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2025-11-04 08:46:44 UTC

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AI systems drive crypto fraud while the industry relies on outdated postmortems. Real-time transaction defense must become infrastructure.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-systems-crypto-fraud-while-the-industry-relies-on-outdated-postmortems-real-time-transaction-defense-must-become-infrastructure?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

2025-09-24 06:11:06 UTC

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Strategy Inc. chair Michael Saylor says Bitcoin will gain after “macro headwinds” subside as treasury companies and ETFs put upward pressure on the cryptocurrency.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-surge-etf-corporate-demand-outpaces-supply

2025-09-22 04:24:02 UTC

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The lion’s share of donations has come from trading fees for a newly launched memecoin called $GIGGLE, launched by an X user known as RUNE.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/cz-s-giggle-academy-raises-over-million-hours-after-opening-donations

2025-09-21 22:07:07 UTC

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Song accused BTC Core developers of defecting and failing to address widespread community concerns about non-monetary data on the ledger.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/jimmy-song-slams-bitcoin-core-fiat-mentality-op-return

2025-09-19 08:25:04 UTC

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Bitcoin can easily return to price “expansion” based on data from the NVT leading indicator, new BTC price research from CryptoQuant concludes.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-150k-target-analyst-sees-weeks-to-all-time-highs

2025-09-17 21:32:06 UTC

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Powell said the Federal Open Market Committee is weighing interest rates on a meeting-by-meeting basis, with no long-term consensus.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/fed-chair-powell-fomc-divided-additional-rate-cuts-2025

2025-09-06 11:31:05 UTC

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A crypto developer says Trump-linked crypto project WLFI froze his tokens and refused to unlock them, calling it “the new age mafia.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/developer-trump-wlfi-stealing-tokens

2025-08-26 20:03:06 UTC

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Using Monte Carlo simulations and the 200-week moving average, Diaman Partners estimates Bitcoin's next cycle bottom could range from $60,000 to $80,000 by 2026.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-s-future-bear-market-bottom-could-be-dollar60k-data

2025-07-16 14:06:08 UTC

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Bitlayer faces competition from other Bitcoin DeFi protocols such as BabylonChain, Stacks and BounceBit.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/franklin-templeton-bitlayer-bitcoin-bridge-mainnet

2025-05-16 02:08:08 UTC

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Deepfake-assisted hackers are now targeting US federal and state officials by masquerading as senior US officials in a latest brazen phishing campaign to steal sensitive data. The bad actors have been operating since April, using deepfake voice messages and text messages to masquerade as senior government officials and establish rapport with victims, the FBI said in a May 15 warning. “If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic,” the agency said. If US officials’ accounts are compromised, the scam could become far worse because hackers can then “target other government officials, or their associates and contacts, by using the trusted contact information they obtain,” the FBI said. As part of these scams, the FBI says the hackers are trying to access victims’ accounts through malicious links and directing them to hacker-controlled platforms or websites that steal sensitive data like passwords. Source: FBI“Contact information acquired through social engineering schemes could also be used to impersonate contacts to elicit information or funds,” the agency added. Crypto founders targeted in separate deepfake attacks In an unrelated deepfake scam, Sandeep Narwal, co-founder of blockchain platform Polygon, raised the alarm in a May 13 X post that bad actors were also impersonating him with deepfakes. Nailwal said the “attack vector is horrifying” and had left him slightly shaken because several people had “called me on Telegram asking if I was on zoom call with them and am I asking them to install a script.” Source: Sandeep NarwalAs part of the scam, the bad actors hacked the Telegram of Polygon’s ventures lead, Shreyansh and pinged people asking to jump in a Zoom call that had a deepfake of Nailwal, Shreyansh and a third person, according to Nailwal. “The audio is disabled and since your voice is not working, the scammer asks you to install some SDK, if you install game over for you,” Nailwal said. “Other issue is, there is no way to complain this to Telegram and get their attention on this matter. I understand they can’t possibly take all these service calls but there should be a way to do it, maybe some sort of social way to call out a particular account.” At least one user replied in the comments saying the fraudsters had targeted them, while Web3 OG Dovey Wan said she had also been deepfaked in a similar scam. Source: Dovey WanFBI and crypto founder says vigilance is key to avoid scams Nailwal suggests the best way to avoid being duped by these types of scams is to never install anything during an online interaction initiated by another person and to keep a separate device specifically for accessing crypto wallets. Related: AI deepfake attacks will extend beyond videos and audio — Security firmsMeanwhile, the FBI says to verify the identity of anyone who contacts you, examine all sender addresses for mistakes or inconsistencies, and check all images and videos for distorted hands, feet or unrealistic facial features. At the same time, the agency recommends never sharing sensitive information with someone you have never met, clicking links from people you don’t know, and setting up two-factor or multifactor authentication. Magazine: Deepfake AI ‘gang’ drains $11M OKX account, Zipmex zapped by SEC: Asia Express
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-officials-targeted-deepfake-phishing-attacks-fbi

2025-04-24 02:53:03 UTC

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The host of The Wolf Of All Streets podcast, Scott Melker, says he’s received word that his face and name are being impersonated by scammers, with at least one victim duped out of $4 million. On April 23, the crypto investor said, “I’m sick,” reporting that he’d been contacted by a private investigator revealing that a client of his was scammed for $4 million by a Nigerian group using his name and face as bait. “They’ve apparently scammed a number of people,” Melker said, adding, “They sent him a fake driver’s license to prove it was me,” and used his X avatar as the photo.The scammers used AI to generate the fake ID and used a fake but convincing-looking email account. “They do zoom calls with AI,” which are “apparently sophisticated,” said Melker, who added that the scammers have also spoofed accounts of his wife and kids to support identity confirmation. Fake driver's license used by scammers. Source: Scott Melker Technical analysts “TheChartGuys” reported something similar, with a person getting scammed for $5,000 after the scammers replicated their voice using AI deepfakes. Fake ID is easy to spot, says traderCrypto adviser and trader “Nebraskan Gooner” said a quick Google search easily reveals that the ID is fake. He pointed out that there were a few subtle discrepancies in the address and date formats. He said that it it sucks that these scammers are getting so sophisticated, but was “surprised how badly this was with how sophisticated of an operation these seems to be.” Cointelegraph reached out to Melker for further comments but did not receive an immediate response. Related: ‘Victim-blaming’ Americans can deter crypto scams reporting — RegulatorAI-generated scams are surging as the technology evolves. In March, California’s Department of Justice warned that it had discovered seven new types of crypto scams that involved AI. In February, Chainalysis said that 2025 will be a big year for AI scams, stating that generative AI is making scams “more scalable and affordable for bad actors to conduct.”In a recent report, software giant Microsoft said that bad actors were using AI to “supercharge their scams.” “AI tools can scan and scrape the web for company information, helping cyberattackers build detailed profiles of employees or other targets to create highly convincing social engineering lures,” it stated. “It’s going to get exponentially worse, I would imagine,” lamented Melker. Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones
https://cointelegraph.com/news/scammers-use-ai-fake-id-scott-melker-steal-4m

2025-04-22 03:38:03 UTC

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Crypto markets avoided the fallout caused by US President Donald Trump’s latest salvo against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which saw the US stock market slump and the dollar continue to weaken over uncertainty. Stock markets across the United States ended April 21 in the red, with the S&P 500 dropping 2.4%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipping 2.5%, and the Dow Jones losing 2.5%, or nearly 1,000 points, according to Google Finance. The S&P 500 has now declined by more than 12% since the beginning of the year, and the Nasdaq is down almost 18% in the US tech stock exodus. US stock heatmap. Source: TradingViewThe stock slide follows escalating tension between Donald Trump and Jerome Powell and growing concern over the impact of trade tariffs. “‘Preemptive Cuts’ in Interest Rates are being called for by many,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on April 21. “With Energy Costs way down, food prices […] substantially lower, and most other ‘things’ trending down, there is virtually No Inflation,” he added. Trump has reiterated his call for lowering interest rates, which Powell, who has been labelled as “Mr. Too Late” and a “major loser” by the POTUS, has kept high at 4.5%. Source: Donald TrumpLast week, Powell took a swipe at Trump’s trade tariffs, saying they could lead to a dangerous economic mix of rising prices and slowing growth, or “stagflation.”Trump responded with a call to fire the central bank chair, stating at the time that his “termination cannot come fast enough.” The Fed is expected to maintain its wait-and-see policy approach at its May 7 meeting, with interest rate markets predicting just a 13% chance of a rate cut, according to CME Fed Watch. US dollar devaluation continues The US Dollar Index (DXY) — a measure of the strength of the greenback against a basket of leading currencies — has also slipped more than 10% so far this year. This week it fell to a three-year low below 98 on April 21, according to TradingView. “Everyone needs and wants a weaker dollar to service their dollar debts,” commented Real Vision founder and CEO Raoul Pal on April 22. “This is the purest form of global liquidity and is the largest driver of global M2 [money supply] currently,” he added. Related: US dollar goes 'no-bid' — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week Meanwhile, crypto markets have held on to weekend gains with total capitalization remaining at $2.83 trillion at the time of writing. Bitcoin (BTC) is keeping digital asset markets buoyed, hitting a four-week high of $88,500 on April 22. “Amid one of the most turbulent periods for global markets in years, Bitcoin is showing impressive resilience,” commented Bitfinex analysts in a recent market update. Magazine: Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra’s plan to win trust: Hodler’s Digest
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-dollar-stocks-tumble-while-crypto-gains-as-trump-amps-up-powell-pressure

2025-04-21 10:04:05 UTC

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The Ethereum Foundation, the nonprofit organization developing the Ethereum ecosystem, is shifting its focus to user experience and layer-1 scaling challenges following its recent leadership reshuffle. On April 21, the Ethereum Foundation co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak shared an X post detailing how the organization has changed since its change in leadership structures. Stańczak said the change aims to give Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin more time for research and exploration rather than dealing with day-to-day tasks and crisis management. “Each time Vitalik shares insights or communicates a direction, he accelerates major long‑term breakthroughs,” he wrote. Stańczak added that Buterin’s recent posts advanced promising avenues and helped realign the community around the organization’s core values. Vitalik Buterin tackles Ethereum privacy and speedOn March 1, the Ethereum Foundation announced that its core researcher Hsiao-Wei Wang and Stańczak, the CEO of Nethermind, would become the co-directors of the organization from March 17. Since the changes in the organization’s leadership structure, Buterin has stepped back from daily operations. He has since published proposals addressing the Ethereum network’s privacy and performance limitations.On April 11, the Ethereum co-founder unveiled a privacy roadmap for the network. In the post, Buterin proposed having features that anonymize user transactions. Buterin said the features should be “ideally turned on by default.” Besides the privacy of transactions, Buterin also shared a post addressing Ethereum’s speed and efficiency. On April 20, Buterin proposed a change in the Ethereum Virtual Machine's (EVM) contract language to improve the efficiency and speed of the blockchain's execution layer. Stańczak said that while Buterin’s proposals will “always carry weight,” they are supposed to start conversations and encourage progress in different research areas. The executive said the community can either refine or reject the ideas. Related: Debate as Solana briefly flips Ethereum in staking market capFoundation targets near-term protocol upgradesThe Ethereum Foundation will shift much of its research to “near-term” goals, including addressing user experience and scaling challenges in the upcoming protocol upgrades, Stańczak said. Stańczak added that the foundation will concentrate on layer-1 scaling, support for layer-2 scaling, and user experience improvements such as interoperability in the Pectra, Fusaka and Glamsterdam upgrades. While the focus shifted to near-term results, the executive said the team is also looking into ways to bring in more long-term projects. “Posts from our top researchers help some of them to ship within one or two years through initiatives such as next‑generation execution and consensus layers,” Stańczak said. Cointelegraph contacted the Ethereum Foundation for comment but did not receive a response by publication.Magazine: Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-foundation-user-experience-layer-1-scaling-leadership-shift

2025-04-20 20:52:08 UTC

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Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor hinted at an impending Bitcoin (BTC) purchase by Strategy and said that more than 13,000 institutions now have direct exposure to the company.The company's most recent acquisition of 3,459 BTC, valued at over $285 million at the time of purchase, on April 14, brought Strategy's total holdings to 531,644 BTC, valued at over $44.9 billion.Saylor followed up on the BTC chart, which he typically posts on Sundays to signal an imminent BTC acquisition, with a breakdown of investor exposure to the company. The executive wrote in an April 20 X post:"Based on public data as of Q1 2025, over 13,000 institutions and 814,000 retail accounts hold MSTR directly. An estimated 55 million beneficiaries have indirect exposure through ETFs, mutual funds, pensions, and insurance portfolios."Strategy's growing popularity among retail and institutional investors is significant due to the company siphoning capital from traditional financial markets and into Bitcoin. Increased capital flows translate into the company accumulating and holding more BTC, slowly increasing the price of the supply-capped digital asset.Strategy’s chart of Bitcoin acquisitions. Source: SaylorTrackerRelated: Has Michael Saylor’s Strategy built a house of cards?Michael Saylor's stock market-to-BTC pipelineStrategy issues corporate debt and equity to finance its Bitcoin acquisitions, giving holders indirect exposure to BTC and feeding capital from traditional financial markets into the Bitcoin market.In December 2024, Strategy was added to the Nasdaq 100, a weighted stock market index that tracks the 100 largest companies by market capitalization on the Nasdaq exchange.The inclusion of Strategy in the Nasdaq 100 will draw in even more capital to BTC from passive investors holding the tech-focused index in their portfolios.Strategy’s stock is currently trading at around $317. Source: TradingViewIn February 2025, Bitcoin analyst Julian Fahrer reported that 12 US states had exposure to Strategy, including California, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, and Utah.Bloomberg exchange-traded fund (ETF) analyst Eric Balchunas recently said that inflows from Bitcoin ETFs and institutional inflows from companies like Strategy have shored up the Bitcoin market against dumping by short-term speculators.The analyst added that Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $2.4 billion in capital flows year-to-date, helping to cushion the price of the digital asset.This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.Magazine: ‘Bitcoin layer 2s’ aren’t really L2s at all: Here’s why that matters
https://cointelegraph.com/news/13-000-institutions-exposure-strategy-saylor-hints-btc-buy

2025-04-20 19:47:05 UTC

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Bitcoin (BTC) has risen roughly 1% for the week, indicating a balance between supply and demand. Analysts expect a quiet easter weekend but are divided about the next directional move in Bitcoin.Network economist Timothy Peterson said that the US High Yield Index Effective Yield has gained over 8%. There have been 38 such instances since 2010, and Bitcoin has risen 71% of the time three months later. Bitcoin recorded a median gain of 31% and the worst loss of -16%. Based on historical data, Peterson anticipates Bitcoin to trade between $75,000 and $138,000 within 90 days.Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360Not everyone shares a bullish view. Bloomberg’s Senior Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone said in a post on X that Bitcoin and the S&P 500 Index may drop toward their respective 200-week simple moving average, which historically acts as a floor during major corrections. Bitcoin’s 200-week SMA is close to $46,000.What are the critical support and resistance levels in Bitcoin? What cryptocurrencies may rally if Bitcoin breaks above its overhead resistance?Bitcoin price analysisBitcoin has stayed above the 20-day exponential moving average ($83,704) for the past several days, but the bulls have failed to challenge the 200-day simple moving average ($88,098).BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe failure to start a rally could put pressure on the BTC/USDT pair in the near term. If the price turns down and breaks below the 20-day EMA, it suggests that the bulls have given up. That opens the gates for a drop to $78,500 and subsequently to the vital support at $73,777.If buyers want to prevent the downside, they will have to swiftly push the price above the 200-day SMA. That indicates the corrective phase may be over. The pair may surge to $95,000 and eventually to the psychological level of $100,000.BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe pair has been trading inside a tight range between $83,000 and $86,000. Failing to break above the overhead resistance may have tempted the short-term bulls to book profits, pulling the price below the moving averages. Trading inside the range is likely to remain random and volatile.A break and close below the range could start a downward move to $80,000 and then to $78,500. On the other hand, a break and close above $86,000 could propel the pair to $89,000.BNB price analysisBNB (BNB) is facing resistance at the downtrend line, but a positive sign is that the bulls have not ceded ground to the bears.BNB/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe moving averages have flattened out, and the RSI is near the midpoint, indicating a balance between supply and demand. If buyers drive the price above the downtrend line, the BNB/USDT pair could rally to $644.Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns down sharply from the downtrend line, it signals that the bears are active at higher levels. A break below $576 could keep the pair inside the triangle for some more time.BNB/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe pair has reached the downtrend line, where the bears are expected to pose a strong challenge. The crucial support on the downside is the 50-SMA and then $576. If the price rebounds off the support, it indicates buying on dips. That increases the likelihood of a break above the downtrend line. The pair may then climb to $620.On the contrary, a break and close below $576 signals that the buyers have given up. That could pull the price down to $566, extending the stay inside the triangle for a while longer.Hyperliquid price analysisHyperliquid (HYPE) rose and closed above the $17.35 overhead resistance on April 19, but the bulls are facing selling at higher levels.HYPE/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewIf the price turns up from $17.35, it suggests that every minor dip is being bought. That clears the path for a rally to $21 and thereafter to $25.Alternatively, a break and close below $17.35 signals that the bears are trying to trap the aggressive bulls. The next support on the downside is the 20-day EMA ($15.32). If the price rebounds off the 20-day EMA, the bulls will again try to overcome the obstacle at $17.35.The optimistic view will be negated in the near term if the HYPE/USDT pair turns down and breaks below the moving averages.HYPE/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe pair has dropped to the breakout level of $17.35. If the price rebounds off $17.35 and rises above $18.54, it signals that the bulls have flipped the level into support. That enhances the prospects of a rally to $21.Conversely, if the price skids below $17.35, it suggests that the bears are trying to regain control. The 50-SMA is the critical support to watch for on the downside because a break below it indicates that the bulls are losing their grip. The pair may then descend to $14.65.Related: Bitcoin gets $90K short-term target amid warning support 'isn't safe'Bittensor price analysisBittensor (TAO) broke above the moving averages and has reached the downtrend line, where the bears are expected to mount a strong defense.TAO/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewIf the price turns down from the downtrend line, the TAO/USDT pair is likely to find support at the 20-day EMA ($249). A solid bounce off the 20-day EMA improves the prospects of a rally above the downtrend line. The pair could then surge to $360.Contrarily, if the price turns down and breaks below the 20-day EMA, it suggests that the bears remain in control. The pair may then slump to the $222 support, where the buyers are expected to step in.TAO/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe RSI has risen into the overbought zone, suggesting a short-term pullback is possible. If the price rebounds off the 20-EMA, it signals a positive sentiment. That increases the possibility of a break above the downtrend line. There is minor resistance at $313, but it is likely to be crossed.Contrarily, a break and close below the 20-EMA indicates that the short-term buyers are booking profits. That may pull the pair to the 50-SMA.Render price analysisRender (RNDR) has broken out of the overhead resistance at $4.22, signaling that the bulls are attempting a comeback.RNDR/USDT daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewA close above the $4.22 level will complete a bullish double-bottom pattern. There is resistance at $4.83, but it is likely to be crossed. The RNDR/USDT pair could then travel toward the pattern target of $5.94.The 20-day EMA ($3.72) is the crucial support to watch out for on the downside. A break and close below the moving averages indicates that the markets have rejected the breakout above $4.22. That could open the doors for a drop to the support at $2.50.RNDR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThe pair has cleared the overhead hurdle at $4.22, indicating an advantage to buyers. However, the bears are unlikely to give up easily and will try to pull the price back below the breakout level. If the price rebounds off $4.22 with strength and rises above $4.48, it signals that the bulls have flipped the level into support. The pair may then start an up move toward $5.Instead, if the price turns down and breaks below the moving averages, it suggests that the breakout may have been a bull trap. The pair may then drop toward the critical support at $3.60.This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-prepares-for-launch-from-85-k-bnb-hype-tao-and-rndr-could-follow

2025-04-19 19:49:03 UTC

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Charles Schwab Corp CEO Rick Wurster is reportedly eyeing an April 2026 launch window to provide spot Bitcoin (BTC) trading services to Schwab clients.According to RIABiz, Wurster cited a 400% increase in traffic to Schwab's crypto website as evidence of investor interest in digital assets. The CEO predicted:“Our expectation is that with the changing regulatory environment, we are hopeful and likely to be able to launch direct spot crypto. Our goal is to do that in the next 12 months, and we are on a great path to be able to do that.”The Schwab CEO's comments reflect the growing trend of traditional financial (TradFi) institutions adopting crypto products and offering services that blur the line between the digital asset world and TradFi.Related: Lyn Alden lowers Bitcoin forecast after ‘tariff kerfuffle,’ eyes liquiditySchwab makes crypto moves under new CEO Rick Wurster assumed the helm at Schwab in 2025, and in a November 2024 Yahoo Finance interview, said the company was happy to provide services to clients who want to trade digital assets.At the time, Wurster told the financial news outlet that Schwab wanted to offer crypto directly to its clients but was waiting for a positive regulatory catalyst.Following the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States, Wurster said the financial services company anticipated a much better regulatory environment to expand its digital asset services.The Schwab CEO previously said he did not own any cryptocurrency, adding that he felt "silly" for not investing in the nascent asset class as it has continued to provide outsized investment gains.Rick Wurster speaking to Yahoo Finance in November 2024. Source: Yahoo FinanceIn January 2025, Charles Schwab partnered with the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) to provide customized exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency services for the upcoming "Truth.Fi" service.Truth.Fi will encompass digital assets and traditional financial services as a proposed alternative to the legacy banking system.TMTG CEO, and White House official, Devin Nunes said the goal of TMTG is to provide an option for individuals worried about unfair banking practices and "cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations committed by big tech and woke corporations.”Magazine: Researchers accidentally turn ChatGPT evil, Grok ‘sexy mode’ horror: AI Eye
https://cointelegraph.com/news/charles-schwab-eyes-spot-bitcoin-trading-2026

2025-04-19 10:03:04 UTC

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Web3 and blockchain-focused investment fund ABCDE is halting new investments, but the $400 million fund remains committed to supporting its existing projects.In an April 19 X post, ABCDE co-founder and Huobi exchange founder Du Jun said the $400 million fund will no longer invest in new projects or raise capital for the second phase of the fund.However, Jun said the fund will continue to “post-investment support and exit arrangements of existing projects” to ensure the firm’s commitment to entrepreneurs and liquidity providers (LPs).“My personal work focus will also gradually shift from financial investment in the primary market to strategic investment-led and deep incubation-based, focusing more on industrial synergy and long-term value creation,” Jun added.Source: Du JunThe announcement comes nearly three months after ABCDE’s last investment into an Ethereum layer-2 (L2) solution, Soon (Solana Optimistic Network), which raised $22 million through a non-fungible token sale to mark the launch of its mainnet, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 22.SOON block times, compared to other blockchains. Source: SOONThe Soon mainnet claims to outperform Solana in speed and efficiency, delivering average block times of 50 milliseconds compared to Solana’s 400 milliseconds.ABCDE is a $400 million fund, with 28% of its investments in Bitcoin (BTC) scaling technology, 16% in Ethereum liquid staking derivatives finance (LSDFi) infrastructure, and an additional 12% invested in L2s, restaking and smart contract platforms, Cryptorank data shows.ABCDE investments focus area, average round size. Source: CryptorankABCDE has invested over $40 million worth of capital into over 30 projects over the past three years, with an internal rate of return (IRR) “still at the global leading level,” despite the current market environment, Jun said.Related: Trump family memecoins may trigger increased SEC scrutiny on cryptoNew incubator brand Vernal announcedABCDE’s suspension of fundraising efforts was announced a month after the fund’s co-founder launched a new incubator brand, Vernal.Source: Du JunThe new incubator is set to announce its shareholders and incubation rules for the first batch of projects in May, along with its first investments.Jun said that the decision to halt ABCDE’s fundraising efforts was not made due to financial constraints or lack of funds but because of a fundamental concern for the current development trajectory of the crypto industry.Related: Crypto, stocks enter ‘new phase of trade war’ as US-China tensions rise.“Frankly speaking, I am increasingly unable to agree with the current ecological atmosphere of the primary market,” Jun said in an April 19 X post, adding:“Many projects are extremely short-sighted and only think about how to get listed on the exchange as soon as possible, and what is left behind is often a mess.”“What is more worrying is that some primary funds not only have no reflection on this, but also hype up their ‘listed projects’ and short-term market value performance, but never mention the value creation of the projects themselves,” he added.Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has urged fourth-generation cryptocurrency projects to embrace more collaborative tokenomics to compete with major centralized tech companies entering the crypto industry.Charles Hoskinson. Source: Cointelegraph“The problem right now, with the way we’ve done things in the cryptocurrency space, is the tokenomics and the market structure are intrinsically adversarial. It’s sum 0,” Hoskinson said at Paris Blockchain Week on April 9. “Instead of picking a fight, what you have to do is you have to find tokenomics and market structure that allows you to be in a cooperative equilibrium.”“You can’t build a global ecosystem this way, and you can’t win this way,” he added. “Because here’s the thing. The incumbents are much larger.”Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones
https://cointelegraph.com/news/400-m-web3-investment-fund-abcde-halts-investments-fundraising

2025-04-18 18:43:08 UTC

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Federal prosecutors said they will continue pursuing their case against Braden John Karony, the former CEO of crypto firm SafeMoon, despite the US Justice Department issuing a memo suggesting a policy of abandoning “regulation by prosecution” related to digital assets.In an April 18 filing in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, US Attorney for EDNY John Durham said his office had reviewed the April 7 DOJ memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and intended to proceed with a trial against Karony. The former SafeMoon CEO faces securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy charges for allegedly “divert[ing] and misappropriat[ing] millions of dollars’ worth” of the platform’s SFM token between 2021 and 2022.April 18 notice that US prosecutors will continue to prosecute John Karony. Source: PACERKarony, initially indicted in October 2023 under former US Attorney for EDNY Breon Peace, argued in February that his criminal trial should be delayed, hinting that securities laws enforcement under the Donald Trump presidency could see “significant changes.” The judge denied the motion and later ordered jury selection for the trial to begin on May 5. However, Karony’s legal team made its claims about securities laws under Trump potentially undergoing “policy changes” before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed cases and dropped investigations into many crypto firms facing allegations of violating securities laws. Blanche’s April 7 memo also suggested that the DOJ under Trump would direct jurisdictions not to pursue many crypto enforcement cases.Related: Democrats slam DOJ’s ‘grave mistake’ in disbanding crypto crime unit“[T]he parties may learn within days or hours of the commencement of trial that DOJ no longer considers digital assets like SafeMoon to be ‘securities’ under the securities laws,” said Karony’s legal team on Feb. 5. “Worse, the parties may learn this during or shortly after a trial, half of whose charges rest on the government’s claim that SafeMoon is such a security.”Crypto enforcement by the SEC and DOJ under TrumpSince being appointed acting SEC chair by Trump in January, Mark Uyeda has led the agency to drop cases against Ripple Labs, Coinbase, Kraken, and others. The SEC has also launched a crypto task force headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce to explore a regulatory framework for digital assets, and issued a memo saying memecoins were not securities. The agency’s actions suggest a more permissive approach to digital assets than that under former chair Gary Gensler.“By directing the SEC to abdicate its critical mission of investor protection, Mr. Trump is unnecessarily endangering our financial system,” said former SEC official John Reed Stark in an April 18 New York Times op-ed with Duke University lecturing fellow Lee Reiners. “Whether he is doing so to keep his promise to crypto-donors or in a zeal to cash in (or perhaps even both), that is a troubling development not just for investors and banks, but for all of us.”Whether Trump’s appointees in the Justice Department intend to step in and move to halt Karony’s case, as the DOJ did in the corruption case with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, is unclear. At the time of publication, the former SafeMoon CEO was set to go to trial in May and has been free on a $3 million bond since February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
https://cointelegraph.com/news/safemoon-criminal-case-crypto-enforcement-memo

2025-04-18 18:02:08 UTC

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Crypto investor sentiment took another significant hit this week after Mantra’s OM token collapsed by over 90% within hours on Sunday, April 13, triggering knee-jerk comparisons to previous black swan events such as the Terra-Luna collapse.Elsewhere, Coinbase’s report for institutional investors added to concerns by highlighting that cryptocurrencies may be in a bear market until a recovery occurs in the third quarter of 2025.Mantra OM token crash exposes “critical” liquidity issues in cryptoMantra’s recent token collapse highlights an issue within the crypto industry of fluctuating weekend liquidity levels creating additional downside volatility, which may have exacerbated the token’s crash.The Mantra (OM) token’s price collapsed by over 90% on Sunday, April 13, from roughly $6.30 to below $0.50, triggering market manipulation allegations among disillusioned investors, Cointelegraph reported.While blockchain analysts are still piecing together the reasons behind the OM collapse, the event highlights some crucial issues for the crypto industry, according to Gracy Chen, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget.“The OM token crash exposed several critical issues that we are seeing not just in OM, but also as an industry,” Chen said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction daily X show, adding:“When it’s a token that’s too concentrated, the wealth concentration and the very opaque governance, together with sudden exchange inflows and outflows, [...] combined with the forced liquidation during very low liquidity hours in our industry, created the big drop off.”Source: CointelegraphContinue readingCrypto in a bear market, rebound likely in Q3 — CoinbaseA monthly market review by publicly traded US-based crypto exchange Coinbase shows that while the crypto market has contracted, it appears to be gearing up for a better quarter.According to Coinbase’s April 15 monthly outlook for institutional investors, the altcoin market cap shrank by 41% from its December 2024 highs of $1.6 trillion to $950 billion by mid-April. BTC Tools data shows that this metric touched a low of $906.9 billion on April 9 and stood at $976.9 billion at the time of writing.Venture capital funding to crypto projects has reportedly decreased by 50%–60% from 2021–22. In the report, Coinbase’s global head of research, David Duong, highlighted that a new crypto winter may be upon us.“Several converging signals may be pointing to the start of a new ‘crypto winter’ as some extreme negative sentiment has set in due to the onset of global tariffs and the potential for further escalations,” he said.Continue readingManta founder details attempted Zoom hack by Lazarus that used very real “legit faces”Manta Network co-founder Kenny Li said he was targeted by a sophisticated phishing attack on Zoom that used live recordings of familiar people in an attempt to lure him to download malware. The meeting seemed real with the impersonated person’s camera on, but the lack of sound and a suspicious prompt to download a script raised red flags, Li said in an April 17 X post.“I could see their legit faces. Everything looked very real. But I couldn’t hear them. It said my Zoom needs an update. But it asked me to download a script file. I immediately left.”Li then asked the impersonator to verify themselves over a Telegram call, however, they didn’t comply and proceeded to erase all messages and block him soon after.Source: Kenny LiLi said the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group was behind the attack.The Manta Network co-founder managed to screenshot his conversation with the attacker before the messages were deleted, during which Li initially suggested moving the call over to Google Meet.Source: Kenny LiSpeaking with Cointelegraph, Li said he believed the live shots used in the video call were taken from past recordings of real team members.“It didn’t seem AI-generated. The quality looked like what a typical webcam quality looks like.”Continue readingAI tokens, memecoins dominate crypto narratives in Q1 2025: CoinGeckoThe cryptocurrency market is still recycling old narratives, with few new trends yet to emerge and replace the leading themes in the first quarter of 2025.Artificial intelligence tokens and memecoins were the dominant crypto narratives in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for 62.8% of investor interest, according to a quarterly research report by CoinGecko. AI tokens captured 35.7% of global investor interest, overtaking the 27.1% share of memecoins, which remained in second place.Out of the top 20 crypto narratives of the quarter, six were memecoin categories while five were AI-related.AI tokens, memecoins, were leading crypto narratives in Q1 2025: CoinGecko“Seems like we have yet to see another new narrative emerge and we are still following past quarters’ trends,” said Bobby Ong, the co-founder and chief operating officer of CoinGecko, in an April 17 X post. “I guess we are all tired from the same old trends repeating themselves.”Continue readingCrypto lending down 43% from 2021 highs, DeFi borrowing surges 959%The crypto lending market’s size remains significantly down from its $64 billion high, but decentralized finance (DeFi) borrowing has made a more than 900% recovery from bear market lows.Crypto lending enables borrowers to use their crypto holdings as collateral to obtain crypto or fiat loans, while lenders can use their holdings to generate interest.The crypto lending market was down over 43%, from its all-time high of $64.4 billion in 2021 to $36.5 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a Galaxy Digital research report published on April 14.“The decline can be attributed to the decimation of lenders on the supply side and funds, individuals, and corporate entities on the demand side,” according to Zack Pokorny, research associate at Galaxy Digital.Crypto lending key events. Source: Galaxy ResearchThe decline in the crypto lending market started in 2022 when centralized finance (CeFi) lenders Genesis, Celsius Network, BlockFi and Voyager filed for bankruptcy within two years as crypto valuations fell.Their collective downfall led to an estimated 78% collapse in the size of the lending market, with CeFi lending losing 82% of its open borrows, according to the report.Continue readingDeFi market overviewAccording to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.Decentralized exchange (DEX) Raydium’s (RAY) token rose over 26% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the AB blockchain (AB) utility token, up over 19% on the weekly chart.Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlamaThanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/mantra-crypto-liquidity-problems-coinbase-bearish-finance-redefined

2025-04-18 06:21:04 UTC

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The Synthetix protocol’s native stablecoin, Synthetix USD (SUSD), has slipped further away from its US dollar peg, reaching new all-time lows under $0.70. However, the firm reiterates that this isn’t the first time the asset has been under significant stress, and several risk measures are in place.“Synthetix and sUSD have weathered multiple bear markets and periods of stablecoin volatility; this is not the first resilience test,” a spokesperson from Synthetix told Cointelegraph.SUSD down almost 31% from its intended 1:1 pegsUSD is a crypto-collateralized stablecoin. Users lock up SNX tokens to mint sUSD, making its stability highly dependent on the market value of Synthetix (SNX). At the time of publication, sUSD (SUSD) is trading at $0.70, 30% below its intended 1:1 peg with the US dollar, according to CoinMarketCap data.sUSD reached as low as $0.66 before rebounding to $0.70 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCapDuring the same period, SNX has held relatively steady, dipping just 1.08% over the past week, trading at $0.63. However, from a broader view of the overall crypto market downturn, SNX has fallen approximately 26% over the past 30 days.The spokesperson explained that sUSD’s short-term volatility is driven by “structural shifts” after the SIP-420 launch, a proposal that shifts debt risk from stakers to the protocol itself. They explained that the firm has short, medium, and long-term plans to mitigate the risks.In the short term, Synthetix said it will continue supporting liquidity for sUSD through Curve pools and deposit campaigns on its derivatives platform, Infinex.For mid-term measures, Synthetix has introduced “simple debt-free” SNX staking that it says will “encourage individual debt repayment.”Over the long term, the firm says it will make capital efficiency changes through the 420 Pool, take over protocol-level management of sUSD supply, and introduce new “adoption-focused mechanisms” across Synthetix products.Related: Crypto in a bear market, rebound likely in Q3 — CoinbaseSynthetix founder Kain Warwick explained on April 2 that the volatility is largely due to the primary driver of sUSD buying having been removed. “New mechanisms are being introduced, but in this transition, there will be some volatility,” Warwick said in an X post.“It is worth pointing out that sUSD is not an algo stable, it is a pure crypto collateralized stable, the peg can and does drift, but there are mechanisms to push it back in line if it goes above or below the peg,” he added.On April 10, Cointelegraph reported that the asset has faced persistent instability since the start of 2025. On Jan. 1, sUSD dropped to $0.96 and only rebounded to $0.99 in early February. Prices continued to fluctuate through February before stabilizing in March. Magazine: 3 reasons Ethereum could turn a corner: Kain Warwick, X Hall of FlameThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/synthetic-usd-stablecoin-fall-new-lows-depeg

2025-04-18 02:12:06 UTC

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Slovenia’s Finance Ministry is considering a possible 25% tax on crypto trading profits for residents in the country under a new draft law now open for public consultation. The bill proposes to tax traders when they sell their cryptocurrency for fiat or pay for goods and services, but crypto-to-crypto and transfers between wallets owned by the same user will be exempt, Slovenia’s Finance Ministry said in an April 17 statement.Under the proposed legislation, crypto tax will be aligned with existing tax laws. Slovenia taxpayers will be required to keep a record of all their transactions for annual tax returns. The tax base would be calculated on profits by subtracting the purchase price from the sale price. In a statement to the Slovenia Times, finance minister Klemen Bo&scaron;tjančič said it’s unreasonable that crypto trading for individuals isn’t currently taxed in the country. “The goal of taxation of crypto assets is not to generate tax revenue, but we find it illogical and unreasonable that one of the most speculative financial instruments is not taxed at all,” he said in a statement translated from Slovenian. New tax could stifle crypto in Slovenia, lawmaker says Jernej Vrtovec, a member of Slovenia’s national assembly and New Slovenia opposition party, slammed the proposal in an April 16 statement to X, arguing it could stifle crypto growth in the country. “Slovenia has the opportunity to become a crypto-friendly country, but with the government’s proposals, we will miss the train again,” he said in a post also translated from Slovenian. “With excessive taxation, we will once again see young people and capital fleeing abroad. Taxes should encourage, not stifle.” Source: Jernej VrtovecThe proposal is open to public consultation until May 5. If Slovenian lawmakers pass the bill, it will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. Slovenia introduced a 10% tax on crypto withdrawals and payments in 2023, but capital gains from occasional crypto trading are not taxed, according to the crypto tax platform Token Tax. Related: NFT trader faces prison for $13M tax fraud on CryptoPunk profitsCrypto activity can also currently be exempt from tax if it's considered a hobby. Business activity, such as mining or staking, is subject to income tax. A previous bill proposed in April 2022 planned to levy a 5% tax on profits over 10,000 euros ($11,372), but it was never passed into law. Slovenia issued the first digital sovereign bond in the European Union on July 25 last year. It had a nominal size of 30 million euros ($32.5 million) with a 3.65% coupon and a maturity date of Nov. 25 that year. The number of crypto users in Slovenia is projected to reach roughly 98,000 in 2025, according to online data platform Statisa, with a penetration rate of 4.6% among its population of 2.12 million people. While the projected revenue for the country's crypto market is slated to hit $2.8 million. Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025
https://cointelegraph.com/news/slovenia-finance-ministry-floats-25-tax-on-crypto

2025-04-17 15:06:07 UTC

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Opinion by: Alexander Guseff, founder and CEO of TectumCrypto companies have spent years pushing digital wallets and exchange apps, convinced they’ll bring financial inclusion to the world. Here’s the reality: 1.4 billion people remain unbanked, and crypto adoption has barely exceeded 8%. For all the talk about decentralization and accessibility, the industry continues to overlook the billions of people who rely on cash for their daily lives.In developing economies of Africa, South Asia and Latin America, cash is not just dominant — it’s essential. Banking services are sparse, smartphone penetration is low, and digital literacy remains a hurdle. Expecting these populations to onboard through a process designed for tech-savvy users with internet access is unrealistic.Yet whenever offline crypto solutions have been tested, adoption has jumped. The message is clear: People are willing to use crypto but need a way to access it that fits their reality.The global reality of cash dependenceDespite assumptions that digital finance will eventually replace cash, that’s not what the numbers show. Take Romania. Notably, 76% of transactions there are still cash-based, yet crypto adoption has hit 14%. In Morocco, cash remains king despite digital payment growth, yet 16% of the population has found a way to use crypto — even though it’s officially banned.Then there’s Egypt, where approximately 72% of payments rely on cash, but crypto adoption sits at around 3%, primarily due to limited digital infrastructure. Even in India, where crypto enthusiasm runs high, 63% of transactions still happen in cash. Across these markets, the pattern is clear: People want to use crypto, but the industry isn’t giving them a practical way to integrate it into their everyday transactions.Crypto’s real problemThe barriers to crypto adoption go far beyond technology. Government regulations, economic conditions and local financial habits all play a role. Crypto’s biggest flaw isn’t a lack of demand. It’s the assumption that digital wallets and banking apps are the only viable entry points. That thinking ignores billions of people who still operate in cash-driven economies.A more practical approachInstead of forcing a digital-only model onto cash-heavy regions, crypto should adapt. Blockchain-linked physical banknotes, QR-coded vouchers and SMS-based transfers could bring crypto into the real economy in a way that makes sense for people who already use cash.Recent: Stop making crypto complexThe idea isn’t as radical as it sounds. Africa’s M-Pesa, which has over 66.2 million active users, operates on a simple agent-based model that lets people exchange cash for digital value without needing a bank account. The same approach could work for crypto, enabling users to trade blockchain-linked cash notes at local vendors.It’s already happening in small pockets. Machankura, for example, enables Bitcoin transactions via basic mobile networks, attracting over 13,600 users in Africa. In a region where nearly all digital payments rely on simple mobile codes rather than smartphone apps, solutions like this are far more viable than pushing another exchange-based onboarding process.Security concerns will always come up with physical assets, but trained agents and proper oversight can mitigate risks. More importantly, that’s a solvable problem — excluding billions of people from the financial system isn’t.The digital purists get it wrongMany in the crypto space dismiss paper-based solutions as outdated. The idea that everything must be digital ignores how financial systems evolve. People need time to transition and systems that fit their current way of life.CoinText, an SMS-based crypto transfer service, spread to 50 countries before it shut down — not because the idea didn’t work, but because the industry wasn’t ready to support it. The same rigid thinking that dismissed SMS transfers is now preventing adoption in cash-heavy economies. A new service called Text BSV has emerged, enabling seamless peer-to-peer (P2P) payments of satoshis via SMS — no app downloads, registrations or prior knowledge of Bitcoin (BTC) is required. It works on any phone, even non-smartphones.If crypto adoption remains stalled at 8%, it won’t be because people don’t want it. It’ll be because the industry insisted on an approach that doesn’t work for most of the world.A $50-billion opportunity The financial upside of integrating crypto into cash economies is enormous. Similar markets could follow if Romania, with a 76% cash reliance, can reach 14% adoption. That translates into a $50-billion opportunity globally as crypto enters economies where trillions of dollars move in informal cash transactions every year.A network of cash-to-crypto agents could generate $10 billion in revenue by 2030, mirroring the success of mobile money platforms like M-Pesa. Even crypto exchanges would benefit from tapping into these underserved markets, bridging the gap between digital and cash economies.Regulators may hesitate at paper-based crypto owing to transparency concerns, but financial inclusion at this scale is hard to ignore. If governments see a potential $50 billion in new economic activity, they’re more likely to work toward solutions rather than block progress.Cash meets cryptoCrypto was supposed to revolutionize financial access, but it remains out of reach for billions of people. Expecting these communities to abandon cash entirely and jump straight into digital wallets is unrealistic and a bad strategyThe solution isn’t to wait for these economies to modernize. It’s to meet people where they are. That means experimenting with cash-compatible solutions, partnering with telecom providers, and rolling out agent-based models that let people use crypto in a way that feels familiar.The current adoption stall will become permanent if the industry doesn’t make these changes. Instead of a step backward, paper-based crypto could be the bridge that finally connects billions of people to the future of finance.Opinion by: Alexander Guseff, founder and CEO of Tectum. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/cash-based-crypto

2025-04-16 16:05:01 UTC

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The right market maker can be a launchpad for a cryptocurrency project, opening the door to major exchanges and providing valuable liquidity to ensure a token is tradeable — but when the wrong incentives are baked into the deal, that market maker can become a wrecking ball.One of the most popular and misunderstood offerings in the market-making world is the “loan option model.” This is when a project lends tokens to a market maker, who then uses them to create liquidity, improve price stability, and help secure listings at a cryptocurrency exchange. In reality, it has been a death sentence for many young projects.But behind the scenes, a number of market makers is using the controversial token loan structure to enrich themselves at the expense of the very projects they’re meant to support. These deals, often framed as low-risk and high-reward, can crater token prices and leave fledgling crypto teams scrambling to recover.“How it works is that market makers essentially loan tokens from a project at a certain price. In exchange for those tokens, they essentially promise to get them on big exchanges,” Ariel Givner, founder of Givner Law, told Cointelegraph. “If they don’t, then within a year, they repay them back at a higher price.”What often happens is that market makers dump the loaned tokens. The initial sell-off tanks the price. Once the price has cratered, they buy the tokens back at a discount while keeping the profit.Source: Ariel Givner“I haven’t seen any token really benefit from these market makers,” Givner said. “I’m sure there are ethical ones, but the bigger ones I’ve seen just destroy charts.”The market maker playbookFirms like DWF Labs and Wintermute are some of the best-known market makers in the industry. Past governance proposals and contracts reviewed by Cointelegraph suggest that both firms proposed loan option models as part of their services — though Wintermute’s proposals call them “liquidity provision” services.DWF Labs told Cointelegraph that it doesn’t rely on selling loaned assets to fund positions, as its balance sheet sufficiently supports its operations across exchanges without relying on liquidation risk. “Selling loaned tokens upfront can damage a project’s liquidity — especially for small- to mid-cap tokens — and we’re not in the business of weakening ecosystems we invest in,” Andrei Grachev, managing partner of DWF Labs, said in a written response to Cointelegraph’s inquiry.Related: Who’s really getting rich from the crypto bull run?While DWF Labs emphasizes its commitment to ecosystem growth, some onchain analysts and industry observers have raised concerns about its trading practices.Wintermute did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. But in a February X post, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy published a series of posts to share some of the company’s operations with the community. He bluntly stated that Wintermute is not a charity but in the “business of making money by trading.” Source: Evgeny GaevoyWhat happens after the market maker gets the tokens?Jelle Buth, co-founder of market maker Enflux, told Cointelegraph that the loan option model is not unique to the well-known market makers like DWF and Wintermute and that there are other parties offering such “predatory deals.”“I call it information arbitrage, where the market maker very clearly understands the pros and cons of the deals but is able to put it such that it’s a benefit. What they say is, ‘It’s a free market maker; you don’t have to put up the capital as a project; we provide the capital; we provide the market-making services,’” Buth said.On the other end, many projects don’t fully understand the downsides of loan option deals and often learn the hard way that they weren’t built in their favor. Buth advises projects to measure whether loaning out their tokens would result in quality liquidity, which is measured by orders on the book and clearly outlined in the key performance indicators (KPIs) before committing to such deals. In many loan option deals, KPIs are often missing or vague when mentioned.Cointelegraph reviewed the token performance of several projects that signed loan option deals with market makers, including some that worked with multiple firms at once. The outcome was the same in those examples: The projects were left worse off than when they started.Six projects that worked with market makers under the loan option agreement tanked in price. Source: CoinGecko“We’ve worked with projects that were screwed over after the loan model,” Kristiyan Slavev, co-founder of Web3 accelerator Delta3, told Cointelegraph.“It’s exactly the same pattern. They give tokens, then they’re dumped. That’s pretty much what happens,” he said.Not all market-maker deals end in disasterThe loan option model isn’t inherently harmful and can even benefit larger projects, but poor structuring can quickly turn it predatory, according to Buth.A listings adviser who spoke to Cointelegraph on the condition of anonymity echoed the point, emphasizing that outcomes depend on how well a project manages its liquidity relationships. “I’ve seen a project with up to 11 market makers — about half using the loan model and the rest smaller firms,” they said. “The token didn’t dump because the team knew how to manage price and balance the risk across multiple partners.”The adviser compared the model to borrowing from a bank: “Different banks offer different rates. No one runs a money-losing business unless they expect a return,” they said, adding that in crypto, the balance of power often favors those with more information. “It’s survival of the fittest.”But some say the problem runs deeper. In a recent X post, Arthur Cheong, founder of DeFiance Capital, accused centralized exchanges of feigning ignorance of artificial pricing fueled by token projects and market makers working in lockstep. “Confidence in the altcoin market is eroding,” he wrote. “Absolutely bizarre that CEXs are turning an absolute blind eye to this.”Still, the listings adviser maintained that not all exchanges are complicit: “The different tier exchanges are also taking really extreme actions against any predatory market makers, as well as projects that might look like they rugged. What exchanges do is they actually immediately lock up that account while they do their own investigation.”“While there is a close working relationship, there is no influence between the market maker and the exchange of what gets listed. Every exchange would have their own due diligence processes. And to be frank, depending on the tier of the exchange, there is no way that there would be such an arrangement.”Related: Crypto’s debanking problem persists despite new regulationsRethinking market maker incentivesSome argue for a shift toward the “retainer model,” where a project pays a flat monthly fee to a market maker in exchange for clearly defined services rather than giving away tokens upfront. It’s less risky, though more expensive in the short term.“The retainer model is much better because that way, market makers have incentives to work with the projects long term. In a loan model, you get, like, a one-year contract; they give you the tokens, you dump the tokens, and then one year after that, you return the tokens. Completely worthless,” Slavev said.While the loan option model appears “predatory,” as Buth put it, Givner pointed out that in all these agreements, both parties involved agree to a secure contract.“I don’t see a way that, at this current time, this is illegal,” Givner said. “If somebody wanted to look at manipulation, that’s one thing, but we’re not dealing with securities. So, that gray area is still there in crypto — [to] some extent the Wild West.”The industry is becoming more aware of the risks tied to loan option models, especially as sudden token crashes increasingly raise red flags. In a now-deleted X post, onchain account Onchain Bureau claimed that a recent 90% drop in Mantra’s OM token was due to an expiring loan option deal with FalconX. Mantra denied the claim, clarifying that FalconX is a trading partner, not its market maker.Edited LinkedIn copy of Onchain Bureau’s LinkedIn post. Source: Nahuel AngeloneBut the episode highlights a growing trend: The loan option model has become a convenient scapegoat for token collapses — often with good reason. In a space where deal terms are hidden behind NDAs and roles like “market maker” or “trading partner” are fluid at best, it’s no surprise the public assumes the worst.“We’re speaking up because we make money off the retainer model, but also, this [loan option model] is just killing projects too much,” Buth said.Until transparency and accountability improve, the loan option model will remain one of crypto’s most misunderstood and abused deals.Magazine: What do crypto market makers actually do? Liquidity or manipulation
https://cointelegraph.com/news/market-maker-deals-quietly-killing-crypto-projects

2025-04-16 06:08:02 UTC

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Chipmaking giants Nvidia and AMD have seen their share prices slide in after-hours trading after Nvidia said US restrictions on artificial intelligence chips to China would cause it to face major costs.Nvidia stated in an April 15 regulatory filing that it is expecting around $5.5 billion in charges associated with its AI chip inventory due to significant export restrictions imposed by the US government affecting the company’s business with China. Nvidia said that the US government informed it on April 9 that export licenses are now required for its popular H20 integrated circuits and any chips with similar bandwidth capacity.“First quarter results are expected to include up to approximately $5.5 billion of charges associated with H20 products for inventory, purchase commitments, and related reserves.”The restrictions specifically mention China, Hong Kong and Macau, and the government indicated that the license requirement “addresses the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China.” The H20 is the most advanced AI chip Nvidia can export to China under previous export rules. Government officials have been calling for stronger export controls on the chip, which was reportedly used to train models from China-based AI startup DeepSeek. The Trump administration initially put the restrictions on hold following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang earlier this month, NPR reported. Related: Nvidia's stock price forms ’death cross’ — Will AI crypto tokens follow?On April 14, Nvidia announced that it would spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four years manufacturing some AI chips in the US. However, that has not prevented the stock slump in light of the latest filing and predicted impact on its upcoming revenue report. “Truly no company is safe from tariffs,” commented the Kobeissi Letter. Nvidia’s first quarter of fiscal year 2026 ends on April 27.Nvidia, AMD stocks slump after hours Shares in Nvidia (NVDA) fell 6% in after-hours trading on April 15 to $105, according to Google Finance.Nvidia’s share price is down 22% so far this year, slumping in a wide market rout caused by Trump’s escalating trade war and tariff threats. NVDA price tanks in after-hours trading. Source: Google FinanceRival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw a similar share price drop, falling more than 7% to $88.55 in after-hours trading. AMD shares have declined by more than 25% since Jan. 1. Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express
https://cointelegraph.com/news/chip-maker-stocks-slide-nvidia-faces-us-ai-chip-restrictions

2025-04-16 02:29:07 UTC

@nprofile…9n0f
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Fresh from successfully convincing game retailer GameStop to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet, Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole has now set his sights on fintech firm Intuit to do the same.Cole said in an April 14 open letter to Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi that Intuit’s growth is admirable, but Bitcoin (BTC) is the best way to ensure the company’s long-term success and hedge against any potential disruption caused by artificial intelligence.Intuit’s flagship products are its tax preparation app TurboTax and the small business accounting software Quickbooks. The company laid off 10% of its staff in July to pursue its AI endeavors, but Cole said the firm needs an additional hedge because TurboTax is at risk of being automated away by AI. “While we appreciate Intuit’s own investments and internal implementation of AI, we believe an additional hedge is warranted, and that a Bitcoin war chest is the best option available,” Cole said. An excerpt from Matt Cole’s letter urging Intuit to consider adding Bitcoin to its balance sheets, among other suggestions. Source: Strive Asset Management That Bitcoin war chest, he added, will ensure Intuit has “enough strategic capital to weather the AI storm and act from a position of strength through the turbulence of the AI revolution.” Cole sent a similar letter to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen in February to advise the gaming retailer to use its $4.6 billion in cash to buy Bitcoin. GameStop’s Cohen acknowledged the letter in an April 1 regulatory filing and revealed his company had finished a convertible debt offering that raised $1.5 billion, with some proceeds earmarked for buying Bitcoin.Strive urges Intuit change crypto policyIn his letter to Intuit, Cole said the firm should reconsider the acceptable use policy for its marketing platform Mailchimp, which he claims has continued to suspend crypto-related accounts over policy violations.Source: Strive Asset ManagementCole said he “remains concerned that Intuit’s censorship and de-platforming policies discriminate against Bitcoin enthusiasts, which may harm long-term shareholder value.”Mailchimp has said that crypto-related content isn’t necessarily banned under its policy, and crypto content can be sent provided the sender isn’t involved in the sale, exchange, or marketing of crypto. Related: Saylor signals Strategy is buying the dip amid macroeconomic turmoilIts current acceptable use policy states that the platform might not allow accounts that offer “cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies, and any digital assets related to an initial coin offering.” According to Cole, Mailchimp likely adopted its policies when the legal status of crypto and related businesses was uncertain, but said with the crypto-friendly Trump administration, it’s time to “amend the acceptable use policy to end the blanket ban on crypto-related businesses.”Intuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Magazine: Bitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6–12
https://cointelegraph.com/news/strive-targets-intuit-bitcoin-buys-after-gamestop

2025-04-15 17:34:10 UTC

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After consecutive drawdowns of 17.39% and 2.3% in February and March, Bitcoin’s (BTC) Q2 is shaping up nicely, with a return of 3.77% in April. While fresh yearly lows were formed at $74,500, BTC is currently closer to $90,000 than its new range bottom. Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewBitcoin’s higher time frame (HTF) market structure has achieved its first breakout of 2025, fueling optimism among bulls for significant upward momentum. However, the following factors could limit BTC’s gains over the next two weeks, likely capping its price at around $90,000.Related: Can 3-month Bitcoin RSI highs counter bearish BTC price 'seasonality?'Bitcoin needs spot volume, not just leverage-drivenCointelegraph identified a cooldown period in the futures market as the BTC-USDT futures leverage ratio dropped by 50%. De-leveraging in the futures market is a positive development over the long term, but derivatives traders have taken control of the market at the time as well. Bitcoin cumulative net take volume. Source: X.comBitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. pointed out that Bitcoin’s cumulative net taker volume spiked to $800 million on April 11, hinting at a surge in aggressive buying. BTC price also jumped from $78,000 to $85,000 within three days, confirming previous historical patterns where high net take volume triggers price rallies. Likewise, Maartunn, a community analyst at CryptoQuant, confirmed that the current rally is a “leverage-driven pump.” The discrepancy arises because retail or spot traders are still not as relevant.Bitcoin 30-day apparent demand. Source: CryptoQuantAs illustrated in the chart, Bitcoin apparent demand is on a recovery path, but it is not net positive yet. Historically, 30-day apparent demand can move sideways for a prolonged period after BTC reaches a local bottom, leading to a sideways chop for the crypto. Thus, it is less likely that Bitcoin could breach $90,000 in the first attempt after dropping close to 20% until there is collective buying pressure from both spot and futures markets.Large liquidation clusters between $80-$90K may bait tradersWith futures traders positioning in either direction, data from CoinGlass highlighted significant cumulative long and short liquidation leverage between $80,000 and $90,000. Taking $85,100 at the base price, total cumulative short positions at risk of liquidation are at $6.5 billion if BTC price hits $90,035. Bitcoin exchange liquidation map. Source: CoinGlassOn the other hand, $4.86 billion in long orders will be wiped out if BTC drops to $80,071. While liquidation clusters do not determine directional bias, they can create long or short squeezes, baiting traders on either side of respective trades. With such high capital at risk under $90,000, it is possible that Bitcoin may target each cluster before moving toward the dominant side. Related: Bitcoin traders target $90K as apparent tariff exemptions ease US Treasury yieldsThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-recovery-could-be-capped-at-90-k-here-s-why

2025-03-24 12:00:19 UTC

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Stablecoin payment platform Infini has filed a lawsuit against a developer and several unidentified individuals suspected of involvement in a hack that drained nearly $50 million in crypto assets.On March 24, the Infini team sent an onchain message to the attacker, naming the developer Chen Shanxuan and three other unidentified persons with access to wallets involved in the exploit as defendants in an ongoing lawsuit. Infini said that the 49.5 million USDC (USDC) traced from the plaintiff’s funds are subject to an ongoing legal dispute and are contentious in nature. “Any subsequent holders of the said crypto assets (if any) once held in those wallets that they cannot claim the status of bona fide purchases without notice of the dispute,” Infini stated. The Hong Kong court also sent an injunction order through the onchain message, a method to send legal notices to anonymous crypto wallets containing stolen funds. It also included a writ of summons that required the defendants to attend the return date hearing. Infini offered a 20% bounty to hackerFollowing the $50 million hack on Feb. 24, Infini offered a 20% bounty to the hackers responsible for the attack. In an onchain message, Infini said it gathered critical IP and device information about the attackers. The platform said it’s constantly monitoring the addresses involved and will take action if necessary. However, the payment firm offered a bounty to the attacker if they returned 80% of the funds. “Upon receipt of the returned assets, we will cease further tracking or analysis, and you will not face accountability,” Infini wrote. However, despite the warnings, the attacker did not return any of the funds at the address specified by the Infini team. Related: $1.5B crypto hack losses expose bug bounty flawsInfini exploit done amid largest crypto hackThe Infini attack comes after Bybit suffered the largest recorded losses in a crypto hack. On Feb. 21, a hacker took control of Bybit's multisignature wallet, stealing $1.4 billion in crypto assets. In a statement, FearsOff chief operating officer Marwan Hachem told Cointelegraph that the Infini hacker carefully chose the timing of the attack. The cybersecurity executive said the attack was only a few days after the Bybit hack, and the timing “was not by chance.” “With everyone busy on the investigation and recovery efforts of the $1.5B, the Infini attackers perceived their chances of success to be higher at that moment,” Hachem told Cointelegraph. Magazine: Ridiculous ‘Chinese Mint’ crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express
https://cointelegraph.com/news/infini-legal-action-hong-kong-50-million-hack

2024-10-29 04:40:01 UTC

Bitcoin headed for ‘perfect storm’ to new all-time high — Bitfinex
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Bitfinex analysts say Bitcoin could reach a new all-time high following the US election, with market conditions forming a “perfect storm” for a major price push.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-action-gearing-up-for-a-perfect-storm-to-new-ath-bitfinex