A substantial loss struck the cryptocurrency community when an unknown trader mistakenly sent $68 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) to a scammer’s address in an address-poisoning scam. The loss was disclosed by the on-chain security firm Cyvers, which detailed the incident in a post dated May 3:
“Are we mistaken, or has someone truly lost $68 million worth of $WBTC? Our system has detected another address falling victim to address poisoning, losing 1,155 $WBTC.”
The affected wallet, known as “0x1E,” reportedly lost over 97% of its assets, which were valued at more than $67.8 million, according to analytics provided by CoinStats.
Address poisoning, also referred to as address spoofing, is a type of scam targeting the oversight and rush common among traders during transactions. Scammers deceive traders into sending cryptocurrency to similar-looking but fraudulent addresses.
The crypto industry continues to grapple with trust issues due to frequent scams.
For instance, in a separate incident related to the ZKasino gambling platform, investors were defrauded out of at least $33 million.
Dutch authorities managed to apprehend a suspect associated with this scam on April 29.
Despite the distressing news from ZKasino, April reported a relatively low total of $25.7 million lost to cryptocurrency scams and hacks—the lowest since 2021.
This figure comes from CertiK, an on-chain intelligence firm that began monitoring these incidents that year.
According to their analysis, losses were down by 141% from the previous month, primarily due to a decrease in private key compromises.
Notably, April saw only three such incidents, while March recorded more than 11.
However, CertiK’s recent report does not account for the $33 million lost in the ZKasino scam.
Although the report acknowledges ongoing controversy surrounding ZKasino, it stops short of labeling it a scam.
This stance may change, as indicated by a shift on April 22 when ZKasino moved all 10,515 Ether collected from investors to the Lido staking protocol, raising alarm among stakeholders.
CertiK has indicated that it will revise its findings should ZKasino be officially classified as a fraudulent enterprise.
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Dogecoin‘s value has taken a hit amidst a broader decline in the cryptocurrency market. On April 27, DOGE saw a decrease of 4.82%, settling at approximately $0.15.
This decline was more pronounced compared to the overall crypto market, which experienced a 2.25% drop on the same day.
Over the past month, Dogecoin has plummeted by 38% from its recent peak of $0.229.
The recent downturn in Dogecoin’s price can be attributed to several factors, with one significant influence being the release of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) report on April 25.
The U.S. economy’s growth in the first quarter of 2024 fell short of expectations, recording a 1.6% increase instead of the anticipated 2.5%.
Additionally, there was only a 0.3% rise in personal consumption expenditures for March.
Consequently, expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2024 have been revised down to just 33 basis points, a considerable reduction from earlier projections.
The anticipation of sustained high interest rates has led to a rise in the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note, reaching 4.739% on April 24, its highest level in five months.
This increase has made riskier crypto assets less appealing to investors. For instance, on the day when the yield peaked, five spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced outflows totaling $217 million.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Holds Firm Above $63,000 Despite Regulatory Scrutiny and Economic Turbulence
Furthermore, Dogecoin’s open interest (OI) has declined to $865.63 million on April 27 from its peak of $2.21 billion nearly a month ago.
Additionally, the funding rate has dropped to 0.0063% per eight hours.
These developments indicate a prevailing bearish sentiment in the market, with traders adopting a cautious stance due to uncertainty surrounding Dogecoin’s future price movements or reduced interest in high leverage trading.
Today’s decrease in Dogecoin’s price appears to be a continuation of a selling trend that started when the price encountered resistance marked by a descending trendline and the 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA).
The descending trendline resistance has consistently hindered DOGE’s upward movements over the past 30 days.
Currently, the cryptocurrency is testing its multi-week ascending trendline support, suggesting a potential rebound that could propel the price towards the descending trendline resistance at around $0.159 by the end of April.
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In the realm of meme coins, Dogecoin (DOGE/USD) and Shiba Inu (SHIB/USD) have exhibited varied performance over the past month, yet analysts hold positive expectations for these tokens owing to imminent fundamental advancements.
Shiba Inu made headlines with its forthcoming Shibarium upgrade, slated for May 2, aimed at refining user experience and unlocking advanced functionalities within the network.
This enhancement seeks to streamline block processing times and ensure transaction fee predictability, thus rendering the platform more user-friendly and cost-effective.
Suggestions from community members, including trader Lola, advocate for integrating auto-burn features into this upgrade to bolster the token’s utility and appeal.
Concurrently, attention has been drawn to significant whale activity in the Dogecoin sphere, with two substantial transactions involving over 228 million DOGE each—totaling $68.7 million—transferred from an undisclosed wallet to Coinbase.
READ MORE: Binance Founder CZ Faces 36-Month Jail Term as U.S. Prosecutors Urge Sentencing
These wallet addresses, dormant since Coinbase’s initial Dogecoin listing in June 2021, indicate renewed activity, potentially hinting at forthcoming developments such as DOGE futures listing on Coinbase.
Institutional adoption of meme coins is gaining traction, as reflected in Shiba Inu’s inclusion in the Symbolic Capital Partners portfolio, representing 2% ($1.7 million) of their $86 million holdings, according to Arkham Intelligence data.
This trend suggests a burgeoning interest among institutional investors in meme coins, which could propel market valuation upward over time.
Cryptocurrency trader Kevin has analyzed Dogecoin’s historical performance, pinpointing potential price targets of 0.95 and 1.35 for the ongoing bull cycle.
However, he notes that reaching the current 1.618 Fibonacci extension at $3.80 may pose a challenge.
With transformative upgrades on the horizon for Shiba Inu and noteworthy whale activity indicating potential developments for Dogecoin, investors and traders maintain an optimistic outlook on the future trajectories of these meme coin frontrunners.
As of the latest update, DOGE was trading at $0.1489, marking a 21.4% decline over the past 30 days, while SHIB was trading at $0.00002523, reflecting an 18.4% decrease over the same period.
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Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, defended crypto mixing services, stating that they are not inherently criminal.
In response to the recent arrest of Samourai Wallet founders, he emphasized the importance of privacy in Bitcoin, noting that mixing, a technique used to enhance privacy, should not be deemed illegal. He likened punishing mixing service providers to blaming the inventor of a knife for its misuse.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill, CEO and CTO of Samourai Wallet respectively, on April 24.
They each face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
This development sparked concerns within the crypto community, with fears that it could signify increased governmental scrutiny of the industry.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden criticized the arrests, describing them as an assault on financial privacy.
He advocated for making financial transactions private by default to prevent such governmental interventions.
READ MORE: Robinhood Broadens Cryptocurrency Reach: New Yorkers Gain Access to SHIB, AVAX, and COMP Trading
The DOJ alleged that Samourai Wallet facilitated unlawful transactions exceeding $2 billion and facilitated over $100 million in money laundering transactions from illicit dark web markets.
Crypto analyst Ryan Adams echoed concerns about the erosion of financial privacy, emphasizing that developers now face significant legal consequences for their coding activities.
This arrest is not an isolated incident; it reflects a broader trend of crackdowns on privacy-preserving technologies within the cryptocurrency space.
In August 2023, the DOJ charged developers of Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer, with money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
This followed the arrest of three developers, including Alexey Pertsev, in August 2022, shortly after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash for its alleged use by the North Korean Lazarus Group in laundering over a billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
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In a significant legal development, Ripple Labs has vigorously challenged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposal for a nearly $2 billion fine against the blockchain-based payment protocol company.
The legal dispute stems from the SEC’s assertion that Ripple should face a substantial financial penalty, to which Ripple has responded by suggesting a more reasonable figure of no more than $10 million.
This legal contention surfaced in a recent court filing where Ripple Labs firmly opposed the SEC’s plea to a federal judge.
The blockchain giant argued against the imposition of the suggested penalties, which include an injunction, disgorgement of funds, and pre-judgment interest.
The submission emphasized Ripple’s commitment to regulatory compliance and criticized the SEC’s demands as overly severe, lacking both legal and principled foundations.
The filing elaborated on the SEC’s breakdown of the proposed fines, totaling nearly $2 billion, comprising $876 million in disgorgement, an additional $876 million in civil penalties, and $198 million in pre-judgment interest.
Ripple decried these figures as excessive and not reflective of their actual business revenues, though specific revenue details were redacted from the document.
The timing of these legal maneuvers was highlighted by Ripple Labs’ Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, who, on March 25, disclosed the SEC’s punitive measures against Ripple.
READ MORE: President Biden Signs Bill Expanding Surveillance Powers, Sparking Privacy Concerns
Alderoty criticized the SEC’s persistent efforts to not only penalize Ripple but to cast a shadow over the broader cryptocurrency sector.
He described the SEC’s actions as an ongoing attempt to intimidate the industry throughout the U.S.
Moreover, Ripple’s filing presented a case for a more proportionate financial penalty.
It argued that a $10 million fine would be more aligned with fines levied in similar cases involving digital assets, where there was no evidence of intentional wrongdoing or significant harm or risk to others.
Alderoty also commented on the broader implications of the SEC’s aggressive stance, suggesting it represented a concerted effort to intimidate the entire crypto community in the U.S.
He remained hopeful, however, that the judge would consider the merits of Ripple’s arguments favorably during the final remedies phase of the case, particularly noting Ripple’s victories on several key issues in the proceedings.
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Since Tether began supporting The Open Network (TON) on April 19, $60 million worth of Tether has been issued on the platform.
This places TON as the 11th-largest blockchain for Tether among the 16 that currently support the stablecoin.
The announcement of this initiative was made at the Token2049 crypto conference in Dubai, signifying a strategic collaboration between the stablecoin issuer and the TON Foundation.
Alongside Tether, the firm has also introduced the gold-pegged Tether Gold (XAUT) stablecoin on the TON blockchain.
The Open Network team emphasized the efficiency of this new offering, highlighting that cross-border payments can be made instantly and without fees, as simply as sending a text message to any of Telegram’s 900 million users.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino expressed optimism about the partnership’s early results, noting in a social media post on April 21 that $35 million in USDT had already been issued on TON within the first two days.
This figure has since increased to $60 million according to the latest Tether Transparency report.
The integration with Telegram allows users to send money seamlessly through direct messages without the need for blockchain addresses or additional applications.
READ MORE: Pro-XRP Lawyer John Deaton Advocates for Coinbase Users in SEC Lawsuit, Sets Sights on Senate Seat
The platform also supports fully integrated on-ramps for most global fiat currencies at launch, and plans are in place to introduce global off-ramps that will facilitate withdrawals directly to bank accounts or cards.
Despite these developments on TON, the majority of Tether’s $109.8 billion circulating supply remains on the Tron network, which hosts $57.8 billion.
Ethereum follows with $51 billion in circulation, although this figure has been decreasing as Tether expands to other blockchains to mitigate high network fees associated with Ethereum.
Other blockchains supporting Tether include Solana, which ranks third with $1.9 billion issued, and several others such as Avalanche, Omni, Cosmos, Tezos, Near, EOS, and Celo.
In the broader stablecoin market, Tether maintains a dominant position with a 69% market share of the total $159.5 billion stablecoin market capitalization, as per data from CoinGecko.
Circle’s USD Coin, the nearest competitor, holds a 21% market share with $33.7 billion in circulation.
Following the announcement, the price of Toncoin spiked by 22%, although it quickly reverted to its prior levels. As of the latest update, Toncoin is trading down 1.6% at $6.13.
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On April 20, 2024, Bitcoin mining revenue reached a record-breaking $107.7 million, marking a historic high on the day of Bitcoin’s fourth halving event.
This milestone was primarily fueled by mining rewards and transaction fees as the cryptocurrency community rallied to participate in this pivotal moment.
The day saw an exceptional amount of activity with $2.4 million, or 37.7 BTC, spent in transaction fees alone by investors eager to secure a spot on the 840,000th Bitcoin block.
This block, pivotal due to the halving event, processed 3,050 transactions, averaging nearly $800 in fees per transaction.
The rush to record transactions on this significant block drove fees to unprecedented levels.
This surge in transaction fees was largely driven by the excitement surrounding the launch of Casey Rodarmor’s Runes Protocol, which coincided with the halving.
The enthusiasm to mint rare satoshis on the halving block added to the frenzy, pushing the day’s earnings for miners past the previous record of $78.7 million achieved on March 11.
At that time, Bitcoin had reached a new high of $71,415, which significantly influenced mining revenue as payouts are in BTC.
READ MORE: Pro-XRP Lawyer John Deaton Advocates for Coinbase Users in SEC Lawsuit, Sets Sights on Senate Seat
The halving event itself, a mechanism designed to reduce the block reward by half periodically, cut the mining reward to 3.125 BTC per block.
This reduction is part of a deflationary model intended to control the supply of new bitcoins entering the market.
However, the excitement was short-lived. By the following day, the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network had drastically dropped from a record high of $128 to just $8–$10 for medium-priority transactions, as reported by mempool.space.
This decline reflects a normalization of fees following the halving event hype.
As the Bitcoin community reflects on this monumental day, the impact of such events continues to underscore the volatile nature of cryptocurrency fees and mining revenues.
The dynamics of supply and demand in the blockchain space remain a fascinating aspect of its economic and technological landscape.
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In a significant development within the cryptocurrency legal landscape, a group of cryptocurrency users involved in a class-action lawsuit in Florida has reached a tentative settlement with Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX.
This agreement was disclosed in a court filing dated April 19 at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit, initiated by plaintiffs in November 2022 following FTX’s bankruptcy, implicated several high-profile endorsers of the exchange.
It was consolidated in June 2023, bringing a more structured approach to the multifaceted legal challenges surrounding FTX’s collapse.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Moskowitz Law Firm, known for tackling complex crypto-related lawsuits.
According to the recent court filing, the plaintiffs decided to settle with Bankman-Fried, recognizing the potential costs and lengthy process involved in continuing their lawsuit against him.
Instead, they aim to leverage his insights and the information disclosed during his criminal trial to strengthen their case against other defendants in the ongoing multidistrict litigation (MDL).
The filing details the strategic value of Bankman-Fried’s cooperation: “[Bankman-Fried] has knowledge and other information that Class Representatives and Class Counsel believe will be valuable to Class Representatives’ cases against other defendants in the FTX MDL [multidistrict litigation], particularly relating to the underlying actions and their connection to Miami, Florida, where FTX’s U.S. headquarters were based, as well as each MDL Defendants’ knowledge of and assistance with the actions and connections to other states in which jurisdictions over those Defendants is asserted.”
The proposed settlement was put forward on March 28, coinciding with Bankman-Fried’s 25-year prison sentence following his felony conviction.
This settlement needs judicial approval to finalize the resolution of the dispute between the cryptocurrency users and Bankman-Fried, effectively focusing the plaintiffs’ efforts on other involved parties.
Bankman-Fried has been advised to assist the plaintiffs in prosecuting other FTX promoters by providing documents and testimony from his trial.
The lawsuit highlights the involvement of celebrities and sports figures such as Naomi Osaka, Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, and Shaquille O’Neal, who endorsed FTX before its financial turmoil.
In a related move, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys filed an appeal on April 11 against his conviction and sentence, requesting that he remains at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to facilitate his ongoing legal defense, rather than being transferred to a federal prison in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This legal battle continues to draw significant attention, spotlighting the broader implications of celebrity endorsements in cryptocurrency ventures and the pursuit of accountability in the high-stakes world of digital finance.
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The situation in the world of cryptocurrency, particularly with memecoins, has seen a notable correction since the start of this month. This indicates, rather blatantly, that more people are selling their holdings and points to a possible shift from bullish to bearish. Even so, experts predict that the Bitcoin Halving event will likely cause great price instability and could result in a bullish trend turning point. Such a setting might be considered as an excellent time for those who engage in trading on markets to succeed.
Ride The Wave of Innovation with ScapesMania
The introduction of a new crypto project is usually met with very cautious optimism. But when its numerous past sales and token generation event (TGE) are a huge success, it all seems like the first step on a path full of growth potential. ScapesMania, the groundbreaking casual gaming project, has a lot to show for its unstoppable hype.
$MANIA has stepped into PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange on the Binance Smart Chain network known for its extensive user base and liquidity. The debut trading day proved to be impressive. The token price demonstrated resilience, indicating robust tokenomics and promising prospects for the project. Unlike short-term ICOs, ScapesMania has proven itself to be a serious venture within a thriving market.
Just let the numbers speak for themselves:
- Holder count: 18.41K
- 24-hour trading volume: $2.25M
- Over 2,535 buys and 1,651 sells
ScapesMania also topped DEXTools’ Hot Pairs list right away after its debut.
This project started out with a presale event that garnered an incredible $6.125 million. The fact that it attracted over 60,000 followers across different social media networks and a vast number of holders is even more remarkable. This strong support and funding demonstrate how appealing and promising the project is to a wide audience. A real breakthrough might be just around the corner, so it would be a waste not to grab $MANIA tokens before they skyrocket.
The launch of liquidity pairings including MANIA/WBNB and MANIA/USDT marked the beginning of active trading. The demand from the community led to USDT becoming the main source of liquidity.
Why get involved with ScapesMania now that it’s listed? First, $MANIA tokenomics are balanced, with a cliff and vesting system helping maintain stability. Second, ScapesMania incentivizes community members through its staking program, rewarding commitment with extra tokens. Third, through DAO governance, community members can vote on ecosystem development decisions. Finally, ScapesMania continuously expands token utility, offering more benefits to $MANIA holders.
With a strong plan for promoting the project after listing, its success might keep up the record-breaking pace after its debut. The team’s dedication to long-term development and prominence in the cryptocurrency industry is shown by their impressive marketing efforts — 75K+ average monthly traffic is no joke.
Additional upsides that may be among the biggest deciding factors are:
- The project’s smart contract has been approved by BlockSafu. Holders may rest certain that the project’s infrastructure is reliable and up to par thanks to this endorsement.
- Enthusiastic support from numerous notable crypto influencers. It lends legitimacy and affirms ScapesMania’s status as one of the promising new projects.
- Experienced team. Innovating and executing a project successfully requires a team of seasoned specialists. This project is in a strong position to overcome any obstacles and take advantage of opportunities.
- Bright future. The project has come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. There are tentative plans to list on a centralized exchange (CEX), which will provide access to more markets and more liquidity.
Everything about ScapesMania was carefully designed to facilitate major growth potential. From successful, well-publicized sales to its advantageous alliances, seasoned staff, and strategic positioning in the casual gaming niche – it looks poised for big things.
Choosing ScapesMania right now, post-TGE, offers early access, exclusive benefits, diversification, lower competition within a dynamic niche, and, more importantly, a potentially perfectly-timed entry point. The coin’s stable post-listing price and strong initial support, coupled with an influx of newcomers, indicate long-term confidence, so it might be the time to make your decision.
Pepe (PEPE): A Meme Coin on the Rise
Pepe (PEPE) has recently been the focus of significant attention from both whales and retail investors. These major stakeholders have accelerated their acquisitions, indicating a strong belief in the coin’s potential. The price is currently navigating through a descending wedge pattern. This formation is typically associated with a forthcoming bullish reversal, suggesting that a breakout might be imminent.
Dogecoin (DOGE): Poised for Potential Breakthroughs
Dogecoin (DOGE) is currently in a pivotal phase, with on-chain data indicating the absorption of a significant sell wall consisting of billions of tokens. This process might clear the path for Dogecoin (DOGE) to approach or even surpass its all-time high. The community’s sentiment and broader market dynamics will play crucial roles in determining whether Dogecoin (DOGE) can achieve these new milestones.
Conclusion
The changing nature of the crypto market has had a clear effect on the paths of Pepe (PEPE) and Dogecoin (DOGE), each following its own path amidst the overall instability. There is a good chance that Pepe (PEPE) will go up a lot because there is a lot of interest from whales and the price is moving in a strong way. Dogecoin (DOGE), on the other hand, might hit all-time highs again because it has been able to absorb a big sell wall.
The recent destabilization of Pax Dollar (USDP), a stablecoin, where its price unexpectedly soared to $1.29 from its usual peg at $1, was primarily attributed to anomalies in pricing data sourced from various trading venues, rather than any inherent issues with the stablecoin’s protocol itself.
This incident occurred on April 16, but the price stabilized back to $1 within three hours, as recorded by CoinMarketCap.
A spokesperson from Paxos, the entity behind USDP, explained the situation to Cointelegraph, stating, “These platforms pull pricing data from trading venues.
Yesterday, there were sharp spikes in price on certain venues that impacted the price of USDP on pricing aggregators.
“Paxos does not control markets or trading activity on other trading venues.”
This spike in price coincided with a notable increase in the market capitalization of USDP, which temporarily jumped from $140 million to $181 million.
Despite this brief disruption, the market cap of USDP reverted to its previous level of $140 million when the coin’s value returned to $1.
As of now, the market capitalization stands at $134 million. Paxos reassures that the USDP can always be redeemed at its intended value of $1, stating, “Paxos always values USDP as $1, and customers can always create and redeem USDP from Paxos for $1.
Paxos offers APIs that offer 1:1 redemption 24/7.
If venues choose not to implement these APIs or don’t want to make sure liquidity is supported, it is up to the user to determine the best approach for ordering.”
This fluctuation was not isolated.
A trader faced a significant loss, being liquidated for $529,000 in Circle’s USD Coin, shortly after USDP peaked at $1.18 on the same day.
The incident highlighted the risks involved in trading stablecoins, especially on platforms that may not support proper liquidity or accurate pricing.
Paxos issued further advice for traders, emphasizing the importance of cautious trading practices: “When trading on any venue, users should take a look at the order book before placing a larger order.
Particularly for stablecoins, users should make sure they use limit orders,” a spokesperson advised. Historical data from CoinMarketCap shows that USDP has experienced other substantial price swings, hitting a low of $0.87 in March 2020 and a high of $2.02 in November 2021.
Presently, USDP ranks as the 13th largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
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