Today's news tips:
Binance Alpha to List Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) on April 29
Market News: IMF says El Salvador has stopped using public funds to invest in Bitcoin
Willy Woo: Bitcoin fundamentals have turned bullish, the market may go sideways or rise slowly
BONK launches Meme coin issuance platform Letsbonk.Fun
A smart trader exchanged 1.18 million Fartcoins for 78,671 TRUMPs 18 hours ago
Regulatory/Macro
Nike sued for shutting down cryptocurrency business
According to Reuters, Nike Inc (NKE.N) was sued on Friday by a group of buyers who purchased Nike-themed NFTs and other crypto assets, alleging that they suffered significant losses after the company suddenly shut down the business unit responsible for creating the above assets. In a proposed class action lawsuit filed in the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, the buyer group led by Australian resident Jagdeep Cheema said that Nike's RTFKT division suddenly closed in December 2024, causing a sharp drop in demand for the NFTs it held. The buyer group claimed that if they had known in advance that these tokens were unregistered securities and that Nike would "suddenly withdraw", they would never buy these NFTs at the time or any price. The lawsuit accuses Nike of violating consumer protection laws in New York, California, Florida and Oregon. The amount of the claim is not specified, but it exceeds $5 million.
Market News: IMF says El Salvador has stopped using public funds to invest in Bitcoin
According to posts and screenshots posted by crypto KOL Crypto Rover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that El Salvador has stopped using public funds to invest in Bitcoin.
Viewpoint
Ethereum founder Vitalik responded to X user Paolo Rebuffo's comments on Pectra's account abstraction, pointing out that the account abstraction process is only halfway done. He said that the ultimate goal is to make non-ECDSA (elliptic curve digital signature algorithm) accounts the mainstream account type on Ethereum. These accounts include features such as multi-signature, key change, quantum attack resistance and privacy protocols. A lot of progress has been made recently in simplifying the 7701 standard to promote the realization of this goal.
Willy Woo: Bitcoin fundamentals have turned bullish, the market may go sideways or rise slowly
Crypto analyst Willy Woo said that Bitcoin's fundamentals have turned bullish and capital inflows into the network are increasing, which has created good conditions for it to break through historical highs. He pointed out that both the overall and speculative capital flows in the market have bottomed out, and when the two are combined, a favorable market environment will be formed. At present, market liquidity has rebounded and the downside risk is relatively small. Woo mentioned that Bitcoin's medium-term target price of $90,000 and $93,000 has been achieved, the $108,000 target is still there, and the new medium-term target is $103,000. Since on-chain indicators show that prices are high, it may be difficult to rise quickly in the short term, and the market may go sideways or rise slowly. In addition, new channels for capital inflows provide convenience for traditional investors, which are recognized as collateral by banks and brokerage firms, avoiding the regulatory issues faced by Bitcoin.
Regarding Binance co-founder CZ's view that "CEX and DEX should not have a listing process", some community users questioned CZ, "Always emphasizing that the most important thing is to protect users, but emphasizing that CEX should list coins without permission like DEX. CEX has greatly relaxed the listing of coins, and a bunch of relatively bad projects have emerged, and even arbitrary manipulation has occurred. How to protect users?" In response, CZ said: "Users' freedom of choice should not be blocked, but those who attempt to harm users should be strongly stopped."
10x Research: Institutional FOMO, DeFi craze and favorable regulations drive altcoins to surge
10x Research said in its latest report that the cryptocurrency market surged across the board this week, with Bitcoin breaking through the $95,000 mark, driven by factors such as easing macro risks, record inflows of ETF funds and a weaker dollar. Altcoins followed closely behind, with a surge in institutional interest, ecological expansion, DeFi outbreak and warming regulatory winds becoming the main drivers. Specifically, Solana (SOL) rose 6.7%, supported by institutional buying, DeFi growth, short squeeze and Meme coin activities; Ripple (XRP) rose slightly, CME launched XRP futures and increased bank integration, despite legal risks, market enthusiasm remained unabated. Stellar (XLM) rose 18.1% due to cooperation with South Asian retail giants, a surge in trading volume and the relaxation of new US crypto bank regulations; Polkadot rose 10.1% against the trend. Although the SEC postponed ETF approval, the market is optimistic about the final approval and the opening of the crypto market. SUI surged 64.3%, driven by the explosion of DEX trading volume, the expansion of the stablecoin ecosystem and well-known cooperation; Raydium Protocol (RAY) rose 27.9%, benefiting from the Meme coin incentive plan on the Solana chain and the recovery of DeFi; Aave (AAVE) rose 21.5% due to the rebound of Bitcoin, the buyback plan, the growth of GHO stablecoins and the increase in locked value. Trump tokens soared 86% due to the announcement of plans for a dinner with Trump, and still attracted investors despite political controversy. After the Algo Foundation launched the decentralized ID project, the price of ALGO rose 18.4%. BONK rose 55.7%, regaining Solana's top Meme coin status, benefiting from token destruction and NFT market acquisitions. Ondo rose 16.7% due to positive dialogue with the SEC on tokenization and treasury tokenization to boost confidence.
Adam, a macro researcher at Greeks.live, said on the X platform that the most important thing next week (4/28-5/2) is the non-farm and surplus data on Friday. Three months after Trump took office, the US economy and trade have been hit hard, and the US stock market has been relatively weak. However, there is no obvious trend in economic data. Every time there is a big macro data, it is worth paying attention to whether there will be a black swan. Implied volatility is continuing to decline recently, especially BTC's short-term decline is obvious, approaching 45%, and the market does not expect much volatility in the future. Although the price of BTC fluctuates at $95,000, the market sentiment on the cryptocurrency side is not high, and it can only be said to have improved.
Project News
Binance Alpha to List Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) on April 29
Binance announced that its platform Binance Alpha will launch Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) for the first time, and trading will start on April 29, with the specific time to be announced. Earlier news, Sui Ecosystem Liquidity Staking Agreement Haedal Protocol completed its seed round of financing, with participation from Hashed, Animoca Ventures and others.
Synthetix stated in its official blog that according to the SCCP-403 proposal, Synthetix has officially completed the transition to the 420 staking pool, and all old SNX staking positions have been liquidated as planned. However, most positions can still be restored. If the user is a historical pledger who has not yet migrated to the 420 pool, please be sure to follow the steps below as soon as possible. This upgrade will promote the Synthetix system to fully support future products, including the upcoming Perps v4 perpetual contract platform, automated Vaults and other core functions. Key rule explanation: If the user's pledge position has a collateral ratio (C-Ratio) of less than 160% at the time of liquidation, the pledge position has been permanently liquidated and cannot be restored. If the collateral ratio is ≥160% at the time of liquidation, your pledge position can be restored, but the migration must be completed within 6 months from the date of liquidation. Notes after restoration: The migrated pledge position will retain the debt size at the time of liquidation, and users can repay the debt at any time to unlock SNX tokens; the new pool allows pledgers to gradually reduce their debt within 12 months (subject to certain conditions), and the specific rules and sUSD pledge reward plan will be announced in the coming weeks. Currently, users can apply to participate in the sUSD pledge test.
Ripple President denies IPO in 2025: Current financial situation is sound and no financing is needed
According to Finance Magnates, after years of market speculation, Ripple has explicitly denied that it will launch an IPO in 2025. In an interview with CNBC, Ripple President Monica Long said that an IPO is not in the company's plans. She emphasized that Ripple is currently in a solid financial position and holds billions of dollars in cash reserves, and does not need to raise funds through listing or increase market exposure. Long further pointed out that companies usually go public for two main motivations: raising funds or expanding brand influence, but Ripple "has no need for either" at this stage. Previously, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also reiterated many times that Ripple is neither seeking external capital injections nor "has no short-term listing plans." In fact, rumors of Ripple's listing have been going on for several years. In 2022, Garlinghouse said that after the legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is settled, the possibility of an IPO will be re-evaluated. However, with the settlement reached by the two parties at the end of 2023, Garlinghouse reiterated that going public is not a priority for Ripple.
Arbitrum exits Nvidia accelerator program after it refuses to work with crypto firms
According to The Block, the Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum Foundation announced its withdrawal from the Nvidia-supported Ignition AI accelerator program because the chip giant requested that the cooperation not be mentioned in crypto-related announcements. Previously, the two parties had planned to reach an exclusive cooperation, and Arbitrum would become the only Ethereum ecosystem representative in the AI acceleration program. A spokesperson for the Arbitrum Foundation said that Nvidia recently changed its position and was willing to maintain cooperation but prohibited public disclosure, which showed its lack of long-term commitment to the crypto field. The accelerator program would have provided Arbitrum with AI development guidance and cloud service points. It is worth noting that another public chain, Aptos, still maintains a cooperative relationship with the accelerator. The foundation emphasized that the decision to withdraw was based on commercial considerations, and in the future it will choose "partners who fully support blockchain innovation."
BONK launches Meme coin issuance platform Letsbonk.Fun
According to official news, BONK announced the launch of the Meme coin issuance platform Letsbonk.Fun, which was jointly developed by BONK community members and Raydium. Part of the handling fees of the Letsbonk.Fun platform will be used to: strengthen and ensure the security of the Solana network through the BONKsol verification node; repurchase and destroy BONK tokens to reduce circulation.
Important data
According to a South Korean investor market survey conducted jointly by Coinness and Cratos, 45.4% of respondents believe that Bitcoin will rise more than gold in the next six months. In the survey, 46.2% of respondents expect Bitcoin to continue to rise or rise sharply next week, while 38.9% expect it to remain flat and 14.9% expect it to fall. Regarding market sentiment, 49.9% of respondents expressed neutrality, 31.5% expressed optimism or extreme optimism, and 18.6% expressed fear or extreme fear. Against the backdrop of global investors' increased preference for safe assets, 27.9% of respondents believe that gold will perform better, 22.7% expect both to rise, and 4% believe that both Bitcoin and gold will fall.
According to data compiled by on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, since the announcement of Trump's TRUMP dinner plan, in just nine days, Binance TRUMP spot trading volume has increased by 202% month-on-month in nine days. On April 23, the single-day trading volume was 74.69 million tokens, with a trading volume of up to US$940 million; Binance TRUMP 24H spot/contract trading volume was US$2.782 billion, ranking TOP3; DEX TRUMP 24H trading volume was US$489 million; TRUMP coin price rose 94.6% in nine days, with an amplitude of up to 112%.
Analyst NotAMickey disclosed the abnormal movement of BIO tokens on the X platform: Recently, many whale accounts in the top 20 BIO token holding addresses have transferred a large number of tokens to unknown addresses, including 15 million BIO transferred from Binance two weeks ago, 10 million transferred to an address marked as "trading bot" but actually from Binance, and two subsequent transfers of 8.8 million and 8.7 million BIO. Venture capital institutions (VCs) appear more frequently in the top 40-60 addresses, and most tokens have entered the unlocking period. Key findings: Sigil Fund suddenly withdrew 4.5 million BIO worth $330,000 from the exchange yesterday, and the funds have been stranded so far. It is worth noting that the fund's CEO Zee Prime and DevmonsGG are actually the same person, and he "accurately" covers his position when the price hits the bottom, while holding token shares in the VC channel.
A smart trader exchanged 1.18 million Fartcoins for 78,671 TRUMPs 18 hours ago
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a smart trader exchanged all his 1.18 million Fartcoin (worth $1.22 million) positions for 78,671 TRUMP tokens 18 hours ago. The trader had previously completed five swing trades on Fartcoin, each of which was profitable, achieving a 100% winning rate and a cumulative profit of $669,000.
Financing
According to official news, Alpaca, an API platform focusing on stock, options and cryptocurrency trading, announced the completion of a $52 million Series C financing. 850 Management, Derayah Financial, National Investments Company, Portage Ventures and Unbound participated in the investment. According to reports, Alpaca is a self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure company headquartered in the United States. Its business covers stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies, and has raised more than $170 million in funds. Alpaca's investors include Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Derayah Financial, Elefund and Y Combinator.
Blockchain-backed wine platform WineFi completes £1.5 million seed round
According to CrowdfundInsider, London fintech company WineFi announced the completion of a £1.5 million (approximately $2 million) seed round of financing, led by British boutique wine group Coterie Holdings, with participation from SFC Capital, Founders Capital and an angel investment consortium. The new capital will accelerate product development, including enhanced valuation models and real-time market data feeds. It is reported that the company was co-founded by former Fidelity International and JPMorgan Chase asset managers Oliver Thorpe and Callum Woodcock, and is committed to providing high-net-worth clients with structured high-quality wine investment channels. In order to improve liquidity and transparency, WineFi has taken a strategic move to work with digital asset provider Lympid to segment high-quality wine assets on the blockchain platform.
