1. Trump-Backed Company Makes Large Investment in Cryptocurrency

World Liberty Finance, supported by Trump, has completed multiple on-chain transactions in the past 3 hours: • Spent 1.41 million USDC to purchase 2,527,257 MOVE • Spent 5 million USDC to purchase 52 WBTC • Exchanged 2,221 ETH (5.93 million USD) for stETH and deposited it into Lido for staking • Sent 5 million USDC to Aave V3 for lending   -Original

2. Calls for Auditing the Federal Reserve Rise Worldwide

The call for an audit of the Federal Reserve has intensified again. This week, widespread discussions on social media platform X suggested that not only should Ron Paul lead the audit of the Federal Reserve, but he should even become the Federal Reserve Chairman. This idea gained more attention after receiving brief but strong support from Elon Musk, head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — "Great idea." Musk's statement has fueled speculation about whether the current government will push for reforms in Federal Reserve transparency. The Federal Reserve has long maintained a high degree of independence to avoid political influence on monetary policy. However, Washington has previously shown strong resistance to proposals for auditing the Federal Reserve. Some experts believe that increased scrutiny of the Federal Reserve could undermine market confidence in the dollar and accelerate the shift of funds to alternative assets like Bitcoin and gold. Cryptocurrency derivatives trader Gordon Grant stated in an interview with The Block: "Ron Paul's revelations about the Federal Reserve may prompt American individual investors to start questioning how robust their currency really is. The confrontation between Paul and the Federal Reserve could accelerate the market's shift towards real-world assets that can be practically spent, such as seamless POS transactions using tokenized gold, which can be instantly converted to fiat currency, or using Bitcoin as an alternative asset. This situation could mark the beginning of the dollar's 'Minsky Moment.' The 'Minsky Moment' refers to the eve of a market collapse when investors realize the fragility of the financial system, leading to a rapid collapse of market confidence, triggering panic selling, liquidity crises, and financial instability.   -Original

3. Ethereum Foundation Makes Large Investments in DeFi Platforms

The Ethereum Foundation announced on platform X that the EF Treasury has deployed funds, allocating 10,000 ETH to Spark, 10,000 ETH to Aave Prime, 20,800 ETH to Aave Core, and 4,200 ETH to Compound. In response to today's multiple fund transfers to DeFi protocols, the Ethereum Foundation expressed gratitude to the entire Ethereum security community for their hard work in making Ethereum DeFi secure and available. The Ethereum treasury funds will explore more content, including staking.   -Original

4. No Short-Term Hope for Federal Reserve Rate Cuts, Bitcoin Under Pressure

Grayscale's research director Zach Pandl stated in an interview, "Federal Reserve rate cuts are not possible in the short term." He pointed out that this is unfavorable for risk assets like Bitcoin in the short term, as the market is further digesting the Federal Reserve's delayed rate cut expectations. Pandl believes that the January CPI data exceeded expectations (up 3% year-on-year), and core inflation also rose to 3.3%, indicating that inflation remains stubborn. Pandl also warned that if inflation continues to exceed expectations, the Federal Reserve may even reconsider raising interest rates, which would have a greater impact on market sentiment.   -Original

5. SEC Accepts Grayscale's XRP ETF Application

According to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially accepted the 19b-4 application submitted by Grayscale and NYSE to convert the Grayscale XRP Trust ($XRP Trust) into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). While this does not mean automatic approval and does not guarantee that the SEC will ultimately agree to the application, this development shows that the SEC's attitude towards crypto ETFs is becoming more open rather than outright rejecting consideration of such products. Previously, due to the SEC's tough stance, exchanges had withdrawn their Solana ($SOL) ETF applications. However, the SEC's acceptance of the XRP ETF application indicates that crypto ETFs for LTC, DOGE, SOL, XRP, and others still have a chance of approval. The SEC is expected to publish the application in the Federal Register within a few days, at which point the 240-day approval window will officially open. Additionally, XRP ETF applications from institutions like Bitwise, 21Shares, Canary Funds, and WisdomTree are still awaiting SEC processing.   -Original

6. OpenSea Confirms Upcoming Token Airdrop

The popular non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea announced on Thursday that it is expanding its platform to cryptocurrency trading and confirmed plans to distribute SEA tokens to users. According to the protocol's press release, the trading platform named OS2 has launched today, aggregating markets, allowing cross-chain purchases, and initially offering lower fees. "This represents OpenSea's expansion from an NFT marketplace to a broader platform for trading all types of digital assets," said OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer. "We believe that tokens and NFTs should come together to create a powerful and enjoyable experience." The OpenSea Foundation, the Cayman Islands development organization behind the protocol, will also distribute SEA tokens, providing utility on the OS2 platform. While the details and date of the airdrop have not yet been disclosed, OpenSea has confirmed that SEA will recognize active users and those who have been with the platform since its inception. U.S. users will be included in the airdrop. OpenSea stated that the utility of SEA will focus on long-term participation rather than short-term speculation. The platform's monthly trading volume has significantly decreased from the peak of $5 billion in early 2021, facilitating NFT transactions worth $190 million last month. According to Dune Analytics, the platform's annualized revenue is $33 million.   -Original

7. Grayscale Applies to List Dogecoin Trust for Trading

According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NYSE Arca has submitted a revised rule change application to the SEC to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust (GDOG). The trust is operated by Grayscale Investments and is custodied by Coinbase Custody for Dogecoin (DOGE). The investment objective of the trust is to have its share value reflect the price of DOGE, relying on the CoinDesk Dogecoin Price Index (DCX) for pricing. Currently, the trust has a management fee of 2.5%. The application still requires SEC approval and a public comment period.   -Original

8. HashFlare Co-Founder Admits to Ponzi Scheme

Hashflare is a cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme that stole $577 million from hundreds of thousands of investors worldwide. On Wednesday, the co-founders of the scheme pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In November 2022, 40-year-old Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin were arrested in their home country of Estonia and extradited to the United States on 18 counts. Yesterday, both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. From 2015 to 2019, Potapenko and Turõgin convinced investors in Hashflare to rent a certain proportion of the cryptocurrency mining business in exchange for a certain proportion of the cryptocurrency produced by Hashflare. However, according to court documents, Hashflare only owned a small fraction of the mining equipment it claimed to have—less than 1% of the computing power sold by Potapenko and Turõgin. When investors attempted to claim their returns, prosecutors stated that the two either made excuses to refuse payment or repaid them with cryptocurrency purchased on the open market. Read more: Two Estonians Charged in a Series of Cryptocurrency Frauds Totaling $575 Million. Lawyers for Potapenko and Turõgin stated that Hashflare investors did not suffer any financial losses and told CoinDesk that the only crime committed by the two was misrepresenting the scale of Hashflare's mining operations. "Ivan and Sergei ran a successful business, providing real services, employing nearly 100 Estonians, and engaging in charitable work in Estonia. As Ivan admitted on Wednesday, he and Sergei's business promised to mine cryptocurrency and did mine cryptocurrency, but not as much as promised; instead, it sometimes repaid customers with cryptocurrency purchased on the open market," said Andrey Spektor, a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP and legal advisor to Turogin. "But importantly, as we will show at sentencing, no customers were harmed. Ivan and Sergei look forward to returning to Estonia and resuming their lives." According to court documents, these individuals made dozens of real estate investments and purchased luxury cars with the victims' money. As part of the plea agreement, Potapenko and Turõgin agreed to forfeit assets worth over $400 million, which will be used to repay investors. Potapenko and Turõgin are scheduled to be sentenced on May 8 in Seattle court.   -Original

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