North Korean hackers set up 3 shell companies to scam crypto devs
A subgroup of the North Korea-linked hacker organization Lazarus set up three shell companies, two in the United States, to deliver malware to unsuspecting users.The three sham crypto consulting firms — BlockNovas, Angeloper Agency and SoftGlide — are being used by the North Korean hacker group Contagious Interview to distribute malware through fake job interviews, Silent Push threat analysts said in an April 24 report.Silent Push senior threat analyst Zach Edwards said in an April 24 statement to X that two shell companies are registered as legitimate businesses in the US.“These websites and a huge network of accounts on hiring / recruiting websites are being used to trick people into applying for jobs,” he said.“During the job application process an error message is displayed as someone tries to record an introduction video. The solution is an easy click fix copy and paste trick, which leads to malware if the unsuspecting developer completes the process.”During the sham job interview, an error message is displayed, requiring the user to click, copy, and paste to fix it, which leads to the malware infection. Source: Zach EdwardsThree strains of malware — BeaverTail, InvisibleFerret and Otter Cookie — are being used according to Silent Push.BeaverTail is malware primarily designed for information theft and to load further stages of malware. OtterCookie and InvisibleFerret mainly target sensitive information, including crypto wallet keys and clipboard data.Silent Push analysts said in the report that hackers use GitHub job listing’s and freelancer websites to look for victims, among others. AI used to create fake employees The ruse also involves the hackers using AI-generated images to create profiles of employees for the three front crypto companies and stealing images of real people.“There are numerous fake employees and stolen images from real people being used across this network. We’ve documented some of the obvious fakes and stolen images, but it’s very important to appreciate that the impersonation efforts from this campaign are different,” Edwards said.“In one of the examples, the threat actors took a real photo from a real person, and then appeared to have run it through an AI image modifier tool to create a subtly different version of that same image.”Related: Fake Zoom malware steals crypto while it’s ‘stuck’ loading, user warnsThis malware campaign has been ongoing since 2024. Edwards says there are known public victims. Silent Push identified two developers targeted by the campaign; one of them reportedly had their MetaMask wallet compromised. The FBI has since shut down at least one of the companies.“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) acquired the Blocknovas domain, but Softglide is still live, along with some of their other infrastructure,” Edwards said.Source: Zach EdwardsAt least three crypto founders have reported in March that they foiled an attempt from alleged North Korean hackers to steal sensitive data through fake Zoom calls.Groups such as the Lazarus Group are the prime suspects in some of the biggest cyber thefts in Web3, including the Bybit $1.4 billion hack and the $600 million Ronin network hack.Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis
Ethereum devs test a 4x increase in gas limit for Fusaka hard fork
Ethereum core developers are considering a four times increase in the layer 1 gas limit as one of the key features for the next hard fork after Pectra, known as Fusaka.The devs are proposing to test a raise in Ethereum’s gas limit to 150 million by the Fusaka hard fork, according to Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 9678, introduced on April 23 by Sophia Gold, a developer on the protocol support team at the Ethereum Foundation. During the last All Core Devs Execution (ACDE) meeting, there were discussions to make the gas limit increase a “key feature” of Fusaka, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko said in an April 24 meeting summary. “To align on client defaults and keep this as a priority, we’ve drafted an EIP. It’s a bit unconventional, but not unprecedented (see EIP-7840). We plan to get it merged early next week and formally SFI it on the next ACDE,” Beiko said. “As we continue this work, we expect to identify changes that need to be made in-protocol to support a higher gas limit. This implies adding more EIPs to Fusaka, even though the fork scope is final.”Source: Tim BeikoThe next Ethereum upgrade, Pectra, is scheduled to go live on the mainnet in May. Fusaka has been flagged as possibly going online in late 2025.Gas limit increase a priority ahead of FusakaAs part of the motivation for increasing the gas limit, the developers said there was great interest in scaling layer 1 execution and that it could likely be done by implementing any new features.However, it requires guidance from execution layer developers because “we expect to find bugs in clients at higher gas limits than currently used on mainnet,” which will “require time from client developers both to test and to fix any bugs that arise, therefore it makes sense to include as an EIP in a hard fork to commit to this.”The developers behind the EIP say client developers will need time to test and fix any bugs that arise while increasing the gas limit. Source: GitHub“While the gas limit is ultimately set by validators, we agreed that having an EIP to coordinate client defaults would help keep this a priority and ensure all clients update their defaults by the time Fusaka goes live,” Beiko said.Related: Vitalik Buterin says the app layer needs ‘good social philosophy’ mostThe average Ethereum gas limit was around 30 million after increasing in August 2021, according to data on Ycharts. Validators supported raising the network’s gas limit on Feb. 4, increasing the maximum amount of gas used for transactions in a single Ethereum block. It’s just under 36 million at the moment, Ycharts data shows. Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race
SEC bids to drop securities suit against Dragonchain over crypto ICO
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to drop its unregistered securities lawsuit against blockchain firm Dragonchain in the agency’s latest crypto-related backdown. In a joint stipulation filed with Dragonchain on April 24 in a Seattle federal court, the SEC said it “believes the dismissal of this case is appropriate,” citing the work of the agency’s Crypto Task Force in helping “develop the regulatory framework for crypto assets.”“The Commission and the Defendants stipulate that this Litigation be dismissed with prejudice […] and without costs or fees to either party,” the filing reads.The SEC sued Dragonchain, Inc.; its backer, the Dragonchain Foundation; The Dragon Company; and Dragonchain’s founder, Joseph Roets, in August 2024, claiming they raised $16.5 million through a crypto token that was an unregistered securities offering.According to the SEC, the Dragonchain (DRGN) tokens raised $14 million in an August 2017 presale and an initial coin offering (ICO) that ran in October and November of that year. At the time, it said the company needed to register as the tokens were investment contracts under securities laws. The SEC said a further $2.5 million worth of DRGN was sold between 2019 and 2022, which it alleged was used to cover business expenses and develop the firm’s tech. The suit was stayed in October after Dragonchain made a settlement offer to the SEC, which was extended in January after the agency said the case should remain paused due to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order earlier that month calling for the country’s “leadership in digital assets.”Meanwhile, the DRGN token has jumped 95% over the past day to over 8.5 cents on news of the SEC’s planned dismissal, but it’s still down around 98.5% from its $5.46 peak in January 2018, according to CoinGecko.Dragonchain’s token jumped after the SEC filed to dismiss its lawsuit. Source: CoinGeckoSEC backs off crypto under TrumpIt’s the latest case involving crypto that the SEC has abandoned under the Trump administration.The SEC spun up a Crypto Task Force in January, the day after Trump re-entered the White House, to lead the regulator’s engagement with the crypto industry.Related: SEC task force met with Trump-supporting firms to discuss crypto regulation An agency memo shows its task force met with Dragonchain representatives on March 24 to discuss how the SEC should approach handling crypto.The SEC has also dismissed some of its most high-profile lawsuits against crypto firms, including its actions against Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken.It’s also dropped investigations into other crypto firms, including OpenSea, Crypto.com and Immutable, with no further action planned.Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
Saylor holding 10M BTC won’t ‘threaten the protocol,’ says author
Key TakeawaysBitcoin Standard author Saifedean Ammous says that even if one entity owned a huge amount of Bitcoin, it wouldn’t hurt the protocolAmmous reiterated major companies like BlackRock and Strategy don’t own the Bitcoin they hold since it belongs to the investorsAmmous said if these companies ever abused their position, people would likely pull their money and invest somewhere else. Michael Saylor’s Strategy hypothetically hoarding nearly 48% of Bitcoin’s total supply wouldn’t pose any risk to the Bitcoin protocol or its price, says Bitcoin Standard author Saifedean Ammous.“If Michael Saylor ends up with 10 million Bitcoin, what is he going to do? He’s likely just going to leverage them to buy more Bitcoin,” Ammous said during an April 25 interview with crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano.Ammous dismisses Bitcoin hoarders posing risks“Ultimately, I don’t see how it would threaten the protocol in the serious sense,” Ammous said.Ammous said if Saylor managed to accumulate 10 million Bitcoin (BTC), he would be unlikely to “wake up one day and say let’s try and hard fork this so we can make another 5 million Bitcoin supply so that I can have 15.” He reiterated it would diminish the value of his existing 10 million Bitcoin.Bitcoin is trading at $93,250 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCapSeveral crypto market participants have previously raised concerns about Bitcoin whales and at what point their holdings could lead to risks like market manipulation, centralization, or liquidity issues.At the time of publication, Saylor’s firm Strategy holds 538,200 Bitcoin, worth approximately $50.18 billion, according to Saylor Tracker. Meanwhile, the BlackRock iShares spot Bitcoin ETF has net assets worth $54.48 billion, which equates to roughly 585,000 Bitcoin, according to BlackRock data.Strategy paid an average of $67,793 per Bitcoin. Source: Saylor TrackerCollectively, the two firms hold approximately 5.3% of the total Bitcoin supply. However, Ammous said this is not a cause for concern. “It’s not like Michael Saylor or Larry Fink owns all those Bitcoins. They have shareholders who own all those Bitcoins, or ETF holders that own those Bitcoins.”“To the extent that BlackRock and Strategy hold those, they hold those because they are doing their fiduciary share of duties to their shareholders and the ETF holders in a satisfactory way,” Ammous added.Related: ARK Invest ups its 2030 Bitcoin bull case prediction to $2.4MAmmous explained that if BlackRock or Strategy ever started to manage their holdings in a way that’s harmful to shareholders or ETF holders, or starts abusing their position, that’s when investors would sell and look for other ways to gain exposure to Bitcoin.On April 24, Cointelegraph reported that Twenty One Capital, a new Bitcoin treasury company led by Strike founder Jack Mallers with the support of Tether, SoftBank and Cantor Fitzgerald, is looking to supplant Strategy to become the “superior vehicle for investors seeking capital-efficient Bitcoin exposure.”Magazine: Crypto AI tokens surge 34%, why ChatGPT is such a kiss-ass: AI EyeThis 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 is holding above $90K, so why is ‘greed’ sentiment slipping?
Key takeaways:Crypto market sentiment hit a two-month high with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index returning to “Greed” territory on April 23. Despite Bitcoin’s price hold, the sentiment score is gradually declining, and analysts are expressing doubt over the rally’s sustainability.The crypto market remains Bitcoin-heavy, with its dominance above 64%, strong ETF inflows and a low altcoin season score.Bitcoin’s several-day surge above $90,000 pushed crypto market sentiment to its highest point in more than two months on April 23, but it’s gradually tapering off again as analysts air concerns about the sustainability of Bitcoin’s rally.On April 23, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index clocked a score of 72 out of 100, putting it in the “Greed” zone as Bitcoin (BTC) returned above the $90,000 level. However, as of April 25, the score has fallen to 60 despite the relatively stable price. Crypto sentiment at two-month high The last time the index hit this score was on Feb. 4, around the same time US President Donald Trump introduced tariffs and Bitcoin fell below $100,000. Bitcoin has since reclaimed the $90,000 price level for the first time since March 6. Bitcoin is trading at $93,130 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCapHowever, despite Bitcoin trading between $91,800 and $94,304 over the past two days, sentiment within the “Greed” territory has been gradually cooling off, with the index falling to April 24 and 60 on April 25.The slight pullback follows warnings from several crypto analysts who remain cautious about the Bitcoin rally, including 10x Research’s head of research, Markus Thielen, who isn’t yet convinced of a rally.“Given that our stablecoin minting indicator has yet to return to high-activity levels, we remain cautious about the sustainability of the current Bitcoin rally,” Thielen said on April 23.Meanwhile, Bitfinex analysts said on April 24 that while Bitcoin’s relative strength against US equities “appears real,” it is yet to be confirmed as structural.However, others are more bullish. MN Trading Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe said on April 24 that “buyers are likely going to step in, and then we’ll be continuing our path toward a new [all-time high].”Related: Bitcoin ‘short squeeze’ or $87K dip next? BTC price predictions varyCoinMarketCap’s altcoin season index indicates that the market is still heavily favoring Bitcoin over altcoins, with the altcoin season score sitting at a lowly 17 out of 100. It comes as Bitcoin Dominance is sitting at 64.39%, according to TradingView data.Bitcoin sentiment has gained momentum since it touched the mid-$80,000 price range. On April 17, crypto analytics firm Santiment pointed out that the tone of Bitcoin-related social media posts has flipped to bullish.Meanwhile, crypto analyst Trader T pointed out in an April 25 X post that US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs have, so far to April 24, seen their third-best week of inflows since launching in January 2024. Over the past four trading days, the spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen $2.6 billion in net inflows.Magazine: Pokémon on Sui rumors, Polymarket bets on Filipino Pope: Asia ExpressThis 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.
ARK Invest ups its 2030 Bitcoin bull case prediction to $2.4M
Billion-dollar asset manager ARK Invest has raised its “bull case” Bitcoin price target from $1.5 million to $2.4 million by the end of 2030, driven largely by institutional investors and Bitcoin’s increasing acceptance as “digital gold.”ARK’s “bear” and “base” case scenarios for the price of Bitcoin (BTC) were also bumped up to $500,000 and $1.2 million, ARK research analyst David Puell said in an April 24 report.The new bear and base targets were bumped up from ARK’s $300,000 and $710,000 Bitcoin price predictions on Feb. 11.ARK’s price projections were modeled on Bitcoin’s total addressable market (TAM), penetration rate — the percentage of Bitcoin’s TAM that it could capture in certain cases — and Bitcoin’s supply schedule.ARK’s bear, base and bull case price targets for Bitcoin by Dec. 31, 2030. Source: ARK Invest“Institutional investment contributes the most to our bull case,” said Puell, who estimated that Bitcoin would achieve a 6.5% penetration rate into the $200 trillion financial market in a best-case scenario (that figure excludes gold).Bitcoin’s acceptance as “digital gold” was also a major contributor to the lofty estimate, with Puell estimating that it could capture up to 60% of gold’s $18 trillion market cap (2024 figures) by the end of 2030 in a bull scenario.Bitcoin becoming a “safe haven” in emerging markets was the third-largest contributor to ARK’s $2.4 million bull case prediction at 13.5%.“This Bitcoin use case has the greatest potential for capital accrual,” Puell said, pointing to Bitcoin’s ability to protect wealth from inflation and devaluation in developing countries.Nation-state and corporate Bitcoin treasury strategies and Bitcoin financial services were also factored into ARK’s Bitcoin price projections.Bitcoin use cases contributing to ARK’s Bitcoin price targets. Source: ARK InvestARK’s Bitcoin predictions are boldA $2.4 million Bitcoin price tag would send Bitcoin’s market cap to $49.2 trillion, assuming that Bitcoin’s total supply will have reached 20.5 million by the end of 2030.A $49.2 trillion valuation would be almost larger than the current gross domestic products of the US and China combined.It would also put Bitcoin in a good position to overtake gold as the world’s largest asset, which currently boasts a market cap of $22.5 trillion.Related: Cathie Wood to kick off El Salvador’s AI public education programEven ARK’s bear and base targets of $500,000 and $1.2 million would mean Bitcoin needs to increase at a compounded annual growth rate of 32% and 53% by the end of 2030 — a return that isn’t achieved too often for assets that have already notched trillion-dollar valuations.Since then, Bitcoin has recovered from a 2025 low of $75,160, soaring back up to the $94,000 range, while the Trump administration established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.Magazine: Ethereum maxis should become ‘assholes’ to win TradFi tokenization race
Blockchain could be headed for ‘ChatGPT moment’ in adoption: Citigroup
Regulatory changes could be the catalyst to spark significant adoption of stablecoins and blockchain tech in 2025, according to investment banking giant Citigroup.“2025 has the potential to be blockchain’s ‘ChatGPT’ moment for adoption in the financial and public sector, driven by regulatory change,” a team of Citigroup financial analysts said in an April 23 report. A combination of growing regulatory support and adoption by financial institutions has set the stage for the stablecoin market cap to fly as high as $3.7 trillion by 2030, or in a base case, $1.6 trillion.“The main catalyst for their greater acceptance may be regulatory clarity in the US, which could enable greater integration of stablecoins specifically, and blockchain more widely, into the existing financial system,” Citi said in its report. “The tailwinds of regulatory support and the increased integration of digital assets into incumbent financial institutions are setting the scene for increased usage of stablecoins.”On the heels of US President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly administration assuming power earlier this year, lawmakers are weighing stablecoin legislation, such as the GENIUS Act, which seeks to regulate US stablecoins, ensuring their legal use for payments. A US regulatory framework for stablecoin would also support demand for dollar risk-free assets inside and outside the US, according to the report. “The stablecoin issuers will have to buy US Treasuries, or comparable low risk assets, against each stablecoin as a measure of having safe underlying collateral,” Citi said. “Stablecoin issuers could hold more US Treasuries by 2030 than any single jurisdiction today.” Stablecoin issuers could have significant holdings of US Treasuries by 2030. Source: Citigroup US will continue to dominate stablecoins In the future, Citi predicts the stablecoin supply will remain US dollar-denominated, with non-US countries promoting national currency or a central bank digital currency.In April, the stablecoin market cap had crossed $230 billion, an increase of 54% since last year, with Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) dominating 90% of the market. “While the dollar’s dominance may evolve over time, with the euro or other currencies being promoted by national regulations, stablecoins may be viewed by many non-US policy makers as an instrument of dollar hegemony,” Citi said. “Geopolitics remain fluid. Should the world continue to drift into a multi-polar system it is likely that policymakers in China and Europe will be keen to promote central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or stablecoins issued in their own currency.” Related: Russia finance ministry official floats country making own stablecoins: ReportHowever, there are still some challenges ahead for the market. The stablecoin market cap could settle around $500 billion if “adoption and integration challenges persist.” Depegging has also been flagged as a potential issue, with 1,900 instances in 2023, according to Citi, including the major USDC depeg following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.“A major depegging event would likely dampen crypto market liquidity, trigger automated liquidations, impair trading platforms’ ability to meet redemptions, and potentially have broader contagion effects for the financial system,” the firm said. Magazine: Ridiculous ‘Chinese Mint’ crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express
Slovenia’s capital of Ljubljana ranked as world’s most crypto-friendly city
The capital city of Slovenia — Ljubljana — has been named the world’s most crypto-friendly city by migration advisory firm Multipolitan.The city outranked runners-up Hong Kong and Switzerland’s economic powerhouse Züric, which scored the same in the Crypto-Friendly Cities Index, found in its 2025 Crypto Report.The index featured 20 cities and ranked their crypto-friendliness based on their regulations, tax environment, lifestyle factors and digital and crypto infrastructure.Multipolitan said its evaluation included weighing areas such as a city’s licensing frameworks, capital gains tax rates, GDP per capita, housing affordability and internet speeds.“The presence of crypto ATMs and retail adoption rates were analysed to reflect each city’s embedded cryptocurrency culture,” it explained. “High concentrations of these assets earned the top scores.”The city-state of Singapore and the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi were respectively ranked fourth and fifth after the second-place tie. Both cities were already attractive to businesses due to offering low or no taxes, but they’ve also worked to attract crypto companies with industry-specific licensing and regulatory regimes.Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, ranked in the middle of the pack in 10th spot, with the report noting it was home to the most crypto ATMs of the group. Source: MultipolitanMadison, the capital city of the US state of Wisconsin, was the only city in the Americas to rank on the index, hitting the same 11th place score as Latvia’s capital of Riga, Qatar’s capital of Doha, and Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh.Slovenia’s crypto embraceSlovenia also topped Multipolitan’s Crypto Wealth Concentration Index, combining crypto ownership rates and trading volumes, which reported that the average Slovenian crypto owner held around $240,500 worth of assets.The figure outranked second-place Cyprus by over $65,000, with the average crypto-holding Cypriot hanging onto around $175,000. Hong Kong came in third with holdings averaging $97,500.Related: Slovenia’s finance ministry floats 25% tax on crypto transactions The US ranked at the bottom of the 20-strong list, coming in 17th spot with average crypto holdings of around $23,300, just above Malaysia’s nearly $21,000 average holdings.Slovenia, being part of the EU, regulates crypto under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which the industry received as mostly positive.The advocacy group Blockchain Alliance Europe is based in Ljubljana. The city also houses the blockchain real estate platform Blocksquare, which teamed up with Vera Capital on April 18 to tokenize $1 billion worth of US real estate.Magazine: Tbilisi Crypto City Guide: Crypto is used for payments in Georgia, not to get rich