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Crypto crime goes industrial as gangs launch coins, launder billions — UN

Organized crime groups across Southeast Asia have scaled their operations by exploiting cryptocurrency and launching their own coins, exchanges and blockchain networks to launder billions of dollars, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The report said criminal syndicates are no longer just using existing crypto infrastructure. Instead, they are actively building tailored financial ecosystems to evade detection.

One example cited in the report is the Chinese-language ecosystem and marketplace known as Huione Guarantee, now rebranded as Haowang, which has processed more than $24 billion in crypto linked to fraud over the past four years.

Value of crypto funds received by Huione Guarantee continues to rise. Source: UNODC

Headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the platform has grown to more than 970,000 users and thousands of interconnected vendors.

“Concerningly, Huione has recently launched a range of its own cryptocurrency-related products, including a cryptocurrency

Crypto firms moving into Wall Street territory amid ‘growing synergy’

Cryptocurrency firms and exchanges are increasingly moving into Wall Street territory, launching more traditional investment offerings and showcasing the growing synergy between crypto and traditional finance (TradFi).

“There’s a growing synergy between traditional financial investments and the emerging crypto space,” according to Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange.

“Crypto players are now checking out traditional finance as they see the opportunity to bridge it,” Chen told Cointelegraph.

“The lines are blurring — investors want flexibility, and products that can straddle both worlds are naturally attractive,” Chen said. “Some players see TradFi as a safety net; others, like Bitget, see it as a launchpad for broader adoption.” She added:

“In a volatile market, integration is smarter than isolation.”

Chen’s comments come a week after crypto exchange Kraken launched access to 11,000

A guide to crypto trading bots: Analyzing strategies and performance

The cryptocurrency market has witnessed a surge in the adoption of automated trading solutions, with trading bots gaining prominence for their ability to analyze vast data sets and execute trades with precision.

Cointelegraph has dissected historical bot revenues and token price rollercoasters and backtested strategy returns against the buy-and-hold yardstick to decode what bots shine brightest — and when — so you can pick the perfect bot to match your style and stomach for risk.

We have examined three types of trading bots: Telegram bots trading on decentralized exchanges (DEX), non-Telegram bots trading on DEXs and on centralized exchanges (CEXs), and the recently evolving AI agent bots.

Choosing the right trading bot depends on the user’s goals, risk tolerance and experience. At a glance:

Telegram bots are ideal for fast, opportunistic trading like token launches and memecoins.

AI agent bots, such as ai16z or Virtuals, suit users who want hands-off automation and are comfortable with

Mixed sentiment as crypto funds see modest $6M inflows — CoinShares

Cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) showed signs of recovery last week with minor inflows after shedding more than $1 billion in outflows in the previous two weeks.

Crypto investment products saw modest inflows of $6 million during the week of April 14–18, reflecting mixed investor sentiment, CoinShares reported on April 22.

“While the week began with minor inflows, stronger-than-expected US retail sales figures mid-week likely triggered outflows of $146 million,” CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill wrote.

Weekly crypto ETP flows since late 2024. Source: CoinShares

Total assets under management (AUM) in crypto ETPs edged up 1.4% from roughly $129 billion as of April 11 to $131 billion as of April 18.

All US Bitcoin ETFs are red in April so far

According to the report, BlackRock’s iShares exchange-traded funds saw the biggest inflows last week at $182 million, while major issuers like Fidelity saw $123 million

Solana whale sits on $153M profit after 4-year staking play

A Solana address with over 1 million tokens is sitting on more than $153 million in profit after a four-year staking play on the crypto asset.

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged the wallet address of a whale that staked nearly 1 million Solana (SOL) tokens in 2021. At the time of the staking, Solana tokens were worth around $27, which means the trader spent about $27 million to execute the play.

Four years later, the whale’s total staked Solana holdings have reached 1.29 million. With Solana appreciating to about $140, the whale’s holdings have increased in value to about $180 million.

On April 22, the whale started offloading a portion of the token stash to cash out on the gains. Lookonchain reported that the whale had unstaked 100,000 SOL tokens (about $14 million) and sent them to Binance. Sending tokens to crypto exchanges

Oregon AG lawsuit against Coinbase calls XRP unregistered security

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s lawsuit against Coinbase argues that XRP and other digital assets are unregistered securities.

Rayield sued US-based, publicly traded crypto exchange Coinbase for allegedly violating Oregon’s securities law. In an April 18 announcement, the Oregon Department of Justice said the suit was part of an effort to fill what it described as a regulatory vacuum left by federal agencies under the Trump administration:

“States must fill enforcement vacuum being left by federal regulators who are abandoning these cases under Trump administration,“ the department said.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal voiced his frustration over the lawsuit in an April 21 X post. Justin Slaughter, the vice president of regulatory affairs at crypto investment firm Paradigm, pointed out that the lawsuit claims a long list of digital assets, including XRP (XRP), are unregistered

Coinbase considering applying for US banking license

US-based publicly traded crypto exchange Coinbase confirmed that it is considering applying for a US federal bank charter.

In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, Coinbase said it is considering pursuing a US federal bank charter, according to a company spokesperson.

“This is something Coinbase is actively considering but has not made any formal decisions yet,” the spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

Coinbase in-office photo. Source: Coinbase

The comments follow recent reports suggesting that Coinbase and multiple other major crypto firms were planning to apply for US banking licenses. Coinbase, stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos, and crypto custodian BitGo were the other firms mentioned.

Coinbase did not clarify to Cointelegraph why it is considering pursuing a bank charter. Still, a license could potentially allow crypto firms to operate like traditional lenders, taking deposits and making loans. Cointelegraph also reached out to the other firms reportedly considering

Gold is money, says Peter Schiff as price hits $3,500 ATH

Amid gold reaching new highs above $3,500, Peter Schiff — a prominent gold advocate and Bitcoin critic — argued that the precious metal is money, fueling backlash from the crypto community.

“Gold is not just any commodity, it’s money,” Schiff wrote in an X post on April 22 after gold prices briefly broke above $3,500.

While praising gold, Schiff sounded the alarm about the state of the economy, emphasizing that gold’s abnormal rally in the past few weeks holds negative implications for the US dollar.

Source: Peter Schiff

“This is the end of the US dollar’s dominance. Life in America is about to change in ways few can imagine,” he stated.

Gold is up 31% YTD, USD is down 9%

Schiff’s comments came amid gold futures surging to a record-breaking $3,500 on April 22, while spot gold has yet to touch

ECB flags risk of financial contagion from US Crypto push

The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised alarm over the potential fallout from the United States’ aggressive support for the crypto industry, warning that a surge in dollar-backed stablecoins could destabilize Europe’s financial system.

According to a policy paper seen by POLITICO, the ECB has asked for a revision of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies just months after it came into effect.

At the center of the dispute is the concern that US reforms, backed by President Donald Trump, could flood European markets with dollar-denominated stablecoins.

The ECB fears this could trigger a flight of European capital into US assets, undermining EU financial sovereignty and exposing banks to liquidity risks.

ECB and European Commission Clash Over MiCA Rules

While the ECB calls for tighter controls, the European Commission has dismissed these warnings as exaggerated, per the report.

The report, citing two diplomats and one EU

Polygon NFTs overtake Ethereum collectibles in 7-day sales

Polygon-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) took the top spot in digital collectible sales after surging 20% in the last seven days.

On April 22, NFT data tracker CryptoSlam showed that Polygon NFTs overtook Ethereum, reaching a $22.3 million volume in the past week. This represented 24% of last week’s overall NFT sales volume, which reached $92.9 million.

The network also had over 39,000 NFT buyers for the week, an 81% increase over the previous week.

Ethereum remained second in sales, with a $19.2 million NFT sales volume for the week. Mythos Chain followed with $14.3 million, while Bitcoin-based collections ranked fourth with $14.1 million for the week.

Top blockchains by seven-day NFT sales volume. Source: CryptoSlamRWA NFT collection drives Polygon surge

The Polygon NFT surge was driven by a single real-world asset (RWA) NFT collection, highlighting that the RWA narrative has reached the NFT space.

RWA tokenization