In a recent X post, the Shiba Inu development team announced that the Shibarium hard fork is scheduled to go live on May 2.

The team noted that this hard fork would introduce several significant changes to the Ethereum L2 network, Shibarium. The hard fork aims to drastically improve transaction processing speeds. After the upgrade is activated, the network is expected to allow faster block production on Shibarium, thus decreasing the waiting time for confirmations. This is important for improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the layer-2 protocol.

The Shiba Inu ecosystem’s layer-2 solution, Shibarium, is experiencing a remarkable surge in adoption and usage. On Tuesday, analysts reported staggering increases in user engagement and transaction volume on the network.

The number of active accounts on Shibarium jumped by an astonishing 80% within 24 hours, exceeding 25,800 active users. This rapid user base expansion highlights the growing interest and utilization of Shibarium’s layer-2 capabilities.

Transaction Volume Soars

Accompanying the influx of new users was a massive spike in transaction volume. Shibarium processed a staggering 958,438 transactions on Tuesday, representing a 128.46% increase compared to the previous day. This surge underscores the escalating demand for the network’s scaling solutions.

Since April 13th, Shibarium has onboarded an impressive 375,124 new wallets to its ecosystem. This influx of new users further cements Shibarium’s position as an increasingly adopted layer-2 platform within the broader cryptocurrency landscape.

Community Optimism Remains High

Despite the breakneck pace of growth, the Shiba Inu (SHIB) community remains optimistic about Shibarium’s trajectory. LucieSHIB, the network’s marketing lead, has actively defended Shibarium’s advancements and reaffirmed the team’s commitment to building a robust and enduring platform.

As Shibarium gains traction, investors, developers, and the broader crypto community will closely watch the Shiba Inu ecosystem’s evolution as potential real-world applications look poised to send SHIB to new highs with bulls eying the $0.001 price point.

Huge Benefits Of Imminent Shibarium Hard Fork

Transaction fees will become more stable, especially during periods of high network traffic, after the hard fork is integrated. This modification is intended to prevent fee hikes that might discourage users from conducting transactions. In other words, the incoming upgrade will make Shibarium network fees more predictable — making it affordable and accessible for all users.

This explosive growth in activity and users points to increasing utility and interest in the Shiba Inu ecosystem powered by the Shibarium layer-2 scaling solution. It will be interesting to see if this momentum continues and what further developments or applications emerge from this project.

Shiba Inu is trading for $0.00002549 at press time, down 1.2% in the past 24 hours.

A recent survey conducted by Coinshares has revealed burgeoning institutional interest in altcoins, with Solana’s SOL leading among emerging favourites.

The Digital Asset Fund Manager Survey, which polled 64 investors managing a combined $600 billion in assets under management, found that SOL has witnessed a remarkable surge in allocations from institutional investors.

Institutions Are Bullish On Solana

In an April 24 report based on Coinshares’s survey, the investment firm’s head of research, James Butterfill, emphasized the broadening exposure to altcoins among investors, positing:

“Investors have been broadening their exposure to altcoins, with Solana seeing a dramatic increase in allocations.”

Roughly 15% of participants said they had invested in SOL, a notable increase from CoinShares’ January survey, which showed no institutional investments in the market’s fifth-largest altcoin.

Moreover, Solana was ranked third in terms of having the “most compelling growth outlook”, with almost 15% of surveyed investors agreeing — a rise from 10% from the same survey back in January.

The Coinshares survey also pointed to Solana’s growing institutional acceptance, with approximately 14% of respondents voicing optimism about its growth trajectory, up from about 12% in the previous survey. “Investors are more optimistic for Solana,” the report said. This rising interest in SOL comes amid the crypto’s recent technological improvements and expanding market presence.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin still leads the pack, with over 25% of respondents having invested in the premier crypto, followed by Ethereum with just under 25%. BTC remains the preferred digital asset, with 41% of investors remaining bullish on its growth outlook— albeit a small decline from prior surveys. On the contrary, Ether has witnessed a drop in investor confidence as only 30% of respondents are optimistic about its future, down from 35%.

SOL Ready For Another Bull Rally?

Solana’s native token, SOL, is down today, falling approximately 3.2% to trade for $142.65. Multiple factors have negatively affected SOL’s price performance in recent days, including one of Solana developers’ revelation that the blockchain network’s outage issues have not been resolved.

The SOL price tends to track Bitcoin and the broader crypto trends. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin’s price now hovers at just under $63,900 per coin. That’s a drop of over 1.2% in 24 hours and a 13.2% dip from its March all-time high of nearly $74K. 

It’s uncertain how long this crypto market downturn will last. The SOL price bulls, however, might initiate more bullish momentum on the back of a meme coin frenzy, pushing the price higher to reach the $500 mark in the upcoming weeks.

Following the commencement of the fourth Bitcoin halving, the entire cryptocurrency market, especially members of the Bitcoin community, anticipate an even more bullish run for the asset this year.

Notably, Bitcoin kicked off the year on a bullish note. Thanks to the approval of multiple highly anticipated spot Bitcoin ETFs, the asset benefited from global visibility, resulting in prices hitting new all-time highs.

As key players make bold predictions for the months ahead, market data from Glassnode has outlined the market’s current position, further highlighting Bitcoin’s long-term potential.

As GlassNode’s OnChain newsletter revealed, the fourth Bitcoin halving kicked off on April 20th. As a result, the annualized inflation rate of the Bitcoin Supply dropped by a notable 50%. The event prompted Bitcoin to surpass Gold in terms of issuance scarcity, a remarkable feat observed by Bitcoin proponents.

Explaining the significance of the reduction in diminishing growth rates, Glassnode explains; 

“When measuring across Halving Epochs, diminishing growth rates are noted across multiple network statistics, whilst the absolute value of these measures continues to climb to new ATHs.”

Another key development worthy of observation is the increase in investor profitability, which can be credited to the rising spot price and the decisive ATH break. This has dampened miners’ 50% drop in revenue relative to the start of the year.

Fundamental data outlines possibilities for Bitcoin prices following the halving

Historically, halvings have bolstered market speculation surrounding the potential impact of the event on price action. However, Glassnode outlines the importance of a balanced outlook, explaining that expectations against historical precedence can trigger an unrealistic outlook, 

The price performance of Bitcoin across various halving epochs is very “widespread,” the report read, adding that epochs are different from previous times, and as such, it may not serve as a beneficial guide.

Diminishing returns, the shallower total drawdown effect over time, and the scale of capital flows required to move it are often recorded after an epoch.

“Assessing the price performance since the cycle low up until the Halving, we note a stark similarity between the 2015, 2018, and our current cycle, all experiencing an increase of around ~200% to ~300%. However, our current cycle has been the only one on record to decisively break the previous ATH before the halving event.” The report further stated. 

During the time of this report, Bitcoin was trading for $63,830. Down by more than 8% from the previous week, Bitcoin is $9,920 away from its all-time high of $73,750. It bears mentioning that Bitcoin’s year-to-date (YTD) gains are up by 45% at this time. Technical analysis from a prominent figure leans towards a bearish end, as two sell signals were spotted over the last 24 hours.

Two sell signals were presented on the #Bitcoin 12-hour chart: A death cross between the 50 and 100 SMA and a red 9 candlestick from the TD Sequential.If $BTC falls below $63,300, brace for possible dives to $61,000 or even $59,000. pic.twitter.com/24A3YtbgTb

— Ali (@ali_charts) April 25, 2024

Arkham Intelligence has provided data on the accounts holding the most Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens. The blockchain analytics firm also revealed each account’s current balance.

Meanwhile, Shiba Inu developers have announced that the Shibarium layer 2 solution will undergo a transformative hard fork on May 2. 

Meet Top Shiba Inu Holders

Arkham Intelligence has disclosed that the top wallet holding the biggest amount of the second-largest meme coin is the burn SHIB address. It holds 410,418,817,200,312.1 SHIB valued at around $10.33 billion. This figure represents around 41.04% of the total circulating supply of SHIB in the market. Notably, this is one of the wallets where all the burned Shiba Inu tokens are sent and then automatically locked.

One of the major exchange Crypto.com’s hot wallets, with its SHIB holdings of 37,570,344,005,265.1 ($950.5 million), sits in the second position — 3.76% of the circulating supply.

Third place is held by a Binance cold wallet, which currently holds 3.5% of the circulating SHIB supply—35,570,818,784,448.26 SHIB, equivalent to $885.5 million. Binance has previously confirmed in its Proof-of-Fund (PoF) report that it maintains a robust reserve of Shiba Inu.

Popular brokerage platform Robinhood ranked fourth, with its cold wallet holding 31,753,251,930,362.97 Shiba Inu, which is 3.18% of the supply worth $803 million. The Shib team’s wallet occupies the 10th spot on this list, holding 6,397,162,264,908 SHIB meme coins worth $164,920,000.

Huge Benefits Of Imminent Shibarium Hard Fork

In other related news, the Shiba Inu development team announced in a recent X post that the Shibarium hard fork is scheduled to go live on May 2.

The team noted that this hard fork would introduce several significant changes to the Ethereum L2 network, Shibarium. The hard fork aims to drastically improve transaction processing speeds. After the upgrade is activated, the network is expected to allow faster block production on Shibarium, thus decreasing the waiting time for confirmations. This is important for improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the layer-2 protocol.

Transaction fees will become more stable, especially during periods of high network traffic, after the hard fork is integrated. This modification is intended to prevent fee hikes that might discourage users from conducting transactions. In other words, the incoming upgrade will make Shibarium network fees more predictable — making it affordable and accessible for all users.

Shiba Inu is trading for $0.00002549 at press time, down 1.2% in the past 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) bulls may be in for a disappointment. Reports are surfacing that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will most likely block the introduction of spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as soon as next month.

Discouraging Interactions With The SEC

According to an April 25 report from Reuters, anonymous sources familiar with recent meetings between potential ETF issuers and the Securities and Exchange Commission suggest the agency may be set to deny spot Ethereum ETFs during their final review in May.

Unlike the intense discussions preceding the SEC’s approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, recent talks have been one-sided. According to four industry representatives who reportedly participated in the meetings, SEC staff did not engage in substantive details about the Ethereum ETF applications.

The sources also indicated that despite ETF applicants’ arguments that the greenlighted spot BTC ETFs and Ethereum futures-based ETFs establish a precedent, the SEC’s lack of detailed discussions with issuers suggests imminent denials.

VanEck, ARK Investment Management, BlackRock, Fidelity, and a slew of other issuers have filed paperwork with the SEC to launch ETFs that would track the price of ETH. The regulatory deadlines to decide on VanEck’s and ARK’s filings are May 23 and May 24, respectively.

In their previous remarks, JPMorgan analysts suggested that if the SEC refuses to approve the spot ETH proposals, the ETF issuers could sue the regulator, which may ultimately lead to these products being greenlighted through court intervention.

Before the landmark approval, the SEC stonewalled spot BTC ETF filings for over 10 years. It only changed its perspective after Grayscale Investments notched a major legal win against the regulator in August 2023.

Setback For Ethereum

The likelihood of SEC ETF rejection casts a dark shadow over the Ethereum market, as bulls had pinned hopes on the approval of spot BTC ETFs as a precursor to wider acceptance of crypto-based investment products. 

Moreover, there are reports that the SEC is seriously looking to designate Ethereum as a security. As ZyCrypto reported previously, the Ethereum Foundation revealed in February that it had received an inquiry from an undisclosed “state authority.” It was later revealed that it was indeed the SEC behind that request.

Implications For Ether Price

While Ethereum has registered a subtle 33% growth in value this year, it struggles to keep up with Bitcoin’s 47% increase and a recent move to all-time highs, reflecting market sentiment regarding the regulatory woes it faces.

Hong Fang, the president of crypto exchange OKX, told Reuters that uncertainty surrounding spot ETH ETF approvals would likely put bearish pressure on the price of ether. “There’s more downward pressure on prices as people build that expectation in,” Fang posited.

According to CoinGecko data, the ether price was hovering at $3,130 at press time, up 1.5% on the day.

Ethereum software giant Consensys has filed a preemptive lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  

Consensys explains that it decided to strike the SEC early because it does not want the formidable regulator to expand its jurisdiction by “wrongly” categorizing ether as a security under current chairman Gary Gensler. 

Consensys Sues SEC Over Ethereum Classification

Consensys, the crypto startup backing projects critical to the Ethereum ecosystem, has taken the first step to bring clarity on Ethereum’s legal status as a non-security. Consensys has sued the Securities and Exchange Commission and its five commissioners, alleging they are overreaching in their apparent efforts to reclassify Ethereum as a security token.

Today, Consensys filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission. The goal behind this is to ensure that Ethereum remains a vibrant and indispensable blockchain platform and to preserve access for the countless developers, market participants, and institutions…

— Consensys (@Consensys) April 25, 2024

“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) seeks to regulate ETH as a security, even though ETH bears none of the attributes of a security — and even though the SEC has previously told the world that ETH is not a security, and not within the SEC’s statutory jurisdiction,” the 34-page legal filing on April 25 reads.

Consensys claimed that the SEC had crafted a campaign “to seize control over the future of cryptocurrency” with enforcement actions aimed at regulating Ethereum. The firm further mentioned the securities regulator’s record of calling Ether a commodity. Citing Chairman Gary Gensler’s statements declaring ETH was not a security as early as 2018, Consensys warned of the potential implications of the agency changing its stance after companies had created businesses based on the legal precedent:

“The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for Consensys,” said the filing. “Every holder of ETH, including Consensys, would fear violating the securities laws if he or she were to transfer ETH on the network. And the ability of anyone new to acquire ETH to use Ethereum’s repository of decentralized applications and services would be extinguished. This would bring use of the Ethereum blockchain in the United States to a halt, crippling one of the internet’s greatest innovations.”

The complaint further reveals that the SEC sent Consensys a Wells Notice on April 10 over MetaMask, indicating its intent to sue the company and alleging that MetaMask was operating as an unlicensed broker-dealer. As a result, Consensys opted to lodge a preemptive suit against the regulator, seeking a declaration that Ether is indeed not a security.

Ether: To Be A Security Or Not To Be A Security

Ethereum’s regulatory status and classification as a security has long been a subject of contention between regulators and the cryptosphere. The SEC’s previous position was that ETH, similar to Bitcoin, is not a security and, as such, is outside its jurisdiction. This view has not received any additional clarification from the federal agency or its chair.

The recent legal action gives credence to previous reporting about the SEC’s attempts to designate the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap as a security with several subpoenas. 

The SEC is now expected to deny spot Ethereum ETF applications, including the one from Wall Street giant BlackRock. While speaking to Fortune, Consensys founder Joe Lubin observed that the SEC’s aggressive stance was likely intended to justify the looming rejection. Lubin claims that the agency wants to suppress innovation and deter huge inflows of cash into the crypto market. Nonetheless, BlackRock’s boss Larry Fink asserted it would still be possible to introduce ETH ETFs even if Ether was labeled a security.

XRP, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, continued to grapple with bearish sentiments on Thursday, extending its rough week amidst a broader market downturn.

Notably, April has proven to be challenging for XRP enthusiasts, witnessing price fluctuations dipping as low as $0.41 earlier this month. Despite efforts from bullish investors to stage a recovery, the market appears locked in sideways consolidation, offering few signs of imminent reversal. Nonetheless, amidst the turbulence, there are glimmers of optimism.

In a tweet, renowned crypto analyst Ali Martinez pointed out a notable surge in whale activity, particularly those holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP, stating, “$XRP dropped from $0.62 to $0.41, and crypto whales took notice. They’ve bought over 31 million XRP in just the past week!”

Notably, the acquisition frenzy didn’t stop there. On Wednesday, crypto transactions tracking service ‘Whale Alert’ brought attention to two significant players who secured substantial amounts of XRP from Binance, infusing a sense of positivity into the market. One whale acquired 18.84 million XRP, valued at approximately $10.26 million, from the exchange, while another amassed around 19.90 million XRP, totalling approximately $10.92 million, from the same exchange.

This accumulation signals a resurgence in confidence towards XRP, hinting at a potentially bullish sentiment among these influential market participants.

Adding to the narrative, analyst Brianq from Santiment highlighted a surge in the number of wallets holding at least 1 million XRP, nearing last year’s all-time high. This positive development coincided with a modest 6% price uptick, with XRP reaching as high as $0.5687 on Monday.

Elsewhere, analysts have been offering divergent views on XRP’s future trajectory amidst these promising signals. For instance, analyst YG Crypto suggested a potential dip towards support levels between $0.4900 and $0.4700, emphasizing the critical importance of this zone for preventing further decline.

Meanwhile, popular crypto analyst Andrew Griffiths remains bullish, anticipating a breakout from the long-standing triangle formation since 2017, potentially leading to a new all-time high for XRP.

“As long as we can stay above $0.60, XRP remains bullish. We are coiling up for a big move. I believe that once we can break the triangle formation and break the price of $1.20, we can see a new all-time high. This triangle is forming since 2017. The move that will be from there will be possible again as in 2017.” Griffiths wrote on Thursday.

XRP traded at $0.52 at press time, reflecting a 1.10% drop in the past 24 hours.

BlackRock Bitcoin ETF’s 71-day inflow streak abruptly ended on April 24 after IBIT recorded no inflows for the day for the first time since going live on January 11. IBIT did not attract any fresh investor capital as United States spot ETFs saw a total daily net outflow of $120.64 million on Wednesday.

IBIT Breaks Inflow Streak

The BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has posted its first day of $0 inflows since spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were introduced in the U.S. in mid-January to much fanfare. 

Financial giant BlackRock has seen its ETF draw in investments worth millions of dollars daily, amassing an impressive $15 billion in just 71 days. The fund has seen more deposits than withdrawals every single trading day. The other ETFs have raked in a total net inflow of roughly $12 billion. 

However, BlackRock’s inflow streak ended on April 24. Given that most investors are tracking ETF flows to evaluate the market sentiment, BlackRock’s failure to attract any fresh capital on Wednesday might be a bearish sign for the market — at least in the short term.

Farside Investors data shows that the majority of the other Bitcoin ETF issuers also experienced a dry spell. Of the 11 U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs, Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) were the only two to register inflows of $5.6 million and $4.2 million, respectively.

Grayscale’s GBTC continued to hemorrhage cash. GBTC recorded $130.4 million in outflows on April 24, leading to a new cumulative outflow of $120.6 million on the day.

While the lack of inflows is a sign of waning demand and a first for BlackRock’s IBIT, it’s rather common for other ETF providers. Case in point, Fidelity’s FBTC has posted three days of zero inflows over the past two weeks. 

Bitcoin Tumbles As Crypto Market Bleeds

Regardless of the impact of IBIT’s now-interrupted inflow streak, the overall cryptocurrency market sentiment seems bearish. According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin is now trading for $64,075, having plunged by 3.4% in the past day.

Other top 20 cryptocurrencies have taken a bigger hit. Solana (SOL) has shed nearly 6.2% of its value in the past 24 hours and is valued at around $146.88.

Elsewhere, Telegram-linked Toncoin (TON) is another big loser. It has dropped by more than 7.8% in a day and is now priced at about $5.36.

Leading meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE), the eighth largest digital asset by market cap, is priced at $0.1505, having slipped by nearly 7%.

British multinational bank Standard Chartered remains firm on its lofty Bitcoin price prediction. Regardless of a mix of negative headwinds recently, the price of the alpha cryptocurrency will still reach $150,000 per coin in 2024.

Initial Euphoria For Spot BTC ETFs Dampens

A Tuesday research report from Standard Chartered asserted that Bitcoin still has plenty of gas left in the tank despite the political tensions in the Middle East, higher Treasury yields, and a decline of fresh capital entering spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

BTC set new all-time highs of $73,737 last month but has since nosedived after the fourth block subsidy halving. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin is now priced at $64,146. But Standard Chartered’s analyst Geoffrey Kendrick suggested that the largest and oldest cryptocurrency would continue its ascent.

“ETF flows have likely stalled for a number of macro reasons, including higher Treasury yields and a more challenging backdrop for risk assets due to geopolitical developments in the Middle East,” Geoffrey postulated.

Moreover, the consumer banking giant said in the report that the first wave of ETF buying may be mostly over, which implies that a strong positive driver of the market has slowed for now. The next wave of buying will entail the inclusion of these exchange-traded funds in broader macro funds, but this could take quite some time.

Standard Chartered Still Expects Six-Figure BTC Price

The leading UK-headquartered bank claimed that the bad news is already priced in for Bitcoin and ether (ETH) and they expect bullish “structural drivers” to act as catalysts. 

Kendrick continued: “We reiterate our end-2024 target levels of $150,000 for Bitcoin and $8,000 for Ethereum.” 

Standard Chartered first forecasted in March that Bitcoin would reach the $150,000 mark this year and proclaimed that the price of ether — the industry’s second most valuable crypto — Ethereum would soar, too.

The bank’s analysts continue to maintain their BTC price target of $200,000 until the end of 2025.

The team behind Shiba Inu (SHIB) has made a significant breakthrough, securing $12 million in funding by selling its unreleased token, TREAT.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the round, which concluded earlier this month, saw participation from prominent non-US firms such as Polygon Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Shima Capital, Animoca Brands, Morningstar Ventures, Woodstock Fund, DWF Ventures, Stake Capital, and Comma 3 Ventures.

Introduced in July 2022 by Shytoshi Kusama, the mysterious lead developer of Shiba Inu, TREAT will serve as the gateway to the brand’s groundbreaking blockchain, powered by cutting-edge Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technology developed in collaboration with Zama.ai.

Notably, this innovative encryption chain will address critical issues within the crypto sphere, such as privacy and trust, catering not only to Shiba Inu’s vast community of tens of millions but also to the burgeoning population of crypto enthusiasts worldwide, eager to explore the next frontier of digital finance.

“This new encryption chain aims to address multiple issues in crypto, including privacy and trust for Shiba Inu’s extensive community of tens of millions and the next billion crypto-curious individuals,” a spokesperson for Shiba Inu stated.

Meanwhile, reflecting on Shiba Inu’s journey, Kusama expressed gratitude to the community, highlighting the transformative impact achieved together. According to him, the brand has evolved beyond expectations, crafting a comprehensive ecosystem with unparalleled technology stacks encompassing community, gaming, AI, metaverse, DeFi, self-sovereign identity, and encryption.

The pundit also expressed gratitude for the support from influential VCs, angel investors, and brands, emphasizing his teams’ commitment to advancing the grand decentralized experiment.

“We are excited to gain the support of such powerful VCs, angel investors, and brands as we plow towards the completion of this grand decentralized experiment. Through the involvement of these venture capital firms and their strategic partners, we are expanding not only our network of trusted partners, but also exponentially increasing what Shiba Inu can truly be capable of for our community, The ShibArmy.” Stated Kusama

The Shiba Inu team, however, declined to disclose the name of the Layer 3 blockchain to prevent scammers from creating fake TREAT tokens. That said, the new blockchain is expected to release a testnet in the third quarter of this year, followed by the mainnet after thorough testing.

After a jury found Terraform Labs and Do Kwon liable for fraud in its long-standing case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulator has asked a New York court to impose $5.3 billion in disgorgement and civil penalties.

SEC Notches Win As Jury Finds Do Kwon Liable For Multi-Billion Dollar Fraud

After Do Kwon’s Terra empire collapsed in May 2022, over $40 billion worth of investor money was wiped out in a matter of days. A Manhattan jury found Kwon — and his company Terraform Labs — liable on civil fraud charges related to misleading investors about the safety of investing in Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin, Terra USD (UST), and its companion token LUNA.

According to the SEC’s motion filed just two weeks after the civil trial was concluded, the jury issued a verdict in favor of the agency in all counts. The SEC now wants Kwon and Terraform Labs to pay $4.74 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, as well as a collective $520 million in civil penalties: $420 million from Terraform Labs and $100 million from Kwon. The securities regulator claimed the fine amount was “conservative” but a “reasonable approximation” of Terraform and Kwon’s “ill-gotten gains.

In addition to the gargantuan monetary judgment, the SEC has also asked the judge for injunctions barring Kwon and Terraform Labs from engaging in further securities violations.

“Defendants have not shown remorse for their conduct, nor can there be any doubt that they are in a position where additional violations are not only possible but likely are already occurring,” the SEC wrote in the filing. “The Court should send an unequivocal message that this sort of brazen misconduct, and Defendants’ misbegotten attempt to excuse their behavior by crafting new rules and standards of behavior for crypto markets in contravention of the federal securities laws […] will not be tolerated.”

Do Kwon And Terraform Labs Push Back Against SEC

Do Kwon and Terraform Labs have contested the SEC’s penalty suggestion.

Terraform Labs lawyers filed a response the same day as the SEC’s motion, stating that the court should not approve the proposed injunctive relief or disgorgement against it. The company requests the court to grant only an “appropriate civil penalty” per violation that the regulator can prove happened in the United States.

Kwon’s attorneys also fought against the injunctive relief sought by the SEC, claiming it is not warranted because he is not currently employed and has pending criminal charges against him. They further asserted that the fallen crypto star has “no illegal profits … to disgorge.”

Kwon is currently mired in court proceedings in Montenegro, where he was arrested in March 2023 for attempting to flee to Dubai using forged travel documents. Though later released after serving his four-month prison sentence, it’s still unknown whether he will be extradited to the U.S. or his native South Korea. Kwon faces criminal charges in both jurisdictions.

Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple Labs, has recently made bold predictions regarding the future of the Crypto Market as analysts now suggest an XRP surge to $10 is feasible.

The crypto world is no stranger to grand predictions, and Ripple CEO has joined the ranks of forecasters with his bold proclamation that the total crypto market cap will surpass $5 trillion by the end of 2024.

While Garlinghouse is optimistic about the market’s future, citing factors such as regulatory developments and institutional interest, history shows that crypto predictions are often far from accurate.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Garlinghouse confidently stated that the total crypto market cap will exceed $5 trillion by the close of 2024. This forecast represents a doubling of the current market cap, which stands at around $2.45 trillion and has surged by 63% since the start of the year.

Factors Fueling Garlinghouse’s Optimism

Several factors underpin Garlinghouse’s bullish outlook. He anticipates a relaxation of regulatory tensions in the U.S., which could open the door to increased institutional investment in the crypto space. The launch of the first U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) earlier this year is also a potential catalyst for institutional inflows.

Furthermore, Garlinghouse highlighted the upcoming Bitcoin “halving,” an event that will reduce the rate at which new BTC is generated. This, coupled with growing institutional demand, is expected to drive up the price of Bitcoin and, consequently, the overall market capitalization of the crypto market.

Crypto Predictions: A Risky Endeavor

While Garlinghouse’s forecast is ambitious, the history of crypto predictions suggests caution is warranted. The crypto industry has seen numerous high-profile predictions fall short of the mark. John McAfee famously predicted that Bitcoin would reach $500,000 by the end of 2020, a forecast that proved to be wildly imprecise.

Who Said This?"When I predicted BTC at $500,000 by the end of 2020, it used a model that predicted $5,000 at the end of 2017. BTC has accelerated much faster than my model assumptions. I now predict Bitcoin at $1M by the end of 2020."Retweet – if John McAfeeLike – if Pomp

— Jason A. Williams (@GoingParabolic) April 17, 2019

Similarly, Calvin Ayre, a supporter of Bitcoin SV, predicted that Bitcoin would “go to zero” in 2019, only to see BTC peak over $13,800 that year. These examples serve as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the crypto market and the risks associated with making bold predictions.

A Watershed Moment for Crypto?

Despite the risks, Garlinghouse’s forecast represents a potential turning point for the crypto industry. If the market reached a $5 trillion cap by 2024, it would signal a significant shift in the perception and adoption of cryptocurrencies. However, as past predictions have shown, the path to such lofty valuations is uncertain.

A Wall Street financial whiz recently commented on Ripple’s potential plans to debut an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the year. This begs the question: Will the price of XRP hit $10 if Ripple conducts an IPO?

Garlinghouse’s $5 trillion forecast for the crypto market is bold, but its realization is far from certain. While the industry has experienced remarkable growth, past predictions highlight the challenges of forecasting the future of cryptocurrencies. As the market continues to evolve, only time will tell if Garlinghouse’s prediction is a bold prophecy or baseless speculation.

Federal prosecutors are pushing for a tougher 3-year prison term for Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in connection with his role in the global cryptocurrency exchange’s violation of sanctions and money laundering laws.

CZ Faces 3-Year Jail Time

Per a sentencing memo filed on April 23 to the U.S. district court for the Western District of Washington., attorneys for the Department of Justice recommend that the court “impose an above-Guidelines sentence of 36 months of imprisonment,” citing Zhao’s willful violation of U.S. law.” Along with the 36-month sentencing recommendation, the DOJ said CZ should also be expected to cough up the $50 million fine he agreed as part of a plea deal.

The filing reads, “That sentence, together with the agreed $50 million fine, is sufficient but not greater than necessary to balance the relevant 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors and achieve the goals of sentencing.”

CZ bet on not getting caught, and that if he did, “the consequences would not be as serious as the crime,” the DoJ’s lawyers contended, and that Binance’s “Wild West” model of failing to comply with U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements had made the Binance founder “one of richest people in the world and a celebrity in the crypto industry.”

Prosecutors described how Zhao’s failure to implement an effective AML program resulted in Binance processing over $898 million in transactions, breaking US sanctions against Iran and other nations.

A “Message” To Zhao And The World

The 36-month sentencing recommendation exceeds federal sentencing guidelines that would have seen the former Binance CEO jailed for 18 months. The DOJ asserted that the recommended sentence would be a powerful deterrent to others considering violating U.S. law for financial gain.

“The sentence in this case will not just send a message to Zhao but also to the world. Zhao reaped vast rewards for his violation of U.S. law, and the price of that violation must be significant to effectively punish Zhao for his criminal acts and to deter others who are tempted to build fortunes and business empires by breaking U.S. law,” the filing said.

Zhao’s defense team attacked prosecutors’ 36-month prison term request, pointing out that “no defendant in a remotely similar BSA case has ever been sentenced to incarceration.” They instead suggested he be sentenced to probation, which could include house detention at his home in Abu Dhabi.

Despite stepping down from Binance as part of the plea agreement with U.S. regulators, CZ remains involved with the crypto space. The ex-Binance CEO unveiled a new educational initiative last month devoted to crypto and blockchain, emphasizing that the project does not entail new tokens.

Ethereum continued to hover around the critical $3,000 threshold Wednesday, even as traders grappled with uncertainty amid conflicting market signals.

Notably, according to data from crypto analytics firm IntoTheBlock, despite most ETH holders being in profit, the prevailing sentiment among market participants tilts towards caution, as evidenced by the fear and greed index showing investors are “Mostly Bearish”.

Additionally, the prevailing cautious stance was further solidified with price action lingering below the 50-period moving average and bearish signals from both the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD).

Nevertheless, amidst the prevailing bearish sentiment, analysts have started to point towards a potential turnaround for ETH’s price, fueled by optimism in the futures market.

Cryptoquant’s analyst, “The Greatest Trader”, shed light on the “Open Interest” metric, a crucial indicator that quantifies the number of open perpetual futures contracts across various cryptocurrency exchanges. Notably, he emphasized that the Open Interest metric has followed a similar trajectory to Ethereum’s recent downtrend, experiencing a substantial decline.

“This alignment suggests a cooling down of activity within the futures market. Consequently, the market appears poised for the resurgence of either long or short positions, potentially initiating a fresh and decisive market movement in either direction.” He wrote. 

Further bolstering the optimistic outlook, another analyst, “Burakkesmeci,” highlighted the importance of tracking premium indices, particularly the Ethereum Coinbase Premium Index and Korea Premium Index. These indices provide insights into the buying behaviour of investors across different regions. Despite recent fluctuations, both indices remain positive, suggesting continued investor interest in Ethereum and supporting the upward trend.

From a technical perspective, various experts identified a potential Bull Flag formation, signalling a consolidation phase before a potential upward breakout.

ETH regaining the $3,200 level was huge for continuation to $3,800. We are on a bull flag, and I am looking for a clean break and validation above $3,400. $4,000 has been the strongest resistance zone for Ethereum, and if it can overcome that wall, 5,000 will come.” Analyst “Bullrunner” stated.

Furthermore, whale activity, as highlighted by Lookonchain, reveals a notable surge in ETH accumulation. This surge is accompanied by substantial withdrawals of ETH from Binance by whales such as Justin Sun, among others, strategic establishment of long positions, and increased engagement in staking activities. Collectively, these actions signify a heightened level of confidence and anticipation regarding Ethereum’s future price appreciation.

ETH was trading at $3,247 at press time, reflecting a 1.87% surge over the past 24 hours. It will be interesting to see if the price can surpass the intense resistance levels between $3,303 and $3,531, where 5.67 million addresses hold 3.66M million $ETH . Breaking past this barrier could propel ETH toward $4,013.

According to Brock Pierce, an early BTC adopter and co-founder of stablecoin Tether, the Bitcoin price could reach as high as $150,000 during the current bull market cycle.

Bitcoin Price To Top $150K In 2024?

Speaking during an appearance at Fox Business, Brock Pierce indicated that the recent surge in Bitcoin transaction fees as a protocol for Bitcoin-based meme coins went live on the network, is a bullish catalyst for the benchmark crypto. Over the past weekend, it was more expensive to transact on Bitcoin’s network than ever before in history.

Pierce noted that after nearly a decade, Bitcoin is now delivering smart contract functionality, non-fungible token functionality, and meme technologies. As users rushed to get a piece of these novel applications being built atop the Bitcoin chain, they were subjected to record-setting fees. The average Bitcoin transaction fee skyrocketed to $128 Saturday amid the quadrennial halving event and the simultaneous launch of Casey Rodarmor’s Runes protocol.

“Very exciting, and I’m happy with the price,” Pierce posited.

The former child actor anticipates Bitcoin hitting $150,000 “at some point this year” and $1 million in the long term.

Pierce explained why he is bullish: 

“I think it’s likely we’ll see north of $100,000. I think $150,000 is probably a reasonable target at some point this year. And long-term, it’s $1,000,000 or more. It’s a binary outcome. Bitcoin either goes to zero— not really — or over $1,000,000 unless something happens. So it’s really binary in terms of what will happen over time.”

Other BTC Price Predictions

Pierce’s prediction is in line with several other recent forecasts. Analysts at Standard Chartered, for instance, see the Bitcoin price reaching $150,000 by the end of 2024. The bank based its analysis on a comparison with the price of gold after spot gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were launched in the U.S. and a correlation between BTC ETF inflows and the crypto’s price.

A more ambitious target puts the Bitcoin price peak at $100,000 by June 2024.

Seven-figure price targets have also emerged. One of the most well-known is from Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood, who is confident Bitcoin will hit $1.5 million by 2030 following the SEC’s approval of spot crypto products. 

The BTC is up over 6.1% on the weekly chart, trading around $66,165.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications from Grayscale Investments and Wall Street titan Franklin Templeton.

In filings on Tuesday, the SEC said it finds it appropriate to designate a longer period to greenlight or deny a proposed rule change allowing the Cboe BZX Exchange to list and trade shares of Franklin Templeton and Grayscale Ethereum Trusts. The agency will have until June 11 to reevaluate its decision on the Franklin spot ETH ETF, and June 23 for Grayscale’s Ethereum product.

The two companies — along with a handful of other fund managers — are hoping to get the regulatory nod from the SEC so their ether-based products can begin trading on American stock exchanges.

Grayscale applied with the agency to transform its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) into a spot ETH ETF back in October, while Franklin Templeton entered the race in February by submitting its filing with the securities regulator.

The SEC greenlighted nearly a dozen spot Bitcoin ETFs in mid-January after a decade of denials. The SEC’s hand was essentially forced by Grayscale’s landmark court victory. The novel ETFs are now trading on stock exchanges and they give traditional investors exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency. They have been incredibly successful, fetching massive inflows in the space of months. Now, prominent asset managers want to introduce a similar investment vehicle that would allow investors to purchase shares that track the price of ether.

Spot Ether ETF Approval In May Unlikely

Industry pundits are not too optimistic about the prospects of an ether ETF launching in the U.S. in the near term. Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has lowered his estimate of the likelihood of a spot ETH ETF being approved by May from 70% to about 35%.

However, in Hong Kong, multiple issuers said they had received the nod to list spot Ethereum ETFs amid attempts by regulators to turn the former city-state into a crypto hub.

Notably, unlike the spectacular unlock that happened in the United States, which primarily fueled the recent Bitcoin upsurge that has propelled the crypto to current lifetime highs, there are reasons to doubt billions in fresh money will flood the market. As Balchunas has pointed out, there is a gulf between the comparative market size of the U.S. and Hong Kong.

That said, British multinational Standard Chartered sticks to its lofty forecast. It expects the price of Ethereum to register a ballistic rally to the coveted $8,000 mark by the end of the year.

Ripple, the San Francisco-based blockchain company behind the cryptocurrency XRP, filed its opposition to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) demand that the company pay nearly $2 billion in fines and penalties in a late Monday court filing.

In its rebuttal, Ripple said the court should levy a civil penalty of not more than $10 million. 

XRP Lawsuit: $2 Billion Or $10 Million?

Ripple has countered the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal seeking close to $2 billion from the fintech company.

Last month, the SEC said it wanted Ripple to fork out $2 billion, including $876 million in disgorgement, a civil penalty of $876 million, and $198 million in prejudgement interest, in its proposed final judgment.

In a 186-page court response on April 22, Ripple argued that the finance watchdog has the burden to prove that the firm will violate federal securities laws in the future. Moreover, the company’s legal team contends that its institutional sales did not show “reckless disregard” for the law, mentioning its interactions with other American regulators.

“Our opposition to the SEC’s request for $2B in penalties for legacy institutional sales is now public,” Ripple’s legal head Stuart Alderoty posited in an X post. “In a case that had no allegations (or findings) of recklessness or fraud, and in which Ripple won on significant issues, the SEC’s ask is just more evidence of its ongoing intimidation against all of crypto in the U.S.”

“We remain confident that the Judge will approach this final remedies phase fairly,” Alderoty concluded.

Addressing the SEC’s demand for disgorgement, Ripple claims that the request is unwarranted because the regulator did not demonstrate that the company’s institutional sales caused any “pecuniary harm” to investors. Regarding the civil penalty, Ripple asserts that it should be closer to $10 million.

“The Court should deny the SEC’s requests for an injunction, for disgorgement, and for pre-judgment interest, and should impose a civil penalty of no more than $10 million,” Ripple said in the opposition motion.

Ripple revealed that it has changed the way it sells XRP after July 2023’s court ruling.

“Ripple has publicly acknowledged that ruling, and does so again now. It has changed the way it sells XRP and changed its contracts to avoid the problems identified by this Court,” the company said Monday.

Is XRP Lawsuit Nearing End?

Ripple and the SEC have been embroiled in a courtroom showdown since December 2020, when the regulator slapped the fintech company with a $1.3 billion lawsuit for allegedly selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP.

But last year, Ripple notched a groundbreaking victory in the courts against the SEC when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that programmatic sales of XRP to retail investors did not qualify as securities.

Ripple’s response to the SEC’s penalty demand comes at an opportune time. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Michael Welsh and Joseph Watkins, two SEC lawyers, have been forced to resign following a federal judge’s sanctions against the Commission for committing “gross abuse of power” in the Debt Box case.

The attorneys presented “materially false and misleading representations” in order to obtain the temporary restraining order against the Utah-based crypto company.

U.S. lawyer James “MetaLawMan” Murphy highlighted what investors can expect next. In his opinion, Judge Torres has not set a deadline to give her decision. “But, I would expect that this decision will come substantially quicker than the summary judgment rulings. Best guess would be 60 to 90 days after the last brief (May 6).”

At the time of writing, the XRP price is up 2.3% over the last 24 hours, hovering around $0.55.

Solana topped the ranks in the first quarter of 2024, propelled by increased activities in Decentralized Exchange (DEX) and (DeFi). The platform’s increased scalability, minimal transaction costs, and solid technological framework were other catalysts of this surge.

According to the latest report, “State of Solana Q1 2024,” by blockchain analytics firm Messari, Solana’s DEX volume hit impressive numbers, aligning with the rising trading volume within the SOL ecosystem. Furthermore, this report shows that Solana’s average daily spot DEX volume soared by over 300% to $1.5 billion. Per Messari, “Solana has become the top choice for retail Users.”

BREAKING: According to a recent report by MessariCrypto, @solana has become the the top choice for retail Users:Solana Q1 2024 Report: Revenue up by 597% Market Cap up by 97% Ecosystem funding up by 51% Decentralized Exchanges Volume up by 332% pic.twitter.com/0skHrdsdsk

— SolanaFloor | Powered by Step Finance (@SolanaFloor) April 5, 2024

Moreover, reports showed that Solana’s DeFi ecosystem printed high TVL digits, surpassing $5 billion in Q1. Its total value locked increased by 200%, solidifying its position as the fourth-largest network for decentralized finance projects. This growth mirrors investors’ interest in DeFi projects utilizing the Solana blockchain.

At the same time, Solana’s stablecoin market capitalization hit impressive numbers, rising by 50% to nearly $3 billion. This upswing is primarily attributed to USDC’s remarkable performance in the year’s first quarter. The ecosystem-leading stablecoin saw its market capitalization on Solana soar by 110%, slightly surpassing $2 billion.

The heightened adoption of stablecoin on the Solana blockchain reflects growing user confidence in fiat-pegged digital assets. This is because stablecoins offer price stability with appeals to market participants seeking to store their money using cryptocurrencies.

Solana-based projects also saw massive returns in Q1 2024, amassing $89.2 million in funding, exceeding the total raised throughout 2023 by $2.5 million. This surge showcases a significant increase in investment activity within the Solana ecosystem.

Another impressive milestone was Solana’s introduction of token extensions, enabling various configurable features for token issuers. Several projects have embraced this innovative idea, including stablecoin issuers like Paxos and GMO Trust and crypto-native projects like Photo Finish LIVE and Wen.

Furthermore, Solana unveiled the developer shop Anza and the growth organization Colosseum to improve decentralization and expand its ecosystem. While the surge in trading volume is promising, concerns arise due to the significant contribution of meme coins. 

Meme coins, dominant assets on Solana’s DEX, display highly volatile price movements and lack inherent utility. Hence, this prevalence may signify a speculative bubble rather than sustainable growth rooted in robust projects. Solana trades at $157 at press time, reflecting a 1.66% intraday increase.

Cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martínez expressed on Twitter that despite recent key events in Bitcoin, such as the launch of spot ETFs in the U.S. and the halving event, interest in the leading cryptocurrency and the market, in general, remains relatively low.

Martínez reached this conclusion by searching for “Bitcoin” and “Crypto” through the Google Trends tool, which analyzes online search trends.

Search interest in $BTC and #crypto remains relatively low even after #Bitcoin ETFs and the #halving. This suggests we're still early in the bull run! pic.twitter.com/YHKultqCra

— Ali (@ali_charts) April 20, 2024

According to the expert, this low level of attention from the general public suggests that the current bullish cycle of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is still in an early phase. Martínez’s analysis is reasonable, considering that significant historical price surges have typically been preceded by a significant increase in searches related to cryptocurrencies.

Martínez emphasized that the cryptocurrency market still has significant growth potential ahead. Additionally, historically, Bitcoin halving has been considered a bullish event for the leading cryptocurrency market, as it reduces the available supply of BTC and thus helps increase demand.

However, not all crypto Twitter users agreed with Martínez’s opinion, pointing out that many people no longer need to Google terms like BTC or crypto, as they have other learning tools or platforms such as exchanges.

Searches on Bitcoin Halving Mark Historic Record

The Bitcoin halving this Friday, April 20, sparked unprecedented interest worldwide. According to Google Trends data, searches related to “Bitcoin Halving” reached an all-time high, surpassing even the levels of the previous halving in 2020.

This phenomenon, encoded in the Bitcoin protocol, occurs approximately every four years and halves the reward miners receive for processing transactions on the network. Historically, it has caused significant volatility in the price of BTC before starting its bullish rally.

Although the renewed public interest in halving coincides with other recent milestones in the Bitcoin network, as noted by analyst Martínez, searches related to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still far from the highs reached during the late 2017 boom, when the price of BTC surged 1,878% from a low of approximately $1,000 to $19,783.

However, beyond implications for the price, the growing interest in the halving suggests a greater curiosity about understanding Bitcoin’s technical fundamentals.

U.S. independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a bold makeover for his eventual administration: To put the entire U.S. budget on the blockchain.

Speaking on April 21 at a rally in Michigan, Kennedy observed that blockchain would play a significant role in making the government more transparent. He asserted that putting the budget on a blockchain would allow every American to look at “every budget item anytime they want, 24 hours a day.”

The facilitation of everyday payments on a publicly distributed ledger could hold leaders accountable, Kennedy postulated. Theoretically, taxpayers can see how the government spends their tax dollars across what would be countless transactions inscribed every day.

“We’re gonna have 300 million eyeballs on our budget, and if somebody is spending $16,000 for a toilet seat, everybody’s gonna know about it,” the 70-year-old longtime environmental lawyer and Kennedy family scion explained.

Numerous members of the crypto community on X praised the blockchain plan, with some saying the move would be transformational and curb corruption.

One noted that transparent public accounting might arguably be the best use case for blockchain tech besides the supply chain: “Checks and balances in our government doesn’t work if the branches are in on the corruption together (president and congress particularly) it’s time the people hold them accountable.”

“Most Americans have no idea how transformative that would be. This is what the founders of the nation would have done if they had the tech. This is key to creating a government we can trust,” another user wrote.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Bitcoin

This is not the first time Kennedy has spoken favourably of Bitcoin. He previously vowed that, should he win the presidency, he would exempt Bitcoin from capital gains taxes and begin backing the U.S. dollar with BTC reserves.

The presidential hopeful further lauded Bitcoin as a “currency of freedom” and revealed that he had purchased a total of 14 Bitcoins — two for each of his seven children.

Kennedy has also previously denounced Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), calling them “instruments of control and oppression” that “are certain to be abused.”