Bitcoin (BTC) surged to a two-month high of approximately US$77,401.45 on April 17, 2026, following Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi’s announcement of the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels, leading to a 5% increase within 24 hours. Ether (ETH) rose to US$2,430.74, up 3%, while altcoins like XRP and Solana were also impacted, priced at US$1.49 (up 2%) and US$89.27 (down 0.8%) respectively.
In corporate news, Kraken’s parent company, Payward, announced the acquisition of Bitnomial for up to US$550 million, raising its equity valuation to US$20 billion. Additionally, HIVE Digital Technologies upsized its private offering of senior notes to US$100 million, set to close on April 21, with proceeds aimed at general corporate uses and data center development.
Meanwhile, asset manager Canary Capital filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC to launch a spot PEPE ETF, while Circle is facing a class action lawsuit related to a US$285 million hack on Drift Protocol, with allegations of negligence in response to the incident.
