Bitcoin (BTC) traded lower on April 25 after a fresh knee-jerk reaction to geopolitical news cost bulls up to 5%.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView BTC price stays sensitive to Middle East

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price action attempting to form support at $64,000 prior to the Wall Street open.

This followed a dip to $63,575 around the previous daily close, resulting from renewed Middle East tensions.

According to the latest figures from monitoring resource CoinGlass, liquidity increased on both sides of the spot price across crypto exchanges on the day.

Notably, a large cloud of asks had appeared, beginning with around $75 million at $64,765 and laddering up to $67,700.

To the downside, there was comparatively modest bid interest focused on $63,500 — the local low.

Bitcoin liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Bitcoin managed to fill one of two recently-created CME Group futures gaps with its latest downside.

Source: Johnny

Commenting on the current status quo, popular trader Daan Crypto Trades reiterated the “healthy” state of funding rates as a basis for a slow but steady BTC price recovery going forward.

“Keep it this way as we grind up and we should have a solid base for higher. Don't want to see longs ape back in on the next best green candle,” he wrote in part of commentary on X (formerly Twitter) alongside CoinGlass data.

Bitcoin funding rates heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

In the latest edition of its “New York Color” market updates sent to Telegram channel subscribers on April 24, trading firm QCP Capital revealed shifting crypto sentiment on low-timeframes.

“The market is expecting upside to be capped and for spot price to consolidate in the short term,” it wrote.

Bitcoin ETF flows tread water

Meanwhile, the United States' spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) returned to net outflows on April 24.

Related: $1M Bitcoin price still in play amid ‘macro liquidity surge’ — Arthur Hayes

These were driven mostly by outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), data from sources including United Kingdom-based investment firm Farside.

Bitcoin spot ETF flows (screenshot). Source: Farside

In an unusual event, as Cointelegraph reported, the largest ETF offering from asset manager BlackRock saw zero inflows.

Spot ETFs are due to begin trading in Hong Kong on April 30, marking another first for Bitcoin institutional adoption.

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.

Researchers from the blockchain oracle platform Chainlink believe asset managers have a “sizable” opportunity to jump into tokenization as financial assets infrastructures continue to go digital. 

In an industry report titled Beyond Token Issuance, blockchain oracle platform Chainlink explained where the opportunity lies and how interoperability and real-world data could unlock the value of tokenized assets.

Industries and markets that could benefit from tokenization. Source: Chainlink

The report laid down the potential benefits of tokenization for asset managers. This includes unlocking dormant capital, giving assets greater availability and creating novel revenue models.

Apart from these, Chainlink said that asset managers could also create unified client portfolios, differentiate their service offerings and improve their risk management as tokenization allows for more automated risk assessment.

Within the report, Chainlink also argued that blockchains continued to evolve into an “integral component of the existing financial ecosystem.” In addition, the company highlighted that traditional and blockchain-based assets are already merging into a single financial ecosystem.

The researchers believe this resulted from continued digitization, as blockchains offered superior infrastructure for asset storage and transactions.

Related: New crypto users shouldn’t ‘rush into DeFi’ — Security firms

Ryan Lovell, Chainlink Labs’ director of capital markets, told Cointelegraph that tokenization has been in a research and development phase for several years.

Lovell explained that institutions were bringing simple account balances on-chain and were trying to figure out the potential impact of tokenization for their businesses only at a basic level. Lovell said:

“This was kind of like building a concept car without an engine or interior. Just a basic shell of what the future will hold.”

However, the executive believes that the next phase for tokenization will be more about building foundational infrastructure. This is necessary to make tokenized assets composable and programmable across traditional systems and private and public chains.

Meanwhile, the Chainlink executive believes that enhancing tokens with real-world data and letting them become interoperable across blockchains and traditional systems could unlock powerful applications.

Lovell said these use cases would feature more transparency, lower costs and more streamlined administrative processes than traditional finance infrastructure.

“We’re actively working on several exciting initiatives at the moment to enable institutions to go beyond mere token issuance, manage tokenized assets throughout their entire lifecycle, and transact across the cross-chain economy,” Lovell added.

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The European Parliament approved new regulations that establish formal due diligence obligations for cryptocurrency companies with a goal of combating money laundering.

The new laws are aimed at improving “due diligence measures and identity checks” for customers, extending to entities such as crypto asset managers. These entities will also be required to report any suspicious activities to authorities.

This new legislation, approved on April 24, will impact crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), like centralized crypto exchanges under MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) and various other entities, including gambling services.

Source: Patrick Hansen

MiCA is a regulatory framework introduced by the European Union to oversee digital assets and their markets. It was enacted in June 2023 and will be fully enforceable by the end of the year.

A new agency — the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) — has been designated to oversee and supervise the implementation of the new rule.

AMLA’s office will be situated in Frankfurt. However, the law has not been formally adopted by the Council and has yet to be published in the EU Office Journal.

Patrick Hansen, Circle’s EU Strategy and Policy Director, expressed anticipation for the vote’s outcome in a post on X. He mentioned that the package would proceed to be officially adopted by the Council of the EU and come into effect three years later.

Related: EU watchdog warns handful of exchanges may dominate crypto market

In a post, Hansen mentioned that these CASPs will be required to adhere to standard KYC/AML procedures such as customer due diligence (CDD).

He noted that this requirement is not novel, as all crypto exchanges and custodial wallet providers in the EU are already obligated to comply with these regulations under existing legislation.

Hansen described the final version as a “positive result” for the crypto sector. He noted that earlier iterations of the proposed AMLR suggested a much stricter approach, which would have necessitated KYC on the self-custody originator/beneficiary.

However, he credited industry efforts for advocating a risk-based approach with multiple options, ultimately leading to consensus.

Last month, a majority of the European Parliament’s lead committees scrapped the 1,000 euro ($1,080) limit on cryptocurrency payments from self-hosted crypto wallets as part of new Anti-Money Laundering laws.

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Bitcoin (BTC) could be entering into an attractive buy zone according to two popular metrics used by cryptocurrency analysts to track on-chain trading activity.

The metrics, market value to realized value (MVRV) and the open interest (OI) weighted funding rate, could suggest Bitcoin is at an attractive entry point for traders.

“This is the best moment to buy Bitcoin,” pseudonymous trader Mister Crypto told his 94,100 X followers in an April 23 post on X.

Bitcoin's price is $64,230 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin’s OI weighted funding rate— which represents the cost of holding Bitcoin futures positions — just breached positive territory on April 24, after 24-hours in the negative zone, posting 0.0093%, as per CoinGlass data.

Despite the upswing, it is still significantly lower than the 0.0714% recorded at the beginning of April, a correction that analysts view as favorable for the market.

“One of the healthiest market resets I have seen in a long time,” on-chain analyst Checkmate declared in an April 24 post.

“Rates holding strong. Bitcoin ready for liftoff,” Crypto Banter host Kyle Doops added in an April 24 post.

Related: $1M Bitcoin price still in play amid ‘macro liquidity surge’ — Arthur Hayes

The higher funding rates signal increased interest in long trades, reflecting a more bullish sentiment in the market.

The last time Bitcoin’s OI weighted funding rate peaked significantly in early March, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $69,200 on the same day.

Just a week later, on March 14, it surpassed that milestone again, climbing to $73,835, as per CoinMarketCap data.

However, founder of the Capriole Investments fund, Charles Edwards, told Cointelegraph that while funding rates are a good indicator “broadly speaking,” it no longer carries the same level of certainty as it did a few years ago.

“2018 through 2020 and 2021, that sort of three year window it wasn't talked about much. It wasn't understood and it was a hundred percent hit rate metric, where if it went negative it was almost a hundred percent guaranteed, if you went long you would make money.”

Although now there are “so many more parties involved it’s a bit more of a complex metric to consider,” according to Edwards.

Bitcoin's OI-Weighted Funding Rate has declined significantly since the start of April. Source: CoinGlass

Meanwhile, the MVRV indicator — which aims to identify when Bitcoin is over or undervalued relative to its fair value — also suggests Bitcoin has headed further into favorable buying conditions.

At the time of publication, Bitcoin’s MVRV score is 2.32, down 6.45% since the start of April, as per LookIntoBitcoin data.

An MVRV score above 3.5 suggests that the market is almost at its peak, whereas below 1 suggests that the market has bottomed out.

Bitcoin's MVRZ score has dropped 6.45% since the start of April. Source: LookIntoBitcoin

Edwards pointed out that the current MVRV levels indicate “we’ve got quite a bit of leeway over the next year.”

However, he pointed out that the current buying opportunity is far less lucrative compared to those available as recently as two years ago.

“It’s not a deep value opportunity that it was a year ago or two years ago when it was way lower. But it's also not screaming “over valuation” which is four, or five or six.”

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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.

Runes — a new token standard on Bitcoin — has made up more than two-thirds of transactions on Bitcoin since it was launched following the network’s halving event on April 20.

More than 2.38 million Runes transactions have been processed — accounting for 68% of all Bitcoin transactions made since it launched on April 20, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard shared by blockchain research firm Crypto Koryo.

Ordinary Bitcoin peer-to-peer transactions, BRC-20s, Ordinals and Runes were included in the total transaction count.

Share of Bitcoin transactions between various token standards. Source: Dune Analytics

Runes had its biggest day on April 23 with more than 750,000 transactions, though the count more than halved the next day at 312,000 transactions.

Much of the initial demand at block 840,000 came from memecoin and nonfungible token enthusiasts competing to inscribe and etch “rare satoshis” via the Runes protocol.

As a result, Runes transactions contributed to nearly 70% of miner fees on the halving day. Since then, the daily figure fluctuated between 33% and 69%.

However, industry pundits are also split on whether Runes will provide a sustainable revenue stream for Bitcoin miners, and there’s already a disparity between the numbers of Rune transactions and miner fees earned from Runes.

The new protocol, launched by Ordinals inventor Casey Rodarmor, has been marketed as a more efficient way to create new tokens on the Bitcoin network when compared to the BRC-20 token standard — an Ordinals-based method for creating Bitcoin-based tokens.

Related: Bitcoin fees crash after record daily average of $128 on halving day

However, not everyone is happy with the amount of block space that has been taken up by Runes transactions in recent days.

Among those critics is Nikita Zhavoronkov, a lead developer at blockchain search engine Blockchair, who believes Bitcoin has “completely ceased” becoming a peer-to-peer electronic cash system — what its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto originally envisioned.

Source: Nikita Zhavoronkov

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A yellow notepad with “Buy Bitcoin” written on it, which was flashed behind then-United States Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen during a 2017 Congressional hearing, has sold at auction for 16 Bitcoin (BTC) — over $1 million.

The buyer, identified as “Justin” also known as “Squirrekkywrath,” was the winning bidder on the Bitcoin auction platform Scarce City. The auction ran for a week, ending on April 24, just after 11:00 pm UTC.

Source: PUBKEY

The sign was offered up by Christian Langalis who wrote it out and flashed it to the camera after nabbing a seat behind Yellen at a televised House Financial Services Committee hearing in July 2017.

Langalis was escorted out after photobombing Yellen as signs are not allowed to be displayed during hearings.

CNBC reported at the time that after the sign was flashed, Bitcoin traded 3.7% higher, reaching over $2,418.

After Scarce City takes its 15% fee, Langalis is set to pocket around $875,000, or 13.6 BTC.

In a statement under the listing, Langalis said it was “good to finally liberate this number from my sock drawer and offer it back to the Bitcoin public.”

Related: $1M Bitcoin price still in play amid ‘macro liquidity surge’ — Arthur Hayes

The listing notes the page with the handwritten sign “was removed from the notepad shortly after the hearing” but was since “reattached with clear archival wire.”

The yellow legal pad also contains “an unseen rough draft” of the now-iconic scrawl along with notes on the hearing monetary policy and Bitcoin.

Langalis’ draft of the sign was part of the sale. Source: Scarce City

In 2019, Langalis created and sold 21 replicas of the sign which sold for an average price of 0.8 BTC, worth about $51,300 today.

The listing claims the replicas are displayed in the offices of venture firms Paradigm, Blockchain Capital and Castle Island Ventures along with the crypto think-tank Coin Center.

Bloomberg reported that Langalis planned to use the money from the latest sale to help fund a Bitcoin software project.

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President Joe Biden’s proposal to increase the capital gains tax rate to 44.6% for certain people — the highest rate in United States history — will likely be a “nothing burger” for the average crypto investor.

Matthew Walrath, the founder of CryptoTaxMadeEasy told Cointelegraph that Biden’s latest tax promises probably wouldn’t affect most people in crypto, even if they did end up being signed into law.

“For 99.9% of people, it's a big, fat nothing burger because it’s essentially just a proposal.”

The suggested tax rate — as well as an additional proposal to impose a 25% tax on unrealized gains — has garnered massive attention across social media despite the information being public for more than a month.

The now widely-referenced 44.6% figure was introduced in a March 11 Department of Treasury explanation document which outlined that the figure would only come into effect if two separate proposals — one aimed at increasing the top ordinary tax rate and the other aimed at increasing the investment income tax rate — were approved.

The proposal was suggested in a separate document from the Budget. Source: Department of Treasury

“The proposal essentially says they want to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate for people earning over $1 million a year to 44.6%,” said Walrath.

“Really high-income earners could potentially — if this budget proposal goes through — face a much higher long-term capital gains tax rate. But for the most part, it’s unlikely that it’s going to affect the average crypto user.”

Echoing Walrath’s position, pseudonymous crypto accountant SqueezeTaxes said the backlash toward the proposal was just another “headline catfish” before breaking down what the proposed policies mean for U.S. citizens.

Squeeze explained that the proposals were centered around bringing the highest federal tax bracket to 39.6% as well as increasing the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) to a 5% rate. Combined the figure evens out to 44.6%.

Source: SqueezeTaxes

“The average income earner will not be affected by this. Biden’s tax proposals are targeting high-income earners, at least $400k or more on one end, and $1 million or more on another end,” Squeeze told Cointelegraph.

According to data from crypto payment firm TripleA, the annual income for the average crypto investor internationally stands at around $25,000. This figure, however, includes income data from countries with lower average incomes than those in the United States. 

Is Biden coming for unrealized gains?

Notably, Biden’s Federal Budget proposal also included a 25% tax on unrealized gains for ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

In an April 25 post to X, Bitcoin commentator Jason Williams described the 25% tax proposal as “insane,” adding that it could “singlehandedly crush the economy.”

Source: Jason A. Williams

Related: IRS releases draft of 2025 digital asset reporting form for US taxpayers

However, Biden’s proposed 25% tax targeting unrealized gains would only apply to individual taxpayers with more than $100 million in net assets, per a report from tax analysts at taxation advisory firm Grant Thornton.

“It’s the same with the unrealized capital gains tax rate. It’s for ultra-high-net-worth individuals. If it were to go through, it’s not going to affect pretty much anybody on Crypto Twitter,” Walrath jested.

Ultimately, Walrath said that Biden’s tax proposals could be seen as political “posturing” designed to curry favor with a lower-income voter base.

“It’s more of a posturing political play. The Democratic Party has kind of made an enemy out of wealthy people, and that’s one of the ways that they play to a low-income, low-education base.”

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BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has notched its first day of $0 in inflows since Bitcoin ETFs were introduced in the United States in January. 

Ever since its launch on Jan. 11, IBIT has consistently attracted investments worth millions of dollars daily — racking up nearly $15.5 billion in just 71 days. The 71-day-long inflow streak ended for BlackRock on April 24 after it recorded $0 of inflows.

Bitcoin ETF inflow and outflow data Source: farside.co.uk

Related: SEC pushes decision on Franklin Templeton spot Ether ETF

Most of the other Bitcoin ETF participants witnessed a dry spell as well. Out of the 10 US-registered Bitcoin ETFs, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) were the only two to record inflows of $5.6 million and $4.2 million, respectively.

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Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and major altcoins briefly tumbled amid news of Samourai Wallet founders' arrest by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on the backdrop of ongoing Middle East tensions and post-halving volatility. 

On April 24, Cointelegraph reported that cryptocurrency wallet Samourai Wallet CEO Keonne Rodriguez and chief technology officer William Hill will each face one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Within an hour of the DOJ announcement, Bitcoin’s price dropped 3.6%. Its price dipped below key support levels to $63,710, before recovering slightly to $64,546, as per CoinMarketCap data.

Bitcoin's price dropped by 3.6% following the DOJ announcement. Source: CoinMarketCap

Meanwhile, Ethereum dropped 2.51% within the same time frame but failed to bounce back, declining further to $3,158.

The largest altcoins also took a hit, PEPE (PEPE) saw a brief 6.4% drop, Shiba I(SHIB) experienced a 2.7% decline, and Dogecoin (DOGE) briefly dipped 3.2% following the announcement.

The sharp price drops in the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization triggered widespread liquidation of long positions.

Market price drops across the board forced heavy long position liquidations. Source: CoinGlass

In the last 12 hours, Bitcoin saw $33.08 million worth of long positions liquidated, Ethereum had $29.88 million, and approximately $23 million in long positions were liquidated across the rest of the crypto market, as per CoinGlass data.

The crypto market decline also comes in the backdrop of geopolitical tension further escalating in the Middle East.

On April 24, the Israeli military struck approximately 40 locations linked to Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, according to local reports.

The crypto community was already largely anticipating some short-term volatility following the Bitcoin halving event, which happened just days earlier on April 20.

Pseudonymous crypto trader Rekt Capital told his 456,400 X followers on April 24 that he predicts the next bull market peak not to occur until late 2025, approximately 546 days after the halving.

Related: Bitcoin analysts agree that BTC has ‘a lot further to run’

The fluctuations came despite overall positive investor sentiment in the crypto market.

According to the Fear and Greed Index, which measures crypto market sentiment, the greed score rose to 72 this week, a 15-point increase from last week.

The crypto community criticized the recent arrests, fearing it could be another attempt by the U.S. government to crack down harshly on crypto.

“These developers face up to 25 yrs in prison for writing code. The US is sending a message. No transaction will be private,” crypto analyst Ryan Adams stated in an April 24 post.

While Fred Krueger claimed on the same day in an X post that the arrest was “not a good look for Bitcoin in general.”

Crypto commentator Luke Mikic told his 26,800 X followers that this “attack by the US Government on Samourai wallet is bigger than most people think.”

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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.

BlackRock has confirmed it has “no commercial relationship” with Hedera and that it did not choose the Hedera Hashgraph to tokenize any BlackRock funds, including its $22 billion money market fund.

Hedera’s token (HBAR) rallied over 100% on Tuesday following an HBAR Foundation’s announcement on X, stating that blockchain firms Archax and Ownera tokenized BlackRock’s ICS U.S. Treasury Fund on Hedera.

Some misinterpreted the post to suggest BlackRock played an active role in the tokenization effort, but a BlackRock spokesperson has confirmed that’s not the case.

“BlackRock has no commercial relationship with Hedera nor has BlackRock selected Hedera to tokenise any BlackRock funds.”

As of the time of writing, HBAR has fallen 32.8% to $0.118 since it peaked at $0.176 at 5:00am UTC on April 24.

“As we have in the past, BlackRock will communicate directly with the public on the evolution of our digital asset strategy,” the spokesperson added.

HBAR Foundation’s announcement has amassed over 2.9 million views and 3,200 reposts since it was posted a little over 36 hours ago — though some cryptocurrency influencers misinterpreted the message.

Source: HBAR Foundation

“BLACKROCK JUST TOKENIZED ONE OF THEIR MONEY MARKET FUNDS ON HEDERA,” said Mason Versluis to his 189,000 X followers.

Archax CEO Graham Rodford also clarified that it was his firm’s choice to put BlackRock’s money market fund on Hedera, bu claimed BlackRock was “aware” that it chose Hedera.

“If we decide to tokenise, arguably we do not need to approach the investment manager, but we always do as we want long term relationships,” Rodford added.

Cointelegraph reached out to HBAR Foundation on April 24 but didn’t receive a response.

Related: Hedera network approves $408M of HBAR for ecosystem growth

Despite the short-lived price pump, HBAR is still down over 78% from its September 2021 all-time high of $0.57, according to CoinGecko.

HBAR’s change in price over the last month. Source: CoinGecko

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A new stablecoin-focused bill introduced to the United States Senate could “encourage” U.S. banks to step into the stablecoin market, says global ratings firm S&P Global Ratings. 

In an April 23 research note, S&P shared that proposals outlined in the Payment Stablecoin Act — introduced to the Senate on April 17 — could encourage banks to get involved in issuing U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins and potentially spell trouble for large non-U.S entities that issue stablecoins such as Tether.

Describing stablecoins as a potential “key pillar of financial markets,” the ratings agency looked to BlackRock’s recently launched BUIDL fund as evidence for the “efficiencies and enhanced settlement security” of stablecoins in tokenizing assets and digital bonds.

Notably, the Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act proposed introducing a $10 billion issuance limit on non-bank stablecoin firms, banning “unbacked” algorithmic stablecoins, as well as requiring stablecoin issuers to hold one-to-one cash or cash-equivalent reserves.

“Assuming the bill is approved, and that relevant banking regulation follows, the new rules may offer banks a competitive advantage by limiting institutions without a banking license to a maximum issuance of $10 billion,” it said.

The ratings agency also noted that the introduction of a $10 billion issuance on non-bank firms could spell trouble for Tether which — with a market cap of $110 billion — is currently the largest U.S. Dollar-pegged stablecoin issuer on the market.

Related: Crypto advocacy group claims stablecoin bill would ‘violate free speech rights’

Tether, the largest stablecoin by outstanding volume, is issued by a non-U.S. entity and therefore not a permitted payment stablecoin under the proposed bill,” S&P Global said.

“This means that U.S. entities couldn’t hold or transact in Tether, which may reduce demand while boosting U.S.-issued stablecoins.”

S&P noted that much of Tether’s transaction activity occurred primarily outside of the United States and was driven in large part by transactions in emerging markets, retail activity, and remittances.

Source: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said passing a regulatory framework for stablecoins was “absolutely critical to maintaining the U.S. dollar’s dominance, promoting responsible innovation, protecting consumers, and cracking down on money laundering and illicit finance,” when introducing the bill last week.

Not everyone was pleased with the proposals outlined in the bill, however.

Crypto advocacy organization Coin Center expressed concerns with the bill, saying it would be “bad policy” to ban algorithmic stablecoins, and described it as an unconstitutional act under protections of the First Amendment.

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Canada-based institutional investors significantly increased their crypto exposure last year compared to the last bull run, a survey from accounting firm KPMG has revealed.

Nearly 40% of institutional investors reported having direct or indirect exposure to crypto assets in 2023 — up from 31% in KPMG’s 2021 study, the company according to an April 24 report.

Source: KPMG

KPMG received 65 responses, 31 of which identified as institutional investors with most managing more than $500 million in assets, while the remaining 34 were financial services organizations.

The survey found that one-third of the institutional investors have allocated 10% or more of their portfolios to crypto assets — up from a fifth two years ago.

Kunal Bhasin, a partner and leader at KPMG Canada’s Digital Assets practice said it “appears” the firms are looking to invest in alternative asset classes that act as a debasement hedge and a reliable store of value in the face of increasing inflation and rising debt in the United States.

A large majority of investors cited a maturing market and improved custody infrastructure as key reasons behind investing in crypto assets while increased client demand for crypto asset services was cited as a key factor for financial firms expanding their offerings.

Canada’s world-first approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in February 2021 helped local investors become “increasingly attracted” to the asset class, noted Kareem Sadek, another executive at KPMG’s Digital Assets practice.

But the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States marked a “milestone moment” for many market participants in Canada, Sadek added.

Related: KPMG in Canada adds BTC and ETH to its treasury

The report found that half of the institutional investors surveyed have crypto asset exposure through Canadian ETFs, close-ended trusts or other regulated products, while 58% have exposure through the stock market — such as Galaxy Digital on the Toronto Stock Exchange — up from 36% in 2021.

More institutional investors are also receiving exposure through derivatives markets — now at 42% compared to 2021’s 14%.

The only fall came from venture capital or hedge fund firms, falling to 25% from 2021’s 29%.

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Meta (META) shares dropped 15% in after-hours trading after the firm said it will “aggressively” ramp up spending in artificial intelligence spending while its metaverse division will continue to run at a loss —  amid a weak revenue outlook. 

The giant said in its April 24 first quarter 2024 results it expected expenses to rise to a range between $96 billion to $99 billion — up from $94 billion to $99 billion due to “higher infrastructure and legal costs.”

It also bumped full-year 2024 capital expenditures to a top end of $40 billion from its prior $37 billion as it would “invest aggressively to support our ambitious AI research and product development.”

Its metaverse building Reality Labs lost $3.85 billion in Q1 — down from nearly $4 billion it lost in Q1 2023 — but Meta said expected these losses to increase year-on-year to bankroll the division’s product development.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg says Meta wearables that read brain signals are coming soon

Meta shares slid 15.4% after-hours on April 24 to $417.22 following it closing the day down 0.5% at $493.50, according to Google Finance.

Meta slid to an after-hours low of $402.98 before slightly recovering. Source: Google Finance

Meta is, however, still up 42.5% year-to-date after hitting an all-time high of $527.34 earlier this month on April 5.

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FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak just won an appeal against YouTube and the use of his likeness in promoting cryptocurrency scams on the site. Crypto scammers (or the platforms they use) are increasingly getting caught and held accountable for their actions. Cryptocurrency is mainstream, meaning mainstream attention to coins, tokens, or platforms that seem “too good to be true” is met with widespread awareness that they are, indeed, too good to be true.

Unfortunately, as cryptocurrency regains popularity, more scams will appear. And one popular regulatory approach — criticizing Bitcoin (BTC) — is only serving to push more people into criminals’ clutches. I have personally been impersonated on social media due to my association with blockchain, and the criminals behind it attempted to swindle funds from my followers and friends. Despite filing police reports and injunctions, no progress has been made in catching them.

There are plenty of problems in cryptocurrency that are well worth attacking. But from Europe to the United States, regulators fight the same straw “bogeyman” of Bitcoin. The European Central Bank’s latest comments serve as an example: "Bitcoin has failed on the promise to be a global decentralized digital currency and is still hardly used for legitimate transfer,” ECB officials Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf wrote in a post for the ECB’s blog.

Related: The Runes protocol will ignite a new season for Bitcoin after the halving

The remarks gave a platform to several thoroughly debunked myths about Bitcoin’s “criminality.” There were plenty of missteps contained in Bindseil and Schaaf’s post, but six areas were especially offensive for their lack of context.

First, the pair claimed that the Security and Exchange Commission’s approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs would not make investing in Bitcoin safe. No investment is indeed entirely safe. No listed asset on any European exchange is any safer than a spot Bitcoin ETF, but the legitimacy that comes with the institutional validation is borne from its regulation. The duo’s criticism lacked that context.

European Central Bank (ECB): "ETF approval for Bitcoin the naked emperor's new clothes."Also the ECB, fully clothed: pic.twitter.com/4RXIsYXXwd

— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) February 22, 2024

They also claimed that Bitcoin’s fair value was “zero” because it didn’t fulfill its original promise as a global decentralized digital currency, and said it failed to meet the standard of a “productive asset.” This is akin to claiming gold has no fair value because it is no longer used in coins. Gold still has value, however. So does Bitcoin. While it isn’t used for day-to-day purchases, its scarcity has made it a helpful inflation hedge against fiat currencies. Context of what makes an asset valuable is critical here, and it is missing.

The authors went on to complain about the supposed pollution created by Bitcoin mining without the appropriate context. (Namely: How much electricity is used by Bitcoin’s alternative — Europe’s digital banking system?) Likewise, they neglected to mention that Bitcoin miners have significantly adjusted operations to renewable energy sources, while other blockchains have reduced energy consumption by nearly 100% by switching to proof of work (if they weren’t already carbon neutral — or negative).

They also claimed that Bitcoin shouldn’t be trusted because it is used for criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorism. That is sometimes true — we’ve already seen one British woman arrested this year for her role in laundering money for a criminal organization, in part using Bitcoin. However, She was caught because of Bitcoin’s transparency. Eight years ago, we even proved that you could assign an identity to thousands of Bitcoin addresses linked to illicit activities. This is much harder to do with cash, which remains the main and preferred means of payment for money laundering, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Ironically, the two final and most misleading claims are about regulators' role in markets. They claimed that Bitcoin’s price is subject to manipulation, and its market cap and price indicate a speculative bubble. Price manipulation is a recurring concern in many markets — the European Commission handed out fines totalling more than 1 billion euros to banks that manipulated the foreign exchange market between 2007 and 2013, and a new $3.5 billion lawsuit filed last year in the United Kingdom alleges the same foreign exchange price rigging. Nothing like this has ever been witnessed with Bitcoin. (Or, if it has, we’d welcome the ECB and other agencies to take action).

Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller, known for his work on bubbles and market dynamics, argues that speculative bubbles do not just signify market irrationality but can also reflect a new technology. In other words, they are behaviors that reflect a market’s attempt to price a novel asset class. Again, this historical and comparative context was missing in Bindseil and Schaaf’s remarks.

Finally, they claimed that authorities have failed to regulate Bitcoin, leading to misconceptions and potential harm. To that, we point to the European Union’s MiCA law and the numerous global sandboxes for cryptocurrency exploration. This simply is not true and takes us back to the first issue: The approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs is also a form of regulation.

Related: Biden is asking Congress to kill the American Bitcoin mining industry

Is it a coincidence that these remarks follow growing questions from European consumers about the U.S. Bitcoin ETFs? Or the rising price of Bitcoin compared to other traditional assets and currencies? No, it is not. Therefore, it stands to reason that any regulator choosing these outdated reasons without doing their own research plays a different strategy game.

Regulators that choose to attack Bitcoin instead of the other valid targets are either intent on having continued ignorance of the sector (an especially large problem since the European Central Bank is designing the digital euro and should be mimicking the security and success of an asset like bitcoin); or it is an intentional choice to try to keep some consumers and businesses out of cryptocurrencies. Neither of these brings confidence in their technological abilities, but more importantly, neither approach gives their citizens what they need to be vigilant against scammers.

Citizens (from consumers to business owners) need a balanced voice from their regulators that meets them where they are: Interested in exploring digital assets. A regulatory approach that emphasizes investment risk while recognising the attractiveness of the innovation of these systems is much more realistic. An approach that speaks to the potential, challenges and possible setbacks of these new assets, which gives consumers the wide view that they need to evaluate whether a YouTuber, social media advertisement, or even an offering from their brokerage is right for them.

Dismissing the entire sector through an attack on a valuable and resilient asset is like using Bitcoin as a hook to reel you into a video about a tokenomics-based Ponzi scheme — misleading.

Dr. Paolo Tasca is a guest author for Cointelegraph, a professor and an economist. He founded two blockchain organizations: The University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UCL) and the Distributed Ledger Technology Science Foundation (DSF).He advises several organizations, including Ripple, INATBA, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), among others. He has also consulted and worked with the United Nations, the European Parliament, the FED Cleveland, the European Central Bank, the central banks of Italy, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Canada, and Nexo.He previously served as the lead economist for digital currencies and P2P financial systems at the German Central Bank (Deutsche Bundesbank).

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

After the last bull run and the raft of lawsuits that came out of the initial coin offering mania of 2017 and 2018, it was generally believed that ICOs were dead in the water.

A combination of regulatory scrutiny, especially in the U.S., spectacular pump-and-dump schemes and an overall flakiness not witnessed since the back-of-the-beermat ideas of the Dot.com boom appeared to have sealed the fate of ICOs.

Which was a shame. Because, despite the scams and hype, tokens are an innovative way to raise money.

Stylianos Kampakis, CEO of The Tesseract Academy, says fundraising for new projects was never easier than in those days.

During the ICO era, it was easy to raise money, but obviously, regulation killed that. With IEO (Initial Exchange Offerings), maybe you still have to go through regulation and scrutiny, things like that.

As Kampakis hints, a range of alternatives sprang up, including initial exchange offerings (IEOs) or token generation events and even more innovative three-letter acronyms, such as initial node offerings (INOs). 

Some say a new ICO boom is coming.

Jamie Elkaleh, global relationships manager with crypto exchange Bitget, says that while the halving and Bitcoin ETFs have sparked bullish conditions, token-raising events are smaller than they used to be. 

Any organization that wants to fundraise through selling tokens can use transparency as a feature, and it doesnt really matter what they call them ICOs or token events these are ways to engage with a community and raise money in a transparent fashion, he says.

The difference between 2021 and this bull market is that sums are smaller. Before, they might have raised in double or even triple digits; now its smaller, single-digit raises, so $4 million, not $40 [million], he says.

Token fundraising methods: Crypto projects with airdrops

Newer forms of token raises differ in other important ways, too. 

Many Web3 companies looking to raise money in 2024 are excluding citizens of the U.S., where the security-token crackdown is the most extreme. And companies have been forced to become more innovative in how they approach using tokens to raise funds.

Airdrops are chief among them. Hand out tokens for free in exchange for market awareness, and watch as the token rises in value. This enhances a projects profile, attracts users, and enables secondary sales and funding rounds.

As a marketing technique for a new ecosystem, particularly one without heavy VC backing, airdrops can make a lot of sense. Building a community costs significant money via advertising, key opinion leaders (KOLs) and other traditional marketing channels and trying to grow organically takes a long time.

Nick Campion of Flare Network. (Supplied)

Nick Campion, head of marketing with Flare Network, says airdrops have pluses and minuses. He says that even if some recipients are not interested in the chain long term, an airdrop might still be considered a success if the campaign delivers early numbers and generates sufficient public awareness to catalyze early community growth.

The question is how to design an airdrop to maximize the short- and long-term benefits while minimizing waste and any possible negative side effects, says Campion. The trick is designing the incentives correctly.

The incentive design needs to look at what behaviors are being rewarded, how to minimize Sybil attacks to ensure a broad distribution, and what long-term benefits this will have on the wider ecosystem, says Campion.

Sybil attacks can be common in the case of airdrops, where a bad actor sets up multiple identities, thereby claiming multiple airdrops.

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ICO alternatives: Crypto presales

David Dobrovitsky, CEO of FUNToken, is a serial entrepreneur who works often in the Solana ecosystem. He sees airdrops as basically a marketing technique, which means the project can gather wallet addresses that are infinitely more valuable than mere emails.

David Dobrovitsky, CEO of FUNToken. (Supplied)

Dobrovitsky sees the renewal of interest in token raises as a reaction to the U.S. SEC clampdown on ICOs, which shows the ingenuity of the Web3 community. 

The term ICO is just not used anymore, but there are a plethora of equivalent terms such as token sale, presale they kinda all equate to the same thing. If you are a new protocol or startup and you have native tokens, then a token sale makes sense. Equity is incredibly complicated, cumbersome, and its not decentralized.Entrepreneurs that want to raise money and build a community are definitely better off looking at tokens.

He points out that a number of projects have opted to avoid venture capital funding, which results in a large portion of the supply ending up in the hands of VCs.

There are new variations this time around. Some people want to do a giant round and skip all the intermediary rounds, especially as these early rounds include VCs and VC control, he says.

The biggest difference, though, between the ICOs then and now is the amount. Before, it was typical to raise a double-digit figure; now, its much more common to raise, say, $1 million. 

Blockchain fundraising: Gaming tokens and NFTs

Gaming projects are very bullish on using in-game rewards and mechanics. 

Simon Vieira is the CEO of MixMob, a Solana gaming platform, and hails from a Triple-A gaming background. 

Like many in the industry, he sees the big challenge as combining the excitement of Web2 games with Web3 mechanics.

The tokenomics have to work, he says. We need fun games that are competitive and use blockchain for [what] it is good for: payments, microtransactions and ownership.

Rather than looking at a traditional token raise, MixMob opted for an NFT sale instead. In 2021, it launched its first NFT collection, which sold out in less than a day. 

MixMob game on Solana. (MixMob)

We didnt want to do an ordinary token launch where people just sell the tokens. We had an idea to make it like a kid going into a toy shop to buy their toy. The difference is that the NFT toy comes with coupons that are redeemable for tokens to play in the game.

It was a gamified way to launch our token.

But launching a token is not for the fainthearted, according to Vieira. It costs a lot of money; you have to go through multiple interviews with exchanges, engage market makers, and hook up APIs for both centralized and decentralized exchanges.

Its very complicated, and we are on both, including top tier exchanges. It is a lot more complex than before, and you need money in advance. The mechanics might be easier, but the success rate is much tougher.

NFT backed INOs or Initial Node Offerings

In a similar vein to the NFT sale undertaken by MixMob, Web3 companies are also turning to selling things or licenses to fundraise.

Amar Bedi, chief operating officer of Tashi. (Supplied)

Typically, in the form of an NFT, these items guarantee income, often in the form of native tokens, which can be redeemed on exchanges. The highest profile one currently is Aethir, a leader in decentralized GPU cloud infrastructure, which announced a node sale last month.

Node sales are becoming more topical as they help to enable decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) projects. These projects see members of an ecosystem provide hardware as well as capital, says Amar Bedi, chief operating officer of Tashi a DePIN project that has partnered with Aethir. 

The trend towards decentralization has only begun, and we expect it to change the way many industries pay for infrastructure services. INOs enable the average retail investor to be part of this movement in a more meaningful way by providing more than just capital. 

Read also 6 Questions for... 6 Questions for Kei Oda: From Goldman Sachs to cryptocurrency Features Joe Lubin: The truth about ETH founders split and ‘Crypto Google’ Upland’s reverses blockchain fundraising model

In an uncommon move in the blockchain industry, German-American Dirk Lueth decided with his co-founders to headquarter their metaverse project, Upland, in Silicon Valley, the tech heart of the United States.

Dirk Lueth, co-founder of Upland. (Supplied)

While many companies building in the Web3 space have since decided to do so outside the U.S., Upland was designed with regulatory compliance in mind to deal with the harsh token climate since the SEC began actively pursuing ICOs in 2017.

Instead of launching a tradable token, Upland focused on the development of the gaming platform and saw it grow from a metaverse replica of planet Earth to an increasingly complex ecosystem complete with user-generated features, games and entertainment in an open economy. 

Upland introduced Spark into its economy at inception as a foundational in-platform utility token. Spark is required for any stakeholder to create value in the form of world-building, community development, user-generated content and the unrestricted development of games, experiences and services. 

However, Spark has never been sold to investors or given out to the team, and it cannot be traded within the Upland metaverse. There are currently over 130,000 Spark holders in Upland, and 93.6% of those who purchased Spark have used it to build in Upland.

The ruling in the Ripple case in the U.S. in July 2023, which ruled that secondary sales of tokens are not themselves securities, created a new path for Upland to bridge out its existing in-game token to other chains. In addition to true ownership, this would allow holders to trade it. 

The Upland metaverse mirrors our own. (Upland)

In October, the community voted by an impressive 87.25% to approve the decision to launch Sparket as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum in a governance vote. The support that followed a community review and comment process greenlit the initiative to bridge Spark to Ethereum, where it will be mirrored and minted, equivalent to a one-thousandth Spark named Sparklet.

Lueth explains that they are now preparing the bridging event, marking a unique case in the Web3 space where rather than launching a token and then building an ecosystem, Upland has built the ecosystem and is taking its two-year-old in-app token out to the market. 

Sparklet allows us to take the next step towards progressive decentralization in a responsible way while having mechanisms in place that can shield and protect Uplands economy from unwanted externalities, says Lueth. 

The upside of Sparklet availability outside the Upland app includes higher visibility within the Web3 gaming community, a higher degree of true ownership of digital assets for our users and ways to incentivize new creators, developers and builders to join the ecosystem.

Read also Features Can you trust crypto exchanges after the collapse of FTX? Features Is Ethereum left and Bitcoin right? The return of utility tokens

Undrgrnd is an underground Web3 media company focused on writing articles and podcasts and seeking underground artists and musicians. Founder Joe Gisondi tried to attract VC money but could not get any traction. Instead, he turned to a token and a membership card. 

Joe Gisondi. (Supplied)

As I was trying to fundraise with VCs, then it hit me that I needed a community first and give back to the people who believed in the project.

Undrgrnd has launched what might be termed a social token with utility. 

Im not doing a traditional token where you open a liquidity pool and everyone can buy it. This token for the marketplace will allow people to buy spots on the front page and promote their own work or another artists work, he says. 

Overall, my goal is to keep the token value low so that it continues to have utility. It will be used to highlight art and music. If it becomes too expensive, then people wont use it, which would defeat the purpose, says Gisondi. 

Crypto IEO and IDO launchpads: Back to the future with token sales

And, of course, more traditional token sales are still around, even if theyve sharpened up their act since the ICO boom.

Dan Thomson from Sensay. (supplied)

Dan Thomson is the founder and CEO of Sensay, a platform that uses AI to preserve and replicate peoples personalities and characters as digital simulations. The team is also putting together realistic digital versions of celebrities, historical figures and even fictional characters, such as Mr. Grey.

Still in beta, the platform already has 20,000 users from word of mouth. 

The co-founders have been using token sales via an IDO on Fjord Foundary, Uniswap and elsewhere to generate funding, with different rounds at different prices, each lasting three weeks. All up, they had hoped to raise between $1 million and $2 million but have managed to get $3.4 million.

Thomson sees his token sale as being very different from those of the ICOs back in 2017, which were often vaporware sold on a promise. 

We are doing serious risk management for starters with not one but two sets of top-quality auditors checking the contracts and details. We also have a working product, which is much more than many of the ICOs before.

We are also serious about the utility of the token, which is not a copy of something on another chain but designed for our own niche.

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Analyst and founder of the Capriole Investments fund Charles Edwards said multiple on-chain metrics suggest that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have “a lot further to run” in this bull market.

In his latest newsletter, Edwards explained that transaction fees from the recent Runes launch and other long-term metrics after the Bitcoin halving suggest “higher baseline Bitcoin (BTC) prices.

“Bitcoin now harder than gold”

Bitcoin’s fourth halving resulted in a 50% drop in the digital asset’s supply growth rate, surpassing gold in terms of inflation rate.

Edwards said long periods of continuous currency debasement and high inflation rates place Bitcoin at the forefront of “global fungible assets” for long-term wealth preservation.

“Gold’s inflation rate went up +50% in 2023 to 3% p.a. That makes Bitcoin’s inflation rate less than one-quarter of gold’s. Bitcoin is now the hardest store of value.”

Bitcoin vs. gold inflation rate. Source: TradingView

Market intelligence firm Glassnode reached a similar conclusion, saying that the halving resulted in Bitcoin decisively surpassing gold in terms of issuance scarcity.

Glassnode analysts said:

“The fourth halving also marks a significant milestone in the comparison of Bitcoin to Gold as for the first time in history, Bitcoin’s steady-state issuance rate (0.83%) becomes lower than gold (~2.3%), marking a historic handover in the title of scarcest asset.”

Meanwhile, American entrepreneur and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX Arthur Hayes said governments of the world will continue printing money to offset their debts, and their currencies will lose out against Bitcoin.

This makes Bitcoin the “hardest money ever created.”

Related: Price analysis 4/24: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB

History rhymes but it may not repeat itself

Many analysts have voiced their opinions on the implications of the Bitcoin halving on BTC price. Edwards now believes three things are likely to happen to the BTC post-halving.

The first scenario assumes that the BTC price will skyrocket. The second assumes that approximately 15% of Bitcoin miners will shut off their gear and quit the business. The third assumes that transaction fees will stay at a much higher level than average.

Edwards says he expects “a bit of all three” to happen.

“Bitcoin’s days under $100K are numbered.”

Bitcoin production cost. Source: Capriole Investments

However, Glassnode cautioned its readers to manage their expectations against historical precedents, arguing that the performance of Bitcoin across various halving epochs is “very widespread” and “too different” to be used as a guide today.

“We do see both diminishing returns and a shallower total drawdown effect over time, which is a natural result of the growing market size and the scale of capital flows required to move it.”

BTC price performance since halving. Source: Glassnode

Glassnode assessed BTC price performance between the cycle low and the halving and found that while there was a stark similarity between 2015, 2018 and the current cycle with between 200% and 300% price increases, the 2024 one was different as it broke the previous all-time high before the halving event.

“The ATH we saw in March comes off the back of both a historically tight supply and the remarkable demand interest brought online via the new spot ETFs.”

Glassnode also noted that while halving epoch 2 saw a larger price performance in the 365 days following, the current market dynamics and landscape are significantly different relative to the previous halving events.

BTC price performance 365 days after the halving. Source: Glassnode

While Glassnode did not rule out the possibility of an exponential growth in BTC price, they suggested that things might not play out exactly as they did in the past.

Hayes, on the other hand, said that BTC’s path from the current levels to $1 million may not be as difficult as its history of rising from zero, buoyed by the bursting of the sovereign debt bubble.

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.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has requested that a federal judge sentence him to probation after pleading guilty to violating money laundering laws. His legal team has filed several declarations in support of his recommendation, including one suggesting he could serve time at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) SeaTac, Washington.

In an April 23 filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, Robert Palmquist said it was “highly probable” that, if given prison time, Zhao would serve his sentence at FDC SeaTac. Palmquist, who served as warden of the Washington facility from 2003 to 2009, described it as having “little natural light” with the prison understaffed, given the number of inmates.

“If Mr. Zhao is incarcerated [...] his wealth and status as a public figure would expose him to a risk of threats to his physical and mental health, including but not limited to theft and extortion,” said Palmquist. “Mr. Zhao would encounter offenders of all security levels and potentially be prey to predators with high security designations due to his naivety concerning prison experiences and his financial resources.”

Source: Courtlistener

FDC Seatac, based directly south of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and containing 794 inmates according to its website, has previously housed a Proud Boys member charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Jim Bell, a ‘crypto-anarchist.’ Bell, released in 2012, was charged with tax evasion in the 90s related to ‘Assassination Politics’: promoting anonymous payments for individuals to order the killing of government officials.

Zhao’s lawyers filed several letters from friends, family members and business leaders supporting a lenient sentence for the former CEO. Under U.S. sentencing guidelines, a judge has the authority to put CZ in federal prison for up to 10 years, but there is a recommended sentence of 12 to 18 months for his specific charge. Prosecutors have requested three years in prison and a $50 million fine.

After the conviction and sentencing of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, CZ will be one of the most high-profile figures in the crypto space to enter a federal courtroom and learn whether a judge will decide to grant probation or send him to prison. Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, facing seven securities and commodities fraud charges, will go to trial in January 2025.

CZ has largely not publicly commented on the charges since his guilty plea as part of a $4.3 billion settlement between U.S. authorities and Binance in November 2023. In a letter to Judge Richard Jones dated Feb. 2, Zhao apologized for his “poor decisions” regarding Binance and said he was prepared to accept responsibility for his actions.

The former Binance CEO is scheduled to return to court on April 30 for sentencing. Since November, he has been free to travel within parts of the U.S. on a $175 million bond.

Magazine: ‘Less flashy’ Mashinsky set for less jail time than SBF: Inner City Press, X Hall of Flame

The co-founders of cryptocurrency mixer Samourai Wallet have been arrested on charges of money laundering brought by the United States Justice Department (DOJ) and other agencies. 

Samourai Wallet CEO Keonne Rodriguez and chief technology officer William Hill will each face one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Rodriguez was arrested on the morning of April 24 in Pennsylvania, and Hill was arrested the same day in Portugal. According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, the United States will seek Hill’s extradition. The company’s servers and domain were also seized in Iceland, and a warrant has been served to stop downloads of the company’s app from the Google Play Store. The app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times.

Screenshot of the Samourai Wallet homepage. Source: doj.gov

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation also took part in the investigation. According to the DOJ statement, Samourai Wallet:

“Executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions and facilitated more than $100 million in money laundering transactions from illegal dark web markets, such as Silk Road and Hydra Market; a web-server intrusion; a spearphishing scheme; and schemes to defraud multiple decentralized finance protocols.”

Samourai Wallet offered its Whirlpool crypto mixing service and Ricochet service, which created additional, unnecessary transactions to further muddy users' crypto paths. They allegedly made $4.5 million from fees.

Related: Arbitrum DAO votes on $1M fund for Tornado Cash devs' legal defense

Source: Bitfinex

The U.S. government has become increasingly aggressive toward crypto mixers. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctioned Blender.io in May 2022 after the Axie Infinity hack. OFAC added addresses associated with the Tornado Cash mixer to its list of Specially Designated Nationals in October 2022, effectively banning U.S. residents from using the service. That decision survived a court challenge. The three co-founders of Tornado Cash were all under arrest by August 2023.

In October 2023, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed designating crypto mixers as a “primary money laundering concern” after the Hamas attack on Israel.

Magazine: Tornado Cash 2.0: The race to build safe and legal coin mixers

The Premier League’s Manchester City Football Club has entered into a multi-year partnership with Animoca Brands subsidiary Quidd to develop and launch digital collectibles alongside new promotions and fan experiences. 

Quidd will create and launch “special edition” digital collectibles including cards that will unlock real-world experiences.

Tom Boyle, Vice-President, Global Partnerships Marketing and Operations at City Football Group announced the partnership in a blog post adding:

“We’re excited to help transform the traditional football pastime of cards and collectibles in a new digital age alongside Quidd, enabling us to further connect with our fans across the globe. We look forward to working together on creating new digital experiences and games for our fans to enjoy.”

The inaugural product for the partnership will be a series of 200 bespoke digital player cards which will launch or purchase on May 2. The first 10,000 “Cityzens” (the colloquial term for Man City fans) to purchase packs will receive two exclusive “For the Fans” packs.

Cityzens who unlock digital rewards through the Quidd packs will also have the opportunity to participate in real world events and purchase opportunities including official Manchester City merchandise and hospitality tickets as well as winning “money-can’t-buy experiences, including an exclusive opportunity to watch a first team training session at the City Football Academy.”

Image source: Club News

As Cointelegraph recently reported, Man City has been active in the NFT space as of late with the launch of its “Unseen City Shirts” NFT collection on the OKX blockchain on April 22. A limited number of Unseen City Shirts NFTs are tied to physical, limited-edition jerseys featuring hand painted artwork.

The club also partnered with Sony in 2022 to build a virtual version of Etihad Stadium, Man City’s iconic home field, reportedly the first officially-licensed football stadium to be built in the metaverse.

Meanwhile, other clubs are turning to cryptocurrency for their long-term futures. The Winklevoss twins recently bought into Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club, investing $4.5 million towards the club’s Bitcoin treasury. Evidently they’re bullish on both BTC and the club’s chances to one day make it to the Premier League.

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s legal saga continues with reports of his lawyers filing an appeal against a high court decision that pthe question of his extradition to the United States or South Korea to Montenegro’s justice minister.

According to an April 23 report from Montenegrin news outlet Vijesti, Kwon’s legal team filed an appeal against an April 8 decision from the High Court in Podgorica, which would have allowed Justice Minister Andrej Milović to decide on the Terraform co-founder’s extradition. That high court decision came in response to Montenegro’s Supreme Court approving a request for a protection of legality after a lower court ruled Kwon could be extradited to South Korea.

Kwon’s lawyers reportedly called the high court decision “unfounded and illegal” and a “bizarre” interpretation of the law. It’s unclear if the appeal will stay the question of Kwon’s extradition, which has been bouncing between lower and higher courts for months as his legal team files motions and appeals regarding procedure.

Authorities in Montenegro arrested Kwon in March 2023 for using falsified travel documents while attempting to leave the country. He reportedly remains free to travel within the country as courts determine who has the authority to grant extradition to the U.S. or South Korea, where Kwon would face criminal charges.

In the United States, a jury found Terraform and Kwon liable for fraud as part of a civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After the verdict, the SEC said it planned to seek a $5.3 billion judgment, with $100 million in civil penalties for Kwon personally.

The collapse of Terraform in 2022 contributed to a significant crypto market downturn that caused firms, including FTX, BlockFi and Celsius, to file for bankruptcy. The platform filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. in January 2024.

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