[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | North Korean Hackers Steal $285 Million After Offline Contact with Drift Employee

North Korean Hackers Steal $285 Million After Offline Contact with Drift Employee

North Korean hackers carried out a large-scale social engineering attack after meeting a Drift Protocol employee offline multiple times over several months, stealing $285 million, according to Odaily citing CoinDesk.

The report said the incident is considered one of the largest social engineering attacks ever targeting a cryptocurrency protocol.

TRM Labs said losses caused by North Korean hackers accounted for 76% of total cryptocurrency hacking losses in 2026.

24 Crypto Security Incidents in April Push Losses Above $600 Million

A total of 24 security incidents hit the crypto industry in April, with losses surpassing $600 million. The sharp monthly increase in incidents has renewed concerns over vulnerabilities across the sector.

On May 1, PANews reported, citing The Block and DeFiLlama data, that more than 20 exploit attacks occurred across the crypto industry during April. Crypto security expert Stacy Moore said that as of Wednesday, 24 hacking incidents had caused losses of more than $600 million.

The biggest case was the KelpDAO attack, which caused losses of about $292 million, making it the largest single incident in April. The Drift Protocol attack also resulted in losses of about $280 million. Drift Protocol previously said the attack was a deliberate intelligence-gathering operation planned over roughly six months.

Elsewhere, Hyperbridge, a Polkadot ecosystem protocol, suffered around $2.5 million in losses due to forged cross-chain messages. On-chain analyst Wazz said hundreds of wallets on the Ethereum mainnet had assets stolen by the same address, and many of those wallets had been inactive for more than seven years.

The Ethereum-related activity has drawn attention as a possible sign of a new vulnerability. As attacks targeting DeFi and cross-chain infrastructure continue, the need for smart contract and wallet security reviews is once again coming into focus.

U.S. Senate Banking Committee Targets Mid-May Hearing for Crypto Market Structure Bill

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is making progress toward a mid-May hearing on a cryptocurrency market structure bill, according to PANews citing The Block. However, disagreements remain over stablecoin yield treatment, ethics provisions, and President Trump's crypto conflicts of interest, all of which are seen as possible hurdles in the legislative process.

According to the report, Senator Thom Tillis asked Chairman Tim Scott to hold an early hearing, while also saying he would oppose the bill if it does not include ethics provisions. Senator Angela Alsobrooks also stressed that illicit finance and ethics issues must be addressed to secure bipartisan support. Senator John Kennedy was reported to currently oppose crypto-related legislation due to fallout from controversies surrounding other bills.

Chairman Scott said the bill has entered a 'danger zone,' but still expressed hope that bipartisan discussions in May could lead to a Senate vote in June or July. Some in the industry estimate the bill's chances of passage at only 15% to 25%. Galaxy had estimated the odds at 50% last week.

Part of the backdrop to the debate is an ethics controversy over the Trump family's involvement in crypto businesses. Bloomberg estimated that President Trump has earned at least $1.4 billion through projects including the DeFi and stablecoin venture World Liberty Financial. The Trump family also owns a 20% stake in crypto mining company American Bitcoin.

Senior U.S. Official Formally Confirms End of Hostilities Under War Powers Resolution

A senior U.S. government official said on April 30 local time that hostilities that began on February 28 had ended under the War Powers Resolution.

According to reports citing CCTV News, the statement officially confirmed the end of the military action in question.

Coinbase and Superstate Launch Stablecoin Lending Fund CUSHY

Coinbase has partnered with Superstate to launch the stablecoin lending fund CUSHY and plans to introduce a tokenized equity class in the second quarter, according to PANews citing The Block.

According to the report, CUSHY is a fund that offers institutional investors exposure to lending strategy opportunities within the stablecoin ecosystem. It is the first external fund issued through Superstate's FundOS platform, and Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services will handle operations.

The fund seeks returns through stablecoin lending and private credit opportunities. The tokenized equity can be used as collateral or transferred on compliant digital exchanges.

A Coinbase Asset Management executive said the fund combines the efficiency of digital assets with the disciplined operating standards of traditional lending markets.

Previously, Superstate launched the USTB and USCC fund strategies through FundOS and has managed more than $1 billion in assets.

Bitmine Stakes Additional 162,088 ETH, Bringing Total to 4,196,973 ETH

Bitmine staked an additional 162,088 ETH, increasing its total staked holdings to 4,196,973 ETH. Based on on-chain valuation, the total is worth about $9.5 billion.

PANews reported on May 1, citing Onchain Lens monitoring, that Bitmine staked about 162,088 ETH roughly six hours earlier. The newly added amount was valued at about $365.67 million.

As a result, Bitmine's total staking amount expanded to 4,196,973 ETH. The move reflects on-chain trends showing growing Ethereum staking demand and expanding institutional-scale holdings.

U.S. Spot XRP ETFs See Daily Net Outflow of $5.8284 Million

U.S. spot XRP ETFs recorded total daily net outflows of $5.8284 million.

According to SoSoValue data, as of April 30 U.S. Eastern Time, the outflow came solely from the Bitwise XRP ETF, which posted a one-day net outflow of $5.8284 million.

As of the time of reporting, spot XRP ETFs had total net assets of $1.044 billion and a net asset ratio of 1.23%. Cumulative net inflows stood at $1.291 billion.

Despite the one-day outflow from an individual product, cumulative flows for spot XRP ETFs as a whole remained positive.

U.S. Spot Solana ETFs See Daily Net Outflow of $1.2396 Million

U.S. spot Solana (SOL) ETFs recorded net outflows of $1.2396 million in a single day.

According to SoSoValue and PANews, as of April 30 U.S. Eastern Time, the entire outflow came from Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL), which saw $1.2396 million leave the fund.

At the time of reporting, spot SOL ETFs had total net assets of $849 million, with a net asset ratio of 1.77%.

Cumulative net inflows were reported at $1.018 billion. GSOL's cumulative net inflows stood at $103 million.

The figures reflect the previous day's fund flow activity, and the outflow centered on a single product was seen as weighing on broader investor sentiment.

Riot Platforms Deposits Additional 500 BTC to NYDIG

Riot Platforms deposited another 500 BTC to NYDIG, worth about $38.24 million, drawing market attention to the possibility of further selling.

According to PANews on May 1, on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain said Riot Platforms transferred 500 BTC to NYDIG about five hours earlier. Lookonchain interpreted the move as a sign that Riot Platforms continues to sell Bitcoin.

The transfer was made to NYDIG, an institutional custody and lending services provider, and such movements are often interpreted as possible signs of selling or collateralization. However, whether the Bitcoin was actually sold has not been independently confirmed.

3,954 BTC Moved from Anonymous Wallet to Coinbase Institutional

Whale Alert reported that 3,954 BTC were transferred from an anonymous wallet to Coinbase Institutional. The transaction was worth about $302.2 million.

Large Bitcoin inflows to exchanges are generally interpreted as a signal of rising sell-side supply and a potential short-term price headwind. However, the transfer could also reflect an internal wallet reshuffle by an institution, so further confirmation is needed.