Author: John Smith

Ripple has issued another warning to the XRP community after a fake Instagram account appeared to impersonate Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse.  Summary A fake Instagram account posed as Brad Garlinghouse and promoted an XRP giveaway scam to users. David Schwartz warned the XRP community that Ripple executives will never ask for funds online. Ripple repeated that fake support channels, deepfakes, and giveaway posts remain common crypto scam tools. The case added to a long list of social media scams that use Ripple’s name to target crypto users. A fake Instagram account posing as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been…

Justin Sun has accused World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, of hiding controls that could freeze token holders’ wallets. Summary Justin Sun said WLFI hid blacklist controls that could freeze wallets without notice or recourse. Onchain data tied the project to large token-backed borrowing that drew fresh criticism from observers. WLFI faced added pressure as token prices fell and liquidity concerns deepened during controversy again. The claims add new pressure to the project as onchain activity, borrowing patterns, and token losses draw more attention. Sun said he backed WLFI because it presented itself as a decentralized finance platform built to expand…

President Donald Trump said the United States will begin naval action at the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Truth Social post shared Sunday.  Summary Trump said the US Navy will begin blockading ships entering or leaving the Strait immediately. The post said US forces may interdict vessels accused of paying tolls to Iran. Trump linked the planned blockade to Iran tensions and the unresolved dispute over nuclear issues. The statement said the move followed talks in which “NUCLEAR” remained the main unresolved issue. Meanwhile, Trump said the United States Navy would start the process of blockading ships trying to…

BNB Chain has told node operators to complete a required software update before the Osaka/Mendel hard fork reaches mainnet on April 28.  Summary BNB Chain told node operators to install BSC v1.7.2 before the Osaka/Mendel hard fork launches. The April 28 mainnet upgrade follows testnet activation and adds stability, gas limits, and finality. BNB Chain said outdated settings and poor binary replacement could cause nodes to lose sync. The network said operators should move to BSC v1.7.2 and remove outdated settings to keep nodes running normally. BNB Chain developers said node operators must complete the update before the Osaka/Mendel hard…

European banks and corporates are moving from research to rollout in the stablecoin market.  Summary European banks and corporates are now choosing stablecoin partners instead of only studying the market opportunity. MiCA gave firms one rulebook, helping stablecoin projects move faster from planning to execution stages. Corporate treasury demand is pushing stablecoin use for payments, settlement, and cross-border fund movement today. New comments from industry executives show that firms are now choosing partners and preparing live use cases under MiCA rules. Lamine Brahimi, co-founder and managing partner at Taurus, said stablecoin talks in Europe have changed over the past 18…

Anthony Scaramucci urged Bitcoin investors to stay focused after the asset dropped into the $72,000 range. He said the recent sell-off changed market sentiment, but not Bitcoin itself. Summary Anthony Scaramucci said Bitcoin holders should stay calm even after BTC fell into the $72,000 range. Bitcoin’s weekend drop triggered nearly 120,000 liquidations as leveraged long traders absorbed most of the losses. Scaramucci said Bitcoin itself stayed unchanged despite weaker sentiment, lower prices, and ongoing bear market pressure. SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci told the crypto community not to panic as Bitcoin faced fresh pressure. In a post on X, he…

Donald Trump is facing fresh scrutiny as crypto tokens tied to his name and family trade near record lows.  Summary TRUMP fell about 90% from its peak as renewed scrutiny hit Trump-linked crypto projects again this week. WLFI dropped to a fresh all-time low as criticism of Trump family crypto ties intensified. Senators pressed Bill Zanker for details after Trump announced an April 25 gala for token holders. The pressure has grown after a new gala for token holders raised new questions from Democratic lawmakers. The Official Trump token, known as TRUMP, fell to an all-time low of about $2.73…

Pavel Durov said push notifications can create a privacy risk even after users delete messages and apps.  Summary Pavel Durov said push notifications may preserve data even after users delete chats and apps. Reports said FBI retrieved deleted Signal messages from iPhone notification logs in a criminal investigation. Interest in decentralized messaging apps rose as bans, unrest and internet restrictions disrupted communication access. His remarks followed reports that investigators retrieved deleted Signal messages from iPhone notification logs, renewing debate about metadata, device storage and private messaging tools. Durov said push notifications can leave message data on a device outside the…

A federal judge in Arizona has temporarily stopped state officials from enforcing gambling laws against Kalshi, a prediction market platform regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  Summary A federal judge paused Arizona action against Kalshi and backed the CFTC’s jurisdiction argument. The restraining order blocks Arizona enforcement until April 24 as the case moves forward. State and federal officials remain split on whether event contracts are swaps or gambling. The ruling adds to the legal fight over whether event-based contracts should be treated as financial products under federal law or as gambling under state rules. The order came from…

Reports that Iran may accept crypto for oil tanker tolls in the Strait of Hormuz have sparked debate across the digital asset market.  Summary Reports on Iran’s possible crypto tolls for oil tankers have split opinion across Bitcoin and stablecoin circles. Analysts said stablecoins face freeze risks, while Bitcoin supporters called BTC harder to block or control. Galaxy’s Alex Thorn said tanker payments may use Bitcoin addresses, not Lightning, due to size limits. The discussion followed a Financial Times report that linked the proposal to Iran’s efforts to reduce exposure to US sanctions. Market participants have focused on one question:…