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Reported by The Block: Crypto leaders and pro-crypto senators are celebrating Monday’s Senate vote to advance a key stablecoin bill.

The Senate voted 66-32 to invoke cloture on the GENIUS Act.

The U.S. Senate's vote Monday to advance the key stablecoin bill, known as the GENIUS Act, is "historic" and could help "ensure U.S. dollar dominance," according to several senators and crypto industry leaders.

"This groundbreaking, bipartisan legislation will bring America's payment system into the 21st century," said Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, who led the legislation.

The Senate voted 66-32 on Monday night to invoke cloture on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act — a procedural step that allows the bill to proceed to further debate. Following the cloture vote, lawmakers must vote on potential amendments before holding a final vote.

The bill would mandate that stablecoins be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similar highly liquid assets. It would also require annual audits for issuers with market capitalizations exceeding $50 billion, and introduce provisions related to foreign issuers.

Sen. Hagerty said that the GENIUS Act would "skyrocket" the country forward with a digital payment framework built on the fastest rails possible. "It will ensure U.S. dollar dominance," he said. "Customers will be protected, the demand for U.S. treasuries will balloon to the tune of more than $1 trillion, and innovation in the digital asset space will thrive in the United States going forward."

The bill required 60 votes to advance, necessitating bipartisan support. Sixteen Democratic senators voted in favor, despite no Democratic support for the bill last week.

"Today's successful vote to advance Senate consideration of GENIUS is truly historic and demonstrates exactly how Congress is meant to work," said Ji Kim, president and acting CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation. "This vote reflects months of dedicated staff work and significant negotiations and input from both Republican and Democratic offices that substantially improved this bill."

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who co-sponsored the bill, voiced support. "Digital assets are the future and now we're one step closer to ensuring America leads the way," she said.

Crypto industry leaders are also celebrating. "Many steps to go, but a historic early win on the road to getting a stablecoin bill enacted into law," said Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer of crypto exchange Coinbase. "Crypto is again showing that it's the biggest bipartisan issue in play on the Hill."

Variant Fund Chief Legal Officer Jake Chervinsky also weighed in. "There's still more work to do — another formal vote on GENIUS in the Senate, and passing STABLE in the House — but this was the hardest part," Chervinsky said on X.

In the hours leading up to Monday's vote, crypto supporters sent more than 60,000 emails to senators urging them to support the bill, according to advocacy group Stand With Crypto.

However, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren argued the bill falls short in addressing President Donald Trump's ties to the crypto industry and criticized USD1, a newly launched stablecoin by World Liberty Financial.

"There is no excuse for Congress to pass a crypto bill that will turbocharge Trump's corruption," said Warren.

Reported by The Block: The move comes after USDC issuer Circle incorporated a legal entity within the ADGM in December 2024.

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) granted stablecoin issuer Circle in-principle approval to serve as a money services provider, according to a release shared with The Block.

The move comes after Circle incorporated a new legal entity within the ADGM in December 2024 to expand its global reach within the Middle East and Africa.

"The UAE is paving the way for responsible innovators to build the internet financial system," said Circle Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire in a statement shared with The Block.  "This IPA from ADGM advances our strategy to establish deep roots in markets embracing the onchain economy, creating new pathways for investment and innovation in the region.  It also underscores Circle’s enduring commitment to global stablecoin oversight — strengthening trust, compliance, and adoption worldwide, while laying a resilient foundation for the internet financial system."

In-principle approval means Circle has met the requirements to conduct financial business within ADGM but still awaits full regulatory approval.  However, it could signal that full approval is near.

When Singapore's monetary authority granted Circle in-principle approval for a Major Payments Institution License in November 2022, Circle received the full license about seven months later to conduct select financial services in that country, The Block previouslyreported

Circle issues the USD-pegged stablecoin USDC, which holds over 31% of the total Ethereum stablecoin supply as of April 28, according to The Block's Data Dashboard.

Abu Dhabi Global Market is a financial free zone within the capital of the United Arab Emirates, complete with its own regulatory system.  The Financial Services Regulatory Authority serves as its regulator and licensing body.

As Circle expands its reach in the Middle East, the company also plans to go public after filing an initial public offering with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month.

Reported by The Block: Crypto exchange Bitget said it will legally pursue the users behind eight accounts suspected of manipulating one of the platform’s markets, illicitly profiting $20 million as a result.

The platform promised to return any recovered funds to platform users in the form of an airdrop.

Crypto exchange Bitget said it will legally pursue eight accounts suspected of manipulating the platform's VOXEL market, profiting $20 million as a result, as the platform continues to investigate the "abnormal trading activity" from last Sunday.

On April 20, Bitget's market for a little-known token called VOXEL, the native token of Polygon-based RPG game Voxie Tactics, suddenly surged with volume as the token's price increased by more than 500% of its value two days prior. Bitget quickly announced it would be rolling back trades made in the market during a certain time frame while investigating the "abnormal trading" activity.

While Bitget has yet to release a comprehensive post-mortem covering the incident, Bitget's Head of Asia Xie Jiayin said on X that the exchange will issue lawyer's letters to the owners of eight accounts suspected of acting as a "professional arbitrage" group to manipulate the market and profit over $20 million as a result. Typically, lawyer's letters are a prelude to more formal legal action.

"All funds that are recovered will be returned to platform users 100 percent, via an airdrop," a translation of Xie's post states. "We will release a full incident report on the VOXEL matter as soon as possible to present the complete facts."

The $20 million exploit joins a growing number of hacks and exploits in recent weeks, including the $5.8 million exploit that hit Solana DeFi platform Loopscale two weeks after launch and a $49 million loss from stablecoin neoback Infini. 

Reported by The Block: Ethereum-based lending protocol Term Finance lost about $1.6 million worth of ETH on Saturday due to a misconfigured oracle.

Term said through internal capture and negotiations, over $1 million worth of funds was recovered.

The team will cover the remaining hole from the protocol treasury and plans to release a detailed post-mortem.

Impermax Finance, a small DeFi protocol, lost $150,000 to a flash loan attack on Saturday.

Term Finance, an Ethereum-based fixed-rate lending market, said it recovered $1 million of the $1.6 million in funds lost when a misconfigured oracle led to faulty liquidations in its Treehouse (tETH) market.

"Of the original loss: 223.197 ETH [~$400,000] was captured internally, 333 ETH [~$600,000] was successfully negotiated for return," the Term team said on X. "The total outstanding loss is now 362.03 ETH (~$650K) — significantly reduced from the original 918 ETH impact."

Though the original liquidations sparked concerns from security analysts, Term said a bug with an updated ETH oracle was to blame for the $1.6 error. "This was not a hack. No smart contracts were exploited, and user funds were not directly targeted," Term said. It is unclear what form the negotiations for the return of funds took; Term could not immediately be reached for comment from The Block.

The oracle error joins an array of recent DeFi hacks, bugs, and exploits, including a $5.8 million exploit of Solana DeFi platform Loopscale. Crypto exchange Bitget, which said it lost $20 million after an organized group exploited a market for a little-known crypto token last Sunday, said it would legally pursue the eight accounts it believes to be responsible.

Impermax hack adds to weekend attacksAnother protocol was also attacked on Saturday: Impermax Finance, leading to a loss of over $150,000, according to security firm TenArmor.

"Less than one hour ago, someone executed a flash loan and drained our V3 pools," Impermax said on X. "We are very sorry for that. We will provide a post-mortem when the full verification is done."

Recoveries from crypto hacks vary widely. Ben Zhou, the CEO of Bybit, which lost over $1.4 billion on Feb. 21 as a result of the crypto industry's largest attack so far, recently said nearly 28% of the hacked funds had "gone dark," making them untraceable on the blockchain, after launderers moved funds between mixers, peer-to-peer protocols, and over-the-counter markets. Only 3.84% of the funds have been frozen. 

Reported by The Block: Using a new experimental methodology, Ark Invest projects a bitcoin price of $2.4 million in the bull case by 2030.

Ark also projects a price estimate of $1.2 million in the base case and $500,000 in the bear case in 2030.

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest has raised its bull-case bitcoin price projection to $2.4 million by 2030, up from a previous estimate of $1.5 million, based on a new specialized methodology.

In a Thursday report, David Puell, an analyst at Ark Invest, wrote that the initial 2030 bull-case price target for bitcoin was around $1.5 million. However, using the firm’s latest experimental model, which factors in bitcoin’s liquid supply by discounting lost or long-held coins, Ark has now projected a bull-case price of $2.4 million for 2030.

The report noted that the bull-case price projection was based on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 72% between the end of 2024 and the end of 2030. The price estimates were also modeled using expected total addressable markets and penetration rates.

Meanwhile, using the new experimental methodology, which Puell described as more "aggressive" than Ark's official model, the report projected a price estimate of $1.2 million in the base case (at a 53% CAGR) and $500,000 in the bear case (at a 32% CAGR).

Puell also pointed out that bitcoin's use as digital gold contributes most to the report's bear and base cases, while "institutional investment contributes the most to our bull case."

The use of bitcoin in emerging markets is another key factor. "Bitcoin low barriers to entry provide individuals with internet connections in emerging markets access to an investment alternative that may provide capital appreciation over time, as opposed to defensive allocations like the U.S. dollar, to preserve purchasing power and avoid the devaluations of their own national currencies," the analyst said.

"[We] also believe that this more experimental exercise highlights that bitcoin's scarcity and lost supply are not reflected in most valuation models today," Puell added.

Reported by The Block: Citigroup said in a new report that its base case is that stablecoin supply grows to $1.6 trillion by 2030 and its bullish case is $3.7 trillion.

The banking giant also said this year could be blockchain’s “ChatGPT moment.”

Banking giant Citigroup hinted in a new report released Thursday that blockchain might be on the cusp of having its "ChatGPT moment" this year in part due to stablecoin adoption.   The bank predicts that the total stablecoin market cap could increase by a factor of 10 by the end of the decade, exploding from its current supply of nearly $240 billion to over $2 trillion.

"The total outstanding supply of stablecoins could grow to $1.6 trillion by 2030 in our base case and to $3.7 trillion in our bull case," Citigroup said in its report, noting that "adoption in the financial and public sector, driven by regulatory change" has the potential of causing the cryptocurrency market to undergo an historic transformation.

Citigroup also hedged its estimates of the future stablecoin market by saying that it may only reach $500 billion "if adoption and integration challenges persist."

On the heels of President Trump's crypto-friendly administration assuming power earlier this year Congress is currently weighing stablecoin legislation that could lead to explosive growth with massive traditional banks like Bank of America keen to enter the business of issuing U.S. dollar-backed crypto tokens.   Both the Senate and the House have bills up for consideration.

"A U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins could drive net new demand for U.S. Treasuries, making stablecoin issuers among the biggest holders of U.S. Treasuries by 2030," Citigroup also said.  Tether , the world's largest stablecoin issuer, holds tens of billions of dollars in U.S. Treasuries, according to its most recent reserves report.

In its report, Citigroup said stablecoins could "pose some threat to traditional banking ecosystems via deposit substitution."  Through lobbying organizations, some banks are attempting to urge lawmakers to pass stablecoin legislation which would limit what type of companies can issue the USD-pegged tokens.

Reported by The Block: Crypto social media platform Zora’s self-titled “memecoin” triggered a wave of criticism after it began trading without an official announcement or claim link.Some users were able to access ZORA directly from its smart contract address on Base.

The “for fun only” token doesn’t give holders governance claims, the company said in March.

Crypto social media platform Zora's self-titled "memecoin," which is based on the Ethereum Layer-2 Base network, caused confusion on Wednesday as it began trading without an official announcement or claim link.

Users could only claim ZORA tokens manually by interacting directly with its smart contract address, thus making it more difficult to claim for novice crypto users. Multiple exchanges including Binance, Bitget and Bybit were allocated millions of dollars worth of tokens for trading. Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid also launched leveraged options.

There has been about $6 million in on-chain exchange flows, the movement of coins on- and off-platform, according to data provider Arkham Intelligence. Claiming tokens before an official "token generation event" can potentially give users with earlier access an unfair trading advantage, which is why some argue the process is unfair.

Social media platform X was quickly flooded with users railing against Zora for its handling of the airdrop. One user, @aadvark89 called it a "grift masterclass" in a post, citing a series a of reasons for the TGE's dubiousness, including "farming" users for years, the lack of communication on launch day and Base creator and Coinbase engineer Jesse Pollak's promotion the Zora platform. Earlier this month, for instance, Base faced backlash after publicly endorsing a token on Zora that briefly lost most of its value shortly after launch.

Zora is an onchain social media network that automatically converts posts into tokens. The platform, which has been a fan favorite for NFT collectors since launch in 2020, also received criticism for its tokenomics. Only 10% of ZORA's 10 billion total supply was allocated to users for the retroactive airdrop. And while Zora marketed the coin as being "for fun only" without giving users any "governance rights" or claims on company equity, some questioned why the team pocketed so much of the supply.

In a post announcing the airdrop was officially live, Zora noted there is "no end date for claiming" ZORA tokens. This message was broadcasted approximately two hours after the team moved the tokens allocated for the airdrop from a Gnosis Safe into the contact address, according to onchain data. ZORA launched at a price of approximately $0.03 and currently trades at $0.0195.

Zora has seen major growth in the lead up to its airdrop. Notably, Base creator Pollak's multiple promotional posts about “content coins” — tokenized versions of social media posts — attracted much attention in recent days. Over 150,000 new coins were minted in the past week alone, according to Dune Analytics, though not always without controversy.

Coinbase Ventures participated in Zora's $2 million seed round and a $50 million raise in 2022.

Reported by The Block: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $936 million in net inflows, which is the largest since Jan. 17.Analysts said institutional capital is flowing back into bitcoin as its role as a potential “safe haven” asset grows stronger.

On Tuesday, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw their largest single-day net inflows since Jan. 17 — $936 million, to be exact. Analysts say this reflects "growing conviction" in bitcoin as a hedge against ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic tension.

Positive flows were seen across 10 bitcoin ETFs yesterday, led by Ark & 21Shares' net inflows worth $267.1 million. This was followed by Fidelity's FBTC seeing $253.8 million inflows, and $193.5 million moving into BlackRock's IBIT, according to SoSoValue data. Over the last three straight days of positive flows, U.S. bitcoin funds saw net inflows exceeding $1.4 billion.

"The ETF inflows signals a structural shift: institutional capital is rotating back into crypto, driven by macroeconomic dislocations, favorable supply dynamics, and Bitcoin’s growing acceptance as a strategic asset class," said Rachael Lucas, crypto analyst at Markets.

The substantial net inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs coincided with bitcoin's resilience against widespread market uncertainty amid macroeconomic pressures. Bitcoin is up 6.4% in the past 24 hours, trading at $93,765 as of publication time.

Presto Research Analyst Min Jung said there's revived interest in bitcoin as a potential hedge against inflation and geopolitical risk. "While it may still be premature to call Bitcoin a full-fledged 'safe haven,' its relatively muted drawdown during recent global risk events suggests it's increasingly being perceived as a form of 'digital gold,'" Jung said.

Bitcoin's appeal was further driven by a weakening U.S. dollar, persistent inflation concerns, and expectations of renewed Federal Reserve quantitative easing, BTC Markets' Lucas said. "Spot bitcoin ETFs now hold over $103 billion in bitcoin, significantly reducing circulating supply and creating sustained upward price pressure," they added.

Easing concernsWhile the Trump-led U.S. tariff policies weighed heavy on investors, traders saw signs of a potential cooldown of the tension between the U.S. and China.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a "de-escalation” in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China in the “very near future,” CNBC reported Tuesday. The same day, Trump reversed his earlier statements, affirming he has "no intention" of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — alleviating investor concerns of market uncertainty.

Looking ahead, further weakening of the U.S. dollar and dovish signals from the Federal Reserve will likely drive more inflows into BTC ETFs, Bitget COO Vugar Usi Zade said. "Global liquidity, geopolitical tensions, and pro-crypto U.S. policies, such as the Bitcoin Act, will also shape investor confidence and ETF demand," they added.

Reported by The Block: South African users may be subject to more thorough Know-Your-Customer practices when sending and receiving crypto.

Binance plans to implement the changes from April 30.

Binance, crypto’s largest centralized exchange, announced new requirements tied to digital asset deposits and withdrawals for South African customers in compliance with local regulations.

A notice shared Wednesday said users may need to provide additional details before sending cryptocurrencies, including the recipient's full name and country of residence. The same applies to receiving crypto — and South African account holders may need to specify if the funds originated from or are bound for a self-custodial wallet.

Binance said that transactions without this information could be delayed or unprocessed, adding that “the crypto assets may be required to return to the originator” starting April 30.

Previously, South African regulators issued warnings to Binance regarding financial advice and intermediary services. The CEX also closed local derivatives trading weeks after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority flagged its operations in October 2021.

At the time, Binance was unauthorized to do business in the African nation, and crypto assets were largely unregulated in South Africa. The FSCA has since introduced a licensing regime — the first of its kind on the continent. The move, which began in 2021 and partially took effect in 2022, enabled Binance to legally service South African users in 2024.

South Africa is one of Africa’s largest crypto economies, alongside other hubs like Nigeria and Kenya, according to Chainalysis.

Reported by The Block: USDC’s accelerated growth appears increasingly tied to its regulatory clarity and institutional appeal, particularly as Circle advances plans for a potential IPO.

The following is an excerpt from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.

USDC supply has climbed to just under $61 billion as of April 19, representing a remarkable $17 billion increase from its $44 billion starting point at the beginning of the year, even as total stablecoin supply reaches $226 billion.

This 38.6% growth in USDC supply year-to-date contrasts with USDT's more modest expansion from $138 billion to $145 billion during the same period. Ethereum remains the dominant chain for stablecoins, hosting $130 billion of the $226 billion total supply, with the remaining scattered across other blockchains, notably TRON and Solana.

USDC's accelerated growth appears increasingly tied to its regulatory clarity and institutional appeal, particularly as Circle advances plans for a potential IPO. The company's transparent reserve practices and compliance framework have made USDC the preferred stablecoin for regulated entities in the U.S. and EU markets. Circle's IPO ambitions reflect broader attempts to bridge traditional finance with crypto, potentially further cementing USDC's position as the stablecoin of choice for institutional players.

The widening growth gap between USDC and USDT signals a stronger stablecoin market preference. Despite USDT still maintaining its overall dominance, regulated entities and DeFi protocols are showing a clearer preference for USDC, particularly as regulatory clarity has set clearer guidelines for stablecoin issuers like Circle. The nearly 1:1 exchange ratio between USDT and USDC has enabled seamless migration for participants to hold the stablecoin of their choice.

Reported by The BlockL Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said 27.59% of the $1.4 billion stolen from Bybit has “gone dark.”

Untraceable funds flowed into mixers then through bridges to peer-to-peer and over-the-counter platforms, Zhou said.

About 27.59% of the $1.4 billion worth of crypto stolen from Bybit exchange has "gone dark," CEO Ben Zhou said in his latest post on social media platform X.

The portion of funds that disappeared from Bybit's radar has increased since Zhou's March 4 update, when he said 77% of the funds remained traceable. In the latest summary, Zhou said that 68.57% of the stolen crypto is still traceable, while only 3.84% has been frozen.

"The untraceable funds primarily flowed into mixers then through bridges to P2P (peer-to-peer) and OTC (over-the-counter) platforms," Zhou wrote.

On Feb. 21, Bybit suffered the largest-ever hack on a centralized crypto exchange, attributed to a targeted malware attack by North Korea-backed hacker organization Lazarus Group. As a result, the exchange lost around 400,000 ETH and about 113,000 ETH-related tokens.

In the Monday update, the Bybit CEO said the hackers were mainly using bitcoin mixer Wasabi to launder stolen tokens into BTC, after which they were scattered to enter platforms CryptoMixer, Tornado Cash and Railgun.

"Then, multiple cross-chain and swap services were carried out through platforms such as Thorchain, eXch, Lombard, LiFi, Stargate and SunSwap," Zhou said. "Eventually, it entered OTC or P2P fiat currency exchange services."

About $960.3 million worth of ETH has been scattered across 35,772 wallets after being converted into 10,003 BTC, while 1.17% of the funds remain on the Ethereum network across 12,490 wallets, according to Zhou.

Zhou also encouraged onchain bounty hunters to help freeze stolen funds, saying that 70 out of 5,443 bounty reports in the past 60 days were found valid. According to the page, Bybit says it will reward bounty hunters with 10% of recovered funds and has already awarded $2.3 million to 12 hunters.

eXch shutdownMeanwhile, eXch, a privacy-focused crypto trading platform that was mentioned in Zhou's post, recently announced that it will cease operations as of May 1, due to a "transatlantic operation" to prosecute the project for money laundering charges linked to Lazarus.

Although eXch did not acknowledge Lazarus' use of the platform to mix stolen crypto from Bybit, it lamented that projects had to compromise their privacy ideals "under the immense pressure that the whole industry had to deal with due to the irresponsible actions of those at ByBit."

After reports of Bybit funds being funneled through decentralized protocols, Chainflip DEX temporarily halted its platform to deploy an upgrade that prevents hackers from using the platform.

THORChain, a cross-chain liquidity protocol that was mainly utilized by Lazarus, decided not to place such measures to block out some users despite internal discussions, which resulted in the departure of some of its members.

Reported by The Block: Eliza Labs has launched a pump.fun-style launchpad called auto.fun, enabling users to deploy complex AI agents without any technical skills.

To support these agents, auto.fun incorporates a “fairer than fair” token launch mechanism designed to promote sustainable economics.

Eliza Labs has launched auto.fun, a platform for creating, deploying and monetizing AI agents through a "sustainable" token economy.

Aimed at making complex web3 operations accessible to non-technical users, auto.fun offers a no-code builder that lets anyone create autonomous AI agents capable of executing tasks across social media platforms, DeFi apps and other web3 services — in a similar spirit to pump.fun, which enables users to launch Solana-based memecoins with a few clicks.

Eliza Labs is also the creator of the $2.5 billion-valued elizaOS open-source protocol for autonomous AI agents. Formerly ai16z -4.34%, elizaOS rebranded in January to avoid confusion with the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, commonly known as a16z.

"The vision for auto.fun is to democratize access to both AI and web3 technologies by creating agents that can execute tasks autonomously on behalf of users," Eliza Labs and elizaOS founder Shaw Walters said in a statement shared with The Block. "An agent could automate yield farming strategies, manage social media accounts across platforms, or execute trading strategies — all while operating within a sustainable economic framework that benefits both creators and users."

The platform lets users create agentic AI that not only responds to queries but actively performs tasks — like finding staking opportunities above a target APY and automatically allocating funds — without requiring any technical expertise.

"What makes auto.fun particularly powerful is its open-source foundation," Walters added. "Unlike closed-source AI systems that lack transparency, our open-source approach ensures users can verify exactly how their agents operate and what happens with their data — a critical consideration for financial and social operations."

'Fairer than fair' token launch mechanismTo support agents economically, auto.fun uses a "fairer than fair" token model, blending bonding curves with fair launch principles, Eliza Labs said. It allows project teams to secure up to 50% of tokens pre-listing to help mitigate sniping and introduces "liquidity NFT mechanics" that distribute a portion of swap fees to token creators.

"Unlike traditional token launches, which face issues like price volatility and pump-and-dump schemes that harm creators and communities, auto.fun's token model fosters long-term alignment between AI agent developers and users, ensuring sustainable growth and fair participation," the project claimed.

Over 15 projects are joining auto.fun's launch, including FightFi's competing social agents on X, Kryptonite's CZAI agent and Comput3's compute credit token. Other day-one projects include Secret's Solana token-launching agent, Sigma Music's AI-driven music collaboration and Astra's cross-chain payment agent for EVM, Solana and the Lightning Network.

Reported by The Block: Crypto exchange eXch said it will close down on May 1, after it learned that there is a “transatlantic operation” to prosecute the project for money laundering and terrorism.

Some alleged that the platform was used by North Korea’s Lazarus Group in laundering stolen crypto from Bybit.

eXch lamented that its privacy-focused approach was being misinterpreted.

Privacy-focused crypto trading platform eXch officially announced that it will cease operations on May 1, following allegations of the platform being used as a portal for crypto money laundering by North Korea's Lazarus Group.

The exchange said in its announcement that it recently learned that it has become a subject of an active "transatlantic operation" to shut down the platform and prosecute the team for "money laundering and terrorism."

The decision to shut down the platform came after a majority of the team voted to "cease and retreat" upon the intense scrutiny.

"We don't see any point in operating in a hostile environment where we are the target of SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) simply because some people misinterpret our goals," eXch wrote.

Multiple onchain analysts previously alleged that eXch was being used by the Lazarus Group to mix and obfuscate the origin of over a billion-dollar worth of ETH stolen from Bybit on Feb. 22.

"[eXch] has recorded an abnormal spike in ETH volume — 20K ETH in the past 24 hours versus its usual 800 ETH," blockchain analyst vxdb wrote on X, with data from the day of the Bybit hack.  "Their Bitcoin reserves are also empty, but their ETH reserves have increased by 900%."

The non-KYC exchange denied such accusations at the time.

"We are not laundering money for Lazarus/DPRK," eXch wrote in a previous forum post.  "[T]he opposite opinion is solely a perspective of some people that wish decentralized coins' fungibility and on-chain privacy to vanish... long-time haters of decentralized crypto in general."

In its latest announcement, eXch did not deny the presence of illicit Lazarus-linked funds on the platform but stated: "The goals we certainly never had in mind were to enable illicit activities such as money laundering or terrorism, as we are being accused of now."

Decentralization and privacyThe North Korea-backed exploit on Bybit sparked debate among crypto protocols and peer-to-peer vendors over whether upholding their decentralization ethos by refusing to block illicit funds is the right course of action.

Following Bybit's exploit, cross-chain decentralized exchange Chainflip temporarily halted its front-end swapping platform due to concerns that deploying an upgrade to prevent hackers from using the platform could compromise its decentralization.

THORChain, a cross-chain liquidity protocol that was used by Bybit hackers, also held internal debates on proposals to block Lazarus funds but ultimately decided not to adopt them.

TCB, who was a core contributor of the protocol, departed the platform as a result.

"The ethos about being decentralized are just ideas," TCB wrote. "When the huge majority of your flows are stolen funds from North Korea for the biggest money heist in human history, it will become a national security issue, this isn't a game anymore."

Meanwhile, in its Thursday announcement, eXch criticized projects that blocked certain user funds from the platform as having a "false idea" of anti-money laundering, while lauding THORChain and other privacy-focused projects for not "betraying" their mission.

"Any instant exchangers that screen their customer deposits using third-party APIs and appeal to nonsensical AML/KYC terms are far from preventing money laundering and terrorism," eXch wrote.

The exchange then stated that if projects were serious about anti-money laundering, they should "stop hiding" behind offshore entities and conduct strict due diligence on every individual customer. It also said even after its demise, the illicit actors would still find a way to launder funds.

"Privacy is not a crime," eXch wrote.

While the eXch announcement extensively lamented the breach of its privacy-focused vision for resisting anti-money laundering measures it deemed ineffective, it did not suggest any alternative solutions for hacks and illegal funneling of funds that continues to haunt the crypto industry.

Reported by The Block: The token of real-world asset focused Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA crashed 90% over a matter of hours on Sunday, raising concerns of a rug pull or major hack.

“Today’s activity was triggered by reckless liquidations, not anything to do with the project,” MANTRA’s X account wrote, hours after the crash began.

“There was a massive forced liquidation from a large OM investor on a [centralized exchange],” MANTRA’s co-founder wrote on X.

A MANTRA community lead denied the crash was the result of team selling in a message to the project’s Telegram, before it was made inaccessible.

The project’s co-founder, John Patrick Mullin, previously rebuffed accusations that the MANTRA team controlled most of the $OM token’s circulating supply.

The token of real-world asset (RWA) focused Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA dramatically collapsed in price on Sunday, crashing over 90% in a matter of hours, and leaving investors scrambling to assess the fallout.

The $OM token, which began trading in August 2020, dipped about 10% between 5:20 pm UTC and 6:20 pm UTC, according to The Block's MANTRA Price Page, then suddenly crashed from its then-value of $5.21 down to its current value around $0.50, a stunning 90% plummet over the course of just 90 minutes.

A message posted by community lead Dustin McDaniel downplayed allegations that the MANTRA team sold, shortly before the project's public-facing Telegram group became inaccessible. "I do not know anything until team has had time to look into [the price drop]," McDaniel acknowledged in a Telegram message to The Block.

MANTRA's X account posted an update at 8:51 pm UTC on Sunday night. "Today’s activity was triggered by reckless liquidations, not anything to do with the project," MANTRA wrote.

The project's co-founder, John Patrick Mullin, cited a "massive forced liquidation from a large OM investor on a CEX" in his own post. "Still working on the details, but we are here, and we're fixing this," he said.

MANTRA had previously faced allegations of controlling large portions of the token's circulating supply, or "float," in an attempt to manipulate the token's price.

Mullin, rebuffed the allegations in a response post on X. "OM has been in circulation since August 2020," Mullin wrote. "Longer than most of these people have been in crypto."

Mullin recently touted the project's strategic partnership with Dubai-based property development company DAMAC in an interview with crypto.news. "Beyond compliance, we’re driving real-world adoption through strategic partnerships – most notably with DAMAC Group, recently committing to tokenize more than US$1 billion in Dubai real estate," Mullin told the publication.

Some investors pointed to MANTRA's total value locked (TVL) of only around $13 million, compared to its token's fully-diluted value of $9.5 billion, according to DefiLlama data, as a possible warning sign.

X user Insomniac, governance lead for growth firm Castle Labs, identified three wallets that have sent millions of dollars worth of $OM tokens to exchanges OKX and Binance in recent days, indicating possible sales. One wallet received around $36 million worth of $OM tokens from a Binance address on March 21, then transferred around 4.3 million tokens to OKX across 8 transactions on Saturday.

6 members of the MANTRA DAO had been previously ordered by a Hong Kong court to disclose financial records related to the project, after having been accused of misappropriating DAO assets in a lawsuit.

Mullin and the MANTRA team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block. 

Reported by The Block: Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas shared that four asset managers are set to launch spot Solana ETFs in Canada on Wednesday.

The upcoming Solana ETFs will offer staking features.

Canada is poised to launch several spot Solana exchange-traded funds on Wednesday, according to a bank circular cited by Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas.

Balchunas shared a screenshot of a circular from Canada’s TD Bank on X, which stated that the Ontario Securities Commission has approved the "world’s first" spot Solana ETFs, issued by Purpose, Evolve, CI and 3iQ. They are expected to launch on April 16, according to the post.

The upcoming ETFs will offer staking features to earn rewards, "which may provide higher yields than Ether staking and reduce overall ETF holding costs," the circular said.

The Block has reached out to the OSC, TD Bank and the four asset managers for further comment.

Meanwhile, major asset managers in the U.S. have raced to file spot Solana ETF applications. Grayscale, Bitwise, 21Shares, Canary and VanEck are among those seeking to offer such products, according to The Block's Solana ETF tracker.

In March, Volatility Shares launched two Solana futures ETFs in the U.S. The Volatility Shares Solana ETF, which provides exposure to Solana futures contracts, currently has about $5.1 million in assets under management, while the Volatility Shares 2X Solana ETF holds roughly $8.7 million in AUM.

"FWIW, the 2 solana ETFs in the U.S. (which track futures so not a perfect guinea pig) haven't done much. Very little in aum. The 2x XRP already has more aum than both the solana ETFs and it came out after. Wouldn't read a ton into it, but it's our first look at the altcoin race," Balchunas said.

Reported by The Block: Quantum Cats NFTs saw a steep floor price drop after the Taproot Wizards mint incentive ended, unlike other Bitcoin NFT collections that remained relatively stable.

The following is an excerpt from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.

The floor price of Bitcoin NFT Quantum Cats halved in value last week, falling from 0.087 BTC on March 30 to 0.04 BTC as of Saturday, April 5.   Meanwhile, the floor prices of other notable Bitcoin NFT collections remained relatively flat in comparison.   For example, NodeMonkes and Bitcoin Puppets declined by just 5% and 8%, respectively, over the same period.

The significant and isolated ~54% decline in Quantum Cats’ floor price is linked to the recent Taproot Wizards mint that began on March 25.

Quantum Cats holders were given a discount for the Taproot Wizards mint, thus incentivizing people to buy and hold them prior to the mint.  Specifically, collectors who owned pairs of "entangled" Quantum Cats were given a 50% discount on the mint price, from 0.2 BTC to 0.1 BTC.  However, after the Taproot Wizards mint, those who bought and held Quantum Cats solely to access the discount no longer had the same incentive to keep the NFTs, thus prompting them to sell in a classic example of a "sell the news/event."

This event has now brought Quantum Cats' floor price closer to its peers, such as NodeMonkes and Bitcoin Puppets, as opposed to the relatively significant premium it commanded from late December 2024 due to anticipation and hype of the aforementioned Taproot Wizards mint.

Reported by The Block: Ethereum is now the first non-Cosmos network to join the IBC ecosystem, and IBC Eureka looks to add networks such as Solana, Base and Arbitrum in the future.

The launch of IBC Eureka comes after Interchain Labs developers tested the interoperability between Ethereum and Cosmos in late March of this year.

Interchain Labs unveiled a new bridge product called IBC Eureka to connect the Ethereum and Cosmos blockchain systems.

IBC Eureka expands upon the second version of the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol to permit quick and affordable connections between Ethereum and Cosmos, using the Cosmos Hub ATOM to undergird the IBC routing, according to a release shared with The Block.

Ethereum is now the first non-Cosmos network to join the IBC ecosystem.  Eureka developers plan to add networks such as Solana, Base and Arbitrum in the future.  The system is designed to reduce transfer costs, including gas and relay fees, from Etheruem into Cosmos to less than $1.

"IBC Eureka represents a steep improvement in security and programmability for cross-chain communication," Interchain Labs co-CEO Barry Plunkett told The Block in an email.  "It will allow developers across Ethereum and Cosmos to build a new class of applications that unify and compose the liquidity and protocols historically fragmented across multiple chains.  Our mission for 2025 is to continue to expand IBC Eureka, onboarding additional chains to create a truly unified Interchain economy.”

Among the first projects to onboard IBC Eureka are the decentralized exchange dYdX, the real-world asset-focused Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA, Bitcoin liquid staking protocol Lombard and Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon.

"The capability to bring Bitcoin Staking LSTs minted on Babylon Genesis into Cosmos over IBC Eureka marks a major step toward unlocking Bitcoin’s full DeFi potential," said Fisher Yu, Babylon Labs CTO, in a statement. "This integration enables seamless, secure, and efficient access to Cosmos DeFi for Bitcoin holders — and brings us closer to Bitcoin alignment across every chain and the broader ecosystem.”

Interchain Labs is under the Interchain Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit that develops the Layer 1 blockchain Cosmos and its related ecosystem. The launch of IBC Eureka comes after Interchain Labs developers tested the operability between Ethereum and Cosmos in late March of this year, The Block previously reported. 

Reported by The Block: Teucrium Investment Advisors LLC is launching a leveraged XRP ETF on Tuesday, which is the first XRP-based ETF in the U.S. market.

Multiple U.S. issuers have filed for spot XRP ETFs, which are still being reviewed by the SEC.

One analyst said the likelihood of spot XRP ETFs being approved this year has grown, but demand for such funds remains uncertain.

Vermont-based asset manager Teucrium Investment Advisors LLC is launching the first XRP -based exchange-traded fund in the U.S. market on Tuesday.

The Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF (XXRP) is a leveraged fund based on the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, designed to provide investment results that correspond to twice the daily price performance of XRP.

"If you have a short-term high-conviction view on XRP prices, you may consider exploring the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF," the company said on the website.

According to its description, XXRP starts trading on April 8 on NYSE Arca, with monthly distributions at a 1.85% management fee ratio.

On the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's (DTCC) official list of active and pre-launch U.S. ETFs, Teucrium's XXRP stands as the only XRP-related fund.

"A 2x XRP ETF is launching [tomorrow] in the U.S., the first-ever XRP ETF on the market," Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas said in a post on X.

"Very odd (maybe a first) that a new asset’s first ETF is leveraged. Spot XRP still not approved, [although] our odds are pretty high," Balchunas added.

Demand for spot ETF uncertainMultiple U.S. issuers, including Grayscale, WisdomTree and Bitwise, have filed applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following waves of positive changes in crypto regulation led by President Donald Trump.

Several spot XRP ETF filings have been acknowledged by the SEC earlier this year, suggesting the review process is moving forward.

Meanwhile, Ripple Labs, the company that created and supports the growth of XRP, agreed to settle with the SEC last month, ending their years-long legal battle over whether XRP counts as a financial security. Ripple agreed to pay a fine of $50 million, reduced from the $125 million that was imposed last August.

"With the SEC dropping its appeal, a key legal hurdle is out of the way, making XRP ETF approval more likely," said Min Jung, research analyst at Presto Research. "If any new spot ETFs are approved after Bitcoin and Ethereum, XRP or Solana are strong contenders."

However, Jung noted that demand for spot XRP ETFs remains uncertain. "Ethereum ETFs have seen limited traction, and institutions still largely believe 'there is no second best,'" Jung said.

According to The Block's XRP price page, the cryptocurrency is trading at $1.91 as of 11:00 p.m. ET on Monday, up 0.64% in the past 24 hours.

Reported by The Block: A federal high court delayed the trial as a Binance attorney challenged a February order allowing authorities to serve documents through email.

Nigeria wants Binance to pay $81 billion in back taxes for allegedly operating without proper registrations.

An Abuja federal high court adjourned a tax evasion trial involving Binance until April 30 as a lawyer for the exchange scrutinized a substituted service order to serve legal documents via email, according to a Reuters report.

A court approved government prosecutors and the local tax authority to send case papers over the internet.  The order was “improper and should be set aside,” said Chukwuka Ikwuazom, a Binance attorney who argued that authorities must obtain formal permission to serve official documents abroad.

Monday’s hearing was the latest update in a crackdown on crypto service providers and ongoing investigations into Binance.  Nigeria’s government accused the crypto exchange of evading taxes and escalating national economic losses by illegally operating there.  When Binance dispatched two executives — Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan — to negotiate, domestic law enforcement arrested the pair.  A months-long saga involving a detainee’s escape, reports of human rights violations, and lobbying from top U.S. policymakers ensued afterward.

Anjarwalla fled the country and is still wanted by authorities.  Gambaryan, a former Internal Revenue Service agent, was released last October after nine months in Kuje prison, a maximum security facility built for high-profile suspects tied to serious crimes like money laundering and terrorism.  Gambaryan’s release was approved after his medical condition deteriorated, apparently due to his lengthy incarceration.  Nigeria’s government refuted the hush money claims but dropped money laundering and tax charges against the U.S. citizen.

Nigeria is seeking an $81 billion fine against the crypto exchange.  Authorities said Binance owes $79 billion in damages and $2 billion in back taxes.

Reported by The Block: The broader NFT market has suffered severe declines over the past three months, with both OpenSea and Blur experiencing significant drops in trading volume, highlighting the sector’s overall struggles. 

The following is an excerpt from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.

At the beginning of 2022, OpenSea’s share of Ethereum NFT marketplace volume stood at a dominating around 97%. Just two years later, the platform seemed to have dwindled amid fierce competition as its market share fell to just under 20%, even falling as low as 13% in the summer of 2024.

In the 10 months since, however, the OpenSea market share of Ethereum NFT marketplace volume has steadily climbed and is standing at over 51% as of the time of writing. As impressive as this comeback story looks at face value, it does not tell the whole story.

OpenSea's "comeback" in terms of market share for marketplace volume is less about the OpenSea protocol itself doing well and more about its main competitor, Blur, underperforming on a relatively competitive basis.

Since its latest peak in December 2024, Blur’s monthly NFT volume has declined consistently, with an average monthly rate of decline of 55%. Over the same period, OpenSea's monthly NFT volume has been more varied. It declined by 48% from December to January but then increased by 20% in February, likely due to the announcement of its SEA token.

It is worth pointing out that both OpenSea and Blur saw similar month-over-month declines in March, with the former down 67% and the latter down 62%.

The takeaway is that Ethereum NFT volumes have declined significantly over the last three months, with the entire sector performing horribly. OpenSea’s resurgence in terms of market share, while somewhat notable, is likely due to Blur’s competitive relative underperformance and should not mask either platform's woes or overemphasize their "wins."