TLDR:

• The SEC charged Donald Basile and two companies over a fraudulent $16 million Bitcoin Latinum SAFT offering.
  
• Basile falsely claimed LTNM was the world’s first insured digital asset with up to $1 billion in coverage.
  
• Millions in investor funds were allegedly misused for real estate, credit card bills, and a $160,000 horse.
  
• The SEC is seeking disgorgement, civil penalties, permanent injunctions, and an officer-and-director bar against Basile.

Bitcoin Latinum founder Donald G. Basile now faces federal fraud charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC claims Basile and his two companies raised $16 million from hundreds of American investors through fraudulent crypto offerings.

Regulators filed the complaint on April 17, 2026, in the Eastern District of New York. The charges center on false claims about insurance, asset backing, and the intended use of investor funds.

Alleged Misrepresentations Behind the Bitcoin Latinum Offering

The case revolves around the sale of Simple Agreements for Future Tokens, or SAFTs. These instruments promised investors the right to receive a crypto asset known as Bitcoin Latinum, or LTNM.

Basile conducted the offering through GIBF GP, Inc. and Monsoon Blockchain Corporation. The campaign launched in 2020 and attracted hundreds of investors across the United States.

According to the SEC, Basile repeatedly told investors that LTNM “is the world’s first insured digital asset” with “up to $1 billion coverage.”

He made these claims both directly to investors and through his two companies. Regulators say no insurance company ever issued such a policy. No coverage was ever in place for LTNM or any part of the SAFT offering.

The complaint further alleges that Basile told investors LTNM “is an asset-backed cryptocurrency.” He also claimed that an “existing trust” secured the token’s value on behalf of investors.

However, regulators say no such trust or asset pool was ever created. These representations were made to give the project a false sense of legitimacy.

Beyond that, Basile allegedly promised that 80% or more of proceeds would be “used to support the underlying value” of LTNM or would go “into an underlying fund.”

Instead, he reportedly used millions for personal expenses, including real estate purchases and credit card payments. He also allegedly bought a $160,000 horse using investor funds. The token later became worthless, leaving investors across the country with major losses.

Charges Filed and Legal Remedies Sought Against Basile

The SEC charged Basile under Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 for anti-fraud violations. The complaint also cites Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.

GIBF and Monsoon face charges under Section 17(a)(2) and related exchange act provisions. The SEC further charges Basile with aiding and abetting the violations of both companies.

As a result, the regulator is seeking permanent injunctive relief against all three defendants. Disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest forms part of the requested remedies.

Civil penalties are also being sought to address the alleged misconduct by Basile and his entities. A conduct-based injunction would additionally bar defendants from future securities activities.

The SEC is pursuing an officer-and-director bar specifically targeting Basile. This bar would prevent him from serving in any leadership role at a public company.

Litigation is being led by Brockett, Flath, and Rodriguez from the SEC’s New York Regional Office. Supervision of the case falls under Jack Kaufman of the same office.

TLDR:

• XRP’s SuperTrend indicator flipped bullish on the daily chart for the first time since January 17, 2025.
  
• Transfers above 100K and 1M XRP show periodic spikes but lack consistency, signaling no clear whale direction.
  
• No strong correlation exists between XRP inflows and price, pointing to balanced liquidity absorbing supply.
  
• A daily close above $1.55 resistance could trigger a relief rally toward the primary target zone of $1.90.

XRP price is drawing attention as fresh technical and on-chain data point toward a potential trend reversal. At $1.43, the asset’s SuperTrend indicator has flipped bullish on the daily chart for the first time since January 17.

Meanwhile, on-chain transfer data shows balanced liquidity conditions across the market. Analysts are now watching key resistance levels closely.

The broader setup suggests that a sustained push from spot buyers could trigger a sharp upward move in price.

On-Chain Data Points to Balanced Liquidity Across XRP Market

Retail activity remains visible in the XRP network, particularly through transfers in the 10,000 to 100,000 XRP range.

Source: Cryptoquant

However, this type of inflow primarily generates trading volume rather than direct price movement. Transfers at this scale carry a neutral effect on price direction overall.

Larger transfers, those above 100,000 and one million XRP, have shown periodic spikes in activity. Yet the pattern remains inconsistent, meaning whale participants are not applying steady directional pressure. The market, as a result, lacks a clear dominant force at the upper transfer tiers.

Notably, there is no reliable correlation between inflow volume and price movement in either direction. When inflows rise, the price does not automatically fall. When inflows slow, the price does not automatically climb either.

This pattern suggests that incoming coins are not all being sold into the market at once. Sufficient liquidity appears to be absorbing available supply.

Based on this data, the main price drivers are likely derivatives market activity and the broader market trend rather than spot inflows.

SuperTrend Flip Puts XRP Resistance Level of $1.55 in Focus

Crypto analyst Ali Charts noted on social media that XRP’s SuperTrend indicator has turned bullish on the daily chart.

This is the first such signal since January 17, ending an extended period of sell pressure across the chart. The shift marks a notable change in short-term trend structure for the asset.

The real test, however, remains at the $1.55 resistance level. That price zone has repeatedly capped upward movement in recent weeks. A clean daily close above $1.55 would likely open the door to a broader relief rally.

With the SuperTrend now acting as a trailing support floor, the primary target for any sustained move sits at the $1.90 zone. Traders are watching that level as the next meaningful objective should buying pressure increase.

On-chain conditions currently show no strong selling pressure in the market. Liquidity remains stable, and inflows alone are not dominating price action. If spot buying strengthens from here, XRP could move sharply higher in the near term.

DeFi markets faced another high-profile setback this weekend as Kelp, a liquid restaking protocol, disclosed a cyber attack targeting its rsETH restaking token. The incident prompted an immediate pause of rsETH smart contracts across Kelp’s mainnet and multiple Layer-2 networks as the project investigates potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Blockchain security firm Cyvers later pegged the damage at about $293 million, signaling a significant hit to users and counterparties tied to the restaking ecosystem.

Kelp stated on X that it detected suspicious cross-chain activity involving rsETH and subsequently halted rsETH contracts on mainnet and several Layer-2s to prevent further damage while the investigation unfolds. Cyvers added that the attacker exploited the rsETH adapter bridge—the software component that manages the rsETH token—allowing the drain of funds from the platform. The firm also noted that the attacker has been actively moving funds, with a substantial portion converted into Ethereum (ETH).

In the wake of the breach, the attacker’s on-chain activity has increasingly relied on a Tornado Cash mixer-funded address. Cyvers reported that roughly $250 million of the stolen funds had already been swapped into ETH, underscoring the challenge of tracing and recovering assets in the DeFi space once they leave the original contract domains.

Key takeaways

• The Kelp rsETH attack reportedly drained about $293 million, triggering contract pauses across Kelp’s mainnet and several Layer-2 networks as investigators assess the damage.
• The attacker targeted the rsETH adapter bridge, leveraging cross-chain dynamics that underscore risks inherent to DeFi composability and restaking ecosystems.
• At least nine protocols with exposure to rsETH reportedly froze activity in response, while Aave moved to suspend rsETH markets on V3 and V4 to contain risk.
• Approximately $250 million of the stolen funds have been converted to ETH, with the attacker utilizing a Tornado Cash mixer-funded address, complicating on-chain tracing efforts.

Attack details and ecosystem response

According to Kelp, the breach traces to irregular cross-chain activity linked to rsETH, prompting an immediate safety pause to contain potential further loss. The company’s moderation was swift, spanning mainnet and several Layer-2 deployments, as the team works through the incident. While Kelp is conducting its investigation, the broader DeFi community has begun to map the ripple effects beyond a single protocol.

Blockchain security firm Cyvers provided a stark figure for the loss, estimating the total at about $293 million. The firm’s analysis highlights the risk that bridges and adapters—components that enable tokens like rsETH to move across chains—present when vulnerabilities exist in the bridging layer. The incident aligns with a pattern of high-severity exploits aimed at cross-chain and interoperable DeFi primitives, where a single compromised bridge can force widespread disruption across multiple protocols.

In response to the breach, several DeFi platforms publicly paused or limited exposure to rsETH. Notably, Aave—one of the largest DeFi lenders—announced that rsETH markets had been frozen on its V3 and V4 deployments. Cyvers notes that at least nine protocols reportedly had exposure to rsETH and executed precautionary freezes or withdrawal restrictions as a precautionary measure to prevent cascading losses.

Analysts and observers have highlighted a core risk exposed by the incident: the compounding nature of DeFi’s composability. When multiple protocols rely on a shared token or bridge, a vulnerability in one hinge can reverberate across the entire network, forcing sudden risk management actions across an otherwise diversified ecosystem. Cyvers senior leadership emphasized to Cointelegraph that this is precisely the kind of incident that underscores the fragility and complexity of modern DeFi infrastructure when bridges and adapters are compromised.

Contextual backdrop: a string of cybersecurity incidents

The Kelp attack sits within a broader panorama of DeFi hacks observed over the past several months. In late April, Drift Protocol—a decentralized derivatives exchange—suffered a major exploit that drained roughly $280 million from the platform. Drift’s post-mortem described a months-long intrusion, noting the attackers’ alleged infiltration of developer machines and the eventual deployment of malware. The incident traced to a sophisticated operation that reportedly included access gained at a large crypto conference, followed by collaboration with the attackers before the breach unfolded.

Taken together, these events illuminate a persistent security challenge for the nascent DeFi stack: attackers are increasingly targeting the risk-prone layers of cross-chain interoperability and restaking mechanisms, where a single vulnerability can cascade into sizable losses across multiple protocols. Industry participants continue to debate the best path forward—ranging from more stringent bridge audit standards to enhanced multi-party computation (MPC) and formal verification for cross-chain components.

What this means for investors, users, and builders

For users and liquidity providers, the Kelp incident underscores the importance of understanding the specific risk profiles of restaking and cross-chain primitives. Restaking naturally introduces an expanded attack surface: while it offers potential yield enhancements, it also increases reliance on the security of adapter contracts and bridges that connect across layers of the ecosystem. Investors should monitor how protocols respond to such incidents, particularly regarding fund recovery efforts, contingency plans, and the timelines for resuming normal operations.

From a builder’s perspective, the episode highlights several priorities: rigorous security testing of bridge and adapter code, heightened monitoring for cross-chain anomalies, and clearer disclosure frameworks around incident response. The drift toward rapid, publicized pauses—while essential for risk containment—also presses for standardized playbooks so that platforms can coordinate responses without sacrificing user trust.

Regulators and policymakers may also take note of the evolving security landscape, especially as DeFi protocols broaden their engagement with restaking mechanisms and more intricate cross-chain flows. The balance between innovation and resilience will likely shape ongoing discussions around security best practices and capital-adequacy considerations for DeFi incumbents as they scale.

Closing perspective

As the Kelp investigation unfolds, observers will be watching for a clearer accounting of the breach’s root causes, the effectiveness of the emergency pauses, and any progress toward asset recovery. The incident, along with Drift’s earlier breach, reinforces a central theme for the crypto markets: cross-chain and restaking infrastructures demand heightened scrutiny, robust security postures, and coordinated risk management across the ecosystem. Readers should stay tuned for updates on Kelp’s findings, the status of rsETH across major platforms, and any new measures aimed at hardening DeFi’s interconnected layers.

Kelp, a liquid restaking protocol, was the victim of a cyber attack on Saturday, causing the platform to pause smart contracts for its restaking token (rsETH), as it “investigates” the attack amid reports of hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

“Earlier today, we identified suspicious cross-chain activity involving rsETH. We have paused rsETH contracts across mainnet and several Layer-2s,” the Kelp platform said in an X post.

The attacker exploited the rsETH adapter bridge contract, the software code that manages Kelp’s rsETH token, and drained the platform of about $293 million in funds, according to blockchain security firm Cyvers.

The attacker used a Tornado Cash crypto mixer-funded address and has already converted about $250 million of the stolen funds to Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum layer-1 blockchain network, Cyvers told Cointelegraph.

In response to the attack, decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave announced it had frozen rsETH markets on Aave V3 and V4. At least nine crypto protocols had exposure to the token and have frozen activity on their platforms in response, Cyvers said.

“This is exactly the kind of incident that highlights the risks of composability in DeFi,” Deddy Lavid, CEO of Cyvers, told Cointelegraph. Cointelegraph reached out to Kelp but did not obtain a response by the time of publication. 

The incident is the latest in a string of cybersecurity hacks and exploits of crypto platforms over the last several months, as crypto losses from hacks and scams totaled about $482 million in Q1 2026.

Related: Fake Ledger Live app on Apple App Store drained $9.5M from victims: ZachXBT

Drift Protocol hacked for $280 million

Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Drift Protocol also suffered an exploit in April, which drained the platform of about $280 million.

The Drift Protocol team said the attack took “months of deliberate preparation,” in which the team was infiltrated by suspected North Korean state-affiliated hackers.

In a post-mortem update, the Drift team said they met the attackers at a “major” crypto conference and collaborated with them for several months before the attackers deployed malware on developer machines and compromised the platform. 

Magazine: DeFi’s billion-dollar secret: The insiders responsible for hacks