[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | PiggyBank Admits LAB Token Trading Error…Some Vault NAVs Expected to Drop by Up to 15%

PiggyBank Admits LAB Token Trading Error…Some Vault NAVs Expected to Drop by Up to 15%

Yield protocol PiggyBank has admitted that a serious error occurred during its LAB token trading process.

PiggyBank said it purchased about $100,000 worth of LAB tokens at a low price through over-the-counter channels, locked them up, and opened a short position in perpetual contracts as a hedge.

However, the LAB token experienced market manipulation and dried-up liquidity, while funding rates turned negative, significantly increasing hedging costs. As a result, PiggyBank said it closed the short position to limit downside risk.

PiggyBank explained that although the current value of its locked LAB position stands at $1.35 million, it will exclude the position from net asset value calculations until the first unlock date on Aug. 14 due to insufficient liquidity.

Accordingly, the net asset value of the USDC vault is expected to fall by about 15%, SPYx by about 12%, and JitoSOL by about 9%.

Previously, on-chain investigator ZachXBT pointed out that a PiggyBank insider controlled more than 95% of LAB’s total supply.

U.S. CPI and Major Central Bank Rate Decisions in Focus Next Week

Global financial markets are expected to focus next week on the U.S. May Consumer Price Index (CPI) and interest-rate decisions by major central banks.

According to PANews, after stronger-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payroll data was released last week, expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening increased, while gold and silver prices declined. The U.S. Dollar Index rose above 100, and major U.S. tech stocks also weakened.

Key upcoming events include the New York Fed’s May one-year inflation expectations, German industrial production and trade balance data, the U.S. NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, U.S. ADP employment data, the U.S. May CPI report, the Bank of Canada’s rate decision, the European Central Bank’s rate decision, U.S. initial jobless claims and May Producer Price Index (PPI), and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.

The possibility of a SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is also being cited as a major variable. If it materializes, it could affect overall investor sentiment, though the direction remains uncertain.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), earnings announcements from Oracle and Adobe, and TSMC’s May revenue report are also being discussed as factors that could increase volatility in tech stocks and risk assets.

Grayscale Files S-1 With SEC for Spot Cardano ETF Launch

Grayscale has submitted an S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the launch of a spot Cardano ETF.

According to Odaily, Grayscale filed the relevant documents with the SEC on June 5. An S-1 is a required registration step for launching securities products in the United States and marks an early stage in the ETF listing review process.

Chile Busts $88 Million Crypto Money Laundering Ring Linked to Venezuelan Crime Syndicate

Chilean authorities have dismantled an $88 million cryptocurrency money laundering organization linked to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational criminal group, according to PANews citing Bitcoin.com.

According to the report, after a two-year investigation, Chilean police and the Southern Prosecutor’s Office carried out joint operations across three regions of Chile and arrested 18 suspects. They are accused of laundering criminal proceeds through crypto assets.

Authorities froze more than 140 bank accounts and seized $300,000 in organizational funds during the operation. Tren de Aragua is a sanctioned international criminal organization based in Venezuela.

Circle’s USDC Circulation Falls by About 600 Million Over 7 Days

Circle’s USDC circulation declined by about 600 million tokens over the seven days through June 4.

According to PANews, Circle minted about 7.7 billion USDC and redeemed about 8.3 billion USDC during the period. As a result, total USDC circulation stood at 75.5 billion, with reserves of about $75.7 billion.

The reserves consisted of about $43.8 billion in overnight repurchase agreements, about $20.1 billion in U.S. Treasuries with maturities of less than three months, about $11.1 billion in deposits at major financial institutions, and about $700 million in other bank deposits.

Three Addresses Believed Linked to Joseph Lubin Borrow 259 Million DAI Against 412,430 ETH Collateral

Odaily, citing crypto analyst Ai (@ai_9684xtpa), reported that three addresses believed to be linked to Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin have deposited a total of 412,430 ETH, worth about $653 million, as collateral and borrowed 259 million DAI.

The health factor of the position briefly fell below 1.2 during the previous day’s ETH decline. It later recovered above 1.48 after an address believed linked to Lubin added about 110,000 ETH as additional collateral.

According to Ai, Lubin acquired about 540,000 ETH during Ethereum’s 2015 ICO at an estimated cost of around $0.31 per ETH. The added collateral is believed to have significantly reduced the likelihood of liquidation for the borrowing position.

CoinDesk: BTC Down 17.3% Weekly, ETH Down 22%…Biggest Drop Since FTX Collapse Possible

According to a PANews report citing CoinDesk, Bitcoin fell 17.3% this week and Ethereum dropped 22%. Both assets could post their largest weekly declines since the FTX collapse in November 2022.

TradingView data showed that the total digital asset market capitalization shrank by about $390 billion this week, leaving it just above $2 trillion. CoinGlass data indicated that about $7 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated during the same period, including about $5.7 billion in long liquidations.

The selling pressure is attributed to a combination of factors including Strategy’s small Bitcoin sale, shrinking Bitcoin ETF assets, and concerns that capital may be rotating from crypto into artificial intelligence-related investments. Strategy previously said it sold 32 BTC for the first time in about four years.

Stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data also weighed on the market. Observers noted that expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts may weaken, and if inflation remains elevated, concerns over renewed tightening could intensify.

57 Hacking and System Failure Incidents Reported at Korea’s Top Five Exchanges Over the Past Six Years

South Korea’s five major virtual asset exchanges recorded a total of 57 hacking and system failure incidents over the past roughly six years, with compensation totaling about 7 billion won, according to PANews citing Yonhap News.

According to the report, from 2020 through April 2026, incidents occurred as follows: Upbit 26, Bithumb 14, Gopax 8, Coinone 6, and Korbit 3.

Bithumb reportedly paid about 2.5 billion won in compensation this February in connection with an accidental Bitcoin mis-transfer. Upbit was also said to have compensated about 790 million won for a hacking incident in November 2025 and about 3.2 billion won for a system outage on Dec. 3, 2024.

Each exchange showed differences in how it recognized incidents and handled compensation. Gopax classified even asset list viewing errors as system failures, while Bithumb only recognized outages when core services were unavailable for more than 10 minutes.

Compensation for system outages was reported at about 3.21 billion won for Upbit, about 3.2 billion won for Bithumb, and about 49 million won for Coinone. Korbit and Gopax reportedly provided no compensation in relation to such incidents.

USDC Treasury Mints Additional 250 Million USDC on Solana

The USDC Treasury has minted an additional 250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain.

According to PANews, citing Whale Alert monitoring, the mint took place on the Solana network. Additional stablecoin issuance is often watched by the market as an indicator related to trading liquidity expansion on the network.

Whale Address Withdraws 1,723.39 BTC From OKX

Odaily, citing Onchain Lens monitoring, reported that a whale address withdrew 1,723.39 BTC from OKX over the past 24 hours.

The withdrawal was worth about $105.58 million. Large transfers out of exchanges are often interpreted as moves for holding purposes, though the exact purpose of the funds has not been confirmed.