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BTC adds to weekend losses on Trump blockade order

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Trump met Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong before criticizing banks over crypto bill

Crypto prices are under further pressure during U.S. morning hours on Sunday after President Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy … will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” said the president in a social media post.

The president’s move came hours after Vice President J.D. Vance late Saturday announced that U.S. and Iranian negotiators had failed to agree to an extended ceasefire after long weekend meetings in Pakistan.

Trading above $73,000 for most of Saturday, bitcoin quickly pulled back to the $71,500 area following the Vance comments. In the minutes since President Trump announced the blockade, BTC has slid further to $70,900, now lower by 2.5% over the past 24 hours.

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Alameda moves $16 million in Solana’s SOL token for possible creditor payments

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Alameda moves $16 million in Solana's SOL token for possible creditor payments

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX’s sister company Alameda Research “unstaked” roughly $16 million worth of Solana’s SOL token and moved the same to an address linked to creditor repayments, according to data source Arkham.

Unstaking refers to the process of withdrawing crypto assets that were previously locked up in a proof-of-stake (PoS) network to help secure the blockchain and earn rewards.

The latest move follows a familiar pattern: unstake coins and route them to addresses used to reimburse creditors. About a month ago, Alameda did the same, directing funds to the same distribution address. That prior move ultimately raised expectations that the funds were part of an ongoing creditor repayment process tied to the firm’s restructuring.

While there has been no formal confirmation that this specific tranche will be distributed imminently, the repetition of the pattern suggests continuity in the process rather than an isolated movement.

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SOL, the native token of programmable blockchain Solana, has a market capitalization of $47.26 billion, which makes it the seventh-largest digital asset in the world. As of writing, SOL traded near $82, largely unchanged on a 24-hour basis, but down significantly from its all-time high of $293 hit in January last year.

Alameda, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried in 2017, began as a quantitative trading shop focused on arbitrage opportunities in digital assets, exploiting price differences across exchanges and markets.

At its peak, Alameda was a major liquidity provider across crypto markets and was deeply embedded in the ecosystem, trading billions in volume and operating across spot, derivatives, and structured products.

Alameda still holds about 3.5 million SOL worth $294.10 million, per Arkham.

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South Korea pushes for crypto circuit breakers after Bithumb transfer error

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South Korea tax agency moves to outsource seized crypto custody after security lapse

The South Korean central bank has called for cryptocurrency exchanges to implement their own “circuit breakers” to pause trading and prevent market panic after a clerical error at Bithumb led to the accidental transfer of $42 billion in Bitcoin to its customers.

Summary

  • The Bank of Korea is urging the government to mandate trading curbs on cryptocurrency platforms to prevent market destabilization caused by operational failures.
  • The central bank reports that the lack of internal controls led to a February incident where Bithumb accidentally distributed $42 billion in Bitcoin due to a clerical error.
  • New regulatory proposals suggest that exchanges should implement automated systems to detect human mistakes and verify internal asset balances against the blockchain in real time.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) stated in a payments report released Monday that officials should adopt trading curbs modeled after the Korea Exchange to freeze activity during sudden price swings. 

This recommendation follows a massive clerical error in February, where Bithumb, one of the country’s largest platforms, accidentally distributed over $40 billion in Bitcoin to its users.

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The central bank highlighted a significant gap in oversight between digital asset platforms and traditional finance. “Currently, the virtual asset industry lacks internal control mechanisms and faces lower regulatory intensity compared to established financial institutions,” the BOK noted. 

Officials argued that new rules are essential to prevent a repeat of recent disruptions, stating, “Consequently, as similar incidents could occur at other virtual asset exchanges, it is necessary to strengthen relevant regulations to prevent them in advance.”

The proposal arrives as South Korean legislators work on a new regulatory framework for the industry. The BOK urged that these specific safety measures be woven into the upcoming laws “to enhance the safety and transparency of virtual asset exchange operations.”

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The Bithumb incident

The push for reform stems from an early February event where Bithumb mistakenly sent out 620,000 Bitcoin—valued at roughly $42 billion at the time—to customers. The error occurred when the system processed a transfer as cryptocurrency instead of the intended 620,000 Korean won, a sum worth only about $400.

The massive influx of coins triggered an immediate market crash on the platform. As recipients began selling their windfall, other investors panicked, further dragging down the price. 

While Bithumb managed to halt trading and reverse most of the transfers within minutes, 1,788 BTC had already been liquidated. The exchange had to use its own corporate reserves to cover the resulting $125 million shortfall.

To mitigate such risks, the central bank suggested that platforms must deploy systems specifically designed to catch “erroneous payments caused by human error.” 

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The report also recommended a requirement for exchanges to run automated checks that sync internal records with blockchain data to immediately spot any asset discrepancies.

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TRUMP Token Whales Loading Up Before Luncheon Event

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TRUMP Token Whales Loading Up Before Luncheon Event

Crypto whales have continued to load up on the TRUMP memecoin ahead of the luncheon at US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida this month, which offers entry to the largest holders.

One whale withdrew about 105,754 TRUMP from Binance on Saturday to add to its stash of 1.13 million TRUMP, worth about $3.2 million, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain said in an X post on Sunday.

Two days earlier, another whale withdrew 850,488 Trump from the crypto exchange Bybit.

On Monday, another holder increased their TRUMP stash to more than 368,000 tokens after withdrawing from BitMart, and a fourth whale boosted their stash to over one million tokens after withdrawing from Bybit, according to blockchain explorer Solscan.

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Critics have accused Trump of using his position as US president for personal financial gain through the scheme. Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills to limit political influence and profits from memecoins.

Source: Lookonchain

The top 297 token holders are invited to a luncheon on April 25 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The event has billed the president as the keynote speaker and offered a private reception for the top 29 holders, despite the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., being the same day.

TRUMP drops 33% since March announcement

Trump’s announcement of the luncheon in March saw TRUMP spike more than 50% to a peak of $4.35. However, the memecoin has since dropped by over 33% to trade at $2.80 as of Monday, according to CoinGecko.

Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told Cointelegraph the price is likely being pushed lower as retail-driven market selling overwhelms already thin liquidity, forcing continuous repricing.

“At the same time, insider supply overhang means even small distributions from concentrated wallets can absorb whale bids, limiting any meaningful upside follow-through,” he added.

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Crypto data analytics platform CoinCarp lists 642,882 TRUMP holders, with over 91% of the supply concentrated among the top 10 wallets and over 97% among the top 100 wallets.

Token spiked after the crypto gala announcement last year

Trump held his first “crypto gala” dinner in May 2025, a few months after his Jan. 20 inauguration as US president, which drew concern from critics who accused him of using his position for personal financial gain.

Related: Bessent ramps up pressure on Congress to pass CLARITY Act

The token peaked at $15.59 about a month before the event, but fell as the event drew closer, gradually falling to $8.90 a month after the event.

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John said this time around, the token could stage a recovery, with the 2026 midterms acting as a potential sentiment multiplier and other positive announcements. Catalysts and early signs of institutional accumulation could help establish a floor and trigger reflexive upside, he said.

“One catalyst to watch is the potential for event-driven launches like the Trump Billionaire Game, which could generate the social buzz needed to drive short-term upside momentum,” John added. 

Magazine: Bitcoin quantum-safe without upgrade? CZ’s 2031 crypto vision: Hodler’s Digest, April 5 – 11