Crypto funds see $226M of inflows, but asset values slump — CoinShares
Cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) continued to see modest inflows last week, extending a reversal from a record-breaking streak of outflows.Global crypto ETPs posted $226 million in inflows in the last trading week, adding to the prior week’s $644 million inflows, CoinShares reported on March 31.Despite the two-week positive trend after a five-week outflow streak, total assets under management (AUM) continued to decline, dropping below $134 million by March 28.Weekly crypto ETP flows since late 2024. Source: CoinSharesLast week’s inflows suggest positive but cautious investor behavior amid core Personal Consumption Expenditures in the US coming in above expectations, CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill said.Bitcoin leads weekly inflowsBitcoin (BTC) investment products attracted the majority of inflows, totaling $195 million for the week, while short-BTC investment products saw outflows for the fourth consecutive week, totaling $2.5 million.Altcoins, in aggregate, saw a first week of inflows totaling $33 million, following four consecutive weeks of outflows totaling $1.7 billion.Flows by asset (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinSharesAmong individual altcoins, Ether (ETH) saw $14.5 million in inflows. Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Sui (SUI) followed with $7.8 million, $4.8 million and $4 million, respectively.AUM drops to lowest level in 2025 amid price slumpDespite recent inflows, crypto ETPs have failed to trigger a reversal in terms of total AUM.Since March 10, the total crypto ETP AUM dropped 5.7% from 142 billion, amounting to 133.9 billion as of March 28, the lowest level in 2025.Related: BlackRock to launch Bitcoin ETP in Europe — ReportAccording to CoinShares’ Butterfill, the AUM decline could be attributed to a slump in cryptocurrency prices.“Recent price falls have pushed Bitcoin global ETPs’ total assets under management to their lowest level since just after the US election at $114 billion,” Butterfill wrote.Bitcoin price chart since Jan. 1, 2025. Source: CoinGeckoSince Jan. 1, 2025, the BTC price has dropped 13.6%, while the total market capitalization has tumbled nearly 20%, according to data from CoinGecko. Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29
$65K Bitcoin price targets pile up as 'Spoofy the Whale' buys the dip
Bitcoin (BTC) circled $83,000 on March 30 after weekend volatility brought new ten-day lows.BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewBTC price action deals snap weekend downsideData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD gradually recovering after a trip to $81,600 the day prior.With no added selling pressure from the ongoing rout in US stock markets, Bitcoin managed to erase most of the downside to come full circle versus the last Wall Street close.“Quite the volatility for a weekend indeed,” popular trader Daan Crypto Trades summarized in part of his latest content on X. “Looking like it might end up opening on Monday where it closed on Friday as most of the dump has been retraced now.”BTC/USDT 15-minute chart with CME futures data. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/XDaan Crypto Trades eyed the potential for a new gap in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures markets to be created thanks to the erratic market moves.“Would be nice to not open with a gap for once so we can focus on everything else instead,” he argued, adding that a “big week” lay ahead.Others had little hope for a short-term turnaround in Bitcoin’s fortunes. Veteran trader Peter Brandt even doubted the stability of the multimonth lows seen earlier this month.I am not a big fan of inverted H&S patterns with downward slanting necklines. H&S patterns with horizontal necklines are far more reliable $BTC pic.twitter.com/GKGUZbrab8— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) March 29, 2025“Don’t shoot the messenger. Just reporting on what the chart says until it says something different,” he told X followers this week, giving a new lower BTC price target. “Bear wedge completed with 2X target from the double top at 65,635.”BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Peter Brandt/XBrandt’s is not the only $65,000 BTC price prediction currently in force.Can “spoofy” $78,000 Bitcoin bids be trusted?Updating his market observations, meanwhile, Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, doubled down on his suspicions that a large-volume entity had been manipulating BTC price action lower in recent weeks.Related: ‘Bitcoin Macro Index’ bear signal puts $110K BTC price return in doubtAs Cointelegraph reported, the entity, which Alan dubbed “Spoofy, The Whale,” had used overhead liquidity to pressure the price lower and stop it from gaining traction above $87,500.This form of order book manipulation, known as “spoofing,” is a common feature in crypto and can involve both bid and ask liquidity.“While I have no real way of confirming that it is the same entity using ask liquidity to herd price into their own bids, it certainly appears that Spoofy has been buying this dip and has bids laddered down to $78k,” he concluded on the day.An annotated chart showed all key liquidity clusters thought to be of dubious origin, with Alan now giving reason for optimism.He concluded: “In the grand scheme of things, none of this means BTC price can’t go lower, but it does mean that the whale that has been suppressing BTC price for the last 3 weeks is using a DCA strategy to buy this dip…and so am I.”BTC/USDT order book data for Binance. Source: Keith Alan/XThis 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.
Stablecoin rules needed in US before crypto tax reform, experts say
United States cryptocurrency regulations need more clarity on stablecoins and banking relationships before lawmakers prioritize tax reform, according to industry leaders and legal experts.“In my view, tax isn’t necessarily the priority for upgrading US crypto regulation,” according to Mattan Erder, general counsel at layer-3 decentralized blockchain network Orbs.A “tailored regulatory approach” for areas including securities laws and removing “obstacles in banking” is a priority for US lawmakers with “more upside” for the industry, Erder told Cointelegraph.“The new Trump administration is clearly all in on crypto and is taking steps that we could have only dreamed about a few years ago (including during his first term),” he said. “It seems likely that crypto regulation will be able to have it all and get much more clear and rational regulation in all areas, including tax.”Still, Erder noted there are limits to what President Donald Trump can accomplish through executive orders and regulatory agency action alone. “At some point, the laws themselves will need to change, and for that, he will need Congress,” he said.Trump’s March 7 executive order, which directed the government to establish a national Bitcoin reserve using crypto assets seized in criminal cases, was seen as a signal of growing federal support for digital assets.Related: Trump turned crypto from ‘oppressed industry’ to ‘centerpiece’ of US strategyDebanking concerns remainDespite the administration’s recent pro-crypto moves, industry experts say crypto firms may continue to face difficulties with banking access until at least January 2026.“It’s premature to say that debanking is over,” as “Trump won’t have the ability to appoint a new Fed governor until January,” Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction daily X show.The Crypto Debanking Crisis: #CHAINREACTION https://t.co/nD4qkkzKnB— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 21, 2025Industry outrage over alleged debanking reached a crescendo when a June 2024 lawsuit spearheaded by Coinbase resulted in the release of letters showing US banking regulators asked certain financial institutions to “pause” crypto banking activities.Related: Bitcoin may benefit from US stablecoin dominance pushStablecoin legislation could unlock new growthDavid Pakman, managing partner at crypto investment firm CoinFund, said a stablecoin regulatory framework could encourage more traditional finance institutions to adopt blockchain-based payments.“Some of the potentially soon-to-pass legislation in the US, like the stablecoin bill, will unlock many of the traditional banks, financial services and payment companies onto crypto rails,” Pakman said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live X show on March 27.“We hear this firsthand when we talk to them; they want to use crypto rails as a lower-cost, transparent, 24/7, and no middleman-dependent network for transferring money.”The comments come as the industry awaits progress on US stablecoin legislation, which may come as soon as in the next two months, according to Bo Hines, the executive director of the president’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets.The GENIUS Act, an acronym for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, would establish collateralization guidelines for stablecoin issuers while requiring full compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
US recession 40% likely in 2025, what it means for crypto — Analyst
The United States has a 40% chance of a recession in 2025 amid the potential for a protracted trade war and macroeconomic uncertainty, according to market analyst and Coin Bureau founder Nic Puckrin.In an interview with Cointelegraph, the analyst said that while a recession is not probable, a recession and the current macroeconomic uncertainty will create an environment where risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies suffer. Puckrin said:”Trump and his advisors have said they have not completely dismissed the recession, which means it is definitely possible, but right now, I would not say it is probable, but the odds have climbed a lot.”The analyst added that US President Donald Trump is not actively attempting to engineer a recession, but that the things the Trump administration is doing, including cutting federal jobs and spending to balance the budget can lead to recessions as a side effect.Macroeconomic uncertainty is the primary cause of the recent decline in the US Dollar Index (DXY), as investors shift capital to better opportunities in European capital markets and seek an escape from the economic uncertainty currently plaguing US markets, Puckrin told Cointelegraph.The DXY, which tracks the strength of the US dollar, took a nosedive in March 2025. Source: TradingViewRelated: Timeline: How Trump tariffs dragged Bitcoin below $80KTrade war fears drag the price of Bitcoin downPresident Trump’s tariffs on US trading partners sent a shockwave through the crypto markets, leading to a steep decline in altcoin prices and a 24% correction in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price from the Jan. 20 high of over $109,000.The tariffs and fears of a prolonged trade war also reoriented market sentiment toward extreme fear — a sharp contrast from the euphoric highs felt after the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States in November 2025 and the January 20 inauguration.The price of Bitcoin has been struggling amid the trade war headlines and is currently trading below its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA). Source: TradingViewAccording to Nansen research analyst Nicolai Sondergaard, crypto markets will feel the pressure of tariffs until April 2025.If countries can successfully negotiate an end to the tariffs or the Trump administration softens its stance then markets will recover, the analyst added.10x Research founder Markus Thielen recently said that BTC formed a price bottom in March 2025, as US President Donald Trump softened the rhetoric around trade tariffs — signaling a potential price reversal.Magazine: Bitcoiners are ‘all in’ on Trump since Bitcoin ’24, but it’s getting risky
Bitcoin price falls toward range lows, but data shows ‘whales going wild right now’
Bitcoin price extended its decline on March 28, falling for a fourth consecutive day to paint an intra-day low of $83,387. BTC’s (BTC) decline mirrored the Wall Street sell-off, where the DOW closed 700 points lower, alongside the S&P 500 index, which dropped 112 points. The sell-off in equities is widely attributed to investors increasing worries over inflation after the core Personal Consumption Expenditures index data from February rose to 2.8% (a 0.4% monthly increase), which was higher than expected. S&P 500 drops $1 trillion in market cap value. Source: X / The Kobeissi LetterThe sell-off was further amplified by the markets’ response to US President Trump’s newly levied “reciprocal tariffs,” which applied a 25% tariff to “all cars that are not made in the United States.” The chances for a Bitcoin relief rally or oversold bounce are likely diminishing as traders cautiously keep an eye on April 2, the day Trump has labeled “Liberation Day,” where additional tariffs, including “pharmaceutical tariffs,” are expected to be unveiled. Bitcoin price to fall to $65K? According to veteran trader Peter Brandt, Bitcoin could be on the path to $65,635. BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: X / Peter BrandtIn an X social post, Brandt confirmed the completion of a “bear wedge” pattern and said, “Don’t shoot the messenger. Just reporting on what the chart says until it says something different. Bear wedge completed with 2X target from the double top at $65,635.” Crypto trader ‘HTL-NL’ agreed with Brandt, suggesting that Bitcoin’s failure in “breaking the ice” of a long-term descending trendline and the confirmation of the bear wedge are proof that BTC is destined to revisit its range lows. BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: X / HTL-NLFrom a purely technical point of view, it’s difficult to project a swift reversal in Bitcoin’s price action as many of its daily timeframe metrics are not oversold. Despite the absence of strong spot market demand in the current price zone, crypto trader Cole Garner says that “whales are going wild right now.” BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: X / Cole GarnerAccording to Garner, the Bitfinex spot BTC margin longs to margin shorts metric just fired a powerful signal which shows historical returns of 50%+ returns “within 50 days.” Related: US regulators FDIC and CFTC ease crypto restrictions for banks, derivativesBeyond the day-to-day price fluctuations, positive crypto industry developments continue to occur on the regulatory front. On March 28, White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks commended the FDIC and its Acting Chairman Travis Hill for clarifying the “process for banks to engage in crypto-related activities.” Source: X / David SacksEssentially, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s letter to institutions under its oversight provided clear guidance on their ability to engage in and provide crypto-related products and services without needing to notify the FDIC first.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.
Bitcoin to $110K next, Hyperliquid whale bags $6.2M ‘short’ exploit: Finance Redefined
Bitcoin price is poised to hit $110,000 before retesting the $76,500 range, according to Arthur Hayes, pointing to easing inflationary concerns and more favorable monetary policy conditions in the US that are set to bolster risk assets, including the world’s first cryptocurrency.Still, the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry took another hit after an unknown whale exploited Hyperliquid’s algorithms to generate over $6 million in profit on a memecoin short position.Bitcoin “more likely” to hit $110,000 before $76,500 — Arthur HayesBitcoin may reach a new all-time high of $110,000 before any significant retracement, according to some market analysts who cite easing inflation and increasing global liquidity as key factors supporting a price rally.Bitcoin (BTC) has risen for two consecutive weeks, achieving a bullish weekly close just above $86,000 on March 23, TradingView data shows.Combined with fading inflation-related concerns, this may set the stage for Bitcoin’s rally to a $110,000 all-time high, according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer of Maelstrom.BTC/USD, 1-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewHayes wrote in a March 24 X post:“I bet $BTC hits $110k before it retests $76.5k. Y? The Fed is going from QT to QE for treasuries. And tariffs don’t matter cause of “transitory inflation.” JAYPOW told me so.”Source: Arthur Hayes“What I mean is that the price is more likely to hit $110k than $76.5k next. If we hit $110k, then it’s yachtzee time and we ain’t looking back until $250k,” Hayes added in a follow-up X post.Quantitative tightening (QT) is when the US Federal Reserve shrinks its balance sheet by selling bonds or letting them mature without reinvesting proceeds, while quantitative easing (QE) means that the Fed is buying bonds and pumping money into the economy to lower interest rates and encourage spending during difficult financial conditions.Other analysts pointed out that while the Fed has slowed QT, it has not yet fully pivoted to easing.“QT is not ‘basically over’ on April 1st. They still have $35B/mo coming off from mortgage backed securities. They just slowed QT from $60B/mo to $40B/mo,” according to Benjamin Cowen, founder and CEO of IntoTheCryptoVerse.Continue readingHyperliquid whale still holds 10% of JELLY memecoin after $6.2 million exploitA crypto whale who allegedly manipulated the price of the Jelly my Jelly (JELLY) memecoin on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid still holds nearly $2 million worth of the token, according to blockchain analysts.The unidentified whale made at least $6.26 million in profit by exploiting the liquidation parameters on Hyperliquid.According to a postmortem report by blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, the whale opened three large trading positions within five minutes: two long positions worth $2.15 million and $1.9 million and a $4.1 million short position that effectively offset the longs.Source: ArkhamWhen the price of JELLY rose by 400%, the $4 million short position wasn’t immediately liquidated due to its size. Instead, it was absorbed into the Hyperliquidity Provider Vault (HLP), which is designed to liquidate large positions.The entity may still be holding nearly $2 million worth of the token’s supply, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.“Five addresses linked to the entity who manipulated JELLY on Hyperliquid still hold ~10% of the JELLY supply on Solana ($1.9M+). All JELLY was purchased since March 22, 2025,” he wrote in a March 26 Telegram post.Continue readingFidelity plans stablecoin launch after SOL ETF “regulatory litmus test”Fidelity Investments is reportedly in the final stages of testing a US dollar-pegged stablecoin, signaling the firm’s latest push into digital assets amid a more favorable crypto regulatory climate under the Trump administration.The $5.8 trillion asset manager plans to launch the stablecoin through its cryptocurrency division, Fidelity Digital Assets, according to a March 25 report by the Financial Times citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.The stablecoin development is reportedly part of the asset manager’s wider push into crypto-based services. Fidelity is also launching an Ethereum-based “OnChain” share class for its US dollar money market fund.Fidelity’s March 21 filing with the US securities regulator stated the OnChain share class would help track transactions of the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX), an $80 million fund consisting almost entirely of US Treasury bills.While the OnChain share class filing is pending regulatory approval, it is expected to take effect on May 30, Fidelity said.Fidelity’s filing to register a tokenized version of the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund. Source: Securities and Exchange CommissionIncreasingly more US financial institutions are launching cryptocurrency-based offerings after President Donald Trump’s election signaled a shift in policy.Continue readingPolymarket faces scrutiny over $7 million Ukraine mineral deal betPolymarket, the world’s largest decentralized prediction market, is under fire after a controversial outcome raised concerns over potential governance manipulation in a high-stakes political bet.A betting market on the platform asked whether US President Donald Trump would accept a rare earth mineral deal with Ukraine before April. Despite no such event occurring, the market was settled as “Yes,” triggering a backlash from users and industry observers.This may point to a “governance attack” in which a whale from the UMA Protocol “used his voting power to manipulate the oracle, allowing the market to settle false results and successfully profit,” according to crypto threat researcher Vladimir S.“The tycoon cast 5 million tokens through three accounts, accounting for 25% of the total votes. Polymarket is committed to preventing this from happening again,” he wrote in a March 26 X post.Source: Vladimir S.Polymarket employs UMA Protocol’s blockchain oracles for external data to settle market outcomes and verify real-world events.Polymarket data shows the market amassed more than $7 million in trading volume before settling on March 25.Ukraine/US mineral deal betting pool on Polymarket. Source: PolymarketStill, not everyone agrees that it was a coordinated attack. A pseudonymous Polymarket user, Tenadome, said that the outcome was the result of negligence.Continue readingDWF Labs launches $250 million fund for mainstream crypto adoptionDubai-based crypto market maker and investor DWF Labs launched a $250 million Liquid Fund to accelerate the growth of mid- and large-cap blockchain projects and drive real-world adoption of Web3 technologies.DWF Labs is set to sign two investment deals worth $25 million and $10 million as part of the fund.The initiative aims to grow the crypto landscape by offering strategic investments ranging from $10 million to $50 million for projects that have the potential to drive real-world adoption, according to a March 24 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.Source: DWF LabsThe fund will focus on blockchain projects with significant “usability and discoverability,” according to Andrei Grachev, managing partner of DWF Labs.“We’re focusing our support on mid-to-large-cap projects, the tokens and platforms that typically serve as entry points for retail users,” Grachev told Cointelegraph, adding:“However, good technology and utility alone isn’t sufficient. Users first need to discover these projects, comprehend their value and develop trust.”“We believe that strategic capital, coupled with hands-on ecosystem development, is the key to unlocking the next wave of growth for the industry,” he said.Continue readingDeFi market overviewAccording to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.Of the top 100, the BNB Chain-native Four (FORM) token rose over 40% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the Cronos (CRO) token, up over 37% on the weekly chart, despite blockchain investigators accusing Crypto.com of manipulating the CRO token supply, after reissuing 70 billion tokens that were “permanently” burned in 2021.Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlamaThanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
Ethereum futures premium hits 1+ year low — Is it time to buy the ETH bottom?
Ether (ETH) price fell 9.3% between March 26 and March 28, testing the $1,860 level for the first time in two weeks. This correction led to over $114 million in liquidations of leveraged ETH futures and caused the premium relative to the regular spot market to drop to its lowest level in over a year. Some traders have said that the rock-bottom ETH futures premium is a bottom signal, but let’s dig deeper into the data to see if this perspective makes any sense. ETH 1-month futures premium relative to spot markets. Source: Laevitas.chEther’s monthly futures typically trade above the regular spot price as sellers demand compensation for the longer settlement period. A 5% to 10% annualized premium usually indicates neutral markets, reflecting the cost of opportunity and the exchanges’ risk. However, ETH futures dropped below this threshold on March 8, following a 24% price correction in the prior two weeks.The current 2% ETH futures annualized premium suggests a lack of demand for leveraged longs (buys), but this measure is highly influenced by recent price movements. For example, on Oct. 10, 2024, the ETH futures premium dropped to 2.6% after a 14% price correction in two weeks, but the indicator rose to 7% as ETH regained most of its losses. Essentially, the futures premium rarely signals changes in the spot price trend.ETH whales are afraid Ether price will fall further To determine if whales have lost interest in Ether, it is crucial to observe how the market is pricing put (sell) options compared to call (buy) options. When traders anticipate a downtrend, the 25% delta skew metric rises above 6%, indicating a higher demand for hedging strategies. In contrast, periods of bullishness usually push the skew below -6%.Ether 1-month options 25% delta skew (put-call). Source: Laevitas.chCurrently, at 7%, the ETH options’ 25% delta skew suggests a lack of conviction among professional traders, raising the likelihood of further bearish momentum. From a derivatives market perspective, there is little indication that the recent ETH price correction has bottomed out. Essentially, investors are not confident that the $1,800 support will hold.Some analysts argue that the sharp decline in Ethereum network activity is the primary reason for the reduced appeal of ETH, while others suggest that the shift toward layer-2 scalability has significantly diminished the potential of base chain fees. Given the need to compensate network validators, the lack of capital inflow requires more ETH issuance, which negatively affects net returns from native staking.The Ethereum network faces steep competitionAttempting to pinpoint the reasons behind sellers’ motivations is futile, especially when considering Ethereum’s competition, which has expanded from blockchains like BNB Chain and Solana to networks tailored for specific challenges. Examples include Hyperliquid, focused on synthetic assets and perpetual trading, and Berachain, which is apparently better suited for staked assets in cross-liquidity pools.Related: Timeline: Jelly token goes sour after $6M exploit on HyperliquidThe success of certain decentralized applications (DApps) could serve as the final blow to Ether. For example, Ethena, the synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum, is transitioning to its own layer-1 blockchain. The project, currently holding $5.3 billion in total value locked (TVL), raised $100 million in December 2024 to support this shift.However, it may be premature to claim that ETH price will continue to fall, as a major protocol update is only weeks away. Investors should carefully track the practical benefits of Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, particularly in terms of base layer fees and overall usability for the average user. Until then, the chances of ETH outperforming the broader altcoin market remain slim.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.
Timeline: Jelly token goes sour after $6M exploit on Hyperliquid
Suspicious trading activity led decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to delist the Jelly-my-Jelly (JELLY) memecoin, with details of an exploit unraveling over the course of a few days. The decentralized finance sector has already seen historic exploits in 2025, as the space struggles with issues of oversight and security. The Bybit hack saw North Korean hackers get away with $1.4 billion in February alone.The JELLY incident, in which a whale exploited the Hyperliquid exchange’s liquidation parameters, getting away with millions, is just the latest exploit to rock the industry. Observers roundly criticized Hyperliquid’s reaction to the short squeeze, with one even comparing it to the ill-fated FTX. Here’s a look at how the incident unfolded.Jelly token price crashes ahead of Hyperliquid exploitVenmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail launched the JELLY token as part of the JellyJelly Web3 social media project. Following the launch on Jan. 30, the token price crashed from $0.21 to just $0.01 some 10 days later. Jelly-my-Jelly token price lost most of its value in the first two weeks of trading. Source: CoinMarketCapWhile the coin’s market cap initially boasted almost a quarter of a billion dollars, by March 26 it had a market cap of roughly $25 million.A short squeeze of JellyJellyThe short squeeze on the JellyJelly token took place over the course of just a few hours on March 26. According to a postmortem by Arkham Intelligence, this is how it went down:The exploiter deposited $7 million on three separate Hyperliquid accounts, making leveraged trades on the illiquid Jelly token.Two accounts took $2.15 million and $1.9 million long positions on JELLY, while the other took a $4.1 million short position to cancel the others out.As the price of JELLYJELLY increased, the short position was liquidated, but it was too large to be liquidated normally.The short position was passed to the Hyperliquidity Provider Vault (HLP).The exploiter meanwhile had a seven-figure PnL from which to withdraw. By this point, the price of JELLY had pumped 400%.The exploiter began to pull withdrawals but Hyperliquid soon restricted their accounts. Instead of attempting further withdrawals, they began to sell their JELLY position.Hyperliquid shuts down Jelly marketAs the trader began to sell their remaining Jelly position, Hyperliquid shut down the market for the token. According to Arkham, the exchange closed the market with Jelly at $0.0095, the price at which the third account had entered its short trades. Hyperliquid announced on X that it would delist perpetual futures trading for the JELLY token, citing “evidence of suspicious market activity.”Related: Long and short positions in crypto, explainedThe exchange said, “All users apart from flagged addresses will be made whole from the Hyper Foundation. This will be done automatically in the coming days based on onchain data.” It further acknowledged the hit the HLP took when saddled with the long positions but said that the HLP’s positive net income was $700,000 over the last 24 hours: “Technical improvements will be made, and the network will grow stronger as a result of lessons learned.”Crypto observers criticize Hyperliquid Some market observers weren’t very impressed with how Hyperliquid handled the situation. The CEO of Bitget, Gracy Chen, wrote, “The way it handled the $JELLY incident was immature, unethical, and unprofessional, triggering user losses and casting serious doubts over its integrity.”She said that the exchange “may be on track to become FTX 2.0” and that the decision to close the Jelly market and settle positions at a favorable price “sets a dangerous precedent.” Alvin Kan, chief operating officer at Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph that the Jelly meltdown was just another example of how capricious hype-based price action can be. “The JELLY incident is a clear reminder that hype without fundamentals doesn’t last […] In DeFi, momentum can drive short-term attention, but it doesn’t build sustainable platforms,” he said. The market will continue to expose projects that are built on speculation, not utility, he concluded. Arthur Hayes, the founder of BitMEX, seemed to imply that reactions to the Jelly incident were overblown, writing on X, “Let’s stop pretending hyperliquid is decentralised. And then stop pretending traders actually give a fuck.” Source: Arthur HayesThe exchange had already taken action regarding leveraged trading earlier in March, increasing margin requirements for traders after its HLP lost millions of dollars during a large Ether liquidation. Related: Hyperliquid ups margin requirements after $4 million liquidation lossStill, Hayes could be right — “degen” traders who are at peace with the risk of DeFi may just eat the losses and continue onward. Furthermore, it doesn’t appear that a clear legal framework for DeFi is coming anytime soon, at least not in the United States. There may be no pressure or oversight, other than user reactions, to make “decentralized exchanges” change their ways. The true irony of the exploit is that it seems everyone lost out — the exchange, traders, and even the exploiter.In total, the trader deposited $7.17 million into their accounts but was only able to withdraw $6.26 million, with a balance of around $900,000 still remaining on their Hyperliquid accounts. If they are able to get the funds back, the exploit will cost them around $4,000; if not, it could have cost them almost $1 million. Magazine: Arbitrum co-founder skeptical of move to based and native rollups: Steven Goldfeder
Dog-eat-dog drama erupts in BNB Chain’s Broccoli token showdown
Community members backing a Broccoli memecoin on BNB Chain are outraged, claiming their project was unfairly denied victory in the network’s liquidity support program.The BNB Chain Meme Liquidity Support Program, which kicked off on Feb. 18, offers $200,000 in permanent liquidity to the top-performing memecoins on the chain. But controversy erupted on day two of the competition on Feb. 19 when two memecoins — both inspired by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s dog Broccoli — went head-to-head.In the end, the Broccoli token ending in address “714” was declared the winner over the one ending in “F2B.” However, supporters of the F2B token say the result doesn’t add up.Related: BNB Chain scales up network as memecoin activity boosts transaction loadF2B Broccoli community investigation questions scoreAccording to the official leaderboard, both tokens earned a daily score of 5.7 in a system where lower is better. Per competition rules, a tie is broken by comparing trading volume, and 714’s token had the edge in that category.Feb. 19 ranking for BNB Chain’s meme liquidity competition. Source: BNB ChainBut an investigation conducted by the latter’s community now questions whether the 714 Broccoli token deserved the crown.In a video posted by the F2B community viewing the back-end data, their “BROCCOLI” token, with a token symbol in all caps, ranked first in its calculated daily score.Community members discovered their token ranked second publicly, even though it came first in back-end data. Source: F2B BROCCOLI communityThey then move to analyze the back-end data of the 714 Broccoli token (spelled without all caps), which had a daily score of 5.700000000000001 and ranked second.Rival Broccoli token ranked second in back-end data. Source: F2B BROCCOLI communityThe F2B community also attempted to calculate the scores themselves based on the formula cited by BNB Chain in a Feb. 14 blog post, and again in a Feb. 18 X post:“Score = (Market Cap Rank × 30%) + (24h Price Change Rank × 20%) + (24h Volume Rank × 50%)”Under that rubric, F2B appeared to have a clear edge — 5.5 points compared to 714’s 5.9 points.Related: BNB Chain flips Solana in daily fees, beats out all chainsBNB Chain claims score is legitIn a detailed response to the community inquiry shared with Cointelegraph, BNB Chain said that the community’s calculations relied on deprecated metrics. The actual scoring formula used by BNB Chain reflects:init_price_change_rankmarket_cap_rankacc_volume_rankThe community’s calculation relied on the deprecated “percent_change_24h_rank” and “volume_24h_rank.” When recalculated under the updated formula, both tokens scored 5.7 — making the official tie-breaker (volume rank) valid, according to the network. BNB Chain said the deprecated dimensions were removed on Feb. 21 to “prevent miscalculations by the community.” BNB Chain said the community relied on metrics that aren’t part of the official ranking formula. Source: BNB ChainBNB Chain also dismissed concerns about the overly precise 5.70000001 score, saying it was simply a result of floating-point deviations caused by the IEEE 754 standard and held no reference value for the actual score.Despite the clarification, many in the F2B camp remain unconvinced, arguing that the rules lacked transparency and shifted mid-competition.Magazine: Bitcoiner sex trap extortion? BTS firm’s blockchain disaster: Asia Express
GameStop stocks hit restrictions on NYSE after short volume rockets 234%
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has imposed a Short Sale Restriction (SSR) on GameStop after volume spiked to levels reminiscent of GameStop’s famous 2021 short squeeze.GameStop (GME) short sales volume — the total number of shares sold short within a specific timeframe — rose 234% over 24 hours, reaching 30.85 million shares sold on March 27, according to TradingView data. The SSR kicks in when a stock drops over 10% from the previous day’s closing price. GameStop’s stock fell 22% over the trading day, wiping out its 12% gain from the Bitcoin announcement and then some, according to Google Finance data. At the time of publication, GME was trading at $22.09.GameStop shorts volume near 2021 short squeeze levelsThe rule is applied for the rest of the trading day and the following trading day. Malone Wealth president and CEO Kevin Malone said in a March 27 X post that “GameStop traded 50x more shares today than last Thursday. Not statistically possible without naked short-selling.”GameStop’s short sale volume reached 30.88 million on March 27. Source: TradingViewThe number is close to the levels reached in January 2021 when GameStop stocks famously went meteoric after a “short squeeze” of the stock, causing significant losses for hedge funds and other short sellers while some retail traders made significant returns.The highest point reached during that month was 33.26 million shares on Jan. 19.GameStop Bitcoin buy is “dot-comish”GameStop did not specify how much Bitcoin it plans to purchase, but after the markets closed on March 26, the firm announced a $1.3 billion convertible notes offering.However, some analysts and commentators have questioned GameStop’s plan to start purchasing Bitcoin. Speaking to Yahoo Finance on March 27, Tastylive founder and CEO Tom Sosnoff said that GameStop’s decision to buy Bitcoin feels “a little dot-comish” to him.Source: Hans Akamatsu“It feels a little like, oh, I’m going to throw a dot com at the end of my name, I’m going to buy some Bitcoin with our excess cash because we can’t find a company that is going to be accretive,” Sosnoff said.Meanwhile, Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro, told Reuters on March 27 that “investors are not necessarily optimistic on the underlying business.”Biggest day of short sales still goes to Keith Gill’s return The biggest day of short sales still belongs to June 3, 2024, when it reached 46.20 million. This was around the time Keith Gill, a stock trader known for the GameStop short squeeze in 2021, revealed on June 2 that he had started trading GameStop stock again, this time with $180 million to play with. Related: Firms without business models ‘buy Bitcoin’ — Angel investor Jason CalacanisGameStop said the convertible senior notes — debt that can later be converted into equity — will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquiring Bitcoin.Some analysts see the convertible notes offering announcement as the reason for the stock’s decline.Han Akamatsu said in a March 27 X post that GameStop’s stock is dropping for the same reason Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) declined after issuing convertible notes.“In 2021, MSTR issued $1.05B of 0% convertible notes, the stock dipped after the announcement due to hedging shorts, but later exploded when Bitcoin ripped and the arbitrage unspooled,” Akamatsu said, adding:“GME is following the same blueprint now …If GME or BTC goes up a lot, the trade gets very interesting as we have a squeeze opportunity here.”Magazine: Arbitrum co-founder skeptical of move to based and native rollups: Steven GoldfederThis 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.