Gate News message, April 22 — Société Générale's SG-FORGE unit has signed 15 crypto clients as Europe's new regulatory framework pushes traditional banks deeper into the digital asset space. The client base includes crypto exchanges, brokers, and wallet providers, according to Jean-Marc Stenger,

SK On opens a Tokyo office as its fourth global base to expand in Japan's EV and energy-storage markets, leveraging subsidies, a Nissan deal, and plans to bolster domestic battery supply and grid-stabilizing tech. Abstract: SK On announces a Tokyo office as its fourth global base to push expansion in Japan's EV and energy-storage sectors, supported by subsidies, a Nissan battery deal, and plans for a domestic battery supply chain and grid applications.

Base Azul is live on testnet with a May 13, 2026 mainnet activation target, the first independent network upgrade; it boosts security, performance, and developer experience via multi-proof, single execution client, and Osaka; no user action needed. Base announces Azul, its first independent network upgrade, now live on testnet with a May 13, 2026 mainnet activation target. The upgrade adds a multi-proof mechanism, designates base-reth-node as the sole execution client, and adopts the Osaka execution layer specification to stay aligned with Ethereum, with no user action required. Two more upgrades are planned for late June and late August, and Base Vibenet, a public development network for testing upcoming features, will launch mid-May.

Gate News message, according to an official Gate announcement, OpenGradient (OPG) will be listed on Gate for spot trading and Instant Exchange. The OPG/USDT trading pair for spot trading will start on April 21, 2026 at 20:00 (UTC+8), and Instant Exchange trading will begin at 21:00 on the same day. Withdrawals are expected to be opened on April 22, 2026 at 20:00 (UTC+8). OpenGradient is a decentralized infrastructure network that runs as a dedicated AI co-processor, aiming to host, execute, and verify AI models at scale. The network consists of dedicated GPUs and trusted execution environment (TEE) nodes, enabling applications, blockchains, or agents to outsource compute-intensive tasks. The OPG token contract address is 0xFbC2051AE2265686a469421b2C5A2D5462FbF5eB(Base chain).

Atome Philippines partners with Bayad to enable utility and government payments via the Atome app, enhancing user engagement and financial services. Atome has seen growth, posting profits and expanding its user base in the underbanked Southeast Asian market.

Gate News message, according to an official Gate announcement, OpenGradient (OPG) will be listed on Gate for spot trading and flash swaps. Spot trading begins at 2026-04-21 20:00 (UTC+8), trading pair is OPG/USDT; Flash swaps begin at 2026-04-21 21:00 (UTC+8); Withdrawals are expected to open at 2026-04-22 20:00 (UTC+8). OpenGradient is a decentralized infrastructure network designed to host, execute, and verify AI models at scale. The project operates as a dedicated AI coprocessor, enabling applications, blockchains, or agents to offload compute-intensive tasks to a specialized network composed of dedicated GPUs and trusted execution environment nodes for computation. The OPG contract address is 0xFbC2051AE2265686a469421b2C5A2D5462FbF5eB (Base chain).

Iconiq, a San Francisco-based wealth manager, plans to raise a new fund focused on AI investments, having previously invested over $3 billion in AI startups in 2025. The firm's investor base has shifted to include more institutional backers, and it recently made six new AI investments.

Ethereum achieved a record high of 200.4 million transactions in Q1 2026, driven by Layer 2 activity and stablecoin growth, despite ETH prices being over 50% lower than their August 2025 peak.

Tether Investments participated in a $134 million funding round for Stablecoin Development Corporation, aimed at enhancing stablecoin infrastructure. Global stablecoin circulation has surpassed $300 billion, with Tether's USDT user base reaching 570 million.

In Q1 2026, the Ethereum-to-Bitcoin price ratio reached a three-month high at 0.0313. Ethereum added 284,000 users and surpassed $180 billion in stablecoin supply. Bitcoin remained strong above $74,000, driven by significant ETF inflows.