Block will allocate 10% of its profits to buy Bitcoin

💲 Jack Dorsey's payment firm, Block, has begun dedicating 10% of its monthly gross profit from Bitcoin-related activities to purchasing 🫰 more Bitcoin. This strategy is set to continue through the end of 2024.

In the first quarter, Block's gross 💰 profit from Bitcoin transactions reached $80 million, marking a 59% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Should this trend persist throughout the year, the company plans to spend $24 million on 👌 acquiring more Bitcoin.

👀 As per BitcoinTreasuries, the 8,027 BTC on Block’s balance sheet are currently worth $476.9 million, reflecting a 2.17-fold increase on the initial investments made between 2020 and 2021.

It raises questions whether this financial strategy is linked to an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Federal Prosecution into Block’s financial operations. 🤔

ZkSNACKs announces closure of CoinJoin anonymization service

🙀Wasabi Wallet developer ZkSNACKs will stop its CoinJoin anonymization service starting June 1, amid increasing pressure from law enforcement on cryptocurrency mixers. 🧐 This decision will also affect users of the Trezor Suite wallet and the BTCPayServer payment gateway.

🫣 Although CoinJoin positions its tools as more sophisticated and distinctly different from mixing services, its technology serves similar purposes.

🥦 Wasabi Wallet will continue to operate as a standard Bitcoin wallet. 😔

👀 Regulators worldwide are intensifying their rhetoric against cryptocurrency mixers. Specifically, FinCEN plans to designate them as "money laundering hubs" that pose a threat to the national security of the United States.

A suspect in fraud involving ZKasino has been arrested in the Netherlands.

🚓 On April 29, the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service of the Netherlands arrested a suspect in connection with the scam of the blockchain casino ZKasino.

👀 During the search of the 26-year-old man's apartment, digital storage devices were seized. Property worth over 11.4 million euros ($12.2 million), including real estate, a car, and cryptocurrencies, was confiscated.

🧐 The suspect is held in custody pending investigation. He is charged with fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering.

🎰 In April, ZKasino developers transferred 10,515 ETH worth $33.9 million to the Lido staking protocol and changed the wording on the website, removing the statement about ETH refunds. Early participants had deposited coins for farming the native token ZKAS. Some community members had warned of the scam.

Tether and Chainalysis will develop a solution for monitoring the secondary market

👀 Tether, the issuer of USDT, and blockchain data platform Chainalysis have formed a partnership to create a system for tracking activity in the secondary market.

🤔 This concerns transactions that occur within the broader USDT ecosystem beyond limited liability companies that directly buy and sell the stablecoin.

💻 The solution will allow Tether to methodically track transfers, ensuring control over the USDT market and serving as a source of information for compliance specialists and investigators, enabling the identification of wallets that pose a risk or are associated with criminal and/or sanctioned addresses.🧐

Bitcoin's average daily transaction fees return to Ethereum levels as Runes excitement wanes

😵‍💫After the hype around the Runes protocol launch, Bitcoin's average daily transaction fees have aligned with Ethereum's. Post-launch, Bitcoin fees surged, hitting 🏔a record $25.8M on April 24, dwarfing Ethereum's fees by fivefold. However, fees have since dropped to $4.1M, matching Ethereum's average.

🤯 The frenzy also saw individual Bitcoin transaction fees peak at $40, 10x Ethereum's rate, settling at $8.60 recently.

💧Despite the drop, fees remain a significant part of Bitcoin's economy, especially post-halving, with fees contributing 13% to total block rewards.

🗿The Runes protocol, by Ordinals' Casey Rodarmor, drove this spike, netting over $135M in its debut week, showcasing its efficiency over traditional methods.

🚨Trader loses $68 million due to address spoofing scam!

🙀 An unknown user fell victim to "address poisoning," resulting in the loss of 1,155 "wrapped" bitcoins worth approximately $68 million, according to Cyvers Alerts.

🤷 The potential fraud was detected by an AI system used by researchers. CoinStats data shows that the trader lost over 97% of their assets.

👀 During "address poisoning," criminals deceive users or use technical tricks to make them send cryptocurrency to a deliberately incorrect address, which may resemble the real one at the first and last characters.

Pantera Capital has invested in TON

🐈‍⬛ Pantera Capital has invested in The Open Network (TON).

👍 According to Pantera Capital, TON has the potential to lead to widespread adoption of cryptocurrency due to its integration with Telegram.

💲 The amount of the investment is unknown.

🚨Tether has blocked two wallets with a combined amount of $14,214,355 USDT

Tether has previously pledged to block payments to organizations subject to OFAC sanctions.

On May 2, Tether and Chainalysis announced the development of a solution to monitor the secondary market in the USDT ecosystem.

Santiment published statistics on the increase in the number of wallets with non-zero balances in leading cryptocurrencies over 6 months:

▪️Toncoin $TON 16.8K wallets (+110% growth)

▪️Dogecoin $DOGE 6.6M wallets (+27% growth)

▪️USDT 5.7M wallets (+23% growth)

▪️USDCoin $USDC 2.1M wallets (+16% growth)

▪️Ethereum 120.7M wallets (+11% growth)

▪️Bitcoin 53.9M wallets (+10% growth)

▪️XRPLedger $XRP 5.2M wallets (+7% growth)

▪️Chainlink $LINK 727K wallets (+6% growth)

▪️Cardano $ADA 4.5M wallets (+0% growth)

💰 The inflow into US Bitcoin ETFs has resumed, and yesterday it reached $378 million. It's also worth noting that Grayscale recorded its first inflow of funds into their Bitcoin ETF ($63 million) since its launch.

👀 Consequently, Bitcoin's price surged to $63,000.

Alexander Vinnik, co-founder of the infamous BTC-e crypto exchange, has pleaded guilty to laundering a staggering 💰 $9 billion.

BTC-e, operational from 2011 to 2017, was a major platform involved in 🧑‍💻processing illicit funds linked to cybercrime, corruption, and drug trafficking.

👀 Not registered with U.S. FinCEN and lacking essential KYC and AML protocols, BTC-e was a preferred hub for criminals to conceal their proceeds. Vinnik now faces substantial penalties, reflecting serious U.S. efforts against crypto-related crimes.

🔍Sentencing awaits, with further details from the IRS and Homeland Security.

Bitfinex Hack Update: Hackers vs Company Claims

🔓 Hack Allegations: A group called FSOCIETY claims to have breached Bitfinex, accessing 2.5 TB of data and the personal details of 400,000 exchange users. They threaten to release KYC data unless their demands are met.

🛑 Company's Response: Bitfinex's CTO has declared the leak a hoax. According to him, of the 22,500 emails leaked, only 5,000 match Bitfinex accounts—a far cry from the 100% match expected if the breach were real. Moreover, the company has had no contact with the alleged hackers.

💡 Analyst Insight: Industry experts suggest that FSOCIETY's claims might just be clickbait aimed at selling hacking tools for $299 on Telegram.

🔗 Stay informed, and always verify the sources!

Lawsuit Filed Against Coinbase for Alleged Securities Law Violations

👀 Coinbase customers have initiated a legal action against the exchange, alleging the unauthorized offering of securities.

📝 The lawsuit specifically targets several cryptocurrencies including $ALGO, $MANA, $MATIC, $NEAR, $UNI, $SOL, $XLM, and $XTZ.

😳 The plaintiffs claim they have incurred financial losses from investments in these coins and hold Coinbase responsible for their financial damages.

🎆 The Bitcoin network has surpassed 1 billion transactions!

💪 Today, the Bitcoin network reached a milestone by recording its billionth transaction on block 842,241, according Clark Moody data.

✔️ This landmark was achieved 15 years after the launch of BTC.

🚨 Cartier Heir Arrested for Drug Trafficking & Money Laundering

🙀 The US Department of Justice has taken into custody Maximilian de Hoop Cartier, a direct descendant of Cartier's founder, Louis Cartier.

🙈 He faces charges of conspiring to launder money through USDT from illegal drug operations.

😁 Alongside five Colombian nationals, he allegedly tried to import 100 kg of cocaine and launder hundreds of millions of dollars.

🚓 Before their arrest, the group successfully laundered $14.5 million.

A wallet that was inactive for over 10 years woke up and transferred all 687 BTC ($43.9 million) to another address.

👀 The user bought the coins on January 12, 2014, when the price was $917 for 1 BTC.

🧐 Interestingly, after that, the price of Bitcoin fell to $200 just a year later, but the owner of the coins did not immediately sell them in the next bull run. 💪This is steel endurance!

$DOGE has been added to Tesla's payment options.

😎 Previously, Elon Musk had expressed intentions to introduce his "favorite" cryptocurrency as an available payment method.

🚀 New Record in Bitcoin's Ordinals Protocol!

📝 Bitcoin inscription #70,614,708 has just set a new record for file size on the Ordinals protocol, clocking in at 3.969 MB.

✔️ This inscription houses a copy of the "Declaration of Independence in Cyberspace" by Logos Network, showcasing not just its size but its symbolic significance.

👀 Despite its large file size, the actual text would only be about 2 KB. The team opted to encode it as a high-resolution JPG, making it legible and sizable. Brian Laflan, co-founder of OrdinalsBot, shared with Decrypt, "It's a small file, but with the added image, it was enlarged to set a record and make a bold statement."

🤷 This file surpasses the previous record for Bitcoin inscriptions set in March by a mere 0.001 MB.

🧐 Post the 2017 Segregated Witness hard fork, the block capacity in Bitcoin's network was upped from 1 MB to 4 MB. Laflan notes that any attempt to exceed this limit is bound to fail.

Less than 10% of stablecoin transactions are "organic"

👀 Over 90% of the volume of "stable coins" is moved by unreal users, indicating minimal use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method, according to Bloomberg.

✔️ The agency interpreted data from a new indicator by Visa and Allium Labs. The tool identifies transactions made by bots and large traders, separating them from transfers made by real people.

🧐 According to Visa data, in April out of the total transaction volume of $2.2 trillion, only $149 million were "organic payment activity."

Mainland China to gain access to BTC-ETF in Hong Kong?

Bitcoin ETFs registered in 🇭🇰 Hong Kong may soon become accessible to investors from mainland China. This was stated by the managing partner of SyzCapital, Richard Bayworth:

"I just got back from Hong Kong. There is talk that the ETF could be added to stock connect. The implications for this are absolutely enormous"

✔️ Previously, citizens of China directed a large portion of their savings into real estate. However, the real estate market in China is currently experiencing a crisis, and affluent citizens of mainland China feel a pressing need for additional investment opportunities.

Currently a Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF) agreement between Hong Kong and mainland China, which facilitates the spread of ETFs in each other's markets through a streamlined approval process.

"Excluding only the Bitcoin ETF would likely cause significant repercussions among both institutional and retail investors in both China and Hong Kong

"

,the expert pointed out.

🔥 Robinhood has received a Wells notice from the SEC

🏹 Robinhood received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its crypto business.

The notice was sent on May 4, 2024.

🗒 The Wells notice indicates that the SEC is prepared to sue the company.

Previously, Wells notices were sent to Coinbase, Uniswap, and Consensys.