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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

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

Should Bitcoin investors worry about flat inflows to the spot BTC ETFs?

Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds saw a total of $872 million in net outflows between April 3 and April 10, causing traders to wonder if overall interest in Bitcoin is fading. The strong selling pressure began on April 3, as global trade tensions increased and fears of an economic recession grew. This trend is especially concerning after two days of spot Bitcoin ETF net flows below $2 million on April 11 and April 14.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs aggregate net flows, USD. Source: CoinGlass

Bitcoin’s price has remained relatively stable near $83,000 for the past five weeks, which further suggests weak interest from both buyers and sellers. On one hand, this lack of volatility could show that Bitcoin is becoming a more mature asset class. For example, several S&P 500 companies have dropped 40% or more from their all-time highs, while Bitcoin’s largest drawdown

3iQ’s Canadian Solana ETF selects Figment as staking provider

Blockchain infrastructure provider Figment has been selected as the staking provider for 3iQ’s newly approved Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF), underscoring Canada’s continued efforts toward adoption of digital asset financial products.

Figment will enable institutional staking for the 3iQ Solana (SOL) Staking ETF, which launches on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 16 under the ticker SOLQ, the companies said in a statement. In addition to 3iQ, Figment provides staking infrastructure solutions to more than 700 clients.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), a provincial regulator, green-lighted 3iQ’s SOL fund on April 14. The approval was also extended to other fund managers seeking to offer SOL ETFs, including Purpose, Evolve and CI.

As Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported at the time, the funds are permitted to stake a portion of their SOL holdings through TD Bank, Canada’s second-largest

OpenAI is building 'X-like social network' to rival Elon Musk — Report

Large language model developer OpenAI is reportedly working on a new social media network, putting the company on a collision course with Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms.

Citing anonymous sources, The Verge reported on April 15 that OpenAI is developing an “X-like social network” that combines ChatGPT’s image generation tools and a social feed, presumably to allow users to share their AI-generated pictures with a broader audience.

It’s unclear whether OpenAI will spin out a new social media platform or roll the features into ChatGPT, the sources said.

OpenAI has become one of the most powerful technology companies in the world following the overwhelming success of its ChatGPT models. Its first-mover advantage in the AI race allowed it to raise $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation in a funding deal that was spearheaded by

Bitcoin death cross still present despite rally to $86K — Should BTC traders be afraid?

On April 6, Bitcoin price formed a death cross on a daily chart — a technical pattern where the 50-day moving average (MA) falls below the 200-day MA. Historically associated with trend reversals and long bearish trading periods, this ominous signal has sometimes preceded major market drawdowns.

The latest death cross comes amid growing macroeconomic uncertainty. Equities are reeling from what appears to be the early stages of a tariff war, volatility is rising, and fear continues to dominate investor sentiment. For some investors, Bitcoin’s death cross could be the final blow to hopes of a near-term rally. Early signs of capitulation from short-term holders may already be emerging.

Still, not everyone sees doom ahead.

Bitcoin death crosses history

By definition, a death cross confirms the end of a bullish phase. When the 50-day MA drops below the 200-day MA, it suggests recent price action has weakened relative to

Trump’s next crypto play will be Monopoly-style game — Report

US President Donald Trump is venturing deeper into the world of digital assets, with a new project blending gaming and cryptocurrency elements, Fortune reported, citing sources familiar with the project.

The project, set to launch in late April, will resemble MONOPOLY GO!, a mobile game where players travel around a board and earn money for constructing buildings in a digital city, according to the report.

Bill Zanker, a member of Trump’s circle and part of the team that helped launch Trump’s memecoin and various NFT collections, is behind the game, Fortune cited the sources as saying. A spokesperson for Zanker denied any similarity to Monopoly, while confirming that Zanker is working on a game, according to the report.

The Monopoly board game is owned by Hasbro, a company that acquired Parker Brothers, its original publisher, in 1991. Zanker

Red flag? Mantra's TVL jumped 500% as OM price collapsed

The total-value-locked (TVL) on Mantra’s RWA blockchain protocol reached a yearly high despite OM’s 90% price crash.

Mantra TVL surges 500% following OM’s crash

As of April 15, Mantra’s TVL (in OM terms) jumped to 4.21 million OM (~$3.24 million), an increase of over 500% from two days prior, according to data resource DefiLlama.

Mantra’s cumulative TVL chart. Source: DefiLlama.

Interestingly, the TVL rise accompanied a dramatic collapse in OM prices, which plunged over 90% during the weekend. The Mantra team attributed the sell-off to “reckless forced liquidations” initiated by centralized exchanges.

A rising TVL typically indicates that users are locking more tokens into a protocol’s smart contracts via staking, liquidity pools, lending, or farming for yield or network participation.

Analyst DOM spotted “aggressive buying” on crypto exchanges during the 90% OM price

Bitcoin price recovery could be capped at $90K — Here’s why

After consecutive drawdowns of 17.39% and 2.3% in February and March, Bitcoin’s (BTC) Q2 is shaping up nicely, with a return of 3.77% in April. While fresh yearly lows were formed at $74,500, BTC is currently closer to $90,000 than its new range bottom.

Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin’s higher time frame (HTF) market structure has achieved its first breakout of 2025, fueling optimism among bulls for significant upward momentum. However, the following factors could limit BTC’s gains over the next two weeks, likely capping its price at around $90,000.

Bitcoin needs spot volume, not just leverage-driven

Cointelegraph identified a cooldown period in the futures market as the BTC-USDT futures leverage ratio dropped by 50%. De-leveraging in the futures market is a positive development over the long term,

Bitdeer turns to self-mining Bitcoin, US operations amid tariff tumult — Report

Bitcoin miner Bitdeer is reportedly expanding its self-mining operations and investing in United States-based production as looming trade wars rock global supply chains and cryptocurrency markets.

Bitdeer has begun prioritizing mining Bitcoin (BTC) itself in response to cooling demand for its mining hardware from other miners, Bloomberg reported on April 15.

“Our plan going forward is to prioritize our own self-mining,” Jeff LaBerge, Bitdeer’s head of capital markets and strategic initiatives, reportedly said.

Additionally, Bitdeer plans to scale US hardware manufacturing in the second half of the year as US President Donald Trump touts plans to penalize foreign imports and promote domestic manufacturing, Bloomberg said.

“This is something we’ve been planning for a long time,” LaBerge said about the manufacturing plans. “We want to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America.”

In April, Trump tipped plans for sweeping tariffs on US imports. The Bitcoin network is