Bitcoin price flips volatile as traders eye $84.5K breakout

Bitcoin (BTC) repeated earlier volatility at the April 1 Wall Street open as US trade tariff talk kept markets nervous.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin stays erratic ahead of crunch tariffs

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD making rapid moves within its weekly trading range of around $83,000.

US stocks ticked lower at the open, while gold came off fresh all-time highs of $3,149 per ounce.

Talk of recession began to return to the spotlight ahead of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day,” due on April 2 and on which he promised to unveil a new round of trade tariffs.

“Equity markets are clearly pricing-in a recession: The S&P 500 is down -2% since Fed rate cuts began in September 2024,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of an <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1907064949563695333" rel="null" target="null"

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Multiple altcoins crash on April Fools’ day, crypto market holds steady

A number of altcoins and memecoins saw a sharp sell-off on April Fools’ Day, April 1, with some tokens, including Act I The AI Prophecy, dropping nearly 60% in minutes.

Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT), a token associated with the eponymous project focused on artificial intelligence, plunged 58% from $0.19 to $0.08 in less than an hour on April 1, with its market cap shedding $96 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The sharp drop of ACT came along with notable red action in the altcoin market, with memecoins like sudeng (HIPPO), CZ’S Dog (BROCCOLI), Kishu Inu (KISHU), DeXe (DEXE), dForce (DF) and more seeing significant price declines.

Cryptocurrency market at a glance. Source: Coin360

The broader crypto market hasn’t reacted negatively to panic in altcoin markets, with major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC)

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Bitcoin’s quantum-resistant hard fork is inevitable — It’s the only chance to fix node incentives

Opinion by: Dr. Michael Tabone, senior economist for Cointelegraph

Bitcoin (BTC) has long been hailed as unbreakable and untouchable, a digital stronghold against the forces of change. Bitcoin’s bedrock of security is facing its first true test with quantum computing, which should be addressed sooner rather than later. Its cryptographic armor will crack if not addressed, forcing the network to adapt or perish.

Bitcoin’s node count is growing, but incentives are still absent

Bitcoin’s full node network has grown over time, a sign of increasing adoption and a more robust infrastructure, but the core issue remains. The voluntary act of running a node still has no financial incentive. Miners earn rewards for securing the network, yet full node operators get nothing for their role in keeping Bitcoin decentralized.

At the same time, a significant portion of these nodes are run by exchanges, custodians and

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Bybit to shut down NFT marketplace as trading volumes decline

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has announced the shutdown of its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

In an April 1 announcement, Bybit warned its users that its NFT marketplace will cease operations on April 8, 2025, at 4:00 pm (UTC). Furthermore, at that time, the exchange will also shut down its Inscription Marketplace and its initial decentralized exchange offering initiative.

Related: Bybit: 89% of stolen $1.4B crypto still traceable post-hack

The announcement explains that the measures are part of Bybit’s “efforts to streamline our offerings.” The decision follows a similar decision by major NFT marketplace X2Y2 announced earlier this week.

Charu Sethi, president at NFT-focused Polkadot and Kusama chain Unique Network, told Cointelegraph at the time that the market moved on from speculative to utility-based:

“The speculative phase focused on collectibles and trading is over, but NFTs are now entering their next

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Coinbase sees worst quarter since FTX collapse amid industry bloodbath

Publicly traded US-based crypto exchange Coinbase saw its worst quarter since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in 2022.

Coinbase shares started 2025 trading at just over $257 on Jan. 2 and ended the quarter at a little over $172 on March 31, a dip of 33%, according to market data.

This makes the first quarter of 2025 the worst for Coinbase’s stock performance since the collapse of FTX in November 2022. In Q4 of that year, its share price went from nearly $66 on Oct. 3 to $35.4 on Dec. 30, a loss of 46.4%.

Coinbase shares year-to-date price chart. Source: Google Finance

Coinbase has gained a significant foothold in the crypto market. Its prevalence is substantial enough that some industry experts recently told Cointelegraph its emergence as the Ethereum network’s largest node operator raises concerns about network centralization.

Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-carolina-dismisses-staking-lawsuit-against-coinbase"

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Hacker transfers $70M out of payment platform UPCX

Update April 1, 1:42 pm UTC: This article has been updated to add comments from Cyvers co-founder and chief technology officer Meir Dolev.

An unauthorized party withdrew approximately $70 million in digital assets from open-source payment platform UPCX, according to a security alert issued on April 1.

The blockchain security firm Cyvers flagged suspicious activity involving 18.4 million UPC tokens, estimating the value of the compromised funds at around $70 million.

Cyvers said someone accessed a UPCX address and upgraded its ProxyAdmin contract. The attacker then executed a function that allows admins to withdraw, leading to fund transfers from three different management accounts. 

At the time of writing, the stolen tokens had not been swapped for other crypto assets.

Cointelegraph has contacted UPCX for comments but did not receive an immediate response. 

UPC price dips by 7% amid unauthorized transfer

UPCX acknowledged it had detected “unauthorized activity” involving its management accounts.

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Smart money concepts (SMC) in crypto trading: How to track & profit

Key takeaways

Smart money consists of institutional investors with advanced tools and knowledge that can influence crypto market trends.

Key concepts like order blocks, liquidity zones and fair value gaps can help traders align with smart money strategies.

Real-time tracking tools such as Glassnode, Nansen and CoinGecko allow traders to follow smart money’s moves and capitalize on them.

Following the movements of smart money is akin to navigating the open sea, using their wake to position yourself for success in the crypto market.

Smart money refers to the money being invested by individuals or organizations that know the markets inside and out. We’re talking about institutional investors, hedge funds and well-seasoned traders. These are the big players who have access to more information and tools than most of us, and they use that knowledge to make strategic decisions.

In the crypto world, “smart money” is especially powerful because the market is

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Former Blade of God X exec claims game ‘abandoned’ Web3

A former executive of the Web3 game Blade of God X (BOGX) accused the project of abandoning its blockchain-based roadmap after raising funds through the crypto space.

On April 1, BOGX’s former chief marketing officer Amber Bella claimed in an X post that despite being funded by Web3 sources, the game “completely abandoned” its Web3 goals and the team working on its Web3 features.  

“Web3 was completely abandoned, and my Web3 team’s salaries went from delayed payments to no payments at all,” Bella claimed.

The former game executive also said that instead of compensating users and repaying funds to non-fungible token (NFT) buyers, the game’s founder, Tnise Liu Yang, decided to block her from all personal communication channels.

Related: Kalshi sues Nevada and New Jersey gaming regulators

Former BOGX exec says founder avoided refund conversation 

In the X thread, Bella <a

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Bitcoin mining using coal energy down 43% since 2011 — Report

The use of hydrocarbon fuels in Bitcoin mining has seen a sharp decline over the past 13 years, with the use of coal energy dropping significantly.

The share of coal energy use in Bitcoin (BTC) mining has dropped from 63% in 2011 to 20% in 2024, according to a new report released by the industry organization MiCA Crypto Alliance in collaboration with the risk metrics data platform Nodiens.

In parallel, the share of renewable energy used in Bitcoin mining has steadily increased, growing at an average rate of 5.8% per year.

Bitcoin absolute energy consumption trends and share of renewable and coal energy. Source: MiCA Crypto Alliance

The data reflects a steady shift of Bitcoin mining to cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, with the study forecasting further decarbonization and mitigation of BTC’s environmental footprint in the coming years.

Global coal energy use surged

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Metaplanet adds $67M in Bitcoin following 10-to-1 stock split

Japan-based Metaplanet has expanded its Bitcoin holdings, purchasing 696 BTC for 10.152 billion yen ($67 million), the company announced in an April 1 post on X.

The investment pushes Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin stash to 4,046 BTC, valued at over $341 million at the time of writing.

Source: Metaplanet

Stock split targets investor accessibility

The acquisition comes shortly after Metaplanet issued 2 billion Japanese yen ($13.3 million) of bonds to buy more BTC, Cointelegraph reported on March 31.

Source: Simon Gerovich

The move also comes shortly after Metaplanet’s 10-to-1 reverse stock split. The company had previously warned in a Feb. 18 filing that its share price had risen significantly, creating a high barrier to entry for retail investors.

“We implemented a reverse stock split consolidating 10 shares into 1. Since then, our stock price has risen

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