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Voting is under way in local elections across England, as well as in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.

Due to Ofcom rules, Sky News is limited on what it can report until polls close at 10pm.

The votes mark the first electoral test for the party leaders since last year’s general election.

In total, 23 of England’s 317 local authorities are holding elections, alongside the Isles of Scilly.

The make up of around 1,270 parish councils are also due to be decided.

Read more:
Follow local elections results here
Where are they and how do I
vote?

And six metro mayors are up for election.

The West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Doncaster, and North Tyneside mayoralties already have a mayor in place – while Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire are choosing a mayor for the first time.

Meanwhile, a by-election is being held in Runcorn and Helsby after previous Labour MP Mike Amesbury agreed to stand down following his conviction for punching a man in the street.

While this result is likely to come in overnight, most local election results won’t be known until Friday.

All voters in these elections must be over 18, and be registered.

Join Sky News presenter Jonathan Samuels and deputy political editor Sam Coates from midnight as the results start coming in. Lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, political editor Beth Rigby, and data and economics editor Ed Conway will be taking over on Friday to report and explain what has happened.

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Bitcoin to $1M by 2029 fueled by ETF and gov’t demand — Bitwise exec

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Bitcoin to M by 2029 fueled by ETF and gov’t demand — Bitwise exec

Bitcoin to M by 2029 fueled by ETF and gov’t demand — Bitwise exec

Bitcoin’s expanding institutional adoption may provide the “structural” inflows necessary to surpass gold’s market capitalization and push its price beyond $1 million by 2029, according to Bitwise’s head of European research, André Dragosch.

“Our in-house prediction is $1 million by 2029. So that Bitcoin will match gold’s market cap and total addressable market by 2029,” he told Cointelegraph during the Chain Reaction daily X spaces show on April 30.

Gold is currently the world’s largest asset, valued at over $21.7 trillion. In comparison, Bitcoin’s market capitalization sits at $1.9 trillion, making it the seventh-largest asset globally, according to CompaniesMarketCap data.

Bitcoin to $1M by 2029 fueled by ETF and gov’t demand — Bitwise exec
Top 10 global assets by market capitalization. Source: CompaniesMarketCap

Related: Bitcoin treasury firms driving $200T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back

For the 2025 market cycle, Bitcoin may surpass $200,000 in the “base case” and $500,000 with more governmental adoption, Dragosch said.

“But once you see sovereign bias like the US government stepping in, all this will change to $500,000.”

“So the base case is $200,000, conditional on the US government not stepping in. If they step in, it will move closer toward $500,000,” said Dragosch, referring to the US government’s plan to potentially make direct Bitcoin acquisitions through “budget-neutral” strategies.

The US is looking at “many creative ways” to fund its Bitcoin investments, including from tariff revenue and by reevaluating the US Treasury’s gold certificates, creating a paper surplus to fund the BTC reserve without selling gold, Bo Hines of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets said in an interview on April 14.

Related: Crypto sentiment recovers, but weekend liquidity risks remain

“Structural” ETF inflows, institutional adoption prolong Bitcoin cycle

The US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have surpassed all expectations during their first year of trading, exceeding record trading volumes as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF became the fastest-growing ETF in history.

The first year is usually the “slowest” for ETFs, Dragosch said, highlighting the launch of the gold ETF:

“That alone implies that in the second and third year, we will see growing inflows. In terms of the four four-year cycle, implies that, this cycle will be prolonged by these structural inflows.”

The Bitcoin cycle may also be prolonged when US wirehouses start gaining exposure to Bitcoin and ETFs.

“In the US, the major distribution channels go via Wirehouses, which are essentially the big banks like Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley. […] Not even half of these wirehouses have opened up their distribution channels to US Bitcoin ETFs,” the analyst said.

Adoption from US wirehouses may bring a “huge amount of capital,” since these control over $10 trillion worth of customer assets, Dragosch added.

Magazine: Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra’s plan to win trust: Hodler’s Digest, April 13 – 19

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21Shares files for US spot Sui ETF after European launch

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21Shares files for US spot Sui ETF after European launch

21Shares files for US spot Sui ETF after European launch

Major European cryptocurrency investment firm 21Shares has filed for a spot Sui exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, marking another step in its expansion to the US market.

21Shares on April 30 submitted the Form S-1 registration for a spot Sui (SUI) ETF to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Called the 21Shares Sui ETF, the proposed ETF will issue common shares of beneficial interest by seeking to track the performance of SUI held by 21Shares’ US subsidiary.

The US filing comes a year after 21Shares started trading the 21Shares Sui Staking exchange-traded product in Europe in July 2024, with its first listings on Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam.

No ticker or planned exchange yet

The 128-page filing does not specify on which US exchange the new SUI ETF is expected to debut trading. The ETF also doesn’t have a ticker symbol yet.

“There is no certainty that there will be liquidity available on the exchange or that the market price will be in line with the NAV [net asset value] or the principal market NAV at any given time,” it states.

21Shares files for US spot Sui ETF after European launch
An excerpt from the S-1 Form for 21Shares Sui ETF. Source: SEC

The filing highlighted that the ETF aims to provide exposure to SUI by holding the tokens directly, without utilizing leverage, derivatives or engaging in speculative trading.

Canary Capital was the first to file for Sui ETF

21Shares is not the first company to file for a Sui ETF in the US. Canary Capital, a US-based crypto investment firm, filed a Form S-1 registration for a spot Sui ETF on March 17.

Subsequently, Cboe BZX Exchange asked US regulators for clearance to list Canary’s Sui ETF in early April.

Sui-based ETPs have already been trading in Europe, with some of such products including 21Shares Sui staking ETP and VanEck Sui ETP.

Related: More than 70 US crypto ETFs await SEC decision this year — Bloomberg

According to the latest CoinShares update, Sui-based ETPs had $400 million in assets under management as of April 25.

Europe, SEC, United States, ETF, SUI
Sui (SUI) ETP products had $400 million in AUM as of April 25, 2025. Source: CoinShares

Year-to-date, Sui ETPs have seen $72 million of inflows, with a fresh $20.7 million coming in just last week.

The latest ETF filing by 21Shares is yet another product joining a massive list of crypto ETFs awaiting the SEC’s decision.

Europe, SEC, United States, ETF, SUI
Source: Eric Balchunas

According to Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, there were at least 72 new crypto ETF filings on the SEC’s table as of May 1.

Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest, April 20 – 26

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Morgan Stanley eyes crypto rollout for E*Trade platform: Bloomberg

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Morgan Stanley eyes crypto rollout for E*Trade platform: Bloomberg

Morgan Stanley eyes crypto rollout for E*Trade platform: Bloomberg

Banking giant Morgan Stanley reportedly plans to list cryptocurrencies on its E*Trade investment brokerage and trading platform.

According to a May 1 Bloomberg report, the firm intends to list crypto assets on E*Trade in 2026. The plan is still in early development, and the bank is said to be exploring partnerships with established crypto firms to power the service. Internal discussions about cryptocurrency support reportedly began in late 2024.

Banking, Banks, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Morgan Stanley
E*Trade homepage. Source: E*Trade

This would not be Morgan Stanley’s first exposure to digital assets. The bank’s wealthiest clients have had access to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures for some time, with the firm’s advisers allowed to pitch Bitcoin ETFs since August 2024.

Related: Morgan Stanley to explore crypto offerings for clients — CEO

Regulatory tailwinds push crypto forward

The news follows previous reports that Morgan Stanley was considering adding cryptocurrency trading to its E*Trade online brokerage platform in early January. The reports at the time cited the expectations of a friendlier crypto regulatory environment.

The move comes amid an increasingly favorable regulatory environment in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a pro-crypto platform and is personally involved in several blockchain ventures.

Related: Morgan Stanley discloses $188M in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF holdings

The first 30 days of the Trump administration brought significant changes to the local crypto industry. More recently, US crypto proponents have shown optimism following the swearing-in of pro-crypto Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins.

The SEC had significantly changed its stance even before Atkins took office. In late February, the agency had already paused multiple cryptocurrency enforcement cases with imminent deadlines.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Magazine: ZK-proofs are bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin — BitcoinOS and Starknet

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