Crypto World
CFTC Chair Mike Selig Says AI Offsets Crypto Staff Cuts
TLDR
- CFTC Chairman Mike Selig told lawmakers that AI tools help the agency maintain oversight despite a reduced workforce.
- About 25% of the CFTC staff has left since 2025 following federal workforce cuts.
- Selig said Microsoft Copilot supports internal workflows and investigations across the agency.
- The enforcement division seeks three additional staff positions but remains below 2025 staffing levels.
- Lawmakers questioned whether the CFTC has enough resources to oversee crypto and prediction markets.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is expanding oversight of crypto and prediction markets despite fewer staff. Chairman Mike Selig told lawmakers that AI tools help maintain enforcement capacity. He said the agency continues rulemaking and investigations while operating with reduced personnel.
AI Tools Support Oversight as Workforce Shrinks
Selig told the House Agriculture Committee that AI supports surveillance and investigations. He said Microsoft’s Copilot assists staff across internal workflows and case reviews. He added that the agency runs “more efficiently and effectively” despite staff reductions.
About 25% of CFTC employees have left since 2025 under federal workforce cuts. Agency records show the enforcement division seeks three new hires next year. The request would raise staffing to 108, still 23% below the 140 positions in 2025.
Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson addressed the expanding mandate over digital assets and prediction markets. He asked Selig to request more qualified staff if operational needs rise. Selig replied, “Absolutely,” and reiterated that enforcement remains a “top priority.”
Representative Angie Craig questioned whether the workforce can meet current demands. She said the agency serves as the primary regulator of two fast-growing markets. Craig urged Congress to provide staff, funding, and statutory authority.
The commission currently operates with only Selig as a member. Federal law calls for five commissioners, including two from the minority party. Lawmakers asked whether Selig would advance major rules alone.
Selig said the agency cannot slow rulemaking for the public’s sake. He confirmed plans to proceed with regulatory actions as a single commissioner. The CFTC has started a preliminary rule process for U.S. prediction markets.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Fall Under Expanding CFTC Role
The Senate continues work on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The bill would assign the CFTC central authority over non-securities crypto trading. That mandate would include bitcoin at $75,158.21 and Ethereum’s ether.
Selig’s predecessor, Rostin Behnam, had argued for more staffing to oversee crypto. He said the agency lacked resources to police expanding prediction markets. Selig now leads the regulator during rapid growth in those markets.
Platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi have expanded from millions to billions in annual volumes. Selig said the CFTC claims legal jurisdiction over these prediction markets. He acknowledged “numerous investigations ongoing” but declined to share numbers.
Selig said regulated platforms serve as the first line of defense. He described the CFTC as a second line against insider trading and fraud. He warned that violators will face “the full force of the law.”
He said the agency regularly rejects contracts that fail review. He stated, “We’re actively reviewing what’s out there,” and emphasized a “zero tolerance” policy. The CFTC continues to assess hundreds of new binary event markets each day.
Sky’s native stablcoins are being deployed on Avalanche via Skylink, Sky’s crosschain bridge protocol built on LayerZero infra.
Sky, the decentralized finance protocol formerly known as MakerDAO, has announced the first native deployment of its native stablecoin, USDS, and its yield-bearing version, Savings USDS (sUSDS), on Avalanche.
The rollout runs on Skylink, the Sky ecosystem’s crosschain bridge protocol, built on LayerZero infrastructure. Unlike traditional bridge deployments, Skylink operates on a burn-and-mint framework that requires no bridge liquidity, accoriding to Sky’s X announcement.
Grove Finance initiated the bridge of Sky’s USDS and sUSDS to Avalanche via Skylink, becoming the first entity to transfer the assets directly from Ethereum mainnet to Avalanche. “This is the first native deployment of USDS and sUSDS on Avalanche,” Sky emphasized on X, clarifying:
“Every previous stablecoin expansion into a new network required third-party bridges, but Skylink removes that dependency entirely.”
Explaining the phased rollout, Sky wrote that the Avalanche bridge went live on April 13 with a daily transfer cap of 5 million in either direction, set by Sky governance. Limits are set to increase to their final capacity on April 27, with native USDS-to-sUSDS conversions directly on Avalanche expected later in Q2 2026, per Sky’s X thread.
Avalanche currently has just over $756 million in total value locked in DeFi, per DefiLlama data, making it the 12th-largest chain by DeFi TVL. Ethereum is the largest with over $58 billion.
In a separate collaboration between Grove and Sky, yesterday Grove announced it had received 25 million USDS from the Sky ecosystem as part of its Agent Network allocations. “Each allocation expands the Sky Agent Network’s capacity to generate diversified yield,” Sky wrote on X.
Sky is the rebranded version of MakerDAO, one of DeFi’s oldest and most influential protocols. As The Defiant reported in August 2024, the rebrand introduced USDS as a successor to DAI, the protocol’s long-running decentralized stablecoin, as part of the protocol’s sweeping “Endgame” overhaul.
The Avalanche news adds to a busy week for the network. Just yesterday, April 15, Bitwise launched its Avalanche ETF (BAVA) on NYSE Arca, offering investors regulated AVAX exposure with in-house staking.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
Key takeaways:
-
Negative Bitcoin futures funding rates signal bear-market losses and forced liquidations rather than a shift in sentiment.
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Institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs and corporate accumulation suggest that spot demand remains solid.
Bitcoin (BTC) sold off in early trading hours at the US stock market open, briefly losing the $75,000 level before rebounding. This unexpected price swing triggered $120 million in liquidations of leveraged long (buy) BTC futures positions. During this ordeal, the Bitcoin funding rate has remained negative, which could hint at further downside and a potential advantage to the bears.
The negative funding rate has been the norm since Monday, indicating a lack of demand for bullish leverage. Negative rates mean shorts (sellers) are the ones paying to keep their positions open. Under neutral conditions, the indicator should range between 5% and 10% to compensate for the cost of capital and exchange risks. At first sight, a 20% rate indicates conviction, but that is not the whole story.
Liquidations back Bitcoin’s negative funding rate
The perpetual contract funding rates are calculated every 8 hours on most exchanges. Temporary spikes to 20%, either positive or negative, are not particularly concerning for most traders, as they amount to a 0.05% daily fee. In essence, even if the position has extremely high leverage, such as 20x, the cost is 1%. Unless this issue persists for much longer, it is hardly a burden.
Bitcoin bearish positions have been forcefully liquidated for $365 million since Monday, which has naturally eroded collateral on short positions. Traders could have opted to sit tight rather than rush to add margin, anticipating that funding rates would adjust on their own. Thus, the negative funding rate reflects losses from bears rather than conviction.
Bitcoin’s intraday moves have largely tracked the S&P 500 index for the past couple of weeks. The US stock market jumped to an all-time high on Thursday while Bitcoin remains distant from its $126,200 peak. Consecutive failures to re-establish the $76,000 level partially explain the lack of enthusiasm in BTC derivatives markets. Still, the latest round of US economic data is supportive for risk markets, including Bitcoin.
US industrial production decreased by 0.5% in March from the previous month, according to data released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday. Consumer durable goods were the negative highlight, with automotive production down 2.8%. In parallel, the continuing jobless claims increased 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.818 million during the week ended April 4.
While counterintuitive, the S&P 500 benefited from the increased economic recession, which forced the government to accelerate stimulus measures. The upward pressure on inflation, which has also been fueled by the surge in oil prices, reduces incentives to hold fixed-income investments.
Related: Bitcoin bull run ‘still too early’ to call as demand lags exiting capital–Analyst
The Bitcoin options market data provides no signs of excessive demand for downside price protection. The premium paid on put (sell) options on Deribit has lagged behind the equivalent call (buy) instruments over the past week. The $921 million in net inflows into US-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs over five days, along with continued accumulation from Strategy (MSTR US), boosted investors’ confidence.
At the moment, Bitcoin’s negative funding rate does not raise alarms, especially since institutional investor demand remains strong in BTC’s spot markets.
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research before making any decisions. Cointelegraph makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information presented, including forward-looking statements, and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from reliance on this content.
Josh Stark, a leading researcher and project manager at the Ethereum Foundation, is stepping away after five years with the non-profit behind Ethereum’s core ecosystem. In a short post on X, Stark said he has “no plans for the future” and will take time off to focus on family and friends, without detailing his next steps. His departure marks the most high-profile exit from the Foundation since a broader leadership reshuffle began to take shape in 2025.
Stark’s exit appears to be part of a larger current of change at the Ethereum Foundation, which has seen several leadership moves and a reorientation of its long-term strategic direction over the past year. Stark was listed among the four individuals identified as “Management” on the Foundation’s organizational chart, which maps reporting lines across the staff. Cointelegraph reached out to Stark for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
The timing sits against a broader background: in early 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced sweeping changes to the Foundation in response to growing debate over the organization’s trajectory. The updated plan aimed to infuse the Foundation with new talent, broaden decentralization, and invest in upgrading the protocol for higher throughput and faster transaction speeds. Buterin stressed that the changes would not involve lobbying in Washington or representing “vested interests,” and signaled that anyone seeking a different vision could form new organizations if they chose to do so.
Key takeaways
- Josh Stark leaves the Ethereum Foundation after five years, choosing a period of personal time with family and friends, with no stated next step.
- The departure follows a year of leadership shifts at the Foundation that align with Vitalik Buterin’s 2025 reform and decentralization push.
- In March 2025, the Foundation announced new co-directors: Hsiao-Wei Wang, a researcher at the Foundation, and Tomasz Stańczak, CEO of Nethermind, signaling a tighter, more centralized governance structure—at least in the near term.
- Stańczak stepped down from his role in February 2026, while Wang remains on the management board, indicating ongoing realignment within the organization.
- Observers will be watching how these leadership changes influence EF-backed projects, community sentiment, and the pace of Ethereum ecosystem initiatives.
Inside the leadership churn
Stark’s departure is a notable marker in a period of redefinition for the Ethereum Foundation. He has long been considered a key steward of Ethereum’s core research and project management efforts, helping navigate improvements to the network and its development roadmap. The explicit reasons for his exit were not disclosed, but his message on X underscored a personal, rather than strategic, exit—“no plans for the future”—and a focus on private life for the time being. The Foundation’s internal structure shows Stark among the core management team, suggesting his role was central to ongoing projects and coordination across teams.
The broader context is critical. In January 2025, Vitalik Buterin outlined a set of leadership changes designed to address community concerns about the Foundation’s direction and to accelerate progress on Ethereum’s scaling, governance, and decentralization. Buterin described a move away from centralized influence toward a model that emphasizes decentralization and openness to new organizational forms that might pursue different visions for Ethereum. He stressed the Foundation would refrain from ideological campaigning or lobbying, and invited others to form alternative groups if they believed they could advance different priorities.
That shift culminated in March 2025 with the Foundation officially naming new co-directors. Hsiao-Wei Wang, a longtime Ethereum Foundation researcher, joined Tomasz Stańczak, the chief executive of Nethermind (an Ethereum execution client), as co-directors. The arrangement signaled a renewed emphasis on leadership depth and an alignment of research and execution capabilities with governance oversight. The move was framed as a step toward more robust governance and a refreshed mandate for Ethereum’s ongoing development and ecosystem support.
What changed—and what remains uncertain
The leadership overhaul in 2025 represented more than a personnel reshuffle. It signaled a strategic pivot aimed at accelerating protocol improvements and expanding the Foundation’s ability to back core infrastructure and ecosystem projects. Buterin’s remarks suggested a deliberate move away from direct activism or involvement in external lobby efforts, focusing instead on building out internal capabilities and encouraging the broader ecosystem to organize around shared goals—and to form new entities if they desired a different course.
With Stańczak’s February 2026 departure, the Foundation’s leadership picture shifted again. Wang remains on the management board, indicating continuity in the new direction and a continued emphasis on research-driven governance. Yet the exact long-term balance between centralized leadership and decentralized governance within the Foundation remains an evolving question. For developers and projects that rely on EF funding and strategic guidance, leadership stability—alongside predictable support for grant programs, tooling, and ecosystem initiatives—will continue to be a watch point.
From an ecosystem perspective, the changes could have several implications. On one hand, a renewed leadership slate—combining deep technical know-how with execution-focused leadership—could streamline decision-making, reduce bottlenecks, and accelerate critical upgrades or incentive programs. On the other hand, persistent turnover at the Foundation can raise questions about continuity and the consistency of funding priorities, particularly for projects spanning Layer 2s, client implementations, and security research.
Market watchers and project teams will be looking for signals about how the Foundation plans to allocate resources, how it engages with core development efforts, and how governance processes might evolve under Wang’s and the Foundation’s current leadership. The near-term question is whether the shift will translate into more ambitious support for scaling solutions, faster client performance improvements, and a more transparent, participatory approach to funding decisions that reflect the wider Ethereum community’s priorities.
Broader implications for builders and users
For builders and users, leadership changes in the Ethereum Foundation can be both a source of reassurance and uncertainty. Reassurance comes from the prospect of a more focused, technically driven strategy that prioritizes resilient infrastructure and scalable upgrades. Uncertainty arises when leadership transitions intersect with funding cycles, policy directions for research, and the timing of strategic initiatives that affect development roadmaps and ecosystem incentives.
As the Foundation navigates this period of transition, contributors and stakeholders will be paying close attention to commitments around critical efforts—such as client diversity and performance improvements, rollouts of Layer 2 technologies, and security research that underpins Ethereum’s continued resilience. The ongoing governance arrangements within the EF’s management structure will likely shape how quickly these initiatives advance and how broadly they are supported across the ecosystem.
What to watch next
Readers should monitor how the Ethereum Foundation balances leadership continuity with strategic renewal. Key questions include how Wang’s ongoing role on the management board will influence budgeting, project selection, and stakeholder engagement; whether additional leadership changes will follow Stańczak’s departure; and how the Foundation’s stance on decentralization and external collaboration evolves in practice. As Ethereum’s roadmap continues to unfold—toward higher throughput, stronger security, and broader adoption—the Foundation’s governance choices will remain a meaningful barometer of the project’s longer-term direction.
In the near term, stakeholders will also want clarity on grant cycles, support for core infrastructure initiatives, and the Foundation’s approach to coordinating with other major ecosystem players. The volatility of leadership turnover is not new to Ethereum’s ecosystem, but it will be important to see how the Foundation translates changes in management into tangible progress for developers and users alike.
Crypto World
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Circle Over Drift Protocol $280 Million Hack: Gibbs Mura Law Group
Law firm charges Circle Internet Financial with failing to freeze $230 million in stolen USDC after the April 1 Drift Protocol exploit, allegedly linked to North Korean attackers.
A class action lawsuit was filed on April 14, 2026, by Gibbs Mura, A Law Group on behalf of Drift Protocol investors who lost funds in the $280 million April 1 hack. The lawsuit alleges that Circle Internet Financial knowingly permitted attackers—reportedly tied to North Korea’s government—to offload $230 million in stolen funds using Circle’s USDC stablecoin and CCTP bridge infrastructure over eight hours without freezing the assets, despite having the technical and contractual authority to do so.
The Drift Protocol exploit, executed via pre-signed administrative transactions on Solana, caused total value locked to collapse from $550 million to under $250 million and triggered indirect losses across at least 20 additional DeFi protocols. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic linked the attack to North Korean state-sponsored actors. The lawsuit claims Circle has accumulated over $420 million in alleged compliance failures by repeatedly allowing unrestricted use of its stablecoin and bridge services during large breaches involving misappropriated funds.
Sources: Gibbs Mura, A Law Group
This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.
Crypto World
Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC Shorts Liquidated Amid Massive Rally as AlphaPepe Unveils Game-Changing AI DEX Demo Live
Bitcoin ripped 5.7% in a single session on April 14, surging from $70,700 to above $76,000 as a $650 million short squeeze tore through the derivatives market. Over $515 million of that came from liquidated short positions, with 177,000 traders wiped out in 24 hours according to CoinGlass. The catalyst was a cooler-than-expected US inflation print that sent risk assets surging across equities and crypto simultaneously. The Bitcoin price prediction is back in breakout territory. But while leveraged traders scrambled to cover positions they never should have held, AlphaPepe quietly unveiled its live AI DEX demo to the public, and the presale crossed $870,000 with 7,700 wallets now positioned in Stage 13 at $0.01494.
$650 Million in Shorts Wiped as the Bitcoin Price Prediction Resets
The squeeze started building on April 13 when BTC broke above $72,000 and triggered the first wave of liquidations near $73,500. By Tuesday evening, the cascade had accelerated past $75,000 where CoinDesk data showed $200 million in additional shorts stacked at the $75,500 level. Dealers on Deribit held deeply negative gamma at $75,000, meaning every tick higher forced them to buy into the rising market to hedge, amplifying the move mechanically.
Spot ETFs added fuel. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $411 million in single-day inflows on April 14. Open interest across crypto futures surged to $126 billion, the highest since January 31. Bitcoin OI hit a record 767,000 BTC with positive funding rates and cumulative volume delta confirming that aggressive buyers, not short-covering alone, were driving the flow.
The rally stalled just below $76,000 as profit-taking kicked in. The Bitcoin price prediction consensus now clusters around $75,000 as the key level. A sustained hold above it opens the path toward $80,000 and eventually Standard Chartered’s $100,000 year-end target. A rejection sends it back into the $70,000 to $74,000 range for another consolidation phase.
Either outcome takes weeks to resolve. The short squeeze proved the momentum exists. What it did not prove is that $76,000 is the floor.
AlphaPepe Unveils Live AI DEX Demo While the Market Watches BTC
The timing was deliberate. While every headline focused on liquidation numbers and candlestick formations, AlphaPepe opened public access to the AlphaSwap demo, the live cross-chain AI DEX that screens contracts for exploit patterns before execution, surfaces whale wallet activity across chains in real time, and routes swaps through an AI engine already generating fee revenue.
This is the product. Not a testnet. Not a mockup. A working interface backed by a developer who shipped 500 million transactions on Shibarium mainnet before writing the first line of AlphaSwap. The smart contract carries a 10/10 BlockSAFU audit with zero vulnerabilities. Supply is fixed at 1 billion tokens. Every presale purchase delivers instantly with no vesting locks.
Over $870,000 raised from 7,700 wallets. Around 100 new addresses joining daily. Stage 13 sits at $0.01494 with the price rising every few days and again when each stage fills. Stakers collect 85% APR while the Q2 DEX launch approaches. A Tier 1 CEX debut follows directly after.
A $1,000 entry at $0.01494 secures 66,934 tokens. Analysts targeting $1.50 post-listing would value that at $100,401. At the aggressive end of $3.50, it crosses $234,269. Buyers at $1,000 or above can apply code ALPHA30 for a 30% bonus that stretches the count before the first candle prints. The Bitcoin price prediction needs $75,000 to hold. AlphaPepe needs Q2 to arrive. One is a question. The other is a date.
Shorts Got Liquidated. The Presale Keeps Filling.
The $650 million squeeze reminded the market what happens when positioning gets crowded on the wrong side. The AlphaPepe presale at $0.01494 with a live AI DEX demo and $870,000 raised is not a leveraged bet that can be liquidated overnight. It is an accumulation window that closes when Stage 13 fills and the next price level locks in.
Click To Visit AlphaPepe Official Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
How much was liquidated in the Bitcoin short squeeze?
Over $650 million in total liquidations with $515 million from short positions. The squeeze was triggered by a US inflation print and amplified by negative dealer gamma at $75,000.
What is the AlphaPepe AI DEX demo?
AlphaSwap is a live cross-chain AI DEX that screens contracts, tracks whale wallets, and routes swaps. The public demo is now accessible ahead of the Q2 launch.
Is the AlphaPepe presale still open?
Stage 13 is live at $0.01494 with over $870,000 raised and 7,700 holders. Tokens deliver instantly with no vesting and the next stage approaches at a higher price.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.
The UK’s FCA has opened a fresh consultation on how stablecoins, trading, custody and staking will be regulated before a full crypto regime goes live in 2027.
Summary
- The UK Financial Conduct Authority has launched a fresh consultation on how stablecoin issuance, trading platforms, custody and staking will be brought inside regulation.
- Industry feedback is open until June 3, 2026, with crypto firms able to apply for full FCA authorization from September 30, 2026, before the new regime starts in October 2027.
- The FCA says its crypto rulebook is “substantively complete” and aims to create a “competitive and sustainable” market, while warning that, for now, most crypto remains unregulated beyond promotions and financial crime.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is asking crypto firms and stakeholders to weigh in on the final pieces of its digital asset framework, opening a consultation on how specific activities such as stablecoin issuance, trading platforms, custody and staking will be treated under upcoming rules. The regulator said the guidance is designed to clarify the “regulatory perimeter” for crypto assets and help businesses understand how the future regime will affect their operations and compliance obligations.
In a statement, the FCA said this round of feedback will run until June 3, 2026, after which it plans to publish a policy statement in the autumn that will sit alongside previously consulted rulebooks. “We want to develop a competitive and sustainable cryptoasset sector where UK consumers are served by authorised cryptoasset firms and can make informed decisions,” the watchdog said, adding that its consultations on the core rules are now “substantively complete.”
The guidance documents outline how activities ranging from issuing UK‑regulated stablecoins to operating spot and derivatives venues, safeguarding client assets and providing staking services will fall under the Financial Services and Markets Act regime. Earlier consultation papers had already proposed that issuers of qualifying stablecoins must hold 1:1 reserves, provide clear disclosures and would generally be barred from passing through interest on backing assets to retail holders.fca+2
Under the current timetable, crypto businesses will be able to start applying for FCA authorization from September 30, 2026, with the “application gateway” remaining open until February 2027 for existing firms. The full cryptoasset regime is scheduled to come into force on October 25, 2027, at which point all in‑scope firms will need authorization under FSMA; prior registration for anti‑money‑laundering purposes will not be enough.
The FCA has also said it will provide a pre‑application support service from July 2026, offering optional meetings where firms can explain their business models, discuss expectations and get steers on the authorization process. In parallel, consultation papers set out how the UK’s Consumer Duty, conduct standards, redress mechanisms and safeguarding rules will apply to cryptoasset firms, with the FCA acknowledging that “crypto markets operate differently from traditional finance” and may require tailored approaches.
Until the new legislative regime comes into force, crypto assets in the UK remain largely unregulated beyond financial promotions and financial crime controls, a point the FCA has stressed repeatedly while warning consumers only to invest money they can afford to lose. For exchanges, custodians and stablecoin issuers, the next year will determine not only the technical shape of the rulebook but also whether London can credibly position itself as a trusted, high‑compliance hub for digital assets in competition with centers such as the EU, Hong Kong and Singapore.
In earlier crypto.news reporting on UK and EU regulatory moves, coverage has tracked the country’s journey from light‑touch registration to a full licensing regime, as well as how global firms are weighing London against MiCA‑governed Europe and Asia’s emerging hubs when deciding where to base their crypto operations.
RFK Jr. HHS budget cuts of roughly $16 billion faced their first major congressional test Thursday as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, fielding pointed questions on vaccine policy while defending a budget that slashes discretionary spending by 12.5% compared to last year.
Summary
- Trump’s 2027 budget proposes cutting HHS discretionary spending by approximately $16 billion, including $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health, as Kennedy opens a weeklong gauntlet of seven committee and subcommittee hearings.
- Kennedy deflected vaccine questions and said he was “not happy” with proposed cuts to WIC and SNAP nutrition programs, even as he defended the broader MAHA agenda and new FDA actions rolling back Biden-era peptide regulations.
- The White House has reportedly told Kennedy to hold off on vaccine reform announcements until after November’s midterm elections, a signal that the administration views his more controversial health positions as politically risky.
RFK Jr. HHS budget cuts totaling roughly $16 billion came under sharp congressional scrutiny Thursday as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made his first Capitol Hill appearance of the year before the House Ways and Means Committee. A second hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee followed at 2 PM, kicking off a marathon week of at least seven committee appearances spanning both chambers.
Kennedy opened by framing the cuts as a structural shift away from the status quo. “We’re ending the era of federal policies that fueled the chronic disease epidemic and replacing them with policies that put the health of Americans first,” he said in prepared remarks.
Trump’s 2027 budget requests $111.1 billion in HHS discretionary spending, a 12.5% reduction from 2026 levels. The most contested line item is a $5 billion reduction to the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency that funds basic medical science research at universities across the country. Members of both parties are expected to push back on that cut across the coming week of hearings.
Kennedy said he was “not happy” with proposed cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, an unusually candid admission that placed distance between himself and the broader Trump budget priorities. Rep. Gwen Moore pressed Kennedy on how those cuts aligned with his stated goal of reducing chronic disease in children. Kennedy did not offer a direct resolution.
On vaccines, Kennedy largely sidestepped, while Republican Rep. Tim Murphy praised him by pivoting to attacks on former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. Rep. Linda Sánchez delivered the sharpest line of the morning, asking why Kennedy had suspended a pro-vaccine messaging campaign while simultaneously spending taxpayer funds on a promotional video depicting him working out shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock.
What the White House Is Telling Kennedy
The hearings arrive as the MAHA coalition shows signs of internal strain. White House advisers have reportedly told Kennedy and other HHS officials to avoid pushing controversial vaccine policy reforms publicly until after November’s midterm elections, a signal that the administration views some of his positions as an electoral liability rather than an asset.
Kennedy’s visibility matters for the same reason it carries risk. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem were both dismissed by Trump in part following poor performances before congressional committees. Thursday’s hearing is being watched as a measure of whether Kennedy can hold the line under sustained bipartisan questioning.
Congressional Bandwidth and the Broader Stakes
The week-long hearing series adds another layer to an already compressed congressional calendar that is simultaneously managing FISA reauthorization, budget reconciliation, and Senate markup pressure on the CLARITY Act, all competing for the same finite legislative bandwidth before midterm politics shut the window. Kennedy is also scheduled before the Senate Finance and HELP Committees on April 22.
Beyond the immediate political optics, the NIH cuts could affect AI-driven medical research pipelines that have expanded significantly under recent federal funding. As crypto.news has reported, the midterm calculation that is now shaping Kennedy’s public communications is the same political timeline driving decisions across the Trump administration on everything from crypto regulation to healthcare reform.
TLDR
- Hyperbridge increased its April 13 exploit loss estimate to about $2.5 million after a broader review across four chains.
- The attacker extracted around 245 ETH and then minted about 1 billion fake bridged DOT tokens.
- Polkadot confirmed that only DOT bridged through Hyperbridge was affected, while native DOT remained secure.
- The exploit targeted a flaw in the Merkle Mountain Range proof verification logic in HandlerV1.
- Hyperbridge paused Token Gateway operations and is working with Binance and law enforcement on fund recovery.
Hyperbridge has raised its loss estimate from the April 13 Token Gateway exploit to about $2.5 million. The project had earlier reported losses of nearly $237,000 based on early on-chain activity. However, a broader review across four chains revealed deeper damage and a two-phase attack.
Polkadot Confirms Bridged DOT Exposure
Hyperbridge said it revised the figure after reconciling transactions across Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum. The team explained that it reviewed attacker activity in two phases and included losses from incentive pools. As a result, it increased the total realized losses to roughly $2.5 million.
Polkadot stated that the incident affected only DOT bridged through Hyperbridge to Ethereum. The network confirmed that native DOT on Polkadot remained unaffected. It also clarified that the broader Polkadot ecosystem did not face a direct impact.
Hyperbridge initially focused on the visible sell-off of bridged DOT on Ethereum. However, further investigation showed that the attacker first extracted about 245 ETH from Token Gateway. The attacker then moved into a second phase that involved minting about 1 billion bridged DOT tokens.
The attacker minted the tokens without authorization and sold them into available decentralized exchange liquidity. Consequently, the sales pressure deepened losses across supported chains. Hyperbridge confirmed that the exploit centered on its Token Gateway component.
Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum Impacted
Security researchers traced the flaw to the Merkle Mountain Range proof verification logic. The vulnerability affected Hyperbridge’s HandlerV1 path and enabled forged cross-chain messages. As a result, the attacker gained control over admin functions tied to the bridged DOT contract.
The attacker used that access to mint fake bridged DOT tokens on Ethereum. The attacker then dumped those tokens into limited liquidity pools. This sequence expanded losses beyond the initial ETH extraction.
Hyperbridge stated that the damage remained isolated to Token Gateway. It confirmed that bridged token contracts on Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum were affected. However, it said that Intent Gateway and related products were not impacted.
The team said it traced a large portion of exploited funds to Binance. It added that it works with Binance’s compliance team and law enforcement to freeze and recover assets. Hyperbridge said it plans to allocate BRIDGE tokens if recovery efforts fail.
All Token Gateway bridging remains paused while the team finalizes a patch. Hyperbridge said it will complete an independent audit and add safeguards before resuming operations. It confirmed that it will publish the audit report before restoring full functionality.
TLDR
- Charles Hoskinson said Bitcoin’s quantum proposal would require a hard fork instead of a soft fork.
- He argued that the plan would invalidate existing signature schemes used by current Bitcoin users.
- Hoskinson stated that the proposal cannot recover about 1.7 million early mined bitcoin.
- He said roughly 1.1 million of those coins belong to Satoshi Nakamoto.
- The proposal suggests users could reclaim frozen funds through zero-knowledge proofs tied to BIP-39 seed phrases.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson challenged a new Bitcoin proposal that targets quantum threats. He said the plan would require a hard fork rather than a soft fork. He also argued that the change cannot recover early coins linked to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin’s Quantum Proposal Faces Hard Fork Dispute
Bitcoin developers proposed BIP-361 to freeze addresses vulnerable to future quantum computers. They said the change would phase out old signature schemes and protect dormant funds. However, Hoskinson rejected the claim that the plan qualifies as a soft fork.
He stated, “To actually do this, you need a hard fork,” in a YouTube video. He argued that the proposal invalidates signature rules that users still rely on. Therefore, he said old software would stop working unless every participant upgrades.
Developers described BIP-361 as a rule tightening that older nodes could accept. In contrast, Hoskinson said the measure changes core validation standards. He added that Bitcoin culture has long opposed hard forks because they alter network history.
BIP-361 co-author Jameson Lopp addressed the debate on X this week. He wrote that he does not like the proposal and hopes adoption never becomes necessary. He called it “a rough idea for a contingency plan” rather than a final plan.
Satoshi-era Holdings Remain Beyond Recovery
Hoskinson said the plan cannot protect about 1.7 million early bitcoin. He stated that around 1.1 million of those coins belong to Satoshi Nakamoto. He argued that those holdings predate modern wallet standards.
BIP-361 suggests that users could reclaim frozen funds through zero-knowledge proofs. The proof would tie ownership to a BIP-39 seed phrase used in newer wallets. However, Hoskinson said early wallets did not use seed phrases.
He explained that the original Bitcoin software relied on a local key pool. That system generated private keys without a deterministic seed phrase. Therefore, he said no proof based on BIP-39 can verify those older coins.
He said, “1.7 million coins can’t do that. It’s not possible.” He added that migration would require cryptographic proof that early holders cannot produce. As a result, those coins would remain frozen under the proposal.
Lopp estimated that 5.6 million bitcoin sit dormant across the network. He argued that freezing them would prove safer than letting quantum attackers unlock them. He presented the freeze as a protective option rather than a finalized policy.
An appellate court is expected to reach a decision after hearing arguments from Kalshi and lawyers representing the state of Nevada.
Some legal experts speculated that the state vs. federal jurisdiction battle over regulating prediction markets companies could soon be headed to the United States Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments from lawyers representing prediction markets platform Kalshi and Nevada authorities over the state’s ban on the prediction markets’ event contracts. The appeal was over a lower court decision preventing Kalshi from offering certain event-based contracts in Nevada, based on claims that the company needed a gaming license.
The appellate judge overseeing Thursday’s oral arguments and the lawyer for Kalshi acknowledged that there had been several state-level enforcement actions against the company and other prediction market platforms, including criminal charges filed in Arizona. However, last week a federal court blocked Arizona authorities from enforcing the state’s gambling laws on Kalshi’s event contracts.
“I think the body of case law does demonstrate that what we really need to avoid here is having a state and a federal court considering exactly the same issue at exactly the same time and potentially reaching different outcomes,” said Colleen Sinzdak, representing Kalshi.
Related: CFTC probes oil futures trades tied to Trump’s moves in Iran: Report
Central to Kalshi’s argument was that the platform’s event contracts were “swaps” falling under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than state gaming authorities. CFTC Chair Michael Selig has backed this position in the case of Crypto.com’s prediction markets against Nevada authorities.
The appellate court did not immediately announce a decision following oral arguments. Any ruling could affect how state courts treat prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket as policymakers come to terms with the growing market, expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030.
Coinbase’s top lawyer weighs in on prediction market arguments
Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal, whose company was not a party to the Kalshi proceedings but has a stake in the prediction markets fight, speculated that the case could go the US Supreme Court.
“The questions at oral argument are an unreliable signal in predicting the leanings of a court,” said Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal in a Thursday X post following the oral arguments. “Either way, I stand by my longstanding prediction— the Supreme Court will resolve whether sports [contracts] on [Designated Contract Markets] are swaps subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the CFTC.”
The US Supreme Court gave states the authority to regulate sports gambling in its 2018 decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
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