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South Korean crypto exchange users hit 16M in ‘saturation point’

Crypto exchange users in South Korea have crossed over 16 million after receiving a boost following US President Donald Trump’s election win last November.

Data submitted to representative Cha Gyu-geun of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party found over 16 million people had crypto exchange accounts out of a total population of 51.7 million, according to a March 30 report from local news agency Yonhap.

This would be equivalent to over 30% of the population.

All the data was taken from the top five domestic virtual exchanges in South Korea: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax. Individuals with multiple accounts were only counted once.

Industry officials are reportedly speculating the number of crypto users could hit 20 million by the end of the year, with one unnamed official being cited by Yonhap saying:

“Some believe the crypto market has reached a saturation point, but

Japan to classify cryptocurrencies as financial products: Report

Japan’s finance regulator is planning to change the country’s laws to classify cryptocurrencies as financial products as early as 2026, according to the local outlet Nikkei.

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to submit a bill to parliament to revise the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act as early as next year after having considered the changes through internal study groups, Nikkei reported on March 30 without citing a source.

The outlet reported that the details are still being finalized, but the change would see cryptocurrencies likely put under insider trading laws that currently apply to other financial products, such as stocks, which outlaw trades based on insider information.

However, cryptocurrencies are likely to be put in a separate category from securities such as stocks and bonds.

If the changes go through and crypto is regulated under the country’s finance laws, companies offering crypto would

California introduces ’Bitcoin rights’ in amended digital assets bill

A Californian lawmaker has just added Bitcoin and crypto investor protections to a February-introduced money transmission bill aimed at securing crypto self-custody rights for the US state’s nearly 40 million residents.

California’s Assembly Bill 1052 was introduced as the Money Transmission Act on Feb. 20, 2025, but was amended by Democrat and Banking and Finance Committee chair Avelino Valencia on March 28 to include several Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto-related investor protections.

The amendments cross out “Money Transmission Act,” with the legislation now called “Digital assets.”

“California often sets the national blueprint for policy, and if Bitcoin Rights passes here, it can pass anywhere,” Satoshi Action Fund CEO Dennis Porter said in a March 30 statement.

“Once passed, this legislation will guarantee nearly 40 million Californians the right to self-custody their digital assets without fear of discrimination.”

Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null"

DeFi protocol SIR.trading loses entire $355K TVL in ‘worst news’ possible

Ethereum-based DeFi protocol SIR.trading, also known as Synthetics Implemented Right, has been hacked, resulting in the loss of its entire total value locked (TVL) — $355,000 at the time of the attack.

The March 30 hack was initially detected by blockchain security firms TenArmorAlert and Decurity, both of which posted warnings on X to alert users of the protocol.

The protocol’s founder, known only as Xatarrer, described the hack as “the worst news a protocol could received [sic],” but suggested the team intends to try to keep the protocol going despite the setback.

Source: SIR.trading on X

“Clever attack” targeted contract vault

Decurity described the hack as a “clever attack” that targeted a callback function used in the protocol’s “vulnerable contract Vault” which leverages Ethereum’s transient storage feature.

According to Decurity, the attacker was able to

MARA Holdings plans huge $2B stock offering to buy more Bitcoin

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings Inc (MARA) is looking to sell up to $2 billion in stock to buy more Bitcoin as part of a plan that bears a resemblance to Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

MARA Holdings, formerly Marathon Digital, said in a March 28 Form 8-K and prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it entered into an at-the-market agreement with investment giants, including Cantor Fitzgerald and Barclays, for them to sell up to $2 billion worth of its stock “from time to time.”

“We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin and for working capital,” MARA added.

MARA’s move copies a tactic made famous by Bitcoin (BTC) bull Saylor, the executive chair of the largest <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/microstrategy-bitcoin-purchases-hodl" rel="null"

Android malware ‘Crocodilus’ can take over phones to steal crypto

Cybersecurity firm Threat Fabric says it has found a new family of mobile-device malware that can launch a fake overlay for certain apps to trick Android users into providing their crypto seed phrases as it takes over the device.

Threat Fabric analysts said in a March 28 report that the Crocodilus malware uses a screen overlay warning users to back up their crypto wallet key by a specific deadline or risk losing access.

“Once a victim provides a password from the application, the overlay will display a message: Back up your wallet key in the settings within 12 hours. Otherwise, the app will be reset, and you may lose access to your wallet,” Threat Fabric said.

“This social engineering trick guides the victim to navigate to their seed phrase wallet key, allowing Crocodilus to harvest the text using its accessibility logger.”

Source: <a

One in four S&P 500 firms will hold Bitcoin by 2030: Crypto advisory

Around a quarter of firms listed on the S&P 500 would have invested in Bitcoin by 2030, with treasury managers fearing they could lose their jobs if they missed out on potential Bitcoin gains, a partner at a tech-focused financial advisory firm said.

“I anticipate that by 2030, a quarter of the S&P 500 will have BTC somewhere on their balance sheets as a long-term asset,” Elliot Chun, a partner at Architect Partners, said in a March 28 blog.

Chun said this shift will be driven by treasury managers feeling compelled to at least experiment with Bitcoin (BTC).

“If you tried it and it worked, you’re a genius. If you tried it and it didn’t work, you at least tried. But if you didn’t try and have no good reason, your job may be at risk.”

Strategy (MSTR) is the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/microstrategy-surpasses-500k-bitcoin-holdings-sec-filing" rel="null"

Bitcoin falls to $81.5K as US stock futures sell-off in advance of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

Bitcoin looks set for a bearish open to mark the last trading day of March and possibly the weakest Q1 performance since 2018.

Crypto and stock traders’ anxiety over US President Donald Trump’s fresh wave of 25% tariffs on cars imported to the US, the threat of tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry is clearly reflected in BTC’s current downside. Trump’s frequent references to April 2 being “Liberation Day” (the day when an apparent number for “reciprocal tariffs” will be assigned to various countries) also has shaken traders’ confidence.

At the time of publishing, stock futures have already slipped into the red, with the DOW futures shedding 206 points and the S&P 500 futures down 0.56%. As expected, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price moved in tandem with equities markets, slipping to $81,656 on March 30 and locking in a 7th consecutive day of lower lows.

Centralization and the dark side of asset tokenization — MEXC exec

Tracy Jin, the chief operating officer at the MEXC crypto exchange, warns that tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) carries a substantial amount of centralized risks that can lead to censorship, liquidity issues, legal uncertainty, cybersecurity problems, and asset confiscation through state or third-party intermediaries.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, the executive said that as long as tokenized assets remain under the purview of state regulators and centralized intermediaries, then “tokenization will simply be a new version of old financial infrastructure and not a financial revolution.” Jin added:

“Most tokenized assets will be issued on permissioned or semi-centralized blockchains. This gives authorities the power to issue restrictions or confiscate assets. The tokenization of assets such as real estate or bonds is still tied to the national legal system.”

“If the property or company behind the token is local, in a country with an unstable legal environment or high political volatility, the risk of confiscation increases,”

Bitcoin bottom ‘likely’ at $80K, opening door for TON, CRO, MNT and RENDER to rally

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls are trying to start a recovery but selling at higher levels continues to disarm each attack of the range highs. Veteran trader Peter Brandt said in a post on X that Bitcoin has broken down from a bear wedge pattern, giving it a target objective of $65,635.

The current macroeconomic environment and the fears of a prolonged trade war have created a 40% possibility of a recession in 2025, according to Coin Bureau founder Nic Puckrin. Puckrin said that a recession and the current macroeconomic uncertainty could put pressure on risky assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

However, not everyone is bearish on Bitcoin in the near term. Analyst Stockmoney Lizards said in a post on X that Bitcoin’s local