated through a cash-and-carry strategy, through the difference between spot Bitcoin prices and derivatives.
Unlike Ether and Solana , Bitcoin holders can’t generate passive income through staking — a gap the fund is aiming to fill, according to the announcement:
“Bitcoin yield funds have emerged to address this limitation, but these funds generally require institutional allocators to take on significant investment and operational risk.”
The new fund seeks to lower the investment and operational risks typically associated with Bitcoin yield products, which Coinbase says will better align with the risk appetite of institutional investors.
Bitget sends legal letters to alleged VOXEL manipulators
Bitget’s lawyers have sent letters to eight account holders at the crypto exchange, accusing them of manipulating the price of perpetual futures contracts tied to the VOXEL token and pocketing $20 million in total.
Bitget’s head of Chinese operations, Xie Jiayin, said in an April 27 X post that those behind the eight accounts will receive the legal letters in “quick succession,” and it will redistribute any recovered funds to its other users.
VOXEL is the native utility token of Voxies, a free-to-play, 3D turn-based tactical RPG game built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Bitget said on April 20 that it found “abnormal trading activity” on its VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures contract and paused accounts it suspected of market manipulation.
The trading pair clocked over $12 billion in volume, dwarfing the metrics of the same contract on Binance. After the pause, Bitget rolled back the irregular trades to claw back the gains.
Trump says federal income taxes will be “substantially reduced” or eliminated
US President Trump said federal income taxes would be "substantially reduced" or eliminated altogether once the proposed trade tariffs take full effect.
The US President said that the accompanying tax reduction will focus on those earning less than $200,000 per year.
"It will be a bonanza for America. The External Revenue Service is happening," Trump wrote in an April 27 Truth Social post.
President Trump previously floated the idea of eliminating the federal income tax collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and replacing revenues from income taxes with tariffs collected on imported goods.
The US President's April 27 Truth Social post revealed the first concrete details of the proposed plan since Trump and members of his cabinet began touting comprehensive tax reform in October 2024.
