Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto investors will get a “golden opportunity” to buy the dip in the coming months, says industry OG Arthur Hayes.

In his latest blog post, “Left Curve,” released on April 24, the former CEO of exchange BitMEX forecast that the crypto bull market would continue.

Hayes: Bitcoin is "hardest money ever created"

Bitcoin's block subsidy halving has come and gone, and crypto markets are booming versus the U.S. dollar and other fiat currencies.

This, Hayes says, is no coincidence — governments worldwide will keep printing money to manage their debt burdens, and their currencies will lose out against Bitcoin and altcoins.

“If you sold shitcoins for Bitcoin, you get a pass,” he told readers.

“Bitcoin is the hardest money ever created. If you sold shitcoins for fiat that you don’t immediately need for living expenses, you are fucking up. Fiat will continue to be printed ad infinitum until the system resets.”

Hayes is no stranger to predicting the collapse of fiat-based economies, including the U.S.

In this election year, the impetus to expand the money supply is even more apparent, he explains, as politicians’ popularity effectively depends on it.

“The undecided voters who determine the electoral winners do so based on how they feel about the economy,” he wrote alongside a chart from global macro research firm BCA Research.

“As the above chart depicts, an incumbent President’s re-election odds drop from 67% to 33% if the general population feels the economy is in a recession during an election year.”

U.S. election odds (screenshot). Source: Arthur Hayes/Medium

Hayes concludes that whoever wins the U.S. Presidential election, the printing will accelerate. In what should ignite the powder keg for a rampant crypto bull market, fiat devaluation is something that crypto traders should be prepared for — by buying the dip.

“Whatever the flavour of crypto risk excites you, the next few months will present a golden opportunity to add to positions,” the post summarizes.

The road to $1 million BTC price remains

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin is already in the spotlight as a lifeline against fiat inflation.

Related: BTC trades at ‘deep discount’ after halving — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

With a strong U.S. dollar pummeling emerging market currencies this year, the phenomenon has not gone unnoticed. Earlier this month, Cathie Wood, CEO of asset manager ARK Invest, made the case for Bitcoin as a hedge against “horrible fiscal and monetary policies.”

“I think this is a flight to safety, believe it or not, taking place,” she told mainstream media.

“A hedge against devaluation, a hedge against a loss of purchasing power and wealth.”

While Hayes did not give an updated BTC price target, meanwhile, he suggested that the path from $70,000 to $1 million for BTC/USD may not be as difficult as its history rising from zero.

“Rarely in markets do the things that got you here (Bitcoin from zero in 2009 to $70,000 in 2024), get you there (Bitcoin to $1,000,000),” he acknowledged.

“However, the macro setup that created the fiat liquidity surge that powered Bitcoin’s ascent will only get more pronounced as the sovereign debt bubble begins to burst.”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has entered general availability with the aim of fostering more cross-chain connectivity.

The protocol lets developers permissionlessly use CCIP for cross-chain token transfers and arbitrary smart contract messaging across different blockchain networks.

Developers will also be able to send and trigger function calls on smart contracts deployed on other blockchains, making cross-chain smart contracts more interoperable.

CCIP’s mainnet general availability will enable a faster and easier implementation for developers, bolstering cross-chain connectivity, according to Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink.

In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Nazarov wrote:

“CCIP is now starting to become the standard for both capital markets blockchain transactions across banks, as well as the way that secure Web3 cross-chain value and data is moved across public chains.”

Cross-chain bridges help users facilitate transactions between different blockchain networks. They represent some of the most significant points of vulnerability in crypto.

Chainlink is among the largest firms working on cross-chain interoperability, which is among the most pressing shortcomings of the industry — since individual blockchain networks have no means to communicate with each other without interoperability solutions.

At the beginning of April, Chainlink launched Transporter, a cross-chain messaging app for bridging tokens, aiming to foster more secure cross-chain crypto transfers with a beginner-friendly app interface.

Chainlink’s Transporter is underpinned by CCIP, which is “the only cross-chain protocol that achieves level-5 security,” according to a Chainlink spokesperson.

CCIP is available on nine blockchains, including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Kroma, Optimism, Polygon and WEMIX, with plans to integrate more networks.

CCIP aims to help financial institutions unlock the $500 trillion opportunity in tokenized assets, by offering better liquidity access for cross-chain assets, a Chainlink spokesperson told Cointelegraph:

"CCIP is part of a larger Chainlink platform that enables financial institutions to fully unlock tokenized assets by helping them overcome their data, cross-chain, compliance, and synchronization needs.

Related: ‘Money-hungry VCs’ are bad for token launches in the long term — Analyst

Cross-chain interoperability remains a pressing industry concern

Due to their technical complexity, cross-chain bridges represent some of the biggest points of vulnerability in today’s crypto protocols.

Since 2016, over $5.85 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Cross-chain bridges account for over 48%, or $2.83 billion, of the total value lost to exploits, according to DefiLlama data.

Total value hacked since 2016. Source: DefiLlama

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has criticized cross-chain infrastructure in the past. In a Reddit post from January 2022, Buterin shared his concerns about how 51% attacks on cross-chain bridges will become more prevalent in the future:

“The more usage of cross-chain bridges and apps there is, the worse the problem becomes. No one will 51% attack Ethereum just to steal 100 Solana-WETH... But if there are 10 million ETH or SOL in the bridge, then the motivation to make an attack becomes much higher, and large pools may well coordinate to make the attack happen.”

Related: Bitcoin outperforms Tesla stock for the first time since 2019

Renzo Protocol’s restaked Ether token (EZETH) suffered a price depeg on April 24.

The depegging incident saw the token’s price briefly fall to a low of $688 on Uniswap decentralized exchange, before recovering its price parity with Ether (ETH), according to Dexscreener data.

ezETH/WETH, 15-minute chart. Source: Dexscreener

The incident was likely caused by a wider sell-off, following the conclusion of Renzo Protocol’s season 1 airdrop, according to pseudonymous crypto analyst Tommy, who wrote in an April 24 X post:

“Sell-off likely caused by the conclusion of Season 1 Airdrop, users want to get back $ETH to farm other [liquid restaking tokens] LRT/protocols.”

Renzo is the second-largest liquid restaking protocol, with over $3.3 billion in total value locked (TVL), which rose 126% during the past month. Ether.fi is the largest liquid restaking protocol, with over $3.9 billion in TVL, according to DefiLlama.

Similar depegging incidents are a growing pain for liquid restaking tokens (LRTs), according to the popular crypto analyst:

“On the depeg, it is a risk that we need to recognize for all LRTs, even if withdrawal is enabled, the DEX pool can still depeg simply based on the temporary imbalance.”

The depeg led to mass liquidations on leveraged protocols like Gearbox and Morpho Labs, with loopers, or users who repeatedly use LRTs as collateral to borrow ETH for leverage, suffering the biggest losses, according to the analyst.

Renzo protocol has fostered increased interest after its incoming token (REZ) was added to the Binance launch pool on April 23, the same day the protocol announced its incoming airdrop.

Renzo allocated 10% of its token allocation to the season 1 airdrop.

Related: Hong Kong Bitcoin and Ether ETFs officially approved to start trading on April 30

Trader profits nearly $400,000 in two hours on ezETH depeg

Crypto trader czsamsunsb.eth made a profit of 121.65 ETH, worth over $396,000, in just two hours after Renzo’s depegging incident, according to on-chain intelligence firm Lookonchain, that wrote in an April 24 X post:

“czsamsunsb.eth made 121.65 $ETH in just 2 hours after $EZETH (Renzo Restaked ETH) depegged! He spent 4,099 $ETH to buy 4,221 $EZETH successfully, making 121.65 $ETH!”

Czsamsunsb.eth trading history. Source: Lookonchain

Related: ‘Money-hungry VCs’ are bad for token launches in the long term — Analyst

Regulators in the United Kingdom are keeping a watchful eye on the local artificial intelligence (AI) scene as Big Tech companies continue to dominate the space. 

On April 24, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it is in the process of collecting information from major market players to understand if the increasing collaboration between Amazon.com and AI developer Anthropic threatens local competition.

In September 2023, Amazon announced an agreement to invest $4 billion into Anthropic in an effort to support its development of high-performing foundation models.

Later, in March 2024, the web services giant said it fulfilled its $4-billion investment commitment, revealing a minority ownership stake in the company and the implementation of AWS as Anthropic’s cloud service provider.

Now, both companies are facing a potential in-depth antitrust probe from U.K. regulators. This comes a week after the agency highlighted Big Tech’s “interconnected web” of deals and partnerships in the market.

It also said it will be looking into a partnership between Microsoft and Mistral AI, one of Europe’s leading AI startups. This is in addition to an investigation by U.K. regulators over Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar collaboration with OpenAI, which was opened in December 2023.

Related: Coca‑Cola pours $1.1B into generative AI experiment with Microsoft

Joel Bamford, the executive director of mergers at the CMA, commented on the development:

“We will assess, objectively and impartially, whether each of these 3 deals fall within UK merger rules and, if they do, whether they have any impact on competition in the UK.”

However, back in January, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called its deal with OpenAI “pro-competition,” saying that partnerships are an avenue to having competition in the AI space against some of the players who are completely already integrated.

The scrutiny from the CMA comes after its findings revealed a pattern of Big Tech companies funneling money into AI companies that could allow them to shape markets, creating concern for competition. 

The agency said it is trying to avoid past mistakes that have led to the rise of a select number of dominating platforms.

Nonetheless, companies like Microsoft and Google have been pouring billions of dollars into AI development in countries around the world, including, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Germany and France.

Magazine: How to get better crypto predictions from ChatGPT, Humane AI pin slammed: AI Eye

Bitcoin researchers are polishing a new open-source framework called BitVMX, which promises to allow complex applications and functions to be built and executed securely on Bitcoin’s base layer.

BitVMX, inspired by Robin Linus’s BitVM project, is backed by RootstockLabs, a major Bitcoin layer-2 protocol. The project aims to create an open-source, peer-reviewed, sidechain-agnostic framework for developing Bitcoin-based programs.

Cointelegraph spoke exclusively to RootstockLabs chief scientist Sergio Demian Lerner to unpack details of the BitVMX project and its potential impact on the Bitcoin ecosystem. The project is set to be officially unveiled at the Bitcoin++ Austin conference along with the publication of its white paper.

Lerner’s research into the mining patterns employed by Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto has been widely cited by news outlets and researchers. Source: Bitslog

Lerner is best known for his research exploring patterns to identify what hardware Satoshi Nakamoto used to mine in the early days of Bitcoin, which Cointelegraph Magazine covered in 2021.

BitVMX wants to power programs on Bitcoin

On a technical level, BitVMX allows funds to be locked in an unspent transaction output (UTXO) with a spend condition that depends on the result of a program’s execution. Lerner said a program must be defined when the UTXO is created, but the program input does not need to be.

The scientist said the possibilities of the framework are broad and have the potential to power a variety of applications and functions:

“The incredible thing about BitVMX is that it essentially allows developers to run anything on Bitcoin, even Linux.”

Lerner said that BitVMX could power bridges to Bitcoin that allow the unilateral flow of BTC between the main chain and sidechains like Rootstock, where it can then be used to interact with decentralized applications (DApps) and other smart contracts.

Related: Bitcoin needs DeFi, consumer apps for mass adoption — L2 devs

Another use case would be building aggregator oracles that collect and verify data from various sources and store them on the Bitcoin network in an automated and decentralized way.

BitVMX will also support Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) and Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge (zk-STARK) verifiers directly on Bitcoin. This promises to open up new applications such as zero-knowledge contingent payments and autonomous bug bounty programs.

Bitcoin L2 criticisms

The Bitcoin community has been vocal about the increased affinity marketing ploys by startups promoting Bitcoin L2s that claim to operate natively on-chain.

Lerner stressed that BitVMX is not associated with any token sale and that the framework allows the creation of secure and more decentralized bridges that don’t rely on collateralization in foreign tokens.

Bitcoin layer-2 protocols ranked by the total amount of Bitcoin locked in various protocols. Lightning’s peer-to-peer protocol still has the most BTC locked in payment channels. Source: Bitcoin Frontier Fund

The computer scientist also said that Rootstock Labs believes in simple criteria to define what constitutes a Bitcoin L2:

“It must use BTC as its native asset and as a settlement mechanism to enforce transactions and demonstrate a functional dependence on Bitcoin. Everything else is just affinity marketing.”

Lerner added that duplicitous projects claiming to be built on Bitcoin have marred every bull market. He adds that users should stick to battle-tested solutions like the Lightning Network, Liquid and Rootstock rather than “risking their sats on untested or unknown solutions with deep pockets and shiny marketing campaigns.”

Shifting the narrative for Bitcoin’s functionality

The BitVMX project openly credits the foundational work of Robin Linus’ BitVM framework. It looks to build on the theoretical approach of BitVM, which uses a complex combinatorial logic circuit approach relying on large Merkle trees for gate-level verification.

Instead, BitVMX touts a streamlined approach by executing central processing unit instructions directly using Bitcoin script opcodes. Lerner says this makes it better suited for real-world applications and unlocks use cases such as running sidechain light clients and verifying using zk-SNARKs.

The chief scientist explained that the framework brings disputable computation to Bitcoin in an “efficient and secure way,” which enables a range of new use cases.

Lerner briefly unpacked the paradigm of disputable computation. No computation is performed on-chain if all parties agree on a computation result.

However, if a party disagrees, an on-chain interaction begins to solve the dispute formally and efficiently. The worst-case scenario leads to a single disputed gate, wire or computation step being verified on-chain.

Related: Bitcoin L2 tokens surge double digits as BTC notches 25-month high

Lerner envisions BitVMX inspiring a new wave of Bitcoin builders by broadening the network’s functionality. He highlighted the framework enabling more complex spending constraints for Bitcoin’s base layer.

The computer scientist added that Bitcoin’s scripting language lacks key opcodes that could make BitVMX cheaper and more efficient.

“It will no longer be a question of should Bitcoin be able to do X?, but “how efficiently can Bitcoin do X,” Lerner said.

A shifting narrative could also accelerate changes to Bitcoin and the potential to bring back opcodes, including OP_MUL or OP_CAT.

Magazine: The value of a legacy: Hunting down Satoshi’s Bitcoin

Institutional investors have a “growing interest” in decentralized finance (DeFi) but are held back by the risks of on-chain transactions, says a Fireblocks executive. The company aims to address these concerns by introducing new features to its platform. 

“For institutional investors navigating DeFi transactions, the risks are significant,” Fireblocks security and trust products vice president Shahar Madar told Cointelegraph. “They manage significantly more funds than the average consumer trader.” Madar added:

“The risks of unknown and unpredictable DeFi engagements is something they have to consider within their risk portfolio, which is what essentially holds them back.”

Despite the risks, Madar said institutional DeFi trading on Fireblocks rose 75% in the first quarter of 2024, reaching “nearly $4.5 billion.”

With DeFi having $95 billion in total value locked, according to DefiLlama, it has “attracted attention from sophisticated attackers” said Madar.

Around $336.3 million worth of crypto was stolen in hacks and scams in Q1, down from $437.5 million stolen in Q1 of 2023.

 Source: PeckShieldAlert

Fireblocks added two new tools to its institutional DeFi suite: “Transaction Simulation,” which allows its users to see what a smart contract will do to a wallet before it is signed, and “DApp Protection,” which analyzes contracts for malicious elements and alerts users of “suspicious smart contracts.”

For DeFi to attract institutions, Madar said it “must prioritize security, user-friendly interfaces, and effective risk management,” which he thinks could “transform perceptions of DeFi and the entire industry.”

Related: Crypto sleuth warns of scammers behind DeFi protocol

Institutions, for their part, are increasingly drawn to staking, restaking and tokenizing real-world assets, said Madar.

He added that Fireblocks users are actively “swapping, lending, staking and bridging” on decentralized applications, including Uniswap, Aave, Curve, 1inch and Jupiter.

Meanwhile, the interest of traditional finance players leans toward real-world asset tokenization and using DeFi’s infrastructure to “establish a safer financial ecosystem without counterparty risks.”

Magazine: Synthetix founder Kain Warwick: It’s DeFi that’s wrong, not the market

On April 10, Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice — a letter informing a company or individual that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to bring an enforcement action against them.

Uniswap Labs is the eponymous developer of the software on which Uniswap — a widely used decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX) — facilitates trading.

The Wells notice follows a reported SEC investigation in which it was allegedly seeking information about Uniswap’s marketing and investor services.

As the top financial regulator in the U.S. takes aim at Uniswap, the action raises questions about the nature of code as free speech and the legal responsibilities — or lack thereof — of open-source developers.

Some industry observers maintain that since Uniswap Labs publishes open-source software for an open-source front end, the issue is well outside the SEC’s jurisdiction.

Source: Adam Cochran

So, can Uniswap Labs be held liable for what happens in a decentralized, permissionless market such as the Uniswap DEX? And if the SEC takes issue with the code itself, aren’t there free speech protections in publishing code?

Are developers liable for open-source code?

The issue of Uniswap Labs’ relationship to its open-source code has already been litigated in court.

In 2022, six plaintiffs brought a class-action lawsuit against the organization, claiming it was responsible when they lost money to scam tokens traded on the Uniswap DEX.

They argued that Uniswap Labs controlled liquidity pools on the protocol, including those created by the scammers they lost money to.

Recent: Memecoin sector’s continued growth hinges on long-term utility

However, the court ruled that an individual who drafts computer code should not be liable for a third party’s misuse of that platform.

Not all platforms have been so lucky. The downfall of the crypto mixer Tornado Cash shook the crypto community, as regulators targeted developers of the open-source software for facilitating criminal activity.

One of Tornado Cash’s developers, Alexey Pertsev, spent over eight months in jail in the Netherlands on suspicion of using the protocol for money laundering. Fellow developer Roman Storm has pleaded not guilty in the U.S. to charges of conspiring to operate a money transmitter or facilitate money laundering and sanctions evasion.

With these recent cases, blockchain developers may fear regulators blaming them for the transgressions of third parties using their technology to illicit ends.

Immutable code for smart contracts

Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, suggested during an April 9 panel at the 2024 Bitcoin Policy Summit that developers building decentralized applications (DApps) should ensure the code of their smart contracts can never be changed for their protection.

Van Valkenburgh highlighted how “from a regulatory standpoint,” developers can avoid liability for scams or illicit activity on platforms built with their code by making their code “immutable”:

“You have very hard questions of whether everybody who’s participating [is] liable for the activities of that smart contract. [...] I don’t see those questions having good regulatory outcomes.”

He believes that DApp developers who don’t wish to “end up in jail” should ensure immutability in their smart contracts from the get-go.

According to Ben Hart, chief technology officer at research and development consulting firm MLabs, this may not be the best option. He told Cointelegraph that mutable code may offer developers a better defense mechanism if things go wrong.

Hart said that if the developers of Tornado Cash had created the mixer with mutable code, which they could control, they could help “steer the mixer toward regulatory compliance” and avoid being prosecuted.

Developer’s intention is important 

Mutable or not, there quite simply may be no “get-out-of-jail-free card” for developers.

Julian Gretch, head of the legal department of fintech firm YouHodler, told Cointelegraph, “There is never a guarantee that a developer can avoid legal persecution. There will always be an examination of the developer’s intentions and desired outcomes when coding.”

Gretch noted how intention is a “subjective matter that cannot result in a guarantee of avoiding legal persecution.”

Gideon Greenspan, founder of Coin Sciences — which develops the open-source MultiChain blockchain — told Cointelegraph that it’s crucial to “question whether there is malicious intent.”

He noted the Post Office scandal in the United Kingdom, where hundreds of post office operators were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting based on data produced by the faulty Horizon IT system the Post Office used in the late 1990s.

The Horizon software made it appear like money was missing from its branches. Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office relentlessly pursued people despite knowing since at least 2010 that the centralized accounting software had faults.

Concerning the Tornado Cash case, Hart believes the developers’ true intention was “dedicated to decentralization and openness.” In his opinion, the intention wasn’t to launder money but to make digital currency anonymous, but “unfortunately, governments are going to disagree with that.”

Since perceptions of intention are subjective, the only safe path for developers may be to create a product anonymously, as Satoshi Nakamoto did with Bitcoin (BTC). If there is nobody to hold accountable, there is no case.

But this is also far from ideal. Eric Chen, CEO of decentralized finance protocol Injective, told Cointelegraph, “Anonymity truly enhances regulatory safety. However, I am concerned if individuals feel compelled into anonymity, as this may not represent a positive trend.”

Recent: Bitcoin ETF demand turns negative around BTC halving

Details are still emerging on the exact nature of the action Uniswap Labs is facing — the SEC does not discuss ongoing investigations. But it would seem there is no perfect path forward.

The threat of jail time would likely be enough to scare off any developer remotely uncertain about how their code could be employed.

Some observers have claimed that SEC action could have a chilling effect on U.S. markets, but Daniel Mosquera, a technical sales representative at MLabs, took a more optimistic stance.

He told Cointelegraph he has a sense that “the technology is more exciting than the fear of being persecuted.”

The first wave of spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been officially approved to start trading in Hong Kong on April 30.

Hong Kong’s financial regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), declared the official approval of the first batch of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs on April 24, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph.

The first batch of approved Hong Kong-based ETFs also include China Asset Management’s (ChinaAMC) Bitcoin and Ether-based ETFs, which will start trading on April 30.

The ETFs will offer retail and institutional investors a safer and more convenient way to invest in the underlying digital assets under a regulated framework, according to Thomas Zhu, head of digital assets and head of family office business at ChinaAMC. He wrote in the official announcement:

“The in-kind feature also attracts coin holders by offering the ease of converting coins to fully regulated ETFs managed by professional fund managers and regulated custodians. With the growing adoption of ETFs in institutional asset allocation and retail trading in Hong Kong, we expect robust demand for our offerings.”

There are currently over 205 approved ETFs in Hong Kong, according to the financial regulator’s homepage.

List of approved Hong Kong ETFs. Source: SFC

Related: Hong Kong approves first Bitcoin and Ether ETFs

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

While the prevalence of hacks within the crypto space might deter new users from jumping in, crypto security professionals say that there are ways for them to avoid the riskier parts of crypto. 

On Jan. 22, a market sizing report from Crypto.com showed that the crypto space reached about 580 million users in December 2023. Compared to January 2023, the data showed a 34% increase in the crypto market user base.

Growth of cryptocurrency users throughout 2023. Source: Crypto.com

With crypto onboarding more new users, Cointelegraph spoke with security professionals to get insights on what those new to crypto should do to keep their funds safe in the digital asset space.

Luciano Ciattaglia, the director of services at cybersecurity company Hacken, said that new digital asset users should avoid decentralized finance (DeFi) or decentralized exchanges (DEXs) when starting their crypto journey. Ciattaglia said:

“Don’t rush into DeFi or DEXs straight away. Most people use centralized exchanges or wallets for all their crypto investments, and that’s fine.”

Ciattaglia added that when putting funds into a custodian, users “rely on their trustworthiness.” Because of this, the executive advised new users to choose exchanges that have a good track record in terms of security and funds availability.

CertiK co-founder Ronghui Gu shared similar sentiments. Gu also believes that new users who are interested in investing but are concerned about security should opt to use reputable exchanges and wallets. Gu said:

“Consider investing in a hardware wallet for the highest level of security, as these devices store private keys offline and are highly resistant to network-connected hacking attempts.”

Gu added that users should also educate themselves on the basic principles of crypto security before investing. This includes securing private key storage and using strong passwords. In addition, users should also enable multifactor authentication on all accounts related to their crypto activities.

The security professional also highlighted that new crypto users should be wary about sharing their personal data online and be wary of phishing scams.

Number of incidents and the amount lost in the first quarter of 2024. Source: CertiK

On April 3, CertiK released a report highlighting that there were a total of 83 crypto phishing incidents in the first quarter of 2024. Gu said that the sophistication and success of phishing attacks reached “alarming levels” in Q1.

Related: Fiat ramps still the ‘biggest gateway’ to crypto — Exec

Apart from these, Ciattaglia also highlighted that new users should make sure the projects they are investing in have security audits. According to the security professional, audited projects with active bug bounties are “less likely to rug pull.”

Statistics on hacked projects and their security audits. Source: Hacken

In its quarterly report, Hacken shared that 56% of hacked projects from January to March 2024 did not go through security audits. This meant that vulnerabilities were unresolved for a larger percentage of those companies.

Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

The Coca-Cola Company signed a five-year deal with Microsoft to develop and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) use cases across various business functions.

Coca‑Cola committed $1.1 billion to the Microsoft Cloud for its generative AI and cloud capabilities. According to the announcement made on April 23, the duo will jointly experiment with Azure OpenAI Service and other technologies “to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions.”

In addition, the companies will experiment with the Microsoft Copilot Microsoft 365 AI assistant to test its efficacy in improving workplace productivity.

As part of the drive, Coca-Cola migrated all its applications to Microsoft Azure. Judson Althoff, the executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft, said:

“Through our long-term partnership, we have made significant progress to accelerate system-wide AI Transformation across The Coca‑Cola Company and its network of independent bottlers worldwide.”

Using Azure OpenAI Service, Coca-Cola is currently exploring the use of generative AI-powered digital assistants to improve performance metrics related to customer experiences, streamline operations, and efficiency, among other things.

Coca-Cola’s AI partnership with Microsoft dates back to 2020, which started off as a $250 million agreement. “Microsoft’s capabilities help accelerate our adoption of AI to create incremental enterprise value,” said Neeraj Tolmare, senior vice president and global chief information officer for The Coca-Cola Company.

Related: Microsoft pours $1.5B into UAE AI company, sets sights on global expansion

On April 9, Microsoft AI executive vice president and CEO Mustafa Suleyman revealed the firm’s plans to make a “significant, long-term investment” in the United Kingdom as they start scouting potential candidates in the region.

In a blog post, Suleyman said:

“There is an enormous pool of AI talent and expertise in the U.K., and Microsoft AI plans to make a significant, long-term investment in the region as we begin hiring the best AI scientists and engineers into this new AI hub.”

Suleyman’s statements came as he announced the creation of an AI hub in the United Kingdom. The hub’s goal is to advance AI language models and their infrastructure.

In addition, it would also create tooling for foundation models and collaborate with their AI teams across the globe and its partners like OpenAI.

Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

North Korean hacker group Lazarus is now using LinkedIn to target vulnerable users and steal their assets via targeted malware attacks.

The incident came to light after blockchain security analytic firm SlowMist revealed that Lazarus group hackers are pretending to look for jobs as blockchain developers in the cryptocurrency industry through LinkedIn.

SlowMist claimed hackers steal confidential employee credentials after inviting access to their repository to run relevant code. The code snippets the hacker runs contain malicious code that steals confidential information and then assets.

Source: SlowMist

Using LinkedIn for targeted attacks is not a new methodology, and the North Korean hacker group used a similar tactic in December last year, posing as a fake Meta recruiter.

After contacting victims via LinkedIn, the fake recruiter requested that the targeted “applicants” download two coding challenges as part of the hiring procedure. These two coding files contained malware, and when they were run on a work computer, they released a Trojan that allowed remote access.

The infamous hacking group has stolen over $3 billion in crypto assets. It is among the most notorious and organized hacking groups that first surfaced in 2009 and continues to target crypto firms despite numerous sanctions against them.

The hacking group is known for using innovative ways to target and steal funds. In August 2023, the group used fake job interviews to steal $37 million from crypto payment firm CoinPaid. The hackers attempted to infiltrate CoinsPaid infrastructure by targeting individuals through fake high-salary job offers.

Related: US Treasury sanctions crypto mixer Sinbad, alleging North Korea ties

The group has been responsible for some of the biggest heists in the crypto industry, with the Ronin Bridge hack being the biggest, with $625 million stolen.

The hacker group often uses crypto mixing services to launder their stolen funds back to North Korea, which, according to many reports, are used to fund the country’s military operations.

Although crypto firms are often the target of these hacker groups, the decentralized nature of blockchain makes it difficult for them to move their funds. Once identified, they are often tracked and blocked with the help of crypto platforms.

In February 2023, Huobi and Binance froze $1.4 million worth of crypto assets linked to North Korea. Similarly, $63 million worth of assets linked to the Harmony Bridge hack was also frozen by crypto exchanges.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

Australia — the third-largest hub for Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto ATMs — recorded a new milestone with 1,000 active crypto-fiat machines now in operation. 

As of April 24, Australia hosts an active network of 1,002 Bitcoin ATMs, making it the third country after the United States and Canada to achieve this feat. The nation represents 2.7% of the global Bitcoin ATM network.

Crypto ATM Distribution by Continents and Countries. Source: coinatmradar.com

According to Coin ATM Radar data, the United States hosted its first 1,000 crypto ATMs in November 2017, while Canada did the same by January 2021.

Currently, the U.S. is home to 82.8% of the global Bitcoin ATMs with 31,170 machines and Canada represents 7.8% of the lot with 2,918 crypto ATMs.

The total number of Bitcoin ATMs installed in Australia over time. Source: coinatmradar.com

Historically, Australia was a inactive market for crypto ATMs. However, adoption has increased exponentially since the end of 2022, owing to participation from private firms.

In April 2023, Australia’s Bitcoin ATM count surpassed Asia's, which includes major economies such as China, Japan, Singapore and India.

At the current installation rate, Australia is well-positioned to surpass Europe, which has 4.3% (1,617 machines) of all active Bitcoin ATMs.

Other countries with significant crypto ATMs include Spain (261 machines), El Salvador (215), Poland (211), Germany (194) and Hong Kong (157).

Related: Crypto ATM firm says revenue unaffected by fluctuations in BTC price

Cointelegraph recently reported that hackers who previously leaked El Salvador’s Bitcoin ATM database have released a part of the country's state-operated "Chivo" Bitcoin wallet's source code.

“This time I bring you the code that is inside the Bitcoin Chivo Wallet ATMs in El Salvador, remember that it is a government wallet, and as you know, we do not sell, we publish everything for free for you,” the hacker group known as CiberInteligenciaSV wrote on a public forum.

Source: BreachForums

Local cybersecurity project VenariX took to X on April 22 to warn the public about the upcoming leak. It referred to CiberInteligenciaSV’s Telegram channel, which posted about plans to release the source code.

Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive requiring all banks and financial institutions to identify individuals or entities engaging in transactions with cryptocurrency exchanges and to ensure that such accounts are put on Post No Debit (PND) instruction for six months.

A “Post No Debit” instruction is a directive issued by a bank or financial institution to restrict certain transactions on a customer’s account. When a PND instruction is in place, the account holder is prohibited from making debit transactions, meaning they cannot withdraw funds or make payments using the affected account.

According to the circular shared with Cointelegraph, the CBN listed Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance crypto exchanges, stating that they are not licensed for operations in Nigeria.

The bank said it would catch anyone it believes is buying and selling Tether (USDT) on the listed platforms illegally, especially those using peer-to-peer (P2P) methods.

Central Bank of Nigeria Circular ordering a restriction on crypto users' accounts. Source: Central Bank of Nigeria

The CBN also stated that regulated financial institutions engaged in crypto or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges are prohibited. However, this contradicts an earlier ban lifted in December 2023 allowing banks to facilitate transactions for crypto exchanges.

The Central Bank lifted the ban nearly two years after enforcing a comprehensive ban on banks engaging with digital currencies.

According to a statement by the CBN at the time, it recognized that the increasing global demand and adoption of crypto make it unjustifiable to maintain the stringent restrictions imposed on financial institutions in 2021.

Related: Binance exec will remain in Nigerian custody until May 17 bail hearing: Report

However, due to the swift devaluation of the naira and the subsequent inflation rate of 29.9%, the government shifted its attention to platforms offering cryptocurrency services. It disabled websites associated with crypto trading that had gained notoriety for setting informal valuations for the naira.

Binance encountered significant scrutiny when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised concerns regarding “suspicious financial transactions” occurring through Binance Nigeria in 2023.

CBN head Olayemi Cardoso said $26 billion had passed through Nigeria via Binance in 2023 from unidentified sources and users.

Binance is encountering further challenges in Nigeria, with its executive Tigran Gambaryan, who is based in the United States, being detained in the country. He faces five charges linked to money laundering following a meeting with Nigerian officials regarding Binance's regulatory concerns.

Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the executives who came to meet with Nigerian officials about Binance’s regulatory issues, subsequently escaped custody and was tracked down to Kenya, from where he faces extradition.

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Origin of crypto whales

In the world of cryptocurrencies, there exist entities known as “whales” who wield immense power and influence over the market. 

These crypto whales are individuals or entities with significant holdings of digital assets, often in the form of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) or other major cryptocurrencies. Tracking whale wallets on a blockchain explorer has historically been incredibly helpful in understanding market sentiments. Whale actions, from large transactions to strategic moves, can cause ripples throughout the entire crypto ecosystem. 

Crypto whales emerged alongside the rise of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, in the early 2010s. Many early adopters and investors accumulated substantial amounts of digital assets when prices were relatively low. As the value of cryptocurrencies soared, these holdings turned them into whales within the crypto realm. Some whales also gained their status through large-scale investments or mining activities.

A crypto whale typically holds a substantial amount of cryptocurrency, typically in the millions of dollars. This can be achieved through various means, including:

Early adoption: Investing in cryptocurrencies during their early stages when prices are low. This could also include being a core contributor to a project that has been successful.

Strategic investments: Making significant purchases during market dips or strategic moments. Backing projects through private funding rounds can also provide significant holdings in a token.

Mining: Accumulating digital assets through cryptocurrency mining operations.

Trading profits: Consistently generating profits through active trading in the crypto market.

While becoming a whale often involves considerable risk and investment, it can also result in substantial wealth and influence within the crypto space.

Tools for tracking crypto whale activity

Several tools and platforms exist to track the activities of crypto whales, providing valuable insights for investors and analysts, including blockchain explorers, whale alert services, on-chain analytics and social listening tools.

Tracking whale activity is not only beneficial but often becomes mandatory when someone is entrenched in the crypto ecosystem and needs to stay on top of market sentiments. Tracking whale activity offers several benefits to investors and market participants:

Understanding whale behavior provides insights into market trends, potential price movements and investor sentiment.

Identifying large transactions or whale movements can help manage risk by anticipating market shifts.

Whale activity in an ecosystem or a cryptocurrency often indicates momentum, which can be useful in planning entries and exits.

Various tools used to track whale activity are explained as follows:

Blockchain explorers

Platforms like Etherscan and Blockchain.com allow users to explore and analyze blockchain transactions, including those involving large amounts of cryptocurrency.

Whale alert services

Dedicated services such as Whale Alert monitor and report significant transactions in real-time, highlighting whale activity.

On-chain analytics

Tools like Glassnode provide in-depth on-chain analytics, including whale accumulation patterns and wallet movements.

Social listening tools

Monitoring social media and forums can also reveal insights into whale sentiment and potential market movements.

Privacy measures used by crypto whales to protect their identities

Crypto whales often take measures to protect their identities and privacy due to the public nature of blockchain transactions. They use various strategies to protect their identities, including the use of multiple wallets, privacy coins, off-exchange storage, holding assets in legal entities and utilizing tax havens. 

Multiple wallets

Crypto whales often distribute their holdings across multiple wallets to avoid centralizing their assets in one location. By spreading their assets across different wallets, they can obscure the total amount of cryptocurrency they own. This strategy adds a layer of security and privacy, making it more challenging for outsiders to track their transactions and holdings.

Privacy coins

Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC) and Dash (DASH) offer enhanced privacy features compared to traditional cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH. Whales may use privacy coins for transactions to obfuscate the source, destination and amount of funds involved. This anonymity makes it difficult for external parties to trace transactions back to specific individuals or entities.

Off-exchange storage

Whales often store a significant portion of their cryptocurrency holdings in offline wallets, also known as cold wallets or hardware wallets. These wallets are not connected to the internet, which reduces the risk of hacking or unauthorized access. 

By keeping assets offline, whales can protect their holdings from online threats and maintain control over their private keys, which are essential for accessing and managing their cryptocurrencies.

Legal entities

Some crypto whales choose to hold their assets through legal entities such as corporations, trusts or offshore companies. By using these entities, they can shield their personal identities from public scrutiny. Additionally, holding assets through legal structures may offer tax benefits or asset protection advantages, depending on the jurisdiction and regulatory environment.

Tax havens for cryptocurrencies

Crypto whales may leverage tax havens — jurisdictions with favorable tax policies and regulations for financial activities — to manage their tax liabilities and enhance privacy. Tax havens often offer lower or zero tax rates on certain types of income, including capital gains from cryptocurrency investments. Whales may establish entities or accounts in these jurisdictions to benefit from tax incentives and maintain confidentiality regarding their financial affairs.

Anonymity vs. compliance: The regulatory conundrum for crypto whales

Authorities monitor crypto transactions to enforce sanctions and identify illegal activities like terrorism financing. Increased anonymity can make these efforts more complex.

It’s important to note that while the above strategies can enhance privacy and security for crypto whales, they also raise regulatory and compliance considerations. Tax authorities and regulatory agencies are increasingly focusing on cryptocurrency transactions, including efforts to combat money laundering, tax evasion and illicit activities.

Tax, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) laws violations can lead to hefty fines, asset seizures or even criminal charges. A whale’s reputation may suffer if they are connected to unethical or illegal activity, which may make it more difficult for them to operate in legitimate financial networks. 

Crypto whales face a problem in striking a balance between the ever-changing regulatory environment and the desire for privacy. Whales must navigate these legal complexities and ensure they comply with relevant laws and regulations, even when leveraging privacy-enhancing measures and offshore structures. 

Maintaining anonymity can be crucial for security and privacy reasons, especially given the attention and scrutiny often placed on high-profile crypto holders. Nonetheless, even when using anonymity techniques, this may entail getting expert advice on tax reporting and the legal structuring of their cryptocurrency activity.

As the United States authorities are preparing to give a sentence to Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on April 30, prosecutors have reportedly determined the jail time for the former CEO. 

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao should serve 36 months in prison after pleading guilty to violating laws against money laundering, U.S. prosecutors said, Reuters reported on April 24.

“Given the magnitude of Zhao's willful violation of U.S. law and its consequences, an above-guidelines sentence of 36 months is warranted,” the prosecutors reportedly told the U.S. district court for the western district of Washington.

Zhao pleaded guilty to violating money laundering requirements in the U.S. and stepped down from CEO position at Binance in November 2023. According to Reuters, Federal sentencing guidelines set a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison for Zhao, who had agreed not to appeal against any stretch up to that length. He has been free in the U.S. on a $175-million bond.

After CZ admitted to violating U.S. laws on money laundering, he and his firm Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines to the U.S. government to end the criminal case. In return, Binance was allowed to keep operating while complying with U.S. laws.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

A BlackRock money market fund has been tokenized on the Hedera blockchain sending the Hedera (HBAR) token on a 96% rally in the last 24 hours — but the world’s largest asset manager had nothing to do with the move on-chain despite many believing it did.

A widely misinterpreted April 23 HBAR Foundation X post — the organization behind the Hedera network — shared that blockchain trading and infrastructure firms Archax and Ownera tokenized BlackRock’s ICS US Treasury Fund on its network.

The video shared with the announcement seemed to suggest Ownera, Archax, and BlackRock were partnered on the venture and HBAR claimed it was “bringing the world’s largest asset manager on-chain.”

Some crypto influencers with large X followings shared a misinterpretation of the post — which had amassed over 1.6 million views and 2,700 reposts over the last 15 hours — believing it to mean BlackRock was responsible for the $22.3 billion fund’s move onto the blockchain or had partnered with Archax and Ownera.

Source: Mason Versluis

Cardano Ghost Fund DAO founder Chris O’Connor stressed that BlackRock had “no involvement” with Hedera’s development and slammed the HBAR Foundation for the way it framed the announcement.

“What did happen was a HBAR project through the secondary market tokenized shares of a BlackRock fund. Much like I can buy a Rolex take a pic and post it on my X account. Doesn’t mean Rolex ‘partnered’ with me.”

Related: Envision partners with HBAR and UN on new digitization platform for carbon markets

HBAR’s 96% rally in the past day has pushed its price to $0.175 — a two-year high, according to CoinGecko.

HBAR’s price over the last three months. Source: CoinGecko

Despite the price pump, HBAR is still down over 69% from its September 2021 all-time high of $0.57.

The announcement came as the Hedera Global Governing Council — which oversees the Hedera network — recently approved allocating 4.86 billion HBAR ($408 million at the time) for further network development.

The funds are part of the HBAR Foundation’s plans to strengthen its user base in 2024, following 2023’s performance, which saw 33 billion transactions processed on the network, the foundation claims.

Magazine: Is measuring blockchain transactions per second (TPS) stupid in 2024? Big Questions

Electric car manufacturer Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday unveiled new details of its long-awaited autonomous ride-hailing service — allowing riders to summon supposedly driverless vehicles via an Uber-like experience. 

During a first-quarter earnings presentation on April 23, the company gave a preview of what the ride-hailing app could look like, showing the ability for a rider to summon a vehicle, set the interior car temperature, track its location, and decide what music to play.

Preview of the ride-hailing service within the Tesla app. Source: Tesla 

Tesla has long teased the mass rollout of robotaxis. In 2019, Musk said he was “very confident” that Tesla would begin operating robotaxis by 2020 — something that didn’t come to fruition. 

The program would let a Tesla owner rent out their vehicle for rides, with Tesla taking a cut of revenue and the rest going to the vehicle’s owner — each car was forecasted to make $30,000 in gross profit per car annually.

During the latest earnings call, Musk clarified the program will work more like a “combination of Airbnb and Uber” where Tesla will operate the main fleet but there will be a number of cars owned by the end-user.

“That end-user can add or subtract their car to the fleet whenever they want, and they can decide if they want to only let the car be used by friends and family or only by five-star users or by anyone,” Musk said.

“At any time they could have the car come back to them and be exclusively theirs like an Airbnb,” he added.

Related: Bitcoin outperforms Tesla stock for the first time since 2019

Musk hinted the initial fleet would be around 7 million vehicles but envisioned it could eventually be in the “tens of millions.”

Tesla is slated to showcase its “purpose-built” robotaxi in August, which Musk has referred to as “Cybercab” in the latest earnings call.

No, Tesla didn’t add more Bitcoin

Meanwhile, the latest earnings report shows Tesla has not touched its Bitcoin (BTC) for the seventh straight quarter, contrary to recent speculation.

Last month, observers noticed that Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet on Arkham Intelligence’s dashboard showed a balance of 11,509 BTC, 1,789 more than the widely reported holdings of 9,720 BTC — as listed on BitcoinTreasuries.

Some speculated that it could mean that Tesla may have added more Bitcoin to its inventory in the quarter.

However, Tesla’s latest balance sheet shows its net digital assets remain unchanged at $184 million.

Tesla balance sheet as of 31 March 2024. Source: Tesla 

Telsa shares jumped 13% in after-hours trading despite Q1 earnings missing analyst expectations and the company notching one of its steepest drops in revenue — falling 9% to $21.3 billion.

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Bitcoin (BTC) kept up pressure on key resistance into April 24 as research showed whales “buying the dip.”

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView Bitcoin whales seize the day

BTC price action circled $67,000 after a boost at the latest daily close, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed.

Still within a narrow range, bulls continued to grind away at nearby order book liquidity.

BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

According to current figures from monitoring resource CoinGlass, a bid wall of around $35 million on Binance was taken into the daily close, with the bulk of ask liquidity now sitting between $67,000 and $67,500.

“A 1-Month view of the order book illustrates how dynamic changes in liquidity placement impact overall price action,” trading resource Material Indicators wrote in part of a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“The NET effect of blocks of Bitcoin ask liquidity moving lower, and some blocks of bid liquidity moving higher tightens up the active trading range to roughly $62k - $68k.”

BTC/USDT order book liquidity for Binance with whale volumes. Source: Material Indicators/X

An accompanying chart additionally showed trading behavior among classes of Bitcoin whales.

Of interest is the $1-$10 million order category, which, in contrast to others, increased exposure through April.

This adds to existing findings from research firm Santiment, with new analysis now revealing “FOMO” on the part of wallets with a balance between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC ($66.7 million — $667 million).

“Bitcoin's key whale tier holding 1K-10K $BTC are supporting this rise, and have now accumulated 266K more $BTC since the start of 2024,” Santiment wrote in X commentary.

“This translates to an accumulation of 1.24% of the entire supply. The crowd is also showing a high degree of FOMO.”

BTC/USD chart with whale holdings data. Source: Santiment/X

The class of whale under examination now owns more than a quarter of the BTC supply, heading for new record highs.

BTC price action sees "unsettling quietness"

The day prior, meanwhile, trading firm QCP Capital suggested that crypto markets could enjoy a final stretch of low volatility before a seismic shift takes hold.

Related: Bitcoin outperforms Tesla stock for the first time since 2019

In the latest edition of its “New York Color” market updates sent to Telegram channel subscribers, QCP described what it called “unsettling quietness.”

“BTC is right smack in the middle 60/73k range and BTC front-end vols have trickled down closer to 60%,” it wrote.

“Just last week, we had the fourth BTC halving and the market was panicking over the outbreak of war in the Middle East (which has since de-escalated).”

Bitcoin spot ETF flows (screenshot). Source: Farside

Analysts referenced the reset in Bitcoin funding rates and a slow but steady return of interest to the United States’ spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“Demand from TradFi continues to stream in albeit at a slower pace with BlackRock posting 70 consecutive days of inflows,” the update concluded.

“Is this the calm before the (bullish) storm?”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

With the rising number of memecoins entering the market, Dogecoin’s (DOGE) strong community could keep the cryptocurrency from fading into obscurity, but analysts are skeptical of traders' hopes that it could reach a price of one-dollar this cycle.

A one-dollar price tag would represent a 36% increase from Dogecoin’s May 2021 all-time high of $0.73 and a 525% increase from today’s price of $0.16.

Caption: DOG has seen a 2.58% rise over the past 7-days. Source: CoinMarketCap

Over the last week, DOGE posted a 2.58% gain — significantly less growth when compared to other large-cap memecoins within the same timeframe, per CoinMarketCap data.

The next three largest memecoins by market capitalization all experienced notable upside price action in the last seven days, with PEPE (PEPE) up 43%, Shiba Inu (SHIB) up 17.42%, and Dogwifhat (WIF) gaining 14.43%.

“DOGE is one of the most cyclical altcoins in the space,” pseudonymous trader Rekt Capital told Cointelegraph, adding that the rising popularity of other memecoins shouldn’t have a major impact on investor sentiment towards the largest memecoin.

“Other meme coins launching doesn’t mean DOGE will suffer,” Rekt added.

Pav Hundal, the lead analyst for Australian crypto exchange Swyftx offered a more skeptical position, saying that while DOGE has a “huge community of users,” any sharp spikes in price may lead to a significant sell-off from long-term holders.

“A lot will depend on the decision-making of the millions of minnow investors who bought DOGE in 2021 and right now are sitting on paper losses,” Hundal told Cointelegraph, suggesting it’s uncertain whether the price will hit a dollar before the potential sell-off:

“It’s a crapshoot. If most of these people decide to take quick profits during the cycle, you could start to see selling pressure ratchet up.”

Hundal added that Dogecoin is not “seeing the deep books of the last cycle.” In the derivatives market alone it has seen a 56% drop in Open Interest (OI) since the beginning of April.

OI in Doge— which measures the total value of all outstanding or unsettled DOGE futures contracts across exchanges — has declined from $2.15 billion on April 1 to its current level of $928.72 million, per CoinGlass data.

Related: Is Dogecoin copying the 2020 fractal that sent DOGE price soaring 15,800%?

Despite the decline in derivatives activity for the memecoin, Rekt Capital argued that the “cyclicality in DOGE’s chart,” suggests that Dogecoin will still “most probably” reach a price of one dollar this cycle.

He reiterated that Dogecoin comes packed with “historical heritage” and has largely predictable cycles, which traders point out frequently on social media.

Pseudonymous trader Blockchain Mane told his 15,300 X followers in an April 24 post that looking at past data, DOGE usually sees price growth during the month of May.

Source: Blockchain Mane

Rekt also looked to potential social media posts from billionaire Elon Musk as a price catalyst, asserting that Musk is still “very interested in Dogecoin.”

Since April 17, Musk has been interacting regularly with the well-known DOGE influencer DogeDesigner on X.

In April 2023, Musk requested a United States judge to dismiss a $258 billion lawsuit brought against him by investors alleging he operated a pyramid scheme to promote Dogecoin. Although, Musk has recently hinted that his interest in crypto may have waned slightly.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrency. Hardly any at all,” Musk told Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood in an X space on Dec. 2023.

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Digital identity project Worldcoin will increase the supply of its WLD token by as much as 19% over the next six months through a swathe of private sales to non-United States institutions. 

In an April 23 blog post, Worldcoin shared that World Assets — a subsidiary of the Worldcoin Foundation in charge of token issuance — will sell up to 1.5 million WLD, about $8.2 million worth, every week through a series of “private placements to a select group of institutional trading firms” operating outside of the U.S.

Worldcoin will be increasing the supply of its WLD token over the next six months. Source: Worldcoin

“World Assets expects to sell between 0.5 million and 1.5 million WLD per week on average,” Worldcoin wrote. “The circulating supply of WLD will thus increase correspondingly.”

An increase of up to 1.5 million WLD tokens per week for six months equates to a supply increase of 36 million new tokens hitting the market — currently worth around $197 million, per CoinGecko data.

With a current circulating supply of 193 million WLD tokens, the private sales represent an 18.6% increase in the total available supply within the same time frame.

Worldcoin noted it would negotiate with individual trading firms — especially those engaged in competition with each other — to execute private placements as close to “prevailing [WLD] market prices” as possible, to help minimize potential price impact on the token.

At current prices, Worldcoin touts a market capitalization of $1 billion. However, this pales in comparison to its fully diluted value (FDV) of $54.5 billion — its total value if all tokens were circulating.

Worldcoin is ranked as the 6th largest cryptocurrency by FDV. Source: Coingecko

Related: Portuguese data regulator bans Worldcoin operations for 90 days

Launched out of beta in July 2023, Worldcoin was founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, current Wolrdcoin CEO Alex Blania, and Max Novendstern who also serves as the CEO of biometrics research firm Mana.

Worldcoin is a crypto-based digital identity project that markets itself as providing a solution to identity issues brought about by rapid developments in AI as well as ushering in a novel universal basic income model by way of its native WLD token.

Worldcoin users register their identity with the company’s “World App” by scanning their retinas at machines referred to by the company as “Orbs.” In exchange for their biometric data, users are paid around 25 Worldcoin — currently worth around $137.

Buoyed by a wider rally in the price of AI-linked crypto projects, Worldcoin soared 435% from a launch price of $2.17 on July 24 to a peak of $11.74 on March 10.

Worldcoin grew more than 450% in six months. Source: CoinGecko

However, its price has tumbled more than 53% from its all-time high in the last few weeks and is currently changing hands for $5.49.

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