Bitcoin isn’t breaking out. It’s stalling and dragging the entire altcoin market into a slow, frustrating freeze. While traders keep staring at sleepy charts or instance LINK stuck near $10, ALGO hovering around $0.15, SEI barely breathing at $0.05 and other altcoins are not doing any good either but the bigger story is unfolding quietly: …
Japan has launched a blockchain pilot to modernize its $7.5 trillion Japanese Government Bond (JGB) collateral system. The Japan Securities Clearing Corporation, Mizuho Financial Group, and Nomura Holdings are working with Digital Asset Holdings on the Canton Network. The project enables real-time, 24/7 cross-border movement of JGBs while preserving their legal status under Japanese law. …
A $292 million hack tied to restaking protocol Kelp DAO has rippled through decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and market confidence far beyond the original incident, with Aave emerging as one of the hardest-hit examples. Over the weekend, Aave’s native token (AAVE) fell by about 26%, while the protocol also saw a sharp decline in total value locked (TVL) and continued outflows that intensified the downturn. Kelp DAO Hack Sparks Aave Crisis The chain of events began with the attacker draining roughly 116,500 rsETH—valued at about $292 million—from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero bridge. The stolen staking tokens were then used as collateral on Aave V3, enabling the attacker to borrow approximately $236 million in WETH. Because the rsETH later became effectively unbacked, the collateral underpinning those positions is not liquidatable, leaving the borrowed funds stranded within the lending system. As a result, Aave is now facing a $280 million in bad debt that it cannot directly recover. Related Reading: Remember Arbitrum? This Analyst Just Predicted That A 7,400% Rally Is Coming The impact on users and depositors was swift. With Aave’s ETH pool reaching 100% utilization, the protocol essentially has almost no available ETH left for withdrawals. In practical terms, that means users looking to exit quickly may already be confronting liquidity limits at the pool level. As crypto portfolio manager Pratik Kala put it, the fear wasn’t about losses that Aave created itself, but about the protocol carrying a gap it did not make—prompting withdrawals driven by uncertainty. Kala likened the behavior to a bank run, summarizing the dynamic as “withdraw first, ask questions later.” Since Saturday, when the heist news first emerged, Aave has recorded around $9 billion in net outflows. Total value locked on the platform fell by more than a third, dropping to about $17.5 billion. The damage was not confined to Aave. DefiLlama data indicate that across all decentralized lending protocols, TVL fell by roughly $13 billion within 48 hours. Price 86% Below All-Time Highs As markets digested the fallout, Aave’s token performance also reflected the heightened stress. On Monday, AAVE was down about 26% from a one-month high of $118 recorded last Friday, after the broader crypto rally earlier last week. Related Reading: XRP A Strong Buy Before 2027 Despite 27% Drop In 2026: Finance Advisory Firm At the time of writing, AAVE was trading around $88 per token. CoinGecko data further highlights the precariousness of the asset: the cryptocurrency is reportedly about 86% below its all-time high of $661. Aave has responded to the situation by moving to contain further risk. The protocol froze rsETH markets on its platform. On Sunday, Aave said its own analysis indicates that rsETH traded on Ethereum remains fully backed; however, it kept restrictions in place as a precaution. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
The Arbitrum Security Council has frozen 30,766 ETH, worth about $71 million, linked to the KelpDAO exploit on Arbitrum One. The funds were moved to a secure wallet requiring governance approval for release, with no impact on other users. The April 18 attack drained $292 million in rsETH through a compromised LayerZero bridge, reportedly tied …
Ice Open Network has confirmed a security breach involving its identity database, shaking user confidence while highlighting growing risks tied to third-party service providers in crypto. The April 15 breach came from four former partners tied to a third-party service provider, who leaked user data like emails and 2FA phone numbers after accessing an external …
Something is clearly shifting inside the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse isn’t staying quiet about it. Responding to recent comments from Paul Atkins, he described the new direction as a long-overdue reset, especially after what he sees as a difficult period for the crypto industry under earlier leadership. From “War …
ASTEROID’s extraordinary run changed the conversation. A token that sat at a $50,000 market cap before Elon Musk replied to a girl’s SpaceX mascot request briefly touched a $20 million market cap within hours and posted a 68,428% weekly gain according to CoinGecko data before pulling back roughly 40%. The question traders are now asking …
Pi Network co-founder Nicolas Kokkalis is set to speak at Consensus 2026 in Miami on May 7, joining a panel titled “How to Prove You’re Human in an AI World Without Doxing Yourself” at the Convergence Stage from 10:15 to 10:45 AM EDT. The session addresses what Pi’s core team describes as one of the …
Under the 2012 STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, congressional members and other government employees are mandated to report stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrency trades of over $1,000 within 45 days of executing them. Here is a compilation of the top 5 crypto choices, and a few little-known extra choices: Top 5 crypto choices in …
Leading asset manager Grayscale has now updated its HYPE ETF (ticker: GHYP) filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to designate Anchorage Digital as its custodian, replacing Coinbase. HYPE ETF: Why Grayscale has replaced Coinbase with Anchorage Digital Notably, Grayscale has decided to replace Coinbase with Anchorage Digital, mainly for competition, concentration, and …
Ripple has today published a roadmap to quantum-proof the XRP Ledger (XRPL) by 2028. This is in response to Google’s initial warning that quantum security threats could breach cryptographic systems by 2032, with even fewer resources (about 500,000 physical qubits) than initially estimated. Phases leading to a quantum-resilient Ripple and XRP According to Ripple’s blog, …
One analyst is arguing that XRP could fall below $1 within five years — a prediction that contrasts sharply with the token’s historical price action during previous bull and bear cycles. The argument, however, rests on what the analyst says are catalysts that XRP supporters expected to push the price much higher, but which ultimately faded. Catalysts Have Come And Gone Motley Fool analyst Johnny Rice says several of the “big” events that bullish investors pointed to have already come and gone. In his view, those moments briefly lifted sentiment and price, but the token later slipped back toward levels that look closer to where it started rather than sustaining a long-term breakout. Rice points first to the settlement between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs, which provided significant clarity for the token. The resolution helped unlock momentum, but Rice says it wasn’t enough to create durable demand. Related Reading: Ethereum Just Saw Its Strongest Buy Pressure Since The 2022 Bear Market He also highlights the launch of spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In the early period, this helped drive a surge in interest—Rice notes that total investment hit about $1.6 billion. But he says that initial enthusiasm proved short-lived. Rice’s assessment also frames XRP’s performance against recent price history. He notes that the altcoin is down more than 60% from its July high of around $3.65. He adds that the token is also trading well below $2 before the SEC dropped its lawsuit, suggesting that even after the legal overhang was removed, the market did not sustain the kind of upside many bulls had forecast. XRP Outlook Under $1 Rice says one of the central narratives among bulls has been that financial institutions would need XRP to move value across borders. The argument is that banks’ cross-border activity could translate into stronger, ongoing demand for the token if adoption keeps expanding. The logic is that Ripple’s technology converts one currency into XRP—the bridge asset—then converts XRP into the destination currency. In that framework, broader bank adoption should translate into more XRP demand, and, ultimately, higher prices. Rice says that thesis has not clearly materialized in a way that supports the bullish price targets. He argues that even though adoption of Ripple’s payments platform continues to grow, the XRP price hasn’t followed in proportion. The analyst describes this disconnect as something that has accelerated over the past year, and he explains why demand for cross-border payments may be weaker than many investors assumed. Related Reading: Remember Arbitrum? This Analyst Just Predicted That A 7,400% Rally Is Coming The central issue, in his view, is that Ripple’s stablecoin is “undercutting XRP” demand as the bridge asset. If banks have a more attractive alternative for use in cross-border transfers—specifically Ripple’s own stablecoin, RLUSD—then the “bridge through XRP” demand mechanism becomes less potent. Rice’s point is not simply that Ripple’s business is doing better or worse, but that the source of real incremental demand for XRP may be eroding as RLUSD offers banks another option for bridging value. The analyst says he believes Ripple is building a thriving payments business and that five years from now it may continue expanding its footprint in the industry. But his bottom-line forecast remains bearish: he expects XRP to end up below $1, far from the higher price targets often promoted around the idea of XRP becoming the key banking bridge asset. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Charles Hoskinson has delivered one of his most pointed critiques of Ripple and XRP’s tokenomic structure, arguing that nothing in Ripple’s business model creates organic buy demand for the XRP token and that holders are essentially funding a private company with no obligation to return value to them. “There is nothing in the Ripple network …
Bitcoin crossed $78,000 on April 17 for the first time since early February, but Arthur Hayes is not ready to call it a recovery. The BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom chief investment officer told Coinpedia that the market is in a relief rally and that sustained upside requires one specific catalyst that has not arrived yet. …
ZEC price isn’t quietly trending but it’s stepping into a full-blown liquidity war. After months of suffocating under a descending triangle, ZEC price finally snapped the structure in early April, and yeah, it didn’t tiptoe either. The breakout shoved price action toward $400, effectively flipping the script on a long-term bearish trend that had been …
CHZ price just woke up with a sharp 10% intraday spike has pushed the token back into trader conversations, and this time, it’s not just technical noise. There’s a narrative building, and like always in crypto, that’s half the battle. The trigger? A clear push toward the U.S. sports market. U.S. Expansion Narrative Fuels CHZ …
April has been one of the most turbulent months for the crypto markets, with over $600M lost across 12 exploits, exposing repeated failures in bridges, access controls, and governance—including the recent AAVE-linked disruption. But beyond these technical breakdowns, a different kind of risk is now coming into focus. Memecore (M), with its concentrated supply and …
A user on X posted what appears to be a demonstration of buying XRP directly inside WhatsApp using a Solana-based AI agent, and the post has turned heads, including a reaction from Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. The user, posting under the handle nxxn, shared what they described as a swap of 0.1 SOL for 5.99 …
Coinbase has launched crypto-backed USDC loans for UK users, powered by the Morpho protocol on Base. The feature lets users borrow USDC against BTC, ETH, and cbETH, with limits up to $5M for Bitcoin and $1M for Ethereum. Loans have flexible repayment with no fixed schedules, but require monitoring of loan-to-value ratios to avoid liquidation …
The altcoin market is once again making headlines, with analysts split between collapse and comeback narratives. According to Michaël van de Poppe, the current shakeout is not only expected, but it’s also necessary. “I think that it’s fully deserved that 99% of the altcoins are going to zero,” he said, drawing parallels to the Dot-com …
Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, has listed PIEVERSE trading pairs against KRW, BTC, and USDT. PIEVERSE is a Web3 payment infrastructure project built for an agent native economy where humans, AI agents, and machines can transact seamlessly. It focuses on automated, verifiable, and cross-chain payments with improved transparency and efficiency. The listing is expected …
Binance listed RAVE. A few days ago, the token crashed 95%, wiping out billions in market cap, triggering manipulation allegations from ZachXBT and forcing exchange investigations. The same exchange has still not listed Pi Network, a project with 18 million KYC-verified users, a functioning mainnet, and institutional-grade identity infrastructure. The contrast has not gone unnoticed, …
RAVE token collapsed by about 95% after allegations of market manipulation rattled traders. Launched in December 2025, RAVE spiked from under $1 to nearly $28 within 10 days before tumbling to around $0.70 by April 20. Crypto analyst ZachXBT reported that nine addresses linked to the project held most of the supply and moved funds …
Polymarket is in talks to raise 400 million dollars in fresh funding, which could value the company at about 15 billion dollars, up sharply from its 9 billion dollar valuation in late 2025 following Intercontinental Exchange’s investment. The platform has experienced rapid growth, with March trading volume surpassing 10.5 billion dollars and daily revenue close …
A major exploit at KelpDAO has rattled the DeFi market, with losses estimated at nearly $293 million, making it one of the year’s biggest incidents. The issue was first flagged after “suspicious cross-chain activity involving rsETH,” prompting the team to pause contracts across the Ethereum mainnet and multiple Layer 2 networks. The protocol, which allows …
David Schwartz, CTO Emeritus at Ripple, had a pointed observation this week after the Kelp DAO rsETH bridge was exploited for approximately $292 million. He had seen this coming. Not this specific attack, but the conditions that made it possible. “I evaluated a lot of DeFi bridging systems for use by RLUSD,” Schwartz wrote on …
Ethereum is flashing a combination of technical and on-chain signals that analysts say could be the beginning of a meaningful recovery. For the first time in months, the structure of Ethereum’s price action appears to be shifting in the favor of bulls. The latest price action has brought the ETH price back above $2,300, setting up a structure that says the next leg is about to start. Related Reading: Asteroid Shiba’s 68,000% Rally Leaves Traders Stunned After Elon Musk Reply Technical Levels Reset, Analyst Flags Breakout Conditions Crypto analyst Ash Crypto drew attention to Ethereum’s price action this week, pointing to three developments that, taken together, suggest the groundwork for a new upward leg may be forming. The first major development in Ethereum’s recent price action is its move back above the 100-day simple moving average. This level had acted as dynamic resistance, consistently capping upside attempts since November 2025. The break above it changes the tone of the chart, as it suggests that buyers are starting to regain control on higher timeframes. Second, a resistance zone that repeatedly rejected price throughout Q1 2026 has now been flipped into a support area. The chart shared by Ash Crypto shows a rising trendline from the February lows supporting price from below and creating a tightening range alongside a support zone to create an ascending triangle pattern. ETH has since broken above the upper boundary of that triangle and is now testing the horizontal resistance band in the $2,300 to $2,370 range. According to the analyst, all Ethereum needs to do now is just hold above the $2,300 level, and the next leg up will start. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,316. Ethereum Price Chart. Source: @AshCrypto On X Institutional Demand Returns Through ETF Channel The third major development is the return of institutional inflows through US Spot Ethereum ETFs. Particularly, US Spot Ether ETFs recorded $275.83 million in inflows in the most recent week, which is their strongest weekly inflow since the week ending January 16. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of a changing market dynamic comes from derivatives order flow data. Throughout this cycle, Ethereum has faced persistently negative net taker volume. This is a metric that measures the difference between buy and sell market orders on derivatives exchanges, and the negative reading means sellers were consistently overpowering buyers. That pattern has now reversed. As noted by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, buy-side volumes have taken control on derivatives markets for the first time in the cycle, with a net taker volume reading of +$102 million recorded recently. ETH: NetTakerVolume. Source: @Darkfost_Coc On X Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz The last time Ethereum recorded buying pressure of this magnitude on derivatives markets was during the bear market of 2022, when ETH was trading around $1,000. If this trend manages to persist and buyers continue to absorb selling pressure, then it could indicate the early stages of a stronger structural recovery for Ethereum. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A memecoin called ASTEROID surged more than 68,000% in a week, crossing a $100 million market cap and generating over $100 million in 24-hour trading volume, driven by one of the most emotionally charged stories the crypto market has seen in years. The token is not based on a dog or a cartoon. It is …
XRP slipped below $1.46 over the weekend, a level that analysts had flagged as the most critical line for the token heading into the final stretch of April. The move was not entirely unexpected on the charts, but the catalyst that pushed it through was geopolitical rather than technical. The important support to watch now …
A nearly $300 million exploit targeting Kelp DAO’s rsETH cross-chain bridge has triggered a mass withdrawal event at Aave, with over $5.4 billion in ETH leaving the protocol as users rushed to pull funds following concerns about bad debt accumulating on the platform. The attacker deposited rsETH into Aave to drain ETH, leaving the protocol …