Crypto World
How a ‘Wrong Number’ Message Turned Into a $3.4M Crypto Scam
Key takeaways
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This $3.4 million scam shows how modern crypto fraud increasingly relies on social engineering rather than technical exploits.
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Scammers used a gradual grooming process, engaging victims in friendly conversations over time to build emotional trust before introducing any financial discussion. It closely resembled the pig-butchering model.
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The investment pitch combined Ether’s growth potential with the perceived stability of gold. This created a compelling but fraudulent narrative that convinced victims they were gaining access to an exclusive, low-risk opportunity.
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Victims were told to buy Ether themselves on legitimate platforms and transfer it to provided wallets. This gave them a false sense of control and legitimacy.
This scam did not begin with a phishing link or hacked wallet. It started with a simple message: “Sorry, wrong number.”
According to US prosecutors, the interaction evolved into a social engineering scheme that defrauded victims of millions and led to the seizure of $3.4 million in USDt (USDT).
From innocent messages to multimillion-dollar fraud
Federal prosecutors in Boston have initiated a civil forfeiture proceeding to recover approximately $3.44 million in USDt linked to a suspected online investment fraud.
According to authorities, the funds were seized in early 2025 as part of an investigation launched in late 2024 after complaints from victims in multiple US states who reported significant financial losses.

The operation did not involve sophisticated technical exploits. Instead, it relied on a well-known yet remarkably effective tactic: social engineering. Fraudsters used ordinary, everyday interactions to deceive unsuspecting victims.
Victims received texts or chat messages that appeared to have been sent by mistake. Fraudsters used apps like WhatsApp and Telegram to send these messages.
On the surface, the communication appeared completely ordinary. There was no pressure, no immediate request and no clear warning signs.
This lack of an obvious threat is one reason the method can be so effective.
Unlike crypto scams that trigger immediate suspicion, the “wrong number” approach:
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Appears natural and socially appropriate
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Encourages polite replies
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Creates an opportunity for ongoing dialogue
In this case, as in similar ones, what begins as an apparent mistake soon evolves into an opening for further contact.
The grooming stage: Gradually establishing trust
Following the initial exchange, scammers avoid rushing the process. They cultivate trust gradually through friendly conversations, the sharing of seemingly personal information and the maintenance of a consistent, reliable persona.
Rather than introducing financial topics too early, the scammers:
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Create a sense of emotional ease
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Make regular communication feel normal
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Foster the appearance of a genuine personal connection
This strategy aligns with a broader category of fraud commonly known as pig-butchering, in which victims are methodically “groomed” before being targeted for financial gain.
By the time money becomes part of the discussion, victims often believe they are interacting with someone familiar rather than an unknown fraudster.
Did you know? The “wrong number” scam technique evolved from earlier email scams in which fraudsters pretended to contact the wrong person. Messaging apps have made this tactic more effective by enabling real-time, casual conversations that feel more authentic.
The pitch: A fake Ether investment tied to gold
After building initial trust, scammers subtly shifted the discussion toward lucrative investment opportunities. Victims were presented with what appeared to be a privileged Ether (ETH) investment opportunity, supposedly tied to tangible gold holdings.
This pairing appears to have been deliberate.
It merged:
Together, these elements created an attractive narrative: the promise of substantial returns while minimizing perceived risk.
Victims were told they were being given access to a rare, exclusive opportunity that was not available to the general public.
The transaction method: Why victims purchased Ether
Instead of requesting direct transfers, the fraudsters instructed victims to:
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Buy Ether through established, legitimate exchanges
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Send the purchased Ether to designated wallet addresses
This approach had a significant psychological impact.
Victims felt reassured because they:
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Conducted transactions on genuine, well-known platforms
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Personally handled and authorized the purchase
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Could observe and verify the funds in their own wallets before the transfer
As a result, the process never felt like directly giving money to fraudsters. Instead, it appeared to be genuine participation in a legitimate investment opportunity.
Did you know? In many fraud cases, scammers appear to operate in organized groups using scripted playbooks. Some teams specialize only in the “conversation phase,” while others handle crypto transactions, showing how modern fraud has become structured like a business operation.
What occurred after the Ether transfer
After victims sent their Ether to fraudsters:
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The funds were routed through various intermediary wallet addresses
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They were then converted into USDt, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar
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Finally, the stablecoins were transferred to unhosted wallets controlled by the perpetrators
This sequence was designed to:
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Conceal the transaction path
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Disconnect the funds from their original source
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Significantly complicate efforts to recover them
Nevertheless, blockchain records, combined with investigative tools, helped authorities trace the money trail. The process ultimately resulted in the seizure of assets.
Part of a larger fraud pattern
This prosecution fits into a broader wave of cryptocurrency-related fraud cases. Authorities across the US have taken action against pig-butchering frauds and romance scams. They have also launched crackdowns on laundering operations involving stablecoins.
Across these incidents, common traits appear:
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Initial outreach through social media, dating apps or informal platforms
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A slow, deliberate process of cultivating trust
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A pivot toward cryptocurrency “investment” opportunities
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Fund transfers through layered transactions
While the specific methods and technologies may vary, the intent and strategy remain consistent.
Did you know? Crypto scams often use multiple blockchains to move funds, not just one. After converting assets into stablecoins, scammers may bridge them across networks to make tracking and recovery efforts even more difficult.
Why this scam proved effective
The core reason these schemes succeed is that they are rooted in psychology rather than in any technological flaw.
The perpetrators did not exploit vulnerabilities in the system itself. Instead, they targeted and manipulated predictable patterns of human behavior.
Several critical psychological elements contributed:
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Politeness bias: Individuals tend to reply politely even to messages that appear accidental.
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Trust formation: Consistent, repeated contact creates a growing sense of familiarity and comfort.
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Perceived control: Victims personally handled the purchase and transfer of funds.
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Credibility: Linking the high-growth promise of cryptocurrency with the time-tested stability of gold gave the proposal greater believability.
By the time the fraud unraveled, the victim had already become deeply committed both emotionally and financially.
The legal response: Moving from seizure to permanent forfeiture
The US government initiated a civil forfeiture proceeding to recover the seized assets.
Through this legal mechanism, authorities are able to:
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Assert ownership over property suspected of being linked to criminal conduct
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Obtain judicial authorization for the permanent forfeiture of those assets
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Allow victims or other third parties an opportunity to file legitimate claims to the property
Unlike criminal prosecutions, civil forfeiture proceedings focus on the assets themselves and do not necessarily require a criminal conviction to move forward.
Warning signs to recognize
Scams of this nature tend to follow well-established patterns. Important red flags to watch for include:
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Unsolicited messages claiming to have been sent in error
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The rapid development of rapport and trust by previously unknown individuals
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Discussions that gradually shift toward investment suggestions
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Promises of exclusive access or guaranteed high returns in cryptocurrency
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Instructions to send funds or cryptocurrency to external wallet addresses
Any investment proposal that arises from a random conversation should be approached with the highest level of skepticism.
What to do if you receive similar messages
If you receive an unsolicited message about a lucrative crypto investment, you should:
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Refrain from responding to or engaging with unfamiliar contacts
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Resist the urge to continue the conversation simply to be polite
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Never transfer money or cryptocurrency to wallet addresses provided by strangers
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Immediately block and report suspicious phone numbers, accounts or profiles
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Promptly notify law enforcement and the relevant platforms or exchanges if any funds have already been sent
Prompt action can sometimes improve the chances of authorities tracing the funds or freezing them.
Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence. The selection, commissioning and publication of Features and Magazine content are not influenced by advertisers, partners or commercial relationships.
Crypto World
Micron (MU) Stock Skyrockets 38% in Historic Weekly Rally Fueled by Memory Chip Shortage
TLDR
- MU shares jumped approximately 38% over the past week — marking the strongest weekly performance since late 2008.
- Shares finished Friday’s session at $746.81, climbing more than 15% during that trading day and reaching an intraday record of $712.82.
- The company’s valuation surpassed $840 billion, moving ahead of JPMorgan Chase in market capitalization.
- A worldwide shortage of memory chips has fueled higher pricing and improved profit margins.
- All of Micron’s manufacturing capacity for 2026 has been reserved by customers.
Micron Technology (MU) delivered a performance this week that market observers won’t soon forget.
Shares concluded Friday’s trading at $746.81, posting gains exceeding 15% for the session. Across the entire week, MU climbed nearly 38% — representing its strongest weekly showing since December 2008, when shares were changing hands below $5 during the depths of the Great Recession.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Year-to-date gains now stand at approximately 147%, while the past 30 days alone have delivered returns exceeding 84%. The company’s market capitalization has climbed above $840 billion, positioning it ahead of JPMorgan Chase. While Micron required more than four decades to accumulate its initial $200 billion in market value, it matched that achievement within just seven days.
Friday saw the stock reach an all-time intraday peak of $712.82, according to historical data extending back to 1984.
What’s Driving the Rally
The straightforward explanation: a worldwide scarcity of memory semiconductors.
Appetite for DRAM and NAND — the primary memory chip categories — has intensified dramatically as hyperscale cloud providers invest heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Combined capital expenditures from major cloud companies could eclipse $1 trillion before the close of next year, based on projections from Bank of America and Evercore.
Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix collectively manufacture over 90% of global DRAM production. This concentrated supply base, paired with accelerating demand, has granted memory producers significant control over pricing.
Every bit of Micron’s production capacity through 2026 has been contracted.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh observed that Micron “remains well positioned across the memory landscape with leading edge DRAM nodes helping drive cost-downs year-over-year.”
The rally extends beyond Micron alone. AMD climbed 26% during the week, reaching a fresh 52-week high. Intel surged 25% and has more than doubled in value over the past month. Sandisk advanced over 16% on Friday.
Retail Investors Are Paying Attention
Retail trading activity in Micron has intensified notably. Net purchasing reached its highest point in two years during mid-April, based on data from Vanda Research.
“Micron is commanding a much bigger share of retail flow and attention,” said Viraj Patel, strategist at Vanda.
Samsung achieved trillion-dollar valuation status this week. SK Hynix is reportedly receiving investment proposals from international technology companies seeking to finance additional memory production facilities.
During recent quarterly earnings presentations, corporations ranging from Meta Platforms to CoreWeave have cited escalating component expenses as a factor behind elevated spending levels — a direct result of the supply constraints.
Not all observers believe the upward trajectory will persist indefinitely. Carolyn Bell, lead portfolio manager at Stonehage Fleming, characterized it as a cyclical pattern connected to the present stage of data center expansion. Other Wall Street analysts contend that Micron is being reframed as a high-growth AI infrastructure investment rather than a conventional cyclical semiconductor manufacturer.
Micron currently holds the position of 12th largest U.S. company by market capitalization, trailing only Eli Lilly at $900 billion.
Crypto World
Virginia redistricting vote struck down 4-3
Virginia redistricting referendum was struck down 4-3 by the state Supreme Court on May 8, with Democrats immediately filing to appeal to SCOTUS
Summary
- The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Democrats violated procedural requirements when they placed the redistricting amendment on the April ballot.
- The court found that early voting had already begun when the legislature took its first vote in October 2025, incurably tainting the referendum.
- Democrats immediately filed to seek emergency relief from the US Supreme Court, warning the ruling silences the will of voters who approved the measure by 52%.
Virginia redistricting was struck down 4-3 by the state Supreme Court, with Democrats filing to appeal to SCOTUS. The court ruled on May 8 that Democratic lawmakers violated the state constitution’s multistep amendment process when they held the first vote on October 31, 2025, after early voting for that year’s House elections had already begun.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Arthur Kelsey, found the violation “incurably taints” the referendum result and “renders it null and void.” Democrats had spent more than $66 million campaigning for the measure, which passed 52% to 48% in the April 21 special election.
What the ruling means for the midterms
The decision kills a map designed to give Democrats 10 of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, a gain of four from the current 6-5 Democratic tilt. Without it, Republicans head into November with a decisive redistricting advantage nationally.
Issue One analysis, cited by CNBC, found that redistricting efforts over the past year could give Republicans as many as a 12-seat edge over Democrats absent Virginia’s map. Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana have all moved to redraw maps since the Supreme Court’s recent Voting Rights Act ruling. As crypto.news reported, House control in November is also the key variable for the crypto industry’s legislative agenda in 2026.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the DCCC, said in a statement: “Four unelected judges decided to cast aside the will of the voters.” RNC Chair Joe Gruters countered that “Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose.”
What happens next
Virginia Democrats and Attorney General Jay Jones filed the same day to ask the state court to delay enforcing the ruling pending a SCOTUS appeal.
Constitutional law professor Carl Tobias at the University of Richmond warned that SCOTUS is unlikely to give the case full treatment this late in its term with elections approaching. Virginia’s primaries, pushed back to August 14 to account for the referendum, will now proceed under the existing 6-5 map.
Crypto World
XRP Funding Rates Hit Record Negative Stretch Even as Price Climbs 27%
TLDR:
- XRP funding rates on Binance have stayed negative for nearly three months, marking a record bearish stretch for the token.
- The Total3 index lost over $544B during the correction but has since recovered roughly $125B from early February repositioning.
- XRP posted a 27% gain while derivatives traders maintained a bearish bias, creating a rare price-sentiment divergence on Binance.
- A similar negative funding rate setup emerged in April 2025 near $1.25, before XRP went on to rally as much as 126% from that level.
XRP funding rates on Binance have remained in negative territory for nearly three months. This comes even as the token posted a 27% gain during the same period.
The altcoin market lost over $544 billion during a broader correction driven by global uncertainty. However, capital repositioning that began in early February has added roughly $125 billion back to the Total3 index. The market dynamic now appears to be shifting.
Altcoin Market Takes the Hardest Hit During Global Correction
The Total3 index tracks the crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins. During the recent correction, this index shed more than $544 billion in value. Altcoins were the first sector to feel pressure as global market sentiment turned uncertain.
Since early February, however, capital has begun moving back into the altcoin space. The Total3 index has recovered roughly $125 billion over that period. This recovery points to a gradual return of risk appetite among crypto traders and investors.
Despite the recovery, many investors have maintained a bearish stance. A large portion of the market continues to bet against the current upward move. This creates a notable disconnect between price action and trader sentiment.
According to analyst Darkfost, this bearish positioning is especially visible on Binance. Funding rates for XRP have stayed negative for close to three months. This marks the longest and most negative stretch in recent history for the token.
Negative Funding Rates Could Signal a Potential Reversal for XRP
Darkfost aggregated XRP funding rates over a 30-day period to better capture prevailing derivatives sentiment. The data shows a persistent bearish bias even as XRP climbed 27% during the same timeframe. This kind of divergence between price and sentiment is rare and often meaningful.
When a strong bearish consensus forms after a correction of more than 60%, history suggests a reversal may follow.
A similar setup developed in April 2025 when XRP traded around $1.25. A bullish recovery followed, eventually driving a 126% advance from that level.
The pattern shows how crowded short positions can fuel sharp price recoveries. As bearish traders get squeezed, buying pressure tends to accelerate. This dynamic has played out more than once in XRP’s trading history.
At current levels, XRP trades around $1.41 as of writing, still well below its previous cycle highs. The combination of negative funding rates and recovering market cap adds to the case for watching this token closely. Traders familiar with derivatives data will recognize the setup as one worth monitoring.
Crypto World
Chainlink (LINK) Hits 3-Month High: What’s Driving The Rally?
Chainlink (LINK) climbed 15.27% over the past week to an intraday peak of $10.6, marking its highest price in more than three months.
At press time, the altcoin traded at $10.48, up 6.38% over the past 24 hours. The rally coincides with shrinking exchange reserves and a sharp uptick in social media chatter.
Why Is Chainlink Price Up?
According to Santiment, roughly 13.5 million LINK, about 10.5% of exchange-held coins, have been withdrawn over the past five weeks, pointing to accumulation. Social volume has simultaneously surged to a three-month high, suggesting renewed trader attention is converging with shrinking sell-side liquidity.
“Crypto’s 15th largest market cap has had a resurgence in discussions across social media throughout this week, and this has likely contributed to this mini breakout,” the post read.
Whale holdings further corroborate the accumulation trend. Wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million LINK increased their holdings from 265.02 million to 288.04 million LINK over the past 30 days. That marks a 23-million-token increase, or 8.7%.
Wallets with 100,000 to 1 million LINK added another 9.83 million coins. Their stash rose from 163.08 million to 172.91 million tokens during the same period.
Combined, these two cohorts absorbed roughly 32.85 million LINK in one month. Their holdings expanded by 7.7%, reflecting consistent buy-side conviction from larger wallets.
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LINK Outlook Remains Bullish
Several traders see further upside from the current breakout zone. Trader Quinten Francois flagged the altcoin’s breakout from the multi-year pennant in a post on X.
Trader Clifton highlighted that LINK’s daily chart is forming a descending broadening wedge. He noted measured targets that point to potential gains of 100% to 150% from breakout zones.
“A strong upside breakout from the upper trendline of this wedge, supported by a momentum candle and rising volume, could trigger a powerful bullish rally. Measured targets suggest potential gains of 100-150% from the breakout zone,” the analyst wrote.
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Crypto World
US court rules AI ads make Meta liable for fraud
A US court has found that Meta’s AI ads tools materially developed fraudulent investment content, stripping Section 230 immunity and exposing the platform to securities fraud claims.
Summary
- In Bouck v. Meta, a Northern California federal court denied Section 230 immunity after finding that Meta’s AI ads tools materially shaped fraudulent investment content rather than passively hosting it.
- The ruling opens Meta and other platforms to securities fraud claims under Rule 10b-5, where a platform whose AI assembles ad content could be considered the legal “maker” of the fraudulent statement.
- Alphabet, Snap, TikTok, and X all deploy generative AI in their advertising products and face the same potential exposure under the Ninth Circuit’s material contribution test.
A US court found that Meta’s AI ads helped create fraudulent investment content, removing Section 230 protection from the platform.
Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California denied a Section 230 dismissal in Bouck v. Meta Platforms, a penny-stock securities class action where plaintiffs alleged that Meta’s generative AI advertising tools had themselves “developed the ultimate content of the fraudulent ads,” making Meta a co-developer rather than a passive host.
The ruling follows a near-identical theory that survived dismissal in Forrest v. Meta, where Judge P. Casey Pitts found that Meta’s ad tools “mix and match” images, videos, text, and audio using generative AI, creating a genuine factual dispute over material contribution to illegal content.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunizes platforms from liability for third-party content. The line Seeborg drew is technically precise: targeting an audience is protected distribution. Transforming or generating ad content is not. That distinction has now survived at the dismissal stage in two separate cases in the same district.
The Rule 10b-5 question courts have not yet answered
Bloomberg Law legal commentary noted that the Bouck ruling opens a further, unresolved question under securities law. The Supreme Court’s “maker” doctrine in Janus Capital Group v. First Derivative Traders holds that the maker of a fraudulent statement is the entity with ultimate authority over the statement’s content and communication.
If a platform’s generative AI exercises that authority over an assembled investment solicitation, the platform may be the maker of the fraudulent statement under Rule 10b-5, primary securities fraud liability that has no Section 230 analog.
That argument has not yet been fully adjudicated. If it is, platforms whose AI systems assemble investment content could face securities fraud exposure with no Section 230 defense available.
Who else is exposed
The Ninth Circuit’s material contribution framework that survived in Bouck and Forrest applies to any platform whose AI tools actively shape ad content. Alphabet, Snap, TikTok, and X all deploy generative AI in their advertising systems.
As crypto.news reported, AI-driven fraud vectors are accelerating in 2026, with regulators and plaintiffs increasingly targeting the infrastructure layer rather than individual bad actors.
As crypto.news tracked, crypto platforms that use AI to assemble promotional content or investment-related communications could face similar exposure if this legal theory migrates from social media advertising into the digital asset context. Meta has said it will appeal both decisions.
Crypto World
Blockbuster Crypto News: Elon Musk SpaceX Anthropic Deal Fires Up AI Rally and Pepeto Could Be the Last Presale Entry Before Listing
The biggest moves in crypto always start with a headline from outside the market, and the blockbuster crypto news on May 7 was exactly that. Elon Musk dissolved xAI into SpaceX, signed a compute deal with Anthropic worth 220,000 Nvidia GPUs, and set the stage for an IPO that could reach $2 trillion.
When the richest person on the planet bets this hard on AI, the capital that follows touches every connected sector, and blockchain is first in line. But the real question is not which large cap will gain 20% from this wave.
The question is which entry still has a listing event ahead, because that is where the money that changes lives gets made. One project already has $9.86 million in presale capital, a working exchange, and a Binance listing approaching.
Elon Musk Dissolves xAI Into SpaceX and Signs Compute Deal With Anthropic
SpaceX confirmed that Anthropic will use all compute at the Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, gaining 300 megawatts of capacity within a month. Musk announced xAI no longer exists separately and now operates as SpaceXAI.
The company targets a mid-2026 IPO valued up to $2 trillion according to Stocktwits, and this blockbuster crypto news shows AI spending is pushing capital into blockchain at the same pace.
Crypto Has Made More Millionaires Than Any Other Asset Class, and 2026 Is the Next Wave
No other asset class in the last decade has created wealth as fast as crypto. Bitcoin turned $100 into $75 million for early holders. Ethereum turned $1,000 into over $4 million. Shiba Inu turned $8,000 into $9 million in one year according to CNN.
Those are not predictions, those are facts. And every one of those returns came from entering before the crowd showed up. In 2026, the blockbuster crypto news around AI and trillion-dollar IPOs is bringing a fresh flood of capital into digital assets, and the entries that deliver the next millionaire-level returns are the ones priced before a listing event.
Stocks cannot do this. Real estate cannot do this. Only crypto presales at the right moment produce this kind of return.
Pepeto: The Presale Raising Faster Than Any Project in 2026 With AI Contract Scanning
The blockbuster crypto news around Elon Musk and AI is not only about compute power, it is about which projects use AI as a real tool. Pepeto runs a contract scanner powered by AI that checks every token for risks before a buyer puts money in, putting the exchange ahead of platforms where traders depend on outside audit sites.
The exchange handles cross chain swapping across Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana with zero fees, so every dollar moved stays as value instead of bleeding into costs.
That zero fee model becomes a growth engine because each swap generates organic demand for the token as users grow. Meme culture draws new users in, and the tools keep them trading because the savings hit every order and the scanner lowers the risk of bad contracts.
SolidProof and Coinsult both audited every contract, a builder from the original Pepe project backs the team, and $9.86 million raised during a correction proves real capital.
Staking at 175% APY pays holders who enter now, and each presale stage sells faster because the price only moves up once a stage closes. The wallets filling this presale today are not guessing. They see the same math that made Shiba Inu buyers millionaires, and they are acting on it.
Conclusion
The blockbuster crypto news of 2026 is writing the next chapter of wealth creation, and Pepeto at $0.0000001869 with $9.86 million raised, dual audits, 175% APY staking, and an AI contract scanner sits at the center of it. Each presale stage fills faster than the last, and the price on Pepeto today will not be there when you come back tomorrow.
The crowd has not arrived yet, and by the time it does the Binance listing will have already repriced the token for everyone who waited. People who watched Shiba Inu turn pennies into fortunes and told themselves they would not miss the next one are looking at that moment right now.
Letting this presale close without entering is how those returns disappear from your hands. Getting in before listing day is how the next wave of crypto millionaires gets built.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
How does the Elon Musk SpaceX Anthropic deal connect to blockbuster crypto news for investors?
The SpaceX Anthropic deal sends a $2 trillion signal that AI infrastructure is reshaping capital markets, pushing fresh money into blockchain projects with real AI features. Pepeto runs an AI contract scanner with $9.86 million raised at $0.0000001869 before an expected Binance listing.
What is Pepeto and why are presale holders expecting 100x after listing?
Pepeto is a cross chain exchange with zero fee trading, an AI contract scanner, and 175% APY staking that has raised $9.86 million at $0.0000001869 before an expected Binance listing. The presale to listing repricing compresses months of price discovery into one move, the same math that created millionaires in past meme coin cycles.
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.
Crypto World
73% Pump.Fun Traders are in Profit, Best Month Since 2024
The share of profitable Pump.fun traders climbed to 73.28% in April 2026, the fourth consecutive month above 50%. CoinGecko data shows the metric has more than doubled from its low of 30.08% in June 2025.
Profitable wallets had collapsed steadily through 2025 as retail traders absorbed heavy losses on Solana meme coins.
Pump.fun Wallets Stage Historic Profitability Comeback
Pump.fun launched on Solana in January 2024 and quickly became the dominant meme coin launchpad. By late 2024, monthly active wallets had grown into the millions. Most of those traders walked away with realized losses each month.
Profitable traders accounted for less than 50% of active wallets each month from June 2024 through December 2025. The metric hit a low of 30.08% in June 2025. That month, roughly 70% of them booked monthly losses.
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The trend changed in January 2026. The share of profitable traders climbed from 50.08% that month to 73.28% by April.
“While we cannot conclusively explain this reversal, we hypothesize it reflects a natural exodus of unprofitable traders from the platform. This is supported by the continuous decline in monthly active wallets from its peak of 5.2M in May 2025 to 1.8M in December 2025,” CoinGecko researcher Loke Choon Khei wrote.
Modest Gains Dominate the Comeback
In April 2026, 3.14 million active wallets transacted on Pump.fun. Of those, 2.30 million ended the month profitable. The wins, however, were heavily skewed toward small amounts.
“This study only accounts for Realized PnL; this means that it excludes bagholders who never sold their tokens even if it crashes to zero,” the report added.
About 2.05 million wallets, or 65.14% of the total, recorded gains between $1 and $500. Meanwhile, another 87,127 wallets booked profits between $500 and $1,000. Only 168,795 wallets, or 5.37%, cleared more than $1,000.
Losses followed a similar small-size pattern. About 792,724 wallets lost between $1 and $500, while just 24,538 took realized losses above $1,000.
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Crypto World
OpenAI IPO targets late 2026 as revenue hits $25bn
OpenAI has crossed $25bn in annualized revenue and is actively preparing its OpenAI IPO for as early as the fourth quarter of 2026.
Summary
- OpenAI crossed $25bn in annualized revenue in February 2026, up from $6bn at the end of 2024, driven by ChatGPT subscriptions and enterprise adoption.
- The OpenAI IPO is being prepared with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley advising, targeting a potential filing in the second half of 2026.
- OpenAI is not yet profitable and projects annual cash burn reaching $57bn by 2027, making public capital access a financial necessity rather than a choice.
OpenAI has crossed $25bn in annualized revenue and is preparing its OpenAI IPO for as early as late 2026. The milestone was reported by The Information in early March, citing a person familiar with the figures, with Sacra estimating the revenue hit $25bn by the end of February, up from $6bn at the end of 2024. No software company has scaled to this revenue level in a comparable timeframe.
CFO Sarah Friar has told associates the company is targeting a regulatory filing in the second half of 2026, with a potential listing in 2027. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley are in discussions about advising the offering.
Friar said separately that the company will allocate a portion of its IPO shares to retail investors, calling it “good hygiene” for a company of its size to act like a public company.
Why the IPO is not optional
OpenAI’s revenue growth is extraordinary but its economics are not. The company generated $13.1bn in revenue in 2025 and spent approximately $22bn to do it. Annual cash burn is projected to reach $57bn by 2027, and the company does not expect to reach breakeven until 2030. The $122bn raised in March gives OpenAI roughly 18 to 24 months of runway before another major capital event is required.
As crypto.news reported, OpenAI is also expanding aggressively into financial services, rolling out tools that connect ChatGPT with institutional data platforms, a move that signals ambitions well beyond consumer subscriptions.
The company’s April 2026 conversion to a public benefit corporation removed the structural barrier to going public that its nonprofit origins had created. Rival Anthropic is simultaneously pursuing its own $50bn raise at a $900bn valuation, creating a potential race to market that could affect OpenAI’s listing window and investor appetite.
Market and crypto implications
Kalshi prediction markets priced the probability of OpenAI announcing an IPO at close to maximum confidence for contracts resolving by early 2026. As crypto.news tracked, on-chain secondary markets are now pricing Anthropic above OpenAI on an implied valuation basis, adding competitive pressure that makes the IPO timeline more urgent.
A $1 trillion listing would be the largest public offering in technology history and would set the benchmark against which every AI company’s private valuation is subsequently judged.
Crypto World
JPMorgan makes AI core infrastructure spending
JPMorgan AI spending has been reclassified from discretionary innovation to core infrastructure, placing it alongside data centers and cybersecurity in the bank’s budget.
Summary
- JPMorgan reclassified its $2bn annual AI budget from discretionary innovation to core infrastructure, placing it alongside payment systems and cybersecurity in its $19.8bn tech spend.
- CEO Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan AI deployment has already generated $2bn in operational savings, effectively self-funding the investment across 150,000 employees.
- The bank runs over 500 active AI use cases in production, including fraud detection that has cut anti-money laundering false positives by 95%.
JPMorgan has reclassified JPMorgan AI investment as core infrastructure, treating its $2bn annual budget as non-negotiable as cybersecurity. The world’s largest bank has moved its AI spending out of the discretionary innovation category and placed it alongside data centers, payment systems, and core risk controls inside its $19.8bn total technology budget for 2026.
CEO Jamie Dimon said the investment has already self-funded through $2bn in operational savings across more than 150,000 employees, adding a 10% to 11% productivity gain in engineering, operations, and fraud detection.
The reclassification is not symbolic. When a bank of JPMorgan’s scale treats AI as a non-discretionary cost on par with fraud detection infrastructure, the signal moves downstream to every other financial institution in its competitive set.
CFO Jeremy Barnum confirmed that modernization spending has peaked and the bank’s investment is now shifting toward products, platforms, and AI integration as a baseline operating cost rather than a special project.
What JPMorgan’s AI stack looks like
The bank’s proprietary LLM Suite, named Innovation of the Year at American Banker’s 2025 awards, is now used daily by more than 230,000 employees. It serves as an AI hub that integrates internal customer data, processing workflows, and external information sources through specialized agents.
Over 500 active AI use cases are in production, spanning fraud detection, investment banking deck generation, compliance review, and predictive liquidity management for corporate treasurers.
Fraud detection has seen some of the most measurable results. Anti-money laundering false positives have been cut by 95% using machine learning systems that monitor transactions in near real-time. The bank runs the AI on infrastructure backed by Microsoft Azure and Snowflake, giving it elastic scalability while maintaining the data governance that banking regulators demand.
Crypto and market relevance
JPMorgan is simultaneously pushing into digital assets. As crypto.news reported, the convergence of AI infrastructure investment and digital asset rails is creating a new competitive dynamic in financial services.
The bank has also launched its JPMD deposit token on public blockchain infrastructure, with its proprietary AI now managing JPMD flows and predicting when institutional clients will need liquidity before human traders identify the need.
Dimon has predicted JPMorgan will be a winner amid rising stablecoin threats and economic uncertainty, framing the AI and blockchain combination as the bank’s primary competitive moat.
As crypto.news tracked, OpenAI is rolling out competing financial-services tools targeting the same institutional clients JPMorgan is automating, setting up a direct infrastructure contest between AI-native companies and AI-upgraded incumbents for control of the next layer of financial operations.
Crypto World
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Log 6th Straight Week of Net Inflows for First Time Since August
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have recorded a sixth consecutive week of net inflows, marking the longest such streak since August 2025.
The current six-week run stretches from the week of April 2 through Friday, pulling in a combined $3.4 billion, according to data from SoSoValue. The strongest week came in mid-April, when inflows hit $996.38 million for the week of April 17, while the streak’s weakest showing was the week of April 2 with just $22.34 million. The most recent week logged $622.75 million.
The run marks the longest streak of consecutive net weekly inflows in more than nine months, when a 7-week ran from June 13 to July 18, 2025, drew in roughly $7.57 billion, including $2.72 billion for the week of July 11 and $2.39 billion the following week.

Bitcoin ETFs weekly inflows. Source: SoSoValue
Notably, last week ended on a sour note, with outflows of $277.50 million on Thursday and $145.65 million on Friday. Monday and Tuesday had led the week strongly, pulling in $532.21 million and $467.35 million respectively, before Wednesday’s inflows slowed sharply to $46.33 million ahead of the late-week reversal.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs Extend Rally as Two-Day Inflows Near $1 Billion
Markets on edge as jobs data looms: Analyst
Markets entered Friday cautiously as investors braced for the US April Non-Farm Payrolls report, with consensus estimates pointing to payroll growth of just 62,000, well below the previous reading of 178,000, reinforcing expectations of a cooling labor market, Bitunix analysts wrote in a note shared with Cointelegraph.
The analysts noted that a stronger-than-expected ADP report of 109,000 jobs earlier in the week complicated the picture, leaving traders uncertain about the true state of employment heading into the release.
“On the geopolitical front, although the US and Iran have once again exchanged fire around the Strait of Hormuz, both sides continue to leave room for negotiations,” Bitunix wrote, adding that reports suggest the US and Iran may have reached a partial understanding on certain maritime issues.
In crypto, Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 on Thursday, with liquidation heatmaps showing heavy liquidity clustering around $78,000. A breakdown below that level could trigger cascading liquidations, while dense short positioning between $82,000 and $83,000 keeps the market stuck in a tug-of-war, the analysts wrote.
Related: Bitcoin Slips Below $80K As Spot ETF Inflows Top $1B
Ether ETFs post $70 million in weekly inflows
Meanwhile, Ether ETFs returned to positive territory for the week ending May 8, posting $70.49 million in net inflows after the previous week logged $82.47 million in outflows. The rebound follows a strong three-week run from April 10 to April 24, which drew in a combined $617.91 million, peaking at $275.83 million the week of April 17.
On a daily basis, Thursday saw $103.52 million in outflows, nearly wiping out gains built earlier in the week. Monday and Tuesday attracted $61.29 million and $97.57 million in inflows, respectively, before Wednesday slowed to $11.57 million. Friday’s $3.57 million recovery left the week positive.
Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026
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