In a second amended complaint submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Payward Interactive and Payward Trading — doing business as Kraken — accuse Etana Custody Limited, Etana Custody Inc., CEO Dion Brandon Russell, and others of misappropriating over $25 million in Kraken customer funds.

Payward details alleged funding gap and “Ponzi-like” structure

Payward alleges that Etana “operated a Ponzi scheme,” mixing assets it was supposed to hold in custody for Kraken with its own money to pay operating expenses and make “high-risk investments,” then issuing “false account reports” that showed full balances even as a funding gap widened.

According to the complaint, problems came to a head in April 2025 when Kraken attempted to withdraw roughly $25 million in reserve funds.

Etana allegedly stalled the payout by citing “reconciliation issues” that Payward calls fictitious, all while relying on “new deposits from other clients” to plug the hole — behavior Kraken says is classic Ponzi‑like recycling of incoming funds to meet existing obligations.

The filing claims at least $16 million of the shortfall was tied to a promissory note issued by Seabury Trade Capital, which later defaulted, leaving Etana unable to meet withdrawal requests without fresh inflows.

Regulatory collapse and Kraken’s damages claim

Etana’s troubles did not stop at private litigation.

Advertisement

Colorado regulators subsequently issued a cease-and-desist order against Etana Custody Inc., and on November 7, 2025, a Denver County court appointed a liquidator/receiver to take control of the company’s assets under a statutory liquidation order.

Case updates on the receivership site confirm that Etana’s operations are effectively frozen, with claims from customers and counterparties handled through a court-supervised process rather than the firm’s management.

Payward is seeking at least $25 million in compensatory damages — corresponding to the amount it says Etana failed to return — plus treble damages under Colorado’s civil theft statute, which could push the total sought to more than $75 million before fees and interest.

The suit also alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation, arguing that Etana marketed itself as a “segregated, bankruptcy‑remote” custodian while secretly deploying Kraken’s reserves into illiquid, high-risk credit bets.

In a recent crypto.news report, the case was highlighted as a test of how courts will treat custodians that commingle client funds in the crypto era, especially when those custodians are already under state liquidation orders.

Another crypto.news analysis focused on the Etana receivership process itself, noting that Kraken and other institutional customers now have to queue alongside retail clients and other creditors to recover what they can from the collapsed custodian.

A separate crypto.news overview emphasized that Payward’s amended complaint escalates the dispute beyond contract claims into allegations of a full‑blown “Ponzi scheme,” potentially increasing regulatory and law‑enforcement scrutiny of similar custody arrangements.

TLDR

• K Wave Media redirected up to $485 million from its Bitcoin treasury plan into AI infrastructure projects.
• The company amended its $500 million equity purchase facility with Anson Funds to support the new strategy.
• The board approved a strategic shift toward data centers and GPU compute investments.
• The restructuring plan includes the disposal of Play Co., Ltd. and aims to remove about $48 million in debt.
• K Wave Media is considering a corporate rebrand to Talivar Technologies, pending shareholder approval in July 2026.

K Wave Media has redirected up to $485 million from a prior Bitcoin treasury plan into artificial intelligence infrastructure projects. The company disclosed the shift in a Form 6-K filed Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The board approved the move as part of a broader restructuring and capital reallocation plan.

K Wave Media shifts funds from Bitcoin treasury to AI infrastructure

K Wave Media amended its securities purchase agreement with Anson Funds to redirect remaining financing capacity. The amendment covers $485 million under a prior $500 million equity purchase facility. The company had structured that facility to support a Bitcoin treasury strategy announced in June 2025.

However, the company will now deploy the funds into data centers and GPU compute operations. It will also pursue related infrastructure investments across the AI value chain. The filing states that the board approved a strategic repositioning toward artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company said it aims to build scalable compute capabilities and expand its technology footprint. Chief executive officer Ted Kim addressed the shift in a statement included in the filing. He said the company seeks to become “a meaningful participant in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure sector.”

The amendment leaves $485 million available after prior allocations under the facility. The company confirmed that it will no longer direct those funds toward its Bitcoin treasury plan. Instead, it will prioritize infrastructure investments tied to graphics processing and data operations.

The Bitcoin treasury strategy formed part of a broader capital markets repositioning in 2025. At that time, the company also explored Korean cultural intellectual property initiatives. It also referenced tokenized securities concepts in earlier announcements.

Board backs restructuring and potential corporate rebrand

K Wave Media paired the capital shift with a broader restructuring plan. The company plans to dispose of its wholly owned subsidiary, Play Co., Ltd. It expects this action to remove about $48 million in debt and contingent liabilities.

The company stated that the restructuring aims to de-leverage its balance sheet. It linked the disposal and debt reduction to its updated strategic direction. The filing outlines these steps as part of a coordinated financial reset.

The board has also approved a review of the company’s corporate identity. Management is evaluating a potential rebrand to “Talivar Technologies.” Shareholders will consider the proposed name change at the annual meeting scheduled for early July 2026.

Following the announcement, K Wave Media’s share price showed volatility. The stock fell 28.25% from about $0.406 to roughly $0.294 since Friday’s close. The company disclosed these figures as of the time of writing.

K Wave Media filed the 6-K with the SEC to formalize the amended agreement and restructuring steps. The document details the revised financing structure with Anson Funds. It also confirms the company’s updated capital allocation toward AI infrastructure initiatives.

Hut 8 (HUT), a bitcoin miner turned energy and AI compute company, has refinanced its bitcoin-backed credit facility, replacing its existing Coinbase Credit arrangement with a new $200 million facility with FalconX.

With the new deal, Hut 8 cut its fixed interest rate to 7% from 9%, a 200-basis-point improvement, according to a press release. The move is part of the firm’s focus on lowering its cost of debt on bitcoin-backed credit and broader cost of capital, the company said. The deal also frees up approximately 3,300 bitcoin that were previously pledged as collateral, worth roughly $260 million as of May 1, giving Hut 8 greater flexibility to deploy that capital.

“This refinancing strengthens our balance sheet by decreasing our cost of debt while simultaneously increasing Bitcoin held outside collateral covenants, resulting in additional liquidity to deploy into the growth of our business,” said Sean Glennan, CFO of Hut 8.

“It advances our broader objective of optimizing the role of bitcoin on our balance sheet and lowering our cost of capital,” he added.

The trend of refinancing for better terms continues among mining firms, as they seek to improve their credit terms and free up more capital for their pivot to AI and move away from volatile bitcoin revenues in favor of long-term leases.

Last week, Hut 8 priced $3.25 billion of senior secured notes to fund construction of a 245-megawatt data center at its River Bend campus in St. Francisville, Louisiana, according to an April 28 SEC filing. The project, first announced in December, has a 15-year, $7 billion lease with AI infrastructure firm Fluidstack, backed by Google, with a total potential value of up to $17.7 billion if all renewal options are exercised.

Another miner, Riot, also recently secured improved terms on its $200 million bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase, lowering the rate to a fixed 6.15% from 8.3% and releasing 1,544 of pledged collateral bitcoin, signaling growing lender confidence in its expanding data center business.

Hut 8 shares rose about 1.5% on Monday as bitcoin rallied above $80,000.

Read More: Riot extends $200 million Coinbase credit facility, and bitcoin weakness could mean more sales

Prediction markets are evolving from retail speculation platforms into institutional-grade financial instruments, driven by demand for precise macro hedging and clearly defined binary outcomes, according to a May 4 report by Bernstein.

The report highlights why institutional investors may find these markets attractive — namely, they allow users to hedge specific event risks, such as tariffs, elections and geopolitical developments, using contracts that resolve to simple yes-or-no outcomes.

Bernstein pointed to the first bespoke institutional block trade executed on Kalshi last week as a key milestone. A block trade refers to a privately negotiated, large transaction typically arranged between institutional counterparties.

The deal was brokered by Greenlight Commodities and involved a Houston, Texas-based environmental hedge fund and Jump Trading as the liquidity provider. The custom contract was tied to the clearing price of California’s May carbon allowance auction, illustrating how prediction markets can be tailored to specific client needs.

“We believe the introduction of block trading and bespoke contracts could expand participation from institutional investors seeking targeted exposure to event risks,” wrote the Bernstein analysts. 

Separately, Bernstein said Clear Street’s partnership with Kalshi gives institutional investors a regulated way to access prediction markets, allowing them to trade these contracts alongside traditional assets like stocks and futures.

Listing of Kalshi’s largest active event contracts by volume. Source: Bernstein

Related: US Senate bans itself from betting on prediction markets

Retail leads prediction markets as institutional interest grows

The shift toward institutional adoption is notable given that prediction markets are still largely driven by retail activity. A recent report by Bitget Wallet and Polymarket found that retail users accounted for more than 80% of the $25.7 billion in prediction market volumes recorded in March.

Greater institutional participation could accelerate the market’s growth, with Berinstein projecting that prediction markets could evolve into a trillion-dollar industry by the end of the decade.

Prediction market trading volumes topped $25 billion in March. Source: Bitget Wallet

Regulatory momentum in the United States is also shaping the sector’s trajectory, though the landscape remains uneven. 

Kalshi operates as a federally regulated exchange under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while Polymarket received conditional approval in late 2025 to offer event contracts in the US through regulated channels.

Magazine: How to fix suspected insider trading on Polymarket and Kalshi

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw volatility at Monday’s Wall Street open as fresh US-Iran war events sparked instability.

Key points:

• Bitcoin wobbles around the $80,000 mark as Iran tensions steer risk-asset markets.
• The overhead CME futures gap becomes the new target for traders wanting proof of BTC price strength.
• Short-term holders approach breakeven on their unrealized losses.

Iran injects fresh BTC price volatility with $80,000 at stake

Data from TradingView showed whipsaw BTC price action as $80,000 became a central focus for both bulls and bears.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

News that Iran had struck a petroleum facility in the United Arab Emirates sent oil prices surging on the day, with US stocks under pressure.

WTI crude added over 5% to return past $105 per barrel, while Brent hit $119 per barrel — within striking distance of its highest levels in nearly three years.

CFDs on Brent crude oil one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Earlier, trading company QCP Capital described the Iran situation as “fluid.”

“For now, markets appear to be pricing in de-escalation. That calculus could change quickly,” it wrote in its latest Market Color analysis.

For Bitcoin itself, QCP argued that the semi-filled gap in CME Group’s futures market formed the key resistance hurdle for buyers to overcome.

“Opened up with a new small CME gap. It is also well on its way to close the previous large gap from $84K,” trader Daan Crypto Trades continued on the topic in a post on X. 

“Good to mark these levels on your chart as they could act as a ‘magnet’ and local reversal zones if price trades close/into them.”

CME Bitcoin futures 15-minute chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

Bitcoin speculators almost wipe out unrealized losses

Onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant added another important level in the form of the aggregate cost basis of Bitcoin’s short-term holders, or speculative investors holding for up to six months.

Related: BTC price can ‘easily’ hit $95K: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

“The more probable scenario is a cautious recovery attempt toward STH realized price,” contributor Crazzyblockk wrote in a QuickTake blog post. 

“A confirmed daily close above $81,500 flips that level from resistance to support, opening the path toward $87–92K. Failure sends price back to test new money realized price near $76,500.”

Bitcoin aggregate cost basis (realized price) by UTXO age (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant

Crazzyblockk added that Bitcoin’s long-term holders were “unbothered” about their average 27% unrealized losses.

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.

Bitcoin dropped to $79,074 in late Asian hours Monday, reversing nearly $1,500 from a $80,594 intraday high that had marked the highest print since January 31.

The pullback came as Iran’s Fars news agency claimed two missiles hit a U.S. patrol boat near Jask Island after the vessel allegedly ignored Iranian warnings to leave its territorial waters. Brent crude jumped more than 5% to trade above $113 a barrel before paring the gain.

The U.S. denied the report shortly after and said no American ship had been struck. Oil and equity futures pared their initial moves on the denial, but bitcoin held its decline as traders priced in the fragility of the ceasefire that has held since early April.

Other majors followed bitcoin lower from intraday highs but stayed positive on the day.

Ether traded at $2,341, up 1.2% over 24 hours after touching $2,368 earlier. Solana sat at $84.08, up just 0.2% on the day after starting Monday at $85.14. XRP slipped to $1.40 and BNB to $623. Dogecoin held its gains better than most, up 2.3% on the day to $0.1102 with the weekly print still at 12.1%.

The escalation arrived hours after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. would begin escorting ships stranded in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday, an operation dubbed Project Freedom that involves guided-missile destroyers, aircraft, and drones.

Iran responded by announcing it had “redefined the control zone” in Hormuz, extending its claimed maritime borders to Fujairah and signaling that Tehran would regulate shipping traffic in the area regardless of U.S. operations.

Bitcoin had broken $80,000 for the first time since January, with $301 million in shorts liquidated as the move unfolded earlier Monday. The Senate’s Clarity Act compromise on stablecoin yield, released Friday, had been adding to the risk-on tone heading into the week.

Whether the U.S. denial holds or fresh confirmations emerge from either side will likely set the tape for the rest of the U.S. session.

Crypto-related stocks rallied Monday, led by Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN), as progress on U.S. digital asset legislation and bitcoin BTC$80,413.95 breaking above $80,000 lifted sentiment across the sector.

Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, surged 18%, extending recent gains, while U.S.-focused crypto exchange Coinbase rose about 7%. BitGo (BTGO), a digital asset infrastructure firm offering custody and stablecoin services, climbed roughly 10%.

Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, crypto-friendly digital broker Robinhood (HOOD) and Ethereum (ETH) treasury firm Bitmine (BMNR) were also up 3%-4%, underscoring the broad-market advance.

The move came as bitcoin BTC$80,413.95 pushed above $80,000 during the session, reaching its strongest level since late January and providing a tailwind for the broader crypto sector. BTC advanced nearly 2% over the past 24 hours, leading the broader crypto benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index’s 1.2% gain.

Further boosting investor optimism were signs that the long-debated Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a key piece of U.S. legislation to regulate crypto markets, is moving closer to passage.

A newly released compromise would prohibit stablecoin issuers from offering yield on idle balances, while still allowing rewards tied to usage and transaction activity, according to a Friday text. The approach addresses one of the most contentious aspects of the bill and aligns with earlier discussions in Washington.

Clarity Act progress

That clarification appears to be a pivotal moment that brings the bill closer to passage, according to Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research.

“The latest compromise removes one of the final obstacles for the legislation,” said Thielen in a Telegram message. With the stablecoin yield issue addressed, lawmakers are expected to move toward a formal markup, potentially as soon as this week, he added.

Odds of passage on the prediction platform Polymarket have risen to 64%, reflecting growing confidence that the bill will advance.

With that, “equity markets are beginning to price in potential winners,” Thielen said.

Circle, as a regulated stablecoin issuer, is widely seen as a potential beneficiary of clearer rules, particularly if stablecoins are formally positioned as payment tools rather than yield-bearing assets, he said.

The firm’s upcoming earnings, due next week, adds another layer of momentum for the stock, Thielen noted.

After releasing last quarter’s report in February, Circle’s shares surged around 100% in the following weeks, and investors may have started to position for further gains ahead of earnings.