Mina Protocol (MINA) is leading the altcoin rally today following its 88% mega rally in the last 24 hours.
MINA, Listed on Upbit Exchange, Experienced a Great Rise The cryptocurrency's price is currently hovering around $0.78 and is attempting to retest its year-to-date high of around $1.17.
MINA Daily Chart MINA's rise proves that while an altcoin can spark a rally based on Bitcoin's influence, the momentum can also be triggered by its own fundamentals and community trends at large.
MINA has outperformed major altcoins and with its current price action, it has gained up to 109% in this time frame, complementing the gains made in the last seven-day period.
MINA is designed to reduce computational requirements to run dApps more efficiently.
MINA is following in the footsteps of the zk-rollup trend to take advantage of this technology that many believe will reshape the future of the blockchain ecosystem.
MINA is facing an impressive embrace from different market participants, especially the stock exchanges.
As reported in July, the MINA/BTC trading pair was listed by Upbit and its price increased by 17% at that time.
Today, Upbit exchange announced that it has listed the MINA/KRW trading pair.
*This is not investment advice.
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October was a bullish month for the cryptocurrency market, filled with altcoin gainers. Bitcoin (BTC) and several other cryptocurrencies reached new yearly highs.
As Halloween ushers an end to October, BeInCrypto looks at 5 altcoins that made October frighteningly profitable. The five October altcoin gainers are:
Polymesh (POLYX) price increased by 205.13% Tellor (TRB) price increased by 95.60% Solana (SOL) price increased by 79.61% Injective (INJ) price increased by 71.45% MINA price increased by 62.92% POLYX Price Leads October Altcoin GainersThe POLYX price has increased quickly since October 13. The upward movement has been parabolic, leading to an all-time high price of $0.43 on October 30.
The increase caused a breakout from the $0.29 horizontal resistance area, which had been in place since April.
The all-time high was close to the 1.61 external Fib level of the most recent decrease. Once the price is at an all-time high, the Fib level often acts as the area for the top.
If POLYX breaks out above it, it can increase by 75% to the 2.61 external Fib level at $0.66.
POLYX/USDT Daily Chart. Source: TradingViewDespite this bullish prediction, failure to close above the $0.44 resistance can lead to a 25% drop to the $0.29 horizontal area, which is expected to provide support.
TRB Reaches Yearly HighThe TRB price has increased alongside a parabolic ascending support line since the beginning of September. The upward movement led to a new yearly high of $125 yesterday.
Currently, TRB trades slightly above the 0.618 Fib retracement level of the entire previous decrease at $105. Whether the price moves above it or gets rejected can determine if the future trend is bullish or bearish.
A successful close above this area can lead to a 50% increase to the next resistance at $165.
TRB/USDT Two-Day Chart. Source: TradingViewOn the other hand, a rejection and breakdown from the parabolic ascending support line will mean the upward movement is complete. In that case, a 40% drop to the closest support at $66 will be likely.
Solana Resumes Rapid AscentThe SOL price has increased alongside an ascending support trendline since the beginning of the year. More recently, it bounced above the line in September (green icon), accelerating its rate of increase.
The next month, SOL broke out from the $28 horizontal area. This was a crucial area since it had been in place since November 2022.
Today, SOL reached a new yearly high of $37. If the price continues upwards, it can increase by another 46% and reach the next resistance at $47.
SOL/USDT Weekly Chart. Source: TradingViewDespite this bullish SOL price prediction, failure to sustain the increase can cause a 25% drop to the $28 area, validating it as support.
Injective Increases by 50% in One WeekThe INJ price increased by 50% last week, breaking out from the $9 horizontal resistance area. The price reached a new yearly high of $14.50 today. This was the highest price since November 2021.
Currently, INJ trades inside the $13.50 horizontal resistance area. This is the final resistance before the all-time high region.
So, if INJ breaks out, it can double in price and reach the all-time high of $27.
INJ/USDT Weekly Chart. Source: TradingViewDespite this bullish prediction, a rejection from the $13.50 horizontal resistance area can trigger a 35% drop to validate the $9 support area again.
MINA Concludes October Altcoin GainersThe MINA price has increased swiftly since its $0.36 low on October 11. On October 24 alone, the price increased by 110%, leading to a high of $0.98.
However, the upward movement could not be sustained. Rather, MINA created a long upper wick (red icon) and fell below the $0.88 horizontal resistance area.
Now, MINA trades just above the $0.58 horizontal support area. Whether it bounces or breaks down can determine the future trend’s direction.
MINA/USDT Daily Chart. Source: TradingViewA bounce can lead to a 40% increase to the next resistance at $0.88. On the other hand, a breakdown can cause a 40% drop to $0.37.
For BeInCrypto’s latest crypto market analysis, click here.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) moved higher, with the cryptocurrency prices trading past the key $43,000 level on Tuesday.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) also recorded gains, trading above the key $2,300 mark this morning.
Pendle (CRYPTO: PENDLE) was the top gainer over the prior 24 hours, while Manta Network (CRYPTO: MANTA) turned out to be the biggest loser.
At the time of writing, the global crypto market cap rose to $1.67 trillion, recording a 24-hour gain of 2.5%. BTC was trading higher by 2.9% at $43,475 while ETH rose by around 1.9% to $2,315 on Tuesday.
Here are the top ten crypto gainers and losers over the past 24 hours:
Jefferies: Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix’s example to list in the US via ADRs.
Jeff Kim, Head of Research at Jefferies, said Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix in listing on the U.S. market via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which will boost the share price of the South Korean chipmaker whose valuation lags behind Micron. "Chip stocks are at a turning point. ADRs will serve as an important catalyst to drive their valuations," he added.
6 minutes ago
UBS and TD Cowen sharply raise Arm’s target price, betting on a revaluation of Arm’s AI data center CPU value.
Arm’s stock price pulled back this week alongside the high-valuation AI sector, though some Wall Street analysts say the correction does not alter the company’s long-term standing in AI data centers. UBS sharply raised Arm’s price target from $260 to $470, retaining its Buy rating; TD Cowen lifted its target from $265 to $475, also keeping a Buy recommendation. Both firms share the view that as agentic AI evolves, CPUs could gain greater importance in data center architectures, rather than GPUs continuing to monopolize the investment narrative. TD Cowen believes that over the long term, CPUs could hold a more strategic position in certain AI workloads. UBS, meanwhile, emphasizes that the real debate in the market centers on the revenue potential of Arm’s self-developed or independent CPU business. The bank projects Arm’s CPU-related revenue could reach around $14 billion by 2030, though the company itself has stated this business will not have a material impact on its finances until fiscal 2028. Arm’s strengths lie in low latency and energy efficiency—metrics that major cloud providers are increasingly prioritizing as they expand AI infrastructure. Even with its stock pulling back from recent highs in the short term, analysts still view Arm as one of the key beneficiaries of the server CPU upgrade cycle.
6 minutes ago
Crypto whale who profited over $23.77 million from BAT ICO liquidates 27,586 ETH
According to monitoring by Yu Jing, a whale that earned $23.77 million from participating in the BAT ICO sold 15,000 ETH (valued at roughly $24.29 million) two hours ago. The whale has now fully liquidated all 27,586 ETH it received from selling 35 million BAT on-chain over the past day and a half, converting the proceeds into 44.836 million USDS at an average selling price of $1,625.
6 minutes ago
Sources: Iraqi officials once considered withdrawing from OPEC, but current plans are to remain a member and pursue a higher quota.
A senior Iraqi oil ministry official said that if OPEC quotas are not significantly increased, Iraq will be forced to consider all available options. Sources said Iraqi officials had considered withdrawing from OPEC, but the current plan is to remain a member and push for higher quotas. (Jinshi)
6 minutes ago
Kepler Cheuvreux raises ASML’s European share price target from €1,460 to €1,830.
Kepler Cheuvreux has raised the target price for ASML’s European shares from €1,460 to €1,830.
6 minutes ago
Stifel: U.S. economy in "overheated expansion" as AI investment cycle outweighs consumer pressure
U.S. large diversified financial services holding company Stifel has raised its year-end S&P 500 target and rolled out a stock allocation framework for a "high-growth, high-inflation" environment. The firm lifted its year-end S&P 500 target to 7,800 points, noting the U.S. economy is entering a "running hot" state—where economic growth is strengthening alongside mounting inflationary pressure. Stifel’s models show U.S. growth momentum is picking up while inflation momentum is clearly overheating, a trend that will reshape the market’s leading sector structure in the second half of the year. Instead of traditional consumer sectors, Stifel’s top picks are investment-led cyclical industries, including banks, transportation, materials, energy, semiconductors, software and equipment. The firm adds that fixed-asset investment in AI remains on the rise: large tech firms including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google are projected to combine for roughly $725 billion in total capital expenditures in 2026, some $100 billion higher than prior estimates. This means the AI investment chain is likely to continue outperforming the consumption chain squeezed by inflation. Stifel advises investors to reduce exposure to discretionary consumer, consumer staples, communication services and some financial services sectors, as these areas see weaker earnings revisions. Conversely, the firm favors cyclical value stocks and hedges with defensive value sectors such as insurance, autos, energy and banks.
The memecoin sector, characterized by high volatility and limited intrinsic value, remains largely driven by speculative flows.
Despite this, it represents a sizable portion of the digital asset market, with a valuation of $29.51 billion in comparison to the broader $2.3 trillion crypto market. This positioning allows it to function as a proxy for shifts in risk appetite and potential cycle bottoms.
Memecoin index and directional signals An analysis of the memecoin index, which tracks the weighted average of a basket of memecoins, indicated that it can serve as a leading indicator for Bitcoin and altcoins’ price action.
According to Alphractal, Bitcoin [BTC] and other altcoins tend to follow memecoin trends after these assets establish directional momentum.
Source: Alphractal In prior cycles, memecoin rallies have preceded broader market advances, while sustained declines have hinted at weakening structure across risk assets.
In fact, according to Alphractal’s Joao Wedson,
“Historically, they tend to mark their tops before other altcoins. When performance starts to deteriorate in this highly speculative sector, it is often one of the earliest signals of structural market weakness.”
This relationship remains relevant in the present environment. Especially since trading volume across the memecoin segment rose by 3.56% to $3.32 billion, alongside a shift in price sentiment – Illustrative of renewed speculative participation.
FLOKI–Bitcoin correlation To assess the current market direction, Alphractal compared FLOKI, the leading memecoin by trade count, with Bitcoin.
Both assets have declined in tandem recently, with FLOKI down 31% and Bitcoin down 28%. The correlation coefficient between the two assets hit 1 too – A perfectly positive correlation.
The last time the coefficient hit 1 was back in February 2024. Following the same, FLOKI recorded cumulative gains of 890%, gains that coincided with the wider market swinging north too.
Source: TradingView Additional technical alignment is visible in the Accumulation/Distribution (A/D) indicator too.
During the previous breakout rally, the A/D metric remained in negative territory but trended upwards, signaling early accumulation before price expansion.
At the time of writing, a similar structure seemed to be developing – A sign of positioning ahead of a larger move.
Liquidity and stablecoin supply Finally, liquidity conditions remain central to assessing upside potential. Stablecoin supply can be used as a proxy for available capital within the ecosystem.
An increase in stablecoin supply typically reflects investor readiness to deploy capital into risk assets.
At the time of writing, total stablecoin supply stood at $306.1 billion, up from $302.9 billion in January according to Artemis. This represented an additional $3.2 billion in capital capacity.
Source: Artemis A sustained rotation of stablecoin liquidity back into crypto assets would likely act as a catalyst for renewed price expansion across the market.
Final Thoughts Memecoins often move ahead of Bitcoin and major altcoins, establishing directional trends that the wider market later follows. Market may be approaching a structural inflection point, similar to patterns observed in early 2024.
While volatile movements in Bitcoin and altcoins continue, cryptocurrency analysis company Santiment announced the most popular altcoins in the cryptocurrency world in its latest post.
Accordingly, Santiment said that investors showed great interest in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), GameStop (GME), Kadena (KDA) and Chainlink (LINK) and named altcoins.
Gamestop is the leader in trending cryptocurrencies in the last 24 hours, followed by Bitcoin, Tether, KDA, LINK and ETH.
The cryptocurrencies that have attracted the most attention in the crypto industry and the reasons are listed as follows: GME: GameStop (GME) stock is trending amid growing discussions focusing on potential short squeeze scenarios similar to past events.
Bitcoin: The word BTC is trending due to the growing discussions about capital rotation from gold to Bitcoin.
Discussions highlight a shift in investment from gold to Bitcoin. Bitcoin's bullish trend and potential for a price double are also being discussed.
Tether (USDT): Tether is trending due to discussions about USDT and Tether Gold (XAUT). Tether is also notable for reaching 500 million users.
Kadena: KDA is trending due to the announcement that Layer 1 blockchain project Kadena will cease all operations and go bankrupt.
This caused the KDA token to lose approximately 60% of its value in a short period of time, resulting in significant losses for its holders.
Chainlink: LINK is in the spotlight with its participation at the Federal Reserve Payment Innovation Conference, where its executives discussed integrating traditional finance with DeFi, stablecoins, tokenization, and crypto payment innovations.
Considered a key player in the next-generation payment systems and crypto prediction markets, Chainlink is attracting interest from major financial and technology companies such as BlackRock, Coinbase, Google Cloud, and Circle.
Ethereum: ETH is trending due to extensive discussions about governance issues within the Ethereum Foundation and its relationship with projects like Polygon.
Key topics include discussions on Polygon's status as an Ethereum Layer-2 solution, comparisons of Ethereum's network efficiency to Bitcoin, and mentions of influential figures like Vitalik Buterin and Sandeep Nailwal.
Institutional investor interest, price movements, ETF outflows, large ETH transfers by the Ethereum Foundation, and Ethereum's role in multi-chain bridges and lending platforms are also contributing to ETH's trend.
*This is not investment advice.
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This week, the cryptocurrency community was rocked after Kadena’s sudden shutdown announcement sent the KDA price crashing by over 60% in a few hours. The massive price collapse triggered an enormous sell-off as investors scrambled to understand the abrupt closure of the once-promising blockchain project. Soon after, a shocking exposé from analysts revealed that the problems ran far deeper than market conditions, hinting at serious internal misconduct and mismanagement.
Kadena Scandal Exposed After KDA Price Crash A day after the KDA price crash on Tuesday, crypto analyst Lovrin revealed on X social media that several Kadena employees were allegedly caught shorting the token with leverage just before shutdown announcements, securing tens of millions of dollars in profits. The reports indicate that crypto exchanges purportedly facilitated these trades, painting a picture of coordinated internal manipulation.
Related Reading: Most Coordinated Attack In Crypto History? What Led To $19 Billion In Losses As Bitcoin Price Crashed
Adding fuel to the scandal, a viral X post from crypto market commentator @Katexbt exposed additional allegations against the Kadena leadership. The post claimed that the Kadena founders, Stuart Popejoy and Will Martino, were allegedly sued by family members over a personal loan used to fund Kadena, raising questions about its financial transparency from the outset.
Katexbt asserted that the blockchain was effectively non-functional, claiming a throughput of 480,000 transactions per second, yet it lacked real users or wallets. Partnerships and institutional involvement that were publicly promoted were reportedly exaggerated or fabricated, adding further doubts about the legitimacy of the Kadena project.
Source: Chart from Lovrin on X The team also allegedly hired a KOL agency, prioritizing selling tokens for real money over paying the marketing firm for its services. Additional allegations point to complex ties between Kadena’s leadership and affiliated companies, including the Kaddex domain, which was said to have been registered under Popejoy’s Kadena Eco’s family golf club in Italy.
Katexbt claimed that the blockchain project was slapped with a lawsuit at some point, but it made little difference as the team hid behind a maze of LLCs. Even more shocking, the crypto commentator alleged that the Kadena team had worked with Francesco Melpignano, the former CEO of Kadena Eco, to extract large amounts of KDA, which were then sold near peak prices, netting an estimated $20 million to $80 million in profits. Following this, community members reportedly ousted Melpignano, though Katexbt alleges that the former CEO remains on a shell company’s payroll.
About The Kadena Shutdown On Tuesday, Kadena released a public statement confirming the cessation of all business operations. The team stressed that, despite the organization’s wind-down, the Kadena blockchain would continue to operate independently under a decentralized model.
Related Reading: $19 Billion Bitcoin And Crypto Wipeout: What Caused The XRP Price To Crash 50% In A Single Candle?
The announcement described the closure as a response to market volatility and unfavourable conditions, expressing gratitude to staff, partners, and the community. The Kadena team clarified that the blockchain itself was not owned or operated by the company, emphasizing that independent miners and maintainers would govern it in the future. They also noted that about 566 million KDA remain to be distributed as mining rewards through 2139, while 83.7 million tokens are scheduled to come out of lockup by November 2029.
Overall cryptocurrency market at $3.64 trillion | Source: TOTAL on Tradingview.com Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
What went wrong inside Kadena — the Wall Street-engineered blockchain that tried to outsmart Bitcoin but collapsed under its own weight?
Summary
Kadena, once a multi-billion-dollar blockchain founded by ex-JPMorgan engineers, abruptly shut down operations citing unsustainable market conditions. The token (KDA) crashed over 75% within hours, triggering delistings across exchanges and panic among investors. Allegations surfaced of insider shorting and misconduct, though no evidence has been verified. The network continues to run under community control, but its future remains uncertain without leadership or funding. The day Kadena went dark The collapse of Kadena marks one of the most abrupt endings in recent crypto history. On Oct. 21, the team behind Kadena announced it would “cease all business activity and active maintenance immediately,” citing difficult market conditions and an inability to sustain operations.
KADENA PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
We regret to announce that the Kadena organization is no longer able to continue business operations and will be ceasing all business activity and active maintenance of the Kadena blockchain immediately.
We are tremendously grateful to everybody who…
— Kadena (@kadena_io) October 21, 2025 The announcement triggered a rapid fall in Kadena’s (KDA) market value, as the token dropped from $0.225 to nearly $0.056 within hours, erasing over 75% of its price and leaving the project’s future uncertain.
Centralized exchanges soon began delisting KDA and suspending deposits, with several planning to remove trading pairs by Oct. 29.
Kadena was founded by former JPMorgan blockchain engineers Stuart Popejoy and Will Martino. Their goal was to create a scalable proof-of-work system that maintained Bitcoin-level security while supporting smart contracts.
The network was built on a framework known as Chainweb, where multiple chains run in parallel and share security to improve transaction throughput.
The design attracted early attention from institutional developers and retail investors. At its peak in 2021, the KDA token traded above $27.60, and the project reached a multi-billion-dollar market capitalization before collapsing 99.8% to around $0.06 as of Oct. 23.
The community reaction to the shutdown has been divided. Many users expressed disbelief, anger, and disappointment, with some calling the event an “exit” rather than a planned handover.
However, the Kadena blockchain itself will continue to operate. The team stated that “independent miners and community developers will keep the network live,” with a final node binary to be released for ongoing maintenance without the company’s involvement.
They also confirmed that over 566 million KDA remain to be distributed as mining rewards until 2139, while around 83.7 million tokens are set to unlock by November 2029.
That statement means the network will survive in structure but not necessarily in purpose. Kadena now functions as a proof-of-work chain without its founding company, leadership, or funding.
The vision that never scaled Kadena launched in early 2019 and went live on mainnet around 2020, presenting itself as a scalable proof-of-work blockchain capable of running smart contracts through its braided chain design.
The project aimed to solve the performance bottlenecks seen in early networks and establish itself among the leading layer-1 contenders of that era.
Despite its technical ambition, several weaknesses became evident over time. Kadena’s architecture offered strong theoretical throughput and security but failed to translate that into meaningful real-world adoption.
The network’s decentralized-finance protocols never gained the liquidity or user engagement required to create a self-sustaining ecosystem. According to DeFi Llama, the total value locked on Kadena peaked at around $11 million in August 2022 and fell to roughly $128,000 by October 2025.
Another issue was identity. Competing networks such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) succeeded in building strong developer communities, distinct application verticals, and clear network effects.
Kadena, in contrast, remained a general-purpose platform without a defined niche. Analysts often described it as “technical novelty without product-market fit,” a condition that limited long-term traction.
Meanwhile, the crypto environment evolved rapidly. Layer-2 networks, modular architectures, and rollups began dominating the scaling conversation, drawing investor and developer attention toward ecosystems offering better composability and liquidity.
There are now more than 100 rollups and over 200 sovereign chains in operation, yet most struggle to attract even 2,000 daily users. The space has become saturated with networks that see little real usage, and Kadena gradually lost both attention and capital as activity shifted elsewhere.
Token economics and governance further complicated matters. The project’s long emission schedule created ongoing supply pressure while demand weakened. Development and governance remained concentrated within the central organization rather than a decentralized community.
In an attempt to regain momentum, Kadena announced a $50 million grant program in May 2025 to fund Chainweb EVM and tokenization projects. It also launched several protocol updates, including versions 2.27, 2.28, and 2.29 between February and May 2025.
These efforts, however, failed to change the on-chain reality. Developer activity stayed minimal, user participation low, and liquidity almost nonexistent, leaving the network exposed to the eventual market shock that followed.
Allegations cloud Kadena’s final days The collapse of Kadena has triggered a growing wave of speculation and allegations from within the crypto community. Several traders and self-proclaimed whistleblowers claim that certain members of the Kadena organization may have profited from the project’s downfall.
One widely shared post alleged that “Kadena employees [were] caught red-handed shorting their own token $KDA with leverage right before major announcements,” claiming profits “in the tens of millions” across multiple exchanges. These claims, however, remain unverified.
Speculation about insider behavior intensified after trading data appeared to align with major market movements earlier in October. Around Oct. 10, the broader crypto market fell sharply following President Trump’s new tariff announcements, which triggered a sell-off across risk assets.
Bitcoin (BTC) declined by nearly 12% in two days, while several altcoins lost more than 50%. Kadena’s token dropped from roughly $0.38 to $0.08, ranking among the steepest losses in mid-cap projects.
According to one analyst, “they get liquidated for everything … for almost two weeks they pretend all is okay, meanwhile they open huge leverage shorts … post about ceasing operations … make it all back.”
> Kadena organisation leverages their $KDA
> Oct 10th they get liquidated for everything
> For almost 2 weeks they pretend all is okay
> Meanwhile they open huge leverage shorts
> Post about ceasing operations
> Nuke chart to zero
> Make it all back
> justbusiness.exe https://t.co/lOTYsfZBRa pic.twitter.com/iHwIYW7sYh
— フ ォ リ ス (@follis_) October 22, 2025 The situation has already prompted threats of legal action. A post from Kaddex, one of Kadena’s main ecosystem projects, announced plans to organize a class-action lawsuit against Kadena’s directors, accusing them of “irresponsible behavior” and market misconduct.
If you are interested in joining our class action against Kadnea, please comment below. We'll be reaching out individually to everyone who lost money due to the token decline and Kadena's directors' irresponsible behavior.
— Kaddex (@Kaddex_Official) October 21, 2025 Outrage, grief, and a flicker of hope The aftermath of Kadena’s shutdown has unfolded as a mix of outrage and reflection. Across social platforms, long-time holders have expressed deep frustration and anger.
One user wrote, “I was holding this piece of s**t project for years, only for them to dump on everyone. These guys should be thrown in jail.”
Another commented, “A part of me just died tonight. After all these years $Kadena was just a scam like any other rugpull s**tcoin.”
“You totally rug pulled everyone who invested in you and then wouldn’t even turn on comments for the announcement. Classic,” another frustrated user added.
Amid the anger, some industry figures have called for calm and continuity. Daniel Keller, co-founder of the Flux project and one of Kadena’s earliest ecosystem partners, issued a public statement reaffirming his team’s commitment to the network.
He stated that Flux would continue supporting the “Kadena ecosystem and its community,” providing “wallet and technical guidance” while helping shape “a fully community-driven project.”
Announcement from the Flux Team
The Flux team would like to reaffirm our continued support for the Kadena ecosystem and its community. Including but not limited to, wallets (Ecko and Zelcore) and technical guidance. As the Kadena Foundation takes shape, we are committed to… pic.twitter.com/gn070lMIwt
— Daniel Keller (@dak_flux) October 22, 2025 Keller added that Flux remains guided by “decentralization, transparency, and collaboration,” and would assist in establishing the Kadena Foundation to sustain the network’s operations.
Whether this show of support will lead to an actual revival remains unclear. If the remaining miners, developers, and holders can organize effectively, Kadena may endure as a community-led chain, similar to how Terra Classic survived after its collapse.
However, the economic damage, reputational loss, and lack of institutional backing make such a recovery highly uncertain.
Cryptocurrencies have stood out as winners among asset classes since the outbreak of the war with Iran, but the resilience of digital assets may be a matter of timing.
Bitcoin, the largest token, and a cohort of smaller digital assets have been an oasis of calm relative to the volatility in equities, gold and oil. As crude oil has surged more than 40%, bullion is down roughly 5% for the month and the MSCI World Index is down 4%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin pushed through a crucial psychological mark of $75,000 on Tuesday in Asia, taking its gains since the war started at the end of February to nearly 14%. The token was last trading at around $74,700.
PANews reported on February 23 that the IoTeX team tweeted that on February 21, they discovered an attack on the Ethereum side of their multi-chain bridge ioTube. The attackers stole 410 million CIOTX tokens and approximately $4.4 million in assets through four steps. Currently, over 86% of the CIOTX has been locked or frozen, 12.8% (52.4 million CIOTX) is being frozen in cooperation with Binance and other platforms, and only 0.4% (1.7 million CIOTX) remains at risk after being exchanged on DEXs. Regarding the bridge's reserve funds, the attackers exchanged the stolen reserve tokens (including USDC, USDT, WBTC, WETH, and other assets) for approximately 2,183 ETH . Of this, 1,572 ETH has been transferred to the Bitcoin network via THORChain.
The IoTeX team has taken emergency measures, including distributing patch fixes, freezing related addresses, and working with exchanges to freeze funds. The ioTube bridge service will be restored after an independent security audit, along with a compensation plan and security upgrades. The team is committed to ensuring the safety of community assets and will release a more detailed compensation plan and hold a community AMA within the next 48 hours.
Previously reported, IoTeX suffered a loss of approximately $2 million in assets and is expected to be operational within 48 hours . Upbit has added IoTeX (IOTX) to its transaction alert list .
Jefferies: Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix’s example to list in the US via ADRs.
Jeff Kim, Head of Research at Jefferies, said Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix in listing on the U.S. market via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which will boost the share price of the South Korean chipmaker whose valuation lags behind Micron. "Chip stocks are at a turning point. ADRs will serve as an important catalyst to drive their valuations," he added.
5 minutes ago
UBS and TD Cowen sharply raise Arm’s target price, betting on a revaluation of Arm’s AI data center CPU value.
Arm’s stock price pulled back this week alongside the high-valuation AI sector, though some Wall Street analysts say the correction does not alter the company’s long-term standing in AI data centers. UBS sharply raised Arm’s price target from $260 to $470, retaining its Buy rating; TD Cowen lifted its target from $265 to $475, also keeping a Buy recommendation. Both firms share the view that as agentic AI evolves, CPUs could gain greater importance in data center architectures, rather than GPUs continuing to monopolize the investment narrative. TD Cowen believes that over the long term, CPUs could hold a more strategic position in certain AI workloads. UBS, meanwhile, emphasizes that the real debate in the market centers on the revenue potential of Arm’s self-developed or independent CPU business. The bank projects Arm’s CPU-related revenue could reach around $14 billion by 2030, though the company itself has stated this business will not have a material impact on its finances until fiscal 2028. Arm’s strengths lie in low latency and energy efficiency—metrics that major cloud providers are increasingly prioritizing as they expand AI infrastructure. Even with its stock pulling back from recent highs in the short term, analysts still view Arm as one of the key beneficiaries of the server CPU upgrade cycle.
5 minutes ago
Crypto whale who profited over $23.77 million from BAT ICO liquidates 27,586 ETH
According to monitoring by Yu Jing, a whale that earned $23.77 million from participating in the BAT ICO sold 15,000 ETH (valued at roughly $24.29 million) two hours ago. The whale has now fully liquidated all 27,586 ETH it received from selling 35 million BAT on-chain over the past day and a half, converting the proceeds into 44.836 million USDS at an average selling price of $1,625.
5 minutes ago
Sources: Iraqi officials once considered withdrawing from OPEC, but current plans are to remain a member and pursue a higher quota.
A senior Iraqi oil ministry official said that if OPEC quotas are not significantly increased, Iraq will be forced to consider all available options. Sources said Iraqi officials had considered withdrawing from OPEC, but the current plan is to remain a member and push for higher quotas. (Jinshi)
5 minutes ago
Kepler Cheuvreux raises ASML’s European share price target from €1,460 to €1,830.
Kepler Cheuvreux has raised the target price for ASML’s European shares from €1,460 to €1,830.
5 minutes ago
Stifel: U.S. economy in "overheated expansion" as AI investment cycle outweighs consumer pressure
U.S. large diversified financial services holding company Stifel has raised its year-end S&P 500 target and rolled out a stock allocation framework for a "high-growth, high-inflation" environment. The firm lifted its year-end S&P 500 target to 7,800 points, noting the U.S. economy is entering a "running hot" state—where economic growth is strengthening alongside mounting inflationary pressure. Stifel’s models show U.S. growth momentum is picking up while inflation momentum is clearly overheating, a trend that will reshape the market’s leading sector structure in the second half of the year. Instead of traditional consumer sectors, Stifel’s top picks are investment-led cyclical industries, including banks, transportation, materials, energy, semiconductors, software and equipment. The firm adds that fixed-asset investment in AI remains on the rise: large tech firms including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google are projected to combine for roughly $725 billion in total capital expenditures in 2026, some $100 billion higher than prior estimates. This means the AI investment chain is likely to continue outperforming the consumption chain squeezed by inflation. Stifel advises investors to reduce exposure to discretionary consumer, consumer staples, communication services and some financial services sectors, as these areas see weaker earnings revisions. Conversely, the firm favors cyclical value stocks and hedges with defensive value sectors such as insurance, autos, energy and banks.
PANews reported on February 24th that, according to CoinDesk, the IoTeX public blockchain project's cross-chain bridge ioTube suffered a loss of approximately $4.4 million on February 21st due to a compromised Ethereum-side validator owner's private key . IoTeX sent an on-chain message to the attackers, promising a white-hat bounty of approximately 10% (about $440,000) for returning the funds within 48 hours, without pursuing legal action or providing their identity information to law enforcement. The project team stated that they have fully tracked the flow of funds, flagged and frozen the relevant exchange deposit addresses, identified four Bitcoin addresses holding approximately 66.6 BTC, and will introduce a malicious address blacklist through the mainnet v2.3.4 upgrade.
Author: PA一线
This content is for market information only and is not investment advice.
Crypto exploits declined by more than 90% in February, with digital asset thieves siphoning just $35.7 million across the ecosystem.
The sharp decline marks the quietest month for crypto security since March 2025, providing a brief reprieve for a sector routinely battered by nine-figure hacks.
Phishing and Oracle Attacks Linger Despite the Sharp Fall in Crypto TheftData compiled by blockchain security firm CertiK revealed a drastic month-over-month drop from January’s staggering losses.
Meanwhile, the figures also represent a massive year-over-year contraction. Last year’s February was dominated by a historic $1.5 billion exploit on the Bybit exchange, an anomaly that heavily skewed annual security metrics.
#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨
Combining all the incidents in February we’ve confirmed ~$35.7M lost to exploits with ~$8.5M of the total attributed to phishing.
This figure is the lowest monthly loss since March 2025.
More details below 👇 pic.twitter.com/7McXeoH3BR
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) February 28, 2026 Despite the broader market slowdown in illicit activity, targeted attacks still drained millions from decentralized finance protocols.
The single largest crypto exploit incident occurred on February 22 on the Stellar network.
According to Quill Audits, a hacker exploited the community-managed YieldBlox Blend pool. The attacker stole more than $10 million through a classic thin-liquidity oracle manipulation attack.
By executing a single abnormal trade in the highly illiquid USTRY/USDC market, the attacker artificially inflated the token’s price by a factor of 100.
This tricked the protocol’s valuation system, allowing the attacker to execute massive undercollateralized borrowing.
A day earlier, on February 21, the Internet-of-Things blockchain project IoTeX suffered a major breach after a private key was compromised.
While CertiK estimated the losses at nearly $9 million, the IoTeX team claimed the stolen amount was closer to $2 million.
Security researchers noted the attacker used the compromised key to access the token safe, quickly swapped the stolen assets for ETH and routed them to Bitcoin using cross-chain bridges.
Rounding out the top three was a $2.2 million exploit of Foom.Cash, a privacy protocol.
In this attack, the hacker reportedly exploited a cryptographic flaw to forge zkSNARK proofs. This allowed them to create fake digital credentials that the protocol accepted, enabling the withdrawal of large volumes of tokens.
Crypto Phishing Attacks Remain a ConcernBeyond smart contract vulnerabilities, phishing remains a persistent threat, accounting for exactly $8.5 million of February’s total losses.
The crypto phishing sector has flourished recently, driven by the rise of professionalized “drainer-as-a-service” providers like Angel Drainer and Inferno Drainer.
These platforms allow scammers to execute large-scale malicious operations with minimal technical expertise. They provide fraudsters with a complete toolkit, including cloned websites, deceptive social media accounts, and automated smart contract scripts.
In exchange for providing this illicit infrastructure, the operators take a percentage of all stolen funds.
PANews reported on March 3 that IoTeX released another update on the security incident following a suspected private key leak and hacking attack. The update announced the official launch of its claims portal, allowing affected users to submit claims. All affected users will receive compensation. IoTeX stated that users with affected assets totaling no more than $10,000 will be compensated in stablecoins, covering over 90% of affected users. Users with affected assets exceeding $10,000 will receive full compensation in installments and additional rewards. IoTeX clarified that the compensation funds do not come from the sale of IOTX tokens, but from the foundation's treasury (Bitcoin + stablecoins). Fund tracing and enforcement efforts are ongoing, and all recovered stolen assets will be used directly for compensation.
Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone have announced that they have lifted their previous delisting decision for IoTeX (IOTX).
24.03.2026 - 09:31
Update: 24.03.2026 - 09:31
South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone, announced that they have lifted their previous delisting order for IoTeX (IOTX). This development is seen as a significant step towards restoring confidence in the project.
The exchanges stated that the factors that led to IOTX being placed on the watchlist have been resolved following a comprehensive review process. The review included direct communication with the project team and a detailed assessment of the past security incident and the response to it.
Authorities emphasized that the technical reports and improvement steps submitted by the IoTeX team were deemed sufficient, concluding that there were no longer any risk factors that would prevent the asset from being traded.
As is known, a crypto asset being placed on the delist watchlist means that risks have been identified in various criteria such as security, transparency, project development, and market performance. During this process, projects are expected to address these shortcomings.
Experts say that IOTX’s delisting is a positive signal for investor confidence and could set an important precedent for projects in similar situations. However, investors are warned that risks in crypto assets persist and developments should be closely monitored.
*This is not investment advice.
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Today’s edition of the weekly recap covers a legal setback in the Heart case, an upcoming White House crypto summit, and the Trump family’s planned metaverse expansion. Meanwhile, MetaMask adds Bitcoin and Solana support.
Judge dismisses case against HEX founder U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon has dismissed the SEC’s lawsuit against Hex founder Richard Heart. Heart, who also founded PulseChain and Pulsex, was accused of raising over $1 billion through unregistered cryptocurrency offerings and defrauding investors out of $12.1 million to purchase luxuries (i.e. the largest black diamond). The judge ruled that there was insufficient connection between Heart’s alleged conduct and the U.S. Heart, a U.S. citizen, resides in Finland, where he was accused of tax evasion and assault. Trump to host White House crypto summit President Donald Trump will host a cryptocurrency summit on March 7, featuring industry leaders and administration officials. The event will be coordinated by crypto and AI czar David Sacks and Bo Hines, executive director of the digital assets working group. Trump family explores metaverse A recent trademark application shows the Trump (TRUMP) family’s intention to develop a TRUMP-branded metaverse. This expands their cryptocurrency ventures beyond meme coins and NFTs. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filing was submitted on an “intent to use” basis. MetaMask plans Bitcoin and Solana integration The popular cryptocurrency wallet will add native support for Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) ecosystems this year. This will eliminate the need for users to manage multiple wallets or use wrapped tokens. Full Bitcoin support is scheduled for the third quarter of 2025, while Solana integration is targeted for May. Bybit hackers move stolen funds to Bitcoin MetaMask Head of Security Taylor Monahan reported that Bybit hackers have transferred at least 209,384 Ethereum (ETH) (approximately $480 million) to Bitcoin. This is more than half of the estimated 400,000 ETH stolen from the exchange. According to Arkham Intelligence tracking, at least $240 million was laundered using THORchain, with most funds converted to native BTC. North Korea’s Lazarus Group moved another 62,200 ETH ($138 million) on March 1. This leaves them with just 156,500 Ethereum remaining from the original theft, according to an analysis by crypto researcher EmberCN. SEC agrees to drop Consensys lawsuit The SEC agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against Consensys, the developer of MetaMask, which had alleged securities law violations. According to Ethereum co-founder and Consensys founder Joseph Lubin, the SEC will file a motion to end the case. In another development, the SEC formally filed to dismiss its case against Coinbase with prejudice on Thursday, confirming the agreement announced last week and ensuring the case cannot be refiled. BitMEX seeks deal The cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives trading platform co-founded by Arthur Hayes in 2014 is exploring potential buyers. BitMEX has faced regulatory challenges since 2020, when it was charged with failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures, eventually pleading guilty. Metaplanet seeks additional Bitcoin acquisition funding The Japanese firm is looking to raise 2 billion yen ($13.6 million) through zero-interest ordinary bonds, with proceeds set aside for additional Bitcoin purchases. SEC and Tron request case pause The SEC, the Tron (TRX) Foundation, and Justin Sun filed a joint motion Wednesday asking a federal judge to temporarily halt the regulator’s ongoing legal action. The regulator had initially sued Tron, Sun, and BitTorrent in July 2023, alleging market manipulation, fraud, and issuing unregistered securities. ZachXBT joins Paradigm as security advisor The pseudonymous blockchain investigator has taken a position with research-driven investment firm Paradigm as an incident response advisor to support their portfolio companies. Paradigm cofounder Matt Huang praised ZachXBT’s accomplishments, noting the investigator has helped recover over $350 million for victims of hacks and scams. SEC drops Uniswap investigation The SEC has terminated its investigation into Uniswap Labs, the company behind the decentralized exchange protocol, according to Tuesday’s announcement. Uniswap had received a Wells notice last April indicating the SEC’s intent to bring charges for allegedly operating as an unregistered securities broker and exchange. Strive CEO urges GameStop to adopt Bitcoin reserves Matt Cole, CEO of Strive Asset Management, has formally requested that GameStop consider adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset. The letter to Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen suggests Bitcoin adoption could position GameStop as a market leader. Sam Bankman-Fried breaks X silence The former FTX CEO posted publicly for the first time in two years. His Monday evening posts addressed the challenges of firing employees, suggesting terminations often result from company-role mismatches rather than employee shortcomings. OKX affiliate reaches $505 million DOJ settlement Cryptocurrency exchange OKX’s affiliate Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd has agreed to pay over $505 million in penalties after pleading guilty to serving U.S. customers without proper licensing and failing to follow anti-money laundering regulations. The settlement includes a $420.3 million criminal forfeiture and an $84.4 million criminal fine. Strategy completes nearly $2 billion Bitcoin purchase The company formerly known as MicroStrategy has acquired 20,355 Bitcoin at an average price of $97,514 per coin. This marks a total investment of almost $2 billion. Zhao reveals 98.48% portfolio concentration in BNB Binance founder Changpeng Zhao disclosed his cryptocurrency holdings on Binance’s social platform, revealing that BNB (BNB) comprises 98.48% of his portfolio. His remaining assets include a modest 1.32% allocation to Bitcoin, followed by smaller positions in stablecoins EURI (0.17%) and USDT (0.03%). Pump.fun explores automated market maker development The popular Solana-based meme coin launchpad is reportedly testing an in-house automated market maker (AMM) that could replace Raydium as the default decentralized exchange for new tokens.
PANews reported on January 14th that, according to SoSoValue data, the cryptocurrency market saw a general rebound after a period of correction, with most sectors rising by approximately 3% to 8% in the past 24 hours. The NFT sector led the gains with an 8.34% increase, with Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) rising 13.36% and ApeCoin (APE) rising 13.17%. Additionally, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 4.34%, surpassing $95,000, and Ethereum (ETH) rose 7.40%, surpassing $3,300.
In other sectors, the Meme sector rose 7.31% in the last 24 hours, with Pepe (PEPE) surging 16.06%; the RWA sector rose 6.95%, with Keeta (KTA) rising 16.69%; the Layer 2 sector rose 6.92%, with Optimism (OP) rising 17.21%; the DeFi sector rose 6.73%, with Ethena (ENA) rising 13.06%; the PayFi sector rose 5.35%, with Dash (DASH) rising 42.84%; the Layer 1 sector rose 4.99%, with Polkadot (DOT) rising 9.48%; and the CeFi sector rose 4.55%, with Binance Coin (BNB) rising 4.81%.
PANews reported on February 12th that, according to SoSoValue data, the overall cryptocurrency market is trending downwards. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.97%, dropping below $68,000; Ethereum (ETH) fell 2.83%, dropping below $2,000. Only the NFT, SocialFi, and Layer 2 sectors remained relatively resilient, rising 1.40%, 0.53%, and 0.04% respectively in the past 24 hours. Within the NFT sector, ApeCoin (APE) rose 1.30%; within the SocialFi sector, Toncoin (TON) rose 0.68%; and within the Layer 2 sector, zkSync (ZK) rose 4.38%.
In other sectors, the Meme sector fell 0.29% in the last 24 hours, but PIPPIN (PIPPIN) surged 33.94%; the Layer 1 sector fell 1.35%, while Zcash (ZEC) remained relatively strong, rising 2.41%; the CeFi sector fell 1.46%, while Aster (ASTER) surged 8.90% intraday; the DeFi sector fell 1.71%, while Hyperliquid (HYPE) bucked the trend, rising 4.08%; and the PayFi sector fell 1.88%, while eCash (XEC) rose 4.11%.
PANews reported on April 3rd that, according to SoSoValue data, the cryptocurrency market generally saw a pullback. The NFT sector fell 3.85% in the last 24 hours. Within the sector, Pudgy APENFT (NFT) fell 0.58%, Penguins (PENGU) fell 2.13%, and ApeCoin (APE) fell 5.24%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.06%, dropping below $67,000. Ethereum (ETH) fell 2.52%, fluctuating narrowly around $2,000.
In other sectors, the Meme sector fell 0.04% in the last 24 hours, with MemeCore (M) showing relative strength, rising 4.28%; the PayFi sector fell 1.16%, and Dash (DASH) fell 4.01%; the Layer 1 sector fell 1.45%, with Algorand (ALGO) bucking the trend and rising 7.61%; the Layer 2 sector fell 1.88%, but Polygon (POL) rose 0.66%; the DeFi sector fell 2.11%, with EdgeX (EDGE) surging 13.38% intraday; the CeFi sector fell 1.65%, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell 3.34%.
A sudden surge has gripped the cryptocurrency market, with ApeCoin emerging at the forefront. The prominent gaming and metaverse token soared over 100 percent in value within a single day, drawing intense investor attention. Industry analysts are pointing to significant management changes at Yuga Labs, the developer behind ApeCoin, as the main driver of this rapid rally.
Gaming tokens outperform BTCApeCoin’s sharp move has ignited a wave of momentum across the entire gaming token sector. Data from the past 30 days reveal that roughly 80 percent of game-focused assets have outpaced the performance of Bitcoin. Notably, projects such as Immutable and The Sandbox have seen strong inflows and heightened investor engagement, highlighting the expanding activity within this segment.
Reviewing sector performance indexes confirms that the total price increase across gaming tokens has reached 80 percent. This trend indicates that investor interest is rapidly shifting toward gaming-themed projects, fueling their ongoing ascent.
The story behind the ApeCoin rallyApeCoin’s dramatic price rise is not solely a product of speculation. The management reshuffle at Yuga Labs appears to have strengthened the asset’s long-term prospects. Communities active in both NFTs and the metaverse now believe that the fresh leadership could deliver a new vision and positive momentum for the project.
According to market observers, the leadership changes at Yuga Labs have triggered significant expectations among investors, directly propelling ApeCoin’s rally. The expanding momentum throughout the sector is also providing extra support for the token.
Both technical and fundamental factors continue to fuel the market’s activity. The upward movement in most gaming and metaverse-linked tokens suggests that ApeCoin’s surge is part of a broader trend rather than an isolated event.
Technical perspective: warning signs and thresholdsTechnical indicators now show ApeCoin forming a higher high on its price charts for the first time, considered a classic bullish signal. However, after such a steep climb, some analysts are anticipating a short-term correction. The $0.25 mark has emerged as a critical resistance level; if ApeCoin can sustain a break above this threshold, the bullish trend could gather even more strength.
If the next market correction results in a higher low, it would further confirm the existing uptrend. A breakout from this level could open the door for another round of gains. Observers recommend closely monitoring broader sector movements during these volatile phases.
Sector-wide momentum shapes ApeCoin’s outlookWhile ApeCoin’s own surge is noteworthy, it reflects a larger wave sweeping through the gaming sector. The fact that most game-themed digital assets are outperforming Bitcoin suggests that ApeCoin is riding a powerful industry-wide momentum. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen whether its long-term trajectory will depend more on sector dynamics or on the project’s own fundamental developments.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
PANews reported on May 14th that, according to SoSoValue data, the cryptocurrency market generally saw a correction, with the NFT sector leading the decline at 3.95% in the past 24 hours. Within the sector, Audiera (BEAT) rose 6.27%, while ApeCoin (APE) fell 4.64%. Additionally, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.93%, dropping below $80,000; Ethereum (ETH) fell 1.23%, dropping below $2,300.
In other sectors, the Meme sector fell 0.25% in the last 24 hours, with TROLL (TROLL) showing relative strength, rising 24.93%; the CeFi sector fell 0.60%, with Cronos (CRO) falling 5.54%; the PayFi sector fell 1.69%, with Dash (DASH) falling 6.84%; the Layer 1 sector fell 2.15%, but Canton Network (CC) rose 1.45%; the DeFi sector fell 3.16%, with LAB (LAB) surging 22.84%; the AI sector fell 3.57%, with Unibase (UB) surging 32.63% intraday; and the Layer 2 sector fell 3.60%, with zkSync (ZK) falling 8.37%.
PANews reported on June 12th that, according to SoSoValue data, the cryptocurrency market rebounded across the board, rising 2% to 15% in the past 24 hours. The NFT sector performed particularly well, rising 15.04%, with Audiera (BEAT) up 17.25% and ApeCoin (APE) up 8.68%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 1.90%, breaking through $63,000; Ethereum (ETH) rose 1.32%, breaking through $1,600.
In other sectors, the AI sector rose 7.01% in the last 24 hours, with Velvet (VELVET) surging 83.37%; the DeFi sector rose 5.21%, with LAB (LAB) rising 21.89%; the PayFi sector rose 3.56%, with Monero (XMR) rising 21.65%; the Layer 2 sector rose 2.19%, with Arbitrum (ARB) rising 5.60%; the Layer 1 sector rose 1.83%, with NEAR Protocol (NEAR) rising 5.21%; the CeFi sector rose 1.40%, with Gate (GT) rising 2.20%; and the Meme sector rose 0.98%, with BUILDon (B) rising 8.15%.
The potential creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve by the United States could trigger a domino effect of global adoption and economic transformation, according to a recent analysis shared on X.
One of the primary effects, author Alex Wacy suggests, would be other nations following suit: “Increasingly, countries will consider establishing $BTC reserves.” Even a modest allocation of 5-10% of a nation’s treasury to Bitcoin could significantly impact its price.
Corporate adoption is another potential outcome as “major companies will start building reserves and holding funds in Bitcoin,” Wacy predicts.
This strategy would enable businesses to accept Bitcoin payments without using their own capital for purchases, potentially growing their reserves over time.
Beyond national reserves, Wacy outlines other scenarios, including businesses might build Bitcoin reserves to facilitate transactions, retaining portions of BTC payments to grow their holdings.
Individual adoption is expected to rise as well, with people building personal Bitcoin reserves as a means of preserving and potentially growing capital, particularly for long-term goals like retirement savings.
Separately, Bitcoin could become a standard medium for everyday transactions, from gaming purchases to phone top-ups.
Also Read: Russia Weighs Bitcoin Reserve As Deputy Warns Sanctions Leave Crypto ‘Only Instrument For Trade’ Amid Trump’s Pro-Bitcoin Push
Within five years, nations and corporations could become the largest Bitcoin holders, which could have far-reaching consequences:
Institutional Influence: Public companies might list Bitcoin holdings in financial reports, influencing their valuations. Sanction Evasion: Bitcoin transactions could bypass sanctions, enhancing its utility and global accessibility. Inflation Hedge: With its supply capped at 21 million coins, Bitcoin adoption could position it as a critical hedge against inflation. This aligns with predictions from industry figures like Michael Saylor, who view constant demand for Bitcoin, generated by widespread adoption, driving significant price appreciation.
Read Next:
Bitcoin Reserve Would ‘Benefit Special Interest Groups,’ Former Fed Chairman Warns Image: Pixabay
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A court in Illinois sided with the United States Commodity Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) and recognized two altcoins – Olympus (OHM) and KlimaDAO (KLIMA) as commodities.
Illinois Northern District Court Judge supported the CFTC in the case against Oregon resident Sam Ikurti and his company, Jafia, LLC. The CFTC deemed the company a Ponzi-like scheme.
Judge Imposed a $120 Million Fine on Crypto Ponzi SchemeIn 2022, CFTC accused Ikurti and his colleague Ravishankar Avadanam of fraud and non-compliance with registration requirements. The case against Avadanam was dismissed in 2023 as part of an agreement with the regulator.
The Commission claimed that they organized the Ponzi scheme, which attracted about $ 44 million from at least 170 investors through the company’s website called Jafia LLC and YouTube videos.
Read more: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For
Ikurti and Avadanama developed Jafia LLC, which claimed to bring customers up to 15% returns per annum. However, scammers spent all investor funds on the purchase of altcoins OHM and KLIMA.
Judge Mary Rowland agreed with the CFTC that Jafia, LLC, and its founders were involved in fraud. The defendants are now required to pay more than $120 million in compensation to all victims of the scheme. Specifically, this included $83.7 million in restitution and $36.9 million in disgorgement.
However, the most important point in the case was the court’s recognition of OHM and KLIMA as commodities.
“The order finds not only are Bitcoin and Ethereum commodities within the CFTC’s jurisdiction, but also “OHM and Klima, two non-Bitcoin virtual currencies … qualify as commodities,” CFTC said.
Due to this development, the price of OHM has increased by 0.71% in the past 24 hours despite the broader market downturn. Meanwhile, the price of KLIMA has also increased modestly by 0.47%.
Olympus (OHM) Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoDetermining whether crypto assets are securities or commodities is a subject of lively debate. CFTC Representatives consider most cryptocurrency commodities, while the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) believes that all of them are more likely to relate to securities.
Read more: Who Is Gary Gensler? Everything To Know About the SEC Chairman
Representatives of the crypto industry believe that it is precisely because of disputes between the CFTC and SEC in the United States that cannot create a regulatory framework for the crypto market.
A US court has ruled that two lesser-known cryptocurrencies, Olympus OHM, and KlimaDAO KLIMA, are commodities like Bitcoin. This decision emerged from a civil lawsuit filed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Sam Ikkurty and his companies.
Also Read: Coinbase rides high on precedent in Binance-SEC ruling
According to a July 3 CFTC statement, Judge Mary Rowland of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois stated that the defendants violated the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations by not registering their company and misappropriating investors’ funds.
Judge Rowland found that Ikkurty misrepresented his fund’s performance and did not disclose that it had decreased by 98.99% over a few months. Additionally, he operated a Ponzi-like scheme by raising funds for products supposedly backed by digital assets related to carbon offsets. Instead of obtaining the promised collateral, the defendants transferred most of the funds to earlier investors to cover losses.
Consequently, the Judge ordered Ikkurty to pay over $120 million—$83.7 million in restitution and $36.9 million in disgorgement—for operating the Ponzi-like scheme. Meanwhile, Judge Rowland’s view that OHM and KLIMA were commodities was a crucial part of the ruling that drew the crypto community’s attention.
CFTC stated:
“The order finds not only are Bitcoin and Ethereum commodities within the CFTC’s jurisdiction, but also ‘OHM and Klima, two non-Bitcoin virtual currencies … qualify as commodities,’ noting those virtual currencies fall into the same general class as Bitcoin, on which there is regulated futures trading.”
KLIMA is the governance token of KlimaDAO, a decentralized organization aiming to solve climate-finance coordination problems. OHM is the governance token of OlympusDAO, which seeks to create a community-owned decentralized reserve currency. Notably, both digital assets have lost 99% of their value during the past years.
CFTC and SEC’s long-standing battle over crypto Judge Rowland’s decision highlights the regulatory uncertainty in the crypto industry, especially for altcoins. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), led by Gary Gensler, insists that most cryptocurrencies, except Bitcoin, are securities and fall under its jurisdiction. This stance has led to legal actions against major crypto firms, including Coinbase, and the classification of altcoins like Solana as securities.
Also Read: Can altcoins gain ground as Bitcoin dominance weakens?
The CFTC, however, argues that most cryptocurrencies are commodities and under its authority. The regulator has also filed numerous legal actions against crypto firms like KuCoin, labeling some digital assets as commodities.
Market observers noted that these cases reflect the ongoing conflict between the SEC and CFTC about their roles in cryptocurrency oversight. Notably, most crypto stakeholders, including billionaire investor Mark Cuban, believe the CFTC is better equipped to oversee the emerging industry than its sister regulatory agency, which has adopted a stringent stance towards the sector.
A widely followed crypto strategist believes that altcoins are gearing up for a rally with a magnitude never seen before in the current market cycle.
Pseudonymous analyst Altcoin Psycho tells his 493,700 followers on the social media platform X that altcoins historically witness big bursts to the upside during a bull market’s second inning.
[adinserter block="1"]
According to the analyst, traders who made gains on Bitcoin (BTC) and meme tokens will likely rotate their capital and trigger another round of rallies for the altcoin market.
“If you think this market is fun, just wait until memecoins and BTC liquidity rotate back into quality altcoins. The best gains of a cycle tend to happen in the 2nd leg up.
Don’t get me wrong, I think memecoins go higher and I’ve been enjoying finally not losing money on them but as someone who’s been in crypto since 2014, I can tell you from past experience the 2nd leg up is by far the craziest (in a good way).”
Specifically, Altcoin Psycho is keeping a close watch on altcoins with no more tokens to unlock, suggesting that heavy selling pressure is not in sight for these coins as total supply is out in circulation.
“Look for previous cycle tokens that are fully unlocked and haven’t run yet. The ones with strong weekly candle closes today are next up to run.”
One fully vested altcoin on trader’s radar is the native asset of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace LooksRare (LOOKS).
“–> NFTs picking up steam again
–> former 2nd largest NFT marketplace
–> 100% unlocked
——–>bottom?”
Source: Altcoin Psycho/X At time of writing, LOOKS is trading at $0.124.
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Crypto trading sensation Ansem, known on X (formerly Twitter) as @blknoiz06, has directed the market’s gaze towards the Bitcoin Runes ecosystem, labeling it as the nascent grounds for the next 100x crypto opportunity, as NewsBTC reported yesterday. Ansem, whose prowess is well-documented through his previous astronomical gains of 170x on Solana (SOL), 520x on dogwifhat (WIF), and 80x on Bonk (BONK), stirred the crypto community with his recent Dogecoin comparison.
On the cusp of Bitcoin’s highly anticipated halving today, Ansem doubled down on his initial assessment, particularly highlighting two tokens within the Bitcoin Runes ecosystem: Bitcoin Wizards (WZRD) and PUPS. He equates WZRD with Dogecoin, suggesting it has the potential to mirror Dogecoin’s viral success. In contrast, he compares PUPS to the lesser-known but highly profitable dogwifhat (WIF).
Related Reading: Elon Musk Latest Tweet: How Much Did Dogecoin Gain From It Today?
Dogecoin needs to overcome the 0.236 Fib, 1-week chart | Source: DOGEUSD on TradingView.com In a tweet that caught the eye of both investors and enthusiasts, Ansem elaborated on his reasoning behind the picks, stating:
Great thread, been saying, I believe Runes are next asymmetric 100x opp in crypto. The meme that got DOGE founder interested in Bitcoin & the phrase magic internet money is still used today – representative of bitcoin culture. DOGE equivalent = WZRD, WIF equivalent = PUPS.
Ansem references a thread on X by Immutable Edge (@ImmutableSOL), who delved into the historical and cultural significance of the “Magic Internet Money” meme, originally sparked by mavensbot’s viral Reddit ad.
The “Magic Internet Money” meme dates back to February 18, 2013, when mavensbot, a digital artist, submitted a hand-drawn depiction of a blue wizard to promote Bitcoin on Reddit. This ad, created during Bitcoin’s early adoption phase, was crucial in cultivating a cultural ethos around Bitcoin.
It resonated deeply within the community, encapsulating the whimsical yet revolutionary nature of Bitcoin’s rise. The ad’s simplicity and authenticity resonated with the Reddit community, propelling Bitcoin from a niche internet experiment to a major financial phenomenon. Within weeks of the ad’s debut, Bitcoin’s value surged from $27 to a record high of $1,132 by November 2013.
Bitcoin Wizards, one of the highlighted tokens, aims to rekindle this original spirit. The token leverages the iconic imagery and cultural narrative of the “Magic Internet Money” meme to foster a new wave of interest and adoption. The creators of WZRD are not only paying homage to Bitcoin’s roots but are also embedding this storied meme within the mechanics of a modern cryptocurrency, aiming to capture both nostalgia and innovation.
The Bitcoin Wizards project is part of the broader Bitcoin Runes ecosystem, which reached a lot of hype prior to its launch. According to Ansem, WZRD’s history and deep roots in memes give it the perfect ingredients to become the next Dogecoin, just on Bitcoin Runes.
Moreover, the analyst assessment comes at a critical time for the crypto market, which is often influenced by the narratives that capture the community’s imagination. As the Bitcoin halving event unfolds, many eyes will be on the Bitcoin Runes ecosystem to see if it can indeed replicate the meteoric rises seen in BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals.
At press time, WZRD traded at $12.15, up 70% in the last 24 hours.
WZRD/USD price | Source: Coingecko Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com
Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality
Created by industry experts and meticulously reviewed
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After momentarily sliding below important support levels, Ethereum (ETH) is once again on the climb. After a significant change in market mood, the second-largest digital asset by market capitalization passed $2,900.
Interestingly, Eric Trump, the son of US President Donald Trump, weighed in on the situation, remarking that it is a strategic opportunity to acquire ETH.
Tariff Pause Sparks Market Rebound Concerns over possible tariffs on Canada and Mexico rattled the crypto market earlier this week. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum fell significantly; Ethereum dropped momentarily to around $2,360. Still, the temporary suspension of the tariffs by Trump offered a breather, which raised investor confidence in risk assets including cryptocurrency.
In the wake of the announcement, Ethereum experienced a robust recovery, with a nearly 20% increase. Traders interpreted this as an invitation to re-enter the market, and ETH promptly reclaimed the $2,900 mark.
In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH.
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) February 3, 2025
Eric Trump’s Crypto Endorsement Raises Eyebrows Eric Trump posted his optimistic view on Ethereum on social media. He first said, “In my opinion, it’s a great time to add $ETH. You can thank me later.” Although the subsequent section of his remarks was deleted, crypto investors saw resonance in his endorsement of Ethereum’s future development.
The Trump family has been progressively involved in the digital asset sector, particularly through their World Liberty Financial platform. This most recent statement serves to emphasize their involvement and potential long-term dedication to blockchain technology.
ETHUSD trading at $2,722 on the daily chart: TradingView.com World Liberty Financial’s Significant Ethereum Transaction World Liberty Financial recently made a substantial move in the crypto space, which has served to further fuel speculation. The firm transferred over $300 million in assets to Coinbase’s custody platform, according to blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain. Furthermore, they acquired an additional 1,826 ETH for approximately $5 million and converted nearly 20,000 Lido Staked Ether (stETH) into ETH.
World Liberty Financial (@worldlibertyfi) moved $307.41M in 8 assets to #CoinbasePrime 6 hours ago—as part of treasury management and business operations.
Shortly after, the project unstaked 19,423 $stETH to $ETH and further spent 5M $USDC to buy 1,826 $ETH at $2,738.… https://t.co/Rp9NAFUs5N pic.twitter.com/5bfIvJma7U
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) February 4, 2025
These transactions indicate that the company is making preparations for the introduction of its “Earn and Borrow” lending protocol. Although the protocol is still in the process of being developed, the substantial transfers suggest that the platform could soon play a significant role in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Ethereum’s Prospects Still Remain Positive As institutional interest is rising and the price of the top altcoin has recaptured higher levels, Ether remains a central focus in the crypto market. Macroeconomic changes, strategic investments, and political influence taken together provide an interesting dynamic for ETH’s future course.
Featured image from Gemini Imagen, chart from TradingView
The crypto market has experienced a modest correction, with several major coins witnessing small declines amid a broader bull run.
This dip comes amid significant whale activity, revealing divergent strategies among the crypto market’s largest players.
Crypto Whales Play Both Sides: Accumulating and SellingBeInCrypto Markets data revealed that over the past 24 hours, the broader crypto market has dropped 3.83%. Furthermore, 7 of the top 10 cryptocurrencies are in the red.
Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship crypto, dipped 0.48% over the past day. Ethereum (ETH), Lido Staked Ether (STETH), and TRON (TRX) bucked the trend, with the latter posting the highest gains of 3.19%.
Crypto Market Performance. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsMeanwhile, (Micro) Strategy has bought the dip. The firm announced the acquisition of 21,021 BTC, valued at approximately $2.46 billion. The average purchase price was $117,256 per coin.
This purchase, funded through a $2.5 billion initial public offering of Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock (STRC), increases the company’s total holdings to 628,791 BTC. The firm is now sitting at an unrealized profit of $28.18 billion.
“With approximately $2.521 billion of gross proceeds, this is the largest US IPO completed in 2025 to date based on gross proceeds and the largest U.S. exchange-listed perpetual preferred stock offering in the U.S. since 2009,” the firm added.
Furthermore, its year-to-date BTC yield stands at 25%. This acquisition aligns with the company’s pattern of leveraging equity and debt to bolster its BTC reserves, a strategy that has positioned it as a leading institutional holder.
Besides Strategy, Lookonchain highlighted that Anchorage Digital, a digital asset platform and infrastructure provider, has also increased its Bitcoin exposure.
“Anchorage Digital has accumulated 10,141 BTC($1.19 billion) from multiple wallets over the past 9 hours,” Lookonchain posted.
In contrast, a previously dormant investor’s activities indicated a more profit-oriented approach. Lookonchain reported that after 12 years of dormancy, a Bitcoin holder transferred out 343 BTC, worth $40.52 million. Of this, the ‘Bitcoin OG’ deposited 130.77 BTC, valued at $15.45 million, to Kraken.
“This OG received 343 BTC (around $29,600 at the time) 12 years ago, when the BTC price was $86. That’s a 1,368x return!,” the blockchain analytics firm revealed.
This small transfer follows one of the largest Bitcoin transactions ever executed in the cryptocurrency’s history. BeInCrypto reported that Galaxy Digital sold over 80,000 Bitcoin, worth more than $9 billion, on behalf of a long-term investor.
Ethereum’s market has similarly seen contrasting whale behaviors. A new wallet (0x3dF3) accumulated 12,000 ETH worth over $45 million through Galaxy Digital.
“Since July 9, a total of 9 fresh wallets have accumulated 640,646 ETH ($2.43 billion),” Lookonchain wrote.
However, this accumulation is offset by sell-offs. An on-chain analyst noted that Galaxy Digital deposited 5,000 ETH worth $19.28 million into Coinbase, and Cumberland also transferred 10,592 ETH worth approximately $40.79 million to the same exchange.
Moreover, Fidelity also followed the same path and sent 12,981 ETH valued at around $49.7 million to Coinbase.
“The institutional address suspected to be HashKey Capital transferred 12,000 ETH to OKX the day before yesterday, and then withdrew 46.16 million USDT from OKX yesterday. In other words, those 12,000 ETH have been sold at a price of $3,847,” analyst EmberCN added.
Thus, the crypto whales’ divergent strategies—accumulation versus liquidation—illustrate varying risk appetites and outlooks in the market.
The crypto market capitalization has moved higher over the past day, with broad gains across major coins reflecting improving investor sentiment.
At the same time, the rebound has squeezed bearish positions, with over $468.5 million in short liquidations recorded during the 24-hour window.
Crypto Liquidation Wave Hits Short SellersAccording to BeInCrypto Markets data, total market capitalization has increased by 4.29%. The majority of the top 10 cryptocurrencies have posted gains over the past 24 hours.
Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped 9.10%, marking the strongest performance among the 10 largest cryptocurrencies. Lido Staked Ether (STETH) followed, advancing 8.83%. Ethereum (ETH) ranked third among the top performers, jumping 8.75% and reclaiming the $2,000 level.
Bitcoin (BTC) also posted notable gains, climbing 4.76% over the past day. The flagship cryptocurrency briefly touched $70,027 on Binance yesterday before retracing slightly to trade at $68,647 at press time.
Crypto Market Recovery On February 26. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsBeInCrypto reported that the rally benefited some long traders who recorded profits amid ETH’s latest rise. However, traders betting on further downside saw losses.
According to Coinglass, 128,348 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching $575.59 million. Short traders bore the brunt of the losses, accounting for $468.53 million in liquidations, compared to $107.06 million in long positions.
Crypto Market Liquidations. Source: CoinglassBitcoin alone accounted for roughly 40% of total liquidations, with approximately $194.95 million in short positions liquidated. ETH recorded $203.8 million in total liquidations during the same period, with $175.16 million stemming from short positions.
The largest single liquidation order occurred on Hyperliquid for the BTC-USD pair, valued at $10.41 million.
Leveraged positions over the past 7 days have just turned positive.
With today’s short liquidations in BTC, what remains now are longs.
The market works like this — it moves toward where weak hands are most heavily exposed.
That’s easy money for exchanges and the liquidity… pic.twitter.com/UtZ7px3KVr
— Joao Wedson (@joao_wedson) February 25, 2026 Analysts Warn Crypto Relief Rally May Not Signal Full Trend ReversalThe recent rally has sparked optimism, but analysts warn it may not mark a full trend reversal. According to XWIN Research Japan, Open Interest has fallen sharply from prior highs, signaling a broad deleveraging phase.
“The recent drop in price was accompanied by falling OI, suggesting that liquidations and derivatives-driven unwinds — rather than aggressive spot selling — played a major role in the decline. This type of reset can stabilize the market, but it does not automatically signal renewed structural demand,” XWIN Research Japan wrote.
At the same time, Binance’s Fund Flow Ratio remains low at around 0.012. Since this metric tracks BTC inflows relative to total exchange holdings, a low reading suggests limited immediate sell pressure.
The analysis added that during the drop toward the mid-$60,000 range, the ratio did not spike. This suggested there was no panic-driven spot selling.
However, XWIN Research Japan noted that weak inflows do not imply strong accumulation. The medium-term trend of the Fund Flow Ratio’s moving averages is trending downward. It indicates that structural demand has not yet shifted upward.
“When leverage remains suppressed, upward price moves can easily trigger short squeezes. In that case, the rally is driven more by position unwinding than by expanding structural demand,” the post read.
Analyst Darkfost also stressed that an increase in spot trading volume will be necessary for any bullish recovery or solid market bottom to develop.
The Frax community has approved a proposal to use BlackRock’s Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) as collateral for its upcoming frxUSD stablecoin.
The proposal, identified as FIP-418, received unanimous support after a six-day voting period.
The Increasing Demand for BlackRock’s BUIDL FundBlackRock’s BUIDL fund manages over $648 million in assets and provides yield-generating opportunities for frxUSD holders. Achieving this approval is a significant step for the Frax Protocol.
BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world, with over $10.4 trillion in global assets. So, being backed by its tokenized fund can potentially minimize counterparty risk for the stablecoin’s collateral.
Frax Portocol’s Proposal Receives 100% Votes to Use the BUIDL Fund. Source: SnapshotAlso, this move reflects a growing trend among stablecoin projects to introduce yield-bearing options that reward holders financially while maintaining stability.
Securitize, the brokerage firm managing the BUIDL fund, initially proposed the idea on December 22. The frxUSD stablecoin will be pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio and backed by US government securities through BUIDL.
Meanwhile, other projects have also adopted BUIDL as collateral for stablecoins. Ethena Labs launched the USDtb (USDTB) stablecoin on December 16, backed by the BUIDL fund. The asset’s current market capitalization is $70 million.
In November, Curve Finance enabled users to mint Elixir’s deUSD (DEUSD) yield-bearing stablecoin using BUIDL as collateral.
Distribution of BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund. Source: DeFilLamaThe Rise of Real-World Asset TokenizationIn late 2024, BlackRock expanded BUIDL to five major blockchains. This included Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, and Polygon.
These developments align with BlackRock’s broader digital asset strategy, which includes initiatives like the IBIT Bitcoin ETF and tokenized funds.
Overall, the adoption of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) continues to grow. In 2024, several major players achieved milestones in this area, setting the stage for further developments in 2025.
For example, Tether plans to roll out its Hadron RWA tokenization platform by February. This will offer institutional investors direct access via APIs.
Also, Hedera has integrated Chainlink Data Feeds and Proof of Reserve mechanisms to enhance its DeFi and RWA capabilities.
RWA Tokenization Global Market Overview. Source: RWA.XYZIn short, the Frax community’s decision to integrate BlackRock’s BUIDL fund into its stablecoin highlights the increasing overlap between traditional finance and blockchain-based innovations.
This shift reflects the potential for real-world asset tokenization to transform the stablecoin industry.
Bitcoin, Raydium, and Frax dominate crypto discussions as volatility, governance changes, and major BTC acquisitions drive market sentiment.
According to Santiment, Bitcoin (BTC), Raydium (RAY), and Frax (FRAX) are currently at the center of social media discussions.
Much of the growing discourse is focused on market volatility and governance changes within the crypto ecosystem.
The Top 3 Trending Tokens Santiment’s February 25 report reveals that BTC is getting attention due to a recent acquisition from Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy).
The firm purchased 20,356 BTC for approximately $1.99 billion, increasing its total holdings to 499,096 BTC bought for around $33.1 billion. This investment, alongside a yield of 6.9% YTD 2025, has been widely discussed within the crypto market, particularly regarding its impact on the asset’s price fluctuations.
RAY is trending following a recent 29% decline in a day and a 50% slump since Friday that was caused by rumors of a competing platform launching its own automated market maker (AMM). This speculation has raised concerns over liquidity shifts within the Solana ecosystem, leading to increased investor attention toward the token.
Pump.fun is reportedly testing an AMM that, if implemented, could reduce the platform’s reliance on Raydium. The decentralized exchange currently facilitates trading for tokens launched on the Solana meme coin maker.
FRAX has also been a focal point in conversations, with debates surrounding tokenomics, governance, and inflation. Various proposals have been introduced regarding changes to the coin’s emissions, branding, and incentive mechanisms.
You may also like: Brutal Bitcoin Liquidation Cascade Imminent Below $59K, Warns Analyst Mining Profits Dry Up Across Bitcoin, DOGE, LTC, and BCH Saylor Should Stop Buying Bitcoin, Says CryptoQuant Ongoing discussions are centered on the token’s inflationary nature and relationship with FXTL and the potential impact these changes could have on its value and utility within the market.
Other Trending Cryptocurrencies on Santiment’s List The blockchain analytic firm also highlights Ethereum (ETH), Frax Shares (FXS), and Kendu Inu (KENDU) as trending digital assets. ETH has seen increased discussions following its association with GrokAI3.0, a new project focused on advancements in AI technology and its potential financial implications.
FXS, which is linked to FRAX, has also been widely mentioned, with many raising concerns about its potential dilution and implications for liquidity and value.
On its part, KENDU has gained attention as part of a growing community-driven approach to digital assets. According to Santiment, talks around it largely highlight the importance of strong group bonds and collective effort over speculative trading.
The token has been compared to cryptocurrencies like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE), with enthusiasts emphasizing its long-term potential as the market evolves. Some believe it represents a shift toward community-focused investments rather than gambling and pump-and-dump schemes.
Update: Following the publication of this article, Huobi has updated its transparency page to include new addresses that contain the collateral for all of the wrapped tokens mentioned. These show that all of the tokens are fully collateralized.
"To enhance HBTC holders’ confidence, we have been gradually migrating HBTC assets to Huobi Trust Company Limited for digital asset custody," said a spokesperson for Huobi via email.
Huobi’s version of wrapped bitcoin isn’t living up to the transparency that it promised. The $800 million of assets that are backing the crypto exchange’s token are supposed to be sitting in clearly market wallets; except they’re not.
Instead, the money appears to have been spread among other exchange wallets, also owned by Huobi. The problem here is not that the money is necessarily gone; it’s plausible that Huobi is using its exchange hot wallets to make it easier to process transactions. The issue is that market observers cannot see for themselves whether the token is still backed.
For all we know — from checking Huobi’s official transparency page — the $800 million of outstanding Huobi Bitcoin (HBTC) is backed by less than $30,000.
The Block reached out to Huobi for comment but — after an initial response — the exchange stopped replying to follow up emails. The exchange did not provide any explanation for why the bitcoin was moved, nor would answer whether HBTC was still fully backed.
'Transparent and verifiable’ Huobi created HBTC in February 2020 as its proprietary form of wrapped bitcoin. Wrapping bitcoin is a process where you take bitcoin on the Bitcoin blockchain, lock it up in a wallet and issue a tokenized version of it on another chain, in this case on Ethereum.
At the time, Huobi said HBTC would be “transparent and verifiable,” enabling anyone to authenticate the assets on both the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains.
For a while, it seemed that this was the case. In early August 2021, the supply of HBTC was around 31,000 and Huobi’s two official wallets contained around 39,700 bitcoin.
Yet between August 20 and August 26 of last year, practically all of this collateral was moved out of both wallets. The funds were split into three sums and all were sent to this wallet. Each was then repeatedly shifted to new wallets, with small amounts siphoned off at each turn.
Huobi also created wrapped assets for six other cryptocurrencies: bitcoin cash (BCH), polkadot (DOT), tezos (XTZ), bitcoin satoshi’s vision (BSV), filecoin (FIL) and litecoin (LTC). Out of these, only Huobi’s version of BSV (HBSV) is fully backed by collateral in the official wallets. The transparency page shows no data for its version of filecoin at time of writing.
All the assets have a combined total supply worth $865 million but yet just $5.5 million in collateral in the official transparency wallets.
How this compares to others HBTC is failing to offer the transparency provided by Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), the most common form of wrapped bitcoin.
WBTC is run by a conglomerate of crypto businesses, including Compound and BitGo. The project’s website provides a list of 268 bitcoin wallets that contain its $4.8 billion of bitcoin — and these wallets do indeed contain that amount of the cryptocurrency. This enables those using the wrapped token to know that it’s fully backed.
Still, not all wrapped bitcoin projects offer this level of transparency. RenBTC, another version of wrapped bitcoin with a market cap of $100 million, initially used the crypto data service Chainlink to show its proof of reserves. But it now just has a statement on its dashboard that says how much it has in reserve — a sum equal to the amount issued on its network — and doesn't provide any links to where the money is kept.
What's complicated about the way renBTC looks after its collateral is that every time some of the collateral is redeemed, it sends that person those funds and sends the remaining assets to a new wallet. As a result, it can’t simply provide a list of wallets where the funds are stored, since it would have to be constantly updating the list.
This may shed some light on Huobi’s processes, as it also constantly spreads the funds to new addresses while siphoning off a little each time. Perhaps the exchange adopted this system but failed to implement a way to track the collateral, since it requires either using Chainlink or setting up an automated system.
Either way, Huobi is — for now at least — failing to offer the transparency it originally promised.
Convex Finance (CVX) has seen a continuous downtrend since the crash at the end of July, with its price steadily declining each day. This prolonged drawdown has resulted in CVX reaching a new all-time low.
The persistent losses have left investors wary, leading to further pessimism about the token’s recovery prospects.
Convex Finance Investors Give UpInvestor sentiment around CVX has been overwhelmingly negative in recent months. As losses continued to mount over the last two months, confidence among holders began to erode. Many investors who initially believed in the token’s potential recovery are now skeptical about its ability to bounce back, especially in light of the consistent price declines.
This growing pessimism has worsened as CVX fails to establish a stable support level. The lack of bullish momentum and the token’s inability to reverse its downtrend has compounded concerns, leaving many holders uncertain about the future of their investments.
Read More: What Is Convex Finance (CVX)?
CVX Realized Losses. Source: SantimentCVX’s overall macro momentum is also troubling. Historically, Convex Finance has maintained a correlation with Bitcoin, a trend that typically benefits altcoins. However, this correlation has proven to be a bearish signal for CVX.
Whenever the correlation between CVX and Bitcoin improves, the altcoin has experienced further price drops. The current situation is no different, with the increased correlation contributing to CVX’s decline to a new all-time low.
This bearish macro environment, coupled with the strong correlation to Bitcoin’s price movements, has placed additional downward pressure on CVX. As the cryptocurrency struggles to recover, it remains vulnerable to further losses unless significant bullish sentiment returns to the market.
CVX Correlation to Bitcoin. Source: TradingViewCVX Price Prediction: What After a New LowOver the last four days, CVX has experienced a 16% drop, creating intense bearish pressure. This resulted in the token hitting a new all-time low, with an intra-day decline of 6%, bringing CVX down to $1.72. At the time of writing, CVX is trading slightly higher at $1.86, just above the critical support level of $1.81.
CVX would need to reclaim the local support level of $1.97 to regain momentum. However, given the current bearish sentiment and ongoing selling pressure, this may prove not easy in the near term. Without a significant change in the market conditions, CVX could struggle to break above key resistance levels and face consolidation above $1.81.
Read More: What are Crypto Airdrops?
CVX Price Analysis. Source: TradingViewOn a more optimistic note, if CVX manages to bounce off the $1.97 level, it could push back above $2.00. A successful breach of $2.12 would invalidate the bearish-neutral outlook and potentially trigger a recovery, although this remains a challenging scenario given the token’s recent performance.
PANews reported on April 25th that Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc announced on April 24th plans to implement a hard fork of the Bitcoin network in August, launching a new chain, eCash. This fork will use a replica of the BTC Core client and the SHA-256 algorithm, reducing initial mining difficulty. Bitcoin holders can exchange their Bitcoin for eCash at a 1:1 ratio. It will also add seven Layer 2 scaling networks, known as "drivechains," to increase transaction throughput and support optional on-chain privacy features.
Sztorc emphasized that eCash differs from Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in 2017 by "manually" redistributing approximately 1.1 million BTC from Satoshi Nakamoto to early investors, calling it a "permanent solution to the Bitcoin problem." This proposal sparked strong opposition from the community, with Bitcoin advocates criticizing it as "stealing Satoshi's tokens" and questioning the limited existing applications of eCash, predicting the project's complete failure within two to three years. Currently, the Bitcoin community is engaged in heated discussions surrounding protocol upgrades, privacy protection, and post-quantum resistance.
Paul Sztorc, a Bitcoin developer, will develop eCash, a BTC clone, as a solution to the problems in Bitcoin.
25.04.2026 - 19:30
Update: 25.04.2026 - 19:30
Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has announced a new hard fork plan that could create a fundamental change to the network.
This upgrade, called “eCash,” is scheduled to launch in August, and the project aims to create a Layer 1 network as an alternative to Bitcoin, along with seven Layer 2 scaling solutions (Drivechains).
According to information shared by Sztorc, after the hard fork, existing Bitcoin (BTC) holders will be able to exchange their assets for eCash at a 1:1 ratio. It was stated that the new chain’s Layer 1 node software will be largely a copy of the Bitcoin Core client, while continuing to use the SHA-256 algorithm. However, it was also announced that the initial difficulty will be reduced to increase mining participation.
Another notable aspect of the project is the integration of seven Layer 2 solutions aimed at increasing transaction capacity. This structure is planned to support both higher transaction throughput and optional on-chain privacy features.
Sztorc argued that eCash differed from forks like Bitcoin Cash, which emerged in 2017, stating that the project aimed to “solve Bitcoin’s long-standing problems.” However, this approach sparked disagreements within the community.
One particularly controversial proposal was to “manually redistribute” a portion of the approximately 1.1 million BTC believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto to early participants. Some Bitcoin supporters strongly opposed this plan, arguing that it would constitute interference with the assets on the original chain.
*This is not investment advice.
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Long-time Bitcoin developer proposes a Bitcoin hard fork. (geraldfriedrich2/Pixabay)Summary
Paul Sztorc proposes a 2026 hard fork of Bitcoin called eCash, giving BTC holders equivalent tokens and adding Drivechains. A hard fork splits a blockchain into a new network with shared history but different rules, like Bitcoin Cash in 2017. The plan is controversial for reallocating coins tied to Satoshi Nakamoto, which critics call unethical and risky.Long-time Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has been trying to overhaul Bitcoin's architecture since 2015, but the broader community hasn’t budged.
So now he has proposed a dramatic step, called eCash hardfork, that involves copying Bitcoin's code to launch a separate version in August, while giving existing bitcoin holders equivalent tokens in the new network for free.
The community, however, is criticizing the funding part, which involves reassigning coins linked to Bitcoin’s missing founder, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Think of a hard fork like a railway line splitting into two. Trains start from the same station, but at some point the line splits, helping trains reach completely different destinations.
When a group of developers cannot reach consensus on a proposed change to Bitcoin’s code, they copy the existing blockchain and launch it as a separate chain, which shares Bitcoin’s entire history up to the point of the split, but diverges after the split, moving forward with its own rules, features, token and direction.
That's precisely what happened in 2017 when the debate over Bitcoin's block size reached a tipping point, culminating in a chain split and the creation of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain with its native token, BCH.
The technical dispute centered on Bitcoin's 1MB block size limit, which caps the number of transactions that can be processed every 10 minutes when new blocks are added to the blockchain. Hence, some favoured increasing the block size, but the community remained divided, eventually leading to a chain split.
Sztorc's eCash hard forkThe proposed hard fork will create a new chain called eCash with native eCash tokens. “Hold 4.19 BTC at the time of the fork, get 4.19 eCash. You can sell it, keep it, or ignore it entirely,” he said on X.
The fork is scheduled for Bitcoin block height 964,000 in August 2026. A coin-splitter tool will be released to help holders cleanly separate their BTC from their new eCash.
The new chain will be a near-copy of Bitcoin's existing blockchain, with one critical addition called Drivechains, a scaling architecture Sztorc first proposed in 2015 and formally submitted to Bitcoin developers as BIP300 and BIP301 in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Drivechains are sidechains tethered to the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing seamless movement of BTC between the main chain and sidechains without changing Bitcoin's base layer. Each sidechain can operate under its own rules and features, essentially allowing developers to build new capabilities on top of Bitcoin without requiring the entire network to adopt those changes.
Think of Drivechains as service roads attached to the main highway. When the highway is congested, drivers can exit the highway and travel on the service road at different speed limits, then re-enter the highway when it's clear. This way, the highway never changes, yet more traffic is handled more efficiently, and the journey becomes more flexible for everyone.
Seven Drivechains are already in development, Sztorc said on X, including a privacy chain modelled on Zcash, a prediction market called Truthcoin, a decentralised exchange called CoinShift, and a quantum-resistant chain called Photon.
The controversial part linked to Satoshi coinsSztorc wants to use coins that would have gone to Satoshi Nakamoto's equivalent addresses on the new eCash chain to bring investors on board before the fork goes live, a decision he calls necessary but which has riled the community, with some calling it outright theft.
A potential hard fork would bring Bitcoin’s entire transaction history to the new chain. So every bitcoin balance, including Satoshi’s 1.1 million bitcoin, sitting untouched in wallets that have noved moved these coins, would show up as an equivalent eCash balance on the new chain.
As per the plan, fewer than half of the Satoshi-equivalent eCash coins will be assigned to investors today. The precise mechanism of how it's being done remains unclear. But since eCash doesn't yet exist, the pre-hard fork assign seems to be a promised credit following a successful hard fork.
The plan, he argues, will ensure collaborators have a tangible incentive to get involved early, building momentum and completing work ahead of launch. Without this mechanism, the project can turn into a "zombie project" that ships unfinished. Worse, it could become a centralized project, where a small group of developers gains outsized control over the chain's direction.
The industry response, however, has been negative.
“Taking Satoshi coins is theft and disrespectful, and eCash is already used for Lightning payments with Cashu and Fedi. Those are poor choices,” Bitcoin advocate Peter McCormack said.
Josh Ellithorpe, chief technology officer at Pixelated Ink, expressed concerns about the precedent it sets and how it could eventually be a risk to everyone’s BTC holdings.
“eCash, setting the precedent that they can and will steal coins. Now it's Satoshi, but it could be anyone later. Also misrepresenting the BCH fork, stealing another project's name, and not having replay protection,” Ellithorpe said.
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
Veteran Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc, known for his long-standing proposals to innovate Bitcoin’s infrastructure since 2015, is once again making waves in the crypto community. After years of discussion with little traction, Sztorc is now pushing forward with a plan he calls the “eCash hard fork.” Under this initiative, a new blockchain based on Bitcoin’s code would be created, and existing Bitcoin holders would receive an identical amount of eCash tokens on this new network, free of charge.
The most controversial element of Sztorc’s proposal is the intended use of coins held in the wallets of Bitcoin’s anonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. Sztorc suggests distributing these dormant coins to incentivize and attract new users to the eCash network. This plan, however, has sparked heated debate among Bitcoin enthusiasts, with many arguing that reallocating Satoshi’s funds violates property rights and undermines the principles of decentralization.
In defense of the controversial proposal, Sztorc has stated that utilizing a portion of these coins is necessary to properly incentivize early collaborators and participants in the project. According to details provided so far, more than half of Satoshi’s coins would remain unassigned to investors until after the fork. The process by which these funds would eventually be distributed has not yet been clarified, leaving technical specifics unresolved.
Peter McCormack, a prominent Bitcoin advocate, voiced his disapproval: “Taking Satoshi’s coins would be both wrong and disrespectful. Plus, the eCash name is already used for Lightning payments. These are poor choices.”
Integrating Drivechains for scalabilityThe new eCash chain is essentially a direct copy of Bitcoin’s current blockchain, but with a key difference: it will include the “Drivechains” upgrade, first introduced by Sztorc in 2015 and formally proposed in 2017 and 2019. Drivechains enable the addition of sidechains to the Bitcoin network, allowing users to experiment with new features and conduct transactions under alternate rules, while maintaining core blockchain security. This technology has the potential to boost innovation, scalability, and flexibility within the wider Bitcoin ecosystem.
This design allows new features to be tested and deployed without altering the main Bitcoin chain. As a result, developers can innovate more freely, while the original Bitcoin remains stable and secure for users who prefer minimal change.
Hard fork history and eCash launch timelineHard forks are not new to the cryptocurrency landscape. One of the most notable examples occurred in 2017, when debates over Bitcoin block size culminated in the launch of Bitcoin Cash. That split arose from differing opinions on whether to raise the 1MB block size limit, ultimately resulting in two separate blockchains. The planned eCash hard fork differs in that it not only introduces a new token, but also targets more ambitious structural changes through the inclusion of Drivechains.
According to Sztorc’s roadmap, the eCash fork is slated to occur at block 964,000 on the Bitcoin chain in August 2026. Bitcoin holders with balances, for example, of 4.19 BTC would automatically be eligible to claim an identical amount of eCash on the new network. A dedicated tool will be made available for users to securely separate their BTC and eCash tokens post-fork.
Developer Josh Ellithorpe highlighted the risks: “eCash paves the way for potential seizure of anyone’s coins in the future—not just Satoshi’s. It also misrepresents the BCH split and raises trademark disputes.”
With community opinion divided and both legal and ethical concerns surfacing, the fate of the new chain remains uncertain. The coming months will determine whether Sztorc’s vision gains traction, or if opposition within the Bitcoin community will prevail.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
