[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | BTC Breaks Above $76,000

BTC Breaks Above $76,000

PANews, citing OKX market data, reported that Bitcoin (BTC) has broken above $76,000.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin was trading at $76,006.50, up 0.64% on the day.

Two Stable Related Contracts Suspected of Being Exploited

On-chain analyst ZachXBT said two contracts related to European stablecoin issuer Stable are suspected of having been attacked. Potential losses may exceed $3 million, and seven attacker addresses have been disclosed.

According to the source, ZachXBT estimated that the attackers funded themselves through Noble’s CCTP platform. The incident may represent a smart contract security breach involving a stablecoin issuer, and it remains to be confirmed whether there are additional losses.

Former Outside Counsel to FTX US Agrees to Pay $54 Million

According to PANews, citing reports, law firm Fenwick & West, formerly external legal counsel to FTX US, has agreed to pay $54 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit related to customer fraud.

The settlement also includes $11.75 million from accounting firm Prager Metis and $420,000 from former NBA player Udonis Haslem. The total amount for the second FTX-related class-action settlement is about $66.17 million.

Fenwick & West has been accused of helping facilitate Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraudulent conduct, though it did not admit wrongdoing. The firm also faces a separate $525 million lawsuit in Washington.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in 2022, and civil and criminal lawsuits related to customer losses and alleged fraud by former executives have continued since then.

GameStop Submits Proposal to Increase Authorized Shares to 2.5 Billion

PANews, citing Decrypt, reported that GameStop has filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to increase the number of authorized shares from 1 billion to 2.5 billion.

The proposal will be put to a vote at the annual shareholders’ meeting in July. GameStop appears to be seeking greater financial flexibility and stronger negotiating leverage following its previously rejected attempt to pursue an acquisition of eBay.

All ETH Long Positions Against Strategy Liquidated

Odaily, citing HyperBot data, reported that a newly opened Ethereum long position betting against Strategy was fully liquidated earlier today.

A 40x leveraged Bitcoin short position was also partially liquidated, reducing its size. The remaining position now stands at 8.332 BTC, with total returns turning negative at -73.05%.

Whale Investor Evaded Closes BTC Short and Expands ZEC Long

PANews, citing Lookonchain monitoring, reported that whale investor Evaded closed a Bitcoin short position at a loss of $320,000 and then increased a ZEC long position.

Evaded currently holds a long position of 53,500 ZEC, worth about $34 million, with an unrealized loss estimated at $763,000.

Changes in whale positions are often used as a reference for gauging short-term market sentiment, but the market’s direction cannot be determined solely from the trades of a single account.

Solana Meme Coin RICH Temporarily Surpasses $8 Million Market Cap

According to Odaily, GMGN data showed that the Solana ecosystem meme coin RICH briefly surpassed an $8 million market capitalization before falling back to around $7.6 million.

RICH rose more than 500% over the past 24 hours. Investors should exercise caution, as meme coins are highly volatile.

Namibian Court Revokes Bail for Eight Defendants Linked to Crypto Fraud and Human Trafficking

The Windhoek High Court in Namibia revoked bail for eight defendants linked to a cryptocurrency fraud and human trafficking case and forfeited about $29,800 in bail money, PANews reported, citing Bitcoin.com.

Prosecutors said the defendants include six Chinese nationals, one Vanuatuan, and one Singaporean. The six Chinese defendants are believed to have fled to China, and Namibian authorities have asked Interpol for assistance in locating them.

Investigators believe that from December 2022 to October 2023, the group used a shell company called Raylon Investment to recruit unemployed Namibians and force them into labor. The workers allegedly created fake social media accounts to lure overseas victims and then induced them to transfer funds into cryptocurrency accounts.

Investigators estimate the group stole about $267,800 from victims worldwide.

Trump Administration Finalizing Contract for U.S. Intelligence Agencies to Use Anthropic AI Tools

The Trump administration is finalizing a contract that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to use artificial intelligence tools from Anthropic, according to Watcher.Guru.

The move comes amid broader efforts to expand AI adoption across government agencies. Anthropic is the AI company behind Claude, a competing service to ChatGPT.

Pakistan Prime Minister Expresses Commitment to Continuing Peace Efforts

Pakistan’s prime minister said the country will continue its peace efforts and hopes the next round of talks can be held soon.

Source: Odaily. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated President Trump on his peace efforts and said Pakistan would continue related efforts with the utmost sincerity.

He added that Army Chief General Munir had represented Pakistan in a call with President Trump.