- 1. US Treasury Secretary urges Senate to pass US crypto legislation targeting $1T market.
- 2. Fear & Greed at 12 as BTC hits $72,194 amid rally.
- 3. Bill reduces NFT compliance costs 30% per industry analyses.
Key Takeaways
- 1. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urges Senate to pass US crypto legislation targeting $1T digital asset market (CoinMarketCap).
- 2. Fear & Greed Index drops to 12 amid BTC rally to $72,194 (Alternative.me, CoinGecko).
- 3. Bill cuts NFT compliance costs 30%, per Blockchain Association and Crypto Council.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Senate passage of US crypto legislation on April 13, 2026. The bill clarifies rules for blockchain assets, including NFTs (CoinMarketCap).
Bessent shared views in a Financial Times interview. He stressed stablecoin and custody rules for the $1T market cap.
Stablecoin Rules Boost NFT Platforms
The bill builds on the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act. Treasury backs stablecoin issuers as compliant money transmitters.
Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith supports it. "Removes barriers for NFT platforms," Smith told CoinDesk on April 13.
OpenSea battles SEC claims that NFTs are securities. US crypto legislation classifies most NFTs as collectibles.
Ethereum holds 70% of NFT volume (Dune Analytics, 30-day average to April 13, Ethereum mainnet). Gas fees averaged 15 gwei (Etherscan).
NFT Floors Rise on Policy News
Bitcoin hit $72,194, up 1.7% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, April 13). Ethereum reached $2,224.51, up 1.5%.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit 12 (Alternative.me). CryptoPunks floor: 28 ETH ($62,000, OpenSea, contract 0xb47e3cd837ddf8e4c57f05d70ab865de6e193bbb).
Bored Ape Yacht Club floor: 12 ETH, 5,800 holders (Blur, contract 0xbc4ca0eda7647a8ab7c2061c2e118a18a936f13d). XRP: $1.34 (+0.7%). BNB: $605.71 (+2.3%).
BlackRock's Ethereum funds drew $500M inflows in Q1 2026 (SEC filings).
Legislation Slashes NFT Compliance Costs
NFTs face Howey Test issues. US crypto legislation exempts non-financial NFTs from securities rules, cutting costs 30% (Crypto Council CEO Dennis Porter, The Block).
Solana NFT volume: $50M daily (Magic Eden, April 13). Mad Lads floor: 2 SOL ($320).
Bitcoin Ordinals: 1,200 BTC weekly volume (Ordinals dashboard). Immutable X (Ethereum L2): 200,000 daily txns (layer2 explorer).
Gods Unchained users rose 15% post-news.
DeFi Expands NFT Collateral Use
Aave V3 TVL: $2B (DefiLlama). NFTfi issued $10M in NFT-backed loans last week (NFTfi dashboard).
Treasury mandates AML for NFT trades over $10,000.
a16z's Hailey Lennon warns: "Target scams, not innovation" (Decrypt, Congress testimony).
Base and Optimism L2s dropped mint fees to $0.01.
US Races Ahead of EU on NFT Policy
US trails EU MiCA, which exempted NFTs in 2024. Bessent eyes dominance.
Blockchain to tokenize $100B by 2027 (BCG). ERC-721 enforces 5-10% royalties on-chain.
OpenSea: $20M volume April 13 (Ethereum secondary). Blur: 60% share, 0.5% fees.
Holder Growth Fuels NFT Boom
Top collections added 2% holders. Pudgy Penguins: +1,000 wallets, floor 4 ETH (OpenSea).
Bill adds AI-NFT disclosure rules. SEC Chair Gensler testimony limited overreach.
Senate vote next week boosts US crypto legislation amid $75K BTC forecasts.
