[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | Bitcoin (BTC) Surpasses $78,000

Bitcoin (BTC) Surpasses $78,000

Bitcoin (BTC) has surpassed $78,000, according to a PANews report citing OKX market data.

On OKX, BTC is currently trading at $78,006.10, up 0.71% over the past 24 hours.

SoftBank Shares Surge on Reports of OpenAI Preparing for IPO

According to Odaily, shares of SoftBank Group jumped nearly 20% in early Tokyo trading following reports that OpenAI is preparing to file for an initial public offering.

On the same day, SB Energy, another SoftBank-backed company, said it also plans to confidentially submit a draft registration statement for a U.S. IPO. SB Energy develops energy infrastructure for data centers.

SoftBank is reported to hold about a 13% stake in OpenAI and has invested a cumulative $64.6 billion through its Vision Fund. Sources said OpenAI could submit its IPO filing within the next few weeks and is targeting a listing this fall.

Fed Minutes Signal Retreat From Rate Cuts, Mention Possibility of Further Hikes

According to Odaily, minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that discussions around rate cuts have effectively receded, while the possibility of additional rate hikes has reemerged.

According to Wall Street Journal analysis, Fed officials focused less on whether to cut rates — a central topic of debate at the Federal Open Market Committee over the past two years — and more on whether further tightening may be needed if inflation continues to remain above the 2% target.

The minutes stated that “most participants emphasized that if inflation proved persistently above 2%, further tightening of policy could be warranted.”

The minutes were from the final meeting chaired by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and also reflected the impact of Middle East tensions on the policy outlook. Kevin Warsh is set to lead the Fed after being sworn in at the White House on Friday.

The Fed’s next policy meeting is scheduled for June 16–17.

RetoSwap Loses $2.7 Million in Haveno Protocol Vulnerability Exploit

According to PANews, decentralized exchange RetoSwap said it suffered losses of about 7,000 XMR, or roughly $2.7 million, due to an exploit targeting a vulnerability in the Haveno protocol.

RetoSwap said that after Haveno’s lead developer reported an attack on the trading protocol, it blocked the attacker’s onion address, raised the minimum client version to 2.0.0, and suspended trading on the platform.

RetoSwap said its own team was not hacked and that the issue stemmed from a vulnerability in the Haveno protocol. The attacker is believed to have impersonated an arbitrator using forged confirmation messages, changed node addresses, and attacked multisignature wallets.

RetoSwap said it is reviewing ways to support recovery for affected traders.

TAC Suffers $2.86 Million in TON-TAC Bridge Security Incident, Recovers 90%

According to Odaily, TON ecosystem scaling project TAC released an incident analysis report on the TON-TAC asset bridge security breach on the 21st and said it has recovered about 90% of the stolen assets.

The incident occurred on the 11th, and insufficient verification in classification software was identified as the cause. The attacker deployed a fake Jetton wallet on TON, and because the software failed to verify the sender wallet’s code hash, forged tokens were accepted.

The total damage amounted to about $2.86 million, including USDT, BLUM, and tsTON. According to TAC, about 90% of the stolen assets were returned on the 14th to a TAC-controlled multisignature address, while the attacker still holds the remaining 10%.

The cross-chain bridge will remain suspended until independent reviews by audit firms and TON partners are completed. TAC said it will cover the shortfall using recovered assets and foundation-held tokens so that users and the protocol incur no financial loss.

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Sinaloa Cartel Operatives for Alleged Crypto-Based Drug Money Laundering

The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned members of the Sinaloa cartel and their associates for allegedly laundering drug proceeds through cryptocurrency.

Source: PANews and Bloomberg. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles and associates are accused of laundering proceeds from fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine sales back to Mexico.

According to the Treasury, they collected cash through couriers in the United States and then transferred funds to digital currency addresses. In April 2024, a federal grand jury in Colorado previously indicted an associate on charges related to laundering drug proceeds using cryptocurrency.

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Rapid Growth of Prediction Markets Including Kalshi and Crypto.com

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the rapid growth of prediction markets, questioning representatives from platforms including Kalshi and Crypto.com, according to PANews citing CoinDesk.

According to the report, the hearing focused on allegations of sports manipulation, advertising targeting young users, addiction risks, and regulatory authority. Chairman Ted Cruz pointed to recent allegations of misconduct in sports and warned of risks from the expansion of prediction markets.

Sen. John Hickenlooper criticized prediction market firms for targeting younger users through social media advertising. Industry representative Patrick McHenry responded that trading is allowed only for users 18 and older and that the average user age is 33.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Mike Seliger said the CFTC is involved in litigation against Minnesota and Arizona over authority to regulate prediction markets. The American Gaming Association criticized the CFTC’s regulatory capacity, and Chairman Cruz said the matter could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

Missouri Sues Crypto ATM Operator CoinFlip

According to Odaily, Missouri Attorney General Katherine Hanaway has filed a lawsuit against crypto ATM operator CoinFlip.

In the lawsuit, state authorities allege that CoinFlip knowingly facilitated fraudulent transactions and profited from them. Victims reportedly include elderly residents and military veterans in Missouri.

Missouri is asking the court to find that CoinFlip violated the state’s Merchandising Practices Act, ban it from operating in the state, and impose fines of $1,000 per violation over the past five years. The proposed penalties could total as much as $1.826 million, and restitution for victims was also requested.

CoinFlip operates 136 crypto ATMs in Missouri and 4,229 nationwide. Another crypto ATM operator, Bitcoin Depot, previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid lawsuits and regulatory pressure.

Monetary Authority of Singapore Revokes BSQ Major Payment Institution License

According to Odaily, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has revoked the major payment institution license of crypto liquidity provider B Squared Technology (BSQ).

The MAS said BSQ showed inadequate risk management and conflict-of-interest controls in its digital payment token business, violated outsourcing rules, and repeatedly submitted false or misleading information.

The revocation took effect on May 14. The regulator said BSQ has no outstanding customer assets and requested submission of a closure certificate issued by an auditor.

The MAS is also reviewing whether BSQ’s senior management should be held accountable. There are currently 37 licensed digital payment token service providers in Singapore.

Two Hyperliquid Spot ETFs Draw $22.3 Million in Net Inflows in First Week

Two U.S. spot ETFs tracking Hyperliquid (HYPE) attracted about $22.3 million in net inflows in their first week of trading, PANews reported on the 20th citing The Block.

According to the report, 21Shares’ THYP and Bitwise’s BHYP saw more than $11 million in inflows on Tuesday alone. Analysts said their market-cap-adjusted returns over the first six trading days outpaced those of spot Bitcoin ETFs by three days and spot Ethereum ETFs by five days.

On-chain data showed that Hyperliquid recently accounted for more than 42% of all blockchain transaction fees. Most HYPE token revenue has been used for buybacks through a support fund, and Bitwise previously said part of BHYP’s management fee would be used to buy and stake HYPE.

Circle Mints 500 Million USDC on Solana in the Past 24 Hours

Source: PANews

Circle minted about 500 million USDC on the Solana chain over the past 24 hours, according to PANews citing monitoring by SolanaFloor.

The increase in USDC issuance is drawing market attention as it may be linked to growing trading activity and DeFi liquidity within the Solana ecosystem.