kamsham54

According to ShibDaily, Richard Kim, a former executive at prominent Wall Street firms, has been charged by federal prosecutors with defrauding investors in his startup crypto casino, Zero Edge. The government alleges that Kim solicited over $7 million under false pretenses and misappropriated the funds, losing most through high-risk trades and gambling. Kim, who previously held positions at Galaxy Digital, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase, was arrested on Tuesday, as detailed in court filings.

The formal complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Kim of wire fraud and securities fraud, allegedly occurring between March and July 2024. The FBI agent's sworn statement claims Kim devised a scheme to defraud investors. Zero Edge reportedly raised over $7 million, closing a seed round around June 20, after which the alleged misappropriation began. The FBI stated Kim lost nearly all of the funds, with initial reports indicating he admitted to losing at least $3.67 million shortly after funding closed, while prosecutors later cited a figure closer to $4.3 million.

Kim attributed the losses to leveraged crypto trades during Bitcoin's June decline, citing a long-standing gambling addiction and a downward spiral. He expressed remorse, stating that after receiving the funds, he felt compelled to make up for his missteps. Kim's arrest contrasts sharply with his Wall Street and legal pedigree, having served as a general partner at Galaxy Interactive and held COO roles in trading divisions at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, as well as working as an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb.

Galaxy Digital, an investor in Zero Edge, reported Kim's conduct to authorities upon learning of his actions, calling their own investment immaterial. In a July interview, Kim claimed he had proactively contacted the SEC, admitting his actions were grossly negligent but denying intent to steal. The wire fraud charge involves using interstate communications to misappropriate funds, while the securities fraud count alleges Kim used manipulative and deceptive devices, including untrue statements or omissions related to securities. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is prosecuting the case, with court records indicating Kim was released on a $250,000 secured bond. Despite resigning from Zero Edge on July 2, Kim expressed his intention to repay investors.

According to Cointelegraph, a proposal has been submitted by an Aptos community member, known as MoonSheisty, to significantly reduce the staking rewards for Aptos (APT), the network's native token. The proposal, introduced on April 18, suggests cutting the reward yields from 7% to 3.79% over a three-month period. This adjustment aims to align Aptos staking rewards with those of other layer-1 blockchains and enhance capital efficiency. The proposal has generated interest on social media platform X, though initial feedback on GitHub indicates some resistance.

A community member identified as ElagabalxNode expressed concerns that reducing staking rewards without implementing compensatory mechanisms, such as a robust delegation program, could potentially drive smaller validators out of the network. This, in turn, could weaken the decentralization and long-term resilience of the Aptos blockchain. The proposal emphasizes the importance of validators in the network and suggests that Aptos should consider establishing a community validator program to provide grants and stakes to smaller validators contributing to the ecosystem.

Aptos, founded in 2021 by former Meta engineers, currently has a total value locked (TVL) of $974 million, with $320 million attributed to the lending protocol Aries Markets, as reported by DefiLlama. While high staking rewards can encourage users to lock up tokens on Aptos, MoonSheisty argues that they may also deter participation in higher-risk, higher-reward opportunities within the ecosystem, such as restaking, DePIN infrastructure, MEV, and decentralized finance.

Staking rewards vary significantly across different blockchains. CoinLedger reports that the BNB Smart Chain offers some of the highest real returns at 7.43%, while Cardano provides one of the lowest at just 0.55%. Staking incentivizes users to lock their tokens on-chain, supports validators, and helps secure the network. The rewards function similarly to interest earned on a savings account, but instead of cash, stakers earn cryptocurrency, which can fluctuate in fiat value.

Proposals to modify staking procedures are not uncommon. In June 2024, Polkadot introduced a proposal to reduce the unstaking period to two days. In September, the Starknet community voted to implement a new staking mechanism, and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed solutions to staking issues shortly thereafter. While staking provides the community with a genuine stake in the network, it also carries risks, including the potential consolidation of smaller pools into larger ones, which can undermine decentralization and weaken the blockchain's overall resilience.

According to BlockBeats, Canary Capital is seeking to launch an ETF aimed at tracking the price of Tron's native token, TRX. The hedge fund submitted an S-1 form for the Canary Staked TRX ETF to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Friday. The proposed fund plans to utilize third-party providers for staking and BitGo as the custodian, with pricing data sourced from CoinDesk Indices.

According to BlockBeats, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing ongoing fear, as indicated by the latest data from Alternative. The current Fear and Greed Index stands at 32, slightly down from yesterday's 33, reflecting a persistent sense of panic among investors.

The Fear and Greed Index, which ranges from 0 to 100, is calculated based on several factors: volatility (25%), market trading volume (25%), social media activity (15%), market surveys (15%), Bitcoin's dominance in the market (10%), and Google search trends (10%). These components collectively provide insights into the market sentiment, highlighting the cautious approach of investors in the current climate.

According to PANews, official data reveals that Circle issued approximately 3.2 billion USDC and redeemed around 2.2 billion USDC in the week ending April 17, resulting in a net increase of about 1 billion USDC in circulation. The total circulation of USDC now stands at 60.8 billion, supported by reserves of approximately 61 billion USD. This reserve includes around 7.7 billion USD in cash and about 53.3 billion USD held in the Circle Reserve Fund.

According to Foresight News, Lookonchain monitoring has revealed that Galaxy Digital has withdrawn 606,000 SOL tokens, valued at approximately $79.7 million, from exchanges over the past four days. Of this amount, 462,000 SOL tokens, worth around $60 million, have been staked.

According to BlockBeats, data from DeFiLlama reveals that Solana's decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume reached $1.887 billion in the past 24 hours, surpassing Ethereum's DEX trading volume of $1.182 billion. This marks a significant achievement for Solana, positioning it ahead of Ethereum in terms of DEX activity.

Institutional demand for Bitcoin is outstripping newly mined supply by more than two to one, according to the latest market data following the launch of U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs).Over 529K BTC Accumulated by InstitutionsSince the rollout of spot Bitcoin ETPs in the United States earlier this year, institutions have collectively purchased 529,325 BTC, while only 249,725 BTC have been newly mined during the same timeframe. This significant disparity underscores the intensifying demand for Bitcoin as a regulated investment product, particularly among institutional investors.Key ImplicationsDemand > Supply: Institutional buyers are scooping up more than twice the available new supply, putting upward pressure on prices.ETF Effect: The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs has dramatically increased accessibility for pension funds, asset managers, and wealth advisors.Market Sentiment: This imbalance signals strong long-term conviction in Bitcoin's role as a store of value and hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty.Bullish Outlook Remains IntactThe sustained demand from institutions—despite recent price volatility—reinforces a bullish foundation for Bitcoin in 2025. As more traditional investors gain exposure through regulated vehicles like ETFs, analysts anticipate further supply shocks, which could drive prices to new highs.

According to Binance Market Data, Ethereum (ETH) crossed the 1,600 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 1,600.069946 USDT, with a 1.19% increase in 24 hours.