Amidst yet another big hack attributed to North Korea-linked operatives, some crypto builders have confessed they are passing tests during interviews to developers to make sure they are not North Korean agents. The Fool-Proof “Kim Jong‑Un Test” For Crypto Developers Once again, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is responsible for some action movie-sounding moves. Following the attribution of the April 1st $285 million attack on Drift Protocol to UNC4736, a North Korea–aligned, state‑sponsored hacking group, multiple crypto industry actors have taken to the social network X to share their fears and methods to combat what essentially are DPRK secret agents. All details on the long‑term social engineering, fake professional personas, in‑person conference meetings and compromised tooling employed in the attack can be consulted on a yesterday’s article in our sister’s website Bitcoinist. Unbelievable and hilarious as it may sound, the most straightforward strategy some of these builders have found is asking candidates to explicitly insult Kim Jong-Un, North Korea’s regime head, during interviews. Related Reading: This Bitcoin Trader Lost Millions In 2 Weeks, Here’s How Crypto Builders Share Proof Yesterday, Tanuki42, an independent blockchain security investigator, shared an actual video of a “North Korean IT worker being stopped dead in their tracks upon being required to insult Kim Jong Un”. In the video, “Taro Aikuchi” wasn’t just unable to repeat after the interviewer that “Kim Jong-Un is a fat, ugly pig”: he was taken aback and visibly nervous. Here is a video of a North Korean IT worker being stopped dead in their tracks upon being required to insult Kim Jong Un. It won’t work forever, but right now it’s genuinely an effective filter. I’m yet to come across one who can say it. https://t.co/8FFVPxNm8X pic.twitter.com/KXI5efMo5L — tanuki42 (@tanuki42_) April 6, 2026 In a different video shared by the security investigator, “Taro” tells him amusingly that he “knows North Korea well”, but then experiences very convenient connection issues when is asked to say “Fuck Kim Jong-Un”. The clip I posted was actually round 2. Here’s round 1 – I tell Taro I’m a North Korea security researcher, he tells me he “knows North Korea well”. Mysterious connection issues when I say “Fuck Kim Jong Un”, which he apologises for on reconnecting.???? pic.twitter.com/M89KDDmASW — tanuki42 (@tanuki42_) April 6, 2026 Later on the thread, Tanuki42 showed the candidate changed his Telegram handle, wiped their chat and blocked him after the interview. ????@taroaikuchi just changed his Telegram handle @cryptotrading2150->@cryptodegen202 – he’d already wiped our chat and blocked me ???? pic.twitter.com/EcQedYyGG7 — tanuki42 (@tanuki42_) April 6, 2026 His X account and LinkedIn page also disappeared. Crypto investor and fund manager Jason Choi quoted Tanuki42’s thread to echo the message, claiming that a lot of crypto founders have shared with him that this test works. Several founders in crypto have told me they ran this test and it genuinely worked https://t.co/DIZHoZDZ0l — Jason Choi (@mrjasonchoi) April 6, 2026 Crypto founder and RWA‑focused builder Pav replied to Choi saying that he has been using the tactic 2024, after he found out he was interviewing a DPRK agent for an engineering position in 2022. have been using this since 2024 and works like a charm https://t.co/nYWYIGxrAA — Parv (@Parv_EP) April 6, 2026 Simon Wijckmans, another cybersecurity founder and product leader, also replied to Choi sharing a clip from one of his own interviews with a candidate, “William Nation”, who failed to say that Kim Jong-Un is a dictator after Wijckmans requested him to do it Yep pic.twitter.com/Aht731yvRc — Simon (@SimonWijckmans) April 6, 2026 Some Crypto Builders Remain Sceptic Despite the overwhelming evidence, the wackiness of the story still finds flabbergasted nonbelievers. On a different thread from a few days ago, Paolo Caversaccio, a Switzerland‑based engineer and entrepreneur focused on cryptography, privacy and security, shared one of his attempts to employ the same Kim Jong-Un insult tactic to make sure he is not working with North Korean spies. going forward I will request from every external contributor to my repos a nice Kim Jong Un insult; it’s an easy but powerful way to prevent DPRK dev code (and some of them are really good) to be merged (they will never ever get the approval to do this). this guy passed it… pic.twitter.com/Ms86or5GiP — sudo rm -rf –no-preserve-root / (@pcaversaccio) April 4, 2026 He then entered an argument with long‑time Ethereum ecosystem developer and founder Micah Zoltu regarding the actual effectiveness of the technique. But Caversaccio’s argument was compelling: he has been dealing with DPRK IT workers for more than three years. After dealing for more than 3 years with DPRK IT workers I can confidently claim this filter is very strong. We will probably release some DPRK interviews publicly at some and will link it here, they always fail with this question. You probably think my filter is some random… — sudo rm -rf –no-preserve-root / (@pcaversaccio) April 5, 2026 Market Implications Related Reading: Crypto Tokenization Boom Or Time Bomb? Four Hidden Risks Wall Street Is Ignoring The real deal for traders right now isn’t guessing the next meme, but identifying which teams can defend against nation‑state attackers. For a while now, crypto has been entering a phase where geopolitics, state‑sponsored cyber ops, and HR compliance are as important as code audits. North Korean infiltration risk is now a structural factor for the industry. Considering this, traders should remember that protocols with weak contributor vetting, opaque multisigs, or ad‑hoc governance present elevated tail‑risk that markets will increasingly price in. It is also advisable to look for projects that can prove stronger operational security, incident response and KYC for critical roles may enjoy relatively stronger valuations and more sticky TVL. At the moment of writing, BTC trades for around $68k on the daily chart. Source: BTCUSDT on Tradingview. Cover image from Perplexity. BTCUSDT chart from Tradingview.
MARA Holdings' strategic pivot to AI and data infrastructure highlights a broader industry trend of diversifying beyond Bitcoin mining.
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Citadel Securities' latest SEC filing and Blockchain Association's response expose something more consequential: an early public battle over the real prize in tokenized stocks. Wall Street's goal is to remain indispensable when equities become tokenized. The establishment's position on tokenization has moved faster than most observers expected. Citadel Securities says it welcomes tokenization because it […]
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Polkadot is flashing warning signs as bearish pressure intensifies, with price slipping sharply after a clean rejection at a key resistance zone. The latest structure suggests this isn’t just a pullback, it could be the start of a deeper downside move toward critical liquidity levels. With sellers firmly in control and market positioning turning negative, …
$276 million was wiped from crypto traders in a single day this week as Bitcoin briefly reclaimed $69,000, squeezing leveraged traders on both sides. As of now, Bitcoin sits at $68,274 – down over 2% in 24 hours and 45% below its all-time high. If you’re watching your portfolio bleed, you’re probably asking one question: …
Despite billions in purchases, MSTR demand is being outweighed by long term holder positioning and broader capital flows.
Crypto ETPs drew $224 million in inflows last week as XRP led gains, while US ETFs lagged and Ether posted outflows amid mixed macro data and policy expectations.
Over time, the Ethereum price has been trending sideways with no definitive move in either direction. This trend has led to the formation of an ascending channel that could change the course of things for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. If this trend continues to play out, then it is possible that the Ethereum price is about to see new all-time highs. Why Ethereum Price Could Be Headed Above $5,000 Crypto analyst Jonathan Carter shared an analysis on the X (formerly Twitter) website that takes a look at the Ethereum price and what the current trend could mean for the altcoin. Carter pointed out the current ascending channel pattern, but also what this could imply for the Ethereum price going forward. Related Reading: Ethereum Eyes Macro Bottom As Key Level Comes Into Focus: Analyst According to the crypto analyst, the Ethereum price is currently trading closer to the lower border of the ascending channel pattern. This is drawn from the weekly chart, and since the altcoin’s price is yet to break below this channel, then it is still very bullish. For now, the Ethereum prognosis remains that the price will begin to surge, provided a couple of things remain. First of these is the fact that the channel structure is still intact. This suggests that the bulls are likely to push the price upward. Next is the fact that the support zone around the $1,900 level is still holding. As long as this support holds, then the bears are unable to keep pulling the price down. But a failure to secure this level would lead to an Ethereum price crash. Last of these is that bullish momentum is still building around Ethereum. During times of sideways movement such as this, it is often when whales are accumulating, and as a result, the bullish momentum surrounding the asset is beginning to rise. With all the catalysts staying intact, the crypto analyst predicts that there are five (5) recovery targets for the Ethereum price in total. The fist of the targets is $2,350, which is around a 15% jump from the current level. Once this is surpassed, then the bulls move on to the second target at $2,800. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sentiment Hits 5-Week Fear Level – Is A Reversal Coming? The next recovery target then moves up to $3,550, eventually breaking the resistance at $3,000. This gives way to the $4,700 target. Hitting this target will set the stage for the Ethereum price to actually retest its current all-time high of $4,900, and then play into the final target. This final target is placed at $5,700, which would set a new peak for the Ethereum price. However, all of these are still dependent on the ascending channel pattern staying in place and the price not breaking below the established support. Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com
Argentine lenders are reportedly testing JPMorgan’s JPM Coin to improve settlement speed and efficiency, even as the central bank maintains restrictions on crypto services.
Your day-ahead look for April 7, 2026
BTC and ETH remain stuck in a two-month range as oil prices and Iran tensions weigh on sentiment, while AI and privacy tokens show surprising relative strength.
The program includes 24/7 threat monitoring for protocols with more than $10 million in deposits and a dedicated incident response network of security firms.
Bernstein reiterated a $67 price target on Figure as March loan volume topped $1 billion for the first time.
The state of quantum computing and what it would take to threaten Bitcoin Quantum computing has advanced materially over the past 18 months, but the field remains in the transition from noisy hardware to early fault tolerance. The key shift is away from raw physical-qubit counts and toward logical qubits, gate fidelity, runtime, and error […]
The post Stop worrying about the Bitcoin quantum threat – Why Google can’t steal your BTC, and bad actors are decades behind appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Cardano price is sitting at a crucial point, with price hovering around $0.24 after a prolonged decline. The asset is down over 40% in the past three months and remains far below its previous highs. Despite the weak price action, on-chain data is starting to show a different trend building beneath the surface. Whale Activity …
Binance is changing how orders execute on its spot market, and if you’ve been trading on the platform since October, you’ll understand exactly why. Starting April 14, 2026, Binance will gradually roll out the Spot Price Range Execution Rule (PRER), a new mechanism that prevents orders from executing at abnormal prices during extreme market conditions. …
BTC correlation with an ETF tracking software comany stocks broke sharply from near-total alignment to near zero after the conflict started.
Bitcoin stochastic RSI signals led a trader to draw key comparisons between current BTC price action and its rebound after the 2022 bear market.
More than 8 million wallets now hold XRP — a milestone that comes even as the token’s price sits well below where it stood less than a year ago. Related Reading: XRP Headed For A Price Shock, Japan’s Financial Heavyweight Says A Market Still Chasing Its Peak XRP traded at $1.35 on Monday, up roughly 4% on the day, but still more than 60% below the $3.65 high it hit in July 2025. Despite that gap, activity on the XRP Ledger has kept climbing. Wallet counts crossed 8 million, according to on-chain data, a figure that continues rising regardless of where the price stands. Most of those wallets belong to retail holders with relatively small balances. A much smaller group controls the bulk of the supply. Trading volume told a different story entirely. Data from CoinGlass put XRP’s combined spot and futures activity at $3.86 billion in a single 24-hour window — $3.25 billion of that coming through futures markets and $605 million through spot trading. Open interest stood at $2.50 billion, a sign that traders are not just moving in and out quickly but holding positions. Binance led all exchanges in futures open interest, posting $140 million. Upbit followed at $111 million, with Coinbase close behind at $85 million. That spread across both global and US-based platforms points to broad participation rather than activity concentrated in one region. Despite a softening of the $XRP price that began in July 2025 (shown in black), wallets continue to climb (shown in blue). ????8.1M #XRP Ledger wallets as of April 4, 2026 Source: CryptoQuant pic.twitter.com/vSpOd94jg7 — ????Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) April 5, 2026 Volume Climbs Across Borders XRP’s market cap sat at $82 billion during the same period. The numbers came on a day when broader crypto markets were also moving. Bitcoin briefly pushed back above $69,000, gaining 4% after reports emerged of a possible easing in Middle East tensions. Whether that momentum would carry over to major altcoins like XRP remains unclear. Some believe that the high trading volume was an indication of a possible buy pressure before a bigger move. Others attributed the high volume of futures to the large weight of the derivative instrument as compared to spot trading. This means that the high trading volume of futures might not have represented the same conviction as spot trading. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Gaining Ground, Could Soon Surpass Gold—Analyst Retailers Lead, Institutions Monitor The wallet analysis of XRP indicates that the cryptocurrency network is still dominated by ordinary people instead of big organizations. Millions of wallets have little XRP holdings while the few wallets dominate the majority of XRP supply. The data indicates that such a distribution model has remained the same despite the fall in price since its all-time high last year. With the high volume of trading, increasing wallets, and stagnant prices, analysts are wondering how XRP will proceed in the future. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
Shiba Inu is still struggling, down nearly 93% from its all-time high of $0.00008616 as per data. As of April 2026, SHIB trades around $0.000006, marking a big drop from its January levels near $0.00000923. The downtrend has stretched over the past three months, showing little sign of recovery. Why SHIB Price Is Falling However, …
Five of the most powerful people in finance have publicly predicted Bitcoin to hit $1 million. They also collectively hold a lot of it. That is either the most bullish signal in crypto history, or the most expensive marketing campaign ever run. Bitcoin is currently trading at $69,107, 45% below its all-time high. Who Predicts …
Dogecoin is back at a level that has historically preceded its biggest moves. After weeks of consolidation, DOGE is now testing its long-term ascending channel support, a zone that has repeatedly acted as a launchpad for explosive rallies in previous cycles. Unlike typical breakdown scenarios, price continues to hold structure, signaling that selling pressure is …
Spot Bitcoin ETFs draw $471 million in their strongest daily inflow in weeks, while Ether funds return to gains despite cautious sentiment.
India’s tax authorities are now cracking down on crypto traders. The Income Tax Department has begun sending Section 148A notices for FY 2021–22, targeting unreported crypto transactions. With exchanges, bank records, and PAN data under review, many traders could face reassessments and pressure to explain hidden profits. Are you on their radar? Check it out! …
The XRP price is showing early signs of a potential bottoming phase, but the market isn’t confirming it yet. The token is currently trading around $1.31, holding near key support after a weak bounce, while recent sessions have seen muted price action and inconsistent volume follow-through. At the same time, on-chain data paints a more …
Between January and March 2025, the wallet accumulated 513 BTC, worth $50 million at the time, according to Arkham data.
More than 80 crypto projects formally shuttered or began winding down in the first quarter of this year. RootData’s “dead-project” archive, which tracks closures, bankruptcies, and chronic project inactivity, logged 86 casualties as of March 20. The pullback has spared almost no corner of the ecosystem, sweeping across digital wallets, NFT marketplaces, decentralized finance (DeFi) […]
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Bitcoin is sitting just below $70,000, but the sharper signal may be in the derivatives market: roughly $6 billion in short positions would be forced out if the price climbs to $72,500, according to data from Santiment. Related Reading: XRP Eyes $8.30 Target As Rare Chart Pattern Emerges From Prolonged Decline That comes as Bitcoin keeps testing the same ceiling again and again, with the market showing signs of strain rather than conviction. Sentiment Turns Sharply Sour Social chatter around Bitcoin has weakened fast. Data from Santiment shows the bullish-to-bearish ratio has slipped to 0.81 to 1.00, its lowest reading since February 28. ????️ According to social data across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other platforms, Bitcoin is seeing the highest ratio of bearish discussions (fear) since February 28th. With crypto’s #1 market cap sitting at $66.8K, FUD has crept back in with the community showing a key lack of… pic.twitter.com/Ym7SbUC22I — Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 4, 2026 The drop reflects a market that has grown tired of sideways trading and more nervous about what comes next. Bitcoin has spent much of 2026 moving without much follow-through, and that has worn down confidence across X, Reddit and Telegram. That shift matters because sentiment often bends before price does. The report points out that Bitcoin has repeatedly moved opposite the crowd when fear gets loud enough. Even with the mood turning darker, the coin has not broken down sharply. It has simply kept circling the same level. Bitcoin’s latest struggle is not a small one. It is making a seventh attempt since early February to break above $70,000. The price was around $69,550 at the time of publication, after briefly falling to $60,000 on February 5. The report also says Bitcoin remains about 45% below its record high of $126,080, set on October 6, 2025. Traders Watch The Liquidation Map The futures market adds another layer. Coinglass data cited in the report shows that short positions are heavily packed near $72,500, while about $2 billion in long positions sit closer to $65,000. That gap leaves the market leaning one way. If price pushes higher, some traders could be squeezed out fast, which may add fuel to the move. The report also ties part of the weakness to outside pressures. Geopolitical tension, including the US-Iran conflict, and uncertainty around the Clarity Act are both being framed as drag on sentiment. Those issues do not move Bitcoin on their own, but they can keep buyers cautious when the market is already stuck. Related Reading: Strategy Signals Fresh Bitcoin Buy As Saylor Tweets ‘Back To Work’ On-Chain Data Says The Market Has Not Fully Reset Longer-term signals are less comforting. CryptoQuant data cited in the report shows Bitcoin still trading above its realized price of $54,279. That figure is often treated as a rough dividing line between normal market conditions and deeper stress. The coin has usually had to fall below that level before a stronger accumulation phase takes hold. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Grayscale is pushing the crypto industry to speed up preparations after insights from Google Quantum AI. The latest research suggests quantum progress may not be gradual; it could arrive in sudden breakthroughs, leaving less time to react. This concern ties back to work by Peter Shor, whose algorithm showed how quantum machines could break modern …
Iran's leadership crisis could lead to increased instability, potential power struggles, and shifts in the political landscape.
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