Cointelegraph

Stablecoin settlement times vary wildly depending on their blockchain. Purpose-built payment chains must remain open, or they will repeat TradFi fragmentation.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoins-deserve-better-and-they-re-finally-getting-it?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

AI systems drive crypto fraud while the industry relies on outdated postmortems.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https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-systems-crypto-fraud-while-the-industry-relies-on-outdated-postmortems-real-time-transaction-defense-must-become-infrastructure?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Bitcoin’s fluctuating correlation with US equities is raising questions about its role as a global safe-haven asset during periods of financial stress.Bitcoin (BTC) exhibited a strong negative correlation with the US stock market when analyzing the short-term, seven-day trailing correlation, according to new research from blockchain data provider RedStone Oracles, shared exclusively with Cointelegraph.Bitcoin, S&P 500, 7-day rolling correlation. Source: Redstone OraclesHowever, RedStone said that the 30-day indicator signals a “variable correlation” between Bitcoin price and the S&P 500 index, with the correlation coefficient ranging from -0.2 to 0.4.This fluctuating correlation suggests that Bitcoin “doesn’t consistently function as a true hedge for equities” due to its lack of a strong negative correlation below -0.3, which is needed for “reliable counter movement during market stress,” the report states.Bitcoin, S&P 500, 30-day rolling correlation, 1-year chart. Source: Redstone OraclesRelated: $1B Bitcoin exits Coinbase in a day as analysts warn of supply shockThe research suggests that while Bitcoin may not be a dependable hedge against stock market declines, it still offers value as a portfolio diversifier.This fluctuating dynamic signals that Bitcoin often moves independently from other assets, potentially offering additional returns while other assets are struggling. Still, Bitcoin has yet to mirror the safe-haven dynamics of gold and government bonds, RedStone suggests.Related: Nasdaq-listed GDC plans to buy Bitcoin and TRUMP memecoin for $300MBitcoin needs to “mature” before decoupling from stock marketWhile Bitcoin is poised to grow into a safe-haven asset in the future, the world’s first cryptocurrency still needs to “mature” as a global asset, according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer at RedStone.“Bitcoin still needs to mature before decoupling from stock markets,” Kazmierczak told Cointelegraph, adding:“Increased institutional adoption will absolutely help — we’re already seeing this effect with corporate treasury investments reducing Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility and with BlackRock repetitively praising BTC as an asset in a portfolio.”Meanwhile, Bitcoin will see growing recognition as a portfolio diversified, with an annualized return of over 230% for the past five years, which “significantly outperformed” both stocks and traditional safe-haven assets, Kazmierczak said, adding that “even a small 1–5% Bitcoin allocation can meaningfully enhance a portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns.”Source: Vetle LundeMeanwhile, Bitcoin’s falling volatility supports BTC’s apparent growing maturity as a global financial asset. Bitcoin’s weekly volatility hit a 563-day low on April 30, a development that may signal more stable price action.Bitcoin’s price volatility fell below the realized volatility of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, signaling that investors are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a long-term investment vehicle, Cointelegraph reported on May 13.Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-stock-correlation-safe-haven-portfolio-diversifier

GD Culture Group (GDC), a Nasdaq-listed holding company focused on livestreaming, e-commerce and artificial intelligence-powered digital human technology, plans to raise up to $300 million for a cryptocurrency treasury reserve.In a May 12 statement, GDC and its subsidiary, AI Catalysis Corp., announced entering into a common stock purchase agreement with a British Virgin Islands limited liability company to sell up to $300 million of its common stock.The proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund the firm’s crypto treasury, which will include purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) token.“Under this initiative, and subject to certain limitations, GDC intends to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds from any share sales under the facility to the acquisition, long-term holding, and integration of crypto assets into its core treasury operations,” the company said in the announcement. GDC described the strategy as a move to align with the broader “decentralization transformation.”GDC stock price, 1-year chart. Source: NasdaqFounded in 2016, GDC is a micro-cap company with a current $34 million market capitalization, according to Nasdaq data.Related: Multi-wallet usage up 16%, but AI may address crypto fragmentation gapGDC’s chairman and CEO, Xiaojian Wang, said the initiative builds on the company’s strengths in digital technologies and positions it for a blockchain-powered industrial shift.“GDC’s adoption of crypto assets as treasury reserve holdings is a deliberate strategy that reflects both current industry trends and our unique strengths in digital technologies and the livestreaming e-commerce ecosystem,” Wang said.The stock offering was announced over a month after the firm received a noncompliance warning from Nasdaq related to its stockholders’ equity. The notice indicated that the firm reported stockholders’ equity of only $2,643, well below the minimum requirement of $2.5 million.The firm was given until May 4 to submit a plan to comply with the listing requirements. If accepted by the Nasdaq, the compliance plan will allow the firm up to 180 days from the notification period to comply with the requirements.The Nevada-based company joins a small but growing group of public firms that are allocating part of their balance sheets to crypto assets. Related: Crypto speculation dominates $600B cross-border payments: BIS reportTrump token dinner planned for top holdersGDC’s announcement coincides with an upcoming high-profile event tied to the Trump token project. The 25 largest holders of TRUMP tokens are set to attend a private dinner at the White House on May 22.However, the TRUMP memecoin project said in a May 12 X post that it has stopped considering additional purchases for the dinner and that the attendees had been notified to apply for background checks.According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May 12. Source: TRUMP memecoin projectSome US lawmakers have criticized the dinner. Senator Cynthia Lummis reportedly said that the idea of the US President offering exclusive access for people willing to pay for it “gives [her] pause.”Crypto regulation experts also fear that the Trump family’s crypto endeavors may trigger more regulatory scrutiny by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as politically affiliated memecoins introduce a new challenge for crypto legislation.Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/gdc-crypto-treasury-trump-token-300m-raise

The lawyer for a group of Caitlyn Jenner memecoin buyers said they will continue their legal fight against the ex-Olympian after a judge threw out the case for failing to adequately support the securities and fraud claims it brought.Jenner had escaped a class-action lawsuit from buyers of her self-titled memecoin, Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER) after California District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. said in a motion filed on May 9 that it was “sufficient to conclude that all nine causes of action are deficient” and sided with Jenner in dismissing the suit in its entirety for failure to state a claim.He allowed the class group to amend its suit, which must be filed by May 23, but warned it had “to be more focused and judiciously pleaded” than the original.A lawyer for the class group, Fitzgerald Monroe Flynn PC partner Jack Fitzgerald, told Cointelegraph it was “pleased the Court recognized we may be able to state some claims against the defendants, and intend to amend and press forward with the case.”Jenner and her manager, Sophia Hutchins, were sued in November by a group that bought the JENNER token and accused them of having “fraudulently solicited financially unsophisticated investors” to the token, which they alleged was an unregistered security.Lee Greenfield, a UK citizen, was added as the lead plaintiff in January and claimed he lost over $40,000 buying JENNER. But the court found, for a start, that claims of securities law violations couldn’t stand as it wasn’t alleged that his JENNER buys took place in the US, as the law requires, and gave “scant details” about the purchases.The court didn’t allow the class to swap its lead for a US-based member, adding it must report by May 16 on how the suit will proceed (highlights added for emphasis). Source: PACERCourt dismisses all claims by JENNER tokenholdersIn all, Judge Blumenfeld dismissed a further eight claims the class group brought in an amended complaint filed in February, which included accusations that Jenner and Hutchins either made misleading statements, sold unregistered securities, or committed various fraud.Judge Blumenfeld said the suit failed to allege that Jenner sold the token through a prospectus that contained an untrue statement, as “Greenfield admits that the $JENNER tokens were not sold through a prospectus.”The court also tossed a common-law fraud accusation, saying the complaint alleged omitted information and noted various X posts by Jenner “stating that she would continue to support the tokens,” but it did not identify which of the statements related to the fraud claim.The group also accused Hutchins of aiding and abetting Jenner’s allegedly fraudulent conduct, but Judge Blumenfeld said that claim failed as the complaint “does not adequately allege any viable fraud claim.”In a footnote, Judge Blumenfeld said Jenner and the class group disputed whether the JENNER token was a security, but he was not going to decide at this stage as the “securities claims fail on other grounds.”Related: Top TRUMP whales hold $174M in tokens ahead of dinner with US president “Because the determination of whether the tokens are securities is fact-dependent and may be affected by an amended pleading, the Court declines to resolve that issue at this stage and instead assumes without deciding that the tokens are securities subject to the federal securities laws,” he wrote.JENNER first launched in May 2024 via Pump.fun on the Solana blockchain but was soon embroiled in controversy after Jenner and other memecoin launching celebrities claimed collaborator Sahil Arora scammed them. Jenner relaunched the token on Ethereum, which the class group claimed tanked the value of the original Solana token, but gave Jenner the benefit of collecting a 3% fee on every transaction.JENNER has lost essentially all its value since launch. CoinGecko shows its market value has crashed to around $58,775 from a June 3 peak of nearly $7.5 million. The token has seen just $61.10 worth of trading volume over the last day.Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge

https://cointelegraph.com/news/caitlyn-jenner-memecoin-buyers-try-again-judge-tosses-suit

Censorship-resistant “dark stablecoins” could come in increasing demand as governments tighten their oversight of the industry. Stablecoins have been used for various groups to store assets due to a lack of government interference; however, with regulations pending, that could soon change, Ki Young Ju, CEO of crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant, said in a May 11 X post.“Soon, any stablecoin issued by a country could face strict govt regulation, similar to traditional banks. Transfers might automatically trigger tax collection through smart contracts, and wallets could be frozen or require paperwork based on government rules,” he said.“People who used stablecoins for big international transfers might start looking for censorship-resistant dark stablecoins instead.”On the heels of US President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly administration assuming power earlier this year, lawmakers are weighing stablecoin legislation, which seeks to regulate US stablecoins, ensuring their legal use for payments. The European Union has already brought in its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which, among other measures, mandates that stablecoins be regulated and transparent.Source: Ki Young JuJu speculates that a dark or private stablecoin could be created as an algorithmic stablecoin, with the value maintained through algorithmic mechanisms rather than being pegged to an external asset like gold, which makes it susceptible to interference from authorities. “One possible example could be a decentralized stablecoin that follows the price of regulated coins like USDC using data oracles like Chainlink,” he said.Another way would be stablecoins issued by countries that don’t censor financial transactions, or, for example, if Tether chooses not to comply with US government regulations in the future.“USDT itself used to be considered a censorship-resistant stablecoin. If Tether chooses not to comply with US government regulations under a future Trump administration, it could become a dark stablecoin in an increasingly censored internet economy,” Ju said.Privacy technology in crypto is already being usedZcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR) — while they aren’t stablecoins —already shield transactions and allow users to send and receive funds without revealing their transaction data on the blockchain.Related: Russia finance ministry official floats country making own stablecoins: ReportSeveral projects are also working on using similar technology for stablecoins, such as Zephyr Protocol, a Monero fork that hides transactions from being revealed on the blockchain. PARScoin also hides user identities, transaction values, and links to past transactions.The market cap of US dollar-denominated stablecoins has continued to grow, crossing $230 billion in April, a report from investment banking giant Citigroup found. That’s an increase of 54% since last year, with Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) dominating 90% of the market.Meanwhile, total stablecoin volumes hit $27.6 trillion in 2024, surpassing the combined volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%. Magazine: Ridiculous ‘Chinese Mint’ crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/regulations-spark-censorship-resistant-dark-stablecoins

Comedian and actor TJ Miller says it only takes a little over two full days to get the average person up to speed on Bitcoin. However, when asked why more celebrities aren’t Bitcoiners, he says most people simply refuse to ever sit down and study again.“It is really hard to get people to study after they graduate, from any level,” Miller told Natalie Brunell on the April 25 episode of Coin Stories. Miller claimed it takes “about 50 hours of study” to understand Bitcoin (BTC).Hollywood rewards those who “do not think differently”“So to say to somebody it is going to take 50 hours for you to understand this, they are like, ah, I don’t want to,” he said. “They can’t even watch a Netflix series; they can’t even watch White Lotus because it takes seven hours,” he said.Comedian and actor TJ Miller spoke to Bitcoiner Natalie Brunell on the Coin Stories podcast. Source: Natalie BrunellMiller said it takes “such a paradigm shift” to embrace Bitcoin, not just in money or the internet, but in life — and that’s also why you don’t see more Hollywood celebrities becoming Bitcoin maxis:“Hollywood rewards people that do not think differently.”During a Bitcoin lunch hosted by crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano, Miller introduced himself that, to his knowledge, he is “the only celebrity that is a Bitcoiner.”“I can’t really think of anyone else,” Miller said. While there aren't many celebrities known to be publicly active in the Bitcoin community, many have launched their own memecoins in recent years, including Iggy Azalea, Caitlyn Jenner, and Hailey Welch aka “Hawk Tuah.”However, Miller said he has been trying to educate people on Bitcoin for quite some time. He said when Bitcoin was trading between $8,000 and $12,000, he was telling friends to “just put $1,000 into Bitcoin.”Miller is confident that, at some point in the future, there will be a Hollywood movie about the Bitcoin revolution.Related: Bitcoin ETFs on $3B ‘bender,’ log first full week of inflows in 5 weeks“But it’ll be interesting because it didn’t happen all at once,” he said. “It didn’t happen in three years, and it hasn’t happened in ten years, so it will be interesting to see how they can connect the dots,” he added.Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson recently sat down with TJ Miller, where it became evident that his enthusiasm for Bitcoin isn’t just surface-level. He wants to use his platform to educate and inspire others to take it seriously.“You can tell that I’m passionate about it. And so that’s what I’d like to do is sort of be able… to be somebody that helps bring cultural awareness, spread awareness and just a trusting name and face in the Bitcoin community that hopefully will bring more people to it,” Miller said.Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest, April 20 – 26

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoiner-tj-miller-why-more-hollywood-celebrities-not-bitcoiners

South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have suspended deposits for Synthetix (SNX) tokens after it was flagged by the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) for potential risks.DAXA, the self-regulatory organization establishing industry standards for South Korean exchanges, designated SNX as a cautionary item. Assets receiving this designation typically undergo rigorous evaluations to determine whether trading can continue or if delisting is necessary.Exchanges may take action, such as adding a warning tag to the asset and urging investors to take caution when engaging with it. Trading platforms can also perform additional measures, like blocking deposits or suspending trading support temporarily. Upbit and Bithumb block SNX depositsIn response to the designation, the biggest exchanges in South Korea said they are blocking deposits for SNX tokens on their platforms. Upbit announced that it had added a trading caution ticker and suspended token deposits. The exchange said it had been monitoring the developments related to the Synthetix USD (sUSD) depegging. It added that this event may damage investors through potential volatility, as SNX is used as collateral for sUSD. The exchange added that it had determined a lack of use cases for the asset, which may cause investors to suffer losses. Upbit said it would conduct a comprehensive review to decide whether to delist the asset or resume normal operations for the token. Bithumb has also blocked deposits for SNX and added a cautionary tag for the token. However, the exchange said this decision could be overturned depending on internal circumstances. If the reason for the designation is resolved, Bithumb said it would lift the restrictions. Korbit and Coinone also published investor alerts to caution traders. The two exchanges added cautionary tags to SNX tokens to alert investors who may want to trade the token. Cointelegraph reached out to Synthetix for comment but did not get a response by publication. Related: South Korean crypto emerges from failed coup into crackdown seasonsUSD struggles to recover dollar pegOn April 10, the sUSD stablecoin dropped to a five-year low of $0.83 after struggling to maintain its dollar peg in the first quarter of 2025. With the stablecoin being collateralized by the project’s native asset, Cork Protocol co-founder Rob Schmitt compared the token to Terra USD (UST), which collapsed in 2022. However, Schmitt said that sUSD has a “more manageable” debt system. On April 18, the stablecoin dipped further to $0.68, with SNX falling by 26% in a 30-day period. A Synthetix spokesperson told Cointelegraph that their team has short, medium and long-term plans to mitigate the risks. On April 21, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick threatened SNX stakers with “the stick” if they didn’t take up a newly launched staking mechanism to fix the sUSD depeg. The executive said they may put extra pressure on stakers if they don’t see enough momentum on the newly implemented mechanism. Since the warning, sUSD prices increased by 27%. On April 24, the stablecoin briefly reached $0.87. However, the token has still failed to recover its dollar peg. Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-exchanges-block-synthetix-deposits-susd-depeg

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

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors have charged a man they allege created a crypto scheme that swindled 90,000 people out of $200 million in the hopes of earning returns from Bitcoin and forex trading.The SEC said on April 22 that it had charged Ramil Palafox, a dual citizen of the US and the Philippines, claiming he misappropriated over $57 million in investor funds gained through his company, PGI Global, between January 2020 and October 2021.The regulator alleged Palafox used a multilevel marketing model to execute a “Ponzi-like” scam until the company’s collapse in 2021. The SEC said he lured investors through “false claims of crypto industry expertise and a supposed AI-powered auto-trading platform.”The SEC claimed Palafox hosted lavish events in Dubai and Las Vegas to recruit new members who were offered referral bonuses to recruit others and used investor funds to pay other investors to further promote the scheme, as well as to line his own pockets.Excerpt from the SEC’s complaint against Ramil Palafox. Source: SEC“Palafox attracted investors with the allure of guaranteed profits from sophisticated crypto asset and foreign exchange trading, but instead of trading, Palafox bought himself and his family cars, watches, and homes using millions of dollars of investor funds,” said Scott Thompson, associate director of the SEC’s Philadelphia office. The SEC is charging Palafox with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws and is seeking a permanent injunction to ban him from the future sale of securities and crypto assets, repayment of ill-gotten gains and civil penalties. Justice Department files twin actionThe SEC’s complaint is running parallel to action brought by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which arraigned Ramil Palafox on criminal charges. According to an indictment filed under seal on March 13, federal prosecutors charged Palafox with wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions.Prosecutors alleged Palafox misled investors with false promises of daily returns ranging from 0.5% to 3% from Bitcoin trading and hid information about PGI’s profitability, licenses, and business activity. The indictment said Palafox told investors that substantial returns were being generated via the company’s crypto exchanges and that “his traders were able to make money regardless of whether the price of Bitcoin was going up or down.” However, the Justice Department alleged that, in reality, most investors' money was never used to buy or trade Bitcoin, and many lost some or all of their funds.Property listed in the indictment that would be forfeited by Palafox if convicted includes over $1 million in cash, 17 vehicles, including two Teslas, a Ferrari 458 Special, two Lamborghinis, and two Porsches, plus a variety of designer bags, wallets, shoes, jewellery and watches.Related: Crypto crime goes industrial as gangs launch coins, launder billions — UNVarious linked companies were included in the scheme, including the Praetorian Group International Trading Inc., the website for which was seized by the Department of Justice in 2021, leading to its UK-based operations being shut down by the UK’s High Court. It’s the agency’s first crypto-related case under its crypto-friendly SEC chair, Paul Atkins, who was sworn in on April 22.The SEC had brought a case against Nova Labs in January, accusing it of selling unregistered securities by offering devices that mined the Helium (HNT) token. The SEC reached a settlement with Nova Labs in April that resulted in the lawsuit being dismissed and a $200,000 civil penalty.Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-feds-lay-charges-200m-crypto-scheme

A Solana address with over 1 million tokens is sitting on over $153 million in profit after a four-year staking play on the crypto asset. Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged the wallet address of a whale that staked nearly 1 million Solana (SOL) tokens in 2021. At the time of the staking, Solana tokens were worth around $27, which means the trader spent about $27 million to execute the staking play. Four years later, the whale’s total staked Solana holdings reached 1.29 million. With Solana appreciating to about $140, the whale’s holdings increased in value to about $180 million. On April 22, the whale started offloading a portion of the token stash to cash out on the gains. Lookonchain reported that the whale had already unstaked 100,000 SOL tokens (about $14 million) and sent them to Binance. Sending tokens to crypto exchanges often indicates an intent to sell. Even though the trader already took millions in SOL tokens, Lookonchain said the whale still has 1.19 million Solana, worth around $166 million. Since the trader spent $27 million on the play, the total unrealized profit for the address is about $153 million. Source: LookonchainSolana whales turn $37 million to $200 million in four-year playThe Solana whale’s unstaking and token offloading follow another Solana staking play that involved hundreds of millions earlier in April. On April 4, Arkham Intelligence data showed that four wallets that staked $37 million in tokens in 2021 had their tokens unlocked, meaning they can unstake and sell them. The blockchain intelligence platform called the event “the largest single-day unlock of staked SOL.”During the unlock, the tokens were worth over $206 million. After the tokens were unlocked, about $50 million in tokens were sold. Related: Babylon total value locked drops 32% as wallets unstake $1.2B in BitcoinSolana briefly flips Ethereum in staking market capAs many whales turn to Solana for staking plays, the network briefly flipped Ethereum in the staking market cap. On April 20, the blockchain overtook Ethereum regarding staked token value after reaching over $53 billion. However, the event was short-lived as Ethereum easily recovered the top spot. While the event may seem bullish, community members were split on whether Solana overtaking Ethereum is bullish or bearish for the network. Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-whale-153-million-profit-staking-4-years

A little-known VOXEL trading pair on cryptocurrency exchange Bitget suddenly clocked over $12 billion in volume on April 20, dwarfing the metrics of the same contract on Binance.The activity centered on VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures, where traders reported instant order fills — an anomaly many described as a bug that allowed savvy traders to rack up outsized profits by exploiting unusual price behavior.The atypical metrics drew Bitget’s attention. In the fallout of its early investigation, the exchange suspended accounts suspected of market manipulation and rolled back irregular trades that occurred throughout the day. Traders who copped losses during that period were offered compensation.Bitget’s response and remediation plan may have prevented lasting investor damage, but the episode is the latest in a series of cases that raise questions about how exchanges handle market makers, internal systems and user safeguards. While Bitget promotes an open API and regularly touts its global market maker program, it has yet to disclose who was behind the April 20 activity or what technical factors led to it.The lack of incident-level detail has fueled speculations comparable to similar breakdowns on Binance — the world’s largest exchange by trading volume — that included the sudden price crashes of cryptocurrencies GoPlus (GPS) and MyShell (SHELL) in March. Binance kicked out an unnamed market maker it found responsible for manipulation, but the lack of disclosure added fuel to the crypto industry’s infamous rumor mongering.Bitget’s VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures volume exceeded that of all other top 10 markets combined on April 20. Source: Thành CryptoTraders VOXEL market maker bug, Bitget disagreesCrypto market participants pointed to rapid price fluctuations and what multiple Mandarin-language X accounts described as a bug in a “market maker” bot as the cause of VOXEL’s excessive volume.Traders claimed that VOXEL’s price flickered between several ranges, such as $0.125 and $0.138. Orders placed between those bands filled instantly due to the suspected bug, X user Dylan said, sharing screenshots and videos of profitable accounts. Perpetual futures contracts are typically matched through an order book, with each trade requiring a counterparty. But in this case, trades appeared to execute automatically and without delay.A machine-translated post shares how one trader profits hundreds of thousands of dollars with just $100 USDT in starting capital. Source: 0xDy_ethTraders who spotted the suspected bug early used high-leverage bets to boost their profits, X user Qingshui said, calling the strategy a “zero-cost exploit.” Like Dylan, Qingshui attributed the issue to a market maker bot misfiring and questioned why traders were blocked from accessing profits if the problem originated from Bitget’s side.Related: How Mantra’s OM token collapsed in 24 hours of chaosA third user, Hebi555, pointed the finger at Bitget’s market-making team for its poor performance. Xie Jiayin, Bitget’s head of Asia, clapped back, stating that the exchange works with over 1,000 market makers and institutional clients. He added that Bitget’s API is open to the public and emphasized that specific market maker identities could not be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements.In an April 20 response to Cointelegraph, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said that suspicious trades were between individual market participants, not the platform. Replying to Cointelegraph’s follow-up inquiry on April 21, Chen neither confirmed nor denied whether a market maker bot was involved, only reiterating that the trading was “between users.”“We are conducting a thorough review, and once the rollback is completed, trading and account restrictions will be lifted as appropriate. Bitget’s security infrastructure is designed to catch irregularities like this in real time — as it did in this case,” Chen said.Bitget’s VOXEL anomaly adds to crypto’s market manipulation mysteryConcerns over market manipulation in the cryptocurrency industry have been intensifying. In early March, the prices of two tokens, GPS and SHELL, crashed in tandem with their Binance listings. The exchange’s investigation found that the two tokens employed the same unnamed market maker. Binance banished the dubious trading firm from its platform and confiscated its proceeds to help fund compensation efforts for GPS and SHELL traders. Without a suspect to blame, social media users began pointing fingers at several market makers and trading firms. Those named denied any involvement.GSR was among the most frequently accused firms, but denied being the market maker removed by Binance. Source: GSRBinance then kicked out another unnamed market maker, this time for trading activities related to the Movement (MOVE) token. The MOVE token’s market maker on Binance was found to have associations with the market maker for GPS and SHELL.Related: Market maker deals are quietly killing crypto projectsA recent Cointelegraph report found that market makers are employing a loan-based model that is killing off small- and medium-cap projects. The loan model gives market makers access to a project’s tokens in exchange for liquidity provision. But instead, what often happens is that market makers dump the loaned tokens on the open market just to buy them back at a cheaper price, leaving the projects with damaged price charts.VOXEL was on Bitget, but exploits aren’t limited to CEXsBoth Bitget and Binance’s cases show that even the largest centralized exchanges (CEXs) aren’t immune to market manipulation or traders exploiting platforms for profits.But a recent case on decentralized exchange (DEX) Hyperliquid shows the issue isn’t confined to CEXs. In late March, a whale allegedly exploited the liquidation parameters on Hyperliquid, resulting in the delisting of the platform’s JELLY perpetual futures product. Hyperliquid then announced a compensation plan for affected users, similar to how Bitget responded to its own VOXEL drama.X user spotlights double standards in how exchanges respond to bugs. Source: Dotyyds1234Ironically, Bitget’s Chen had some strong words against Hyperliquid at the time, raising concerns about the network’s centralization. She compared the DEX to FTX, once a billion-dollar trading firm whose founder is now serving a 25-year prison sentence for multiple counts of fraud.“The way it handled the JELLY incident was immature, unethical, and unprofessional, triggering user losses and casting serious doubts over its integrity. Despite presenting itself as an innovative decentralized exchange with a bold vision, Hyperliquid operates more like an offshore CEX with no [Know-Your-Customer/Anti-Money Laundering], enabling illicit flows and bad actors,” she said.Bitget’s VOXEL episode may have been contained, and Hyperliquid’s users may be compensated, but the broader pattern is harder to ignore for traders. As platforms scramble to maintain trust, the industry’s vulnerability isn’t just the bugs or exploits, but the silence that follows them.Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitget-voxel-frenzy-fizzled-questions-remain

Strong price performance and staking could propel Ether ETF inflows in 2025, analysts say.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ether-etfs-poised-surge-2025-analysts

Lens will give users ownership of their data and a chance for monetization when the mainnet launches early next year.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/lens-raises-31-million-2025-socialfi-l2-blockchain