Crypto volatility cooled on Friday, with bitcoin BTC$78,307.77 stuck between $77,500 and $78,500 range since midnight UTC.
The muted price action follows a failed breakout attempt near $80,000 on Wednesday, although the broader trend remains constructive, with the BTC price grinding higher through April and printing a series of higher highs and higher lows.
Ether (ETH) matched bitcoin’s performance on Friday, losing around 0.9% since midnight while also remaining in a narrow trading range.
U.S. stock futures were mixed, with Nasdaq 100 futures rising by 0.5% on the back of strong tech earnings and S&P 500 futures slipping 3 basis points.
The Dollar Index (DXY) was little changed despite comments from U.S. President Donald Trump confirming that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been extended by three weeks. The dollar fell roughly 0.5% when the ceasefire was first announced on April 16.
Derivatives positioning
Bitcoin futures open interest has declined by over 6% to 744.3K BTC in 24 hours, as the rally in spot price pulls back to $77,500 after failing to hit $80,000 early this week. The moves suggest traders are unwinding leveraged positions and that bullish momentum is cooling in the near term.
BTC’s 24-hour open interest–adjusted cumulative volume delta has flipped negative, meaning sellers are hitting the bid more than buyers are lifting the ask over the period. Annualized perpetual funding rates remain slightly negative, indicating dominance of bearish short positions.
Futures tied to other major cryptocurrencies, such as ether (ETH), solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP), have seen lackluster trading over the past 24 hours.
Privacy-focused zcash (ZEC), however, stands out. Open interest in its futures has climbed nearly 7.5% to a 10-day high of 1.88 million tokens, while 24-hour trading volume has surged 80%.
The token also boasts one of the strongest positive CVD readings alongside positive funding rates, indicating sustained aggressive buying interest and bullish positioning overall.
While BTC and ETH prices have come under pressure, investors likely see it as a brief pause in the rally. That’s evident from the continued slide in bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV. It has dropped to 42%, the lowest since Jan. 31. ETH’s index has dipped below 65%, also the lowest since Feb. 1.
On Deribit, bitcoin and ether risk reversals continue to show a bias for put options across all time frames. It shows persistent downside hedging by market players and upside volatility selling via covered calls.
Token talk
The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) was the only benchmark in the black on Friday, posting a gain of less than 0.2% while the DeFi Select Index (DFX) and Computing Select Index (CPUS) lost about 1% each.
DeFi tokens lido (LDO) and MORPHO$1.8732 led the sector’s losses, falling by between 3% and 3.8% since midnight UTC as sentiment continues to suffer following last weekend’s $290 million KelpDAO exploit.
Privacy coin zcash (ZEC) gave back 0.5% of its gains on Friday, but remains up by more than 7% over the past 24 hours, buoyed by Thursday’s listing on popular retail trading app Robinhood.
CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” index ticked back up to 39/100 on Friday as investors began to make speculative bets while bitcoin remained range-bound.
For bitcoin BTC$78,302.07 traders, the direction of the Dollar Index (DXY), a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of other currencies, hasn’t mattered this much in nearly four years.
That’s because the 30-day correlation coefficient between the two now stands at -0.90, according to TradingView, the most negative reading since September 2022. A reading below 0 indicates an inverse relationship: When the dollar weakens, bitcoin gains, and vice versa.
Keep in mind, though, that the reading, while widely tracked, can be influenced by bitcoin’s 24/7 trading structure, particularly weekend price action that is not mirrored in the Dollar Index’s weekday-only trading.
The coefficient of determination, or correlation squared, comes in at 0.81, implying that roughly 81% of bitcoin’s short-term price moves are statistically associated with moves in the index.
Notably, bitcoin’s rally has stalled since hitting highs above $79,000 on Wednesday. This comes as DXY bounced to 98.75 from the April 17 low of 97.63.
This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter ‘Daybook.’Sign up here, if you haven’t already.
The outlook for the Dollar Index appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued U.S.-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
“Macro is still trying to lean against it [BTC’s continued rally]. Oil has risen for five straight sessions and Hormuz remains effectively constrained. That should be a headwind because it keeps the inflation channel alive and keeps risk premia from fully unwinding,” analysts at Marex said in an email.
One positive is the sustained inflows into the U.S.-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While those are keeping prices supported, industry leaders are still taking a cautious approach.
Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, said bitcoin may not see a meaningful recovery until October or November, and the current price action aligns with BTC’s four-year reward halving cycle. He said that whales, who hold large numbers of BTC, and long-time holders have continued to sell into ETF-driven demand. Stay alert!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
What’s trending
Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from NATO, reassessing UK’s Falklands claim over Iran war rift (Reuters): A memo circulating at high levels in the Pentagon lays out options to punish NATO allies that denied access, basing and overflight rights for the Iran campaign.
Morgan Stanley launches Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio, a money-market fund for issuers (CoinDesk): Morgan Stanley Investment Management unveiled MSNXX, a $1 NAV government money market fund holding only Treasuries and government repo, built to meet the Genius Act’s reserve requirements.
Wisconsin sues Kalshi, Coinbase, Polymarket, Robinhood and Crypto.com over prediction markets (CoinDesk): Attorney General Josh Kaul’s complaints allege sports event contracts are unlicensed gambling, citing the platforms’ own marketing.
DOJ arrests Special Forces soldier who made $400K on Polymarket betting on Maduro’s capture (ABC News): The master sergeant was involved in the January operation and placed around $33,000 in bets hours before Trump announced the capture, netting more than $400,000. This is believed to be the first U.S. insider-trading prosecution tied to a prediction market.
Today’s signal
Ether-bitcoin ratio’s daily chart. (TradingView)
The chart shows daily swings in the ether-bitcoin (ETH/BTC) ratio in candlestick format since July last year.
This week, the ratio fell nearly 3% to 0.02965, its lowest since March 15. The move has two bearish implications.
First, it confirms a downside break from the short-term ascending channel that had guided the recovery from early February lows. Second, it pushes the ratio back below the broader downtrend line that has defined the decline since August.
This breakdown reinforces bearish momentum and increases the likelihood of further downside or extended consolidation in the ETH/BTC pair, that is, it points to continued underperformance of ether relative to bitcoin ahead.
Global digital payments Visa is calling on fintech innovators across Africa to apply for Cohort 6 of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator. Applications are currently open, with a strict deadline set for 17 May 2026.
The launch of the new cohort follows the successful Cohort 5 Demo Day, recently held during the GITEX Africa tech event in Marrakech, Morocco. The demo day shone a spotlight on 18 high-growth fintech startups hailing from 10 different African countries. According to Visa, the latest cohort reflects the dynamism and diversity of Africa’s fintech sector, with participating startups building solutions that address a wide range of commerce and financial services needs across 28 distinct markets.
A major milestone for African fintech
Alongside the new cohort announcement, Visa revealed that the accelerator program has now officially supported 104 startups across its first five cohorts. Notably, these participating companies represent a combined valuation of $1.4billion.
Through an intensive three-month program, fintech founders receive tailored mentorship, strategic guidance, commercial engagement opportunities, and crucial access to Visa’s extensive global network. This support is designed to help businesses rapidly scale, strengthen their core product offerings, and unlock new growth pathways.
Deepening ecosystem collaboration
Beyond initial startup acceleration, the program places a heavy emphasis on fostering meaningful, long-term collaboration between alumni, strategic partners, and Visa itself. Providing access to new business opportunities and scalable support has already yielded several major partnerships among the accelerator’s alumni network:
Zazu (Cohort 4) and Chari (Cohort 1) are actively collaborating in Morocco to support a new neobank offering for SMEs, utilizing Chari’s Visa-enabled issuance capabilities.
Credable (Cohort 3), a fintech infrastructure business currently live in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia, is partnering with Visa partner Onafriq to develop innovative digital credit propositions powered by the Visa Flexible Credential.
Kredete (Cohort 3) has launched a stablecoin-linked card across select African markets and is now targeting broader expansion into the GCC (including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman) following positive early traction.
Godfrey Sullivan, head of product and solutions for CEMEA at Visa
MoneyHash (Cohort 3) has signed a multi-year partnership to enable Visa’s Cybersource across its platform, supporting payment acceptance and broader commerce enablement for merchants throughout the MENA region.
The power of partnership
Godfrey Sullivan, senior vice president and head of product and solutions for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa, emphasized the critical importance of these growing networks.
“What makes Africa’s fintech story so powerful is the growing spirit of partnership across founders, enablers, and industry leaders,” Sullivan stated. “As the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator surpasses 100 startups supported, we are seeing firsthand how collaboration can help drive scale, expand financial access, and shape the future of digital commerce across the continent.”
Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure
On-chain analyst James Check has pushed back against claims that a quantum-enabled sale of Satoshi-era Bitcoin would represent an existential market shock, arguing that the likely sell-side pressure is far smaller than the headline numbers suggest.
In an April 23 report titled “Selling Satoshi’s Stack,” Check examined the debate over whether Bitcoin should freeze quantum-vulnerable coins if a cryptographically relevant quantum computer, or CRQC, becomes viable. The discussion has intensified around older Bitcoin outputs whose public keys are exposed, including coins from Bitcoin’s earliest years that many market participants associate with Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin Quantum Fears Over Satoshi’s Coins Overblown?
Check’s central argument is not that quantum risk should be ignored. He said Bitcoiners should support “the debate, development, and preparation” of credible post-quantum solutions. But he rejected the idea that vulnerable coins automatically translate into a market-ending sell event.
“Quantum bulls often quote the 6.9M vulnerable coins as being a sword of Damocles that threatens to kill Bitcoin should a CRQC ever come to market,” Check wrote. “As with most things, there is a tonne of lost nuance, and the devil is absolutely in the details.”
According to the report, roughly 6.934 million BTC currently fall into categories that could be vulnerable to long-range quantum attacks because their public keys are exposed. That includes 1.716 million BTC in Satoshi-era P2PK outputs, 214,000 BTC in Taproot addresses, and about 4.996 million BTC held in reused addresses.
Check argues that the full 6.934 million BTC figure is best understood as a theoretical upper bound rather than a realistic market-risk estimate. Taproot is relatively new, he noted, meaning many owners are likely still active and able to migrate. Reused addresses, meanwhile, likely include large volumes managed by exchanges, custodians, ETFs and other entities with both the incentive and capacity to upgrade when post-quantum paths become available.
“The real risk are the 1.716M Satoshi Era P2PK coins, which many liken to a sunken galleon full of gold, there for the taking if the lock can be pried open,” Check wrote.
Even under a severe assumption that all 1.716 million P2PK coins are stolen and sold, Check said the market impact would likely be significant but not fatal. He compared the haul against revived supply, URPD shifts, exchange deposits and trading volumes, finding that the full P2PK balance is broadly equivalent to about 60 to 90 days of sell-side activity seen in Bitcoin bull markets or late-stage bear-market capitulations.
“There is no doubt that a QC attacker selling all the P2PK coins would negatively impact the price. It probably creates a bear market. However, where will, I push back strongly, is it is nowhere near the ‘end-of-days’ fatal sell-side many quantum bulls in the debate seem to claim.”
Check pointed to revived supply, which measures coins held for at least six months that are spent on a given day, as one lens for estimating Bitcoin’s ability to absorb older supply. He said a baseline of roughly 10,000 BTC per day is typical even in bear-market conditions, while bull-market profit-taking can push revived supply above 20,000 to 30,000 BTC per day.
On that basis, the sale of Satoshi-era P2PK coins would represent a large but not unprecedented demand test. Check also cited recent 90-day cost-basis turnover, arguing that more than 2.3 million BTC had moved to new buyers between $60,000 and $80,000 since the Feb. 5, 2026 sell-off, exceeding the P2PK balance by 1.36 times.
The report also discusses the proposed “hourglass” compromise in the BIP-360 debate, under which miners could include no more than one P2PK output per block. With about 38,000 P2PK outputs, Check estimated that such a mechanism would take roughly 264 days to fully exhaust the set, roughly in line with an optimistic post-quantum migration timeline for the broader Bitcoin network.
For Check, the quantum debate ultimately goes beyond market mechanics. The sell-side argument, he suggests, is weaker than often claimed; the harder question is whether Bitcoin should preserve property rights even when old coins become vulnerable, or intervene before someone else can take them.
“To the folks who claim we MUST freeze the coins because of the sell-side, I’d encourage you to put some numbers to your claims,” he wrote. “Instead, the actual thrust of this debate is around the principles of what Bitcoin is.”
At press time, BTC traded at $77,869.
Bitcoin needs a weekly close above the 1.0 Fib, 1-week chart | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView.com
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin BTC$77,667.24, said Thursday on X that the crypto winter is over as bitcoin held above $78,000, a price level first reached early on April 22, according to CoinDesk data.
In a Game of Thrones-style image, dressed in a fur coat, a garment not particularly suited for when the winter is over, and mounted on a horse, Saylor, whose firm recently added 13,927 bitcoin, bringing its treasury’s total BTC holdings to 780,897, said “Winter’s over”, a statement not all crypto analysts agree with.
“Even if the winter is over for bitcoin, which I don’t agree with, it is still very cold for altcoins,” said Jason Fernandes, a market analyst and AdLunam co-founder.
For Mati Greenspan, a former senior market analyst at eToro and founder of Quantum Economics, what bitcoin and the broader crypto market have experienced since the Oct. 10 “flash crash”, which triggered roughly $19 billion in forced liquidations within 24 hours, does not even qualify as a crypto winter.
“I’m not sure I would classify what we just saw as a crypto winter exactly,” Greenspan said, it was “more of a large pullback within a broader bull market.”
Greenspan agrees, however, with what Saylor appears to be suggesting: Bitcoin has reached its bottom and is likely to head higher from here. “Yes, I think it is very likely that we have seen the bottom,” he said.
Greenspan and other experts say that Saylor’s comments, along with his firm’s ongoing bitcoin purchases, suggest a transition into a more permanent institutional bitcoin era. A new cycle characterized by market dominance of corporate bitcoin treasuries and a shift in institutional sentiment.
Nation-state adoption
Even so, institutional adoption is just one piece of the puzzle.
“Yes, increased institutional adoption will kick off this next leg, but what Saylor is missing is the nation-state adoption, which is undoubtedly right around the corner,” Greenspan said.
The crypto founder and market analyst said that, to date, the crypto industry has experienced three distinct adoption cycles.
The first, he said, was driven by early adopters in 2013. And then came the “mass retail awakening of 2017,” and, now, institutional adoption in 2021.
“The fourth and final major driver is nation-state adoption, which I believe will happen very soon, especially with the U.S. abruptly flipping course during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term,” Greenspan said.
“Imagine central banks adding bitcoin to their balance sheets to maintain price stability, similar to how they’ve added gold in the past,” he added.
To Greenspan’s point, nation-state adoption is already moving beyond theory and onto government balance sheets. Under Trump, for example, the U.S. plans for a strategic bitcoin reserve, though it is neither formalized nor operational; the government already holds roughly 300,000 BTC. El Salvador continues its daily purchase program toward a 7,500 BTC treasury, while China and the U.K. hold roughly 190,000 BTC and 61,000 BTC, respectively. Activity is also emerging at the sub-sovereign level, with entities such as Wisconsin and New Jersey introducing bitcoin exposure within public pension allocations.
With just one month remaining, momentum is building for the upcoming Banking Transformation Summit, scheduled to take place in London on 19 and 20 May.
The high-impact event is preparing to host over 1,000 senior leaders from more than 170 banks and building societies. Showcasing its role as a key forum for those driving change across the financial services industry, the summit will also feature over 150 speakers and 40 exhibitors.
The shift from strategy to execution
This year’s summit arrives at a critical transformational moment for the global banking sector. Institutions are currently navigating a convergence of pressures, ranging from intensifying global regulatory demands to evolving customer expectations heavily shaped by big tech and digital challengers.
Simultaneously, the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has shifted toward active implementation. This technological leap is forcing banks to decisively move out of strategy mode and into execution.
The summit is designed to meet this moment, providing a clear roadmap for attendees to tackle their most awaited challenges. The agenda is structured around six core themes:
The AI frontier
Intelligent infrastructure.
Trust.
Customer experience.
Leadership.
Each session is crafted to go beyond theory, delivering real-world perspectives directly from those leading transformation programmes.
A global roster of attendees
The Banking Transformation Summit represents one of the first major moments this year where leaders from major incumbent banks and modern fintechs will come together to address how this technological shift is playing out in practice.
Participating institutions include HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, JPMorgan, Citi,UBS, Santander, Standard Chartered, Nationwide, Monzo, and Starling.
Attendees will span six continents, featuring a strong UK core complemented by a growing international presence. This includes senior representation from Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Austria, Greece, and the UAE.
Fostering collaboration
Mark Johnstone, founder of the Banking Transformation Summit
With three in four attendees representing banks or building societies, the event creates a rare opportunity for peer-to-peer engagement at scale.
Mark Johnstone, founder of the Banking Transformation Summit, emphasized the importance of this industry-wide collaboration.
“We built this summit around a simple idea to be big enough to matter and small enough to connect,” Johnstone stated. “Transformation isn’t something banks can solve in isolation anymore, it requires honest conversations, shared experiences and the ability to learn directly from peers facing the same challenges.”
Johnstone concluded: “With the calibre and diversity of leaders joining us this year, we’re creating an environment where those conversations can genuinely move the industry forward.”
US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been gaining momentum amid Bitcoin’s price recovery, showing steady inflows since mid-April.
Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs logged $335.8 million in inflows on Wednesday, marking the seventh consecutive day of inflows, according to Farside data.
During the inflow streak, the ETFs drew around $1.9 billion in total inflows, surpassing the previous seven-day inflow streak in March, which totaled $1.2 billion.
According to Wallet Pilot data, Bitcoin ETFs hold a combined 1.3 million Bitcoin in assets under management, worth around $103 billion.
The steady inflows to Bitcoin ETFs were accompanied by a rising BTC price, which has surged 11% over the past 30 days. BTC briefly rose above $79,000 on Wednesday, its first time reaching that level since late January, according to CoinGecko.
BlackRock leads inflows at $1.4 billion as Morgan Stanley fund adds to streak
Out of $1.9 billion in the latest inflow streak, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) accounted for more than 73% of all the inflows at $1.4 billion. The fund holds 809,870 Bitcoin, accounting for 62% of total AUM in US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) strongly contributed to the momentum, posting $95 million within the total streak. Notably, the fund itself has not yet seen a single day of outflows, generating $163 million since launch on April 8.
Daily spot Bitcoin ETF inflows since April 14. Source: Farside.co.uk
Still, several funds have clocked losses during the past seven trading sessions. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) led redemptions during the period, with net outflows of around $100 million.
Ether (ETH), the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization, has also been gaining traction in US-listed spot ETFs, with these funds posting a 10-day inflow streak totaling $633.6 million, according to Farside.
Related: Market maker GSR launches first ETF tracking Bitcoin, Ether and Solana
Last week, broader ETH investment products recorded their strongest week since January, finally flipping to positive flows year-to-date, according to CoinShares.
The ongoing recovery in spot markets came as the Crypto Fear & Greed Index surged to 46 for the first time since late January. Still, the index remains in “fear” territory, as Bitcoin remains down about 11% year-to-date
Magazine: Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1M
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
Hippo announced the appointment of its current EVP and Chief Strategy Officer and former Chief Financial Officer, Stewart Ellis, to the Company’s Board of Directors effective June 3rd, 2026. In connection with his transition to a Board role, Mr. Ellis will resign from his current position and become a consultant to the Company, effective May 1st, 2026.
“Stewart has been an invaluable member of the Hippo leadership team for the past seven years,” said Rick McCathron, President and CEO of Hippo. “During that time, he built a world-class finance team, oversaw our transition from a private to public company, led several strategic acquisitions and divestitures, and was a core partner to both me and the Board in defining our vision and strategy. I could not be more excited that Stewart wants to continue to be part of what we are building at Hippo.”
Before joining Hippo as its Chief Financial Officer in 2019, Mr. Ellis served as Chief Financial Officer at Activehours (d/b/a Earnin), a mobile fintech company, from April 2017 to February 2019; as Chief Financial Officer at BloomReach, Inc., an enterprise software company, from July 2012 to April 2017; and as Vice President, Finance, and other roles, of 23andMe, Inc. from September 2008 to July 2012. Mr. Ellis holds a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Economics from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar.
“Working with Hippo’s leadership team over the past seven years to build the Company into what it is today has been one of the highlights of my career,” said Mr. Ellis. “As we continue building toward our long-term vision, I’m thrilled to join my colleagues on Hippo’s Board to support that journey.”
The U.S. government is holding an unrealized gain of roughly $26.5 billion on its Intel (INTC) stake after the chipmaker’s shares jumped more than 22% in pre-mrket trading on Friday, following a stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings report.
The position stems from an August deal in which the Trump administration converted $8.9 billion in CHIPS Act grants and Secure Enclave funding into 433.3 million Intel shares at $20.47 apiece, giving it about a 9.9% ownership stake. With Intel trading near $81.80 in pre-marketing trading Friday, the holding is now valued at approximately $35.4 billion, nearly tripling in less than a year.
The government also holds warrants to purchase an additional 5% stake at $20 per share, options that are now deep in the money.
Intel’s rally was driven by a sharp earnings beat. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7% year over year and above Wall Street expectations of $12.4 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.29, far exceeding the consensus estimate of a $0.01 loss.
Growth was led by Intel’s Data Center and AI segment, which rose 22% to $5.1 billion as demand for Xeon processors accelerates alongside the broader AI infrastructure buildout.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan pointed to a shift in AI computing toward inference and agentic workloads, saying the trend is “significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs.”
Intel guided revenue in the range of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion for the second quarter.
Kelp DAO suffered a $292 million hack on Saturday, overtaking Drift as the largest crypto exploit of the year so far. North Korea-linked hackers are suspected to be behind the attack.
Kelp DAO said Monday that the exploit stemmed from a failure of cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero’s infrastructure. LayerZero said the breach was enabled by Kelp DAO’s use of a single verifier configuration to approve cross-chain messages.
LayerZero said that “preliminary indicators” attributed the exploit to TraderTraitor, a subgroup of North Korea’s state-backed hacking unit known as Lazarus Group.
Blockchain investigator Tanuki42’s findings also found ties to TraderTraitor. Tanuki42 said Tuesday that funds stolen from the Kelp DAO incident have commingled with previous exploits linked to the same group.
While North Korea’s cyber activity targeting decentralized finance platforms has accelerated in April, its tactics also pose a threat to companies and end users.
Funds from the Kelp DAO exploit have commingled with wallets linked to the $1.4 billion Bybit hack in February 2025. Source: Tanuki42
North Korea’s crypto schemes back in focus
The April Fools’ Day exploit on decentralized exchange Drift totaled $285 million, bringing suspected North Korea-linked crypto theft to at least $578 million across major incidents throughout the month.
The two attacks are the largest crypto heists attributed to North Korean actors since the Bybit hack.
By now, the crypto industry has caught on that DPRK-linked operatives pose as IT developers to secure remote jobs at tech companies. Security researchers and the United Nations say that this tactic generates millions of dollars to support North Korea’s weapons programs.
Weak background checks allow North Korean IT workers to secure remote gigs. Source: Tanuki42
Related: North Korean cyber spies are no longer just remote threats
In March, the US Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals and two entities for their alleged roles in North Korean IT worker fraud schemes. The FBI also issued guidance in June, recommending that employers verify candidates’ professional history and require in-person meetings.
However, the Drift exploit suggests Pyongyang’s cyber operatives are adapting. The DeFi platform said its contributors were approached in person by individuals posing as a quant trading firm at a major crypto conference in November. The attackers continued to communicate and build trust ahead of the breach.
Smaller-scale attacks have continued in parallel. Crypto wallet provider Zerion said DPRK-linked actors used AI-assisted social engineering to steal about $100,000 in a separate incident.
North Korea rarely responds to such accusations, though its foreign ministry issued a statement in May 2020 denying involvement in cyberattacks and accusing the United States of attempting to tarnish its image.
Retail crypto scams surge as DPRK tactics spill over
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported a 21% increase in crypto-related crime complaints in its 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report. The FBI launched IC3 in 2000 as a portal for victims in the US to report online fraud.
Cryptocurrency cases were linked to 181,565 complaints in 2025, resulting in $11.37 billion in losses, more than half of the total.
Investors aged 60 and above reported the most complaints involving crypto in 2025. Source: FBI
Related: North Korean spy slips up, reveals ties in fake job interview
Older Americans aged 60 and above filed the highest number of crypto-related complaints. Investment scams were the largest category, generating 61,559 complaints, including 13,685 from people 60 and older.
That doesn’t mean the retail sector is untouched by suspected North Korean operations. An investigation published last November found that DPRK-linked operatives also recruit individuals to support remote IT worker schemes.
Throughout 2025, Heiner García, a cyberthreat intelligence expert at Telefónica, came into contact with a suspected North Korean operative.
García previously told Cointelegraph that the individual attempted to use him as a proxy to bypass VPN restrictions set by freelancing platforms. The tactic involves using a victim’s device in a local jurisdiction by installing remote access software such as AnyDesk.
In August 2024, the US Department of Justice arrested Matthew Isaac Knoot for running a “laptop farm” that allowed DPRK IT workers to appear as US-based employees using stolen identities. In July 2025, Christina Chapman was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for her role in helping North Korean IT workers earn more than $17 million.
The tradeoff behind freezing funds stolen by suspected DPRK actors
A unique element of the Kelp DAO hack was the Arbitrum Security Council’s decision to freeze 30,766 ETH linked to the exploit.
Crypto’s ethos is decentralization, yet responses to major hacks continue to divide the industry. Some projects lean toward minimal intervention, even as security experts call for action, leaving little consensus on when it is appropriate to step in.
USDC issuer Circle faced criticism from industry participants for its inaction in the Drift hack. Source: James Seyffart
Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet said on Tuesday that the outcome was “probably” good, but not a comfortable one. Freezing the funds likely prevented further losses. The discomfort comes from what the action makes explicit.
The Arbitrum Security Council did not exploit a bug or discover a backdoor. It exercised its intended authority to override the state. That authority exists by design and sits in tension with the idea of credibly neutral infrastructure. In practice, assets on today’s rollups can still be affected by governance decisions under certain conditions.
Guillemet ties that tradeoff to the threat environment. The Kelp DAO exploit did not rely on a novel smart contract bug. It exposed weaknesses in infrastructure and configuration, showing how attacks are moving beyond code into the systems that support it.
At the same time, North Korea-linked groups have evolved into well-resourced, persistent adversaries capable of probing those systems across multiple fronts.
That leaves the industry split between accepting intervention or accepting losses that cannot be undone.
Magazine: Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1M
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
