Brazil’s Meliuz floats to boost Bitcoin buying strategy

Brazilian fintech firm Meliuz has floated a plan to expand its Bitcoin holdings and make the cryptocurrency a strategic asset on the company’s books.

Meliuz, which provides cashback and financial technology services, is taking the plan to make Bitcoin (BTC) the primary strategic asset in the firm’s treasury to shareholders in a meeting slated for May 6, according to a translated April 14 statement.

The company said its core business will remain unchanged, but “the generation of cash from operations is fundamental to the strategy of acquiring more Bitcoin over time.” 

If shareholders approve the measure, Bitcoin will be adopted as the firm’s main strategic treasury asset, but it will also look to foster “the incremental generation of Bitcoin for its shareholders, whether through the generation of operating cash or through possible financial transactions and strategic initiatives.” 

Shareholders who

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/brazil-meliuz-floats-boosting-bitcoin-buys?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

China selling seized crypto to top up coffers as economy slows: Report

Local governments in China are reportedly seeking ways to offload seized crypto while facing challenges due to the country’s ban on crypto trading and exchanges.

The lack of rules around how authorities should handle seized crypto has spawned “inconsistent and opaque approaches” that some fear could foster corruption, lawyers told Reuters for an April 16 report.

Chinese local governments are using private companies to sell seized cryptocurrencies in offshore markets in exchange for cash to replenish public coffers, Reuters reported, citing transaction and court documents. 

The local governments reportedly held approximately 15,000 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $1.4 billion at the end of 2023, and the sales have been a significant source of income.

China holds an estimated 194,000 BTC worth approximately $16 billion and is the second largest nation Bitcoin holder behind the US, according to Bitbo. 

Zhongnan University of

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-selling-seized-crypto-top-up-coffers-reuters?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers

Developers behind the Ethereum layer 2 Aztec Network have launched a whistleblowing platform called StealthNote that allows workers to vent about their employer without revealing themselves.

StealthNote uses zero-knowledge proofs to prove that posts on its platform are written by someone with access to an email address of the company that they’re reviewing.

Aztec Labs developer Saleel Pichen wrote in an April 14 X post that StealthNote creates a zero-knowledge proof of a Google JSON Web Token, which is used to authenticate users and allows the platform to prove a poster owns “an email from a company domain without revealing any personal info.”

Two of the latest posts on StealthNote from personnel at Aztec Labs and Cornell University. Source: StealthNote.xyz

According to Aztec’s documentation, the privacy solution had been in development since at least Oct. 22, while the first

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/aztec-stealthnote-privacy-corporate-whistleblowers?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Semler Scientific reports $42M paper loss on Bitcoin, floats $500M stock sale

Healthcare technology firm Semler Scientific has reported paper losses on its Bitcoin holdings over the first quarter of this year as the cryptocurrency saw a heavy correction. 

The firm reported a preliminary unrealized loss from the change in fair value of Bitcoin holdings of approximately $41.8 million since Dec. 31, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15.

Semler declared holdings of 3,182 Bitcoin (BTC) valued at around $263.5 million as of March 31. During the three-month period, BTC prices fell 12% from $93,500 at the beginning of January to $82,350 by the end of March. The full correction from its all-time high to the low below $75,000 on April 7 stands at 32%. 

Semler reported expected revenues of $8.8 to $8.9 million and operational losses of $1.3 to $1.5 million for the period. It held cash and

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/semler-scientific-reports-paper-loss-bitcoin-floats-securities-sale?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Bitcoin bulls ‘coming back’ as key metric on Binance flips to neutral

Bullish sentiment could be returning to Bitcoin as a key metric from Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, shows that buyers are starting to dominate the platform’s volumes.

The Binance Taker Buy Sell Ratio, which calculates the ratio of buyers to sellers of Bitcoin (BTC) in Binance, “has returned to neutral territory,” CryptoQuant contributor DarkFost said in an April 15 note.

Bitcoin’s bullish momentum is “picking up again”

The ratio currently stands at 1.008. When the ratio is higher than 1, buyers — usually a bullish sentiment indicator — dominate volumes, conversely, a ratio below 1 indicates that sellers, or bearish sentiment, are dominating.

Bitcoin is trading at $83,810 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin is trading at $83,810 at the time of publication, down 1.47% over the past seven days, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/" rel="null"

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-bulls-returns-key-indicator-binance-neutral?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

UK lawmaker’s X account hacked to boost scam ‘House of Commons Coin’

The X account of UK Member of Parliament and Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, was hacked to promote a scam crypto token.

In a series of now-deleted posts on April 15, Powell’s X account shared links to a token called the House of Commons Coin (HOC), describing it as “a community driven digital currency.”

Source: Daniel Green

A member of Powell’s staff confirmed to the BBC that the account had been hacked and that “steps were taken quickly to secure the account and remove misleading posts.”

DEX Screener shows the HOC token saw limited interest from would-be investors, achieving a peak market cap of just over $24,000 shortly after the posts from Powell’s account.

The token has seen a total of 736 transactions and a trading volume of just $71,000.

While Powell hasn’t promoted a cryptocurrency before, it

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/british-mp-x-account-hacked-promotes-scam-house-of-commons-coin?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Strive targets Intuit for Bitcoin buys after orange-pilling GameStop

Fresh from successfully convincing game retailer GameStop to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet, Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole has now set his sights on fintech firm Intuit to do the same.

Cole said in an April 14 open letter to Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi that Intuit’s growth is admirable, but Bitcoin (BTC) is the best way to ensure the company’s long-term success and hedge against any potential disruption caused by artificial intelligence.

Intuit’s flagship products are its tax preparation app TurboTax and the small business accounting software Quickbooks. The company laid off 10% of its staff in July to pursue its AI endeavors, but Cole said the firm needs an additional hedge because TurboTax is at risk of being automated away by AI. 

“While we appreciate Intuit’s own investments and internal implementation of AI, we believe

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/strive-targets-intuit-bitcoin-buys-after-gamestop?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Mantra CEO plans to burn team's tokens in bid to win community trust

Mantra CEO John Mullin said he is planning to burn all of his team’s tokens in order to win back the trust of the network’s community following the sudden collapse of the Mantra (OM) token on April 13.

“I’m planning to burn all of my team tokens and when we turn it around the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back,” Mullin posted to X on April 16.

Mantra set aside 300 million OM, 16.88% of the token’s nearly 1.78 billion total supply, for its team and core contributors that are currently locked and were scheduled to be released in stages between April 2027 and October 2029, according to an April 8 blog post.

The team’s tokens are worth around $236 million with OM currently trading around 78 cents, but were worth around $1.89 billion before the token sank

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/mantra-ceo-to-burn-300-million-team-tokens?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Hacker mints $5M in ZK tokens after compromising ZKsync admin account

A hacker compromised a ZKsync admin account on April 15, minting $5 million worth of unclaimed airdrop tokens, according to a statement from the official ZKsync X account. The attack was described as isolated, with no user funds affected.

Following an investigation, ZKsync detailed the incident on April 15, disclosing that the compromised account had administrative control over three airdrop distribution contracts. The attacker exploited a function called sweepUnclaimed() to mint 111 million unclaimed ZK tokens, increasing the total token supply by 0.45%. As of the latest update, the attacker still held control of most of the stolen funds.

Source: ZKsync

ZKsync is coordinating recovery efforts with the Security Alliance (SEAL). According to the protocol, its governance and token contracts are unaffected. The company stated that no further exploits are possible

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/zksync-hacker-steals-5m-airdrop-tokens?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

CleanSpark to start selling Bitcoin in 'self-funding' pivot

CleanSpark will start selling a portion of the Bitcoin earned from its mining operations each month in a bid to become financially self-sufficient, the US Bitcoin miner said on April 15. 

In addition, CleanSpark secured a $200 million credit facility backed by Bitcoin (BTC) through an agreement with Coinbase Prime, the institutional brokerage division of the crypto exchange, according to a statement.

Together, the Bitcoin sales and credit line mean CleanSpark has “achieved escape velocity — the ability to self-fund operations, augment our bitcoin treasury, and contribute to expansion capital through operational cash flow,” Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, said. 

CleanSpark has opened an institutional Bitcoin trading desk to facilitate the cryptocurrency sales, it added. 

Crypto mining stocks are down sharply in 2025. Source: Morningstar

Related: Bitdeer turns to self-mining Bitcoin, US operations amid

Read More at https://cointelegraph.com/news/clean-spark-start-selling-bitcoin-self-funding-pivot?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound